Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    I haven't been on Carnival Lines, because it is mainly for singles
    so I'm not sure what you can expect.  I've travelled on several
    other lines and they usually have a 'singles' party the first night
    so that people traveling alone can meet each other.
    
    Most 7 day cruises have two 'formal' nights (the captain's cocktail
    party the 2nd night and a farewell gals the second to last night).
    The other nights are either informal (dresses for the ladies,
    jackets and ties for the men) or casual (meaning anything except
    for shorts).
    
    A cruise is a great way for a woman to travel alone.  People are
    friendly.  You make a lot of acquaintances and it seems like you
    get to know everybody.  As I say, I'm not sure about Carnival, but
    I know I wouldn't hesitate cruising alone on any of the lines I've
    been on.
    
    Have fun,
    
    Ro
    

    I have been on 3 Carnival Cruises and planning my fourth for next
    year.  They are by far the best vacations I've ever taken.  Although
    I've always travelled with a friend, it is the type of vacation
    I wouldn't mind doing alone.  (It is nothing like Club Med.)
     
    The 7-day cruises start at $995/pp based on double occupancy.  For
    single occupancy, add 50% to the price.  They also offer a singles
    plan where Carnival will assign you a roommate(s) and the price
    is significantly lower.  The price includes round trip airfare 
    and all meals.  
    
    Dress is casual most of the time, but there are 2 formal nights.
    On the formal nights, most women wore dressy cocktail dresses, but
    some did wear full length gowns.   
                                                         
    There are planned activities going on throughout the day which are
    a lot of fun and an excellent way to meet people.  They do have
    a singles get together the first night on board as well.
    
    I don't know if you have a particular ship in mind, but I highly
    recommend the HOLIDAY which is the one I took in May.  It was
    fabulous.
    
    Have a great time.
     
    

    Carnival Cruise lines caters to a younger crowd, although you'll find
    people of all ages.  If you are looking for mucho partying then
    you might lean towards Carnival.

    You can get an idea of the type of people various lines attract by:

    	1) The brochures - What is the age of the people in the majority of
            pictures?

    	2) Length of the cruise - generally the longer the cruise the older
            the crowd.

    	3) Price per day - the higher the price, the older the crowd.  An
            older crowd usually is looking for quality in accommodations,
            food, and entertainment and are willing to pay for it.

    If you decide on Carnival you might think about booking on one of their
    newer and bigger ships such as the Holiday or Jubilee.

    By the way, you might look for a bi-monthly magazine called 'Cruise
    Travel' at your newsstand.  Very interesting reading.

    

I went on a Carnival Cruise a few years ago - aboard the Festival.  We 
traveled to San Juan, St. Thomas and Nassau.  (I believe the Holiday has
recently taken over the same ports and the Festival now has three different
ports.)  Overall, I would recommend it - but there were definitely pros
and cons to the whole trip.

Bad news first:

I arranged my travel through Singles World and ended up in a very small cabin -
lower deck - toward the back of the ship.  Very small cabin - and with four
women in the one cabin - getting ready for the evening was an adventure! Spent
very little time in the room as you could feel the movement of the ship.  I'm
not prone to sea-sickness...but had a few questionable moments in that cabin.
Definitely pay the extra money for an outside cabin - upper deck - if you can. 

I would strongly encourage single men to go - as I found that the majority
of the single passengers were women.  Made it tough to find a dance partner
at times.

If you are looking for a "kick-back, relax, no schedule" vacation - certain
aspects of the cruise can be annoying.  For example, the first hour on board
we waited for our luggage to be delivered.  The second hour was spent at
the lifeboat drill.  All three meal times were set (early or late sitting)
and you had to be in the dining room at a certain time if you wanted to eat.
Ports of call were scheduled and you had to make the most of the time allowed.
(For example - in Nassau, we arrived at 8:00 a.m. - left at 2:00 p.m.)

Good news:

Very inexpensive for the package I got.  I paid approx. $700 for the whole
thing - air, food, cruise, etc.  (Of course, if you were to add in that 
bar bill.....!)  As I said before, however, next time I'll go for a better
cabin.

The islands were terrific!  Highly recommend St. Thomas and Nassau!

The people were wonderful!  Met some great people and still keep in touch
with a few!  The service was great!

Would definitely recommend the later sitting for the meals.  I prefer to
sleep a bit later than the early breakfast allowed.  Also, the casino and
the dance club did not open until after the late sitting - perfect timing
to finish dinner then begin the entertainment for the evening!

The food was wonderful!

Clothing:  I would recommend mostly casual but throw in a few dresses for
nights.  I saw everything from jeans to gowns.  There typically is one formal
night - I felt quite comfortable in a dressy street length dress - my cabinmate 
wore a gown.

