crusinbanjo

We like Marriott Waterside..... be careful there are several Marriots in Tampa.

This one is a full service resort and within walking distance to port. Nice places to walk and eat nearby. Several restaurants and sports bar in the hotel.

This would be my suggestion as well, Marriott Waterside is a great hotel in a fantastic location. And if the are full up, look at the Westin Tampa Harbor Island nearby across the canal, also a very good location, but not quite as nice as the Marriott. Mrs. Banjo & I have stayed at both as part of cruise vacations and have enjoyed both.

:)

Hi All

The sink in a Neptune suite is near the toilet and there is plenty of room for your scooter in the room, but not in the bathroom, that is still kind of tight and has a step up & over entrance. Also the bath tubs do have grab bars but the step into and out of the tub is a big one! you might ask if they have a handicapped Neptune suite? I think Cabin number SA 30

I can't answer your luggage questions, but the Buchart Gardens are spectacular! Don't miss them unless you have too!

WOW I wish the DHS would apply that kind of scrutiny along the US Mexican Border! HA

Mrs Banjo & I were on the cruise just following the this, (Jan 19 -26) and I agree almost completely with the OP. If I could ad; We booked a suite, as we normally do, it was as expected, fantastic. We did find the senior staff a bit "stand off ish", different from other cruises.

We booked reservations into the P/G on the first night to avoid the rush of first night open seating dining. IMHO, the P/G is sadly lacking in many respects; The wait staff, worked very hard, and were very pleasant, but their English language skills were not the best, so communications were difficult. The food was overcooked, no matter how it was ordered, it came to the table WELL Done, even when sent back it returned, WELL done. Finally the room itself was FREEZING, they should offer a blanket as the first course. We did, of course ask if the room temperature could be adjusted, but were told that the system was not responding. The P/G was really cold all week long, when ever we had breakfast or lunch there we were sure to wear sweaters. We did not rebook for another dinner.

We did find the Candaletto to be a welcome change. It was warm, not very busy and the menu, although limited was well prepared and very nice. We ate at this venue twice and enjoyed it more than either the P/G or the MDR.

The MDR was nice, the staff needs better English skills, but the food was prepared and presented well.

Mrs Banjo and I both noted the officers and senior staff are fewer & fewer Europeans, I guess this is ok, but I think because of the cultural differences we don't relate as well and, as I said at the start, they seem "stand off ish" or maybe it was just me?

Not to be to harsh, just my two cents, hoping HAL reads this and uses it to improve the cruise experience. Mrs Banjo & I enjoyed the ship and the staff and the cruise, It was great to get out of the cold & warm up!

In any case this will be my last cruise for some time because next week I go into hospital for cancer surgery. We'll have to wait & see how that all works out before I plan any future cruising.

We rented a car…pretty much right at the top of the cable car that takes you up…it was great…easy to drive around the island…just drove to Oia for a bit, but also went to the farther end of the island (towards the light house) and had a wonderful lunch at a "local" place with a view over the caldera. Owners spoke no English but gave us a fantastic lunch with gracious service. Easily doable.

Mrs Banjo & I did this as well. it was a fantastic way to see the island. People were wonderful, the car was simple and we saw thing that no tour was going to ever see. We spent time in Oia then explored the rest of the island. highly recommended

Yep, Mrs Banjo & I are south of Boston, still in Mass. The snow is deep enough, and it is so cold, the plow tracker didn't want to start. YUCK, enough of this winter stuff already. Can't wait to get down to Florida for our upcoming cruise.

Thanks Ruth for a great report.

Mrs. Banjo & I were considering Oceania for our next cruise. in the end we stayed with HAL because we thought, like you, that the value for the $$ might not be there for the particular IT that we were booking. WE still might try them in the summer on a different IT.

We are finding mediocrity throughout many facets of our lives these days. It seems to be acceptable or the least tolerated. Sigh......

Anybody who knows me knows my saying "the incompetence is incredible" seems to fit this situation. :D

That is right, no very far at all.

What a brilliant idea! if they had frozen the water, it wouldn't have sloshed all over the place!!!!

 

I doubt they'll mess around with the aft pool on any other ships. Not after the negative response to the Veendam "retreat."

