Beside a Laundry room.

[afff]

Just found out that our room is apparently right beside a Laundry room on deck 2.

Should I have serious concerns about noise?

 

Our TA enquired.....DCL reported that there are no specfic hours for the laundry room and technically someone could do laundry at any hour, but suggested that most people would NOT do laundry while on board ( they mostly iron ) AND that they were not aware of any noise issues.

 

My TA suggested if it was a concern for us, we could switch to another room, same Category on "guarantee" as all rooms our Category are sold out.

( 10 day Christmas cruise )

 

Could we be worse off if we choose to switch on "guarantee"?

 

Thanks in advance for any comments from any people that have stayed in rooms beside these Laundry facilities.

[cruislovin]

How did your TA already get your cabin assignment for a GUARANTEE? We are sailing in just 4 weeks on the Wonder and my TA is telling me that she won't know my cabin assignment until she gets by docs, about 2 weeks prior to sailing. Something doesn't add up here...

[momofmeg]

We stayed in stateroom #6586 which was like across from the laundry room. Not a problem for us. We never heard any noise from the laundry room. The only noise we heard at all was a couple of times kids running down the hallway but both times this was before 11p.m. Every morning we slept until the steward knocked on our door with our coffee.

 

I personally liked it. It was easy to pop in and iron something instead of getting in line and waiting for an iron. I read posts at disboard.com who said the laundryroom was hot and noisy. We did not see this at all. In fact each stateroom has it's own airconditioning control. We were a little cool and actually turned our air up. We were on the Sept. 19 cruise and it did get hot too. Nassau was boiling the day we were there.

[gizfish]

Since this IS a ten day cruise, I am thinking that the laundry room will be getting more use than usual. Also, being that Disney is such a family cruiseline and kids make lots of dirty clothing, I don't think it is that unusual for the DCL laundry rooms to get use. Personally, I would grab the guarantee, but I really love the gamble of possibly winding up with an upgrade.

[afff]

Since this IS a ten day cruise, I am thinking that the laundry room will be getting more use than usual. Also, being that Disney is such a family cruiseline and kids make lots of dirty clothing, I don't think it is that unusual for the DCL laundry rooms to get use. Personally, I would grab the guarantee, but I really love the gamble of possibly winding up with an upgrade.

Thanks everyone .....please keep the replies coming.

 

By the way, when does DCL offer upgrades?........when you have a room assignment or when you are on "guarantee"

[gizfish]

Although DCL is not very giving with upgrades, your best chances for an upgrade are when you have booked a guarantee. That basically enables the cruise line to keep selling your (cheaper) room over and over again as they can move you to a more expensive category.

[momofmeg]

True we were on a 4 day cruise but the laundry room did get busy our last day of the cruise. I got smart and did my ironing and clothes washing early around 2 p.m. while everyone was still enjoying Castaway Key (we were on the Sept. 19 cruise-we had our sea day first because of "Jeanne".) After 3 p.m. it was super busy. I was in my stateroom this time resting-in fact at 5 p.m. I was out on the balcony as we sailed away-I never heard anything- I only knew how busy it got because I got my clothes out of the dryer around 3:15 or so and later I ran up to the lido for a slice of pizza. Except for that though I was pretty much in my room. We left our room a little after 5:45 because we wanted to get our portraits made before dinner. It was still super busy but from our stateroom we heard nothing. We ran into another cruiser who was going to iron something and asked us because she saw us past the laundry room and ofcourse we let her know it was super busy. she told us that normally she would not have waited that late in fact she had that morning been in there washing clothes and ironing at 7:30 but had forgot the one blouse of one of her kid's.

 

I never heard anything from that morning or any other morning. I was surprised at how busy it was that afternoon but learned that most of the ones there were going on to the Disney resort after the cruise which was why they were washing clothes.

 

Anyway as I have already said the only noise I heard at all was kids running down the hallway a couple of times but it was never late.

 

Now we were on Carnival Miracle back in April-we had an extended balcony on that ship and we heard all kinds of noise. The balcony doors were a bad design and anytime anyone opened their door you would hear the sound of suction breaking. We also heard our neigbors every time they went on the balcony and once at 2 a.m. we heard a couple fighting on their balcony and they weren't even close to us but a couple of decks higher. (we were on deck 6 of that ship also)

 

I really appreciated the design of Disney's balconies (verandas). Since the doors slide open there was no suction sound breaking and we never heard our neighbors either unless they and us both were on the balcony at the same time.

