Westerdam Review

[Jackjenson]

Ok guys, this is going to take me a couple of days to finish, but I will get it all up here. I didn't take specific notes, so my ramblings might be more stream-of-consciousness than I would otherwise like, but I couldn't bring myself to "work" on vacation!

First off, about us. DH and I, he 40 and a computer scientist, me 37 and an attorney. Our best friends, he 35 and a financial guy in a big company, she 37 and a computer scientist as well, all celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversaries. We were married 1 month apart back in 1992. You may notice that it took us a little more than 12 years to go on our 10th anniversary cruise, but kids were born, etc. so we took a little longer than we had hoped.

We were on the Westerdam Eastern Route, Feb 6th-13th. We hit Nassau, St. Maarten, Tortola, Half Moon Cay and then back to Ft. Lauderdale.

We kissed the kiddles goodbye in Baltimore, and flew Air Tran to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday morning (our sailing was for Sunday). What a great idea, coming in a day early, thanks to you guys we did this. I had gotten a $70 rate thru Priceline for the Marriott Marina and was very impressed with how beautiful the hotel was.

A note to Air Tran travellers, I had forgotten to log on the day before we left at exactly 24 hours before the flight to book our seats, but I did so about 18 hours before the flight and we got seats next to each other on the 2 seater side of the plane, but in row 28, pretty far back. When we got to the airport the next day, the bag check person told us that we were lucky we had printed our boarding passes the day before because they were "way" overbooked. Turns out about 6 people got bumped to the next flight.

Anyway, I was 200% more impressed with the Marriott Marina from the outside looking in than I was in our room. We were shunted off to the "East Villa" (which was more like an hourly motel in the East Village) to a barely adequate room, probably because of our priceline bargain. There were a couple of reasons why I didn't go back to the desk to ask for a nicer room in the "tower"...mostly because we had already schlepped our bags all the way to East Timor, I mean, Villa, and the bed was really nice. All kidding aside, the floor wasn't that clean, there were water stains on the ceiling and walls, and the whole vibe was slightly run-down. But we over-looked beautiful boats docked right outside our patio door on the intra-coastal waterway, and, frankly, we were just crashing for one night, and did I mention that the bed was really nice? [are you getting the picture of the parents of two small kids who don't get a lot of "alone time", that any hotel is good enough?];)

So anyway, we dumped our bags, proved that the bed was adequate and then went straight for the Waterbus stop, and hopped aboard. The Waterbus guys were fun, with a uniformly bitter sarcasm that underscored their spiels, but we had a great time riding around the intracoastal for 7 hours or so on a $5 each all day pass. What a bargain. DH wanted new sneakers (his new ones were too tight, and life is too short to be squeezed by your sneakers on vacation) so we went to the Galleria Mall and bought some Reeboks, and then we went to Las Olas Boulevard to see the sights and eat dinner.

Wow, who knew that all of those famous people owned property on the Waterbus route, or used to? Sonny and Cher, Lucy and Ricky, Nick Nolte (Cape Fear was filmed there) the guy who owns Red Roof Inns (his light was on for us), Kohl's department stores, I could go on and on.

We had dinner at this wildly sophistocated upscale tavern called the Big City Tavern, and the food was fabulous. I paid a whopping $10.50 for my Sour Apple Martini, but it was delicious. The last time I paid $10 for a martini was in Manhattan last fall, but I was a little surprised that Ft. Lauderdale was in that league. Live and learn.

A quick stop in my favorite shop, Chico's, (where Dh commisserated with the husband of another painfully stylish lady who is addicted to Chico's;) , just the first of the really nice people we met on this trip) and we were off to bed at the Marriott Marina. We had remembered only after dinner to sign up for the shuttle to the Port the next morning, but we got spots on the 11:40 am shuttle to the Port. Not Bad, I thought.

Coming tomorrow, the answer to your question, "Hey, Jen, I thought this was a CRUISE review???" when I begin with embarkation and the start of the voyage....

[shipcafe]

Coming tomorrow, the answer to your question, "Hey, Jen, I thought this was a CRUISE review???" when I begin with embarkation and the start of the voyage....[/color][/size][/font]

Ah, okay - makes sense! :)

[dakrewser]

"Coming tomorrow, the answer to your question, "'ey, Jen, I thought this was a CRUISE review???"'when I begin with embarkation and the start of the voyage"


Tease! :)

[tbroido]

and did I mention that the bed was really nice? [are you getting the picture of the parents of two small kids who don't get a lot of "alone time", that any hotel is good enough?];)

So anyway, we dumped our bags, proved that the bed was adequate and then went straight for the Waterbus stop

Not THAT much of a tease.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Can hardly wait for the next installment.

