Conference abbott::cruise_travel

    Hi,
    
    I am looking for someone that has been on either the Royal Caribbean
    line and Celebrity lines or NCL and Celebrity lines?
    
    We are planning a cruise for February of 92 and have been on 
    Royal Caribbean Sovereign of the Sea's and our other friends
    were on Celebrity's Horizon...  
    
    We got info from a travel agent that after going on either RCCL or NCL
    you will never be satisfied with less...  Can anybody tell me
    what they think regarding this?
    
    Also, we went in October out of Miami and this will be February
    does anyone know if there are problems getting out of Miami then
    or would you suggest leaving out of San Juan at that time of year?
    
    At this point - we are looking at RCCL's Monarch of the Sea's and
    Celebrity's new Zenith, BUT we are open for suggestions.
    
    

    
    We took RCCL Song of Norway in April out of Puerto Rico.
    I prefer to go out of San Juan only because it is closer
    to the islands and you spend less time at sea.  But I 
    think it is a matter of preference.
    
    Even though it was an older ship the service was outstanding.
    We have never being treated better in our lives. 
    
    We decided to take a later seating because dinner for early seating
    was at aprox 6:00 - 6:30.  Return time to the ship was usually 5:00
    5:30 and when you only have 8 hours to spend on an island - you
    want to make the most of it.  So to rush back, shower and change
    for dinner is really rushing things.  We enjoyed the 8:30 seating
    because we could come back to the ship.  Go up on to the top deck
    and get a drink, relax and visit with folks.  Take pictures as we
    sailed out of port etc.   But dinner from the late sitting usually
    finishes around 10:00 - 10:30 pm - and we were never hungry for
    the midnight buffet.
    
    Every night the dinner was a different theme - Italian, Caribbean,
    Oriental, American etc.  The waiters would dress in costumes
    and perform at the end of the meal.   There is alot of food.
    Every night there was a new menu - you would select your 
    appetizer, which could be shrimp cocktail or escargo - chicago
    pizza .... or just a glass of juice.  Three different types of
    soup - usually one cold one in the selection (the cold were
    wonderful - viscasoius (sp), cold avocado, or leek).  Two
    types of salads, and then the entree.  Then they brought by
    4 types of vegetables - you could have all or none.   The 
    deserts were out of this world.   
    
    We had breakfast on deck the mornings that we were in a hurry.
    They had a large selection of fruits, cereals, pastries etc.  But
    the breakfasts in the dining room were better because they
    made omelets and eggs benedict, pancakes etc. 
    
    Lunchtime we were usually off the ship - and we would eat a 
    large enough breakfast that we would just need to get a 
    snack or ice cream during the day.  There was always a 
    buffet with finger foods on the deck when we came back
    to the ship and that would hold us over until dinner.
    
    The early seating attracts and older crowd - and the later 
    seemed to be all 40's and under.
    
    They had two shows nightly, one for the early seating and
    the second show for the late seating.  
    
    What ever you decide - have a wonderful time.
    
    Jeanne
    
    

    Hello,
    
    We have been on RCCL's SOS and Nordic Empress.  We have also been on
    Celebrity's Horizon.  
    
    Food was excellent on both, however, I must admit we had slightly
    better service and food on the Horizon.  There was always food
    available in one place or another and the dinners were fabulous.  My
    vote is for the Horizon's food.
    
    Late seating is best when the port times are long.  If your port times
    are only for half a day, go for the early seating.  If they are most of
    the day, go for late seating as you will be tired, hurried, and most
    likely late to every dinner at an early seating.
    
    Hope this helps,
    Gail

    We cruised on RCCL Sun Viking in March. There were many people on 
    board who take cruises regularly for vacations. They all remarked 
    that, in their opinions, RCCL was the best cruise line. Our 
    travelling companions were cruising for the first time and were warned
    that they would be disappointed if they cruised any other line in the 
    future. 
    
    
    Linda

    After cruising on RCCL (Song of Norway), NCL (Seaward), and Cunard
    (Countess) my vote goes to RCCL.  They are not only the BEST in my
    opinion in terms of food, service, etc., my husband's too.
    
    I first sailed on Cunard in 1986 when I was single.  My husband and
    I honeymooned on RCCL in 1989 and were treated like royalty!!  The
    waiter and busboy could not have been better.  I'm a diabetic and was
    not able to enjoy a lot of the foods that they had on the menu due
    to doctor's orders.  It wasn't a problem for RCCL...they just asked
    me what I wanted and made it for me!  When Joe and I sailed this year
    on NCL, they were not as accomodating.
    
    It's just my opinion, but I can see why RCCL is #1 and NCL #2.  RCCL
    just goes that "extra mile" for you!
    
    Diana
    

    Hi,
    I have been on both the Song of Norway and the Horizon. The food
    was about equal but the attention to detail on the Song of Norway
    was far superior. We found that the Information Desk and the Medical
    facilities where not always available on the Horizon. On board
    activities also where not of the same quality on the Horizon.
    Steve
    

    It's funny how people's opinion's vary.  I have sailed three times with
    NCL, Skyward, Starward, Seaward, and once with RCCL, Song of Norway.  I
    have always found NCL to be much better, (which is why I have sailed
    three times with them.  RCCL was the Second cruise I took.)  It could
    have been just a one time type thing but it was enough to make me not
    want to go back.  
    
