reitmeier

Here's my story divided into 2 parts.

2015 Single traveler with of course the supplement.

Barc to Houston 16 Days

Obstructed view 1,540.00

Booze purchase 420.00 bottle wine every other day a few cocktails

Upcharge dining 40.00

Full Spa Pass 200.00 turned out to be a bust.

TOTAL 2,200.00

2016

Barc to Florida 13 days

BALCONY ROOM 2,100.00

Booze package 00.00 INCLUDED

Upcharge dining 00.00 6 nights so 4 more than last year

Spa Pass 00.00 it was a bust due to low ceiling and fixed

vertebrae...couldn't use the hot tub.

TOTAL 2,100.00

I will probably drink about my same 1/2 bottle of wine each night with dinner, I will probably have 2 other cocktails a day At home I usually drink 2 legit size glasses of wine with dinner nothing more...so this will be a lot more drinking than normal for me. And BTW the cocktails will probably be more fruity based...not whiskey in a glass.

I wish they had a different package like 2 glasses wine with dinner and 2 cocktails of your choice otherwise a day... I feel like if I was paying 64 $ a day for booze, I'd sure get my money's worth. Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new on the EPIC Departing Barc on Oct 30. John

Now that I've sampled 4 different cruise lines, I think I am ready to share my feelings on what I had heard over a lifetime...OH, "wait till you get on a cruise ship...the food is (insert adjective here....)" I don't think of myself as a gourmet, however my son has an organic vegetable and herb business and we have spent the last years enjoying cooking a variety of the worlds most talked about dishes...sometimes several times to figure out how to get it just right. Having qualified my background a bit...I can suggest that of the 4 lines I've been on...if food is your focus, don't get on a ship. For me MSC was tops, then NCL, then RC, and bringing up the bottom was Carnival. Including a mix of the specialty dining locations. For sure, NONE of the lines had what I would call BAD food. But some was badly cooked, badly kept warm, or some pretty questionable origins. OR a combination of the former. On the other hand, I don't know that I should expect a kitchen that's got limited storage, limited sourcing, and mostly line cooks who had no formal training and who put out 100 copies of only one and the same dish every night, 7 nights a week, to WOW ME. It's an unfair expectation in this modern world of cutting prices, finding the cheapest source, and extreme competition for the price of tickets. To me some of the challenge, some of the fun, is to figure out what's good on a ship, to try different wines, and a couple of entree's (for each meal)..where else can you do that at no additional cost? I'm not opposed to leaving something that I don't like. I'd rather feed future fish than take on bad tasting calories. ON THE OTHER HAND...if you do anything in the food business, there is MUCH to be learned about presentation from cruise ship fare! I brought back a notebook of ideas of how to do things differently...like the deconstructed Key Lime Pie on NCL. Tasted just the same...but the LOOK was incredible! If only it would have had the authentic key lime flavor rather than the regular large limes at the grocery. So for me it's a gathering of ideas, and the ability to taste MANY things that's the draw. And BTW the Calamari on NCL was some of the best I've had in the world. How is it that they can make that dish so good (had to be frozen..as it was a 16 day cruise). So in summation...cruising to me is an adventure. In my Motorhome I can change venue's the moment I don't like something, or get bored, but on a ship, it's a bit of a prison experience. SO the fun is getting thrilled by the little things that we normally pass by. The color of the Atlantic, the brazenness of modern diners who don't know what a sport coat is, or even something more than a ripped T-shirt. Observing how people treat others because they have been promised that they'll be treated like royalty...it's marketing folks, don't think you're a princess (even if your on Princess lines!). It's all an adventure. If you approach it from that point of view, then the food is good too! Just my 22 cents (inflation) worth.

Just back from NCL Jade TA. 420$ was my booze bill for 16 days. Did 1/2 bottle of wine each evening (they cork and save it for you) ...so 7 x 40$...and then 1 or 2 drinks a day. Next TA I have the unlimited plan...but expect that my habits won't change. I guess I'm old enough to finally realize that an additional drink at no cost, is not necessarily a benefit. Perhaps I should carry a flask and a funnel and order whisky neat...and build up a supply. HA...to much work for this guy!

For my tastes, Carnival (although I don't have too much else great to say about them) has been the best. Just on NCL Jade TA, and the pizza was lame. RC has also not impressed me. Carnival Conquest had a small 24 hour joint on the back Port Side and we hit it a couple of times a day!

Just off the TA on Jade from BAR to HOU. Room 8554. Ob. View. but it has the small boat instead of a regular life boat. View was fine, room great except for ONE THING. The MEDUSA bar is right below. I'm not one that it bothered by noise off in the distance, but during the last hours to closing, you could sing along with every lyric of every song. Even with the TV turned up, it was always there. My advice, unless you sleep with earplugs, is to choose another location.

BTW just as an aside...the room is tiny compared to my MSC and Carnival rooms. Both of those had a little sitting area as a standard cabin. This room does NOT. Bed is against outside wall. Bunk is on wall. then a 2 1/2 square foot table under the TV shelf on one side, and the makeup desk on the other...then you're going down the hall with Bath on one side and closets on the other. I do like a little more space and will be watching more carefully in the future...and will NOT take a cabin above any venue with a sound system.