 

I guess I am digressing but the point I am trying to make is Disney's ships are so well made you hear very little noise no matter where your stateroom is. That is not true of other cruiseline ships.

[JanetMarie]

Personally, I would not want to hear the door opening and shutting...

[momofmeg]

Personally, I would not want to hear the door opening and shutting...

On our deck the door stayed open. I never heard ANY noise from it. As I said we slept great-was either woke up by "Mickey" or the steward bringing our morning coffee. The only noise I heard AT ALL was a couple of times kids running down the hallway. Excited kids could be on any deck- and this was really no big deal-would much rather hear kids running down the hall at 10:30 p.m. then to hear a couple fighting on their balcony at 2 a.m. as we heard on our prevous cruise. (This was Carnival Miracle-a brand new ship that did not HOLD A CANDLE to the Wonder)

 

The last day of our cruise the laundry room got pretty busy after 2:30 or 3 p.m. I only knew this because I washed a load of clothes around 2 and needed to tranfer them to the dryer and also I decided to touch up my dress I was planning to wear to Palos that night-so I wanted to use the iron. I was in my room watching Sleeping Beauty (I think) while waiting for the iron-so I popped back and forth a couple of times-until I could get in there and use the iron without being in a line of 3 or 4 people waiting. I also popped up to the lido to get a slice of pizza or something. Mostly though I was in my stateroom from 2 until around 6 when we left for our pictures we wanted taken. I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING.

 

Anyway I thought it was great where our stateroom was-midship-so we felt no movement-easy and close to get to any of the elevators. Plus I saved a few bucks- not sending out my things to get them pressed.

 

We got this room on an guarantee and I was trilled that we got such a great room on a guarantee. Now I know why-most of you consider that a bad room. Well your loss is my gain. I will say this though- if I can book a guarantee and get a class 6 balcony as opposed to booking an" inside " secret porthole room for the same price-well I will go for the balcony across from the laundry room anytime.

 

So go ahead and hate the balconies close to the laundry room. I will stay there and you can pay as much or more for your spo room.

 

I have to say this one more time. Disney ships are constructed MUCH better then the other lines I have been on. Where as I have always heard people in the hallway, next door neighbors etc. on other lines. This was much better on Disney. I did not hear my next door neighbors unless both of us were on the balcony. The Wonder was so well made that sounds just did not carry.

[cruislovin]

Hello momofmeg,

 

What category Guarantee did you book? We have a Guarantee booked too and we are hoping for an upgrade. From some posts I have seen on disboards I was not too hopeful for it... Glad to hear it worked out for you!!!

[afff]

Last night, on a web site, I saw a picture of the laundry rooms ( depicting only 1 entrance door ) and a picture of the laundry room signs.

 

There are laundry rooms on 3 decks.

 

We are booked into # 2601. The sign says the laundry rooms are opposite room # 2096.

After checking the deck plans on the Disney web site, I have determined that the laundry room entrance door is in the other corridor and not in ours.

We therefore will not have people in the hallway in front of our room, which I was initialy afraid of.

We, however have one laundry room wall adjacent to our suite.

 

Thankfully several people have commented that they have not heard any noise from their suite beside laundry rooms, so I am somewhat relieved.

 

Thanks for all the comments, it is much appreciated.

[momofmeg]

cruiselovin-we booked our cruise pretty much last minute in early august. Our cruise was Sept.19. We booked a class 6 balcony guarantee. We got a super deal because I guess the cruise had not been selling well-but we paid the price that normally an inside cabin would go for-that is what I meant. I believe though NOW one reason we got such a great cabin and great location was because many who booked by a room # instead of a guarantee were afraid of being close to the laundry room.

 

If you have booked this cruise many months ahead you have a much better chance of being upgraded ofcourse. We got the catagory we had booked on a guarantee ourselves-but for what we paid-we were plenty happy. The verandas are SUPER. But as I already said I would GLADLY book an inside on this ship.

