Called Princess to Book Cruise Out of Galveston

Monica,

I'll second the opinion of other posters about Carnival. I have taken two
cruises on the Elation out of Galveston, both over the New Year holiday, and
they were both great. I have a slight preference for Norwegian (which used
to sail out of Houston), and I really liked Princess out of Galveston, but I
would not hesitate to try Carnival again.

-- David

"Monica" wrote in message
...
...and was told that Galveston is no longer one of their ports Can
someone tell me (Princess couldn't) why they're not leaving out of
Galveston any longer? We've only been on two cruises, both out of
Galveston, and wanted to (try) to book a Christmas cruise. We LOVED our
cruises with them and are sad to learn they'll no longer be available to
us Carnival is out of the question, so who else besides RC leaves
from there?
Thanks,
Monica


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"David Benson" wrote
Monica,

I'll second the opinion of other posters about Carnival. I have taken two
cruises on the Elation out of Galveston, both over the New Year holiday,
and they were both great. I have a slight preference for Norwegian (which
used to sail out of Houston), and I really liked Princess out of
Galveston, but I would not hesitate to try Carnival again.

When the Norwegian Sea sailed out of Houston, it was one of the friendliest
ships around. You always got a good, quality cruise and a very affordable
price. At the time, it was one of the best values in the cruise industry.

I suppose that as long as Carnival continues to offer inexpensive 3 and 4
day cruises, they will always have the image of being the "party hard, drink
a lot, spring break" type of cruise line.... and that is a shame. They can
be those things... but for the majority of cruises (7 day or more) the
average age of the passengers is in the late 40's.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
June 5, 2008 9 nt from NJ - http://www.cruisemaster.com/explorer.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

On Aug 25, 12:02 pm, "Monica" wrote:
Just a personal choice. We're more conservative, not into the drinking and
partying scene and prefer a ship more suited to our tastes.

Beware what you wish for. HAL's Noordam this past January had quite
the boisterous nightly crowd. In fact the entire evening
"entertainment complex" of casino, sports bar, disco and piano bar
would have convinced anyone that the word "Carnival" was painted on
the hull of the ship - in ambiance and crowd exuberance.

I have since coined the phrase "Carnivaluxe" to describe the Noordam
of that particular sailing.

Warren

On Aug 25, 12:02 pm, "Monica" wrote:
Just a personal choice. We're more conservative, not into the drinking and
partying scene and prefer a ship more suited to our tastes.
Monica"Paul Hoffman" wrote in message


Just out of curiosity why is Carnival out of the question?

I'm not a huge fan of Carnival. However, I wouldn't steer clear of
them because you believe it will be too much of a party scene. My two
Carnival cruises were probably the sleepiest of all the cruises I've
been on, while an HAL cruise I took was probably the rowdiest. Go
figure. There are lots of other reasons why Carnival isn't the best
fit for me, but, the party atmosphere reputation doesn't factor into
the equation. Really, any ship, during any given week, can have the
party atmosphere you're hoping to avoid. It all depends on the
particular passenger make-up. You never know what you're gonna get.

Lee

Warren wrote:
On Aug 25, 12:02 pm, "Monica" wrote:
Just a personal choice. We're more conservative, not into the drinking and
partying scene and prefer a ship more suited to our tastes.

Beware what you wish for. HAL's Noordam this past January had quite
the boisterous nightly crowd. In fact the entire evening
"entertainment complex" of casino, sports bar, disco and piano bar
would have convinced anyone that the word "Carnival" was painted on
the hull of the ship - in ambiance and crowd exuberance.

Very interesting, we were on the Volendam, 10 roundtrip Panama Canal
sailing in January. Most evenings the casino was busy, but emptiedd out
early. The sports bar right outside of the casion would be full when
there was a game on, but then empty out. The other lounges were very
quiet most evenings. Of course this all changes from sailing to sailing
and one of the bartenders was telling us that our sailing was one of the
quietest ones.

What was the itin. for your Noordam sailing?

sue

What was the itin. for your Noordam sailing?


It was the 11 day r/t Caribbean from NYC.

I had a good time overall, just not exactly what I had been expecting
from the line. It was my first time on HAL.

Warren

Warren wrote:
What was the itin. for your Noordam sailing?


It was the 11 day r/t Caribbean from NYC.

I had a good time overall, just not exactly what I had been expecting
from the line. It was my first time on HAL.

We had looked at a Noordam sailing and forgot it did the 10/11 itin from
New York. The 11 day itin. is very good.

Maybe a HAL sailing from NY in the winter gets a New York area crown and
we all know that they are more lively. Two days at sea in both
directions, with the chance of cold weather may not attract the older,
quieter crowd, don't really know.

We had a good time on the Volendam, also our first HAL cruise.

sue - still a New Yorker, just living in NJ.

"LeeNY" wrote in message
ps.com...
On Aug 25, 12:02 pm, "Monica" wrote:
Just a personal choice. We're more conservative, not into the drinking
and
partying scene and prefer a ship more suited to our tastes.
Monica"Paul Hoffman" wrote in message


Just out of curiosity why is Carnival out of the question?

