Abandoned Ship - Book Review

I recently finished the book Abandoned Ship: An intimate account of the Costa Concordia shipwreck by Benji Smith.  The book is the author's first hand account of the sinking of the Costa Concordia.

He starts out at the beginning, how he and his fiance, Emily, came to book this cruise as their honeymoon vacation.  He tells a little bit about his family and life before the cruise, it helps set the stage for the experience. His story ends with his writing of the book and includes everything in between. 

Their experience was in some ways probably pretty typical, and in other ways unique.  No, they were not on one of the first lifeboats.  They were on the rope bridge down the hull of the ship waiting to be rescued.

The book is authentic, told from the first person and expressing as much of the emotion from the time of the incident as possible.  For some, it might seem overly critical, or as though their was an agenda in writing the book, beyond telling the story. However, when you survive a ship wreck I think you're entitled to have an agenda against those who wrong you, if you so choose.  You're also entitled to fixate on whatever details help get you through that time.

I enjoy how he gives credit to everyone, not matter their role.  So whether all they did was keep someone else from panicing or if they arranged the rope bridge and saved hundreds of lives, he gives them credit for the work they did. Everyone has a role, and no judgement on what role was more important.  But, if they didn't contribute anything, he called them out. 

The story Benji tells is a good one for travelers and for Emergency Managers.  It's a cautionary tale about the difficulties you'll face during a major emergency, even when there are people who should be helping you. It will remind you to have copies of your passport and credit cards.  It will remind you to be empathetic and compassionate to those in need.

Cruise Ship Changes Needed?

As I'm sure you heard, last week the Carnival Triumph had a little fire in the engine and some lack of electricity problems.  Ok, a fire and lose of engines, floating adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.

Most of what I know about the conditions on the ship I learned from 20/20 this past weekend.  No power on the ship, no bathrooms, no hot food, sleeping on the deck.  Onion sandwiches I could deal with, sleeping on the deck, that's fine too.  But the bathroom, that's where I draw the line. Using red hazardous waste bags as your bathroom while there are overflowing toilets, that's a health issue.  It's compounded by the fact that the Carnival Splendor had similar issues 2 years ago when they had an engine fire.

The other thing that was interested is that the ship was about 3 days closer to Cozumel then it was to Mobile, Alabama.  But, they decided to go to Mobile, allegedly because not all passengers had passports.  While that is a legitimate concern, and was probably a factor in the decision to go to Mobile, I'm sure there was a lot more going into that decision. 

I also found it interesting that 2 ships in the area met the Triumph and gave some sort of assistance.  But I wonder if there is anyway passengers could have been offloaded to those ships.  I'm sure there are a ton of issues with space on the other ships, where they are in their itineraries, how to choose who gets offloaded.  But when your choice is 4 days at sea in squalor, then sleeping on the floor of a lounge on another ship doesn't seem like such a bad option.

I have one recommendation, which I have no idea of the feasibility of, but it certainly sounds reasonable. 

How about isolated back-up generation that can power emergency lighting and toilets.  Seriously, how many ships have to go adrift without the toilets working before we realize that this problem needs to be addressed?

I'm not going to swear off cruising because of this or the other recent events in the industry.  But, I'm starting to wonder about Carnival's ability to handle emergencies. 

How about you, are you reconsidering cruising?

The Old Days of Cruise Ships

The other day I was listening to a Podcast where they were talking about how it used to be on cruise ships 20 and 30 years ago, and what has changed.  It got me thinking about my memories of cruise ships as a kid in the 80's.

I took my first cruise in 1987, it was a 6 day cruise to Bermuda on the SS Amerikanis and I didn't have to look that up, even though I was 11 I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was a budget line and there were 4 of us in an inside cabin and the TV was probably 5 inches and didn't work.  What a different time, there were no room cards that you paid your bills with, no electronic bills to look at on your TV and no freestyle dining.  But I do remember the waitstaff being awesome and taking care of all my 11 year old needs.

But, I also remembered my parents had friends who cruised regularly and I remember going to see them off once, we were able to board the ship and visit in their stateroom and see a bit of the ship.  I remember it being small but luxurious.  Of course I was probably under the age of 10 and my frame of reference wasn't of a high standard.  After we left the ship my family waited at the dock and waved as our friends set sail.  What happened to the days of having your friends board the ship with you and seeing your cruise ship.  I'll admit I want that to come back just so I can see other ships.  But it also seems like it would be a great way to interest people in taking a cruise on that ship.  Visit your friend on their cruise and see how cool the ship is and then when the guests are walking off the ship you offer some "fabulous" discount if they book then.  It's an awesome plan.  I have no doubt it's because of security that this option no longer exists and never will again.  But it's a fun idea.

What do you remember about your past cruise experiences?

Photo of the Week: Spain

Sailing away from Palma, Spain

Bus Tour Vs Cruise Ship (Europe)

When I took my Mediteranean cruise on the Norwegian Epic last year some friends mentioned that it sounded like a great way to see Europe.  Having done Europe by bus tour, cruise and a bit of independent travel I thought I would write about the pros and cons of a bus tour verses a cruise ship.