 

Mid ship though is very nice. The Walt Disney theatre, the shops,many of the lounges are at the front of the ship. The lido restuarant, Palos, pools etc. were all at the back of the ship. Animator's Palette and Parrot Cay were at the back of the ship. The movie theatre and Tritons were mid ship along with the purser's desk (on Disney it is called customer's service desk), the photo gallery and the internet cafe is mid ship also. Anyway everything was fairly close for us no matter which set of elevators we used.

[cruislovin]

Everything will probably feel close by no matter our cabin location. On RCCL we ALWAYS book aft cabins on the ships, Radiance class and Voyager class. Some things are a LONG walk on those Voyager class ships from the aft cabins - BUT we think it's worth it!

 

Less than 3 weeks until we leave. We are excited and getting ready to pack!

[momofmeg]

Everything will probably feel close by no matter our cabin location. On RCCL we ALWAYS book aft cabins on the ships, Radiance class and Voyager class. Some things are a LONG walk on those Voyager class ships from the aft cabins - BUT we think it's worth it!

 

Less than 3 weeks until we leave. We are excited and getting ready to pack!

 

I am sure the voyager class ship is huge but this Disney ship is pretty good sized too. I am not sure about the tonage of it but I believe it may be bigger then the radience class. Anyway I was just pointing out we felt our stateroom was a super location-it was easy for us to get anywhere. We were midship which means those elevators were the closest-but we were past the mid elevators going toward the aft so aft was closer then forward. Now I realize the only reason we got such a great location is others are afraid of the laundry rooms.

 

To the orginal post-as long as your stateroom does not share a wall with the laundry room I am sure you will be fine with the noise. Even if you share a wall you probally will be-as I said we never heard our neighbors-unless both of us were on the balcony.

 

cruiselovin we saw Mariner-in fact our ship left Pt. Can first. I was on our balcony and everyone was waving to us-it was neat. We also had our "muster drills" at the same time. Friends of mine were on Mariner the following week when because of Jeanne they boarded on a Tues. night. They loved Mariner and their balcony-said they never wanted any other type cabin. We have a friend though that is going with us so we are getting 2 atrium cabins on Mariner. I think that will be fun and a diff. experience for us. Also I would rather have the 2 atruim cabins then 1 balcony with 4 people. Our daughter will room with our friend so that means hubby and I get privacy on this cruise.

 

I guess you will see Mariner when you debark since you are doing the 3 day cruise. Have fun.

 

Do the voyager class ships have the atruims that go all the way to the lido decks? That was one thing I liked about Wonder is it only went about 3 or 4 decks on her. I have this thing about heights so that bothers me those super high ones you see on the Carnival ships. Wonder's atruim was more like Sovereign of the Seas.

 

Another thing the voyager class ships-are there safes in the staterooms? Just figured I would ask you here cruiselovin since you know. Have fun on your cruise-it is less then 2 weeks now isn't it?

[cruislovin]

Voyager class and Radiance class ships both have safes in the room. They are very convenient - they open with a code not a specific room key. Don't they open with only 1 room key on DCL?

 

The atrium is open from deck 12 (I think) down to deck 5 where the Promenade is on Voyager class. Your atrium cabins will overlook the promenade. I think those would be fun cabins to have since you can watch all the activities on the Promenade from your cabin... What deck are you on?

 

On the Radiance class there is a place on deck 11 (I think) where you book future cruises that has an acrylic window where you can look all the way down to deck 4! You can even stand on it! I am afraid of heights too, but it is definitely something to see...

 

My daughter is crazy over the fact that the Mariner will be in port on Sunday when we get back. I am SO glad we won't see her when we are leaving as I don't think I would get her on the Disney ship! We just went on Mariner in August - 39th sailing to the Eastern Caribbean. My daughter is TRULY addicted to cruising AND to RCCL. Hopefully Mickie and all his pals will keep her interested in Disney.

 

The Voyager class ships tower over the Disney ships. We were in Nassua on the Explorer and one of DCL's was there too and it was interesting to see. The Voyager class are 14 decks high - how many decks on DCL? The Voyager class are 3 football fields long so going from aft to anything forward takes time, that's for sure.

