I'm back!!

[EdukatedRedHed]

Are you coming from Asia? If you are from the states, the time difference should be favoring you gettting out of bed very early in the morning with Alaska being 3-6 hours BEHIND the rest of the United States.

 

 

Also, regarding your comment about antibiotics, most "getting sick" is caused by viruses which can't be treated with antibiotics. If I were going on a cruise, the last thing I'd want to do is take antibiotics which tend to really screw up your intestinal tract which tends to have to work overtime on vacation... ;)

 

Nope, I went back four hours ... therefore the ship set sail between 1-2 am my time. We had late seating for dinner (I wasn't thinking when I booked it!) so we never got to bed before 3 am our time, which made it very hard for me to get out of bed early in the AM.

 

I meant to suggest to anyone leaving S.B. that they should arrive a couple of days early to adjust their internal clocks, especially if they are coming from the East Coast. Wish we'd done that! ;)

 

I hadn't thought of your comments regarding the antibiotics. Since I haven't been to the doctor yet, I'm not sure what I have, but I'm assuming it's a sinus infection, which I assume is bacterial ... but who knows?!? The sinus / allergy medication I purchased in Canada is working great! I might not even need to see the doc after all! :D

[sea_u_onboard]

Well done Cheryl.

I just didn't want someone else to get blamed.

 

Cheryl, I haven't forgotten about the Capers. I'm still going to scan them and put them online somewhere!

Hate to say it but I did. It's not a rush (less then 30 days to go :D ).

[Frequent Floater]

Cheryl, honorable

 

Red looking forward to seeing the capers when you have the time to get them posted.

[lilrere]

So you know redhead we had the same cultural difference on our cruise.:rolleyes: We were shocked at the rudeness! Luckily there was only one "rude" group and for those who are trying to guess which country it was not who you might think! We had wonderful older passengers! We were the only Americans in our dining area and we loved talking to the foreign passengers! We are both young and we celebrated our 1 year anniversary on the cruise! :) And for anyone reading this yes I know that being "rude" is a culture difference but it does make for a not so pleasant cruise at times!

And so you know I do not think that you were being prejudice Redhead!:D

[Frequent Floater]

Red or Iilere When was the past guest party (on the Southbound) if you remember. Trying to set up a private cocktail party for my group so need to work around it.

Thanks

[Ghia]

Cheryl,

I will be sailing the lovely Pearl, Jul 8th. I'm excited and scared at the same time. My first cruise. :) I have been sailing before, but never on a cruise.

EdukatRedHed,

Please do not construe what I said as criticism. I was simply pointing out that generalizations can lead to actions based on generalizations which is prejudice. I did not say that you were prejudice. I do not know you to say that. You were kind enough to post some very useful information. I was taken aback by your comment about dealing with certain cultures. That's all.

[TeeBuccs]

So, what was it really like having a room on the aft of this ship? DH and I have booked for 05/08 aft wrap around and everyone says good things about these cabins but I am still concerned. We have never stayed near the back of the ship because of the vibration issue - am concerned about it and noise. Also, was it a pain walking the entire length of the ship to get back to the cabin or was the view just so worth the extra effort in AK? Just curious with your general feedback. We have deck 4 cat. 11 reserved right now.

 

Thanks!

[sea_u_onboard]

Cheryl,

I will be sailing the lovely Pearl, Jul 8th. I'm excited and scared at the same time.

We will be sailing the same general time - different ships.

[EdukatedRedHed]

Red or Iilere When was the past guest party (on the Southbound) if you remember. Trying to set up a private cocktail party for my group so need to work around it.

Thanks

 

I forgot about the past guest reception ... it was really odd! The reception was on the same night as the 2nd formal, Sunday. The reason it was odd is because the invite to the reception had a totally different dress code than formal! I didn't go to either the reception or the dining room on formal night, however when browsing the pictures, I saw pictures of people at the reception and they were in their formal clothes.

 

 

So, what was it really like having a room on the aft of this ship? DH and I have booked for 05/08 aft wrap around and everyone says good things about these cabins but I am still concerned. We have never stayed near the back of the ship because of the vibration issue - am concerned about it and noise. Also, was it a pain walking the entire length of the ship to get back to the cabin or was the view just so worth the extra effort in AK? Just curious with your general feedback. We have deck 4 cat. 11 reserved right now.

 

Thanks!