I'm not a huge fan of Carnival. However, I wouldn't steer clear of
them because you believe it will be too much of a party scene.

My issue with Carnival wasn't the party scene thing, it wasn't a party
sailing at all... but more the long list of things that just turned me off.
Like the "guy in his undershirt with tattoos, standing in the hallway
outside of his cabin, cigarette in one hand, long neck beer in the other
hand" kind of thing.... or the guy wearing a tee shirt that said "SUCK
THIS". And at least on our sailing (albeit a few years ago) on Destiny, the
horrible breakfast and lunch buffets. The smelly juice section in the
buffet dining room.. Oh yeah... and those horrible booths in the dining
room, with the smelly waiter reaching over me to serve my daughter seated
next to me. Then there was the ship hideous interiors (at least on
Destiny). The ship just didn't suit my tastes. It gives me shivers just
thinking about it. Like... YUK... why would I ever want to go on that
again.

Maybe Monica is right about herself and her tastes. Everyone here seems to
be pushing her to Carnival... but maybe she knows herself better than we do.

I think people here have to recognize that Carnival simply isn't for
everyone... just like Celebrity, Cunard, HAL etc., aren't for everyone
either.

--Tom ---- did one time on Carnival... first and last time

Tom K wrote:

My issue with Carnival wasn't the party scene thing, it wasn't a party
sailing at all... but more the long list of things that just turned me off.
Like the "guy in his undershirt with tattoos, standing in the hallway
outside of his cabin, cigarette in one hand, long neck beer in the other
hand" kind of thing.... or the guy wearing a tee shirt that said "SUCK
THIS".

--Tom ---- did one time on Carnival... first and last time

Tom, this isn't a pro Carnival or anti Carnival reply to your post.

I never ceased to be amazed at the low class things I've seen at home,
traveling, cruising and in both small and large towns. The Big Johnson
- type tee shirts you see sold everywhere are just an example. I wonder
if your reaction to the cool dood with tattoos or the even cooler dude
that was displaying his coolness with his tee shirt was in part because
you had children with you. I see that kind of sleaze down on the Strip,
here in LV, and wonder what people are thinking when they wear that kind
of crud.

Do they think some girl will come up and say, "Gosh, you're so cool and
explicit in your tee shirt I want to go out with you?" Or, do you think
it's an immature way of showing the world that they know dirty words or
know all about sex?

The only thing in your post that I might take issue with concerning
passengers on Carnival is that you seem to associate it with just
Carnival. I suspect that Carnival might have MORE of that type of cool
folks, but certainly doesn't have a corner on them. The rest are
downtown here in LV, or walking the Strip at 3:00A. grin

As for the buffet and food issues, I would certainly have raised a stink
(pun intended) with the Carnival folks- but right then and there and not
later. No major cruise line would condone foul smelling waiters or
stale smelling food bars. I've not experienced that on any cruise line
and would be raising the dickens if I did. Ermalee can assure you that
after several bad times with a waiter, I and the good folks I travel
with are capable of getting the situation corrected.

Here in LV, Mrs. Nonny and I had a restaurant we frequented that was our
version of Cheers. We knew the folks there from the wait staff to the
other customers, and eating there was almost like visiting friends. The
manager once asked me how the service had been and I told him that,
"Today, it wasn't that good." However, I went on to explain that I have
enough common sense to realize that even in a well managed restaurant,
that there will be good days, bad days, horrible days and excellent
days. I said I had been around long enough to realize that my
relationship with a place of business was the SUM of those experiences
and not just a spot look at a single day or incident.

I know this has been said time and again to you, but there is a reason
Carnival is as big and successful as it is. They didn't become
successful by only attracting tattooed people with dirty sayings on
their ragged tee shirts, having bad smelling waiters or foul smelling
food service areas. I am not questioning your experience, but am
suggesting that before you write them off entirely, that you try some of
their other offerings and obtain a more averaging view of what they offer.

Nonny

--
---Nonnymus---
You don’t stand any taller by
trying to make others appear shorter.

Nonnymus wrote in
:



incident.

I know this has been said time and again to you, but there is a reason
Carnival is as big and successful as it is. They didn't become
successful by only attracting tattooed people with dirty sayings on
their ragged tee shirts, having bad smelling waiters or foul smelling
food service areas. I am not questioning your experience, but am
suggesting that before you write them off entirely, that you try some
of their other offerings and obtain a more averaging view of what they
offer.

Nonny



I have to agree with you Nonny, Carnival may be a lot of things but they do
deliver and back up on their promises. As I have attested here before, I
have had the best customer service on Carnival of any line, had good food
and a great New Year's party. I have also seen my share of questionable
design and garrish lighting, endured the yellow submarine playing in the
hall outside my room, but I stay away from the 3 and 4 day cruises so I
have not witnessed the drunken party atmosphere that seems to be in so many
peoples heads about Carnival.



--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell