Norwegian Cruise Line

Posted 09/10/07

I recently sailed on a one night cruise to nowhere onboard the Norwegian Dawn. I would definently recommend it ! The food was excellent and the entertainment was a blast!

Melissa Fernhout

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Princess Cruise Sale1

Posted 09/11/07

Don't miss the Princess Cruise Sale!

Reduced Deposit and On-Board savings on ANY Princess Cruise booked between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21, 2007.

Call for details!

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Since Cruising 'ROCKS' we are opening a continuous dialog to answer questions, talk cruising, and land adventures, or anything you wish to talk about relating to cruising. So let us hear from you soon.

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A Day in Barcelona

Posted 09/11/07

I never have good luck sleeping on a plane and when we arrived in Barcelona I was completely wiped out. Fortunately, claiming our luggage and transferring to the hotel went surprisingly quick and easy. I wanted to go to bed, but my sister insisted on us taking advantage of every waking moment. “We only have one day here,“ she practically whined.

So instead of taking a shower and a nap, I took a shower and changed, and we stepped out on to Las Ramblas at 11am. We were hungry and stepped into the first Tapas Bar we came to.

Inside the tiny restaurant was a long bar with plates and trays of fresh yummies placed all along the top. There were no barstools; one simply needed to walk up to enjoy. A dozen lovely hams hung from the ceiling to cure, each with a small plastic funnel-shaped cut to catch the drips. On the wall behind the bar were bottles of olive oil, vinegar, and wine, boxes of seasonings and cans of vegetables. The place was positively adorable and my sister immediately began snapping pictures.

Two good looking young men, who were obviously brothers or cousins, were behind the bar. “Buenos dias, senoras!” one said. “Pinchos y tintos?”

“Si, gracias!” I answered. “Dos por favor.”

He placed two small, short-stemmed wine glasses in front of us full of red wine called “tintos,” and two small plates and two paper napkins. Then he took the covers off some of the plates that had them and invited us to help ourselves. The “pinchos,” are two-bite-sized tapas that can be picked up with just your thumb and index finger in the same gesture as a pinch.

The other man had just brought more plates in both hands from the kitchen and set them on the bar. He said something in Spanish that I didn’t understand, but knew that he meant for us to come get some.

We snacked on seasoned olives, wonderful cheesy toasty things, almonds warmed in olive oil and cracked pepper, chunks of sheep’s cheese, roasted potatoes and fresh bread. We washed it all down with another tinto and I felt ready to walk the Gothic Quarter.

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An Opinion about "On Your Own" Shore Excursions

Posted 09/11/07

Averse to the hurry-up-and-wait? Don’t want to spend your day in port trapped on a bus full of tourists? Booked some bummers on your last cruise?

Europe cruisers take note! The cruise line’s On Your Own shore excursions are the best way to do your own thing if the ship docks far away from where you really want to be.

These excursions provide round-trip transportation between the ship and the city center and can provide as much as eight hours to spend as you wish. And even though the cost may seem high for just transportation, you’ll spend every dime and sometimes more hiring a cabin and paying Euro. Besides, if you don’t speak the language you may have trouble hiring a taxi to take you back to the ship in time.

Look for these excursions in:

London when the ship docks in Dover, Harwich or Southampton (1.5 hours)

Paris when the ship docks in Le Havre (3 hours)

Provence when the ship docks in Marseilles (1 hour)

Nice and Monte Carlo when the ship docks in Cannes (1.5 hours)

Florence and Pisa when the ship docks in Livorno (1.5 hours)

Rome when the ship docks in Civitavecchia (1.5 hours)

Taormina when the ship docks in Messina (1 hour)

Athens when the ship docks in Piraeus (1 hour)

The cruise line can tell you where the drop-off and pick-up points are in each city. Then do your homework with a good travel guide that contains a map and plan a circular route through an area just large enough to include all of the major sites you want to be sure to see. That way you’ll have plenty of time of shopping, dining, drinking and picture taking.

One important note: On Your Own excursions do not offer early admission advantages or include admission charges to important museums such as the Louvre, the British Museum, Galleria dell'Accademia or the Vatican. So if seeing the Mona Lisa, the original statue of Michelangelo’s David or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is your primary desire for your day in port you should consider an excursion that specifically includes these activities.

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Carbonara: The Traditional Pasta of Rome

Posted 09/11/07

Make this tasty traditional Roman pasta dish from scratch in just a few minutes!