We did back-to-back cruises on the Westerdam in January and want to compar notes.

[Jackjenson]

So we slept really well and really long and caught the 11:40 port shuttle, which picked us up at about 11:55, and made our way over to the port (only 10 minutes or so).

Our friends had dropped their kids off in West Palm the night before to spend the week with Grandma who Januarys and Februarys there (must be nice) and they had a car service drop them off at the port. They arrived about 15 minutes before us, and got on line right away (no, I am not bitter about their failure to wait outside for us, not bitter at all;) ) which meant that they were sipping beers at the aft pool a full Hour before we got on board. No, I am serious, embarkation was not the smooth, wonderful experience that I had expected after digesting so many CruiseCritic reviews. It was really bad.

[Please don't take my descriptors as meaning that my attitude was bad as well if I have something negative to say, I mean, I will clearly point out in detail where my attitude was lacking and added to the negativity. Just assume that my mentioning sub-par items means that I noticed problems, but, being on vacation, rolled with the punches with positive attitude and love for my fellow man.]

Anyway, the line was about 20 minutes outside the port building, (I felt sorry for some of the older pax, because there wasn't enough shade to go around, and we were all on our feet for quite a while) and then we got inside to see that the line snaked around inside worse than the line to get on Space Mountain.

There were HAL employees greeting the line, making sure no Suite pax were unknowingly stuck in the cattle call (none were, are you kidding, they SPRINTED for the short line once inside the building) because they (Suite Pax) had really no choice but to stand in the line outside with everyone else for 20 minutes, and in some cases you could see that they were not happy about that.

As an aside, I thought it was really weird for our bags to be handled by porters who were literally standing in front of big, permanent signs saying "Baggage Porters are well compensated, no tipping necessary" or something to that effect, and they were all saying, "remember to tip your porters..."

So inside we had the opportunity to meet fellow passengers in line, and to pre-purchase wine and soda card stickers for a whopping $35 for the latter. My dear friend, MaryTiller, a new but now regular CC poster, had ordered us Pinnacle seating and a soda card as gifts before the cruise and I know that she paid $27.50 with no gratuity. I thought that increase was strange. When I asked the "soda sticker guy" how I would be able to procure my pre-paid soda sticker, he had no idea. No problem, I would just ask at the front desk when (if) we made it on the ship.

The problems were several. Computers weren't working on land, and were hopelessly overworked on the ship. The baggage screening machines were on the fritz and I am sure several other problems that we were unable to discern from our place in line.

We finally got upstairs and then onto the ship where there were lots of ship's officers and staff to greet us and send us up to the Lido. We were actually in the elevator at exactly 1:40 when the announcement came that cabins were ready, so we stayed in the elevator, and went to our cabin, 5053 a balcony cabin. Using my extremely lacking deductive math skills, that means that we waited in line for about an hour and a half. Is that normal?

Anyway, we went to our cabin with our carry ons. A few observations about the cabin. First, it was very clean, big enough and very comfortable for the whole week. We were very glad that we had booked next-door balcony cabins, and our cabin steward, Anton, came right away and opened the balcony connecting doors for us. We really enjoyed the connecting balconies all week, and Anton was very good all week.

Now the bad news, our cabin had been smoked in the week prior. Not just a little bit, a great deal. There was an immediate stale smoke smell in the cabin, and later, when I had aired out the cabin with as much cross-ventilation as I could provide with an open balcony door, cranked up air conditioning and an open companionway door, the lingering smell of smoke coming from carpet, draperies and furniture was still significant. It took about 2 days for it to get a lot better. Some of you might remember my smoking thread from before our trip. I do acknowledge that I am more than a little sensitive to smoke, and irony being what it is, ours was the smoky cabin, and our friends' cabin was fine. I did learn that an inside cabin or one with out a balcony is an impossibility for me. I literally would have slept on deck if I had not been able to air out the room, it was that smoky on our arrival. The most disgusting part was the fact that while only one bathrobe was hanging in our cabin on our arrival, it was absolutely infested with smoke. It absolutely reeked. It obviously had been hanging, unused, for the whole prior week while those pax puffed away contentedly in the cabin, and was not taken out to be washed for us. Is that what they usually do? Don't we pax at least have an expectation of a freshly laundered robe? I guess not, if it was not used by the prior week's pax, it would have been left for us. I asked Anton to bring us 2 fresh robes, and he did, right away.

Let's just get the smoking stuff out of the way all at one time so we can put it behind us. Your smoking advice about where I would encounter it and where I could avoid it was right on. Very helpful. I appreciate that. The only surprises that I had were the Lido pool deck and the companionways (I am calling hallways where both sides are lined with staterooms this). Sometimes, walking to our cabin along the companionways was like walking through a smoky bar. The smoke positively oooozzed out of the cabins along the hall. And the Lido pool deck, while not a surprise that smoking was allowed on the starboard side, was surprisingly offensive, as there were many, many tables set for eating in this area, and we had many days when the roof was only open 10 feet or so, so the room was overly warm, humid and smoky. Like a locker room with smoke. NOT very appetizing, to say the least. Getting a soda or a drink at the Lido pool bar, one was continually assaulted by smoke. The few little children who were on the ship, if they wanted to swim, had to breathe in the stuff. I thought it was a very bad set-up, as the Lido pool deck roof was more closed than it might usually be.

And when I was a bartender back in law school, I was perhaps more diligent at getting rid of dirty ashtrays. I think that the focus was more on person-to-person bar relationships (many of our bartenders were just wonderful, first rate) than cleaning up after the smokers, but those dirty ashtrays were a real turn off.

Our favorite bar spot turned out to be the Crow's nest, but smoking was allowed at the bar, which filtered over to the little tables immediately, so, oh well. As my final word on the topic, in this day and age, when we know the dangers of smoking and second hand smoke, and on an upscale line like HAL I expected a lot less of that dirty habit, and a lot less of it "indoors". Maybe the older population still smokes (I have almost no contemporaries in my personal and professional lives that smoke any more) but I was still surprised. None of it ruined my time, I did not obsess over it, but it was a highlight of my comment card. I'll leave it at that.

When we got to our cabin, there was no sign of a card or anything mentioning our Pinnacle reservation or soda card gifts, but that could have been a result of the computer problems, so we just called and confirmed our reservation time (the maitre d' said he "looked forward to meeting us at 8:00"!! wonderful) and I went to get in line at the front desk to ask about my soda card. I got pulled out of the [really long] line by an extraordinarily good looking officer, and was rendered speechless by his charm.....I mean good looks, and when the food and beverage manager came right over and applied a sticker to my card with no questions asked....well, I was in love. I am sure that they had not looked me up and just took my word that I had prepurchased the soda card to help diminish the line, it was circled around the whole deck!! That was customer service!

We got a note in our cabin that our pre-paid Sting Ray encounter in Nassau was cancelled due to Hurricaine damage (they continue to book them, but don't know when the lagoon will be repaired enough to begin the tours again) but we thought that wasn't the end of the world as we were in Nassau for such a short time.

Our dinner in the Pinnacle was fantastic. My dh was a very good sport in that our reservation was smack-dab in the middle of the super bowl, but we watched the first half in the Queen's Lounge and then made our way to be spoiled in the Pinnacle. Wow, there was a chef's "special" appetizer [which began our wonderful oddessey of getting served little plates of appetizers anytime we were gathered for a pre-dinner cocktail. A very nice touch and I found myself looking for little appetizer plates to be delivered when I got home] and then we all had the wonderful filet and side dishes and sampled all of the desserts. What a wonderful meal and the 4 of us tipped the server $20 at the end. The 3 flavor creme brulee was really something special.

Cocktails a the Crow's nest and a quick pass through the Casino, and we were out like lights....

Another installment on its way this afternoon.

[dakrewser]

A lovely review, and my sympathies on your problems. I'm suprised no one mentioned before you left that there is something you can do about a "smoke infested" room - talking to the cabin steward (or asst. houskeeper) can get you an extra-special, smoke removing cleaning (it takes a while to do which is why they can't do every cabin every week). Just tuck that away for next time.

Now, back to the review!

[lawyersinlove]

I love reading your review. We will be on your cruise next month.

The smoky smelly cabin would be a tremendous bother. It is a rather disgusting and uncivilized habit and to force others to smell the nasty odor is inhuman. I am 25+ year smoker, who never subjects others to my smoke, except in bars where they belong, not in bedrooms, kitchens or dining areas.

Look forward to reading more.
another lawyer

[FCOWHER]

Its makes me wonder why those folks couldn't just smoke on the balcony? Every smoker I know doesnt smoke inside their homes anymore. I guess some folks just are not that considerate. Good review please keep it coming. Joe V.


Zuiderdam 4/23/05
RCI - 2 times
Princess - 3 times
QE2 - 1 time
Royal Majesty - 1 time
Carnival - 1 time

[Jackjenson]

Anyway, Dave, I knew somewhere in the deep recesses of my vacationing brain that I could have asked for a "deep clean" but while I am whining pretty effectively about it now, I really thought that the smoke would dissapate quickly, and when it didn't, I guess it didn't affect me enough to make a big deal of it. Next time I will, though.

We awoke with a beautiful sunrise and a wonderful view of Nassau. Did I mention that when we got back last night, there were 2 beautiful cards showing the Pinnacle gift reservation, and a separate one for the soda card MaryTiller had bought us? If we didn't know in advance about our Pinnacle reservation at 8:00, we would have missed it. Well, maybe they would have called us, but I am chalking all of that up to the major computer problems. No harm, no foul, or so I thought at the time. How's that for foreshadowing?

Our stingray adventure plans for Nassau having been cancelled, we had a very nice breakfast of eggs benedict and waffles in the Vista Dining room (boy, we enjoyed that a few times during the week, what a civilized way to breakfast!) and wandered off the ship in Nassau. We headed to the straw market and to see the sights. Very fun, and we picked up trinkets for the kids, which was nice to have taken care of.

I should mention that Ruthiegirl and Sunnysask were right, the wind was wild and we were rocking and rolling unbelieveably. For my first cruise-ship cruise, I did not expect as much "movement". Many people were sea-sick, unfortunately. At the first sign of mal de mer, I applied my patch. I swear by the patch, but I might try something else next time. I find the dry mouth and blurred vision to be bothersome as the dry mouth seems to mess with my taste buds to a certain extent. I have only been on a Windjammer before, but you expect more seasickness in a 200 foot schooner than the Westerdam, but it seems that motion is motion. Made for nice joke fodder for the comedian, illusionist and juggler later in the cruise, so that was good.

After we got back on board in Nassau, we lunched in the Lido, where my friend enjoyed herself immensely with the sushi offerings. The wasabi was delightful and I had some on my sesame chicken from "the wok", and enjoyed it very much.

I also had a wonderful salad for lunch and so would begin a great salad theme for my vacation. I love salad, especially when someone else is making them, and they never failed me on the Westerdam. Interesting lettuces, veggies, and add ons, but the Vista dressings were a little blah. Italian, blue cheese and fat free Italian were the normal ones, but I just started asking for others I had noticed during the week, and they were delivered with a smile, so no problem there.

Then it was off for a "nap" (another recurring theme of the week, much to my dh's delight) and then to the spa for a manicure. My friend got a full set of tips with acrylic ($75 when we pay $65 here in Baltimore, so not bad at all) and I got a regular manicure ($25, when I usually pay $15) which was very nice. The manicurist was from Jamaica, she was lovely and very nice and very very very clean, which we appreciated. We admired our lovely nails and sat and read on the Promenade afterwards, what a relaxing afternoon at sea.

Monday night was our first visit to our dinner table in the Vista, having dined at the Pinnacle the night before. The 4 of us arrived at our table for 8 (table 71 at the top of the stairs) but no one else was there. Happily, another of our couples came a minute later and they were great. Bonnie and Tom from Michigan, married 2 years, they were a delight. They were 40ish too, (well if you knew Bonnie, she is really 50, but is as attractive and fun as any hip 35 year old) and they were funny as anything. We laughed and laughed, and although we missed them when they had to go on deck to feed their nicotine addictions, they were a wonderful addition to our evenings. ;)

I love meeting people from other areas of the country and becomming fast friends, it is just great.

Unfortunately, our other tablemates, Geralyn and Bob, were under the weather from sea-sickness and we didn't get to meet them until Tuesday, but they were wonderful too, from Milwalkee, and Geralyn taught me all there is to know about slot machines, over much laughter and some drinks, so that was a ton of fun.

I really can't remember what the offerings were for dinner every night, so I will just point out some highlights and if anyone has any specific questions, I will be glad to answer them.

I had soup and salad every night, even though the soups and the salads were grouped together on the menu, which I thought was a little strange. I am much more likely to like a soup than the appetizers, because I don't eat seafood at all. (I know, I have lived in Baltimore for 35 years and I don't even eat crabs!)

But the soups were really something to write home about. Oh my gosh, I have never enjoyed so many soups so much in my life. A real treat was the number of delicious chilled soups that were offered. Off the top of my head I remember enjoying the strawberry bisque, peach soup, granny smith apple vichicwasse (I know I can't spell that), gaspacho, mixed berry bisque and there must have been more. The baked potato soup was great as well.

My favorite appetizer of the week was the pecan crusted baked brie, oh my, was that wonderful; but remember I don't like seafood, everyone else loved the clams casino and oysters rockefeller, etc. Just not my speed.

As for entrees, we loved the filet (I gave away my lobster tail) the Chateaubriand was good, the mushroom ravioli was good, the paella was good, but could have been spicier according to DH. There were several chicken dishes that were really good, but my memory on those is not great.

That first night was a great flaming desert so we went to the lounge to have that, but were a little sad that the flaming had already happened and we were just getting the after affects. We had expected actual flame.

Well after that meal and all of the rocking and rolling, we headed to bed early (10:30 or so) and got a head start on relaxing for our sea day to come.

Further installments tomorrow.....

[luv2travel2beaches]

Looking forward to your next installment ALMOST as much as we are looking forward to our trip on the Westerdam in December. Keep the great info coming!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Jen, I am really enjoying your review:) Granted you did the eastern and we will be doing the Western but it is still a great review of the Westerdam. Thanks so much.

[Jackjenson]

The ship was still rocking and rolling pretty well overnight on Monday thru Tuesday night, but we were all patched up in our cabin, so we were doing ok.

Today we lingered in the cabin and showered, etc. before heading up to the Lido for some omlettes, salsa and delicious donoughts. Quite the combination, I know. Enough caffeine injested by DH and we decided that this sea day was all about doing nothing.

I headed over to the library and took out a new Dean Koontz, no-thinking vacation read, and without discussing it, DH went a little later in the morning and got a different Dean Koontz novel which we both haven't read. Great minds think alike. We travelled the ship together and separately all day seeking out the best reading, sunbathing, lounging spots and I think we found them all. The aft pool deck for some sun and cocktails (we left when a smoker lit up 2 chairs to our right with no ashtray in sight - I knew that when she started flicking into the wind I would get not only ashy, but very upset) and then we headed up to the observation deck area with the padded loungers as this area was much better protected from the significant wind. Let's just say that hats were flying all over the ship!

We spent a significant part of the day lounging on the Promenade deck on the comfy lounge chairs, watching the world walk by. Couples hand in hand, ladies chatting and power-walking, young guys with six pack abs running (where were they the rest of the time), all the ship seemed to walk by at some point in the afternoon. Dean Koontz, Mimosas, a beer or two, and several hours just flew by. I should mention that I was very impressed with the fact that the nice, big blue pool towels were available all over the place, including at some our favorite lounging areas which were not near a pool. Plenty of towels available on the obsevation deck lounge chair area, and on our beloved Promenade Deck.

A note for the suggestion box would be that we would have bought a boatload of bar drinks that afternoon if there were servers prowling the Promenade deck, as it was, we had to schlepp up to the Lido bar everytime we wanted a drink. My comments about smoking pretty effectively kept us out of the Lido pool deck area (with the wind, the roof was closed too much for adequate ventilation) but the Promenade deck was wonderful. We knew that over the next couple of days of excursions, we would get plenty of sunshine, so we relished the shade under the lifeboats.

Our traveling companions were big hot tubbers. Tuesday we began a habit that would carry us through the week. We had an 8:00 dinner seating, [thanks ccers, you gave great advice again] which was absolutely perfect. The ship just completely went empty (or so it seemed) every day between 4:30 and 5:00 and until after 7:00. At 5:00 we would convene in the Lido hot tub, taking our chances with germ exposure because we are young, healthy and not immuno-suppressed;) . The hot tub regularly smelled very strongly of the comforting chlorine mixture that means it had been recently treated, and we came to find out that when the deck cleared out, that was when they added stuff to the pool and hot tub, so we felt relatively safe. No adverse affects or anything. Anyway, we soaked in solitary bliss for more than an hour at a time, while Oro ? [what a wonderful cocktail waiter he was, all week, always a smile, always our names, suggesting with a wink the "drink of the day" or a margarita or a beer] brought us beverages. Ok, I know that there is no glass allowed in the pool area, and sometimes we were drinking Coronas with lime, and I know that there is not supposed to be any drinking or eating in the pool or hot tub, but Oro and Georgette at the bar didn't care and in fact they aided and abetted our behavior by plying us with drinks and delivering them to our waiting hands while we were submerged to our shoulders.

