Archive for the ‘Ship Reviews’ Category

Review of RMS QUEEN MARY 2 Queens Grill – with client’s permission

Atlantic Crossing, Cunard Line, Ship Reviews, Theme Cruises | Posted by cruisepeople
Jul 28 2010
Einlaufen der Queen Mary II während des Hambur...

Image via Wikipedia

I never thought we would travel in the Queens Grill of a Cunard Liner, but the "upgrade fairy" kindly favoured us with such a treat on the eastbound crossing of 21st May on Queen Mary 2. Prior to this, the only time we were in the Queens Grill was to attend muster drill on the QE2 two years ago. In honour of our 40th wedding anniversary, which was a few days prior to the voyage, we splurged by booking a Princess Grill stateroom. The upgrade came about three weeks before the trip. The U.S. Cunard site (which Canadians must use) is silent on anniversary celebrations, but the U.K. site promises a number of treats – and the actual anniversary date doesn’t need to be whilst on board, just reasonably close. I took a chance and sent a copy of the marriage certificate to Cunard’s California office and asked if we would qualify for this package. A quick reply assured us we did. The cost of a postage stamp was a good investment: we were provided with some roses, a respectable bottle of faux-champagne (in addition to the real thing provided to everyone in Queens Grill and the not-so-good bubbly sent from the Cunard World Club) a box of chocolates, a certificate from the Commodore and a voucher for a photograph of our choice. On one of the cruise blog sites, those on this side of the pond complain about the discrepancy in this complimentary amenity, so we were lucky to get it.

We had the added bonus of departing from Manhattan’s traditional Pier 90 thanks to a collision between some other ship and the main gangway of the new terminal in Brooklyn. My initial concerns about whether humble people like us would feel out of place in QG were quickly dispelled at the first lunch with the friendly people at our table. We were immediately at ease with a couple from England and another couple from Scotland. A seventh person had been squeezed in at our table for six and this was a stroke of luck. That seventh man was the conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of London. A reduced orchestra of 30 was on board to give two performances each of two concerts. The final concert was a thoroughly-enjoyable Last Night of the Proms – with Union flags provided. Three of our table-mates joined the passenger choir. I resisted the invitation explaining that I might be barely acceptable for Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia, but my participation in Handel’s Largo in four-part harmony would be grim indeed. With that explanation the maestro ceased further attempts at conscripting me.

The Queens Grill experience was everything we expected it to be. The two Grills restaurants are almost identical, but as is to be expected there is slightly more choice in QG and the Maitre D’ encourages off-menu ordering, something we never did because the daily and the a la carte menus offered all our favourite meals. It is easy to be spoiled by such a degree of luxury, although Cunard has never disappointed us on any of our seven crossings – the first one was on the QE2 in 1973 – however modest our accommodation. Regarding the “elegant casual” dress code (jacket but no tie required) for the first and last night of a crossing, I had read that many men will wear a tie, especially in the Grill rooms. I have never gone to dinner in an elegant restaurant without a tie and I don’t intend to start now, so I was pleased that a significant number of men, albeit in the minority, felt the same way. On formal nights, formal meant formal to at least 90% of the men. From my wanderings about the ship, I would say the Grills were no more formal than the Britannia restaurant. Most of the women did not wear ball gowns; tasteful long dresses were in the majority.

I have been asked by some friends whether the difference in fare between Princess and Queens Grills is worth it. My answer would be yes – if money is no object. But for people of modest means it probably isn’t worth it. The fare difference between PG and the smallest QG suite, which we had, is usually considerable, although occasionally there is a superb deal offered. PG passengers get the same priority embarkation as QG and use of the Grills deck, Concierge Lounge and Queens Grill Lounge. The small QG suite is about a third larger than the PG rooms and if you put a dollar value on the other benefits: real Champagne, the complimentary in-suite bar (two bottles to start with and the promise of a refill if needed) the Jacuzzi and butler service, it may not be worth it to many people. But it was a fabulous experience and if Cunard ever wants to upgrade us again we won’t say no!

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OASIS OF THE SEAS Review

Caribbean, Royal Caribbean, Ship Reviews | Posted by cruisepeople
Jul 14 2010

Cruise was great for everyone – kids ALL had a great time together :-)   Better than even hoped for.
Flights were fine.  Check in was very easy.smooth and efficient.

Entertainment was the best – ice show was absolutely awesome (how do they do that on a ship that’s rocking in rough seas???), the water show was spectacular (a little “artsy” or abstract for *****’s liking) and the big production show was great.  Only the headliner act was embarrassingly awful. (… found him totally entertaining – must be something about teenage boys’ random sense of humour; he was so bad, ******quite enjoyed it!) 

Food was good – it was however disappointing that the standard “ship-board” coffee was totally awfully undrinkable; any alternatives were provided by Seattle’s Best Coffee and cost real money.  I found it rather cheap that one could not get a latte or even a decent cup of coffee anywhere on the ship without paying.  Pasties and doughnuts were free at all the specialty outlets – but you want a cuppa to go with the treat!  and that costs…  If you ordered a cappucino after dinner (in the dining room), you had to hand over your Seapass card to your waiter and pay your $3.95!  In that regard I preferred Voyager of the Seas, which had some of the boutiques and shops and specialty eating places, but kids could still make their sundaes for free (ice cream shop on the Boardwalk is $$) and one could always get a goodie and a great cup of coffee anytime, at no charge.

She’s a beautiful ship, and an amazing feat, but for me, the step up to Voyager was more spectacular/impressive.  Oasis just felt like “more” or “bigger” (and more commercial), whereas Voyager really broke some kind of barrier for me.  I also found Voyager more beautiful (attention to little details, flowers in nooks, artwork); my kids disagree.  Certainly the Central Park on Oasis is incredible and the whole ship is truly mind-boggling (I mean it’s a floating village), but if it were just ****** and me, I would prefer a smaller, more intimate, elegant and all-inclusive (!) ship.  For a family or multi-generational vacation, however, this was awesome.

Yes, the kids made it to the Atlantis water park in the Bahamas – booking the hotel next door worked great – but in the end they weren’t impressed – lots of hoopla, but short on delivery.  Meanwhile ******, ****** and I went to swim with the dolphins.  This was also available at Atlantis, but we chose the Blue Lagoon – and it was amazing. Certainly if you have clients wanting this kind of experience, I don’t think they’ll be disappointed at Blue Lagoon.  The staff were really awesome and took their time to make sure everyone had a great experience.  The reviews I’d read when comparing the two locations said exactly that, and that the Atlantis location tended to be more commercial, activities were cut short and people felt “ripped off” – kind of like the water park.

