Bonnie J.

Sorry but the SeaBreeze DID NOT go down in a hurricane. We live in the NC coast and it was a local news story. It happened in November. The ship was repossesed in the middle of a cruise, I think it was Nova Scotia. This was in August. In November the ship was on its way to Miami when it started taking on water off the VA/NC coast. Our news showed lifting one of the 35 crew members, by helicopter, off the pool deck. I had been in that pool a year before. It sank in water too deep to recover her so nothing else has been done about the sinking! We had been on her 5 times and miss those smaller ships!

Want to laugh? At Disney World when 'Proteen spill' with loction is announced, it means someone has thrown up, crew, go clean it up!

Gosh, I wonder if that was a Dolphin cruise we were on!? I know a lady did get a pineapple in her bathing suit on one of our cruises. The Dolphin was our 1st cruise and that hooked us on cruising! After Dolphin Cruise lines folded we discovered she was now the only ship of Port Canaveral Cruise lines. Had a fantastic New Years cruise for the Millenium on her! And went on her next to last cruise before they could not afford the $1.5 MILLIION more than they thought to fix her, its sad she went to India where they take ships apart. Had dinner with 3 captians on her and our 1st cruise had free bottles of red and white wine every night, every table, in the dining room.

We were on the SeaBreeze 5 times when she sank off our coast and the OceanBreeze 3 times. we loved that little cruise line! Bert Stratton who sang/played the piano on the OceanBreeze is now on Princess still to standing room only crowds!

We do not like NCL at all but their ship the Majesty was built by Dolphin in 1992 as the Royal Majesty. NCL bought her when they sold all their ships.She has 1200 passnegers and we love her. Been on 3 times and are thinking of going on her last trip for NCL. In November she is going to Louis Cruises and will sale fron England! But, we won't go there just to sail on her!

We just got off Costa's Fortuna. They only give chocolates on 2 formal nights which is called 'Gala" nights. One night they leave small cookies on a plate!. Miss my nightly chocolates!

NCL & Carnival give you two in your cabin and there are more out by the pool. On Carnival you have to sign them out and pay for them if you don't return them.

Just got off the Carnival Triumph. They had a galley tour that was 1+ hour. This was just for Concierge members - (10+ Carnival cruises). The Maitre'd led us after a good 20 minutes of talking about the galley, how waiters submit orders, etc. Aside from a LOT of stainless steel, we saw more than other galley tours I've been on. I am not aware of all the ships offering this though!

Dolphin's old Royal Majesty is now sailing as NCL's Majesty. She was stretched but still is small, 1300 passengers, and just as much fun as she used to be because of her size. She sails for Caribean in winter, from Charleston, SC and goes to Bermuda May-Sept. from Charleston, Baltimore and Philly. We've been on her twice and are looking forward to cruising on her again!

I take my glass of wine to the dining room. There is no bottle to open and you can get a glass at any bar, hence no corkage fee. Once on NCL I was charged TWO corkage fees because I had a 'big' bottle in my carryon. I spoke to the bar manager about this and he reduced it to one fee. Usually take a box in checked lugggae and have not had a problem with that on NCL.

The OceanBreeze sailed from Aruba. We were on her for a New Years about that time, with the fantastic Bert Stratton playing in the lounge. (Bert is now on Princess.) Most celebrated with him. There were hundreds of streamers on all the ceiling fans! We had a first and I hope ONLY on that cruise. Our chartered flight from Miami was VERY,VERY, LATE leaving. We got on the ship as the midnight buffet was happening! Then we had a 4:30AM BREAKFAST on last day! They wanted to get the chartered flight people off the ship at 5:30AM! And they did. Our whole table (5 women and my husband!) made it to the dining room so we could eat together. 78Yearold Mary stayed up all night, it was after midnight when we went to bed but we all made it at 4:30!!!!! Then when we got on the plane the engines were not going so we had no air conditioning! They left the door open. People strecthed out and slept on seats. Somewhere around 8 AM we finally got off the ground. So, we never really saw Aruba in the daylight. But it was a great cruise! Miss the old Dolphin, SeaBreeze and OceanBreeze. Understand the Oceanbreeze used to sail just to Nassau on very short cruises but do not remember under which tiny line or what her new name was.. Those were the good old days of cruising!!!!!!!! Oh, we went into the Panama Canal and to San Blas on that cruise.