 

I would definitely get an aft wrap-around for an Alaskan cruise! I was very jealous of all the room they had on their balcony!!

 

 

As for the walking, not a pain at all. The Lido deck buffet was a few floors above us and the dining room a few floors below us!! We never had to walk far for food! :D To get to the rest of the ship, I didn't feel like it was a long way to walk at all, unless I walked on our floor. Typically we rode the elevator down to the 2nd or 3rd floor to walk across the ship. It's a more of a straight shot, whereas if you walk down cabin halls you're making more turns, which makes the walk seem longer!

 

 

And I loved being at the back of the ship ... I rarely ran into another passenger in the hallways! There is less traffic going past your room because nobody has a reason to be in your area unless they are staying back there with you! :D

[Frequent Floater]

So, what was it really like having a room on the aft of this ship? DH and I have booked for 05/08 aft wrap around and everyone says good things about these cabins but I am still concerned. We have never stayed near the back of the ship because of the vibration issue - am concerned about it and noise. Also, was it a pain walking the entire length of the ship to get back to the cabin or was the view just so worth the extra effort in AK? Just curious with your general feedback. We have deck 4 cat. 11 reserved right now.

 

Thanks!

 

If you are on the Carnival Spirit you will love the cat 11 wrap. I had 4226 on our 2004 sailing.

Yes it was a long walk to the front of the ship to disembark but hey great exercise. We found it best to take the nearest elevator to the level to get off and walk forward from there instead of going midship where everyone else was waiting on the elevators.

Not many persons would "stroll" past that area except those with cabins so nice and quiet. Laundry room right there, an great bonus, not many people used it so no added noise from in and out.

We did hear and feel the vibration when porting but not bad as it would serve as our wake up call. Overall motion and noise was not any problem for me and I'm a light sleeper. You do hear the "wake" more back there. I loved it so much that we are in the same area for our Alaska sailing Aug. 1 this year and again for Mexico April 2008.

No owrries.

 

Thanks Red for the past guest party info. Since there are really no other early port days that would accomodate all, the Skagway day seemed the best time. Of course that was when I wanted to have my group cocktail party too. Sounds like we will have to miss the past guest reception this trip. :(

[EdukatedRedHed]

Yes it was a long walk to the front of the ship to disembark but hey great exercise. We found it best to take the nearest elevator to the level to get off and walk forward from there instead of going midship where everyone else was waiting on the elevators.

 

 

On our trip they disembarked both mid-ship and aft, in front of the Empire dining room!! Luckily our luggage tag color/number were called for the aft disembark!! Very smooth! The smoothest disembarkation I've ever experienced!! :D

[Frequent Floater]

On our trip they disembarked both mid-ship and aft, in front of the Empire dining room!! Luckily our luggage tag color/number were called for the aft disembark!! Very smooth! The smoothest disembarkation I've ever experienced!! :D

 

Thats good to know. Was that the case for the ports as well?

[EdukatedRedHed]

Thats good to know. Was that the case for the ports as well?

 

Nope! The ports were all one entry/exit from Deck 2 in the Atrium, with the exception of Sitka, which was a tender port and left from Deck A forward.

[Frequent Floater]

Nope! The ports were all one entry/exit from Deck 2 in the Atrium, with the exception of Sitka, which was a tender port and left from Deck A forward.

 

Oh well half the ship lenght to get off isn't as bad as the entire lenght for us on the aft.. Walking off those extra calories for sure...

[Frequent Floater]

Sorry Red but another question. When was muster drill???

Thanks once again

[EdukatedRedHed]

Sorry Red but another question. When was muster drill???

Thanks once again

 

 

LOL ... no problem! Muster was at 9:30 or 10 the morning after we set sail. :D

 

 

I haven't had a chance to write up my review. Between being sick and coming back to work during the middle of month end close I haven't had time. Hopefully I can get to it by the weekend. :o

[coder01]

The Carnival Spirit, leaves at 9:00 pm, that first evening can you eat in the dining room?

[kellywhitehills]

When was the Muster drill??

[signora]

I had no intention of replying to this thread but I am dismayed at the lack of disgust regarding the orginator's remarks about seniors and members of a "certain" cultural group. I can't understand how the cruise critic staff tolerates this either. It's downright offensive. Shame on you, RedHed.