 

Not sure if the Radiance class or the DCL ships are bigger, but the Radiance class FEEL much smaller to me than the Voyager class. We haven't been on the Radiance class since last September and we have been on Voayger class twice since then, so it is hard for me to remember. Being midship is DEFINITELY an advantage in getting places BUT we won't give up those after balconies when we can get them...

 

We leave 2 weeks from tomorrow - any cruise is a GREAT cruise, in my opinion. The 1st cruise the kids were on was on the Big Red Boat and they loved that ship even though it was old and small. But now they are spoiled with the big ships!

[momofmeg]

We are booking an guarantee in that catagory- so I am guessing we may be "bumped "to a higher deck but still an atruim cabin. I think Mariner is too popular for us to be bumped to an oceanview or balcony for sure. That is why we booked her a year ahead.

 

We were supposed to go with other friends this year who kept wanting to wait to book-then they decided Mariner was "too expensive" although we could have got an atruim stateroom for around $600 a person back in April. Then we were just going to book Carnival Sensation for a 5 day cruise for $400 a person. They did not want to do that either so we decided we would just go down to the Keys for a week but they wanted to go Christmas week and-you guessed it-everything was booked unless we spent like $300 a night for a room.

 

So then we were looking for a vacation just for the 3 of us. I wanted to book Mariner but the inside cabins by that time were going for $800 a person so we ended up booking the Wonder and that is the reason we booked only 6 weeks ahead.

 

People that have never cruised are so afraid it will be "too expensive" but yet they spend lots of bucks on other vacations. It is so silly. We have found cruising is much more affordable- by the time you add in meals, hotel room and entertainment. But it is hard to convince others.

 

The friend that is going with us went on Explorer in August-her first cruise and she loved it. She had an atruim cabin-other friends of hers had the basic inside cabin and she said the atruim cabins were much nicer and a lot of fun-so we went for that. I am sure I will miss the balcony a little-but people watching will be fun and I can spend more time on the lido as I have done before when I only had an oceanview or inside cabin.

 

You lock and unlock your safe on Wonder with a card that has a magnetic strip. Some have posted they used like their library card or a "Kroger" card and kept the one card hid in the room-for easy access to all. To me that may just tempt a normally honest steward. I do not see the need in that. We only keep money and jewelry there. You only need money on port days- so get it out that morning before you go to breakfast. Jewlery we only take out before dinner and usually that is just me but hubby can get in there then. We are all together dressing for dinner.

 

Carnival's safes work the same day. Hubby did forget his diving card on Miracle but he knew where to find me so he just went up to the lido where I was-got my card for the safe and then brought it back to me before leaving. That is the only time it has ever been a problem. As I said normally he lets me lock the safe with my card as I get in the safe more because of wearing jewelry.

 

Which is why I asked about that. Sovereign did not have safes and that made me nervous. The only thing that came up missing was a CZ earring which was no big deal-my real stuff was not even touched-but ofcourse it was the CZ earrings (2 carats) that looked like they were worth something.( If they had been the real thing-worth a lot more then a $400 ruby ring.) But they had only cost me I think $30 or $40 from QVC.

 

I saw Mariner in Pt. Can-it was docked next to the wonder so I saw the difference in size. We also were docked next to Voyager in costa Maya last year when we were on the Inspiration. Voyager was 5 decks higher then Inspiration-about 30 feet longer- and 10-15 feet wider. Granduer of the Seas was docked there too right across from Voyager and though it was supposed to be around the size of the fanasty class ships it looked pretty small. We joked that Voyager and Inspiration had a baby and the baby favored "Dad"-Voyager.

 

The Wonder may have been a little smaller the Inspiration (I don't think so) but was a lot bigger then Sovereign. If you remember when Frances messed up the channels of Pt. Can it was Wonder, Magic, Mariner and Glory that could not dock there because of their size. Fanasty and Sovereign could still dock there.

[cruislovin]

Wow, an atrium stateroom for $600 pp on Mariner is a GREAT PRICE. Too bad you didn't scoop it up when it was available. What time of year was the cruise?

 

I think we got a great deal on this Disney cruise on the Wonder. When I booked it the T/A said she could not remember even a 3-nite DCL cruise being that cheap. So we booked the least expensive inside cabin guarantee. I will miss the balcony too, but it's only 3 nights and it doesn't matter to me where the cabin is as long as I am on the ship!