I think the old Imperial Majesty WAS the OceanBreeze. The Royal Majesty, built by Dolphin Cruise line in 1992, was bought by NCL. She is now NCL's Majesty sailing out of Charleston, SC in winter season, to this year the Western Carib., and was going to Bermuda from Boston in summer but this year will still be going there but from Philly or Baltimore??? Just got off our 2nd cruise on her and he HATE NCL but lLOVE the old Majsety and her small size!

We were on the Oceanbreeze for New Years way back in 1992!!! Malara was the assistant Maitr'd. On the old Dolphin - which is still our favorite ship!- the captain told us Malara would go far as soon as his English got really good. He had been on the Dolphin before the Oceanbreeze. A tablemate THOUGHT she was engaged to him. I learned later he had a wife and kids in Poland which is why he would not leave the ship as the tablemate wanted him to. You should ask about him on the "Where are they now?" board here on cruise critic. Let us know if you find him.

You've got a few things confused. SeaBreeze was a Dolphin ship when Premier bought her and the OceanBreeze (We were on SeaBreeze 5 times, OceanBreeze 3 times.) The Dolphin IV was sold to a brand new company, Port Canaveral cruises. The SeaBreeze was repossesed in, I think, Nova Scotia in middle of a cruise! That was in August. In November she was off the coast of North Carolina on her way to Florida whan she started to sink. This was a local news story for us on the NC coast. There were about 35 crew members on board, all safely removed by Coast Guard helicopter. She sank in like 3500 feet of water - too deep for recovery! I watched a crew member being lifted off the deck by the pool I had been in the year before! We loved the Dolphin line with their old, small ships and miss them! (The Royal Majesty was built by Dolphin but did not sail under the Dolphin name. She is now an NCL ship, the Majesty, and sails out of Charleston, SC and Boston during sumer for Bermuda cruise.)

On our 1st cruise, the little Dolphin IV, which is no more, we had a complimentary bottles of red and white wine every night on every table! The captain of the Dolphin ate in the dining room everynight with passengers - we ate with him 4 times, then sat with him at the shows! On Dolphin and other old cruises:The waiter only had 4 tables so you could talk to him. You rated the waiter and busboy and if they got excellent ratings, they got time off - breakfast or lunch. The busboy served a choice of vegtables every night. They took roll at the lifeboat drill. The stewards checked cabins to make sure you weren't 'hiding'. If you were, you had another lifeboat drill the next moring. There was a midnight buffet every night. No TV in your room. Some ships had no or only one hot tub hidden away. When my husband won a contest as King of Rock 'n Roll, he got as prizes: Ship's big beach towel with ship's pin to hold it on as his robe, sun visor as crown, ship's umbrella for his reign, a ruler with outline of ship for his rule and bottle of champaign. I may have forgotten something - it was years ago. Now you might get a mug or key chain when you win. Those were the days. Miss them and the small ships where you got to know everyone and staff got to know you and what you wanted.

Our 1st cruise was also on the Dolphin IV when she was the only ship they had. The Dolphin was sold to a brand new company, Cape Canaveral Cruise Line. They did 2 day cruises with two 4 days a month. We had a fantastic Millenium cruise on her - 6 days- and went on her LAST 4 day in August, 2000. She had been bellowing soot for years and it was going to cost more than a million MORE than they thought to fix her. She probably went to India where they take apart old ships for the scrap. The Seabreeze and Oceanbreeze were sold to Premier which had the Big Red Boat. A bank repossed both ships in the MIDDLE of a cruise. Seasbreeze was in , I think, Nova Scotia, heard Captain announced in middle of night everyone HAD to get off the ship. Anyway, that November, the Seabreeze sank off our NC coast in like 3,000 feet of water- too deep to do anything. There were 35 crew members aboard, all resued by our coast guard. Saw on TV pulling crew up by the pool I had swum in the year before.

