http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/ 422-217 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/reviews/cruise-reviews/costa/costa-favolosa.html Having just recently been on Costa Favolosa, I would like to give my views on the cruise. Firstly, the ship is beautiful, I have nothing but praise for it, the cabins were light, airy and a good size. The food was excellent, and the evening shows were first class. Everything was very well organized. I would like to mention, my husband and I are a mature English speaking couple and we chose the cruise because of the port of calls. However, if we had had a young family with us, the whole trip would have been spoilt for them due to the lack of English spoken during the days activities. We also found some members of the staff a little unfriendly due to our lack of the Italian language. We also found it a little annoying having children in the casino, i know they are not allowed to play the machines, but them being there was a distraction. ]]> Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:54:17 -0500 114-216 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-triumph.html This was our 5th Carnival Cruise and the first on the Carnival Triumph which was taken on Aug. 28, 2011. We could smell raw sewerage in our cabin, in the hallway and even near the London dining room area. The air conditioning in our room did not blow cold air and it was very hot at times. These issues were reported to our cabin steward, the customer service desk, and a ship inspector (who was looking at loose edgings on stairs). Nothing was done to take care of these reports. Many other passengers were also complaining about the same things. On the day of departure, 3 women told us they got a $50 credit and they complained 3 times a day for the entire 5 day cruise. We love to take cruises but this will be taken into consideration when we choose the cruise line to book with next time... ]]> Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:09:53 -0500 199-215 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-gem.html Horrible, this was my wife's and I second cruise with the first being on Royal Caribbean and what a difference. This was the worst ever compared to our first. The staff was extremely rude, unfriendly, and unhelpful. We could barely have them make eye contact with us let alone say hello or good morning. The entertainment on the ship was horrible a washed up comedian that has 3 shows on a 7 day cruise and a juggler. We left both shows in the middle could not bare the misery of listening or watching either one of them. The food was clearly the cheapest that they could possibly buy without violating FDA regulations. The buffet was repulsive and repetative. What you saw on day one was the spread you saw the entire cruise and the main dining room served servings that wouldn't fill a 5 year old none the less an adult and they made sure to mark you as being there so you could not go back. Ship it self was nice and clean, to crowded and congested for the amount of people it holds. Most specialty restaurants are not worth the money. All in all if you just want a ship to sail on to get you to destinations this is it for you, if you like being respected and pampered on your vacation find another cruise line because this one will not do it for you. Very unsatisfied and will never sail again with this line. And just an F.Y.I. they charge your onboard account for the tips for the rude staff so all the staff that snubbs you off on the ship they don't care because they have your tip money already at lease Royal Caribbean they make them work for the tips which makes for better attitudes towards the guests. ]]> Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:56:52 -0500 141-214 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/costa/costa-victoria.html We cruised from Italy to Argentina in December 2010. This was our first Costa cruise and was disappointing. The ship although older was adequate, the dining and cabin staff were good, but the staff from the Front Desk upwards were awful. The daily information given to passengers was often incorrect. We would be informed that we would be passing through an area of interest around a certain time and then would be there maybe 4 or 5 hours earlier, meaning that people missed them. I have never been on a cruise when so little information was given to passengers. There were different nationalities on board but normally information can be given in maybe 3 languages as it is a fact that English is a means of communication for many people. Our cabin was sub-standard, and throughout the cruise various patching up and cleaning took place to try and bring it up to an acceptable level. It certainly seemed to have missed any form of inspection prior to the cruise. The food was variable, could be good or bad. The dining staff for the most part were helpful and friendly, and tried their best to make up the deficiences. Although cruises are now fairly informal, a holiday camp atmosphere existed on The Victoria. There were a lot of complaints from the passengers and complementary bottles of wine and flowers were much in evidence. The trips were badly organised and poor value for money. We have friends who cruise Costa frequently and they find it hard to believe how bad our experience was. This is not a ship that I could recommend to anyone, and I would be most unlikely to cruise with Costa again. ]]> Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:41:46 -0500 199-210 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-gem.html Hey yeahhhhh ]]> Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:43:00 -0500 123-207 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/celebrity/mercury.html We have cruised many times before with Princess and then once with Norwegian. We found Norwegian wasn't for us. This time for Alaska we thought we would try a new cruise line. We went with Celebrity on the Celebrity Mercury. We arrived in Vancouver the night before and stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront which is a nice hotel and close to the cruise terminal. I would say that the service was excellent onboard the staff really made a great effort and making everyone comfortable and just being friendly. Our room stewart was efficient and very responsive to any concern we had. The cabins are small but we still did find enough room to store all of our luggage away and we are not light packers. The entertainment was good to average in the evening but we found we didn't go out that much at night anyway. The food was excellent and we really enjoyed almost all our meals. Our waiter always gave good recommendations. We really enjoyed Alaska and the ports and we will are looking forward to sailing with Celebrity again in the future. ]]> Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:00:40 -0500 317-206 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/carnival/carnival-dream.html To give you some perspective our family has cruised before with Princess and Royal Caribbean. We haven't sailed with Carnival but heard they had a good children's program which was important to us. We saw this cruise and decided to book it. Embarkation was easy and we were onboard within 20 minutes. Our cabin was ready before 1:30pm which was nice so we could unpack. The ship is quite beautiful and a larger ship so it took us a while to get familiar with it. We noticed on deck in certain areas you could smell the sewage which wasn't appealing. The kids liked the kids water play area and slides so that kept them very happy. We however were not very happy with the pools onboard. First of all there are only 2 small pools for all those people. Second they were filled with salt water which I didn't think any cruise ship did. We usually enjoy relaxing in the pool but found we couldn't do that on this trip which was disappointing. The cabins were livable and had space for all of our belongings. It was nothing fancy but it did the job. As for the food in the main dining rooms and around the ship it was average at best. The alternate restaurants were good if you are willing to pay to eat there. Though eating there every night would be expensive. Our kids did enjoy the Camp Carnival and had a lot of fun and made some friends onboard. I wouldn't sail on the Carnival Dream again as though some of the staff tried hard I think they just corners everywhere and those little things make or break a trip for me. I think I will stick with Princess and RCCL. ]]> Mon, 26 Jul 2010 19:47:55 -0500 316-205 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-epic.html We were looking forward to our cruise on the Norwegian Epic we had flown into Miami the night before and were ready to board. Boarding the ship was very quick with no problems. Food onboard the Epic is average at best. Now with this ship if you want good food you have to pay the extra and go to the specialty restaurants don't expect much from the main dining rooms. Definitely recommend LeBistro. Freestyle dining is great and the only way to go as far as I am concerned. The casino if you are into gambling is the largest at sea so lots of choices. Though don't know how the payout was. The ship is huge and it takes you a while just to explore everything on the ship. Entertainment is great and we enjoyed all the shows. I would definitely book Cirque Dreams, Blue Man wasn't that great but some loved it. The bathroom design I just don't like especially if you are travelling with someone other than a spouse. What was wrong with a regular bathroom. Workmanship on the ship is not that great with things breaking on a new ship. Staff was very friendly and did their job well. The Norwegian Epic was a good cruise but I would only sail on her for a good deal ]]> Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:59:18 -0500 316-204 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-epic.html We were looking forward to our cruise on the Norwegian Epic we had flown into Miami the night before and were ready to board. Boarding the ship was very quick with no problems. Food onboard the Epic is average at best. Now with this ship if you want good food you have to pay the extra and go to the specialty restaurants don't expect much from the main dining rooms. Definitely recommend LeBistro. Freestyle dining is great and the only way to go as far as I am concerned. The casino if you are into gambling is the largest at sea so lots of choices. Though don't know how the payout was. The ship is huge and it takes you a while just to explore everything on the ship. Entertainment is great and we enjoyed all the shows. I would definitely book Cirque Dreams, Blue Man wasn't that great but some loved it. The bathroom design I just don't like especially if you are travelling with someone other than a spouse. What was wrong with a regular bathroom. Workmanship on the ship is not that great with things breaking on a new ship. Staff was