Come Join the Fun

Hello!! A beautiful morning has dawned here in Lakeland, Florida. I have a head full of ideas for cruises and getting to know other cruisers. Single cruisers may want to think about this as it is a way of getting to know other cruisers and possibly get together as "roomies" on a cruise to save the dreaded single supplement. As we all know most lines are charging a whopping 200% for this now. Has anyone thought of joining a forum of people who are there because they love to cruise? I have just such a forum now. Most of us have become friends over the years and have met one another on group cruises together. I know that people have gone over to Facebook and that is a good thing in it's own way. Facebook is great for reconnectiong friends from the past. It does lack the quiet place to come in and get to know one another as in a forum. The forums can be dedicated to a certain interest. Would it not be fun to get together and discuss possible plans for group cruises? To get to know one another before the cruise? Look at the possibilities here. Ladies, are you looking for a girl's just wanna have fun" type of getaway? Gents how about you? Singles, a weekend getaway to get to know one another? This could be broken in to singles over 55 and groups of younger singles. After all we all have differing interests. Perhaps we could form a group around our interests. Sports? Oldies music? Jazz? Bingo? Maybe a group to support a cause? The possibilities are endless. If you have an interest come check out my forum Cruise Talk Cafe at www.cruisetalkcafe.forumer.com The forum is small now but together we can make it a fun place full of fun loving folks who love to cruise. How about it? Drop in and say hello.

A Trip Back In Time....................

Hello! Feeling a bit nostalgic this morning. I am taking a break from the subject of cruising. Let's take short trip back in time to a time when the world was a bit more peaceful. When I was growing up in Melrose, a suburb about 10 miles north of Boston the world was a more gentle place. At least my world was. We had a summer home in New Hampshire. Just a simple cabin in the Lakes Region near Newfound Lake. Let's go to the early 60's I was about 14 years old. We would pack up on Friday night and head north to the "camp" as we called it. Arrival at camp meant we got to work unpacking the clothes and supplies we brought for the weekend. Saturday was full of fun and beach time. We always knew that dinner would mean that all the neighbors would be coming to eat. We usually had a potluck those nights. My Mother was well known for her baked beans. In the morning she would fill two bean pots and put them in the oven to cook all day. The air would be full of the delicious smell of those beans baking. The neighbors were arriving, all carrying more delicious homemade meals. I distinctly remember the "galumpka" that Mrs Weincek made. Everyone brought food. A variety of wonderful homemade goodness. Italian, Greek, Polish and of course my mothers very New England beans. Dad would make tables from planks set across saw horses. They would be covered with sheets. The table would fill with the food and a huge stack of paper plates, cups and plastic ware. We would fill our plates and go find a place to eat. The adults always took up the picnic tables and we kids would have blankets on the ground. Dinner would be done and we would clean up and put away the remaining foods. Usually there would be a horseshoe tournament among the men. The ladies would sit and talk. We kids would just enjoy the evening. As I write this I have to wonder where the serenity went to. I can sit here in my home in Florida and imagine that the people up there in NH are still continuing that fun tradition we had, but I doubt it. The world is a different place from way back then. Memories of a more pleasant world are all that remain.

A Journey Into My Mind...

Hello!!! Sometimes I am at a loss as to what to write about. Often, after a while an idea comes to mind. So for today I will go with what is running around in my head this morning. As most of you know I am also a Cruise Specialist working independently for Cruise Brothers. I love what I do and enjoy helping people find ther special vacation. I enjoy doing the research to find someone a vacation to fulfil their wishes. Cruises are not all we do. We also have loads of land based travel to offer . Just ask and we can do it. You can check out my personal Cruise Brothers website at http://oceangoinggal.cruisebrothers.com At this site you can purchase your own cruise or give me a call I am always glad to assist. There are options also for insurance and shore excursions. Again do it yourself or give me a call. You will also see that there are many escorted cruises to choose from. A knowledgeable Cruise Brothers agent will be right there with you for your cruising pleasure. I also have a cruise related forum. It is small but we are all cruisers and all friendly. We welcome new members always. www.cruisetalkcafe.forumer.com Come in for a visit, you might decide you want to stay. I have ideas for this forum to move it into a new phase. I was thinking that we could form a cruise club there and discuss ideas for a group cruise and pick an itinerary to cruise together as a group. Maybe we can do a segment for single cruisers to get to know one another and be able to choose possible roomies from this group. I would welcome any feedback as to this idea. Send suggestions and questions to oceangoinggal@gmail.com So that is what is on my mind. I would love to know what is on yours. So send me an email and I will try to answer your questions.