LOVED the Dolphin line and SMALL ships. BUT, NCL's Majsety, about 1200 passenger, was built by Dolphin as their Majesty line. It was sold to NCL and is still cruising. It goes to Caribean in winter from Charleston, SC and from Boston to Bermuda in summer. We hate NCL but loved the Majsety, her size, her crew and Captain!

Just booked cruise going there, leaving Sat. Loved taking the local bus in St. Maartin! Is there a local bus in St. Thomas? Where do we find it? Also in Nassau? Any place there for snorkling we can easily get to? We've gotten to the point we usually just stay on the ship in Nassau but would like to find a good beach but not necessarily on Paradise Island. The hotel near the harbor charges to sit on the beach now! Appreciate suggestions - thanks and,........Keep Smiling...................

We went out of Charleston on NCL's Majesty for 11 day New Years cruise. We are 250 miles from Charleston but got a very nice Howard Johnson's for night before ($47) where we left our car for free. $6 cab fare to ship. Parking was $15 a day so we saved a bundle. This is not a cruise port. Porters take your bags by a driveway, to the ship, you are bussed with your luggage to the parking lot when you get back. When we got off, we had to call and wait for a cab! The porter took us and our bags out to the street. There were no cabs but a small bus to the airpot driver said she's take us to the hotel but we had called cab all ready. Guess if its raining you just stand in the rain. However, we left Dec.27 and 1st & 2nd days were cold as was last day at sea. Everyone wore jeans and sweaters.

We live near Morhead, NC and now always drive to ports. We drive the day before to Daytona then to Fort Lauderdale or Miami. If ship leaves from Port Canaveral we go there directly. Would do same if we ever sail from Jacksonville, FL. Anyone with questions can email me at bonniejns@hotmail.com, subject 'cruise'.

We just got back from St. Martin, our 5th time there. We have been to Dawn Beach and found the snorkling awful. Liked Orient Beach but didn't know there was any snorkling. This time we enjoyed taking the local bus, for $1.50, to Marigot. Then for $1 we went to Baie Rouge Beach. When the bus stopped there were only two seats. Said we needed four and two local men got off so we could get on the bus! Only saw one couple from the ship on beach who said snorkling was good but there were strong currents. You can see caves from beach where snorkling is but we decided not to try it. There were maybe 50 people on the beach, most staying at hotels. Met couple with rented car there for a week. They said they'd been to all the beaches and kept coming back to this beach.-We had to wait maybe 15 minutes for a bus back to Philisburg and that was $2.

Anyone can just flag down any bus. You do not have to go to a bus stop. The buses are white window vans.They have a sign in front windshield of where they are going but you can just ask if they are going where you want to go. They will tell you yes or no! Don't know when buses stop running re:time but you can ask. They go all over the island. You can get a bus that goes to the beach by airport.Also ask any local where to get a bus. If you have question about this, you can email me at bonniejns@hotmail.com.

When we were new cruisers, we wanted 1st but couldn't get it so had 2nd. we cruised 2nd time with friends who had been on about 20 cruises. They said HAD to be 1st seating. So, we did and we HATED it. Then on next cruise with them, we said HAD to be 2nd and it was. They could never figure out why they loved 1st seating after that!

We get back from shore and can relax, don't have to get dressed for dinner right away. We often take a nap then get in hot tub til about 7:30. Then we dress for dinner and enjoy the evening and do not go to bed at 10!

And, if you really don't like whichever seating you have, just ask the Maitr'd to move you to other seating!