very friendly and did their job well. The Norwegian Epic was a good cruise but I would only sail on her for a good deal ]]> Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:56:29 -0500 207-203 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-sky.html We decided to sail to the Bahamas on the Norwegian Sky over the 4th of July. The ship itself looks great and as soon as we arrived at the port we were almost onboard. Really quick embarkation which we enjoyed. We had an outside cabin but we found the room smaller than what we had on other cruise lines. We found it tight getting around the cabin but we didn't spend much time there anyway. The same was true about the bathroom don't expect to be moving much in that shower but it does the job and it is clean. the Norwegian Sky is a bit of a smaller ship and we did notice the sewer smell onboard. It wasn't all the time but in certain areas you could smell it. The food onboard was excellent and we really enjoyed it. Though we did spend most of the cruise dinners at Le Bistro or Cagney's. They have a small charge but the food is worth it. The ship was a good quick vacation and we had a good time. It isn't as modern as some of the other ships and it has its quirks. I definitely wouldn't take this ship on a 7 day or longer cruise but for shorter cruises it does the trick. ]]> Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:29:12 -0500 120-202 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/celebrity/equinox.html What can I say we just loved our cruise on the Celebrity Equinox. They have mastered embarkation and we were very quickly onboard the ship. Went and got a bite to eat and then we headed to our stateroom which was cleaned by now. Overall a very painless embarkation. The cabins were comfortable and had lots of storage room. We loved having the balcony door open at night and hearing the ocean come in. Cabin stewards did an excellent job and were so nice. The solarium is the place we choose most of the time to relax. Though it often got quite hot in there and then we would move. I think we liked that kids aren't allowed there so you can just have peace and quiet. We had the celebrity select dining which was perfect because we could choose our dining time and were able to make it to the shows. The food onboard was excellent and we really enjoyed everything from the hamburgers around the pool, to the evening dining to the buffet. Just top notch. Celebrity did a great job on this cruise and we really felt like we got a relaxing vacation which we needed. ]]> Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:10:11 -0500 133-199 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/costa/costa-fortuna.html This was our first cruise and knowing we wanted a European cruise and the best deal we choose the Costa Fortuna. We didn't know what to expect though after we booked we read lots of reviews giving a negative impression. This got us worried but after our cruise we thought most of these are unfounded. The ship was really nice and the staff did a good job of keeping it clean. The food was good so I don't know why some complain. The staff worked so hard all the time that I felt sorry for them I even tipped extra to a few individuals. Entertainment was catered to the many nationalities but it wasn't the best. I was mildly entertaining. This is an Italian ship so expect that the majority will be Italians on board and their customs are different than ours. Anyone from North America were definitely the minority onboard. The ports and itinerary were good which is why we choose the cruise. I thought it was a really good cruise though I wouldn't rush to cruise on Costa again. ]]> Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:29:42 -0500 77-198 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/sapphire-princess.html I have heard so many people who enjoyed cruises that we finally decided we were going to take a cruise to Alaska. Through our travel agent we decided to take a cruise on the Sapphire Princess. I took her recommendation as we didn't know which cruises were good. I have to say now that we are so glad to have booked a cruise with Princess. We just had a wonderful time. Embarkation was very easy and we were on the ship within 20 minutes of arriving. We went with the cheapest cabin onboard which was an inside cabin. It was a place to sleep and store our luggage that is all. It was small but manageable and very clean. The ship was built a few years ago but they are always doing maintenance on it. They are always cleaning and polishing so everything looks great. We really liked the look and feel of this ship. The ports were all good and we went with Princess shore excursions in every port. The service was excellent and everyone was very attentive. Dress code on the ship was very casual even in the dining room. Many people just wore their jeans which I thought weren't allowed. What a wonderful cruise on the Sapphire princess and now I see why people like cruising. ]]> Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:42:31 -0500 74-197 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/island-princess.html This was going to be our first Alaska cruise for me and my family. My wife and I have cruised before but never with the kids. The cruise on the Island Princess left out of Vancouver. We enjoyed a few days there and enjoyed all the sights. Embarkation was quick and easy and we were on the ship very quickly. Wish lines at the airport would move