It Never Ceases To Amaze Me.....

The most amazing feat that never ceases to amaze me is turnaround day. By this I mean the day the cruise ends for some but is an exciting and joyful beginning for a whole new group of passengers. At about 8:00 AM the ship arrives in the port. As the passengers arriving home at the end of their cruise leave the ship with their new memories the crews are hard at work to get the ship ready to go out again. The work begins many hours before the ship arrives in the port. The crew comes in the night to take luggage to be unloaded in the morning at arrival in port. While the passengers are enjoying the last breakfast and cup of coffee the crew is hard at work to make the next cruise happen on time. They are unloading luggage and trash. Stewards are getting the cabins ready for arriving passengers. Supplies are being loaded for the next cruise. Luggage for the arriving passengers is being loaded and distributed to passenger cabins. Food is being prepped for the arrival of the new passengers that will be boarding soon. The ship is being fueled for another long journey to take the newest passengers on their long awaited vacations. I just listed the basics. I am sure there is much much more going on behind the scenes too. It is nearly time to leave and the passengers are completing the required muster drill. At the end of the drill the ships horns announce the impending departure. Passengers are taking their spaces at the rails and on balconies to wave goodbye as they sail past those left behind. It is a joyful new beginning. The bands are playing and the atmosphere is a happy one The doors are closed and the walkways are pulled back from the ship. The ropes holding the ship in place are released and the ship is free. She slides away from the pier and heads out to sea. All of this work goes on on turnaround day. The amazing thing for me is that all of this is done in the space of about 8 hours. Not just once but over and over again every week in all of the cruise ports. An amazing amount of work done in a short time. Kudos to the cruise lines for this accomplishment.

Good Morning from Lakeland Florida! Today is Sunday August 5th 2012. Cruising is on my mind as usual. Sadly I had to cancel my planned cruise on Carnival Dream. I was looking forward to it. My cousin was coming from California to cruise with me. She is 16 years younger than I and we had not seen one another in many years. It was to be a happy reunion of cousins. I am working to find us another cruise to reunite on. What is your favorite cruise activity? Send me an email to oceangoinggal@gmail.com and I will publish your ideas. At the very least we can give others ideas of what may be a fun activity I always seem to lean towards beach and snorkeling activities. I did do river rafting in Costa Rica once and really loved it. Well worth the time and money. So I welcome your ideas. For now I have to go and get this day off the ground. Have a wonderful Sunday.