    Re:  RCCL:  the food was cold most of the time, and many times my whole
    table would send back food for it was undercooked.  We rarely received
    what we ordered.  Our waiter was always making mistakes.   Our room
    steward would open all the cabin doors in his section and leave them
    wide open while he would be in another cabin cleaning.  Just all in all
    I have always had a better time on NCL.
    
    Am I the only one??
    
    Doreen

    I just returned from a week on board the Sovereign of the Seas (RCCL).
    RCCL just, within the last 2 years or sohas attained the #1 cruise line
    rating, took it over from NCL.
    
    The service was great and so was the food.  The one thing I have
    noticed on previous cruises, NCL, Carnival, and Costa, is that steaks
    haven't been cooked as requested, RCCL in this case did an excellent job
    of this.  All food was prepared correctly and always hot.  I believe it is
    the responsibility of the waiter to see all food is correctly served and
    our waiter was fantastic, to the point I never was allowed to cut my
    daughter's food since the waiter took care of it.
    
    My daughter tried many new foods but didn't always like them and the
    waiter would have her re-order with the new meal appearing within 5-10
    minutes.
    
    Another service our waiter took care of, after finding out my dad's
    likes/dislikes, was to have things sent to my dad in the hospital with
    his compliments, I didn't even know of this until my dad mentioned on
    the the return flight home.

    Thanks to everyone for the replies here and also all the mail I have
    received on "cruise food".
    
    We ended up booking NCL Seaward for next month, on the Seasaver
    program.  I will write a food report when I get back.
    
    Anxiously counting the days...
    
    Stephanie

I am taking a cruise (my very first one) this August on Princess Line 
(Island Princess) from Anchorage to Vancouver and am about to make a meal 
seating time selection.

I really want the late seating for dinner, but we get up very early (about 
6:00) and don't want to wait until 8:30 for the second breakfast seating.  
Unfortunately the cruise line won't let me pick and chose for each meal.

Thus a bunch of questions.

	Can you just show up for a different breakfast seating and if there's 
	an empty place, take it?  

	Do cruise ships (Princess in particular) set up a breakfast
	buffet where you can get coffee and a roll or something early on 
	(regardless of seating time) to take back to the cabin and then go 
	back for your regular breakfast seating?  

	If your breakfast seating is at 8:30 and there's a stop scheduled 
	at 8:00, what do they do (or not do as the case may be) to enable
	you to eat breakfast?

Now some questions on another vein.

	In addition to the standard 3 meals and midnight buffet, what's 
	generally available if you are hungary at other hours of the day?
	
	Do the ships set up tables with snacks or soft drinks or coffee or
	is everything outside of the standard meals at an extra charge?

Thanks in advance for any info. on this, and for all the other information 
I've gleaned from this notes file.

    Speaking from experience with Princess, Sitmar, NCL, Celebrity...
    
    Generally, by 6:30 or 7:00 there'll be several choices for
    breakfast...on most lines, they serve eggs/bacon/sausage
    along with croissants/rolls poolside, and probably also an inside
    buffet.  Almost always coffe urns in a variety of places, or you can
    always ask for breakfast to be brought to your room if you prefer. 
    THEN, if you're still hungry about 8:30, go have a gourmet breakfast in
    the dining room.
    
    In addition to "snacks" being available during the day, there are
    several other options...Princess seems to have adopted the Sitmar
    practice of pizzarias on board at least some of their ships; chekc the
    deckplans, and if there is a pizzaria, it's open 11:00-11:00.  Also,
    let me emphasize that you can call room service anytime.  You will
    probably leave a nice tip for your room stewardm etc, so take advantage
    of this no cost option if it's more convenient.
    
    I'd also think that you'd run into little difficultygoing to the early
    seating for breakfast if you spoke to the Maitre 'd either upon
    boarding or early the first morning.
    
    Re 8:00 debarks if you eat at 8:30.  Simple choices: either stay on the
    ship, then debark, eat breakfast ashore in a restaurant, or ask the
    kitchen (or room service...there I go again!) to prepare something to
    go, and take it with you.
    
    Net-Net...you won't be hungry, and there are PLENTY of choices.  Nicest
    thing about cruising IMHO is that you do what you want, at the pace
    you'd like, pretty much when you'd like to do it.
    
    Steve

    
    I'm sailing Royal Carribean, leaving in three days.  We hit 7 islands
    in 6 days and will probably get off the boat in the morning, not to
    return till the late afternoon.  Well, my husband could care less about
    lunch, but I need it.  We also don't have alot of spending money.
    
    Can I get a box lunch on RCCL to take with me during the days that we
    will be on shore at lunch?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Karen

    They use to have fruit in cabin. You can order sandwiches etc. 24 hrs
    a day to your room (no charge). You could pick up some extra stuff at
    breakfast of the day. These are all things I know you could do for sure.
    
    I am not sure about box lunch specifically but if not available then
    these alternatives would not be bad. Maybe bring along a flexible
    container to carry the stuff with you. In many cases you may also
    be fairly close to ship during the day and they usually have open
    seating for about 2 hours for lunch, so if you can get back during
    that 2 hour period you can grab a quick byte to eat and then continue.
    
    				Harold