Parasailing in St. Thomas was spectacular :-)   As they’d booked an odd number of participants, ******, ****** & I (and ****** as videographer) ended up with our own boat and crew – what a blast!  Sapphire Beach (also St. Thomas) was great afternoon – kids wanted to stay longer.  We took a cab independently, as it seemed the tour cost was high, but if you want a lounge chair and you expect to rent snorkel equipment (even just for an hour), you will pay within a couple of bucks of the excursion rate, and it’s hassle-free.  Not nearly as inflated as the web reports had me believe!  But we just spread out towels and shared the snorkel equipment as there were 5 of us, so we were still ahead of the game, but not by much.  Oh, and of course the Oasis excursion appeared just after we’d marked our little spot in the sand – the loungers were set out in lines (right in front of us) and we were surrounded by our shipmates anyway!

St. Maarten was blazingly, unusually hot (August-type weather we were told!)  Majo Beach (the one right next to the airport) was a highlight for the teenagers.  They were a little panicked about getting back to the ship on time (it was a squeeze), but they took tons of pictures and loved playing in the high surf!  The SeaTrek helmet dive was fun; I found it hard on my ears (I’ve had ear surgery, so that was a given possibility) and ****** was hungover (ooops).  But I did find the quality of the coral, the clarity of the water and the number of fish somewhat disappointing – in St Thomas, too.  I remember when I first snorkelled, just how stunningly brilliant everything was; it’s apparent that we haven’t been very kind to our environment in the past 25 years, and what I saw was not the fault of any tour operator but just representative of over use and lack of respect by tourists for all these decades.  Sad…

So all in all, a full week – lots of great adventures, lots of good memories, and a much more functional family :-)   A well-spent vacation, I’d say.  And one of the most entertaining evenings we had, was when we all headed over to “Smiles”, the kids’ portrait studio on the Boardwalk, and spent an hour trying on weird costumes and wild wigs and having a series of family photos taken.  Our favourite will go out with the annual Christmas letter this year as our new “family photo”.  The photographer played along, and we all had a lot of fun.

But a note re: disembarkation… Upon leaving Oasis, any airport-bound people are “herded” out to the taxi stands (ok, there are thousands of us, I get it.)  There are two options: ordinary taxis to the left and vans for larger parties to the right, oh and a shuttle service which is exorbitant around the corner.   I don’t remember the exact rate, but I think the taxis/vans work out to about $10/person.  Shuttle was $100 or something stupid for the 10 minute ride – so skip that option.  Advise anyone going on Oasis to AVOID the vans.  Originally we were going to take 2 cabs to the airport, but for the same price (since it’s per head) we opted to go by van so we could travel together and then hang out for the extra couple of hours we had to kill before our flights home.  Well, it turns out 95% of the vans won’t take 6 people, and the few that do, are somehow “spoken for”.  And there are 20 cabs for every van.  So if you take an ordinary taxi, you can be away from the peer in relatively short order, despite the masses of people pouring from the ship and the lack of any crowd control mechanisms.  If you wait for a van (for 6) you will stand there for likely 2 hours or more (in the blazing heat) and then still only get one because you literally hijack it while still in motion, and muscle your way insistently past the big burly black driver and his even more belligerent dispatcher.  No amount of sweet talking, elbowing, bribing, bold-faced waving cash around, or even sitting on a curb in a near-diabetic-coma (Richard) will get you a van any earlier.  The dispatcher, who had promised us a 6-person van an hour earlier, then ran up and actually told us we could not have that vehicle – told us to get out of it! – and when I simply refused (to my children’s great embarrassment), he banged on the side of the van and ran after us to collect his tip….  Welcome back to the real world!

Well, speaking of “real world” I guess I can’t avoid the boxes any longer – better get back to my unpacking.

 

Thanks to a repeat client of The Cruise People who took her time to share her thoughts with us and allowed us to share with you.

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Ultra-Luxury ships – Alaska In Retreat – Hapag-Lloyd’s Air Cruises and a Non-Stop Sailing – Cunard Joins The Overnight Stay Lines

Asia, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Lines, Hapag LLoyd, News, Positioning Voyages, Ship Reviews | Posted by cruisepeople
Mar 29 2010

by Mark Tre’ – “The Cruise Examiner”

This week, we look at initial reviews for Seabourn Odyssey while we await those for Silver Spirit, delivered more recently. As well, we have news of a retreat on Alaska’s head tax, air cruises and a one-time voyage from Singapore to Nice from Hapag-Lloyd and overnight stays for Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth.

STORY OF THE WEEK
Feedback for Seabourn Odyssey and Silver Spirit
So far, the Cruise Critic has accumulated a dozen reviews for Seabourn Odyssey, which has been in service since last summer, but just one so far for Silver Spirit, which has only been in service for three months.

Of the dozen for Seabourn Odyssey, five, or just under half, award the latest Seabourn ship five stars plus and three award five stars, accounting for three-quarters of the feedback so far. What is surprising, however, is that she has earned three scores of only four stars and one of just three. Review sites are notorious of course for producing complainers, but these account for a quarter of the reviewers. As the ship’s best reviews came from her initial Mediterranean cruises and the poorer reviews once she had moved over to the Caribbean, one must wonder about that as well.

The majority of the initial reviews were full of praise for Seabourn, something one would expect from a line whose followers are so steadfast in their praise and their loyalty. A number of reviewers, even critical ones, aid that they would return to Seabourn or bought future cruise reduction certificates on board, but it’s also worth looking at some of the disappointments.

One comment is that Seabourn Odyssey‘s standard suites have become quite narrow, at 9.5 feet, one reviewer describing them as “tunnel-like,” as the ship is much wider than the traditional Seabourn ship. Some complained that the service had suffered, something that hopefully Seabourn will overcome once the new ship is bedded in. This may take some time however as the second and third in the series are delivered. One peculiar observation made by a couple of reviewers was that the movement of Seabourn Odyssey made them feel seasick, but both these comments came in the Caribbean.
Overall, there is no question that the three new Seabourn ships will totally change the product. Instead of a trio of 212-berth yacht-like vessels that suffer from a genuine shortage of verandas, the new ships are each more than twice the size of the traditional Seabourn ships, and it is interesting to see the number of Regent clients who seem to be trying her out now that Seabourn has more or less joined the big ship league.

If Seabourn decides to keep the traditional ships as well as the new trio, it will have more than tripled its berth inventory in a very short period.