I called it the skating Rink because when they cruised to Antarctica it could have easily been frozen..... .....come to think of it HAL could have put cooling coils in the tiles, then Pax could have brought skates! :p

WOW, Veendam looks really different from the last time Mrs Banjo & I cruised on her. We remember the aft pool, (which we liked), and the puddle / Skating rink, (which we hated). I guess the jury is still out on the Hot tub outcropping. Looks like it was stuck onto the deck with glue or something. Did they use up the space under the deck where the pool was?

Tom, I do not want you to think I am being facetious, so please bear with me on this for a moment ok?

 

Let's pretend you are in your house. You have a pretty front yard with a bench you purchased sitting to one side of your front side walk leading to your front door. (I do so bear with me here ok.)

 

You are sitting in your livig room, looking out your front window and next thing you know, someone is sitting and relaxing on your bench, in your front yard!!!

 

What would you do or say?? Me, I'd politely ask them, "May I help you? Do you need something?' (of course, I'd have the phone with me and finger on preset 1 (the COPS!!!) I would not automatically call the police, because for all I know the person could need some sort of help or be overly tired... But I hope you get my drift here...

 

Basically, I look at the Lanai Staterooms as a persons living room and front yard. The people in the Lanai's have paid for their stateroom and the space in front of it. I will respect their rights to see out of their front rooms, just as I would my own.

 

I hope this made sense. It does to me:D

 

Joanie

I look at these a little differently, I view them as your appartment or condo with a shared front porch.... ....you never know who will be taking in the view from the porch, and unless the chairs are clearly marked as "Reserved" folks will likely just have a seat. The maintainance dept will be working on the porch and occaisionally making some noise. If you know and expect all of this, life is good, if you expect a private balcony, better to pay the money for a private balcony or you will likely be unhappy.

Good report!

Tim Tams are like vegemite to Australians. Everyone loves them.

 

http://www.about-australia-shop.com/timtams.htm

 

This link might help.

Tim Tams & Vegimite... ...2 Ausi favorites. Mrs Banjo loves the Tim Tams, but does not like the Vegemite. Me? I like both. Our Ausi friends will be visiting in August, with Tim Tams a plenty in the carry on!

BTW the originals are better than the new flavors!

I'm going to show my age here. Mrs Banjo & I took our first cruise in 1989 to Alaska on the Island Princess. We booked an Eddy Bauer Package, I think this was offered only that one year.

We have come a long way since then, our first cabin was on Fiesta Deck, (deck 5), and was not much bigger than some of the walk in closets that we see in some suites today. In fact it was so small that we could not unpack at the same time and our luggage had to be taken out of the cabin stowed during the cruise! WE had a porthole for viewing, and a sofa that turned down into a berth at night. And the pool, Boy those things looked big on the TV show "Loveboat", but it was tiny!

We also sailed on her sister ship the Pacific Princess in Tahitti and in the Med. We were always spoiled by the small ship experience.

We actually ran into the the old Pacific Princess, 3 years ago in Puerto Rico, the ship was renamed, the Pacific I think, and still in use for cruising... ...just on a much lower end line, I'm sure, as it looked in need of repair!

What a fantastic time we had.... .....Still the cruise we compare everything too.

I'm going to show my age here. Mrs Banjo & I took our first cruise in 1989 to Alaska on the Island Princess. We booked an Eddy Bauer Package, I think this was offered only that one year.

We have come a long way since then, our first cabin was on Fiesta Deck, (deck 5), and was not much bigger than some of the walk in closets that we see in some suites today. In fact it was so small that we could not unpack at the same time and our luggage had to be taken out of the cabin stowed during the cruise! WE had a porthole for viewing, and a sofa that turned down into a berth at night. And the pool, Boy those things looked big on the TV show "Loveboat", but it was tiny!

We also sailed on her sister ship the Pacific Princess in Tahitti and in the Med. We were always spoiled by the small ship experience.

We actually ran into the the old Pacific Princess, 3 years ago in Puerto Rico, the ship was renamed, the Pacific I think, and still in use for cruising... ...just on a much lower end line, I'm sure, as it looked in need of repair!

What a fantastic time we had.... .....Still the cruise we compare everything too.