Disclaimer: the experience you have on any cruise or bus tour will vary greatly based on the company you use, countries you visit and the experience you book.  You can't compare a Disney Adventure tour for thousands of dollars a person with an inside cabin on a budget cruise ship.  I will attempt to go with the middle of the line for both catagories for fairness sake. Think outside or balcony cabin on a mainstream cruise line like Carnival, Royal Caribbean or NCL and of a tour company along the lines of Trafalgar or Cosmos.

Accomodations:  If you're looking for space this category is going to a bus tour, if you're looking for a nice new room, then I would give this to the cruise ship.  Cruise ships have notoriously small rooms, with even smaller bathrooms.  However, they tend to make good use of space and tend to get refirbished every few years.  You'll also have twice daily service to your room on a cruise ship.  Hotels in europe tend to be very mixed.  I've stayed in some really nice Holiday Inn's in Germany and England.  But I've stayed in some old crappy hotels with weird layouts in Italy.  Hotel standards in Europe are very different then in the US, cruise cabins, although small, tend to be more in line with US standards.

Food:  I'll give this one to Cruise Ships, as far as included meals go.  First, you get a much wider variety of food (and a menu), often on a tour you get what they make and put in front of you, or maybe a choice of 2 different meals.  On a cruise for every meal you can have as much food as you want, and often 5-10 choices of food.  And if one of those choices isn't appealing to you the kitchen can usually come up with something for you.  You have choices of buffet, sit down dining, room service.  Tour food is usually made by a local restaurant or the hotel and can vary greatly.  One place will make a bland chicken with some veggies.  The next place may make a homemade local specialty, this may be better then cruise ship food, but it's not guaranteed every night either.

Both cruise lines and tour companies will cater to those with special diets, results may vary.

Traveling Experience:  I'll give this one to the cruise ship.  Sitting on a cramped bus isn't fun, though it's not bad either.  On the cruise ship, any cruise ship, you'll be more comfortable and there will be activities, shows, swimming, or taking a nap in a bed.  But, you do miss out on the cultural experience of traveling by land, but I'll talk about that later. Even worse, you miss seeing the countryside.  Of course the traffic in the ocean is typically better then on highways at rush hour.

Cultural Experience:  While this will depend on a lot of factors I'm giving this one to bus tours. I think that cruise ships tend to put people in more of a bubble then a bus tour (which does creates its own bubble), when you're living in the country, you can't avoid the culture. I'll talk about this later, but on a tour you'll typically spend more time in cities or towns.

When driving from destination to destination you'll stop at rest stops or shopping centers for your breaks.  Anyone who has tried to navigate an Autogrill in Italy knows the food is good, but the process is confusing.  And you don't mind paying for the toilet in Germany when it's self cleaning. 

At hotels you often have to deal with the hotel staff, who are locals.  On a cruise you're dealing wtih cruise ship staff who are generally trained to be as helpful as possible and they're from all over the world - but rarely from the destination you're visiting.  When you're staying in a hotel, the staff typically lives locally, and although they are usually helpful, they'll also know the local area and customs.  It can be subtle, but staying in a hotel gives a greater opportunity to interact with a local person instead of a cruise line employee. I will admit though that the hotels you stay at are used to and geared for tourists so they're not necessarily authentic experiences, they just give a better opportunity, even if it's just a simple conversation with a hotel desk clerk about local cuisine.  You'll also have the opportunity to walk around the area of the hotel.

The biggest variation with this category will be what you do when you're in port.  If you're going to take an excursion (from the cruise line or independently) you're often ushered from site to site to site.  The best chance you'll have for a cultural experience will be from your tour guide, you don't typically have much other opportunity to interact with people outside your tour.  On a bus tour you'll usually get a city tour and then be on your own to explore, taking local transport or your feet from point to point.  However, if you're doing a port on your own you'll have a more similar experience to someone on a bus tour.

Finally, on a bus tour you'll be in the city overnight, this allows for a late night out, seeing a show, visiting bars and clubs - basically a chance to experience the nightlife of a city, you'll rarely get that opportunity on a cruise ship.

Time in your Destination: You're also typically in cities or towns longer on a bus tour.  Even on a fast paced tour you'll have a day and a half in a major city, sometimes more time.  On a cruise, you'll only typically be there for about 12 hours, which ends up being a lot less time when you need to factor in an hour or two of commute time from the port in cities like Rome and Florence. You have enough time to rush around and see the major sites and take nothing else in. 

Comfort and Ease:  I'll give this to a cruise.  You get on the ship, a few hours later your suitcase shows up, you unpack and are ready for your trip.  On a bus tour you're switching hotels every 1-3 nights.  Packing and unpacking - depending on the comforts of the tour you may have to drag your suitcase to and from your hotel room.  Instead of sitting in a bus for hours the cruise ship sails while you eat, sleep, drink and lay out at the pool sipping an umbrella drink. 

