SMC Discussion Areas

I'm Back , and thank god,  I missed you guys  8)                                                             my wife made me stay off the ships computer   :down:
And I thought I was going to loss my mind  :wow:  talk about having with draws :tounge:.
I did get to talk to Jim on the phone Saturday and that was great , Thanks Jim For calling me
 :smile:  .
You know there was no old Coke or Pepsi  machines in Jamaica but I was offered other stuff
:Oo: and told them  NO THANKS .
 I hope all of you guys had a great time in Chicago and found your treasures.

 Just glad to be back 8)

Who are you?  :Oo:

Glad your back safe!
Did you get enough to eat on the cruise?

Tom ,the food was fabulous, that is one thing that they don't run short on is the food :wow:.
I'll post some pictures little later on :smile:.

        Tell us about the pirates  :help:

 :laugh:  :laugh:

I can give you a brief synopsis about the pirates status.

U.S. Navy-3, Somali Pirates-0.

LOL

Glen that is to wild they did have a pirate night down in the main dinning area
and you could have your picture taken with them , we passed on that.

Pat,

Did you cruise with Royal Caribbean?

Brian ,We did Carnival pride this time and had a good time it was just killing me because I knew there was internet there and the wife told me to stay away. But our first cruise was Royal Caribbean   10 yrs back and that was fun too.

Glad you had a good time. We just got back off of a 7 Night, Mexican Riviera Cruise with Royal a couple of weeks ago. I stayed away from the internet as well!

Brian,  Did you Like the Mexican Riviera ?? and would you do it again ??
we had talked about doing that maybe next time  :smile:.

Welcome back Pat! Glad you had fun...

We had a royal ship here in Singapore for a while now its being overhauled and will be back for good in November. I went a few months ago and it was great! That was my 11th cruise. Growing up my Dad and I were avid divers and there is no better dive vacation than a cruise. A new island every day. But in order to enjoy the dive you have to book your own away from the ship or there will be too many people.

I don't mean to hijack this thread but is anyone else here a scuba diver? I miss it so much. I haven't dove since my accident 2.5 years ago. I am almost now healed to the point where I can try to dive again. Once I get home from the States my Dad and I are going to take a trip to Australia to go diving. I haven't been yet. I am looking forward to it. We are only 5 hours from Australia and its cheep to get there.

Josh

when I was younger I dived in Isreal, Turkey and Egypt... Have never been to OZ... Supposed to be
fantastic... The Red Sea was wonderful...

Guess you are only back in The US for a short while ???

Dave 

Pat -

The Mexican Riviera was nice. Our ports of call were Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan & Puerto Vallarta. The particular ship we cruised on, The Mariner Of The Seas, is only a few years old and is absolutely beautiful! We are spoiled when it comes to Royal and have only fleetingly thought about cruising with somebody else. They have really treated us right.

If you haven't been it before, I would HIGHLY recommend the Bahamas cruise that Royal Caribbean does, it was awesome!

Yep the Royal Caribbean eastern and western Caribbean itineraries are great! I generally like to stay away from Jamaica. It can be a rough place to visit. My Mom and Sisiter were followed for quite a while by guys trying to sell drugs. I have been three times and won't go back. Also PADI alerts divers from diving there from bad air and poor equipment. If anyone is a diver go on a cruise that takes you to grand cayman and go to a company called Dive Tech. They are a wonderful shop and have one of the best shore dive experiences you will ever have. Just off to the left is a lagoon with a school of huge tarpon that is absolutly amazing. In the tree times I have been there over several years the school is always there. They also rent scooters so if you are lazy you can scuba with the assistance of a scooter. There are three GREAT walls within swimming distance one that drops to about 35 feet and then the second that goes to the depths. Overall its an amazing dive and its cheep because there is no dive boat and you can choose to stay before the first wall and be in the shallows and have a great dive and stay in the water almost all day without any worries.


I love cruising. When I was younger the drinking age on the ships was 18 in international waters and for my 18th bday we went on a cruise and my parents paid for my bar bill as my present. Boy was that an expensive bday for the, :)


Cruising is the only way to go on vacation. You cant go anywhere in the world and get the experience you do on the boat plus the fantastic food for the price of a cruise. Especially if you have the flexibility to go last minute. if your job will allow you can get last minute fares for less than 1/4 the normal price. No matter what they want to fill the boat so once it gets within two weeks of the sailing date you can get fares for next to nothing.

Pat,

Glad to see you again! Glad you had a great time. Went on a cruise last month to St. Croix and St. Thomas. Loved it!

Brian

For SALE: My Collection, so I can afford to go on a Cruise... :biggrin:
All this talk about cruises makes me wanna go! We've never been, and have talked about it..hopefully next year...

We did the Carnival Ecstasy about 11 years ago... my first cruise and it was cool. By the time our cruise date came up, my wife was pregnant... So it wasn't as much fun as we hoped, but it was still good. Heard that Royal is the way to go...

Choosing a cruise line depends on what you want. Royal Caribbean is more fancy with better food and while being family friendly there are moderately less kids on the ship. Depending on the boat there is usually even an adult only pool are area for adults only.

Carnival is just as they advertise. "The Fun Ship". Its more of a party but for the whole family. Lots of children. The food is good but nothing compared to Royal Caribbean.

Celebrity Is the higher class of Royal Caribbean and they are the same company. It is just much more luxury and in my opinion not worth the extra money.

Great deals can be found on cruises. Especially if you have the ability to go last minute. Go the last minute cruise sites (Type into Yahoo) there are dozens and you can get a great vacation for next to nothing.

I just went on the Royal Caribbean ship in Singapore and I paid less than $600 USD for two people in an upgraded cabin for a 3 night cruise. That includes all food but drinks are xtra. For me cruising is the only way to go.

I agree with Josh. We have done 3 Royal cruises, 2 with our 11 yo daughter and she has loved both of them. We've done the Bahama's, Western Caribbean & Mexican Riviera.

We have friends that cruise a lot and have tried other lines and have generally agreed that Royal is the happy medium. On each cruise my daughter has managed to find a friend while onboard.

After spending 5 years at sea on two ships, I especially love the novelty of being underway and not having to do any work!  8)

Ken, Our first cruise was Royal Caribbean ten years back  and on a tuesday night
wednesday morning I had a kidney stone attack and Oh my god I thought I was going to die,
OH  YEAH !!  Did I mention It was our  honeymoon  :upside: .

Cruises are great And like Josh said Carnival is the fun ship but they too also have a adult
pool  which was not patrolled well  :glare:.  Royal caribbean  will be our next cruise.

 
   And probably well deserved  Brian  :smile:.

       Meaning swim suits optional? :tounge:

 Carnival Did have a top Deck which you could be topless  :tounge: But we were not on one of the few carnival ship that have that Deck , My friend was on one of those ships last year
and did enjoyed the surroundings But this time his wife made the arrangements  for all of us, so no topless deck for this cruise  :down:.