this quick. As we have teenagers we decided to get them an inside cabin and we would take a cabin with a window. Both cabins were really nice and clean and met all our needs. Food is plentiful and you can always get something especially with their 24 hour dining in Horizon court. We all enjoyed the food and we able to find something we liked. The shore excursions were well planned out and very imformative. The service of our room steward and waiters were amazing they really did a good job. I enjoyed the Island Princess and definitely would cruise again with Princess. ]]> Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:22:16 -0500 69-196 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/dawn-princess.html Why did we choose the Dawn Princess over other cruiseships. One reason and that is the itinerary. The ports we visited were the ones we wanted to see and having not cruised before we didn't expect much difference between ships. What I love about cruising is the fact that we didn't have to spend our days checking out of a hotel going to the airport taking a flight and then checking into a new hotel. That is just a wasted day and not relaxing. On cruiseships sea days mean you can just relax under the warm sun. Though I did miss being able to stroll on a beach in the evening and watching a sunset. The entertainment in the evening was good and the food was average. There was plenty of food but nothing of high quality. The ports were wonderful and we enjoyed them can't say anything about the excursions as we did our own thing. All in all a good cruise and a great way to see the South Pacific. ]]> Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:10:36 -0500 65-195 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/ruby-princess.html This was going to be our first cruise and when we were planning our vacation we knew we had the choice of doing it ourselves or taking a cruise. We decided to take a chance on a cruise and were looking forward to our trip. We were under the assumption that it would be all 5 star quality like many hotels we have stayed at. I found the staff onboard to be rude and unhelpful and they were just interested in getting their job done as quickly as possible. Most of the staff onboard seemed liked they didn't enjoy being there. The entertainment was just horrible and their shows are not Broadway shows. We struggled to find entertainment to fill our evenings. I gave good points to our cabin and the ship itself. It really is kept clean and is a long the five star line that we were expecting. The ports were okay and we did enjoy some of the excursions. I think from now on we will stay away from cruises and go with actual five star hotels. ]]> Fri, 09 Jul 2010 22:20:04 -0500 316-189 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-epic.html We took the cruise from Rotterdam to Southampton on the Norwegian Epic. The ship itself is beautiful though I don't see why a new ship wouldn't be. The service was excellent as well as the food. What surprised me was how good the entertainment was onboard we really enjoyed it. What we didn't like is how long it took us to board the ship in Rotterdam. It was a mess and it took us hours before we were on the ship. This never should have been like this. We were told that there was a technical problem with the propeller on the ship so that might have been the reason for the long wait. Though getting off the ship was again a very long wait. They have a new concept for cabins onboard which is the wave cabin. This is supposed to make the cabin look bigger but we found we had less space than a regular cabin. I think they are just trying to cram more cabins onboard without you noticing. The rooms also didn't have a proper bathroom but instead a shower and toilet concealed by a sliding translucent glass door. The crew was wonderful really helpful and friendly. We received excellent service onboard and you could tell they were excited to work on the Epic. Though I heard that most of the better staff is usually moved to the newer ships. The food was excellent onboard and we enjoyed all the meals onboard. What we really enjoyed was the entertainment. Cirque Dreams was just amazing with a Cirque de Soleil style which is two hours of amazing entertainment. This was one of the best shows we saw at sea. We were glad that we took this cruise on the Norwegian Epic and I think if you have an option to take a cruise on her you should. ]]> Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:17:36 -0500 315-188 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/costa/costa-deliziosa.html We just got back a few days ago from our cruise on the Costa Deliziosa. We have cruised many times before this but never with Costa. We have tried Princess, Holland America, RCCL and Carnival. The Costa Deliziosa is a new ship which is a definite plus and everything was in good shape. So the ship itself gets high marks. The line up to get on the ship was painfully long. I am used to getting onboard within 20 minutes but this took over an hour. They only had 3 desks open which seemed small considering the number of guests are close to 3000. The cabin was new, clean with plenty of storage space. The room stewards were very helpful and did a good job keeping the room clean. Don't expect any TV as there is only one English channel and that is BBC World. The announcements are done in 5 different languages so you just had to wait for English. Most of the crew did speak enough English