The choice of taking a bus tour or a cruise in Europe is a personal choice.  I have done both and they both have their advantages and disadvantages.  For anyone who wants to expereince the countries I think a bus tour is a better option (though independent travel would be best).  If you dream of seeing the major sites like The Colosseum, and The David then a cruise may be the better choice.  But no matter which you choose, expect to be tired at the end!

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter: Travelingiraffe

The Ports Of Livorno and Civitavecchia

Port Side in Livorno

The port of Livorno, Italy is the closest port to Florence, a popular stop for ships in the Western Mediterranean.  The port of Civitavecchia is the port that is closest to Rome.  I just want to take a moment to set your expectations accordingly for the immediate port areas. 

The good view at Livorno

Livorno is a VERY industrial port.  You will not be able to walk off the ship at this port and do anything.  Actually, I'm not sure that even a few miles from the port there is much to do.  I'm sure their is a town nearby, but I distinctly remember driving for a decent bit before seeing anything that remotely resembled the Tuscany in my dreams.  I haven't heard of anyone getting off the port for a little while to just enjoy the area.  I highly suggest planning a tour either through the cruise line or privatly if you want to get off the ship.

Starboard Side in Livorno

Civitavecchia is a little better.  You cannot walk out of the the port area, you must take a free shuttle bus out of the port to Cicitavecchia, but here there is an actual little town.  It's nothing fancy, but there are some shops, restaurants and a beachy area.  This isn't the type of place you'll spend a day, but it would be perfectly suitable if you just wanted to escape the ship for an hour or two without the cost and energy required to visit Rome or take another excursion of the area. 

I was quite shocked when I visited Livorno, I expected the port area to be somewhat industrial, given that it's the place where shipping happens.  But, from what I could tell their was nothing there to entice those who stayed onboard for the day to take a quick trip off the ship for anything.  Civitavecchia was much closer to my expectations, but probably because of the research I had done prior to the cruise.

Happy Sailing

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter: Travelingiraffe

Civitavecchia - Rome On Your Own

When I sailed on the Norwegian Epic and was stopping in Rome I decided to make it an easier day on myself.  I've been to Rome previously and really just wanted to see the Colosseum and The Forum.  I would have taken the NCL transfer to Rome, but it was $99.  I don't mind paying a premium for convenience, but that was rediculous!  Instead I took the train for 9 euros, which includes the Rome metro.

I can tell you how to do that, but this review is way more detialed then I could ever imagine writing so for step by step directions - Civitavecchia to Rome by train.  The short story is that you take the free shuttle out of the port into town (5 minute bus ride), walk 5-10 minutes to the train, by tickets and get on the next train.  I HIGHLY suggest getting a train schedule before taking the cruise, NCL did not have one available onboard.  But the train seemed to run every 30-60 minutes.

I'm also going to suggest Cruize Cast Podcast #4 on Rome if you would like to try and do all the major highlights of Rome in one day.

I did things slightly differently then suggested, which was good and bad.  When I got off the shuttle bus I went into the Tourist Information booth, here they tried to sell me the "fast" train for 15 euros, but it didn't leave for over an hour.  The "slow" train was leaving in about 20 minutes.  Also, the "fast" train only seemed to have 1 return time, but the "slow" train left every 30 minutes to an hour.  The difference in the ride time was about 20-30 minutes.  The "fast" train took 40 minutes the "slow" train took just over an hour, Italian time.  I had a little fight with the woman here, she wouldn't answer any of my questions, just kept trying to push the fast train on me and then every other tour she could.  I got annoyed and yelled at her then I bought my slow train ticket and tickets to the Colosseum/Forum.  Buying the Colosseum/Forum tickets here was a FABULOUS idea, it meant I didn't have to wait on line in Rome and I was able to kill the 20 minutes I had to wait for the train anyway.

Once in Rome my friend (I met him on the ship) and I walked to the Colossum.  We got a little lost and it took a while.  I would suggest taking the metro unless you want the exercise (you might after eating all that good food on the ship), the walk was not in the nice touristy area of the city.  I LOVED Rome the first time I went there, after walking through regular areas (for all I know I was in the ghetto, ack!) I lost some of my love for the city.  It had a dirty, rundown feeling and look to it, which the tourist areas do not have.  But it was also an adventure.

It was hot, I needed it!

After the Colossum and The Forum, which I'll discuss in another post, we walked to the Wedding Cake and found a nice little sidewalk cafe for lunch. 

After lunch we walked back to the train station, getting pretty lost this time, we had to pull out maps and ask complete strangers for directions multiple times.  This did allow us to stop and throw coins in the Trevi Fountain and just miss a train back to the port.  But at least this walk was in nicer area of Rome.  But if we had gotten any more lost we would have had to take a Taxi back to the train station.

I always show nice pictures, but the true Trevi Fountain has construction in front.

Unless you're interested in doing a tour in Rome, I would highly suggest taking the train into Rome, just get the schedule before you leave.  It's economical, and although the train was a little run down, we didn't hit any traffic and we got to travel with Italians, who don't speak English so I have no idea what any of them said. No, I didn't expect them to speak English, but it makes it hard to find out what the locals are talking about when they're not speaking in English.  You will find plenty of other cruise passengers on the train too, you wont be alone.

