How do we liven up this board?

[Cruisercl]

Thanks Carol and Beth for the welcome, Its the

Princess Sapphaire. I like this itinerary since i live

southern ca i don't have to fly. :D

 

Gloria

 

Hi Gloria! Welcome to our little ongoing chat about practically everything.

 

I have not been on the Sapphire but have been on her sister Diamond twice; both times to Alaska. Beautiful ship!! SF is a great place to visit; do the Alcatraz tour as Carol recommends it is very good. Lots of other things to do too.

I live in MN so I have to fly if I want to go on a cruise. They do have cruises out of Duluth in the summer on Lake superior I guess which may be a something different. I could drive there!

[SC LTC]

Hi Gloria! Welcome to our little ongoing chat about practically everything.

 

I have not been on the Sapphire but have been on her sister Diamond twice; both times to Alaska. Beautiful ship!! SF is a great place to visit; do the Alcatraz tour as Carol recommends it is very good. Lots of other things to do too.

I live in MN so I have to fly if I want to go on a cruise. They do have cruises out of Duluth in the summer on Lake superior I guess which may be a so

mething different. I could drive there!

 

Thanks for the welcome! I have also been on her sister

Diamond to Hawaii, yes she is beauitful and BIG. :eek:

It was for 15 days it took 4 days just to get myself familiar with everything on the ship but had so much fun.

Alaska is awesmone did the cruise twice would like to go on Canada/New Enland.

 

Gloria

[cctn]

I have been on Princess once - it was in '95 on our first Alaska Cruise - it was on a very very classic ship but it was quaint and service was excellent! I think only 800 pax... wow! such a contrast compared to the mega RCCL ships I am used to - I hope I will have more opportunities to try Princess - cuz they sail from SF more often =

How about HAL ? anyone sailed on this cruise line? I have heard nice things about Holland Am also. Carol

[arhillbilly]

Just got back a week ago from my 1st HAL cruise. Was not impressed. IMO, the entertainment was very lacking, the food was just so so, not enough activities onboard during the day (even on the sea days) and some of the crew was down right rude. However, I did have "old time" cruisers with HAL tell me not to judge HAL based on that cruise because they said it was the worst that they had ever had on HAL.....I will say it is a lot of "older" folks and not a lot going on after 11pm

 

BTW, HAL was my 5th cruise line to be on. I have been on Carnival (2 times....will only go again if it is a "killer" deal), Costa (did not like due to EVERYTHING being in 5 languages, with English being last....however, had gotten a killer deal on it...$429 for a balcony for 7 nights...total...so would do again if the deal was right), RCCL (this was only a 4 night....it was just ok, but would give them another chance), HAL...(see above) and my favorite....NCL...have been on NCL 3 times and LOVE EVERYTHING about them......however, was not impressed with the Pearl....very confusing ship....

Edited September 20, 2012 by arhillbilly

[ILoveScotland]

Hey Kathy! I didn't realize your recent cruise was on HAL. I've done one HAL cruise which was to the Southern Caribbean on the Westerdam. I loved that ship. So far it's my second favorite class of ship after Royal Caribbean's Radiance class. Given my husband's limitations I didn't go out much at night. It turned out to be his next to the last cruise.

I rarely go to see the entertainment on any ship. I think it's all okay but rarely anything special. I admit that having an actress daughter who's had friends who were entertainers on ships influences me a bit on that. When I go it's for the companionship and not the shows.

I thought the food was pretty good, but the arrangement of the tables in the MDR made it almost impossible to manage the motorized scooter. So we ate in the buffet after the first night. We had the same food, and we chose what we wanted at the buffet line, but it was served by a waiter who took provided the same kind of service - maybe better - than we would have had in the MDR.

Hope everyone's having a good evening.

Beth

[SC LTC]

I have been on Princess once - it was in '95 on our first Alaska Cruise - it was on a very very classic ship but it was quaint and service was excellent! I think only 800 pax... wow! such a contrast compared to the mega RCCL ships I am used to - I hope I will have more opportunities to try Princess - cuz they sail from SF more often =

How about HAL ? anyone sailed on this cruise line? I have heard nice things about Holland Am also. Carol

 

Hey carol my sisters name is also carol she adds E at the end, anyway what sister ship was it?

