Jan115

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There was a fast-food Mexican place onboard the Brilliance to Canada last week called "Rita's Cantina", but unfortunately it was never open when we went by. Maybe it's used more for the warmer climate cruises.

What a great resource. If more parents and their kids followed this guide, there would be more well-behaved kids on board. Thanks, Gina. Your kids are very lucky to have such a caring mom!

Hip, Hip Hooray! Congrats you guys - you deserve the honor!

We were lucky enough to dock at St. George's aboard the smaller Norwegian Dream in 2008 from Boston before NCL dumped her. I LOVED being there as opposed to the Dockyard. It's the authentic "old town" feeling I liked, unlike the "made-for-cruise-ship passengers" feeling you get at the Dockyard. I agree, Bermuda is a different kind of cruise. It's a more relaxing experience, without the necessity of racing back to the ship every night in time for sailing. While the ship is docked, you can stay out all night if you want, and see most of the island while you're there. Definitely a nice change of pace!

I look forward to your review, Sarge, so we can compare notes.

The Titanic exhibit was great, as was the entire museum, but if you ever get a chance to catch the traveling exhibit, it's much better. I saw it in Hartford a couple of years ago, and part of the tour takes place in what would have looked like a hallway on the Titanic. The exhibit ticket looked like a passenger ticket containing the name of an actual passenger - and at the end you check the list to see if your passenger was one of the survivors, making the traveling exhibit a much more moving tour.

Shari and Miranda - It was just my daughter and I on this latest cruise to New England & Canada. If she had her way, she wouldn't dress up at all, so we compromised - we dressed up the first night, and did one of the alternative dining venues for the second. No Johnny Rockets on Brilliance of the Seas, but the Park Cafe had a very tasty beef puff pastry thing - I forgot exactly what it was called, but I had to admit, it was nice to forego the formal wear.

Karen - Cruise of the Month Club, LOVE that idea. Even better, book 11 months, get that last one FREE - haha! We just returned from the Brilliance, and I just posted my review. And now I look forward to the next in April. Have fun on your cruise, as well!

"The Brilliance is Brilliant!" Click here to view the cruise review

The whale watch from Bar Harbor was a bust. No whales in sight. Saw a few seals, dolphins and a lot of birds - but no whales. The boat was packed with hundreds of people, as I knew it would be, and I couldn't wait to get off. I've become spoiled with small group tours, but picked this as a last minute replacement for the Indy Acadia Park tour. Not only did we not see whales, but we didn't see Bar Harbor either since we arrived back just in time for the last tender. We've decided to simply drive up here again some weekend to see what we missed. Today we're in Portland. We've decided to skip all tours and just go shopping because we haven't bought a thing for anyone back home yet. I've been writing my review as we go and will post tomorrow.

Fantastic day in Saint John, NB, with private all-day tour arranged with 4 others, to Bay of Fundy, Reversing Falls, St. John, lunch and more. Weather is perfect here! Surprisingly, not as much fall color as expected, though. Sarge - I had not seen the ship before the renovations, but she is shiny and beautiful. Love the cabin (outside, deck 4), the coffee bar, the pubs, the deck space, mini golf, the Solarium (gorgeous!), the food stations in the buffet, Izumi, and the entertainment. What doesn't rock my boat are the food in the buffet (and I am not a picky eater), the excursion disembarkation process (gangway lines a mile long), and the wait for an unpacked elevator (but that might be my bum knee talking). It's also weird that 4 times out of 5 times that we ate in the dining room, no one took orders from the bar for wine or anything. We booked a last minute whale watch from Bar Harbor tomorrow since our indy tour won't be going to Acadia Park due to the govt shutdown. Will report back later.

Checking in from the Brilliance, which sailed from Boston Sunday. Beautiful sunny day at sea yesterday, followed by pouring rain this morning in Halifax, resulting in cancellation of our private motorcycle sidecar tour. Plan B immediately went into effect: the morning at the maritime museum and a lobster roll on the boardwalk. Prime rib on sail away night was great. Loved The dining experience at Izumi - tried a Japanese hot rock dish. What fun! Looking forward to a day at sea tomorrow.