NCL Epic Mediterranean 2012

For those of you who have not heard, the Norwegian Epic will be sailing the Mediterranean in 2012 again, but with a different itinerary and with a choice of booking out of either Barcelona or Rome. 

New Itinerary:
Barcelona, Naples, Rome / Civitavecchia, Livorno, Nice, Marseille, Barcelona

I hadn't given much thought to the Barcelona vs Rome embarkation port since I just did the Western Med this summer.  But thenl my friend was talking about taking a Mediterranean cruise next fall, and I decided I would choose Rome.  One of the problems I had with the Mediterranean cruise is that Livorno is far from Florence and Civitavecchia is far from Rome.  You end up spending a MINIMUM of 2 hours going to and from the city, which kinda stinks since you only spend 12 hours in port. 

With this new itinerary you could board the ship in Rome/Civitavecchia, fly in early (or stay after the cruise) and spend as much time as you want in Rome.  Of course now you can't do that in Barcelona, which is a great city (more to come on that in the coming weeks).  But, Barcelona's port is right in the city, you can get off the ship and take a 10 minute taxi ride and you're in the heart of the city. 

I think the Rome embarkation just makes more sense if you're taking this cruise to see as much as possible.  Of course if you've already been to Rome, then boarding in Barcelona might make more sense, then you can have a "sea" day in Rome and relax.

Reminder:  I can be found on Twitter @Travelingiraffe

Epic Studio Cabins, the good, the bad and the shower...

Studio cabins, did NCL accidentally get it right?

Yes and No!

I've heard that when NCL originally designed the studio cabins on the EPIC they were supposed to be small double occupancy rooms, but they didn't sell well so they made them solo passenger cabins, though you can still put 2 people in them if you choose. They have a private lounge area for only the studio passengers, it has a bar (open 1 hour a day), coffee, snacks and continental breakfast. There is even a member of the staff that helps to get the passengers to know each other.

It sounds perfect, and NCL absolutely got this right.  But it felt like now that they have this product they don't quite know what to do with them now, I think the concept needs a little nurturing to make it truely fantastic.
 
I'll start with the cabins...
The cabins, although small, are nice.  The bathroom is broken up - the toilet, shower and sink are separate.  The shower has a glass wall with frosting on it, but the frosting needs to be darker and cover more of the wall, luckily I was the only one in the room.  There are two closets in the room,with doors that slide (when open they cover the sink and the TV), each with a hanger bar and 2 shelves.  There are additional shelves in the room, but no drawers.  If you look hard enough, there are baskets under the bed for additional storage.  I thought there was plenty of storage for 1 person, but I think it would be tight if there was a second person in the room.  Actually, everything about this cabin was just fine for 1 person, but I couldn't imagine a second person in one of these cabins, except maybe a mother and small child. 

Vanity

Toilet

The room comes with "mood" lighting.  This was neat for about 2 minutes, then it was annoying.  Even more annoying was the panel to change the settings was next to the bed, not near the door.  Although there is no thermostat there is a panel that allows you to adjust the temperature to cooler or warmer, I think this is the first ship I've had this feature on and I like it!  My cabin had at least 3 sets of outlets, several of which were for european and american plugs.  There was a table and a bench in the room, but both were so small that I only used them to put stuff on. 

Mood Lighting

The Studio Lounge:

The studio lounge was a private area that offered a bar, drinks, food, sitting area and TV.  It was a nice sized space for the number of passengers in the studios, it was busiest in the mornings (continental breakfast was offered) and evening, but never crowded.  The space was used for the solo passenger meet ups, which was the only time the bar was open.  We had a member of the social staff assigned to us for the solo meet ups, Sol, she helped get everyone introduced and arranged for 1 group dinner. 
I think this is the area where the studio cabins fell short.  I met many wonderful people who were staying in the studio cabins, some were very outgoing and others were very very shy.  I think that the staff member who is assigned to the studio lounge should be organizing more activities.  I don't think this is the fault of Sol, from what I have heard everyone has had the same experience since the ship launched, so I think this is how NCL has designed the position.  I would have liked to have seen a few more dinners planned, particularly in the specialty restaurants, a session in the Ice Bar or bowling.  I think that would open up more opportunities for solo cruisers and it would generate more money for the cruise line - a win for all. 

The other thing that I thought was missing was a window or a balcony or anything involving fresh air and sunlight.  Since the studio cabins were inside I felt an extra need to go outside in my free time, I know other people expressed a concern about possibly feeling clausterphobic in these cabins.  I had no issue with clausterphobia.  There were a few occasions where I would have liked to have spent time in the lounge, but with no window or baloncy, I chose to go up on deck instead.  I think the interior nature of the lounge kept it from being a more popular place to congregate.  Not that it needed a big section of window or a large balcony, but anything would have been better.  The best example of this was on the last day of the cruise I ate breakfast in the lounge, got my things and debarked the ship.  To my surprise it was cold and raining and ended up not being dressed properly. 