Have a great time!

-Kelly

    I've been on the Carnival ship (my first cruise) and it was the
    best cruise so far!  I went with my twin sister.  We meet two 
    women on the bus from the airport to the ship and we ended up 
    sitting with them for meals.  We had a great time!  The personal
    on the ship were great, they told us what to see, what not to bother
    seeing, where to get a taxi, etc....  They were very helpful.
    
    About being a pick-up device, I didn't really notice.  I meet someone
    while I was there but we went our seperate ways alot.  I have pictures
    of him still but I'll also consider him my "on the seas friend".
    I did have a waiter hit on me when he delivered drinks (room service)
    and I got scared.  I downed the drinks and asked him to get more.
    While he was gone I called my sister and friends in another room
    and asked them to come to my room pronto.  On their way over another
    waiter we knew came with them to help get the bad guy out.  It wasn't
    as bad as all that, it just made me nervous.  
    
    As I remember, there were only two dress up nights.  You get treated
    like a queen/king.....  It's great..   I recommond second sitting
    also.  (and when we didn't make breakfast, our waiter (you get the
    same one all the time) sent to our room, muffins and coffee!!! and
    we didn't even ask!
    
    Anna      You're going to have a great!!!!!  time.....  I'm jealous.
    
    
    
    

    I went on a cruise about 8 years ago.  Believe it or not, it was
    to Canada.  We left Boston, stopped in PEI, down the St. Lawrence
    to Montreal, stopped in Quebec on the way back.  I had a great time,
    but I'm a born tourist.  My travel agent told me about something
    I'd never heard of.  There are 4-bed rooms, rented out to individuals
    who don't know each other.  Because a lot of folks don't know about
    this, they're seldom full.  I shared with two other women, one was
    retired and had travelled the world.  She was fascinating to talk
    with.  The other was about 25 and it was her first cruise too. 
    I was nearing 40 at the time.  I didn't mind the small cabil because
    all I did there was sleep, and only about 6-7 hours at that because
    there was so much to do.  If you really can't get along with you
    roommates the ship will move you, but I don't know if there is any
    cost for that.  The people I met ranged in age from teens to retired
    and they were all there to have a good time.  The food was fabulous
    and there were activities going on all the time - participate or
    not as you wish.  I only had one small complaint.  The sight-seeing
    trips that were booked from on-board turned out to me more expensive
    than if I'd walked down the dock and booked it myself.  I would
    definitely do it again.
    
    Karen
    

I was on Carnival's Jubilee Cruise in January. To say it was a fantastic 
vacation wouldn't do it enough justice!!

Here are my tips -

    Don't have four to a room! The cabins are very comfortablew for two, and
maybe even three. But four? Forget it. Pay the extra money and have the extra 
closet space!

    Try everything on the ship! The days are loaded with things to do, but 
what good is it if you don't try them! I'd recommend scuba diving, snorkeling, 
nightgown contest, lip synch contest, beer drinking contest, and lots more!

Here are some more tips if you're going to so some major-league partying (like 
I did):

    Don't foget a styrofoam "huggie" for your beer cans! The weather is always 
warm, and beverages get warm quickly!

    Bring some booze with you! You're allowed to bring 2 bottles per person on 
the boat. Since room service is free, you can get all your mixers (OJ, 
cranberry juice, ginger ale) brought to your room, and make your own drinks! 
You can also purchase duty-free booze at the islands. 

    And if you really, really, really like to party, I would suggest the first 
seating for dinner! On my ship the casino was open all day, and a soft-rock 
band started playing around 8:00. The late dinner might cause you to have 
problems getting seats for some of the shows as well....

Enjoy!
Paul

    I will be on board of Carnival Cruise -- Maroi Gras in mid of Sept.  
    When I booked for this cruise they have a special guarantee offer at 
    a much lower price.  What they guarantee is the catagory of cabin that 
    I will get, but I have no choice on the cabin (front, center, rear, 
    inside or outside).  Has anyone took this special offer before?  How 
    does it turn out to be?  or Do you know why they have this special 
    offer?
    
    I am really excite about getting on board -- this is my first time.
    
    -Susan
    

    Most importantly:  I'M JEALOUS!
    
    I've been on two cruises SO FAR!.  The first on the Rotterdam/holland
    america, the second on the Tropicale/Carnival.
    
    My sister has been on the Festival and Tropicale,  My brother and
    his wife on the Holiday last month for the 10 year anniversary.
    
    As far as i'm concerned there is no 'bad' cruise.  My sister has
    been on 10 on 8 different ships and loved every one.
    