Silver Spirit has only received a single review so far at Cruise Critic. Although it only awarded four stars, such a sample is too small to be representative even if it was written by a travel professional. Further review will have to wait but one interesting observation is that this ship has television screens that appear and disappear into a mirror.
Meanwhile, there is no question that the new ships have brought Seabourn, and to some extent, arch-competitor Silversea into the next rung up in terms of size. Others have compared the new ships to Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Europa, which has now been sailing for ten years with the world’s top cruise ship rating. The new ships also remind one of Royal Viking Line, whose initial trio of ships was limited to 550 passengers. Ironically, however, if one compares the new ships with Silversea’s last generation, Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper of 2000/01, the new ships actually have lower Passenger Space Ratios:

Ships of 610 to 650 feet were normal-size ocean liners in the past and the upmarket lines are trying to bring the exclusivity of the small ship experience into a larger platform. They will in all likelihood succeed, as they are now back to ship sizes that were common with the likes of Norwegian America Line and Swedish American Line in the past, as well as the newly-born Royal Viking Line of 1972. None of the latter survive to-day, but as the cruise market has now grown enough to support the four larger 40- to 60,000-ton ships of Crystal Cruises and Regent Seven Seas as well, this will now mean a fleet of a dozen large ultra-luxury ships sailing under five brands.

Whether all those brands will survive may be the next big question, but with lines such as Oceania and Azamara Club Cruises following close behind the trend is good that consumers will not be stuck with just mammoth ships carrying 5,000 and more people, as have been developing recently in the mass market. The likes of Seabourn, Silversea, Regent, Crystal and Ocean and Azamara will give people plenty of opportunities to trade up if they wish to escape the madding crowd.

THIS WEEK IN CRUISING
Alaska In Retreat
At Seatrade last week, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell and the cruise lines that are suing the state came to an agreement whereby the cruise lines will drop their suit if Alaska cuts back its head tax by 25%, from $46 to $37.50. Alaska will lose 140,000 passengers in 2010 because of this levy, which after another $4 to cover “ocean rangers” riding cruise ships, comes to $50 a head.

Governor Parnell was quoted as telling a luncheon meeting last Friday that “In an audience of thousands, I heard our state singled out for its costly fiscal and regulatory environment. No other jurisdiction has a head tax as high as ours.”

The present session of the Alaska state legislature ends April 18 and whether the new law can be passed by then is not yet known. Whenever it is passed, it will take immediate effect so the tax cuts would be felt right away.

In the last few months, it has been announced that more expensive ships such as  Crystal Symphony, Disney Wonder and Oceania‘s Regatta will be sailing into Alaska in 2011. But it will take some time before Alaska can see the sort of volumes it did in the past from the main market lines, who are now committing to their 2012 itineraries.

Meanwhile, while Alaska has been busy trying to extract more money from cruisers, Celebrity Cruises, who has been big there for some years, has committed to putting three “Solstice” class ships in Europe in 2011 and has recently confirmed that 40% of the line’s business now comes from outside the US. And Royal Caribbean is planning to deploy ten ships to Europe in 2011.

Hapag-Lloyd’s Air Cruises and a Non-Stop Sailing Singapore to Nice
In an innovative move for its German-speaking clients, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises have outfitted an Airbus 319 with 42 Club Class seats for a series of air cruises to points of interest. The plane, which has been named “Albert Ballin” after the inventor of cruising, will offer a variety of 3-, 12- and 21-day air cruises, with 3-day air cruises to Luxor and Marrakech, a 12-day itinerary to Hong Kong, a 21-day itinerary to the Silk Road. Other departures will take discerning travellers to South America and Australia. The first air cruise left Hamburg on January 27, 2010, using a Boeing 737 with 52 seats under command of Capt Erik Olsen and First Officer Sebastian Franz. In future, Hapag-Lloyd may consider using the aircraft to offer a special option to connect with cruises by its ships as well.

Hapag-Lloyd has meanwhile turned a problem into an opportunity, for some travellers at least. Their 420-guest five-star Europa has developed a problem in one of her four engines and three cruises that were part of her world cruise have had to be cancelled. Instead, she will be offering a real rarity, a non-stop liner voyage from Singapore to Nice, between May 4 and 21. The 17-night voyage with no stops is being offered from Euros 7,990 per person, with flight out to Singapore from Frankfurt, and there will be no single supplements. The voyage is to bring the ship back to Europe so that her defective engine can be replaced.

Cunard Joins The Overnight Stay Lines
With the delivery of the new Queen Elizabeth later this year, Cunard Line will join the ranks of cruises lines such as Crystal Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and Voyages to Antiquity who now include overnight stays to their cruise itineraries. With the fleet returning to three ships since the sale of  QE2, Cunard is taking the opportunity to add overnight stays at ports such as Venice, St Petersburg, New York and Amsterdam.

It is becoming an increasing mark of the quality lines that they are willing to allow their guests time in port overnight at interesting destinations so that they can enjoy the local cuisine and entertainment options rather than sailing at 6 PM and opening their casinos to all takers. Generally, the upmarket lines tend not to rely as much on board spend, which for more main market lines is now approaching 30% of their overall revenues.

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Guides: Berlitz, Stern or Frommer

Ship Reviews | Posted by cruisepeople
Dec 07 2009

Not that many years ago, there used to be annual cruise guides issued by the "three F’s" – Fielding’s, Fodor’s and Frommer’s, but to-day the big three are the "Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships" (692 pages), now in its 25th edition, "Stern’s Guide to the Cruise Vacation" (736 pages) in its 20th edition since 1974, and "Frommer’s Cruises and Ports of Call, Complete" (704 pages), whose first cruise guide appeared in 1985.
Frommer’s also produces individual volumes for Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe and North America. All three have recently published their 2010 editions and The Cruise Examiner has had a look at how they compare.

Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships 2010
The Berlitz guide is compiled by Douglas Ward, who began his career as a jazz and dance band leader in the first Queen Elizabeth and now lives in the UK. Over his career he has spent some 5,500 days at sea and participated in over 990 cruises and 154 Transatlantic crossings. The first edition that appeared in 1985 covered just 120 ships, less than half the number Berlitz rates to-day.
The Berlitz guide is best known for its rating system for cruise ships, along with the fact that the vast majority of the book is taken up by reviews of the individual ships. Berlitz scores each ship on the basis of a possible 500 points for Ship, 400 each for Food, Service and Cruise, 200 for Accommodation and 100 for Entertainment, totalling 2,000 points.
So the way Douglas Ward sees it the ship and the cruise take up half the weighted score and entertainment (even though Ward was once part of it) 5% of the overall points, while food and service together account for 40% of the scoring system.
The Berlitz rating system goes up to five stars and, once again in 2010, as for the past ten years, Hapag-Lloyd’s Europa is the only ship to achieve five-stars-plus, a rating that the previous Europa had also achieved.
Among shortcomings of devoting up to two pages to each of 271 ships is an inevitable amount of duplication, not only among sister ships in the same fleet, but also of commentary such as there was not enough variety of breads or cheeses or this ship does not provide cushions for its deck chairs and so on.
However, the introductory section now includes a couple of hundred colour photos (although many are the size of postage stamps) and covers a number of interesting subjects such as the effect of the credit crunch on cruising, the resurgence of class, the loss of some of the trappings of traditional cruising, what’s new in the world of cruising and industry trends. As well, it lists the biggest suites afloat.
Berlitz claims to be used by 35,000 North American travel agencies and in the UK one cruise agent alone gave away 10,000 copies in the past year in return for ship reviews to be published on its own web site.