Hallway for the Studios

I have written NCL a letter about all of my thoughts on improving the Studio cabin experience, so I don't mind saying it here.  They did write back and thank me for my input.  But since this post seems to be a bit negative, I do want to add that I absolutely LOVED this cruise and the studio cabins.  I made many wonderful friends and would definatley consider sailing on the EPIC again if I was traveling by myself.  I would also recommend this ship to anyone else traveling by themselves.  I just think there are a few things that can be done to make it an even better experience.

Reminder: I can be found on Twitter @Travelingiraffe

Randomly interesting things to me

Contiki has announced South America as a destination.  Hmmm, Iguza Falls and Machu Pichu are calling my name.  Sadly, I'm turning 35 this year so I don't know if I'll have a chance to take one of these tours, or any more tours with Contiki for that matter :(

The May 1 episode of Amazing Race - how awesome - they got dropped on the Matterhorn and had to either rescue someone by rappelling or dig a dummy out of the snow.  Ok, I think it was much more awesome to watch someone do it while laying on my couch then it would be to actually do it.  Have I mentioned I don't like the cold?

My Brother-In-Law who doesn't have a clue about travel talks to me about travel as though he knows stuff.  The guy couldn't figure out how to get his cruise documents and it was a week before the cruise.  Actually, I don't think it even occurred to him that he needed them.  But he and my sister did enjoy the cruise, they were on the Norwegian Gem for a 1 night cruise.  They said there was every walk of life on the cruise - solo passengers, families with young kids, bachelor and bachelorette parties - you name it, it was there. 

Jetblue's website - when you track a flight you can actually pull up a map that shows where the plane is over the United States, I thought that was cool!  My other sister thought it was stalkerish. 

In Rick Steves' latest podcast (#246) his guest said something interesting.  He was discussing the European Union and freedom.  He said American's think of "freedom to..." (bare arms, press, speech, etc).  Europeans think of "freedom from..." (war, starving, etc).  I thought that was an interesting distinction.  I'm not sure how true it is, but it does it certainly made me think of what I value and how I view it. 

Random Pre-Cruise Stuff

As I prepare for my cruise I've had a lot of thoughts going through my mind.  Things I'm curious about, excited about, and things to do.

I'm trying to work on excursions.  I've often done excursions offered by the cruise ships and while I feel like I'm ready to maybe do some independent tours, I'm also not feeling as independent as I want to feel.  Traveling alone in countries where English is not the first language makes me a little nervous.  What if I miss the ship?  All by myself, no ship, and can't speak the language.  ACKK!  So I believe I will be booking tours through the cruise ship.
So far in Naples I'll be doing the "Exclusive Italian Riviera and Pompeii."
In Florence/Pisa I chose "Pisa and a Taste of Tuscany."
Rome is tough to decide on since I've already been there and do want to do a basic tour, yet even the excursion that just offer transportation to and from the ship costs $100.

About a month and a half before the cruise NCL updated their website so that you can book not only excursions, but also entertainment - dinner and shows.  The problem is that I do want to go and book something for Tuesday night and then find out a bunch of solo passengers are going on Thursday night.  It's frustrating to my anal planning self!

But never fret, I have found a thread on cruise critic for my cruise, it's only 51 pages.  I wonder if I can get through all that before the cruise?

Not all Doritos are created equal

Back in 2002 I took a cruise with my mom and my sister on Carnival and one of the stops was in Cozumel, Mexico.  I insisted on going to the Mayan Ruins at Tulum with my sister and I experienced my first bit of tourist scamming.  I should mention that at the time I collected key chains from the places I went.

The excursion starts with a boat ride to Playa Del Carmen.  It was about 30 minutes and the boat moved very fast and bumped on every single wave as it crossed the channel separating Cozumel and Playa Del Carmen.  It was not a good crossing for those who get sea sick, I saw a couple white bags around the boat.  Then we took an hour long bus ride through Mexico.  While I certainly wouldn't describe the area as ghetto, it certainly didn't feature nice homes of the locals.  More like small wooden houses a step above shacks.  We had one stop about halfway there at a souvenir shop offering cheesy Mexico souvenirs. 

Once we arrived at Tulum we were offered the choice of taking the tram (for a charge) or walking the mile or so to the ruins.  Since it was, as an old friend used to say, "Africa Hot," we took the tram. 

After we finished looking at the ruins we went to market/souvenir area to look around.  I was looking at the key chains when I was approached by one of the workers.  Apparently, the key chain was real silver and cost $80.  The guy tried to get me to buy this key chain.  When I practically laughed at $80 he asked how much I was willing to pay, it was real silver after all.  I offered $8.  I might have had a key chain collection at the time, but I doubt any of them cost more then $10.  The conversation didn't last long, but it was a nice try by the guy.

After that we went to buy some snacks, this was a fairly long day with no lunch break.  My sister and I decided on a small bag of Doritos and a bottle of Gatorade each.  But we were in Mexico so the Doritos flavors were written in Spanish.  We opted for the bags that looked like Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch flavor and in total paid about $7 for the Gatorade and Doritos, a bit of a rip off for the time.  When we got on the bus back to the ship we opened up our Doritos and quickly found out that not all Doritos are created equal.  The orange bag of Doritos was not Nacho Cheese and the blue bag was not Cool Ranch.  I believe one ended up being a jalapeno pepper flavor and was not very good.  I don't remember the other flavor, but it also was not very good.