To get all the ingredients you may have to visit an Italian grocer because most retail grocery store chains to not carry the correct kind of pasta or the highest quality Parma proscuitto. But trust me, it’s worth a special trip! Oh, and don’t skimp on buying the highest quality cheese and proscuitto, it’s worth it, too.

Ingredients:

Perciato Pasta

Butter

1 cup Heavy Cream

Lean Thick Center-Cut Bacon

Eggs

Grated Pecorino Romano

Black Pepper

Chopped Parsley

Cook the pasta al dente.

In large heavy skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until limp. Add onion; cook 3-5 minutes longer or until bacon is browned, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, cook 30 seconds. Drain all bacon fat from skillet. Add a stick of butter to melt and stir in cream; bring just to boiling point. Reduce heat to low and simmer 3 minutes.

Add the Parmesan cheese, pepper and parsley to cream mixture and whisk lightly. Toss to coat the pasta well. Prep time: about 10 minutes. Cooking time: 10-15 minutes.

Serve the pasta along with roasted red peppers, large Sicilian olives and caprese (fresh mozzarella, sliced tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and cracked black pepper). Compliment the meal with fresh bread and a bottle of chianti.

For dessert try some mini cannelloni and coffee. Also, for a traditional Roman gastric treat try a shot Limón cello to make the food go down.

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Tell us about your favorite cruise!

Posted 09/12/07

Tell us about your favorite vacation experience that you would like to share!

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Constant Cruisers Try NCL's Freestyle Cruising

Posted 09/13/07

CONSTANT CRUISERS TRY ‘FREESTYLE’ CRUISING

On August 18, 2007 we boarded the Norwegian Spirit, curious to see how the so-called ‘freestyle’ cruising compares with standard cruises. To us what NCL calls ‘freestyle’ sounded chaotic, and the only thing that persuaded us to book that cruise is that we wanted to see the Alambre Trio again, whom we’d met about a year and a half ago on a Celebrity Zenith cruise.

The first thing we learned was that it pays to be NCL ‘Latitudes’ members. They have priority for check-in and boarding, in addition to any other benefits. Membership is automatic after completing your first NCL cruise.

As compared to Holland America and Celebrity, NCL definitely caters to a younger crowd and to families. There were many families on board, and fully one third of the passengers were children. There were teenagers and strollers everywhere, including encountering many strollers in the dining rooms and restaurants. This was in addition to the oxygen tanks, wheel chairs and scooters we’ve seen on the other lines.

It is not clear whether the prices we encountered on board were based on sailing out of New York or were the norm for NCL ships, but the drinks and casino were much more expensive than we’d previously seen. The first afternoon the bar servers around the pool were carrying trays of drinks with signs that said “Bon Voyage drink, ONLY $9”. In the casino most table stakes started at $10. For Texas Hold ‘em there was no limit on bets. There were some penny and nickel slot machines, but it took significant searching to find them. In addition, the slot machines use a cashless system once you have inserted your money. Payoff is a slip of paper that must be redeemed at the cashier window or reinserted into a slot machine. Those who like to feed their coins into the slot machine or listen to the sound of cashing out will be disappointed in the slot machines.

On the positive side, we appreciated the fact that the life jackets are the easiest to use that we have encountered. The life-boat drill was very orderly and well done. Also, knowing that most people don’t want to wear their life jackets all the way back to their cabins, the passengers were given instructions on how to tie the cords so the jackets could be carried rather than worn back to their cabins.

The music on the Spirit was excellent. In addition to the Alambre Trio, there was a duo from Barbados called Pryme Tyme, a pianist/singer named Ariel Jacobe from the Philippines, who on a couple of occasions had two ladies from the activities staff singing with him, a dance band (contemporary) called Next Stage, and a party band called Trini Flavor. All of these were excellent, and all had totally different musical styles. The quality of the shows, however was below what we have seen on other cruise ships, although there was one surprise highlight in the guest entertainer Jeff Trachta from the TV show “The Bold & The Beautiful”. He was very talented, doing impressions, singing and dancing to a multimedia presentation. This evaluation also does not apply to the crew show, which neither one of us attended, because we know and appreciate how hard the crew works to put on their show.

The one positive note from the ‘freestyle’ dining is that obtaining a table for two with individual seating times made dinner much faster than in the traditional cruise ship dining rooms.

One of the activities available was a darts tournament, and it was nice because it was a real tournament, not just throwing one set of darts to collect your activity points.