 

We may be going in February on my husband's annual sales convention cruise IF he qualifies. He is getting there but may run out of time. We are keeping our fingers crossed... It is a 10-night Panama Canal sailing on the Brilliance.

 

Personally I think the Radiance class ships are more beautiful that the Voyager class but I do miss the Promenade and the ice rink. It is just SO unique having parades and the ice skating show AT SEA. Be sure to see them both. There is a parade the first and last evenings of the cruise. You get tickets for one of the ice skating shows through the week. We always go on the night there is no show in the theater. That way we see a show every night and don't have to miss any of the shows in the theater. I think it was Wednesday night that we went.

[momofmeg]

Well we are not supposed to tell this but it is at cruise.com. Our total price was around $675 a person with the insurance. This is a year from now. Back in April we could have booked this fall (2004) for that price but by June it had gone up because it was selling out. We did not want to pay $875 a person for an inside cabin in Sept.-Oct- when if we waited until next year we save $200 a person.

 

I looked up the tonage on the Wonder. It is 83,000 tons. Sovereign is 73,000 tons. Granduer of the Seas was 74,000 tons so just barely bigger then Sovereign. But it is not a Radience class ship. Radience class ships are 90,000 tons and the voyager class is 138000 tons. So the Wonder will be smaller then the Radience class ships.

 

I don't remember exactly but I think Carnival's fanasty class ships are like 85000 tons and the spirit class is is around 93000 tons. The conquest class(I have never done that class of ship-read too many bad reviews) is 108,000 tons which is still consdierably smaller then the voyager class. There is only one ship bigger then the voyager class though and it is Cunard's Queen MaryII.

 

Anyway the largest ship I have been on is Carnival's spirit class. Size wise I felt the Wonder compared well-not quite as many lounges but it had just as many pools. Not as many hot tubs but as children were not allowed in them and this was enforced-it seemed like there were more hot tubs.

 

I have been on 2 old ships too which were small by these other ships I mentioned. Tropicale was my first cruise-already a old ship (this was in 98) but I loved that cruise as I had nothing to compare it to. I went on "Love boat" the original Pacific Princess before Princess retired her. She was even smaller and older but the chefs were super so were the broadway style shows. as for nostalgia she could not be beat- plus we went to Bermuda on her and was able to do all 3 ports-I loved her.

 

I can have a good time on any ship-I just expect more when I pay more. Although the Bermuda cruise was far from cheap-our oceanview cabin was I think $800 a person- this was in late September- airport transfers were like $80 a person. I think this was because we were on one her last voyages. I love experiencing different things I don't always want the same-o same-o.

 

The HAL ship we took to Alaska was pretty much a mid sized ship too.

 

Our other choice last minute for doing a cruise this fall was doing Voyager for the Canada New England cruise but hubby was not enthusiatic about doing that as he wanted to go diving in the caribbean somewhere. (which he did not get to do because of "Jeanne") So we decided on Wonder for this fall (which was a GREAT choice) and Mariner next fall.

 

We usually do just one cruise a year. Though occasionially we will throw in another. There is no way we can afford to do 3 cruises a year on all new expensive ships. Hubby likes to take other vacations too. We are saving to do a special one for our 25th three years away-we hope to do Europe but if not that-at least we will do a 14 day cruise. So after we do Mariner next fall-we may not do any cruises unless it is a cheap mini until we do our anniversary cruise.

 

We have used cruise.com several times. They have always done great for us. No we don't get flowers or champagne from them but for their prices who cares? I guess with our budget if we went elsewhere we would only cruise every 2 years instead of once a year. For the difference in price I will buy my own champagne. Heck if you go with them maybe you can do 4 cruises a year.

[cruislovin]

Where are you from, momofmeg? One problem for us is the airfare, being from PA.

 

Believe me, we could not afford 3 cruises a year either if it weren't for various circumstances that happened to come together last year and this year! For one, the February cruises we take are an annual sales convention that my husband has to earn with his sales job. So his complete cruise, including air, tips, etc. is all paid for. Then he can earn all or a percentage of my fare too. The kids are given a basic rate for 3rd and 4th passengers, also including air and tips. So this turns out to be a VERY nice deal for us. He better make it for Feb 2005, or else!