You won't find McDonalds or Arby's or Wendy's at sea, but that doesn't mean you can't feed your junk food habit. Cruise ships are full of fast food options. Here are some that make blowing the calories worth it. Hot dogs – At Royal Caribbean’s Boardwalk Dog House you can belly up to the open-air counter for choices including all-beef, Kosher-style Coney Island hot dogs, brats and sausages – with all kinds of toppings (available on Allure of the Seas, Radiance and Splendour). On Norwegian Cruise Line’s New York-based Norwegian Breakaway, grab a Sabrett's all-beef dog with onions in sauce and other classic toppings, served on The Waterfront promenade from an authentic New York street cart. Burgers – Food Network star Guy Fieri delivers fat, greasy, yummy burgers at Guy's Burger Joint, poolside on six Carnival ships (each producing 1,200 of the popular burgers per day). Fieri uses 80/20 ground-chuck and encourages topping of lots of cheese and his Donkey Sauce (a secret mayo). Those who really want to pig out have the option of the Pig Patty, made of bacon (on the Carnival Breeze, Conquest, Glory, Liberty, Sunshine and Triumph). Head to the Waves Grill near the pool on Oceania Cruise ships for the most delicious gourmet burgers at sea, made of Black Angus beef and served with toppings including Swiss cheese and/or bacon and Bourbon BBQ sauce. If that's not extravagant enough try the Kobe Burger, made with Wagyu Beef and topped with truffle sauce (on all five Oceania Cruises ships). Pizza – Princess Cruises takes the pie here serving delicious Neapolitan-style hand-tossed pizza that earns its claim of best at sea – whether you go with plain cheese or a variety of toppings. Grab a slice or whole pie poolside on all Princess ships or head to complimentary, sit-down pizzerias on the Grand Princess, Sapphire Princess and the new Royal Princess (also available delivered to your cabin for a fee of $3). Taco bar – On all Holland America ships, adjacent to the poolside Terrace Grill you'll find a do-it-yourself taco bar featuring flour tortillas, crispy taco shells and a broad choice of fillings – including chicken fajitas, chili and amazing mango salsa. Some days there are even hot tamales. Indian food -- Lovers of Indian food will salivate at the Tandoori ovens on select Carnival ships, outdoor venues where you can load up on Indian-style chicken, meat and fish, curries and fresh-baked nan bread (on the Carnival Breeze, Conquest, Glory, Liberty, Sunshine and Triumph). Chili fries -- Johnny Rockets hamburger joints on Royal Caribbean ships include on their menus crispy fires smothered in chili, gooey cheese and onions. They are hard to resist, despite a $4.95 cover charge to get into the restaurant (on 11 Royal Caribbean ships). By Fran Golden, USA Today (“The Best Fast Food at Sea”) For more cruise news & articles go to http://www.cruisecra....com/index.html Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more Photo credit: www.nbcnews.com View full article

I used to read a ton of reviews in my early days of cruising, just so I could know what to expect, being a beginner and all. I learned pretty quickly that two people on the very same ship could have opposite views. Now thaT I have a few cruises under my belt, I still read them, but only occasionally, if I am cruising a ship for the first time or visiting ports I've never seen. Knowing how helpful they are to new cruisers, I write something for every cruise, being careful to balance the good with the bad. So far, I've been very fortunate and haven't found too much to gripe about, or maybe David and I try our best to make the best of a bad situation. As the saying goes - when they serve you lemons, make lemonade!

We had a towel monkey, too, on one vacation - I can't remember if it was the Carnival cruise in 2003 or an earlier Disneyworld trip. The darn thing was hanging from the ceiling and scared the crap outta me. And I have to say it was the scariest ape I'd ever seen! The kids thought it was fun, though. Wish I had a photo.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.