Celebrity Summit Cruise To Bermuda ~ Part 4

We hate to spend our last day packing and acting like the cruise is over. So we don't. We pack lightly and use self assist disembarking. This gets us away from the endless waiting in a lounge after breakfast, the search for our bags amoung thousands of others on the pier and gets us off and running quickly. In this case to drop our friends at Newark Liberty. From the time we lined up on Deck 3 in the conference room to being off the ship and in the car was 15 minutes. We drop our friends and headed home after filling up on some cheap NJ gas (40 cents cheaper than in NY). Another great cruise vacation. Thoughts. Service was superb. Dining room, my time dining worked out great. New menu in the main dining room was superb. Never a bad meal and always a whole menu of "safe" choices available if the evening choices were not to your liking. Renovations for the most part were great. We peaked into, but did not eat in Qzine the new specialty restaurant. The new Martini bar is now midship and had a great vibe. Revelations has been returned from the dead. And frankly the former "Cirque Du Soliel" decor looked like Miss Haversham's bedroom from Great Expectations and spoiled one of the great rooms on any ship. The room however is back and beautiful. The new wine bar with it's fancy self serve dispensing machines was another great change as was the new Redevous lounge on deck 4. Michaels Club does not make a good sports bar because they still try to have entertainment there and they clash. It would be better left as an intimate quiet lounge. Captains Club Elite amenities were great. Continental breakfast in the Normandy was special and afternoon, pre dinner cocktails every night, were a treat. Aurora the Captains Club rep had the energy of any five people. Sue Denning the Crusie Director was perhaps the best we have ever experienced. Captain and staff were more accessable and participatory than any other senoior officers we have ever experienced. They were everywhere interacting with the passengers. Oh yes, Rosalba the on board future cruise rep may have been the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Entertainment onboard was good, not great, but not bad. Band and show staff were above average performers, as was staging. Overall however the shows were , " just another broadway review". Disappointing after the spectacular shows on Summit just two years back. The balance of the individual performers were ok for cruise ship entertainment. None stood out as exceptional except Sue Denning herself who performed a one woman show that was TOPS. The new Apple I lounge (internet) was a bit dificult to use at first and no one seemed to be able to get going without help from the staff. In our case it took the manager to get us logged in and only after a call from the Captains Club rep. A new onboard Apple Store was to debut on the next sailing. Prices looked good. Even if all you save is sales tax it would still save money to buy onboard. Ratings from me. Ship 10; service 10; dining room food 10; Windjammer food 8; entertainment 8; activities; 8 Captains Club amenities 10. Renovations to ship 10 (we peaked into new rooms added on decks 3 and 11 they looked great). Pool area lounges a 10 but a big negative that they took away 30 or 40 prime area seats to make 20 people happy out of 2000. Lastly , Summit, like most ships, has an extensive art collection. For the most part, for my taste, it is gastly, but fun. Great ship, great friends, great destination, great food. GREAT CRUISE. I'd do it every year. Hope you enjoy my thoughts. Papa

Celebrity Summit to Bermuda May 20 2012 ~ Part 3

It's Wednesday morning and we are sailing into port in Bermuda. We've done this 4 times previously and it never gets old. The Islands are approached by a channel through the surrounding reef that starts way out by the colonial capital of St Georges. You sail past half the main island as you cruise just offshore in the channel past Ft St Catherines, Achilles Bay, Tobacco Bay and on towards the old Naval Dockyard area, (now the main port for the larger ships that land in Bermuda). We dock at Kings Wharf, one of two main piers, after a nifty 180 degree turn around by the Captain. Our friends are off for an all island tour early. Gram and I enjoy the luxury of the continental breakfast in Normandy once again (gotta love those little perks). We are off for a ferry to St Georges at 9:30 and arrive just in time to join the free historical walking tour that gathers at 10;30 in the town square. We've done this before but each different guide adds a new twist and perspective to it. After about 90 minutes we bail on the last few moments of the tour as Gram wants me to participate in the dunking ceremony on the town pier just off the main square. I volunteer and become one of 5 guys who dunk the maiden accused of gossiping by the town crier . This is a not to be missed photo opportunity and a laugh out loud reenactment done almost daily for the tourists. We end up dunking the maid 8 times. Poor woman, it is usually only done 3 or 4 times. We have a lunch of cornish pies (pastry stuffed with ground meat, veggies and potatoes) at a local spot , walk the town and head back for the 2:30 ferry to the Dockyard. The next, and last for the day at 3:30, gets very crowded and you can miss it and end up spending two hours taking buses the length of Bermuda back through Hamilton to the Dockyard. We meet up with our friends for some late afternoon sun on deck, early "elite" cocktails and such and a 7 oclock show. Piano player we've seen before who thinks he is Liberaci. He is not. The onboard band supporting him is more entertaining. Dinner again superb as we keep returning to the outstanding service from Nyoman and Alwyn. We are greeted every night by name, our preferences have been anticipated at this point and this is from Anytime dining. We have been catching the after dinner music in the various lounges. For the most part it is good, not great but relaxing and entertaining enough. Thursday is Bermuda Day. A national holiday and many things are closed, like shops in Hamilton. We were going to taxi to Horseshoe Bay but it is cloudy and showers on and off. After a leisurely breakfast we head out to shop and tour the dockyard area. Gram discovers tee shirts and hat combinations for Madelyn, Elizabeth and Donald in the Pharmacy of all places after we are disappointed at the selection at Davisons, our usual souvenir outlet in Bermuda. We find stuff for all the kids and Gram is happy. We watch the glass blowing and taste some rum cakes and browse the shops. Returning to the ship we have lunch, sit out by the pool, have our Elite cocktails, see a 7pm show, eat dinner and then catch a fabulous surprise show. Sue Denning our cruise director is a singer/ entertainer with a 40 year career in England and on cruise ships. Her on hour show of songs and comedy is a classic Vegas style lounge act and perhaps one of the most entertaining shows I've ever seen on a ship. She has been everywhere on this ship. At every show, party and all around the ship. A great lady all around and one of the best cruise directors at sea today. While I'm at the compliments, Aurora the Captains Club rep is everywhere on the ship. Captains Club (especially Elite) events are daily and excellent little perks. Aurora is at breakfast in the Normandy, cocktails in Rendevous, several special events with the officers and each tour offered to us (like the backstage tour). We had a bit of a problem one evening using our free 90 minute internet coupons to get online. She made one phone call and sent me down to the i Lounge (new Apple based internet cafe) and the manager personally got us up and running. We had heard news of several climbers being killed on Mt Everest during the week. Two of my customers were climbing and I wanted to check on them. They were fine. The son made it too the Summit (no pun intended) , the Dad had eye problems and had to quit two hours from the top after a month of climbing and preparations. More later