Stern’s Guide to the Cruise Vacation 2010
Steven Stern, a retired Chicago lawyer now living in Boca Raton, has sailed in more than 750 ships, most of which he managed by spending three months a year during his law career researching cruise lines and cruise ships (he also publishes a volume on resorts).
One of the most noticeable (and useful) things about the Stern guide is that it publishes at least one menu and one daily programme for each major cruise line in order to give a taste of the experience and what goes on on board ship. And included in his reviews of almost 300 ships are 223 black and white photos illustrating many different aspects of cruising and the ships he is writing about.
One thing Stern does that American guides have traditionally not done is to include European lines such as Aida, Fred Olsen, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Hurtigruten, P&O Cruises, Peter Deilmann and Viking River, not to mention Louis and Swan Hellenic, plus Asian and Australasian operators such as P&O Australia and Star Cruises.
Stern allows up to six stars in his rating system, which of course Europa achieves. But the two Crystal ships, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria in their Queen’s Grills, Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner and Voyager and the whole of the Seabourn and Silversea fleets achieve six-stars-plus. However, the SeaDream ships achieve only five-stars-plus compared to top ratings with Berlitz (see below).
While Stern has chosen to rate most ships, many, mainly coastal and river ships but also those of Aida, are not graded. One thing he does though is to categorize them into four groups: Deluxe, Premium, Standard and Economy, within which groups he then awards up to six stars.
One of the peculiarities of this book is that pictures of Stern are liberally scattered throughout his work, as if to prove he has been there, but he is able to bring up much more detail than the Berlitz system allows outside its ships’ commentary sections – in terms of planning a cruise, how to book it and how to get the best price.
For those interested in the actual destinations as well as the ships, Stern provides one of the most complete guides of the three reviewed to-day, and while his rating system is not as detailed, his conclusions and the reasons he gives for them hold true.

Frommer’s Cruises and Ports of Call 2010
Unlike Berlitz and Stern’s, Frommer’s covers only ships sailing from North America, so this makes it immediately less useful for an international reader. Not only are lines such as P&O and Aida excluded but neither is there any coverage of American-based river operators who run ships in Europe.
Frommer’s divide the market up into three chapters on the mainstream lines, the ultra-luxury lines and small ships, sailing ships and adventure cruises, while the ports are divided up into the US mainland, Caribbean, Alaska and British Columbia, Mexico, Bermuda, Hawaii, New England and Eastern Canada and US river ports, with no coverage for the rest of the world.
Rather than just stars, Frommer’s uses a rating system from 1 to 5, with the best being 5 and rate the lines rather than their ships, describing the line in a nutshell, the experience and a section on pros and cons which is very useful. It also gives a more detailed passenger profile for each line. Frommer’s also reviews ships by classes, which avoids repetition when so many ships in each fleet are sister ships these days.

Bibliography
BERLITZ COMPLETE GUIDE TO CRUISING & CRUISE SHIPS 2010 (692 pages)
by Douglas Ward
Berlitz Publishing, PO Box 7910, London SE1 1WE
Ships covered: 271 worldwide.
Pages devoted to background: 170
Pages devoted to ships: 493
Pages devoted to ports: 11 (maps)
STERN’S GUIDE TO THE CRUISE VACATION 2010 (736 pages)
by Steven B Stern
Pelican Publishing Co, 1000 Burmaster Street, Gretna LA 70053
Ships covered: almost 300 worldwide.
Pages devoted to background: 200
Pages devoted to ships: 382
Pages devoted to ports: 124
FROMMER’S CRUISES AND PORTS OF CALL 2010 (704 pages)
By Matt Hannafin
Wiley Publishing Inc, 111 River Street, Hoboken NJ 07030
Ships covered: those sailing from North America only.
Pages devoted to background: 77
Pages devoted to ships: 282
Pages devoted to ports: 301

Conclusions
For those who want an analytical approach the Berlitz guide provides that detail and for those who want an anecdotal approach Stern’s provides more detail on aspects other than the ships than does Berlitz, e.g.. best beaches, cruising for tennis nuts, joggers etc. Frommer’s meanwhile can only be of interest to those in North America or those planning to visit there, which is why European bookshops stock Frommer’s in their American section.
For those who might want to buy all three cruise guides (more than 2,100 pages of information), Amazon has a discounted package that amounts more or less to all three guides for the price of two.
But while we’re at it, as Berlitz is the only guide to have a detailed system whereby ships can amass points out of 2,000, which are the ten best ships according to them? Well, they are:
Europa – 1,851 points
SeaDream – II 1,788 points
Seabourn Odyssey – 1,787 points
SeaDream I – 1,786 points
Seabourn Legend – 1,779 points
Seabourn Spirit – 1,770 points
Seabourn Pride – 1,769 points
Silver Shadow – 1,760 points
Silver Whisper – 1,760 points
Hanseatic – 1,740 points
And at the bottom of the Berlitz list? The small US-flag coastal cruisers operated by the likes of Lindblad, American Canadian Caribbean Line and American Cruise Lines. And what does Frommer say about them? "Very casual, and for the most part very plain." And as for Stern, well he just does not rate these ships, but he does give a "strong points" commentary for some, as he does for all the larger lines, and Berlitz gives us a "best for" rating in terms of the type of passenger each ship is best suited for. Frommer’s contribution is its pithy "The Verdict," which is given for each line.

Whatever one says, the extent of detail given in all three guides is good not only for the novice cruiser finding their way around the hundreds of opportunities that now exist, but also for the veteran cruiser who wants to know the latest about the newest ships.
This market is changing constantly, not only in terms of the delivery of new ships but also in terms of which lines are still there and which might have been taken over by others.

(Source: By Mark Tré – Cybercruises.com)

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St. Lawrence River Cruise Review

C.T.M.A., Canadian Cruises, Ship Reviews, Theme Cruises | Posted by cruisepeople
Jun 25 2008

 

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TO THE MAGDALEN ISLANDS BY SHIP:

MONTRÉAL TO THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE

Québec’s Francophone community has long known about the attractions of the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, but the word has not yet reached the rest of Canada to any great extent. I thought the time had arrived to see these islands for myself.

What I knew was that the archipelago was about 50 (80 kilometres) miles from one end to the other, and that the population of 13,000 was about 95 percent francophone. A glance at the map showed me that the Magdalens were roughly equal in distance from Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton, while the Gaspé Peninsula and Newfoundland were slightly farther away. There is a regular ferry service between the Magdalens and Prince Edward Island.

