cruznchris

Thank you for your response, I enjoyed writing it and tried to think about things that might be of interest to other fellow crazies.

A new Cruise Review is now available: Ship Name: Westerdam Sailing date: Nov 1 2009 Author: cruznchris View Review

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welcome back. did you get to sail out going by the statue of liberty? bet that would have made for some nice pics if you did?

have a great time!!!

Personally I love to dress up, I really feel good all dressed up in my tux. It makes the nights extra special. It kinda reminds me of my wedding or other very special occasions. BOO Carnival

my favorite cruise was on the sun princess it was a 10 day, by far the best weather and the best cruise tablemates we had ever had. we even went on the same excursion and we were in the back the whole time laughing it up. it was truly a time to remember.

OOO, We are gonna be so close but yet so far away... We will be in Ft. lauderdale on the 8th it will be the day we get back from our cruise. ooo well maybe next time.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one out there like that. On our first cruise we went with my mother and father in law, so for the whole cruise it was just us 4 buddies hangin out. I never met a single person. The next cruise the wife and me went alone and the whole experienced changed. We would even sit with our table mates at the show after dinner and save them seats. I havent heard from HAL yet but I hope they give me good news.

I understand what your saying about change, but when your asked to change something that I find to be one of the shining pinnacles of our vacation cruise experience I disagree. The wife and me have dined alone together on many other ships. For us the dinner connection was what has made the cruise experience "special" gives it heart. So I've decided to contact the cruise line to see if there was something they could do for us. Hopefully thy can find a way to get us in.

OOO the style of clothes I cant help you with that for sure. Just give me a tacky touristy flowered shirt and a hat, a camera around my neck and I'm good to go... hehe

Well, We just booked a cruise on the Westerdam last week. Since we booked so late there is only "open seating" left. We were put on the wait list for traditional. We prefer traditional dining, for us its easier we know where to go, what time to go, who we will be sitting with, it is in sync with show times. So far in the 8 cruises we have been on we have never experienced "open dining". For us usually by the 2nd or 3rd night we were past the small talk conversation with the people and the wait staff. Quite a few times we got to know our fellow passangers and wait staff so well that they shared there family pictures and future plans and many things you just wouldnt share with someone your having dinner with you for one night. Having different people sit with us every night and different wait staff will seemingly take the "HEART" out of dining experience, for me. My other big concern is I'm not certain how open dining works. Is it more like a resturant where you show up and wait till a seat becomes available? Any thoughts? Chris

I would bring at least one set of warm clothes just in case, for me warm clothes are a long sleeve shirt and pants. We usually cruise the last week of October every year and have never experienced any cold, below upper 60's low 70's before the sun came up. I guess it depends if you run a bit hot or cold what you might bring...

the carribean princess and the carnival valor. Both were cheap for us so we gave them a shot. we were told later that the caribean princess only differnce from other ships in her class was they added and entire addtional floor of cabins. The public rooms and space was the same, i dont know if that is true or not didnt really look into it. But the food area and public area were always so full that it made me upset, there never seemed to be a downtime. past cruises we had been on there was never an issue of finding seats or feeling like i was crowded. On the valor we experienced some of the same issues difficult finding seating. people would go out and put there towel on chairs at 6 am and it seemed like alot of people would ignore lines or casually make there way to the front. To me the bigger ships are just a way to corral more people onto one boat so they can increase their profit margins and dont get me started on those pay - to - eat restaurants. It just another way for them offer lower grade service in the main dining room and make you pay for the premium, which they used to offer in the dining room. But I believe the "big ships" are just part of the bigger picture of the changing culture of the cruiselines. But lets save that for a differnt topic...