Conference abbott::cruise_travel

139.0. "NCL Southward" by MISERY::CORTOPASS_DA () Mon Jul 24 1989 21:54

    
	I'm not going to write a book about this...
    	just a few main points others might find of value.
    
    
I just returned from a 4-day cruise on NCL.  Flew out of San Francisco to LAX,
then bussed to Ports of Call where we boarded the Southward for Catalina, San
Diego, Ensenada, and then back to LA.

This was our first cruise, and pretty much selected this line after reading the
entries in this conference.  We had an outside cabin slightly forward of
midship on a lower deck with an oversized lower bed and private shower.  I
booked this at virtually the last minute... exactly one week prior to sailing.

I checked with about 6 different travel agents, and as it turned out, got
exactly what I had in mind for the least expensive price - $625.00 each.  This
included the round trip airfare.

I found that there was very little in the way of added expense.  Everything was
included except liquor.  I brought a 1/2 pint each of vodka and bourbon along
with a quart of soda and tonic to keep in our room which was always stocked with
ice.  Neither of us are big drinkers, but I figure this saved us somewhere in
the neighborhood of $80 - $100 as drinks cost around 3.50 to 5.00.  Later, I
discovered you can buy liqour on board duty free (a liter of most anything for
about $5).  I did buy 5 or 6 drinks during the cruise.

We were assigned a table with 2 other couples for dinner.  We got along well.
I later found out that the couple sitting across from us at dinner (from
Canada) paid $4600.00 for a cabin 2 decks higher... and they ended up with twin
beds.  As I understood it, our cabins where the same size.

Catalina was the best stop on the cruise.  A beautiful island offering diving,
parasailing, shopping, glass-bottom boat tours, bikes, shopping, etc.  We rented
a golf cart for an hour ($25) and drove it up to the top of the island.  After
about 3-4 hours, the launch brought us back to the Southward which was anchored
just off the island.

In San Diego we went to the zoo.  You can buy an excursion on board ship for
approx. $30 each.  The ship docked here, and we simply got off the ship, walked
2 blocks and caught a bus that dropped us right off at the gate for a buck each
way.  Zoo tickets were $8.50.

Ensenada was less than impressive.  An extremely poor, filthy town with rubble
in the streets (I don't mean Barnie) and the occasional smell of sewage.  We
ate and drank nothing here.  The shops were clean, but most of the merchandise
was a dissapointment.  We were both eager to buy something, but ended up buying
nothing.  It was fun for a while, but eventually we got a little overwhelmed by
the begging and such.  Here again, you can buy an excursion from the ship, but
all you need to do it grab a van right off the dock for a short ride into
Ensenada and back ($3 round trip).

The ship carries 500+ passengers and 300+ crew.  Service was amazing.  Food was
plentiful and XLNT... 24 hours a day.  Constantly something of interest to
anyone.  Good size pool (not always jammed), dancing, different Vegas-Hollywood
type floor show each night, sauna, casino, ping-pong, shuffle-board, volleyball,
excersize room, night club, movie-house, small shopping mall, skeet-shooting,
golf lessons, lotteries, bingo, electronic horse racing... and on and on and...

Four days is perfect for the size of this ship.  It stayed on schedule the
entire voyage... arriving at 9am and departing at 5pm from each destination.
Being a first for us, we found it to be more than what we hoped for and are
already talking about what the next one will be.  The only derogatory comment I
can make is the trek home from Ensenada to LA was VERY rough.  I'd say maybe
40' waves at full clip (17 knots).  We both got nausiated dispite taking a pill.
Next time, I would select a voyage that had many short distances in one
direction and fly back... 7 days max.  A heavier/larger ship (the Southward is
about 17000 tons, 9 engines, 8-9 decks?, 560' x 75' - if my memory serves me
well).

No regrets!  Thumbs up on this one.

dc