CruiseMates' Readers Cruise Reviews

Our group of 12 people had never been to New Orleans, so we decided to spend three days before the cruise in the Crescent City. Our thanks to the people on the following lists for many helpful suggestions: Travel Ease, Cruises and Ziners.

Cyndi, from Blue Moon limousine, (1-800-379-1514 or e-mail: forlimo@neworleans.com) met us at the airport. She had a skycap at the gate with her and escorted us to the baggage area. I would highly recommend this company to anyone including TA's for transportation. Cost was $26.25 per person ($135 each way to and from airport and $45 for transfer from hotel to pier. Within minutes we had our bags, were past the personnel checking luggage tickets and boarding the mini-bus to take us to our hotel - Hilton at Riverside. Hotel had great views of the river and the paddleboats and other ships on the river, but it was a big disappointment for a Hilton classified as "classic". Service in the lounges and restaurants were awful. We spent 3 full days in New Orleans and we could have spent more time. We tried as many of the suggestions as possible from fellow travelers and were not disappointed in anything we did.

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Sunday:
Blue Moon picked us up at 11:35 and took us to the pier. Embarkation went smoothly and I was on the ship a little after noon. They started to let people board right at noontime. by 12:15 all 12 people were on board and at their cabins. One of the couples had a different dining room. The Maitre' D was scheduled to handle changes/problems at 1:00 and at that designated time we were first in line and that minor problem was rectified. This was not the first time that a minor seating problem has arose, but I have found that if you are able to get to the Maitre ' D early, they are able to rectify the situation. Once this problem was all set, we met with our group in the lobby and began to tour the ship to familiarize us with the layout. The ship was faded, but she was kept clean. She can definitely use some sprucing up! We watched her depart at 6:00 PM and head down the river. It was a very low-key send off. As we sailed down the Muddy Mississippi, rocking and rolling with every twist and turn, we headed back to our cabins to get ready for late seating. Dinner was pleasant and both our waiter and busboy (actually a waiter) were extremely good and showed a good sense of humor. They would need it with this group.

Monday/Tuesday/Saturday:
These days were spent at sea with plenty of sunshine. There were enough deckchairs and although the pool area was crowded, there was more than enough space to lounge one deck up. For those that wanted to have more shade, there were plenty of spots to pull up a chair on the Lido deck to enjoy reading or napping without too much sun. The ship's staff had planned many activities from horseracing to the newlywed game for those that didn't want to sun. The one armed bandits opened around 8:00 with the full casino opening at noon.

Ports of call:
In Montego Bay, Jamaica our crew tried two different excursions. Some did the river rafting, while some hired a taxi and did Dunn River Falls and toured on our own. The rafting was ok. Each raft holds 2 people and a guide and you take a leisurely ride down the river. The river ride (scenery) reminded one of our crew of river rides taken 30 years ago when he was accepted by our government to attend the University of Vietnam. Most of the guides were young kids who at the beginning were quarreling among themselves. Those of us that did the tour to the Falls on our own saved about $20 per person from the ship's tour. For entrance to the Falls and transport we averaged approx. $26. Versus ship's $46. (Per person) We had a great driver who had just retired after working for 31 years in New York City. He only drove a couple of days a week to keep busy.

In Grand Cayman, we tried scuba diving and snorkeling with the stingrays. Once again, if you have never done the stingray tour, it is a MUST. For those of you who have done it and if you do not have any health issues then you have to try the scuba diving. Once you have dove, you will not want to snorkel again. The only problem is that they take a very limited number in the novice program, (12 from this ship) so you need to get your choice in right away.

The last stop was Cozumel. Here some chose to ride horseback, some shopped and a couple tried the submarine. We had done Tulum on a previous cruise in '93 so last year we tried horseback riding and had so much fun we decided to do it again. They have some minor ruins to see, but the riding is fun and although it is hot, it is not as hot as Tulum. As for the submarine, if you can snorkel, there is no reason to do this. The couple was greatly disappointed in this tour. They felt the price and what you got was definitely not worth it. Snorkeling would have been a better choice. The couple that went shopping found some good buys and was quite happy. They have a background in gems and things. I do not have that background so therefore am leery about what type of deal I am really getting. Last but not least, we stopped in at CARLOS AND CHARLIE'S. What trip to Cozumel would be complete with out a visit there. The music was loud, the place was packed wall to wall and the waiters kept bringing "The Yards" out to the rambunctious travelers.

Debarkation:
We were off the ship with luggage in hand by 9:15. Debarkation was done by color coded luggage tags. They use the same colored tags as those for embarkation, so don't take yours off like I did. We were the third color to disembark (brown, orange, yellow, green, and blue .). I had arranged for Blue Moon to pick us up at 10:30, so I called and they dispatched the mini-bus right over. In the brochure's they say the ship docks around 8:00 AM, but she actually comes in at around 3:00 AM with passengers starting to leave around 8:30 AM. We could have made an earlier flight around 11:45 AM, but had to wait until 3:20 PM. CCL had said not to book any flights before 12:30 PM.

Positives:
The ship's crew was excellent. From the cabin stewards to the pursers, they were attentive, helpful and did everything possible to make the voyage memorable. The food in the dining room was superb and our waiter worked extremely hard to make sure we enjoyed ourselves. He had double duty at our table because at least 8 of the 14 guests had double entrees, plus 2 or 3 appetizers at each meal. All parts of the ship were kept very clean, although it can use some renovations. The decor is kind of dated and faded. The casino staff is one of the best that I have encountered. I can not remember a friendlier engaging group of supervisors in any casino. They always had supervisors floating assisting passengers with any questions that they had regarding any of the games of chance. Perhaps this is why Carnival has so many "first contract" dealers on her. Their influence was reflected quite favorably with how the new dealers interacted with the passengers. The cocktail waiters and waitresses were always around but never intrusive. Every night at dinner, there would be soft drinks served to those at our table (that had requested them) as we entered the dining room.

Negatives:
The ship was a little noisy at night. Mostly from teenagers and a few young couples talking loudly in the halls. People in the area were given discounts off future cruises. The entertainment left a lot to be desired. The ship's company (dancers and singer) were fine along with the cruise director's juggling act, but the rest was not up to CCL's usual standards. The air conditioning was a problem in areas of the ship for the first 3 days and then again on the last night of the ship. Lounges were dead by 11:30 at night. One reason was that in the disco, there were two many children. Maybe this ship should do what other CCL ships do and after a certain time, let the kids have their own disco near the game room. The Endless Summer lounge had a group, but they never seemed to be playing and when they did they couldn't hold or draw a crowd.

Overall:
The whole group would sail on her again. The pluses far outweighed the minuses. We were able to find things to do and make our own entertainment as need be. The ship's staff should be highly commended. In each department staff members consistently gave excellent service to passengers. Shore excursions were plentiful and there was enough of a variety to make sure there was something for everyone.