 

I have been on Holland its nice, older group of passengers

its not a party ship for sure. Did the sea of cortez and befreinded younger couple there response was NEVER again will we sail Holland. Gloria

[cctn]

Just got back a week ago from my 1st HAL cruise. Was not impressed. IMO, the entertainment was very lacking, the food was just so so, not enough activities onboard during the day (even on the sea days) and some of the crew was down right rude. However, I did have "old time" cruisers with HAL tell me not to judge HAL based on that cruise because they said it was the worst that they had ever had on HAL.....I will say it is a lot of "older" folks and not a lot going on after 11pm

 

BTW, HAL was my 5th cruise line to be on. I have been on Carnival (2 times....will only go again if it is a "killer" deal), Costa (did not like due to EVERYTHING being in 5 languages, with English being last....however, had gotten a killer deal on it...$429 for a balcony for 7 nights...total...so would do again if the deal was right), RCCL (this was only a 4 night....it was just ok, but would give them another chance), HAL...(see above) and my favorite....NCL...have been on NCL 3 times and LOVE EVERYTHING about them......however, was not impressed with the Pearl....very confusing ship....

 

 

Hello - I have heard some like HAL and say the food is the best!! and some don't like it cuz it's boring... and for Older folks.. well, I AM an Older folk! sometime hubby and I like it that way - when it's chaotic, like lots of activities he'll say, it's too noisey - and when it's NOT, he'll say it's too quiet--never know about him.

But I really want to try more than just what I am used to and that's RCCL, Celebrity and my one Princess -

I get the same point of view re: NCL -- some like it and some don't - my friends said their staterooms are bigger and they also love the food.

thank you for posting here - hope to hear from you more often! carol

[cctn]

Hey carol my sisters name is also carol she adds E at the end, anyway what sister ship was it?

 

I have been on Holland its nice, older group of passengers

its not a party ship for sure. Did the sea of cortez and befreinded younger couple there response was NEVER again will we sail Holland. Gloria

 

 

When I was 10, I started to add the E to the end of my name - then my friends started calling me Carol-Leeee... so that didn't last too long!! ha!ha! cuz they all knew I was just a plain C-a-r-o-L... cute tho' ...

The ship we were on is probably in Princess ship Heaven - totally totally buried at sea -- it was built in 1957 cuz I read that when we were on her - also, the stateroom we were in, it was large but you couldn't move the twin beds to be together - it was called the Fair Princess... I have zillions of postcards cuz they were giving them out free and I would grab handsful when I passed the pursers, which consisted of one window and counter of about 4' -- in a corner of one of the main decks - but I loved it cuz it really was a 'ship' ...

My TA just went on a HAL ship to Alaska and they loved it - probably for older folks like me, it would be ok - especially if it's to AK - more relaxing cruise - but to the Caribbean, we like the activities and entertainment.. disco, etc.

Carol

[SOMBRERO6]

I think my favorite cruise was the Carnival Spirit to Alaska. I didn't think I would like it, but knew my hubby would! We took the train up into the Yukon, and THAT was an experience! Loved everything about it.

 

Other than than our New England cruise two yrs ago we have done Carribean and Mexico. We have used RCCL and Carnival and I give the edge to Carnival!

 

Guess I still feel young enough for Carnival, but we really haven't had any of the rowdiness you used to hear about.....maybe due to longer cruises!

[ILoveScotland]

I didn't think I would like an Alaskan cruise, either, and took the Radiance of the Seas 7 nights north from Vancouver to Seward only because I knew it was something my husband would like. Even with his increasing health problems and being in a wheelchair full time it was a spectacular cruise.

We went whalewatching out of Juneau with a company that had handicapped accessibility so everyone could go. I took him up the Mount Roberts Tramway. But, yes, the most spectacular was the White Pass train from Skagway. They had a rail car with a lift just for people like my DH.

That was his last cruise since I knew I couldn't manage him any more. But it was so worth it.