I would have chalked it all up as a funny tourist mistake - except I was hungry at the time!  But it was a good lesson that when you travel things are not always what that seems - sometimes it works out and other times it does not.  And of course watch out for people trying to sell you overpriced crap.  At least the $80 offer was so insane that I couldn't take it remotely seriously.

Guilty for enjoying your cruise

I saw today on CNN that some Royal Caribbean ships stopped at Royal Carbbean's private island at Labadee on the island of Hispaniola, the same Island that the country of Haiti is on. Apparently, this was quite insensitive to visit the island when there is such a crisis going on in Haiti. I have a heart full of sympathy for the Haitian people, but avoiding the cruise port of Labadee is not going to change anything. It's not going to change the number of people saved or lost nor will it clean up the buildings and rebuild the country. We should all take some time to reflect on the things we are grateful for and do what we can to support the Haitian people and all the people who have gone to Haiti to help. Skipping the Island of Hispaniola for another port will not change anything, to say that would be to say that we shouldn't visit the Dominican Republic and maybe we shouldn't visit other Caribbean islands either, they are close together after all. I was in NYC on September 11 and it was weird to see people getting their nails done, but a week later it wasn't so weird. It will be a LONG time until Haiti returns to anything resembling normal. Instead of worrying about people having pina colladas on the Labadee beach maybe we should worry about people forgetting the Haitian people in a months time when they're not in the news all day everyday.

Braids in my hair

On my first cruise in the Caribbean in 2000 I sailed with my friend Veronica on the Enchantment of the Seas. We visited St. Thomas, St. Maarten and Nassau, Bahamas. While visiting the earlier ports people would get their hair braided by the locals on the beach. Apparently the going rate was $1 or $2 per braid depending on the island and it was suggested that you set a price beforehand. In my infinite wisdom I decided to do it at our last stop in the Bahamas. This was a problem for 2 reasons - it's more expensive in the Bahamas and it was 2 days before returning home. While the braids are cute on vacation they lose their thrill in real life after a day. To add to my poor decision making I set a price with the girl - $2 per braid and she estimated 15 or 20 braids for my head. Ok, I could handle that. Except she actually did like 30 braids, so my $30-$40 investment cost me $60 and I could tell Veronica knew I had done a bad job with my bartering, or maybe that was my own brain yelling at me. What was done was done, I paid my $60 and would like to think I'm a little more savvy for the experience. But even I know that the most savvy have bad days.

A funny little story about one of my tablemates who got braids in St. Maarten. She was dutch, as is the side of the island she got her braids, however it is illegal to do braids on the beach. Well her braider got caught half way through by the police. Well since she ws dutch and the policeman was nice, he hauled them all back to the police facility and made the girl finish her head, without getting paid of course before he did whatever the police do with braiding violators.

Experimental dining on a cruise

One of the nice things about a cruise is that your food is included. This helps when you want to be daring with food. I'm not the most daring but knowing that I can get a good quality something and that I don't have to pay for it is a nice thing. I once tried escargot on a cruise, which I don't imagine I would have done in many other places. I didn't like it and didn't have to finish it, but I tried it. Actually, I'll admit it wasn't bad, it just wasn't good. On this past cruise I tried a couple things at the French restaurant - Frois Gras and Scallops. I didn't like the Scallops at all, but the Frois Gras was good enough that I ate two whole pieces of it. But I wouldn't go to a restaurant and order it. I also tried edamame, again, not bad but not good either. I had a chance to try this at home a few weeks before the cruise and wouldn't do it, but I tried it on the cruise. There is a power in the safety of a cruise and its dining options that you get in few other places. It allows you to experiment in safe way and may you'll learn you like something you didn't think you liked or never would have tried.

Freestyle Dining on the Pride of America

This was my first experience with Freestyle dining and it has some pros and some cons. I enjoyed being able to dine whenever I wanted, within the dining times offered and only once waited for a table, that was good. We did hear others complain about waiting and poor food quality. Overall dining was a good experience but there are some issues, though from what I have heard from past cruisers things are better then they were.

The Pride of America has 2 traditional dining rooms: The Liberty Dining room, the more formal of the two (jeans are not permitted), and the Skyline Dining room where shorts are permitted. Not to be the dining nazi, but shorts at dinner seemed strange to me. The Aloha Cafe is the pool deck level buffet that is informal for all meals. There are also specialty restaurants. The Cadillac Diner is a 50'sish diner serving traditional diner types of foods - burgers, meatloaf, shakes. It's informal and is open 22 hours a day. We ate mostly lunches here. East Meets West is a group of Asian restaurants - Sushi, Teppanaki, Asian Fusion. Jefferson's Bistro is a formal french restaurant, Lazy J's is a steak house and Little Italy serves Italian food. East Meets West, Lazy J's, Little Italy, and Jefferson's Bistro all charge an additional fee to eat there. I'm not sure if this is to cover the cost of the better food offered or to limit the number of people eating at them.