In the summer season, the ferry C.T.M.A. Vacancier leaves Montréal each Friday afternoon, stops briefly late Saturday at Chandler, a small town on the Gaspé, and reaches Cap-aux-Meules on the Magdalen Islands on Sunday morning. Passengers have the option of staying at hotels, inns and bread-and-breakfast establishments throughout the islands, or living aboard ship for the three days in port. I chose the latter option. Vacancier leaves Cap-aux-Meules on Tuesday evening, stops for about six hours the next day at Chandler, where tours are offered to the famed Bonaventure Island and the Percé Rock, then continues to Québec City for an eight-hour stay on Thursday afternoon. Come Friday morning the ship is back in Montréal.

Vacancier is not a conventional cruise ship. In fact, she was built as an overnight ferry some 35 years ago for service in the Baltic and adjacent waters. She has undergone several name changes and refurbishings over the years, and she has plied various European waters, but for the last five years she has sailed for C.T.M.A. (Co-operative Transport Maritime & Aérienne). Her captain, officers and crew are mostly from the Magdalens. Some are completely bilingual in French and English, others’ fluency in English varies considerably. My own knowledge of French is limited, but this was never a handicap during my week aboard and on shore.

Vacancier is 410 feet (125 metres) long. Her passenger capacity is 500 and she can carry 250 automobiles. Her cabins can best be described as basic. Do not look for television or radios, balconies, safes or refrigerators, or chocolates on your pillow at bedtime. And do not expect to pick up a phone and call the galley to order a late-night sandwich delivered to your cabin. I occupied Cabin 605, which had fixed upper and lower bunks, a washbasin with lots of hot water. Toilets and showers were down the hall. Three small clothes closets had more than sufficient space for me, but to my displeasure they contained wire coat hangers, eight all told but four with bent crossbars. An information sheet in my cabin suggested gratuities of $10 per person per day, which seemed just a tad high to me in view of the limited services provided. By the way, some cabins, mostly inside, have their own private facilities. There was no swimming pool, no spa and no casino. Remember, Vacancier is still essentially a ferry that was built for overnight service.

The ship has two lounges, quite spacious and each with a bar, and a small but well-equipped gymnasium with excellent views of the sea. The upper lounge is often used by groups who are participating in theme cruises between June and September. Among the themes for 2008 are bird watching/photography, chocolate, spiritual matters, art, bridge, Scrabble, French immersion and English immersion.

Cruise ships generally have a dress code, often covering all three meals, but aboard Vacancier casual clothing is just fine, regardless of the time of day. The ship’s restaurant on Deck 6 was open for breakfast and lunch, served cafeteria style. Breakfast included the standard dishes; lunch usually offered three choices for the main course. If I had to label the lunch dishes I would use the word “hearty” rather than “elegant.” Dinner, with waiter/waitress service, was served each evening in the dining room on Deck 7. Here the chef had a better chance to shine. The four-course dinner had a choice of two main dishes, one being seafood, which was always very popular. The Magdalens are noted for the quality of their seafood and if you travel during the lobster season, as I did, you will be well rewarded, gastronomically speaking. The dining room uses linen tablecloths and napkins and it has a wine list with about 20 selections. The restaurant and the dining room have windows on three sides; a window table is just the place to admire the passing scenery of the Lower St. Lawrence.

At dinner, a musician supplied pleasant easy-listening music on the keyboard at both sittings. The ship carried one other entertainer, a singer of popular songs, all in the French language, who found ready favour with the francophone passengers (who outnumbered Anglophones about 15 to 1 on my voyage).

Cap-aux-Meules is the principal port of the archipelago and it was here that Vacancier remained from Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. I lived on board and had a continental breakfast each morning. An attendant still made up my cabin each day.

The Îles-de-la-Madeleine are the centre of one of Canada’s principal fishing regions but nowadays tourism is growing in importance. The islands are hilly in some places, flat in others. Long, narrow sandy spits, often stretching for several miles, connect four of the main islands. You are never far from the sea. I had no preconceived notions about the islands, but I took some tours to see for myself.

In some ways the Magdalens, with its red soil, reminded me of Prince Edward Island; in other ways, such as the seemingly casual manner in which houses were situated alongside the road on or on hillsides, I thought of Newfoundland. But the Magdalens still have their own individuality.

My three days passed quickly, faster than I had anticipated. I visited two churches, a winery that produced its specialties from cranberries, strawberries and flowers. I spent some time—and money—at the Fromagerie du Pied-de-Vent whose superb varieties of cheese are, alas, unavailable in Ontario but can be found throughout Quebec. I dropped into a microbrewery that used local barley to make its beer. One afternoon I spent some time at the Musée de la Mer a small maritime museum on Cape Gridley. I visited a smokehouse, Fumoir d’Antan that produced excellent smoked fish using traditional methods. I saw lobsters by the hundred being unloaded from fishing boats at Grande-Entrée. And one evening I sat down for twenty minutes at Tim Horton’s in Cap-aux-Meules, with a cup of coffee and a doughnut.

Vacancier left Cap-aux-Meules on Tuesday evening. The stop at Chandler on Wednesday offered local tours, as did the stop at Québec City on Thursday. I knew the city well enough to simply walk around on my own, visiting the places that appealed to me.

On Friday morning, Vacancier reached Montréal. Disembarkation after breakfast was fast, and within minutes I was in a taxi, heading for Central Station with a VIA rail ticket to Toronto in my pocket. When I left Montréal seven days earlier I boarded the ship without having to undergo the time-consuming security screening that is typical of airports nowadays. Rail travel, too, is simply a matter of stepping aboard the train. These are, to me anyway, factors that added to the enjoyment of my journey.

It is important to remember that Vacancier is not a modern cruise ship. If you can accept her for what she is—fairly basic, reasonably comfortable and on an appealing itinerary—you will likely have a pleasant experience.

Anyone who is thinking of a trip similar to mine may want to visit the website www.ctma.ca for information on the ship and www.tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com for details about the Magdalen Islands.

I made my arrangements through John Lang of The Cruise People and as usual he did a fine job.

 

Gordon Turner

 

 

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Close to the Coast: Seeing Norway’s Scenic Attractions by Ship

Northern Europe, Norwegian Coastal Voyages, Ship Reviews | Posted by cruisepeople
Apr 10 2008

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Copyright – Gordon Turner

It was a spring afternoon and, unexpectedly, the sun shone in Bergen, Norway’s rainiest city,

Not that it mattered much to me that day, because I was about to leave in a few hours and would be gone for 12 days.

I was waiting to board the ship Midnatsol on a journey that is advertised as “The world’s most beautiful voyage.” At Kirkenes, a town near the Russian border, the vessel would turn around and begin the southbound segment. This would be my sixteenth trip, so why, I asked myself, do I keep returning? I had two compelling reasons—most ships in the fleet provide comfort bordering on luxury, and the ships sail through superb scenery to historic cities, flourishing towns and unassuming villages.

