little miss s

I wonder why Princess doesn't originate some of it's Panama Canal cruises from Texas?

The biggest problem I see with the ships cruising out of La Porte or Galveston is the proximity to the airport. The Houston airport is just too far away. I've sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale and they are wonderfully positioned to the airport. Easy in. Easy out.

Thanks to everyone for all the input. I do remember a fair amount of Latin music on our last cruise, but I also remember a lot of Frank Sinatra era music. I think we'll start working on a social foxtrot and then try to squeeze in some rumba or cha cha if we can.

Cr8tiv1, your advice about small spaces is very good. Our instructor is always cautioning us to keep our movements small. The local swing dance venue in our area gets very packed and bumping into people is not uncommon.

My DH and I like to swing dance. When we went through the Panama Canal last year on the Island Princess, we were hoping to do a lot of dancing in the evening. It turned out that the crowd was a lot older than we anticipated (average age about 70) and the music was often very unfamiliar. We struck up a conversation with another couple and asked what dance they were doing. They told us they were doing the rumba.

We are going to Hawaii next year on the Ruby. I'm thinking the crowd and the music will be similar to Panama. We can probably learn 1-2 new dances before our cruise. What would be the best dance to learn that would give us the most flexibility for dancing on a cruise ship?

Did the ship have any plumbing issues that you were aware of? There have been a number of reviews indicating that the ship has some problems and I was wondering if it's still ongoing?

I was curious to read the reviews since I am currently booked on this ship. I am now seriously considering changing to another ship. There were too many reviews repeating the same problems: plumbing issues, staff issues, anytime dining issues. I'm happy to ignore a few bad reviews, but something is going on here that needs to be corrected.

Iggy63, did you resserve the tour with lunch or without? How big was your tour group? What size was the transport boat? Did the transport boat have a bathroom? How much time was spent snorkeling? Thanks for your help.

In my experience, I've never been charged the corkage fee until we brought the wine to the dining room. I guess there's always the chance that could change in the future.

What time did you arrive at the cruise ship terminal for embarkation? Curious to know what the sweet spot is for the fastest embarkation.

Given the itinerary below. I'm a little confused. It seems weird to have a formal night on the last sea day. Is it possible this cruise only has 1 formal night?

Day 1 - Embark Houston, Texas

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 3 - At Sea

Day 4 - Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

Day 5 - Belize City, Belize

Day 6 - Island of Cozumel, Mexico

Day 7 - At Sea

Day 8 - Debark Houston, Texas

I'm sailing in a few weeks. Glad to hear your cruise is going well. The reviews haven't been good and I was wondering what was going on.

Can you help with a couple of questions? When are the formal nights? What's the parking like at the Houston port area? i.e. Plenty of parking? Do they take credit cards?

Thanks.

I'm considering 2 all-inclusive beach days. Princess offers De Palm Island for $99. The Occidental with round trip taxi fare on a Sunday works out to be about the same cost.

I'm inclined to think the Occidental would be a better experience for 2 adults, plus they have a pool. The De Palm sounds like it has good snorkeling plus the added benefit of having transportation included, but it seems more geared to people with children.

Have you been to either of these places? I'd love to hear about your experience.

Anyone remember seeing Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls?

Can anyone remember any of the songs on the Karaoke Song List? I'm specifically intested in the VOS, but if RCCL uses the same CD's on all their ships, I guess any song you can remember would be helpful in compiling a list.