JPSemprini

We took a cruise from Southampton a little over a year ago and they were taking bets on European football matches.  It was done right at the cashier. 

You can definitely find places to be alone, even on one ofthe big cruise ships. You certainly canrequest to be seated by yourself in the dining rooms. Lounging just watching the ocean go by is, tome, very relaxing, specifically on your private balcony. One of the reasons why I waited so long toeven join this website was that I don't really want to become good friends withothers on the cruise. I'm not joiningany roll calls, because I really don't want to "meet and mingle".It's not that I'm anti-social--I love to make new acquaintances, but myvacation is my vacation.

As far as the price goes, you kind of have to look at thebig picture, the price per day for food, lodging and entertainment. If you don't buy all the extra crap that thecruise lines try to sell you, you can actually travel to some really niceplaces for a relatively modest amount.

Note: This post originally appeared on the "Whatever Happened To...? board and was copied to this forum. Host Walt

Well, I'm a relative newcomer at cruising. I had never thought much about cruising--never thought I would enjoy it. There was a married couple at work who were cruise enthusiasts and justraved about the whole thing. It just didn't seem to intrigue me at all. I figured (literally) "whatever floats your boat."

When my wife and I retired a few years ago one of the first things we did was apply for our passports. Our first cruise was actually a promotional giveaway from a local land-based casino. We figured that the cost of flying to Miami and the port charges were worth figuring out what cruisingwas all about.

So, a couple of years ago we sailed on Majesty of the Seas to Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West. Reading reviews about the oldest ship in RC's fleet made me skeptical about it, but it was just fine in my book. I kind of liked the fact that it wasn't the newest or biggest. I figured that if I liked sailing on an older ship then I would enjoy the newer and bigger ships,too.

I was immediately hooked on the whole idea. I have always loved to travel and cruising allows one to see several places on a single trip without the hassle of packing everything up between each destinations. I definitely like the hotel moving, not moving to a new hotel. Certainly, as this website has shown,cruising has a lot of things that a lot of people don't like. But geez, if you look at the big picture--it is a wonderful way to see the world.

We spend an awful lot of the sea days (and money) in the casino, and because of this we have been given offers for future sailings. Soon after our inaugural Bahamas trip we reserved a cabin on Explorer for a 7 night Alaskan cruise. And before we did that trip we jumped at the chance to visit Cuba on Empress. Currently we are booked to travel to Spain and France on Navigator.

A lot of the amenities on the bigger ships (like the Flow Rider, zip lines, ice skating rinks) are simply amazing that they are available on cruise ships, but frankly, they are not things that I would actively partake in. Rather, they are non-participatory sightseeing activities.

The fact that we are going to gamble in casinos whether we are at home or vacation has made another of our avocations--traveling--so much better by subsidizing some of the travel costs.

Well, I'm a relative newcomer at cruising. I had never thought much about cruising--never thought I would enjoy it. There was a married couple at work who were cruise enthusiasts and justraved about the whole thing. It just didn't seem to intrigue me at all. I figured (literally) "whatever floats your boat."

When my wife and I retired a few years ago one of the first things we did was apply for our passports. Our first cruise was actually a promotional giveaway from a local land-based casino. We figured that the cost of flying to Miami and the port charges were worth figuring out what cruisingwas all about.

So, a couple of years ago we sailed on Majesty of the Seas to Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West. Reading reviews about the oldest ship in RC'sfleet made me skeptical about it, but it was just fine in my book. I kind of liked the fact that it wasn't the newest or biggest. I figured that if I liked sailing on an older ship then I would enjoy the newer and bigger ships,too.

I was immediately hooked on the whole idea. I have always loved to travel and cruising allows one to see several places on a single trip without the hassle of packing everything up between each destinations. I definitely like the hotel moving, not moving to a new hotel. Certainly, as this website has shown,cruising has a lot of things that a lot of people don't like. But geez, if you look at the big picture--it is a wonderful way to see the world.

We spend an awful lot of the sea days (and money) in the casino, and because of this we have been given offers for future sailings. Soon after our inaugural Bahamas trip we reserved a cabin on Explorer for a 7 night Alaskan cruise. And before we did that trip we jumped at the chance to visit Cuba on Empress. Currently we are booked to travel to Spain and France on Navigator.

A lot of the amenities on the bigger ships (like the Flow Rider, zip lines, ice skating rinks) are simply amazing that they are available on cruise ships, but frankly, they are not things that I would actively partake in. Rather, they are non-participatory sightseeing activities.

The fact that we are going to gamble in casinos whether weare at home or vacation has made another of our avocations--traveling--so much better by subsidizing some of the travel costs.

I was just curious as to how much British cuisine I might expect on a cruise leaving from Southampton, specifically in the MDR and Windjammer. My wife and I will be on Navigator in October for a cruise to northern Spain and France. This will be our fourth cruise overall, but first outside North America.