The photographers on the Spirit were a cut above the photographers on our prior cruises. They showed much greater enthusiasm for their work and took more imaginative photographs than we’ve seen before.

We enjoyed meeting Captain Gunnar Hammerlin. We encountered him on the stairs and had a pleasant conversation with him. He also gave us each a hug of the kind a long-time friend would give. At the talk on the inner workings of the ship, Captain Hammerlin demonstrated his great sense of humor in response to audience questions.

Now for the down side: ‘Freestyle’ really is chaotic. Although passengers are allowed to make dinner reservations for two days at a time, we could not make dinner reservations in advance because the Alambre Trio was playing at different times every evening. There was one specialty restaurant we would have tried, but we were unable to get reservations for it. Because we have learned to be adaptable, it was not a problem having dinner at a different time every evening. However, if you like structure and are trying to plan your schedule around specific activities, this type of cruise can be frustrating. We did find out that at least the main dining rooms took reservations only for 5:30, 6:30 and 8:30, leaving the remaining times open for walk-ins. Generally this meant that we were at an advantage, wanting a table for two. However, on the last evening we connected with a couple while in line, and inviting them to join us at a table for four gave us the seating advantage. For those who don’t want a lot of contact with children, the dining rooms have fewer children after 9pm. The larger the group you have for dining room seating, the more important it is to make sure you have reservations; and if you do have reservations, make sure you arrive on time, as a courtesy to the dining room staff and the other passengers.

For our first night on the ship we decided to eat in the Windows dining room. We had reservations, but they were not ready for us, and the service was poor. Because of that we decided to try the smaller Garden Room dining room, which turned out to have a noticeably higher level of service, and a more pleasant atmosphere. It should be noted that we did not eat dinner at the most busy times, so it should not have been a problem to provide reasonably good service. Overall, with one exception, the level of service in the dining rooms was well below what we have experienced on Holland America and Celebrity, where the tables are assigned and the same staff serves you each evening. NCL automatically puts a $10 per day charge on your credit account, to eliminate the confusion of how to tip when you have different servers at every meal. We believe that the guaranteed gratuities takes away much of the motivation to provide exceptional service.

The food served at dinner was pretty good, although the variety of selections was not as great as on the other cruise lines we’ve sailed with. The breakfast and snack buffets were the same every day. The lunch buffets were different every day, but the use of leftovers from the previous evening was very obvious. The quality of all the buffets – breakfast, lunch, snack and late night – was less than we are used to. Most of the choices were very mundane, especially noticeable with the ice cream. That probably has something to do with the large numbers of children on board. The buffet foods tended toward fried and high starch foods; there were few vegetables, and the salad bar was downright boring. We have found that both Holland America and Celebrity provide a much better selection of both raw and cooked vegetables, and that their selections and preparation are generally much healthier. Several times we found dishes on the buffet to be mislabeled: as an example, the Granny Smith (apple) soup tasted and looked like berry soup, and the peach/apricot/yogurt soup turned out to be vichyssoise. Hot food was not necessarily kept hot. Even the chocoholics buffet was disappointing both in the selections available and the lack of flavor in most of the cakes.

We noted that NCL really pushes sales of alcoholic beverages, especially at the pool. There was always at least one table with buckets of beer by the pool, and the servers were frequently trying to persuade us to order drinks.

Another thing we found to be rather unpleasant was seeing people wearing tee shirts and flip-flops in the dining rooms. That was way too “relaxed” for our tastes. The dining rooms were nicely appointed with linens, silverware and china, and nicer dress would have been more appropriate to the atmosphere.

There were several issues with the facilities. The carpet had loose seams in many places, some of which were dangerous. The ship has toilets in the public restrooms that flush automatically, but many times they were not working properly. We did learn that there is a button you can push to flush it, but that didn’t always work, either. In the Raffles Court (the buffet-style dining area), there was a constant problem with wet floors, in part due to the overflowing ice machines. We have never seen that on other ships, even though the pool and buffet dining are on the same deck, as on all ships. On deck 12, in the pool area, there were too many changes in level, all only one step, but it is necessary to watch carefully when walking around there. And finally, there was a perennial issue with lack of supplies, such as cups and glasses in Raffles Court, and paper towels in the public restrooms.