It was so relaxing, and we were amazed at the fact that there were no other people around, I guess everyone was napping or getting ready for their earlier dinners, but it became one of our favorite things to do. We played ping-pong one day too, with no wait and no spectators!

Then it was off to the cabin to shower and head to dinner, our first formal night! Our men looked wonderful in their rented tuxes (really worth it, imo) but our friend Rob got struck with the sea-sickness before dinner. I slapped a patch on him quicker than you can say "queasy" but it didn't start working for him until the next morning when he woke up, so he only made it through half of dinner. Geralyn and Bob came to dinner, but both of them were still a little green. They were taking Bonine, but it took them till Wednesday to get their sea-legs.

We enjoyed our dinner and took a stroll around the decks afterwards and then packed it in, better to be ready for our day on St. Maarten the next day.

More later today......and if I am up to it, the gripping saga of the unlimited laundry!

Oh, wait, I almost forgot a meal report!! How could I? Tuesday we went to the Vista dining room for lunch! It was wonderful. I had a great cheeseburger, and I didn't have to wait in line for it. I had sauteed onions and crispy french fries and I had strawberry soup and a salad before the burger. It was amazing. I can't remember what my friends and DH had for lunch, but everyone was just as happy as I was (and it IS all about me, after all;) ). Another cc idea, to eat lunch in the Vista, and it is a great one.

[DFD1]

Jen, Me thinks you are one hip lady! Great review. Fun to read. Keep it up! Thanks.

[obriendan]

Thoroughly enjoying your well written, upbeat cruise review. Looking forward to the next installment.

[lawyersinlove]

We are also flying in from BWI, but for an Eastern Carribean cruise on Westerdam. We're flying SW, how was Tran?

No Crabs? WASSUP WIT DAT:D , HON. Doesn't matter on a cruise, not much fresh fish on board, but I'm curious about the Alaskan Salmon on the ship? I'm sure it's frozen, but it still could be good.

Was there decent places to lay out in the sun and get tan around the pool?

Was the cruise crowded? How was the Casino?

another couple of lawyers

[lawyersinlove]

:o double post

[Jackjenson]

Well, lawyersinlove, Air Tran was a very nice surprise! We have always (well it seems like always) flown Southworst, which I think is just fine, even with the kiddlypoops. Air Tran was very similar, with upbeat, humorous employees and totally on time, if not the cleanest airplane with all of the people they move on and off the plane in a day. Truly the MTA bus of the sky, but gets you to one place from another cheaply and safely, so what more can you want, no? The big kicker for Air Tran is really that "log on 24 hours before your flight and you can actually pick your seats and print a boarding pass" thing. That is great. It makes the cattle call feel a lot less like a cattle call, if you know what I mean. You just have to check your bags, and if you have no bags, you just go straight to security. Really, they give SW a run for the money, and with SW doubling the requirements for a free ticket, I am not as loyal. Air Tran is now a viable alternative out of BWI.

I was told by my friends and tablemates that were fish eaters that the salmon was uniformly good, whether it be at breakfast or at dinner. The red snapper was a little bit overdone, from what I heard.

There was plenty of room to lay out at the aft pool, but the chairs are lined up side to side, and we really liked the observation deck area because it had the wooden lounge chairs with the cushions (it is right outside of the crow's nest) Also, it was more protected from the wind (we had a very windy week), and there was more room between chairs, and seemed to be less smokers there. The Lido pool was too crowded and smoky for us most of the time, except when everyone disappeared in the late afternoon.

The casino was very fun when I spent time with tablemates Geralyn and Bob there on the last night, but we really couldn't get into it much during the cruise, just always interested in other stuff, mostly. We did like watching Craps and some blackjack, but none of us were brave enough to brave the minimums...there was real potential for fun there, though.

Working on my Wednesday review, hope to post it soon.

[sabaka]

Wondering why you called Southwest airlines "SouthWorst"? Have you had problems with them? From your discription you have flown them in the past and no problems. Just wondering why Southworst and not South no problems?

[Jackjenson]

Well Sabaka,

We here in Baltimore have had an interesting dynamic develop at our airport, due mostly to Southwest coming in and making BWI one of its hubs. When I say interesting, I mean both good and bad. It is great having a low-cost alternative with direct flights right here at home.

But the airport, for a long time, couldn't handle the traffic that came along with the new business. Things like arriving at concourse B (on the far south side of the airport) and having your bags come in at baggage carousel 18 (which is on the far north side, all the way over near the international wing). The whole cattle call thing is also a turn off.

