ew101

We gave up on Carnival years ago after a lovely trip on the Pride- nice ship but no 3+ piece band to dance the Foxtrot etc. There is a dance floor on the deck plans for the Vista - Europe is nice, the price is good...What do you think?

We came and left on the Constellation in October. We felt completely safe. Fear-mongers whispered we should not stay in Taksim Square- we can recommend the Point Hotel there which is in an area of nice dining, taxi-cabs, and the 13TL airport bus. The Military Museum was epic and the A-Plus was lovely for dinner. The only hazard you will find are the taxis who can spot Americans and will attempt to brazenly over charge you and even ask for Euros. The key in Istanbul is to negotiate - smile, agree before getting in on a reasonable fare and pay it + tip. The advice to bring your hotel address in Turkish is sound- there are a lot of hotels and it is confusing. This has been a tourist area for thousands of years and there is respect for the law and hospitality you won't find anywhere else. For those keeping track- we did see exactly one apparent refugee in five days in Turkey- a guy holding a sign. In my large USA city, there are always homeless people begging with cardboard signs at major road intersections - I saw two yesterday.

We are thinking of another Jade booking. It was a happy ship. Who is playing in Medusa- we love a bit of ballroom/Latin dancing

We just got off the Jade, (11/14) where they had a nice three piece combo called Guys and Doll who played ballroom /salsa/swing etc. in Medusa from 8:30PM on. It was lovely. Is there anything like that these days on the Jewel? We had a DJ who was not very good (you are supposed to mix...) but he was usually on super late and the house /cover band who was pretty good up in Spinnaker. They would appear by the pool for sail away which is a nice touch. They also had organized lessons every day.

One thing that ruins the mood for me while cruising is both man made and controllable - the piped in supermarket music in all public areas of all cruise ships 24x7. It is even in libraries. A close second is the racket from blaring flat screen TVs.

There are some studies that suggest piped in music improves worker productivity or improves sales in shops. But do we need it in the corridors, libraries and open decks at sea? What if you want to sit in a vacant lounge at 8 am, watch the sea and read a book?

So my idea is- can HAL take one ship- maybe an older smaller one and shut off the supermarket music? This can be another experiment, maybe like Carnival did with the Paradise- and see if customers like it? Hopefully it will generate customer loyalty. Now if onboard sales plunge 35% I will accept defeat but I think it is worth a try.

I am a huge fan of the S Class ships. But I think many cruise passengers these days want a balcony- and if you can get $1199 pp for a week vs. $399 for the same basic operating costs - food, crew, fuel etc.- why run an older ship for 1/3 of the cabin revenue? And I think the lines want to target the person who can afford a large cabin, and might find a shore excursion, nice bottle of bubbly at dinner and a $1000 painting in their budget. So they are all plunking down the capital for new builds which are essentially floating balcony carriers. And for certain demographics - over 55 - who do not pack the bars every night- the cabin revenue is important.

One of our favorite things to do on a cruise is dance (not just watch dancing) after dinner. The Latin/Salsa band in Boleros is just right, but this venue is not available on this ship. The disco tends to be excessively loud. So a little trio in the lobby might be fine. Ideally, there would an option every evening someplace.

We like a bit of dancing after dinner. They have gotten rid of the little house bands in the bars for the most part. Did you find one anywhere? We were on the Pride a while back and found the DJs not too good and the disco way too loud. BTW the British Colonial Hilton has a lovely day pass program and you get a nice lunch and beach and it is clean and well maintained.

Dean knows a lot of songs, the history behind the songs, and nicely plays them. He likes to play them in decade blocks, so you can ask for say the 1930's and you can get songs from that time.

He is also an expert on the dining options ashore, and can provide lists of his favorite places.

Dean knows a lot of songs, the history behind the songs, and nicely plays them. he likes to plan them in decades, so you can ask for say the 1930's and you can get songs from that time.

He is also an expert on the dining options ashore, and can provide lists of his favorite places.