Cruise report

My wife and I are just back from a 10 day HAL cruise to Mexico and the
Sea of Cortez and I will be working on a review shortly.

I wonder, though, why I rarely see cruise reports in this newsgroup.
Over the years the reports have declined and I wonder if there are other
forums where folks are posting these now.

After seeing three other ships in various ports we visited on this trip,
I would be interested in hearing others comments ... as well as other
passengers who were on the Ryndam for the February 25th to March 6th
sailing.

Cheers... Bob

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On Mar 8, 4:44 pm, Bob Cotter wrote:
My wife and I are just back from a 10 day HAL cruise to Mexico and the
Sea of Cortez and I will be working on a review shortly.

I wonder, though, why I rarely see cruise reports in this newsgroup.
Over the years the reports have declined and I wonder if there are other
forums where folks are posting these now.

After seeing three other ships in various ports we visited on this trip,
I would be interested in hearing others comments ... as well as other
passengers who were on the Ryndam for the February 25th to March 6th
sailing.

Cheers... Bob

--
If replying by email, please remove the removes.
Visit my home course at http://www.sunshinecoastgolf.com

Welcome home .I was just on the Noordam 11 day round trip from NYC and
love it .Did you like anytime dinning ? I like it alot .Try cruise
critic"s for reviews .I have mind over there .


Ken G........

Ken G.....

"Bob Cotter" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are just back from a 10 day HAL cruise to Mexico and the
Sea of Cortez and I will be working on a review shortly.

I wonder, though, why I rarely see cruise reports in this newsgroup.
Over the years the reports have declined and I wonder if there are other
forums where folks are posting these now.


To be honest... I think there are probably a few reasons.

There really haven't been any "new" ships in a while. New, meaning a whole
new design, vs. taking an existing design and making another cookie cutter
"clone". There's really nothing worth reviewing. It's been quite a few
years since the Voyager class ships came out. Same with the Celebrity
Millie class and RCI Radiance Class. Grand Princess variations are mostly
what Princess now has. Carnival is using the Destiny class format for their
new ships. And for most of their other lines (HAL, Cunard, Costa), they're
using the Spirit Class ships. For NCL, the Dawn is a number of years old,
and their new stuff is mostly a variation on that. It's even been a while
since Disney had anything new.

There's just not much new to talk about.

Only Celebrity seems to be coming out with something new on the short
horizon. Though in the future, the RCI Genesis class will be out, so that
should garner a lot of interest.

Even when reviews are posted, they rarely get more than a few comments.
People don't seem very interested in them lately. Maybe because there is
nothing really new out there.

--Tom

In article ,
"Tom K" wrote:

Even when reviews are posted, they rarely get more than a few comments.
People don't seem very interested in them lately. Maybe because there is
nothing really new out there.

Thanks, Tom.

This cruise was our first in just over 8 years and I was trying to make
some comparisons to other cruises we have taken. I understand what you
are saying about design changes, however there have been some changes to
the way meals are served, and I know that there has been discussion
about that, as well as other aspects relating to service, security, and
such.

My initial impression of this cruise is that there were a number of
differences between what I recall of our Princess experiences and this
cruise. The cabin, for example, was much larger and better appointed
than our last Princess cruise, but the meals were not up to my
expectations, now was the general level of service from the staff.

More when I finally do get to writing the report... today was spent
poring over photos and getting them organized.

Cheers... Bob

--
If replying by email, please remove the removes.
Visit my home course at http://www.sunshinecoastgolf.com

Bob Cotter wrote:
My wife and I are just back from a 10 day HAL cruise to Mexico and the
Sea of Cortez and I will be working on a review shortly.

I wonder, though, why I rarely see cruise reports in this newsgroup.
Over the years the reports have declined and I wonder if there are other
forums where folks are posting these now.

After seeing three other ships in various ports we visited on this trip,
I would be interested in hearing others comments ... as well as other
passengers who were on the Ryndam for the February 25th to March 6th
sailing.

Cheers... Bob


Some of the folks on here do write up reviews although I have gotten so
lazy and usually just post the photo galleries! A picture's worth a
1,000 words right, lol.....

Jeff

Jeff wrote:
Bob Cotter wrote:
My wife and I are just back from a 10 day HAL cruise to Mexico and the
Sea of Cortez and I will be working on a review shortly.
I wonder, though, why I rarely see cruise reports in this newsgroup.
Over the years the reports have declined and I wonder if there are
other forums where folks are posting these now.