Make no mistake, Midnatsol is not a conventional cruise ship. If you are hoping for a flashy casino, a silk-and-sequins floorshow or a lavish midnight buffet, you have stumbled aboard the wrong vessel. That said, Midnatsol and eight of her newer fleetmates are far from being no-frills transportation, with their attractive lounges and dining rooms and well-furnished cabins. All sail on an identical itinerary and were built with a threefold purpose: to take visitors on a scenically striking journey, to carry local residents from one port to another, and to pick up and deliver cargo en route. The ships carry everything from tires to tombstones, from beer to booster seats.

A bit of background is in order here. The coastal voyage, or hurtigruten (“express route”), to use its Norwegian name, has drawn overseas travellers from the time it was established in 1893. It continues to do so to this day. For most of the nineteenth century, the remote towns and villages of northern Norway were isolated from each other as well as from the more populated regions to the south. Roads were nearly non-existent; railways had not arrived. Ships were the sole means of transportation to the larger centres of the south, but they ran only intermittently in summer, and hardly at all in winter. Narrow channels between the mainland and the scattered islands were poorly marked; ships frequently ran aground. Residents of this far-flung and lightly populated area demanded better connections with the rest of the country; they wanted a regular steamship route, with fixed arrival and departure times at each port. Into the breach stepped Captain Richard With, who established a one-ship service between Trondheim and Hammerfest. Nowadays, on a much-expanded itinerary, one ship leaves Bergen every night of the year. And overseas visitors keep on coming.

We sailed out of Bergen at 8 PM. It was still light outside, and by the time we reached the far northern waters of Norway, we would have more than 20 hours of daylight. But that was still several days away. First I had to unpack. My compact yet comfortable cabin had no television, personal safe or mini-fridge. What it did have were two lower berths, a dressing table and chair, a clothes closet, and a tiny bathroom with an unexpected treat—a heated deck.

The 680-passenger Midnatsol’s handsome dining room has picture windows on three sides. Hint: try to reserve a window table; remember, you came to Norway to enjoy its scenery. The dinner menu is table d’hôte, but the three-course meal that first night and throughout the voyage was pleasing to the eye and tasty to the palate. This being Norway, fish formed the backbone, so to speak, of many main courses. Breakfast was spread out over two-and-half hours, 7:30 to 10, buffet style. Lunch, too, was self-service. Midnatsol provided a wide choice of hot and cold dishes; if the sea air had sharpened your appetite you could always go back for more. The three main meals were included in the fare. If I wanted morning coffee or maybe a mid-afternoon snack, I could buy them in the cafeteria. By Canadian standards, Norway is a fairly expensive country; however, the coastal express ships may be one of the least costly ways to see it without resorting to backpacking, hitchhiking or youth hostels.

Our first port of call was Floro, where we docked at 2:15 on Monday morning. That, at least, is what I think happened. I was fast asleep and did not actually see or hear anything. But not to worry. Whatever Floro’s attractions were, I could discover them on the southbound half of the voyage. In 12 days Midnatsol would make 66 stops, calling at 33 cities, towns and villages northbound and the same 33 southbound. If the northbound stop occurred during the night, the southbound stop would likely be in daylight hours. While Floro passed unnoticed by sleeping passengers, later that day everyone was wide awake for the ship’s daylight side trip into the spectacular Geirangerfjord. Cameras worked overtime as the fjord’s steep cliffs, perpendicular waterfalls, and miniature mountain meadows filled the viewfinders. The Geirangerfjord detour takes place only on the northbound leg of the voyage, and only between mid-April and mid-September.

Coastal-voyage ships spend six days above the Arctic Circle, but in Norway, “north of the Arctic Circle” does not mean ice-infested seas with polar bears leaping nimbly from floe to floe. Waters of the Gulf Stream warm the coast, and keep the ports ice free year long. Neither does “north of the Arctic Circle” automatically mean tumultuous seas. Midnatsol sailed mostly in confined waters, with land visible on one or both sides.

Each day our ship made three to seven stops, which lasted from ten minutes to four hours. Ports ranged in size from Trondheim, population 150,000, to villages of only a few hundred inhabitants. Our ship had a fairly rigid timetable, but passengers could disembark at every port. Twice I left the ship, took an overland tour through areas of scenic or historic interest, and re-embarked at a later town. If the ship were in port long enough— about four hours each in Trondheim, Tromso and Honningsvag northbound—local tours could be booked. I tried a few: Trondheim tour—good; Tromso—mediocre, mostly because the guide (“Ms. Motormouth,” according to one passenger) talked incessantly; North Cape—very good.

Just before the voyage ended, I took an informal poll among my table companions. Which was the most attractive port? Several named Svolvaer, a fishing town in the Lofoten Islands, with codfish-drying racks along one side of the harbour entrance, and a dramatic mountain backdrop that almost overwhelmed the town itself.

I disembarked in Bergen with the intention of making the voyage again. The slogan writer that tagged the journey as “The World’s Most Beautiful Voyage” certainly makes a compelling case. It is not compulsory to book a round trip. Some people take the northbound segment, while others book the southbound one. If you asked me to decide between them, I would vote for northbound. In my opinion, it edges out southbound by a narrow margin because it calls at some of the more interesting ports in daylight hours.

I spent two days in Oslo and two in Bergen, both attractive cities in their own right. To get from Oslo to Bergen, I went by rail, a 300-mile seven-hour journey, with the train climbing from sea level at Oslo to 4,000 feet at Finse, then descending another 4,000 feet to reach sea level at Bergen. And the scenery was absolutely splendid.

The specifics:

The vessels fall into four groups: two small ships from 1956 and 1964, one from the 1980s, six from the mid-1990s, and three, including Midnatsol, that entered service in 2002-03. The 1990s ships are larger, about 11,000 tons, while the three newest run to 16,000 tons. All except those from 1956 and 1964 have cabins for the physically handicapped, elevators and laundry rooms. Dress code is casual. Tipping is not essential.

Rates for the coastal voyage are complicated. Prices vary according to the time of year, and there are different rates for about 15 cabin categories. Travel agencies that specialize in either Norway or unusual voyages are more likely to understand the intricacies of booking than general travel agents. I booked through The Cruise People (tel: 1 800 268 6523), website: www.thecruisepeople.ca.

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Review of MILLENNIUM’s Trans Atlantic Positioning Voyage

Atlantic Crossing, Celebrity Cruises, Positioning Voyages, Ship Reviews | Posted by cruisepeople
Dec 31 2007

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Comments received after the conclusion of a 14-night cruise from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale in December 2007:

The meet-and-greet service at Barcelona airport went smoothly. Suitcases went to the ship by truck, to be delivered to cabins. Passengers thus had to concern themselves only with hand luggage on the coach journey from the airport to the ship. Check-in at dockside in Barcelona was fast and efficient. On boarding the ship, a steward offered passengers a glass of champagne/sparkling wine and no, there was no charge. A cabin attendant escorted me to my cabin (in some ships, you are directed to your cabin, but in Millennium you are escorted).

Millennium is a 90,000-ton ship with a passenger capacity of 1,950 and is now seven years old. She appears to be in good condition from a passenger’s viewpoint and has been well maintained. I had a balcony cabin with a standard layout. I used the balcony most days for an hour or two. The bathroom, with a shower rather than a tub, was compact, well-lit and very clean. The cabin steward was capable and unobtrusive.

Millennium offers several dining options. The main restaurant had two seatings for dinner and open seatings for breakfast and lunch. The waiter at my table was experienced and skilful. The dinner menu offered on most evenings four appetizers, three kinds of soup, two salads, five entrees (usually pasta, fish, pork, beef, chicken) and several desserts. One evening I ordered cheese and received four kinds along with crackers, grapes and walnuts. In general, the food was attractively served. One evening I had dinner in the specialty restaurant, the Olympic, which has a cover charge of US$30. I ordered the six-course tasting menu with appropriate wines for each course. It was an excellent meal indeed. The wine added a further $26 to the bill. Other dining options were available on Deck 10. I enjoyed my meals, but perhaps at times they lacked the extra sparkle that I recall from other voyages in Celebrity Cruises ships about ten years ago.

The ship offered all kinds of activities and events. The enrichment lectures were particularly good. In common with most cruise ships nowadays there were numerous ways for passengers to spend their money. I think that cruise rates are fairly reasonable and the ships rely on on-board revenue to top their coffers. In any event, passengers have the choice of spending or not spending. It is entirely possible to take an enjoyable cruise and keep spending at a modest level. For example, I did not buy a photograph of myself taken by the ship’s photographers. Their quality was excellent; depending on size, they cost from $14.95 to $24.95. One noticeable feature of the ship was that announcements on the public-address system were kept to the absolute minimum.

The 14-day cruise offered five ports of call: Malaga (including tours to Granada), Cadiz (tours to Seville), Lanzarote and La Palma (both in the Canary Islands) and Labadee (a tropical beach in the Caribbean). I took at tour of Lanzarote, which consisted mostly of a visit to the volcanic region of the island and its barren yet interesting and unusual landscape. La Palma is the capital of the island of Gomera and should not be confused with Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria.

We had five consecutive days at sea between La Gomera and Labadee, and there was no lack of activities or entertainment aboard the ship. The enrichment lectures were worth attending; entertainment ran from the excellent to the acceptable, at least in my opinion. I visited the two-deck-high library several times. It is a pleasant room and nicely furnished. The selection of books was adequate, but a fair number were in tattered condition. The spa seemed to do brisk business. Bar prices were in line with what most cruise ships charge nowadays.

There was an acupuncture clinic in the ship, but I did not use it. The Internet Café seemed to be busy. For 75 minutes of Internet time, the fee was $40. I heard that its operating speed was very slow, particularly when the ship was well out at sea.

Millennium reached Fort Lauderdale about six o’clock on a Sunday morning. While the ship had arranged the disembarkation procedures to maximize the efficiency and minimize the hassle, the United States Customs and Immigration Service had the final word, so I left the ship a bit later than I had expected.

To sum things up, my cruise had a nice balance of days in port and days at sea. I ate well, slept well and lived well. The arrangements made for me by The Cruise People worked very well.

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REGAL EMPRESS ship Review

Imperial Majesty, Ship Reviews | Posted by cruisepeople
Jul 27 2007

logoimp.jpg Regal Empress is a ship that needs no introduction to most passenger ship lovers so I am not going to bother with a full description of her interiors or her history.
The ship herself is what is generally referred to as a market bottom-feeder – an older ship offering bare-bones budget cruises for mostly neophyte passengers who will hopefully enjoy their cruise experience enough to tempt a longer cruise on a more luxurious ship.
The little ship is the last of a breed of older cruise ships that popularized cruising in the 1970′s and 1980′s. A former tourist class transatlantic liner turned cruise ship with extremely limited facilities compared to what is offered on the mega ships of to-day,
but one that has a distinctive charm and character the modern ships can’t match, and ultimately, one that feeds her passengers well, houses them in relatively comfortable accommodation, and despite not having too many bells and whistles, still manages to give them a good time. And at the end of the day, what more can you ask for?
Unfortunately Regal Empress does get a bit of flack on internet sites, mainly from passengers who booked through a timeshare holiday scheme that perhaps promised them a lot more than what the ship is capable of delivering in terms of hardware. Imperial Majesty Cruises itself is not to blame for this – its marketing of the ship is fairly honest, and the passengers who book directly with it are the ones who usually leave the most satisfied.
So there I was a while standing on the pier at Port Everglades terminal 4. I’d just finished having an argument with a security guard who wouldn’t let me take a photo of the ship from the terminal parking lot. He said it was illegal to take photos of the terminal areas, and didn’t react to kindly when I suggested that if that was the case, he had better go onboard the ships and arrest allthe embarked passengers who were very evidently taking photos ofthose same terminal facilities, but from a better vantage point. You can’t win an argument against the dock fascists nowadays, so before the situation became more difficult, I went into the terminal and checked in.
The warm, glowing woodwork of the Regal Empress‘s embarkation foyer was a world away from the glitz and glamour of the modern cruise ship. A steward led me to my cabin, U90, a wonderful room with neoEdwardian wood panelling that was once part of the tourist class cardroom. The room had a large, very comfortable king-sized bed, and after 34 hours flying from Singapore, I lay down briefly just to try it out. Three hours later I was woken up by announcements for the boat drill.
That event completed, I went up on deck to watch us pull out of the port. Docked next door to Regal Empress at right angles was Princess’s giant Coral Princess. What is with those two Boeing 737 early generation engines welded onto her funnel? astern of her was SeaEscape’s diminutive gambling ship Island Adventure, while off on the other side of the port was Seven Seas Mariner. A quiet day in Port Everglades.
We set sail promptly at 5pm and headed off into a calm sea.
I took time to explore Regal Empress and take in her wonderful atmosphere. She oozes old-world charm for the most part. Imperial Majesty has done some refitting since taking her over from Regal Cruises in 2004, although not all has been in sympathy with the original décor.
The cinema is awful, the showroom bland, but all this is more than made up for by rooms such as the Commodore Club, the Mermaid Lounge, the dining room (which unfortunately inherited the chairs off the old Ocean Breeze), and all the wonderful foyers and staircases.
The ship’s indoor and outdoor promenade decks, and the tiered aft decks are truly delightful, my favourite spot being the small covered outdoor deck just aft of the showroom.
All in all the ship is in remarkably good condition for a 54-year old liner, and I found her maintenance to be of a much higher standard than when I last sailed in her under Regal Cruises ownership in 2000.
Knowing that jetlag would overcome me sooner rather than later in the evening, I booked the first sitting dinner. The passengers at my table were all Regal Empress veterans, one of whom has sailed in the ship over twenty times since Imperial put her on the short cruise run to the Bahamas. There were many regular passengers on board, so the dining room had lots of happy reunions between crew and passengers.
The ship’s crew are all long-serving veterans and work together as one big happy family, led by the very charming hotel manager, Alain Chabot, who has worked on board since her Commodore days. It is this kind of personal touch that is sadly missing on the big ships.
The cuisine was superb – on par, if not better than any of the mass market lines.
Entertainment is where the budget nature of Regal Empress‘s cruise shows itself. There was a troupe of excellent East-European singers and dancers for the shows, but the two-man show band backing them up lacked the necessary oomph, although the talent was there. Similarly, there is no longer a band in the Mermaid Lounge, which nowadays is used mainly for Karaoke. A Latin band and singer did perform in the evenings out by the swimming pool and were generally very well received. Unfortunately the pianist in the Commodore lounge had for the most part only the bar tender and waitress for an audience as the room was largely deserted during my cruise.
I rounded up the evening with a slice of pizza from the expansive midnight buffet and then went to catch up on lost sleep.
The next morning I was up early to watch our approach into Nassau, where we tied up in front of Carnival’s Fascination at around 9am. I spent the morning at the forward end of the promenade deck photographing the parade of arriving cruise ships, all of which performed a nice pirouette in front of Regal Empress before backing into their berths. First to arrive was Celebrity’s Millennium, followed then by Carnival’s Elation, which made a brief half-hour call to unload a medical emergency. The giant Explorer of the Seas arrived next, followed by the very attractive-looking Radiance of the Seas. Once Elation departed, the Sovereign of the Seas arrived, completing the list of visiting cruise ships for the day. Downtown Nassau, as you can well imagine, was a very tight squeeze with all he visiting cruise passengers. I took a brief stroll around the downtown area before spending the rest of the afternoon enjoying Regal Empress‘s lido deck. So many large ships were making my mind boggle.
We sailed from Nassau at 5pm, and once again I enjoyed a splendid meal in the dining room. The night passed far too quickly.
The next morning I was up early. After a quick breakfast on deck, I went up forward to watch our 9am arrival into Port Everglades. We passed closely by outbound Discovery Sun before entering the port. Visitors for the day included Costa Magica, Costa Mediterranea, Caribbean Princess, Carnival Liberty, Millennium, Radiance of the Seas and Westerdam. I was one of the first passengers off the ship as I had to rush down to Miami in time for lunch on board Oceania’s Regatta. I have sailed many times in Regatta‘s sistership Pacific Princess, and it was interesting to see how even more beautiful this class of ship can be when some money is splurged on them. Regatta is proof that it is little things that make the difference.
Summing up my Regal Empress experience, I have to say she is not a ship for cruise snobs who insist on a luxury ship. If you take her for what she is – a well-run 53-year old tourist class liner that is being used on a budget cruise service, then you will enjoy yourself immensely. I certainly did. Go sooner rather than later as this ship ould make that one way voyage to Alang for scrapping at the drop of a hat.