I met Carol on my so far one and only transatlantic on the Brilliance. Another TA is high on my list. I like going to the Caribbean, too, but I want to explore other parts of the world as well.

Beth

[SC LTC]

I didn't think I would like an Alaskan cruise, either, and took the Radiance of the Seas 7 nights north from Vancouver to Seward only because I knew it was something my husband would like. Even with his increasing health problems and being in a wheelchair full time it was a spectacular cruise.

 

We went whalewatching out of Juneau with a company that had handicapped accessibility so everyone could go. I took him up the Mount Roberts Tramway. But, yes, the most spectacular was the White Pass train from Skagway. They had a rail car with a lift just for people like my DH.

 

That was his last cruise since I knew I couldn't manage him any more. But it was so worth it.

 

I met Carol on my so far one and only transatlantic on the Brilliance. Another TA is high on my list. I like going to the Caribbean, too, but I want to explore other parts of the world as well.

 

Beth

Wasns't that awesome, it was Holland the crowd was pretty lively.

Gloria

[ILoveScotland]

 

Wasns't that awesome, it was Holland the crowd was pretty lively.

Gloria

 

 

 

 

 

I watched an old PBS program on the Inside Passage yesterday, and it brought back good memories even though at only 30 minutes the program couldn't do any of the ports justice.

I've now been on the Durango and Silverton Railroad (actually twice) and the White Pass/Yukon Railroad. These are supposedly two of the most spectacular rail trips in the world, and I can believe it.

Hope everyone has had a good day.

Beth

[cctn]

Alaska is Beautiful = I love the scenery esp while going thru the passages = when we were on the Infinity in 2010, they offered us huge bread bowls of clam chowder when we were at the glaciers = free... and hot choc when we would get back on board from the towns - I loved their service but at that time, the Infinity was worn out and didn't care for the ship at all - Celebrity is nice, I still prefer RCCL - then we went on X's newest ship last Nov, the Silhouette -- beautiful ship - anyway, going back to Alaska, I love the beauty and history - did the Skagway train and enjoyed that too -

Carol

[ILoveScotland]

I was on the Silhoutte's sister ship the Eclipse in January 2011. Lovely ship, and splurged for an Aqua Class cabin. Not worth it as far as I was concerned. I'm going to concentrate on RCCL.

Speaking of which, the Brilliance arrived in NY (well Cape Liberty) this morning after her northern route transatlantic. She'll be sailing out of the harbor in about 45 minutes, and I'll be watching. She is going to be going out of Quebec through October. She arrives back at Cape Liberty on November 2nd, and I'll get onboard along with more than 2000 others. I can hardly wait.

The Queen Mary is in NY as well today and leaves the harbor after the Brilliance. I'll watch her leave as well.

Beth

[SC LTC]

Hey everyone i wittiness History beine made The Space Shuttle Endeavour flew over my home it was awesome

what a sight it was. Will never have that again now its in LAX. :cool:

[ILoveScotland]

Hey everyone i wittiness History beine made The Space Shuttle Endeavour flew over my home it was awesome

what a sight it was. Will never have that again now its in LAX. :cool:

 

Oh what a treat for you!

[cctn]

Hey everyone i wittiness History beine made The Space Shuttle Endeavour flew over my home it was awesome

what a sight it was. Will never have that again now its in LAX. :cool:

 

 

That is History in the making - saw lots of pics in my FB page from other posters - I never saw it fly over... don't know if it went over us, perhaps it did and I didn't know it -

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Beth, read your FB entry and I am drooling over your oyster, etc.. lunch!!!

yum............. carol

[ILoveScotland]

Carol, I don't know why I hadn't eaten in this little cafe before now. The oysters were steamed just perfectly, and the Caesar salad was the right size too and tasty. The best part is I can go there again and again and yet again.

Beth

[ILoveScotland]

Part of what I love about CC are the people we get to know from around the world. A few I haven't met in person yet, but others I have. Some in both categories are also Facebook friends now.