Now Southwest is having its own terminal built, and they are really making a home for themselves here. This will end up being good once the construction is finished, but in the meantime, the place is a mess.

I guess it is just a little local joke to call them Southworst, but all in all, they are a bargain, and with Air Tran really giving them some competition for the domestic, low cost flights, it will just get better for us leisure travelers.

*disclaimer* My comments here are for explanation purposes only. I am not positive about the relative positions on the compass of the Southwest concourse at BWI, but you get my point.

[lawyersinlove]

Wondering why you called Southwest airlines "SouthWorst"? Have you had problems with them? From your discription you have flown them in the past and no problems. Just wondering why Southworst and not South no problems?

Southworst is an apt description of Southwest Air, The Trailways of the Sky. They herd you here, they herd you there, but if you ask them a question they'll swear they never heard you anywhere. They get you there, but ... I'd rather ride the ox carts in Cambodia.

[dakrewser]

And I'd rather fly Southwest (Always friendly, always efficient, always profitable - could there be a connection?) than America Worst or Northworst (who have lost luggage, seats, reservations - and children! [fortunately not mine]).

As the Franglais say, "one man's meat is another man's poisson." :)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

And I'd rather fly Southwest (Always friendly, always efficient, always profitable - could there be a connection?) than America Worst or Northworst (who have lost luggage, seats, reservations - and children! [fortunately not mine]).

As the Franglais say, "one man's meat is another man's poisson." :)

Dave, I can't agree with you more. Since November I have been on 5 round trip flights on Southwest and everything went extremely smooth. I always got my "A" early in the morning for seating. One of those flights was even a freebie with my Southwest Rapid Reward points. I agree that America Worst and Northworse really are the "Worse" I think Southwest has some of the most friendly helpful employees. Almost all the flights tend to be a bit entertaining with the crew especially flying into Las Vegas. I have gotten so I use my Southwest Visa now for everything and by next month will have another free ticket. They seem to add up a lot quicker than with my United Miles but then I have enough United miles to buy 6 more round trip tickets and I am already flying them to FLL in 18 days and managed to get First Class tickets to Boston on United with my miles. So I am a very Happy Camper. I have just learned over the years how to work this flying thing and frequent flyer miles so for many years I mostly fly free unless it is a close cheap flight on Southwest.

[lawyersinlove]

And I'd rather fly Southwest (Always friendly, always efficient, always profitable - could there be a connection?) than America Worst or Northworst (who have lost luggage, seats, reservations - and children! [fortunately not mine]).

As the Franglais say, "one man's meat is another man's poisson." :)

one man's meat is another man's fish? :confused:

you sure that's what they say?

[Jackjenson]

We had set the travel alarm clock for 7ish, and had ordered room service breakfast for 7:00-7:30. It was really funny (you had to be there) but the alarm went off at 7, and then the room service guy knocked on the door like 30 seconds later. It got us giggling, ('Wow, what took you so long?:rolleyes: )and was a very funny way to start the day.

We had bacon, english muffins with butter and jelly, coffee and juice (pineapple and apple). It was as good as delivery hot food can possibly be, and was good to allow us to dress and avoid the Lido before going ashore for our "Wild and Mild Jeep Safari".
Not knowing that we had ordered room service, our friends decided to head to the Vista for breakfast. Of course we joined them, I mean, a meal is a meal and well, they couldn't PROVE how much of the room-service breakfast we actually ate and they have WAFFLES in the Vista for breakfast.....so we went upstairs for "second breakfast" (those of you who love all things Hobbit-related will know what I mean if you have re-read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings lately).

My dh ordered the eggs benedict, and I the waffles with strawberry compote. While our beverages were being delivered, the steward accidentally spilled a whole glass of orange juice on my Dh and me. I mean a full-to-the-brim 10 oz glass of juice which fell off his tray in such a manner to douse my DH's hair, shirt, shorts, my shirt, shorts, and the entire tablecloth. It was so funny I almost swallowed my tounge. DH looked so ridiculous with OJ dripping off of his ear and nose and out of his hair. The poor steward almost died. He was obviously so scared, and we just started laughing hysterically, it was truly a scene.

We started laughing all over again when the maitre 'd came over to apologize and offered "of course, to take care of all of the laundry because you smell...." well we knew that he meant that we were sticky and smelled like orange juice, but oh my gosh, it struck us as funny because "we smell" and we started laughing again. We assured the maitre d that the laundry was no problem at all because we had the unlimited laundry package. (or so we thought at the time) and that we weren't mad at the server, accidents happen.