Disembarkation (or debarkation, as they call it) could have been difficult for us had we not had prior cruise experience. On the other cruise lines we’ve been on, we were required to fill out a questionnaire detailing our flight plans, and the colored tags were handed out based on flight times. On NCL the tag color is determined solely by what deck your cabin is on. Because we had seen that people were still coming off the ship around noon when we were waiting to board, and since we were flying out of Newark airport on an early flight, we did go to the reception desk and were able to get our tag color changed to the first group after the express debarkation. On the positive side, the debarkation talk was the most informative we’ve been to.

Cruises on NCL ships cost comparatively more than HAL and Celebrity, but the food, service and facilities are of a lower quality. Neither the quality of the food nor the quality of service matches the cost, and in Raffles Court (the buffet restaurant) they don’t supply trays, or include spoons when they hand out utensils and napkins (the latter are paper at lunch, & the former are not always easy to find). When we asked for seasick medicine, they wanted to give us only one packet for two people and we had to beg to get a second packet. Photographs cost as much or more than on other lines, but when you purchase them they are placed in regular weight envelopes instead of the heavy-duty, protective folders other cruise lines use.

When we cruise, one of the highlights is getting to know the crew. On all prior cruises we have met our room steward shortly after boarding, but it was several days before we met ours on the Spirit. In the dining room there were two waiters who served us for dinner on two nights, but mostly it was not possible to build relationship with the waiters. The exception, which was mentioned above, occurred on our last night on board, when we had the one waiter we had really connected with for the second time. We immediately started having fun with him and his assistant jumped right into the merriment, so we ended up laughing a lot and having a great time. The same waiter had come by to say hello a couple of other times when we were not at one of his tables, but he was the only one to do anything like that. We did have a long conversation with one of the waiters in Raffles Court, also, but for the most part the crew is very impersonal and does not make eye contact. The main exceptions to the impersonal crew were one of the photographers, Pryme Tyme, and Ariel Jacobe’s singers, who would always call us by name, and of course, the Alambre Trio, who knew us from before. We need to say also, that when we approached crew members with questions they were helpful. In our experience it helps to make for a more pleasant time, and passengers sometimes receive special attention when they are polite and make it a point to interact pleasantly with the crew.

The ports we visited – Kings Wharf, Bermuda, Tortola, & St. Thomas – were okay, but not exciting. However, on St. Thomas you don’t want to miss seeing Magen’s Bay, one of the most beautiful beach settings in the world. In addition, the St. Thomas Sky Ride to Paradise Point offers a beautiful view, as well as a short nature trail that features native plants, small creatures and beautiful birds. One thing NCL did right was to have separate gangways for leaving and re-entering the ship. That eliminated the usual congestion and confusion, and other cruise lines would do well to handle ports in the same way.

For both of us, the wonderful music groups and our good encounters with the crew, were the highlight of the cruise. For the writer there was the additional pleasure of hearing a crew member call her name as we were walking out to the lifeboat drill (it was the bandleader for the Alambre Trio), and having eight evenings in a row of listening to the Alambre Trio live.

After this experience we have decided that we much prefer cruise lines that cater to the older, retired folks, over those that are designed to appeal to families or younger people who like to party all the time. We like the structure, the food, the service, and the more formal style of Celebrity and Holland America. NCL would definitely not be our choice for future cruises, although the writer would consider going back if it was the only way to see her favorite band.

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Hot Deals and Specials Promotions

Posted 09/13/07

StargazerCruises.com Specials and Promotions*

Princess Cruise Line $100 Deposit per person PLUS 2 onboard coupon booklets per cabin ends 9/13/07

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines book between 9/12 and 9/25/07, receive a FREE Garment Bag

Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) book between 9/17 - 9/30/07 receive a FREE Travel Gift and 2 onboard coupon booklets FREE.

Princess Cruise Line $100 deposit per person PLUS 2 onboard coupon booklets per cabin ends begins 9/20 ends 10/05/07

Cunard Line 50% reduced deposit PLUS shipboard credit begins 9/20 ends 9/27/07

Come see us at the upcoming Northwest Metroport Business Expo on 9/20/07 from 10:00a to 3pm at Northwest High School in Roanoke Texas, booth #44, register for door prizes and cruise discount offers.

FREE Brochures for all major cruise lines available. Email guy@cruiseplanners.com to order the latest brochures from your favorites cruise lines.

*New bookings only, no additional cash value or substitutions.

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Cruise Hawaii and Golf play 7 Courses on 4 islands in 7 days

Posted 09/13/07

Did you know that NCL is the Official Cruise line of the PGA Tour and Champions Tour?