Liberty Dining Room

We had breakfast in the Aloha Cafe 3 times and each time was awful. The buffet areas were over crowded, there were never tables available and there wasn't enough staff to clear the tables. I never figured out what was going on in the juice area, was that even juice they had? I didn't see trays the whole week so I assume they didn't have them, which made it difficult to get food and a drink. After 2 breakfasts we didn't return to the Aloha Cafe again until the last morning. Breakfast in the dining room was significantly more enjoyable! The meals we had at the Liberty and Skyline restaurants were much better then the Aloha Cafe, the food was just average but the staff was good.

Skyline

We did take time to enjoy several of the specialty restaurants. We ate in Jefferson's Bistro and had George as a waiter who made the experience really enjoyable. While the food here wasn't fantastic we enjoyed the opportunity to try new foods and have this nice dining experience. However, neither of us felt the need to return here as the menu didn't appeal to us for a second visit or to pay the $15 cover charge again. We enjoyed our dinner at Lazy J's, and found the steak here to be far superior to the steak I had in the dining room. The experience and the food was just enough to justify the $25 additional charge. If the cover charge had been a little lower we might have returned to this restaurant, but at $25 felt that it was only worthy of visiting once. At Little Italy we found the food to be average Italian food, nothing special and barely worth the $10 cover charge. We also ate at Teppanyaki which I thought was a rip off at $25 a person. I recently ate at a Teppanyaki type restaurant at home, ordered the same thing and got more food for less money. The chef wasn't anything special, which was highlighted by the other chef being much more entertaining with his table.

One thing we did enjoy about Teppanyaki was sitting with other people. While we didn't "click" with the couple next to us we did meet two sisters who we became friendly with. This emphasized one of the problems I had with freestyle dining as it existed on the Pride of America, it was anti-social. When I cruised with Royal Caribbean several years ago at lunch and breakfast they had open dining, you would come any time they were open and they would seat you at a large table with other cruisers. This provided an opportunity to get to know other cruisers and hear about other peoples experiences during the cruise. I expected a similar situation at the main dining rooms on the Pride of America, but it was not the case. Although I noticed a note about it on the back of the Freestyle Daily that you could request to sit with others I never actually saw anyone do it, and since most of the tables are set up for 2-4 people (and the tables for 6 always seemed empty) I don't think the dining room setting was well suited for this anyway. On past cruises I felt like I got to know a lot more people on the ship then I did on this cruise which took away from the overall experience.

If you're one of those people who doesn't like to dress up, but still likes to have a sit down meal at a dining room, then NCL might be the line for you. However, if you want really good quality food then you'll end up having to fork up some money so that you can eat at the specialty restaurants. As for me, NCL wont be my first choice next time but I'll still consider it.

NCL's Pride of America

So my cruise was on NCL America's Pride of America. I had heard quite a few complaints about the ship before I went, most either weren't true or were exaggerated. In this post I'm just going to talk about the ship, I'll talk about dining in another post. I think one of the problems that NCL America had was that at one time they had 3 ships operating in Hawaii, they only have 1 now. I suspect they grew too fast in Hawaii and the staff was spread thin. By moving two ships out of Hawaii they may have been able to get rid of the poor members of the staff and consolidate crews and made a better experience for cruisers.

First, our Embarkation went ok. The terminal isn't set up well. You have to haul your luggage to the end of the terminal to drop it off, then walk back the way you just came to start the boarding process. This wouldn't have been so bad but the signage was lacking. But after this everything went smoothly and we were on the ship relatively quickly.


The ship wasn't as grand as some of the other ships I've been on, but it was still nice and had all the amenities you needed. Other then having an American theme there was nothing special about this ship.

We had a balcony cabin on the Starboard side of the ship on the 9th floor - cabin 9100. I had heard the cabins were small, and they are, though they didn't seem much smaller then other lines. But they were poorly designed. You walk in the cabin and the bathroom is on one side with a closet on the other side. Then there are the beds and near the balcony is the sitting area. The problem was that the placement of the beds made it nearly impossible to get around the room, especially at night if you had to go to the bathroom. And if you had to get your luggage around you had to pick it up and lift it over the beds to get around.

Our cabin met its purpose, as did the ship and considering how much time is spent in port I think the ship is well suited. I do think a balcony is a great advantage for this cruise. Although the view at the ports wasn't all that great we did sail the Na Pali coast one afternoon and also sailed by the volcano another night and it's really nice to have a balcony for those things.

My packing list

So here is my packing list. I have abbreviated a few things, I didn't think you cared if I had a blue shirt or a black shirt - stuff like that. This isn't my typical packing list it's just that cruises require much more clothing then my typical trip.

