I sold my GT this summer and haven't been posting here on PFF much but I thought I would share some pics from the cruise (our 6th) my wife and I were on Dec 10th to the 21st, Eastern Caribbean, Holland America out of Ft Lauderdale. We had a great time and the weather was beautiful. It's a lot colder and snowing here in western NY right now.


Our ship.


Barbados weather station.


Sunset leaving Barbaos. Pretty neat.


Half Moon Cay Bahamas


View from a peak in St Kitts.


Entering port St Maarten


The beach at St Maarten


Beach at St Vincent


Our ship (in the middle) was a small one-1260 passengers-but it was just right as we never got lost on board.

I would love to do that someday... But my wife gets sea sick just looking at a boat!

Reminds my of my honeymoon to St Lucia this past March!

I bet your sad to be back today!! The weather the last few days leaves a lot to be desired!!

I did a similar cruise last Christmas with the wife and 2 (adult) children. I'd highly recommend it to those who have already lived through 20+ Christmases together. It's a change of pace and I didn't miss all of the unneeded items that I would have received.

quote Originally posted by Larryh86GT: Our ship (in the middle) was a small one-1260 passengers-but it was just right as we never got lost on board.

I was on that ship on the right, the Allure of the Seas (or that could be her sister ship the Oasis of the Seas) in June. We had the most amazing time. I also went to St. Maarten and it was by far my favorite port. It looks like you docked where we did on the south end of the island (the Dutch side). Did you make it over to the French side at all? Its crazy how as soon as you cross the line everything from the houses to the street signs are different. I made it over to Orient Beach there (oh yeah!).

Ours was a 7 day and I could imagine how relaxing an 11 day would be. What was the cruise line and how was the food? I have been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and found Carnival's dinners to be a little better. Otherwise, the Allure of the seas (is the largest cruise ship in the world) and even though it was huge we didn't have an issue with getting lost. The ship was a destination in itself and one I would love to go on again.

-Joe

Do they charge extra for the norovirus or is it part of the free amenity package?

can i ask what it cost? my wife and i have never done anything like that. it might be fun.. but thus far we have never been able to justify spending cash on something like that.

Christmas with the Kranks. I love it. Now I need to convince my wife!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to have a really memorable travel experience, Alaskan cruises are amazing. The wife and I went on one earlier this year in Feb. It was one of the most amazing experiences we've ever done, having traveled somewhat and taken a few cruises. We were in Alaska for a week, then went to Vancouver on land for a few days, and then finished up in Seattle. Was a great two weeks. It was a tad pricey. I think we paid in the range of $1,400 a person for just the cruise, as we had a balcony room (DON'T get an interior room on this cruise. You'd regret it.). And then you throw in air-fare and other travel fare (we took a train in Alaska to get to Seward from Anchorage), taxi, spending money, etc. We spent somewhere in the ballpark of $6,000 total on that vacation. I took thousands of photos and hours of video. We are for sure going to go again, maybe not in 2013, but very soon.

I have yet to go on a Christmas cruise, but the wife and I have been talking about doing it soon - maybe a cruise with family this time.

If you have never gone on a cruise they can be a lot of fun. The Caribbean is a lot of fun and is almost in a different world when compared to being on continental North America. I don't particularly care for Carnival too much. Many families go on it and so there's always a lot of kids around. They're affordable though. Royal Caribbean I probably enjoy the most.

[This message has been edited by Fiero84Freak (edited 12-30-2012).]

quote Originally posted by joesfiero: I was on that ship on the right, the Allure of the Seas (or that could be her sister ship the Oasis of the Seas) in June. We had the most amazing time. I also went to St. Maarten and it was by far my favorite port. It looks like you docked where we did on the south end of the island (the Dutch side). Did you make it over to the French side at all? Its crazy how as soon as you cross the line everything from the houses to the street signs are different. I made it over to Orient Beach there (oh yeah!). Ours was a 7 day and I could imagine how relaxing an 11 day would be. What was the cruise line and how was the food? I have been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and found Carnival's dinners to be a little better. Otherwise, the Allure of the seas (is the largest cruise ship in the world) and even though it was huge we didn't have an issue with getting lost. The ship was a destination in itself and one I would love to go on again. -Joe

Yes, that was the Allure of the Seas. Here is a better picture of it. Our previous cruises were 7 day cruises and we enjoyed this 11 day one much more. It always seemed the the 7 day ones just ended too soon. On this cruise it was just right.

quote Originally posted by 8Ball: I would love to do that someday... But my wife gets sea sick just looking at a boat!

On our 2nd day at sea heading to the islands my wife got a bit green. The front desk hands out seasick pills and they helped. Once we started hopping from island to island my wife was ok.

quote Originally posted by Fformula88: Reminds my of my honeymoon to St Lucia this past March! I bet your sad to be back today!! The weather the last few days leaves a lot to be desired!!