Celebrity Summit to Bermuda May 20 2012 ~ Part 2

The sea was a bit bumpy on Monday and at one point during the day there was a torrential downpour for about 10 minutes. Chased everyone from the outside deck areas pretty quick. While I'm on the subject there was a small modification outside I did not like. In two prime areas of the pool area, normal deck chairs were replaced with spa type lounging beds. Very fancy and comfortable however prime pool deck space for about 40 chairs was replaced with beds accomadating a total of 18 people. Looks good, but a poor choice on Celebrity's part. We hung out in the afternoon in the spa pool (used to be call the Thelosotherapy pool. It is indoors, heated and only for adults. Later we changed for formal night dinner. Tony and I did Tuxedos and Gram and Donna were dazz;ing. We had drinks with the officers in Revalations then dinner at what became our "usual' table. We caught the show after dinner and it was a good one. Typical "review" type stuff but sung, danced and staged very well. Tuesday morning we had a backstage tour, another feature of our Elite status. Very interesting. We were able to sit outside although it was a bit blustery. Tuesday night we had our Captains Club Elite complimentary cocktailsand hors dourvres at Revelations. We did this every night and I figure it saved us about $30 per night on a bar tab, per couple. Show time at 7pm, a fair comedian who thought his act was based around heckling people who arrived late or left early from his performance. He's a cruise ship comedian, needs to check his ego at the dock. Another great dinner tonight. We note the menu now leans more heavily to Italian/mediteranean than Celebrity's previous French leaning menu. Tomorrow. Bermuda.