Golf Hawaii

You can play up to 7 beautiful courses on 4 different Hawaiian Islands in only 7 days.

Reserved Tee Times, Organized by a PGA Golfer Professional and staff

Pro Shop, Callaway Club Rental, Golf Lessons, Shoe Rental, optional tournaments all available.

Or Golf Bermuda

Bermuda has more golf courses per square mile than anywhere else in the world.

Reserved Tee Times, Organized by a PGA Golfer Professional and staff

Pro Shop, Callaway Club Rental, Golf Lessons, Shoe Rental, optional tournaments all available.

Call Guy Toll-Free at 1-877-294-7668 or email guy@cruiseplanners.com to arrange your golf cruise adventure today. Tell your golfer buddies, we can even set up group packages.

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New Princess Flash Specials posted today

Posted 09/13/07

New Princess Cruise Line FLASH Special Promotions posted today, valid through 9/19 based on availability.

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Tell us about it

Posted 09/13/07

Tell us about your favorite vacation.

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Princess Unveils New Itineraries

Posted 09/14/07

Princess Details Diverse Array of Itineraries to Hawaii and Tahiti in 2008-09

Golden Princess Debuts in Hawaii with most Hawaii Cruises from West Coast;

Tahitian Princess Introduces Enhanced Itinerary

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Repositioning

Posted 09/14/07

The question was: What does it mean when a cruise is called "repositoning",

Cruise lines set itinararies according to schedules for different parts of the world based upon peak seasons for travelers. So when it says a ship is repositioning, it means the ship is going to a location to serve a peak season in a particular area. Unlike hotels, ships can take advantage of proximity to attain the most lucrative and exotic locations. Repositioning cruises are usually offered at a bargain fare, but remember they are one way. Check out some of these offers on this site.

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Favorite Cruise Experience

Posted 09/17/07

Tell me about your fav cruise line

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Honeymoon Cruise

Posted 09/17/07

Donna---Thank you so very much for arranging such a wonderful honeymoon cruise for us. We sailed on the Enchantment and absolutely loved it. We cannot wait to take another cruise soon.Our stateroom was great and the service was the best. Thanks for the bottle of wine and candy you had sent to our room, it was very nice of you.Cozumel was our favorite by far and our excursion to Nachi Cocum beach was like being in heaven. We truly did not want to leave.We dined with 2 other couples and we enjoyed getting to know new people and had a fabulous time. Our meal at Chops was the best I have ever had!!!!Thanks again and we look forward to booking many more cruises through you!!!!Tracey and Andre

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Happy Halloween with Carnival Cruise Line

Posted 09/18/07

Carnival Cruise Lines is partnering with M&Ms on a month-long "Frightfully Fun" Halloween promotion that includes costume contests, giveaways, scary movies and trick-or-treating. The "Frightfully Fun" promotion, which is also sponsored by Coca Cola, will be held on all Carnival voyages departing between Oct. 13 and Oct. 30. Guests sailing on Carnival during the period are encouraged to bring their costumes to compete for prizes during the costume contest and parade. Carnival crew members will be dressed in costume, as well. Guests ages 1 to 14 are also invited to go trick-or-treating along the ships' promenades and through various public rooms and areas, stocking up on M&Ms candies, including Milky Way, Snickers, Skittles, Starburst and Twix.

For more information please contact:

Linda Cahill, Travel Consultant

Toll Free: 1-888-795-3695

email: lcahill@travelbylandorsea.com

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Carnival, M&Ms Team Up for Halloween

Posted 09/18/07

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Carnival's "Fun Ship Freddy" Celebrates 5th Birthday

Posted 09/18/07

Carnival Cruise Lines' mascot Fun Ship Freddy celebrated his fifth birthday with fleetwide celebrations attended by kids from the "Camp Carnival" children's program. During the festivities, the children sang "Happy Birthday" to the primary-colored mascot and enjoyed an oversized Freddy-shaped birthday cake. The character, whose design resembles Carnival's signature winged funnel, was launched five years ago and has become a popular figure with the 575,000 children who sail on the "Fun Ships" each year. Decked out in his customary cruise staff uniform, the six-foot-tall mascot features expressive eyes, a white-toothed grin, oversized white gloves and sneakers, and the requisite Carnival ID badge. Fun Ship Freddy also has a tux for formal night. Fun Ship Freddy's popularity has led to the creation of a series of plush toys which are sold in the gift shops throughout the Carnival fleet.

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