 

I thought about it this afternoon as I watched the Brilliance sail out of New York Harbor and kept a running dialog about it on Facebook. I was connected to people who said they liked what I was doing and chatting with:

 

1. a woman in New Jersey who will be on the Brilliance with me in a few weeks
   
2. two women who'd been on the Brilliance with me in 2006 - one here in NC and one in England
   
3. a woman who'll be on a cruise with me in 2013 and may now join the Brilliance cruise
   
4. women in Australia, Texas, Washington State, Utah and Newfoundland
   

 

I just find the technology amazing plus the interest we have in travel in general and cruising in particular. And all because of CC!!

 

Beth

Edited September 22, 2012 by ILoveScotland

[cctn]

Who are the two from the 2006 Brilliance Beth?

I have found lasting friends on CC as well - my East Coast Gang are like my family now - will be on our 4th reunion cruise since Nov 2007 and I know won't be our last - we went to NJ in 2008 for a couple of days visiting famiy and the cruise gang and we all got together for dinner...

I feel connected to Beth since our TA in 2006 -- intelligent woman whom I can learn a great deal from...

and yes, folks from around the world - I have been close to a couple from Southampton England since 2004 ... and also another couple from the same area since 2005 -- (Beth, from 2005 ... would be Veronica and John Moran)... anyway, I agree, a lot of beautiful folks out there from around the world as well as the USA -

I treasure the close friendships I have formed --

Also Beth, I am very close to Tony and Gregg from TN - we still email regularly and share a thread - they got on a thread with folks from CA who live within' 10 to 50 miles from me- didn't know they were on there til several postings of mine later when I found the thread and bingo!! there was Tony!

Carol

[cctn]

Carol, I don't know why I hadn't eaten in this little cafe before now. The oysters were steamed just perfectly, and the Caesar salad was the right size too and tasty. The best part is I can go there again and again and yet again.

 

Beth

 

 

I am jealous!!! makes me want some oysters now - the bottle with about 6 shucked oysters will do but Narce seems to feel, nope, has to be fresh - carol

[cctn]

ok ladies, I am off to make my wine cake - I made two yesterday and one today -

one for our nephew's birthday...

one for Narce...

and one for my girlfriend's birthday tomorrow!!

I will also make some apple bread - got tons of apples from my BIL from his tree... shared one I made last Tues with my friend who spent some time with me - I thought it was dry and dense but then I like my fruit breads dense and dry cuz it didn't have much shortening and not too sweet cuz it called for only 1 cup of sugar - love all the raisins and nuts I add to it - next will be my pumpkin bread cuz it is FALL now!!

Carol

[ILoveScotland]

Veronica Moran was one. Janie Matthews was the other.

[cctn]

Veronica Moran was one. Janie Matthews was the other.

 

 

I don't remember Janie but Veronica is a sweetie -- she is my FB buddy and wish I had more time to communicate with her altho' I try to email her once in a while -

that was a good group - carol

[ILoveScotland]

I was posting from my phone so only gave names. Veronica and I have stayed in touch a bit and are FB buddies, too. Janie and her husband live in North Carolina not too far from where I lived before I moved. I actually ran into her at an event in Asheville a few years ago. I'll see if I can dig up a picture of her.

I'm envious that you've stayed in touch with so many. I think I'll begin to do more of that.

The group I've stayed in touch with the most are all women in the UK. I found their thread on the Floataway Lounge in 2005 or 2006 and posted saying that I love the UK, especially Scotland. Anyway, there are about 15 women who've stayed pretty close through the years with me being the only one outside the UK. We have our private FB forum now as well. There's now a woman in Australia who posts from time to time, and she and I are FB friends, too.

The group has gotten together a few times since they're all so close. But three years ago I scheduled a week of retreat/study in Scotland with a planned gathering. We met in Cardiff for a weekend, and I met 10 of the women. Then before I went off on my retreat I spent two nights with one of the women in Scotland and another of the group met us one day.

Now I'm getting to know the group that is going to cruise together in the Presidential Suite on the Freedom in December 2013.

Well, that's a lot, and it's almost 1:00 a.m. so beddie bye for me.

Beth