Review Of Celebrity Summit Cruise to Bermuda, May 2012 ~ Part 1

For the next few days I am going to feature a review of Celebrity Summit. It was written by a member of my forum www.cruisetalkcafe.forumer.com He and his wife went on this cruise recently. He wrote a lengthy and thorough review of their cruise. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Celebrity Summit to Bermuda May 20 2012 by Papa » 04 Jun 2012 12:42 This cruise was a return to old friends in more ways than one. First we cruised with friends Donna and Tony from Cincinnati (by way of Boston). Our fourth time cruising with them having met on Horizon in 1998. Second we cruised on Summit. This made our fourth cruise on Summit. I've now spent 37 days onboard this wonderful ship. We started out Sunday morning at 915am and headed out to pick up our old cruising friends in a hotel outside Newark Liberty airport. We are cruising from Cape Liberty in Bayonne NJ for the third time. This is a very convenient port for us to sail from. We arrived in Newark at about 10:30 and after many hugs we sat down to catch up with our friends and get organized. The ride to Cape Liberty was short and I dropped everyone out front of the embarkation area and heaed for the nearby parking. It was early so I parked all of 150 feet from the end of the embarkation "tent" that RCCL and Celebrity use. Within 5 minutes we were all back together and walking through security. That done we were ushered to the embarkation line. This is the part I love, Gram said "Captains Club Eite Status" to the embarkation host from Celebrity and 10 seconds later we were standing in front of a check in agent, as were our friends. From driving up to drop off luggage to time time we were walking onboard ship was 10 minutes total. Champagne and Mimosas were waiting at the foot of the elevator, rooms not available until 1pm so we headed off to deck 11 and Windjammer for some food of course. We dropped our carryons next to a table and each of us explored the many offerings. Gram went with salad, Tony with sandwiches, Donna with hot food buffet and I went with Asian specialties. We chatted , people watched and of course stopped at the icecream counter for multiple choices of icecream and sherberts with toppings. Just as we finished cabins were made available. We've all been on Summit before so our only "tour" would be to check out the changes done in January 2012 drydock. We'd do that later. We were in 7115 and our friends like it lower down in 3075. We all tend to do interior cabins these days, it allows for more cruising. On the way we stopped by the library for my usual mystery novel or two, Gram reads from her Kindle. First bag arrived and we unpacked, then to muster staions. No life jackets and no outside line ups anymore. We took photos from deck 5 promenade of Statue of Liberty and NY skyine while the muster crowds broke up. Back to the cabin we found our second bag and quickly put it away. Sailaway was bright and clear but extremely blustery. We all had a bad hair day while we watched NY go by and sailed under the Verrizano Bridge. We went up to to see the renovated Revelations Lounge on deck 11 forward. All the crap from Cirque De Solel was gone and we were greeted by a panoramic view in a crisp clean, modern new showroom/ lounge. They were playing a Frank Sinatra Jazz concert on the big screen over the dance floor. Our friends are jazz musicians and they loved getting out of the wind, listening to good music and chatting while we sailed out to sea. We met up for a drink in the newly renovated Rendevous on deck 4 and then to My Time dining at 7:45. Got a table for four over looking the main dining room below. Waiter Nyoman from Bali proved to be a gem and we reserved with him every night. We drank wine, chatted and caught up on family gossip for hours. The food tonight was superb and proved to be so every single night of the cruise. My pork chops were delicious as was Grams fish. We found we had chatted right through the welcome showtime. No big deal. We all headed off to sleep and meet again for breakfast. I'll describe our breakfast maybe just to make everyone feel a bit jealous. Not in the dining room or in the buffet, as Elte cruisers on Celebrity we had breakfast in the Normandy, the specialty restaurant. We were offered specialty coffees, mimosas and bloody Mary's and a continental buffet including bagels and lox, fresh squeezed juices and superb service from the Normandy waiters. My two Cappicinos would have been $4.50 each in the dining room or the new Bistro on 5 which replaced the old Kova Cafe. The weather outside was cloudy and a bit rainy. Although we were able to sit out some, we also indulged in indoor activities like trivia and exploring the changes on decks 4 , 5 and 11. More later. Papa