[cruiserlkb]

First of all we have been on numerous cruises....and to say the least I don't think she intentionally mean't to offend anyone, any culture, or any age by writing her review. We all have our expectations, and we too have seen how people older, the younger crowd and some people from other cultures can be so rude and inconsiderate. We are close to our middle 40's. And like I said we have seem people on these cruises who are in it for themselves and sometimes don't take inconsideration for other people.

 

Sometimes elderly people can be rude, but the same can be said for other ages. At times on some cruises it was the younger crowds that were rude. On some others it was the elderly. Plus with our different cultures that we run across, people just live their lives alot different then some of us do, and of course we are not used to it. I appreciated her post on the cruise and the info she gave. I know how she felt about the issues we talked about. Nobody should take it to heart. Everyone has their own expectations on how they want their cruise to be. We all pay good money for a good time, and at times we do come across people who are like that.

[cruisemamma99]

I had no intention of replying to this thread but I am dismayed at the lack of disgust regarding the orginator's remarks about seniors and members of a "certain" cultural group. I can't understand how the cruise critic staff tolerates this either. It's downright offensive. Shame on you, RedHed.

 

LOL Shame on you, some of us don't adhere to pretending that all people are created equal in terms of upbringing and manners!! Like it or not these things exist!

 

I'm leaving in July aboard the Vision and can't wait, and we were on the Spirit for the Mexican Riveria cruise which was wonderful. Again thanks for the review.

[little miss s]

I was on this cruise, but I'm just now getting back to the boards.

 

I can completely vouch for the comments about rude "old" people. I actually laughed outloud when I started reading this post. It made me remember some incidences that happened to us.

 

One morning we were waiting in line to be seated for breakfast. We were about 4th from the front of the line, when all of a sudden this man pushing a wheel chair rammed into my husband. The lady in the wheel chair said to her husband, "you just ran me into that man!". Without any apology, he backed her up and plowed forward running into my husband a second time. Again, there was no apology, but this time we all moved and gave them a wide berth. The man said as he backed up and tried once again, "well, you can't walk and I can't see, so people just need to move out of our way." They went to the front of the line and expected to be seated right away. Sadly they were, but luckily not with us.

 

The surprising part about this story is I've got countless more, but I won't bore you with them.

 

The worst part I thought was the way I saw the ship's crew treated by these "old" people as well. You really wouldn't believe some of the nasty behavior I witnessed. The crew handled it remarkably well, but you couldn't pay me enough to be treated the way I saw them treated.

 

Please everyone, just be nice... and remember, trivia is not a contact sport!

[EdukatedRedHed]

The Carnival Spirit, leaves at 9:00 pm, that first evening can you eat in the dining room?

 

Yep! We ate in the dining room. Most people either hadn't gotten their luggage yet or weren't finished unpacking so the first night was VERY casual!! :)

 

When was the Muster drill??

 

 

LOL! ... I just answered that above, but it was between 9:30 and 10 the morning after setting sail! ;)

 

I had no intention of replying to this thread but I am dismayed at the lack of disgust regarding the orginator's remarks about seniors and members of a "certain" cultural group. I can't understand how the cruise critic staff tolerates this either. It's downright offensive. Shame on you, RedHed.

 

You should have stuck with your first intentions. :rolleyes: I feel no shame. You were not in my shoes and did not witness what I did. Besides, if I'd talked about how rude the kids were, many people would be jumping on the band wagon. That's life! :p

 

 

Thank you to all those who felt like they had to "defend" me. I met a couple other CC'ers on the the ship and I think they can vouch that I'm not a horrible person. LOL :D

[kellywhitehills]

I did not take any offence in anything you said , besides youre entitled to your opinion..Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions even if they were repeats!

[bunduo]

The old people that were rude were probably rude when they were young, too. There were probably many older people who were quite polite and equally disgusted with their rude peers. Since most people are polite and refrain from making scenes, we allow these spoiled brats to get their way while secretly wishing someone would put them in their place.

 

I might be wrong but I get the feeling the OP was writing about Asians just by the description. Asians, especially the Japanese, live in areas that are highly populated and crowded which explains why their idea of personal space is much different and much smaller than the cultures in the West. When traveling in Asia, being pushed takes some getting used to but is required if you want to get anywhere. They are not being rude, actually far from it, it just a cultural norm. The Asian version of cruise critic probably has someone posting about how rude the Westerners are because we do not show respect to our grandparents. :)