For sure John. If we could find a cheap cruise next month I think we would go.

quote Originally posted by carnut122: I did a similar cruise last Christmas with the wife and 2 (adult) children. I'd highly recommend it to those who have already lived through 20+ Christmases together. It's a change of pace and I didn't miss all of the unneeded items that I would have received.

Good point about the 20+ Christmas's together. We have 46 together and this was our 1st cruise that we were not with a group of folks we knew and we wondered how we would do. We did fine.

quote Originally posted by maryjane: Do they charge extra for the norovirus or is it part of the free amenity package?

No charge for the norovirus. Fortunately I did not hear of anyone on board coming down with it. They were pretty careful. We used the hand sanitizers all the time.

quote Originally posted by $Rich$: can i ask what it cost? my wife and i have never done anything like that. it might be fun.. but thus far we have never been able to justify spending cash on something like that.

The prices for a cruise go all over the place. We always shop around for a deal and we use a travel agent of my brothers for ex airline employees that comes up with a nice price occasionally.

quote Originally posted by Fiero84Freak: If you want to have a really memorable travel experience, Alaskan cruises are amazing. The wife and I went on one earlier this year in Feb. It was one of the most amazing experiences we've ever done, having traveled somewhat and taken a few cruises. We were in Alaska for a week, then went to Vancouver on land for a few days, and then finished up in Seattle. Was a great two weeks. It was a tad pricey. I think we paid in the range of $1,400 a person for just the cruise, as we had a balcony room (DON'T get an interior room on this cruise. You'd regret it.). And then you throw in air-fare and other travel fare (we took a train in Alaska to get to Seward from Anchorage), taxi, spending money, etc. We spent somewhere in the ballpark of $6,000 total on that vacation. I took thousands of photos and hours of video. We are for sure going to go again, maybe not in 2013, but very soon. I have yet to go on a Christmas cruise, but the wife and I have been talking about doing it soon - maybe a cruise with family this time. If you have never gone on a cruise they can be a lot of fun. The Caribbean is a lot of fun and is almost in a different world when compared to being on continental North America. I don't particularly care for Carnival too much. Many families go on it and so there's always a lot of kids around. They're affordable though. Royal Caribbean I probably enjoy the most.

We did an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle a few years ago. But it was the beginning of June. Us folks from western NY have seen enough snow over the winter so cruising around in 40 degrees and misting rain each day was not our cup of tea. Lot of icebergs and snow on the mountains was very pretty but we won't do it again. We have done a New England/Canada cruise out of NYC also in October. Pretty but too darn cold also. No more cruises heading north for us. Give me beaches, blue waters, sun, and rum concoctions with little umbrellas in them.


Here is another picture my wife too that came out really nice of another small cruise ship in the sun:

I've been on eight or nine Carnival cruises. The last one was back in May and it was a honeymoon for me and my wife. We took her two teen-age boys. None of them had ever been on a cruise. We had a good time but some of it wasn't fun.

I'm glad everyone got the opportunity to go but none of them fell in love with cruising. We all enjoyed the islands and the water but the time on the boat seemed hectic. Too much rushing around getting ready for the next thing. Part of that was making sure the kids were where they were supposed to be and doing what they were supposed to be doing. But it is a bit on the structured side. Tammy didn't like that part of it.

The next time we can do something similar, she and I will fly down to one of the islands and stay at a resort for the duration. No kids next time. That way, we'll be able to slow down and do what we want, when we want.

Jonathan

[This message has been edited by Boostdreamer (edited 01-01-2013).]

It has to be somewhat 'structured'. Ya can't have 1000 or so people all-each doing whatever they want whenever they want on a relatively small vessel in the middle of a mile deep ocean. chaos would ensue before the ship reached the breakwater.

Oh man those pics are nice!! We loved the Holland line with their spa package!! It was great, a pool sized hot tub with all kinds of jets!! But the best part of it was the heated ceramic tile loungers!! We've been on 3 cruises, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Holland... each had their perks, but I think the heated loungers were the best!! lol Although it seemed for myself and my daughter that we were more susceptible to sea sickness on Holland, for some reason it just had a weird rhythm to it that I couldn't get used to... my daughter was sick for a good 3 to 4 days (good thing it was a 14 day cruise!) till we finally went to the infirmary and they told us exactly how to use the sea sickness pills... worked like a charm!! (take the pill, lay absolutely flat for half an hour and then get up, this resets the inner ear or some such thing... after that just take the pills however often they are needed)

One of these days we may do it again!! Shrug... although a trip to Japan is what the kids want... lol

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