    I don't agree that Carnival 'caters' to the younger crowd.  There
    were many people of manyu ages on board and no group is neglected.
    The Tropicale left out of Long Beach to the Mexican Riveria.  The
    Tropicale was very 'casual' compared to the Rotterdam (my favorite
    vacation in the history of my life!).  I was single both times
    travelling with my sister and her husband - the only way I could
    afford to go back then.
    
    I wouldn't care where my cabin was! Unless you are a fool, all you
    will do is sleep there.  I had the patch and it worked fine.  The
    food was good, i'm not in to the big meals too much.  The entertainment
    was not so hot - although a comedian was good.  The crew was very
    accomodating.
    
    As far as the ship being like club med?  I don't think so.  I met
    several people and was able to have drinks and explore and dance
    with them and stuff without feeling that "oh-oh is this jerk gonna
    be behind me all week???"  It's nice to just play and have fun.
     It's like anywhere else I think, if you are looking for someone,
    you will find them.  If you want some rest and just to be alone
    most of the time, you can have that too.   It's fun to see who is
    with who at nighttime, and then to see who's with who the next day
    at the pool!
    
    dress:  casual, but kind of dressy for dinner.  I liked dressing
    up for the dinners in bright dresses!  it is a festive occassion.
    
    If you go to Mazatlan go to Senor Frog's, its a bar that was really
    fun.
    
    And my brother and his wife LOVED their first cruise.  They are
    hooked.  The food, the ports!  its great fun.

    re: .9 -- Senor Frogs
    
    Yes, I would agree that Senor Frogs is a fun bar.  However... you
    should be very careful when drinking the margaritas.  They use wood
    grain alcohol and this makes some people *real* sick.
    
    I was there in March 86.  The majority of the people who came back
    from Senor Frogs didn't make it to dinner that evening!
    
    Colleen

    RE .10 - I know about Senior Frog's, first hand...
    
    UNBELIEVABLE!!!  My wife and I visited Senior Frog's in April 85.
    That night I didn't feel 100% and went to bed early.  Next morning
    woke up sick as a dog.  By the way, I only drank 1/2 margarita.
    All this time I was thinking maybe it was the water they washed
    the glass with.  Maybe it was wood-alcohol!
    
    I spent the next two days in my stateroom and in the infirmary.
    Lost 5 lbs. those two days and was so weak one time my wife had
    to help me walk to the bathroom.  I'll never forget that.  Fortunately
    it was a 14 day cruise so I recouped in time to get in some fun
    in the sun.
    
    Thanks for the info.
    
   

    
    Wow, I didn't get sick at all.  I still have the menu, which explains
    that they use purified water for everything - including washing
    the dishes.  This was in 1983, maybe things have changed.
    
    The crew were all there.  They brought you a dish of candies, and
    the beer was in little buckets.  If you ordered "A" margarita, you
    were brought two!
    
    They served food then, and people danced around the tables.  It
    was great fun.  I'm sorry you guys had bad luck there.
    
    Maybe my tummy was steel back then.  On my honeymoon to Cancun i
    was pretty icky for a couple of days.  My husband was REALLY sick,
    but some LOMOTIL fixed him up in 30 minutes.  (that's over the counter
    in Mexico, but prescription here, its made by a us company so i
    figured safe enough, worked great with just one!
    
    angela

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Note 107.0                 JOE: What is Wood Alcohol?                 No replies
KOBAL::BELON                                         15 lines   3-APR-1989 15:37
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    JOE:  What is wood alcohol (I was a bartender and embarrassed to say I
    don't knw what it is) I was reading old notes and wanted to know what
    you all meant by wood alchol at this "senior frog place" in Mexico.
    
    My girlfreind insists on going and she "Can't drink" she isn't a fish
    (old sorority joke).   I would much appreciate the info, I haven't
    decdied if I will warn her yet since she has been a pain in the but
    with getting our tickets etc and the cruise is only 4 days away.
    
    Won't you all like to know how I made out, 3 single girls on a cruise 
    (oh lord)!
    
    Julie-lynn
    
                                             
    

    RE:5.13 < Wood Alcohol >
    
      Wood Alcohol is a common name for Methyl Alcohol or Methanol.
     Methly Alcohol is toxic (poisonous), if consumed in moderation.
    I don't remember what the lethal dose level is;however,the best
    course of action would be to avoid it,completely.
    
    
      So, much for "Wood Alcohol" a.k.a "Bad News".
    

    Has anyone else been crusing alone since 1989...??
    
    any more tips or info?
    
    
    Kat @SQF Scotland.

    Might try to find a cache of Cruise Travel Magazines. They often have
    hints, organizations, arrangements with cruise lines, and articles
    about cruising alone.

	I get Cruise Travel Magazine and I have seen ads for singles
cruises.

	-Steve-