After seeing three other ships in various ports we visited on this
trip, I would be interested in hearing others comments ... as well as
other passengers who were on the Ryndam for the February 25th to March
6th sailing.

Cheers... Bob


Some of the folks on here do write up reviews although I have gotten so
lazy and usually just post the photo galleries! A picture's worth a
1,000 words right, lol.....

We always try to write a review and just recently posted one about our
Jan. '08 Emerald Princess cruise. Writing a review good review takes
time and energy, not everyone has the time or wants to write one.

Jeff, I always love your pictures.

sue

Tom K wrote:
"Bob Cotter" wrote in message
...
My wife and I are just back from a 10 day HAL cruise to Mexico and the
Sea of Cortez and I will be working on a review shortly.

I wonder, though, why I rarely see cruise reports in this newsgroup.
Over the years the reports have declined and I wonder if there are other
forums where folks are posting these now.


To be honest... I think there are probably a few reasons.

There really haven't been any "new" ships in a while. New, meaning a whole
new design, vs. taking an existing design and making another cookie cutter
"clone". There's really nothing worth reviewing. It's been quite a few
years since the Voyager class ships came out. Same with the Celebrity
Millie class and RCI Radiance Class. Grand Princess variations are mostly
what Princess now has. Carnival is using the Destiny class format for their
new ships. And for most of their other lines (HAL, Cunard, Costa), they're
using the Spirit Class ships. For NCL, the Dawn is a number of years old,
and their new stuff is mostly a variation on that. It's even been a while
since Disney had anything new.

There's just not much new to talk about.

Only Celebrity seems to be coming out with something new on the short
horizon. Though in the future, the RCI Genesis class will be out, so that
should garner a lot of interest.

Even when reviews are posted, they rarely get more than a few comments.
People don't seem very interested in them lately. Maybe because there is
nothing really new out there.

--Tom



Tom,

You are right about the kind of ships out there. But, there's more to a
cruise experience than just the model and design of a ship.

Service, food,entertainment options, and ports /port excursions can make
a cruise experience excellent, good, bad, ugly or dreadful.

Travelers might want to know how passengers with service animals, wheel
chairs or other aids are actually accommodated. The cruise experience is
always new and it's nuances are always of interest.

sue mullen wrote:


Jeff wrote:

Some of the folks on here do write up reviews although I have gotten
so lazy and usually just post the photo galleries! A picture's worth
a 1,000 words right, lol.....

We always try to write a review and just recently posted one about our
Jan. '08 Emerald Princess cruise. Writing a review good review takes
time and energy, not everyone has the time or wants to write one.

Jeff, I always love your pictures.

sue

I came this close to mentioning that, and I love reading yours and
Kevin's reviews! I start cruises with the best of intentions....taking
notes, keep a journal, etc., which always seems to go out the door by
day 3 or so, lol lol lol.... but I do still take pictures! I'm gonna
stick to that!!

Jeff

"Brian K" wrote in message
...

You are right about the kind of ships out there. But, there's more to a
cruise experience than just the model and design of a ship.

Service, food,entertainment options, and ports /port excursions can make a
cruise experience excellent, good, bad, ugly or dreadful.

Travelers might want to know how passengers with service animals, wheel
chairs or other aids are actually accommodated. The cruise experience is
always new and it's nuances are always of interest.

But the cruise product rarely changes for a specific cruise line.

You pretty much know what you're going to get with the likes of Royal
Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, HAL, Carnival, NCL etc.

They may throw a few new "tweaks" at you, but overall they are what they
are.

And even itineraries seem to have hit a point where there's little new. Not
much new in the Caribbean, at least until Cuba opens up. Alaska is the same
as it was for the past few decades. And while Europe was somewhat new as a
cruise itinerary a decade ago, there's a ton of ships in Europe now.

Now I'm not saying that doing Europe for the first time by ship won't be a
wonderful experience... but if most of us here have already done it... a new
review may not generate that much interest.

--Tom

In article , Tom K
wrote:

You pretty much know what you're going to get with the likes of Royal
Caribbean, Celebrity, Princess, HAL, Carnival, NCL etc.

That is so true. At the moment you do know what you are going to get on
those lines and they have not changed much in the last four years That
is why I am looking forward to our crossing on the Queen Mary 2. It is
going to be something different.

--
Charles