Well, after a quick change in the cabin, we went ashore and did some electronics and jewelry and hot sauce shopping (are we eclectic or what) before our tour. Our friends bought a very reasonably priced digital camera and I have the "shouldhaveboughts" about an adorable multi-stone ring that caught my eye. Next time I am buying it, darn it, college educations be damned!

It was a hot and beautiful day on St. Maartin, and we were impressed with the cleanliness and organization of the port area, there were 5 ships in port that day.

Now our tour. Well, we were expecting a jeep safari and we got 10 people in the back of a retrofitted Ford Pickup with a driver who pointed out the sights (like the Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Subway sandwich shop). We first rode a hot, smelly bus about 20 minutes to the parking lot were they keep the "safari jeeps" and then climbed aboard.

The driver wasn't terrible, he just wasn't good. Kept saying things like "we are good to go"...and drove us around the island which was much much dirtier than I expected. We drove over to the french side and spent an hour or so at a clothing optional beach (I opted for clothes) where we had to sit in the "yellow" lounge chairs. There were only a few yellow lounge chairs to be had. The beach was absolutely packed with people, and these were not the nicest people, they were sort of surly, sort of snobby, well, I should just come right out and say it, they were French. Don't flame me, but these particular people that I observed were smack dab in the middle of the stereotype. Rude, standoffish and looking at us like we had no business being there. One surly teenager in the beach bar parking lot where we ever-so-gracefully climbed out of the back of our retrofitted pick-up truck even flipped us the bird. Which I believe is the same in any language, n'est pas?

It was just not an upscale tour in any sense of the word. We, of course, being the type to amuse ourselves effectively even in a bag "de papier" had a good time. But, from what I saw, I never, ever, have to get off of a ship in St. Martin again. Maybe Virgin Gorda and the baths would have been a better idea. Maybe some baths for the French people on the beach would have been in order, too.;)

The true highlight of our day was our lunch on the French side. We went to a local "joint" instead of shopping, and drank beer and had stewed goat, stewed shrimps, stewed conch and stewed chicken (for me). The lady who owned, cooked, cleaned up and served us was a delight, once we got her warmed up a little, and the plates of food she presented us were fabulous. Colorful, tasty and plentiful and we were sad when we had to find our way back to our "Jeep" and go to the beach.

We finally made it back to the ship in time for our obligatory 5:00 appointment in the hot tub on the deserted Lido deck. The coktail of the day was a fabulous Grapefruit Cosmopolitan (I am not kidding, that was Quite a wonderful adult beverage), and we enjoyed dinner with a full table of tablemates for the first time of the cruise. Bonnie and Tom made it over to Virgin Gorda and said they had a wonderful time.

After dinner we strolled the Promenade, took in the show and had a drink in the Crow's Nest.

Next....our time in Tortola and another Jeep tour!

[dakrewser]

one man's meat is another man's fish? :confused:

you sure that's what they say?

Um, it's a multi-lingual pun? That would be filed under the humor category?
<alternative version: One man's Mede is another man's Persian>


Oh, that's right, your handle identifies you as lawyers!



[OK, that's more humor. Sarcasm, this time. :rolleyes: ]

[Jackjenson]

Oh now, Dave, let's not sink to the lawyer jokes.....you are too funny for that!;)

Also, did you, by any chance mean merde? My french is rusty, I mean really rusty, but I seem to recall my curse words pretty well. The nuns would not be pleased!

If you meant ****akke mushrooms, my apologies:p

In any event, I for one think that your post was very merdey....if that if what you were going for.

[loved the poisson joke, by the way]

[dakrewser]

Oh now, Dave, let's not sink to the lawyer jokes.....you are too funny for that!;)

Also, did you, by any chance mean merde? My french is rusty, I mean really rusty, but I seem to recall my curse words pretty well. The nuns would not be pleased!

If you meant ****akke mushrooms, my apologies:p

In any event, I for one think that your post was very merdey....if that if what you were going for.

[loved the poisson joke, by the way]

No, nothing so tasteless! :rolleyes:

The Medes and the Persians were two ancient tribes in the area of Mesopotamia who merged (the merged group was called the "Persians" - evidently they had the better lawyers :rolleyes: ) and are the ancestors of modern Iranians. So the pun "One man's Mede is another man's Persian", while a play on the aphorism "One man's meat is another man's poison" also differs 180 degrees from it, since a "Mede" and a "Persian" can designate the same thing - which "meat" and "poison" certainly don't (nor, of course, do "meat" and "poisson"!).

Now let's get back to cruising! :)