Boro Nut

This happens surprisingly often. A Greek crew can be a bit of a giveaway, along with faeces in the corridors. I hope you have more success than me at getting a refund.

Boro Nut

Shake

Well, it sounds like you've already got your cabin booked, but for anyone else who's thinking about a cruise: if you're at all worried about seasickness, try to get a room near the middle of the boat (less rocking).

Other than that, have fun!

Godless Dave

From a veteran food service worker, I'd like to add: If the steak isn't perfect, send it back nicely. A) It is probably not the servers fault it isn't perfect. More importanly B) Never act like a jerk to someone who is preparing your food. Part of the food service code is if someone is being an asshole it is perfectly acceptable to spit, sneeze, etc. in their food. And don't ask what the "etc." is.

Have fun!

penumbra

re: the advice from Godless Dave - can I strongly ditto that for ANY situation? I've also worked in the food service industry and can vouch that many customers get exactlly the treatment they have earned. Common courtesy and respect can go a long way toward making any dining experience a good one!

One tip I got (and followed), maybe some of you can confirm - I was told not to book a specific stateroom, but book the stateroom class and let them assign the room just prior to boarding. Supposedly it improves the odds of getting a free upgrade. Of course, it also means you take your chances on getting fore or aft when you may really have wanted midship. For us, motion sickness is not a problem and looking at the ship layout, I think I'd rather be on one end or the other, as opposed to the center.

re: laundry fees - kinda like hotel laundries, eh? Guess it's a good thing the ship also has do-it-yourself facilities (with free detergent, ironing boards and irons)

Viti

Don't get drunk your first night...only time in my entire life I was seasick was my first day at sea with a hangover. Don't take the first taxi or bus or van you see...those guys will conduct a bidding war to get your group, let them keep dropping the price.

You might be able to find your exact cruise here
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-Cruises-All

penumbra

Just wanted to thank everybody for the tips and let you know the trip was FANTASTIC!! We WILL be cruising again. The ship was nice, the crew and staff were terrific, and the food was just too much (I think I gained 10 pounds).

About the only thing I would change would be to have a day at sea between each couple of port days. Four port days in a row can get kind of tiring if you want to try to see everything.

Breaditor

Cruises are a huge waste of money. I did two last year, one Carnival (friend's wedding-Carib), one Princess (Alaska, Inside Passage).

The scenery was beautiful, but you really pay through the nose. And if you can afford to blow your ching in this manner, sail a top cruise line. In for a penny, in for a pound.

penumbra

I went with Holland America on the advice of some other experienced cruisers and thought the cost vs. value was pretty reasonable in comparison to other non-cruise vacation trips I've taken (their "no tipping required" policy helps).

Read in a travel magazine that HAL had/has the highest rate of return customers among large cruise lines (Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, Royal Carib, etc), so maybe there's a discernable difference.

Or, maybe, being a first-time cruiser, my expectations just weren't high enough?

Breaditor

Hey, if you enjoyed it, GREAT! I just don't think cruises are a good value.

Maybe I'm cheap, but I didn't think there was much return on the investment.

mongrel

How the hell I missed this thread before, I don't know...Doh!

Anyway, my advice; try the Grey-Funnel Line. Their cruises can be "interesting", '"fun", "adventurous"... Cheap, too.