Carnival Dream.......Another Cruising Adventure Coming Soon

Monday, June 4, 2012 Carnival Dream.......Another Cruising Adventure Coming Soon Good Morning!! Another fantastic sunny day dawning here in Lakeland. Here I sit sipping coffee and dreaming of a cruise. Soon I will be boarding Carnival Dream with my friends from Cruise Talk Cafe. We will be sailing off to Nassau in the Bahamas, St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands and last but not least St Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. All of these places I have visited before. All of them have their attractions. I was last in Nassau in 2010 and really enjoyed this island. We had chosen a tour of the island by jeep. This tour is fun because you take the jeep and off you go on your own. In our case the tour guides went along and did the driving. There were only 2 jeeps in our group so we had a guided tour and really had fun with the guides who were fun and entertaining. A word to the wise on this. This tour was listed as meeting on the pier just off the ship. Technically that was true. The catch here is that the jeeps are located nearly a mile away and we had to walk there. You will have to walk back also. For those with problems walking should avoid this tour. I think that Carnival should point this out in their tour listing. St Thomas is a place I have not visited since the early 90's. I have no idea of what is available for tours there now. I remember the last time I was there I went to Coral World and enjoyed that very much. We also did a tour of the island. Of course St Thomas is a great place to shop for jewelry and cameras. St Maarten is an island that many people love. I have to admit it is not one of my favorites. One time I took a tour to Pinel Island for snorkeling and loved that. Back then Pinel was quiet and beautiful. There were no pushy peddlars there. I do not know if that is still the case as that was many years ago. The last time I was there we took a tour of the island by bus. We were bored almost to tears on this tour. This tour is not for the more active person. I will choose more wisely this time. I look forward to my upcoming cruise and the chance to meet more of the folks at Cruise Talk Cafe. If you would like to join the fun with us please contact me. Drop in at Cruise Talk Cafe and say hello. We would love to have you there.

Cruising......A Life Changing Experience

As I look back over the years since my first cruise I realised that cruising has been an important part of my life. From the moment I made my first deposit on my first cruise. I took the brochures that the travel agent gave me and they became my treasures. We had chosen Carnival's Festivale for our first cruise, February 25,1983. We had made the deposits in April of 1982. For nearly a year I read that brochure from cover to cover. The brochure lived on my bedside table. Every night I would look at it before going to sleep. My imagination would go crazy as I imagined how the cruise would be. Finally the day came and I took my suitcase and departed cold snowy New Hampshire for warm sunny Miami Florida.
Since my return from that first and most wonderful cruise I have lived for the next one. Within a week I was booked on the Mardi Gras. Of course the excitement was there again. For the last 29 years that is how it has been for me. Incredible excitement from the moment the deposit was made. Of course cruising was and still is my main subject of conversation. I was always living for the next one. I was always trying to convince my friends to go on a cruise This was through the 80's and into the early years of the 90's
There were years I was unable to cruise at all due to family commitments. That was okay as I always knew I would cruise again when the time was right. In the meantime I took courses in cruise sales. I went to work as an outside agent for an agency in NH. I was so enthusiastic. I did not sell a lot but I did try and it was always fun trying. The years passed and life went on. Eventually in 2002 came the time when cruising could again be a part of my life. I booked the Carnival Spirit for an 8 day cruise from Miami. After that cruise I was researching the next one when I stumbled across a great website full of information and nice helpful people. I joined the forums on that site and "met" some of the most incredible people ever. I eventually went on a group cruise with them.I used to read about the dinners these people, The Central Florida Cruisers had in Florida. I knew that some day I would live in Florida and join the fun.
It had always been my plan to move to Lakeland, Florida in my future.I had lived there when I was young. When I left to go home to my family in Massachusetts I knew I would be back. I knew that I would know when the time was right. Life went on and I sold cruises from time to time and also worked at my job. Eventually the time was right for me to move back to Florida. I made my plans and finally arrived here in Lakeland in June of 2007. Coincidentally Lakeland was near where the Central Florida Cruises were gathering. I am now retired from my full time job. I work my own hours from home selling cruises and vacations.
The fine folks from that large website are now friends. Because of that site and my love for cruising I have met many wonderful people from many places in the US and other countries. I have a small cruising forum of my own filled with great people. Some of them I have met and they are good friends. In the future I hope to meet more of those people from those websites.
So you see cruising for me was more than just a wonderful vacation it was...... A Life Changing Experience.