Toiletries
Deodorant
Shampoo
Conditioner
Dove
Facial Soap
Makeup
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Nail Stuff
Moisturizer
Facial Moisturizer
Brush
Comb
Hair accessories
Razor
Shaving cream
Cotton Balls
Q-Tips
First Aid/Medical
OTC meds: Simply Sleep,Multi Vitamin, Advil
Prescription Meds
Blistex
Band-Aids
Aloe Vera

Clothing
7 dinner outfits
2 Bathing Suits
Cover Up
2 Shorts
3 Caris
10 T-shirts
Windbreaker/water proof thing/Umbrella
Jeans
Fleece
Wrap/sweater
2 PJ’s
Socks
20 Underwear
Sneakers
Dress Shoes
Pool Shoes
Sewing Kit
Hat
Misc.
Static Guard
Alarm Clock
DSLR Camera
Small Camera
Battery Chargers
Video Camera
Charger
Video Camera discs
Ipod
Ipod wires
Headphone splitter
Laptop
Memory Card reader
Movies for plane
Watch
Pen/Paper
Passport
Magazines, Books
Cards
Pen and Paper
Journal
Sunglasses
Beach Bag
Sunblock
Bug Spray Wipes
Jewelry
Hand Sanitizer
Tea bags
Plastic Bags
Febreze
Wrinkle Releaser
Lysol
Little Coach Purse
Slippers

Taking a trip with friends

I've traveled several times with different friends and it can be stressful. Figuring out how each person likes to travel and each persons interests and blending them is a challenge. I think all my trips have gone well, no had has said they wont travel with me again... I'm sure I'm not a perfect travel partner, and to be fair my friends aren't always either. Just because your friends doesn't mean that your good travel partners. A big part of making a good trip for all parties is reasonable expectations and planning together.

Last year I went to Disney World with Terye, before the trip I probably tortured her with emails about planning. First, I was figuring out a list of restaurants that we wanted to eat at, I was sending a little synopsis of pretty much every restaurant with review information. We were able to narrow that down to a reasonable list and I went ahead and made a variety of different reservations for us for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then we worked on a list of attractions we did and didn't want to do, but the most important was a list of our MUST DO attractions. This was the list that would allow us to leave Disney knowing that we didn't miss anything that we really wanted to do. This allowed us to make sure that while we might not get to do everything we wanted, we wouldn't leave with any real regrets. Terye and I did have one issue, it's called mornings. Terye is not a morning person, she did ok the first couple days, but towards the end... Lets just say that I had to inform her that she wasn't allowed to put the TV on in bed when I had already taken my shower. I'm sure she had some issues with me - like me nagging her to get out of bed. In the future we decided that we should go somewhere where getting out of bed in the morning is not necessary for your enjoyment - I'm thinking Las Vegas or New Orleans.

Planning my trip with Tara to Hawaii has also required a lot of planning. I started with the list of what must have been 1,000 excursions and started to break them down a bit and learn what Tara was interested in that I was also interested in. I couldn't convince her that zip-lineing would be fun, but she's agreed to take the helicopter tour. As the more experienced traveler I've tried to send her information about what to expect when flying and on the cruise. It's good for things to be a surprise, but not all surprises are good. We still need to discuss the dining options on the ship as I hear it can sometimes be hard to get into some of the restaurants.

Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing travel companions and planning a trip. What are the eating habits of the person you want to travel with? If someone is the make every meal at home type and you like to eat out a lot, then you'll want to discuss that. My sister's friend traveled with a family who wanted to make dinner every night, but they wanted to go out every night - not a good combination. If the other person is a beach person and you hate the sand - another thing to discuss. Also, what types of activities do you want to do, art musuem, history museuems, major landmarks, photography. All these things are reasons people travel, and just because someone has different interests then you doesn't mean that you can't travel together, but it means that you need to discuss these things and find out if you can each compromise so that each person can get what they want out of the trip. If you want to travel together and have some different interests then consider setting aside time to split uop. Waiting until your on your vacation to have these conversations may lead to the end of your friendship. A friend of mine traveled with a friend once and their friendship barely survived, later on he traveled with a girlfriend of his and that was how he knew they could live together.

Youtube is your friend...

Once deciding to take the cruise on the Pride of America it was time to start thinking about what to do on the cruise. I printed out a copy of all 8,000 excursions they offer and my brain almost exploded. I read some of it, but it just wouldn't stick so I bought a guide book - Hawaii By Cruise Ship. The book is pretty good for someone taking a cruise. It gives an overview of cruising, the options in Hawaii and general info on Hawaii. It also breaks down the islands and the things to do on each. But the book only spent a little time on places to eat and hotels, which is fine for my purposes.

But after getting a feel for each island I was still left wondering, which island should we take a Heli Tour on? The first island I read about was Kauai and the Heli tour there sounded amazing. But, wouldn't a helicopter be a great way to see an active volcano? Isn't that what all the cool people do? I did some more research online and it sounded like Kauai was the place to do it, but I still wasn't sure. I decided to try Youtube.com. Someone must have a video on their heli tours - and yes, they do. The ones from Kauai were amazing - Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali coast are GORGEOUS! The ones of the Kilauea on the Big Island just were not all that exciting. A little red lava oozing out just did not look like what I pictured all the cool people doing. So, with a hesitant Tara in tow I will be doing the Heli tour over Kauai.