Reproduced with kind permission of Jonathan Boonzaier

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MSC SINFONIA Ship Review June 07

MSC, Ship Reviews | Posted by JimBarb Thomas
Jun 25 2007

We booked a 7-night Mediterranean cruise on MSC’s Sinfonia at the last minute (4 days) through The Cruise People. The price was excellent and the balcony suite was probably the best I’ve seen. It was a good size with loads of storage including a cleverly situated walk-in closet, robes, safe, hairdryer, mini-bar, fresh fruit bowl daily, toiletries, etc. The service was excellent and all of the staff were friendly and helpful.

The destinations; Civitavecchia, Genoa, Monte Carlo, Valencia, Malta and Tunis were great … we chose not to take any tours and instead took either free shuttle buses, public transportation or walked. This worked for us since I had already been to most of these places and my partner has little interest in history … also, very cheap! Since so many destinations were squeezed into 7 days, we were usually in port in the afternoon when the stores were closed, so this would not be the cruise for anyone interested in shopping.

The flight on Skyservice was very long since it went from Toronto to Venice to Rome and the return flight again had a stopover in Venice. This added three hours to the flight and then there’s a one-hour bus trip to the port at Civitavecchia. Those buses were new and comfortable.

I caught a bad cold half-way through the trip which may have had an effect on my opinion of the food. The quality was certainly not up to the standard of other cruise lines such as Celebrity. However, I watched the diners at the tables around us eating all six courses at dinner and even ordering extra (a large plate of polenta!!!). On the plus side, I did lose 4 lbs!

The passengers were primarily European and most of the Canadians on board did not have English as their first language. I noticed that many people were in groups and I would suggest that would be a good idea since we felt quite isolated as an English-speaking couple. Also Europeans tend to cringe into the corner of the elevator if you get on with a big friendly “Hi, how’s everyone today?” Funny, even when you speak really loudly they still don’t understand!

The entertainment director repeated everything in six different languages at the show, which was impressive the first time, but then the natives started to get restless. There were some pretty good bands in the lounges.

Overall, it was a very nice trip — nothing quite like sitting on your own private balcony early on a beautiful morning sailing into Monte Carlo (just like the rich and famous)!

Sheila Paterson

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Review of NORWEGIAN DREAM Sailing 29 May 07

Northern Europe, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Ship Reviews | Posted by JimBarb Thomas
Jun 12 2007

Thanks Diana; We had a super time. All the destinations were worth taking the shore excursions as there was just so much to see. St. Petersburg was our favourite but loved them all. We were 1 day ahead of the riots, although we had opted to go to Berlin ( a very long outing) so weren’t in the town at all, but others had just toured it on the Thurs. We loved going through the Kiel canal and are glad we picked NCL for that reason. This is their last season doing it and it’s quite the experience that lasts most of the day. They lower their funnel and flag poles to get under the bridges and the ship fills the 2 locks and most of the canal. It’s the biggest one that can go through. All the locals come out to watch and wave, sometimes whole towns are grouped by the pier as it goes by. I guess it’s like watching the Segwun up north but on a much grander scale. The food was certainly good but not as spectacular as on other NCL cruises we’ve been on – you sent us to the Southern Caribbean one on the Sun. The ship is too small to lend itself well to freestyle dining as there is a long wait (up to 40 min.) once you put your name in. We met great people and so it didn’t really bother us much but it could be an issue at times (if you were starving). All in all we loved it and knowing all we do now we would still go on the same cruise and ship, unfortunately the itinerary will no longer be the same to recommend to others. Can’t comment on the entertainment as we prefer to wine and dine late so never made it. Thanks for all your help. Barb

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