 

Then last year just DH and me took a 3 night on the Serenade. It was only the 10th sailing and left from NYC and sailed to Nova Scotia. I am the "bargain hunter of the century" and got a really great deal on that one too! We were going to drive to NYC but then got air for $69 round trip, so we flew instead!

 

This year my 12 year old mentioned wanting to try DCL and I figure my window of opportunity is closing possibly for the 13-17 or so ages. If we can have a great time, just the 2 of us, at this age she may be more willing to go again during those mysterious teen years. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

We took the Tropicale from LA. That was the only time we had an inside cabin and it was VERY near the front of the ship. We were within 100 miles of a hurricane and my husband got VERY seasick. I don't think even an inside cabin will present that problem for my daughter and me...

 

I decided to cancel the reservation I had for the Comfort Suites. It was a lot of $ for the 2 of us and after reviewing their webiste in more detail I just did not see enough to do there for an entire day. And spending $200 I would have felt obligated to stay there ALL day even if we were not enjoying it. So we are planning to go to Cable Beach, starting with the Wyndham since they have one water slide. Then there are some other options nearby. I just cannot decide about the jitney vs. a cab... I don't trust the people in Nassau so I don't know if I will feel safe on the jitney without my husband. It is SO much less $ for the jitney than the cab and everyone says it is safe and clean. But my 14 year old son was offered drugs a number of times when we were in Nassau both this year in August and in February 2003. He is very tall so he looks older than he is but this made be VERY cautious of this place. My daughter looks about 14 or 15 so I am somewhat concerned. It has happened on other islands too, not just Nassua - you cannot be too careful anywhere these days!

 

We leave 2 weeks from today. We are staying overnight in Cocoa Beach. I STILL don't have my docs, but my TA called DCL today and they told her they were mailed to her on Monday this week. So hopefully she will get them tomorrow or Friday. I want to see what cabin we have!!!

 

What month are you going on the Mariner? The "great debate" on next summer's plans is under way with my family. In 2006 we will be celebrating out 25th anniversary. I want to go on the Ultravoyager that year for sure! Now we just need to figure out 2005! We really want to do Hawaii but RCCL does not sale there in the summer. I am willing to try Norwegian again but the rest of the family disagrees... So what to do!

[momofmeg]

I live in the Atlanta, Ga area. Hubby works for one of the airlines so we get to fly stand by. We have a bunch of skymiles saved up-we have a skymiles American Express card- we are saving our skymiles for the Europe cruise.

 

I myself prefer to drive to FL when hubby will do that. He will drive as far as Pt. Can. and Tampa but anything further we fly stand-by so we save a good bit there. We just have to be flexable with our schedule-sometimes we leave a day early and come back the day after-as we can only fly standby if the flight is not sold out.

 

We have been tighting out belts the last couple of years as the airlines are not doing so great-health insurance is not good anymore-so that costs us a lot more and hubby has not had a raise in 4 years and will be taking a cut come January. So we HOPE we can do the Europe cruise in 3 years. (we also want to spend a few days in Paris before the cruise) If not that then we hope to do Celebrity's 2 week cruise out of Jacksonville that goes to the southern caribbean. We have done the southern carb. once-flew into to San Juan-but would love to do it again.

 

The other option to save on air fare is to do HAL Statendam's 2 week cruise to Hawaii from San Francisco as that would be less expensive airfare-just a good many days at sea-but I like sea days- so no problem. This we are considering as if our airline goes belly-up I am guessing we lose those sky miles.

 

Our daughter always loved cruising and the teen club so we never had a problem with her not wanting to go-heck she would go with us on our 25th if we would take her. Normally we do take her-she has been on 7 of the 9 cruises we have taken so far.

 

We do Mariner next October-so yes we are going when the fall prices are down but we just checked on line and the first week in Nov. THIS YEAR it is going for like $899 for an inside cabin-this is because ofcourse Mariner is so popular. If we had booked her back in Feb. we could have got the atruim cabin for around $600 as I said.

 

Now our friend who went back in August on Explorer-paid $650 for an atruim cabin with insurance. She checked the prices for Mariner that same week and it was like $250-300 more for Mariner. She booked in June-about 9 or 10 weeks before her cruise on August 29. She had to go that week because that was the week she had vacation.

 

One thing I am thinking though is maybe I should just ask for a cabin # this time. I may not enjoy that atruim cabin so much if we do get "bumped" to a higher deck. Even with balconies I am a little uncomfortable until we leave out-being out over water for some reason does not bother me but looking down over a dock does.

 

We did Tropicale out of Tampa. she was like 18 years old then I think. Our first cruise-she was cheap-like $350 a person for a 4 day cruise I think (inside cabin) but she got us hooked for sure-we have been cruising every since. Once we found we enjoyed cruising we were wiling to pay more.

[cruislovin]

We have a skymiles American Express card- we are saving our skymiles for the Europe cruise.

 

We have been tighting out belts the last couple of years as the airlines are not doing so great-health insurance is not good anymore-so that costs us a lot more and hubby has not had a raise in 4 years and will be taking a cut come January.

 

The other option to save on air fare is to do HAL Statendam's 2 week cruise to Hawaii from San Francisco as that would be less expensive airfare-just a good many days at sea-but I like sea days- so no problem.

 

Our daughter always loved cruising and the teen club so we never had a problem with her not wanting to go-heck she would go with us on our 25th if we would take her. Normally we do take her-she has been on 7 of the 9 cruises we have taken so far.

 

One thing I am thinking though is maybe I should just ask for a cabin # this time. I may not enjoy that atruim cabin so much if we do get "bumped" to a higher deck.

We have the RCCL points credit card - love those cruise benefits!

 

It's such a shame as to the state of affairs for all the airlines these days. I know many people who work for USAirways here in Pittsburgh and their future is so uncertain with that airline.

 

I did not know about the HAL Hawaii cruise. What HAL cruises have you taken in the past? Do you like that line?

 

No problem with my DD cruising either. BUT her interest in Disney is what I thought may go. And I have always been curious about taking a DCL cruise. At the "ripe old age" of 14 my son has NO interest in Disney at all - cruise or parks. We have been oo the parks several times and he finds the more high tech parks like Universal Studios more exciting. Although Disney has added a few high tech rides in recent years...

 

All the atrium cabins are faily "high". They are either 1, 2, or 3 decks above the Promenade. We have never stayed in them but we have gone in before people were in them and looked down and it was pretty freaky. I think they have a window seat to use when looking down to the Promenade.

 

Still hoping to get my docs today or tomorrow!

[momofmeg]

We only took one HAL cruise and that was to Alaska in 2001. We found HAL VERY sedate-our daughter absolutely hated it but they had cancelled the teen club as there were only 3 teens on the whole ship and only 2 showed up for the club. So she was bored to death.

 

Hubby and I loved the food and broadway style shows. Both were top notch. The ship was beautiful-very quality built. They had display case with some neat antiques etc. that I have never seen anything like that on other ships. The ship was Statendam-the same that does the Hawaii cruises. Summer cruises are Alaska. Winter cruises alternate between Hawaii and the mexican riveria.

 

After the show was over the ship was pretty sedate-the only live music bands we found were before dinner in the Eagle's nest. We kind of hated that but there was a plus to that. We had the hot tub to ourselves every night.

 

I have been told though that other HAL cruises aren't quite so sedate. It is just the Alaska cruises attract older retired people and HAL attracts more of that crowd too so it was like we had a double wammy. I do think though that hubby and I on our own-minus the daughter could entertain ourselves more-so that may not be such a problem. Anyway that is the 3 cruises we are considering. The Princess repositioning cruise in Sept. from Denmark to New York (we would spend a couple of days in Paris first) or wait until actually our anniversary date and either do the Celebrity one out of Jacksonville or the HAL one to Hawaii from California. Our anniversary is in Jan. But as far as I am concerned we are celebrating 25 years of marriage so it does not have to be the actual date. We can do it a few months early.

 

Which one we do I guess will depend on what our finances look like then-obviously even using our skymiles the Princess one will be more expensive with us also spending time in Paris- but I would be happy even with the 14 day one on Celebrity if that is all we can swing.

 

To me though this will be a once in a lifetime celebration so it would be worth it.