Once upon a time, if you were planning a cruise, you would go to your travel agent for all the advice you needed. The agent would answer questions, provide glossy brochures and make recommendations based on his own experience. A visit to the local library might be undertaken to pick up travel guides on the particular destination, cruise line or cruise ship as a way to become an informed traveler. The Sunday newspaper’s travel section was the go-to place to find current news and reviews of hot destinations and vacations. Then came the World Wide Web, and everything changed. With instant access to the web, information is just a click away. Many on-line cruise community sites (including our own CruiseCrazies.com) set aside space for travelers to comment on cruise lines, cruise ships, ports of calls and even excursions, and the public is speaking! While some reviews are provided by professional travel writers, it’s the experiences of the everyday consumer that we are most interested in. When it comes to planning a cruise these days, reviews can be a tremendous help and an extremely valuable resource. However, the sheer volume of reviews out there can be utterly overwhelming and may hinder the planning process rather than help it. It seems everyone has an opinion, so whom do we believe and how much should someone else’s perspective influence what cruise we choose? Here are a few guidelines to follow when reading cruise reviews: Negative comments usually outnumber the positive. It’s human nature to point out the bad experiences over the good ones. Sometimes a person’s expectations are not met or they had a bad experience and want to bring attention to the cruise line’s shortcomings. Remember, it’s just one person’s point of view. Read several reviews of the same cruise, and if everyone is complaining about the same situation, then the negative comments are probably warranted and should be taken into consideration. Be wary of the reviewer who bashes the entire cruise. On occasion, you may run across a review where it seems nothing went right on the cruise, not one positive moment. The food was awful, the entertainment was lousy, the bed was too hard, the weather was stormy, the ship was too noisy, too cold, too hot, too crowded - you name it. Just laugh a little and skip right over these, because obviously the person has had a beef with the cruise line since the moment he stepped on board and can’t possibly be a credible source of information. Useful reviews point out both the strong points and the weaknesses. The most helpful reviews contain a fair and balanced report of both the good and not so great aspects of the cruise. Even on the most horrid of cruises, it’s difficult to not have experienced at least one good moment at sea. Passengers want to know that they can look forward to a great cruise, but they also want to be aware of – and possibly avoid - any potentially bad situations they may encounter on their vacation. Read several reviews of the same ship and itinerary. Even though a ship may be sailing to the same exact places on the same clock each time it leaves port, every experience is different. The enjoyment of a cruise – or lack thereof – is affected by a number of things. Passenger demographic, weather, and the assigned crew on a particular sailing can all have an affect on the cruise experience. Reviews of the same cruise embarking on different dates will give you a good idea of the overall experience for that itinerary. Don’t rely totally on professional reviews to sway your decision. Travel professionals and cruise specialists by the very nature of their occupation can be a valuable resource when gathering information about a cruise. On the other side of the coin, professionals take “fam” trips – or familiarization trips – to learn about new ships or refits. In some cases, these are brief introductory trips on which a travel agent or professional cruises for free or at a reduced rate, and the cruise line, in turn, depends on these folks to sell their cruises and otherwise provide good press. Therefore, while some professionals and agents will write a balanced and fair review, others may feel pressured to present only the good aspects of a cruise they experienced in just 2 days. Just as the guy who bashes an entire week of cruising, be wary of any review that is only glowing and positive. If reviews leave you overwhelmed and confused, stop reading. In preparation for my first cruise ever, I read every single review I laid eyes upon, even resorting to printing and highlighting text. As a result, I had a stack of papers that left my mind in a muddled mess, so confused and overwhelmed by all the varying points of view. In the end, I tossed the paper into the recycle bin and stopped reading reviews altogether. These days, I still read consumer reviews when embarking on a new cruise, but only a few and without the highlighter. While reviews are helpful, too many can cloud the mind. Read in moderation, use your instincts and form your own conclusion. Remember – a review is just one person’s opinion. Just like a trinket at a yard sale – one person’s garbage could be someone else’s treasure. Just because they hated the Beef Wellington doesn’t mean you will. People have different likes, dislikes and expectations – it’s what makes the world so interesting. Embark on your cruise with an open mind, expect the unexpected, be prepared for anything, and you’ll have a great time – and don’t forget to write about it when you get back! By Janice Neves, CruiseCrazies Contributor For more cruise news & articles go to http://www.cruisecra....com/index.html Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more! View full article

I only remember one cruise - the Norwegian Dream in 2008 - where towel animals appeared in our cabin. Unlike some of the real freaky ones I've heard about, ours were pretty normal. This one is named "Andy" for his minty eyes ... and this is "Sunluva" (used her as my profile pic for a time). I'd love to hear about some wild towel menagerie that may have appeared in your cruise cabin. Anyone?

Thanks for reading, Shari. I think it's safe to say that Alaska in the summer is going to be a LOT warmer than a Minnesota winter!

Thanks for joining us here at CruiseCrazies. We hope you'll visit often, ask questions, share your experiences and join in the conversation.