to communicate. We tried the ships shore excursions which were good but we found it expensive. Later in the cruise we went of the boat and worked out deals with local companies. Good way to save money. Food was the only real disappointment onboard. The buffets were okay and for the evening buffet they only served pizza and one pasta dish. The main dining room served average food and this is where we missed Princess. Internet is very expensive onboard so we didn't use it much. In general I would only sail again with Costa if they offered me a really good deal I would sail with them again. Otherwise I think I would choose a different cruise line. ]]> Fri, 25 Jun 2010 01:10:57 -0500 65-178 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/ruby-princess.html Having sailed with Princess before we had similar expectations for our cruise on the Ruby Princess. Some of these expectations were met and others were not. First I have to say that the service provided by everyone was exceptional. They did whatever they could to make sure you had a good cruise. The problem we had with this cruise was the food. The cuts of meat were not always the best and the lettuce could be fresher. Our waiter did try to get better food for us as we requested it but he could only do so much. If you want a good dining experience go to Sabatinis. You have to pay extra but overall the dining experience makes it worthwhile. It seems that Princess is cutting back on the food in the dining rooms that is unfortunate as that is one thing we liked about Princess over other cruise lines. The ship itself was beautiful and a very nice ship to cruise on. The staterooms were comfortable and clean. Overall an okay cruise but I wish the food was better then I would have given it a better score. ]]> Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:41:16 -0500 200-176 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-jade.html We have cruised a number of times now and this by far is the most expensive we have ever done .The ship itself is superb and very clean, the itinery and excursions were great although expensive and not enough time to see everythig we wished .However NCL just love to charge you for everything,drinks are the most expensive I have encountered on a cruise and then they add the tax and 15% tip.This grated as often the bar staff by the pool were a bit rude and served other people at the same time as doing your drinks ,so to be charged an extra 15% for someone to hand a drink over the bar takes the biscuit .The behind the scenes tour was $55 we gave that a miss ..we paid £7 on the Ocean Village !! Finally the service charge at $12 a head per person what a rip off,with 2 kids also being charged our bill was $330 which I had deducted from my bill .Beware they dont tell you that this is possible unless you ask. ]]> Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0500 219-179 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/royal-caribbean/independence-of-the-seas.html I was a little nervous before our cruise on the Independence of the Seas. We had sailed on other cruise lines like Princess but this would be our first for Royal Caribbean. Our cruise was doing the British Isles & Western Europe. When we arrived at the pier there really wasn't any wait and we were on the ship within 40 minutes which was nice. To save money we opted for an inside cabin this time. It made it great for sleeping or taking naps as it was always dark but you had no idea how the weather was outside. The room was nicely furnished and lots of room for our luggage so no complaints there. I found the service onboard to get drinks not the best. Some of the bars and casinos I found it difficult to get a drink when I wanted looks like they could use more service in that department. The ship itself is beautiful and is kept quite clean. The food in the dining room was excellent and our waiter was wonderful. Lots of choices of food and we even like the surcharged dining for Johnny Rockets and Portofino and would recommend both. All in all it was a good cruise on the independence of the seas and a much needed break for us. We hope to cruise again on this ship. ]]> Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:44:07 -0500 201-175 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/norwegian/norwegian-jewel.html This wasn't our first cruise with Norwegian and we had liked our cruises before. Though our cruise on the Norwegian Jewel wasn't the best. The cruise sailed roundtrip from New York which we preferred as we live close to New York and then didn't need a flight. With checkin the people were disorganized and it took us over 2 hours to get through the line up. This level of service didn't change once on the ship. The waiters seemed like they wanted you to buy something like wine or they weren't going to give you good service. The food was not great but the service was worse. At the activities it was hit or miss sometimes you had an energetic cruise director and had lots of fun or with others you had bored NCL staff who just sat there. The entertainment was also hit or miss. Sometimes it was good or average and sometimes just bad. I think NCL has really slipped over the years and we have to rethink cruising with them again. A few of our friends had been trying Princess and liked it maybe for our next cruise. ]]> Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:00:56 -0500 219-174 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/royal-caribbean/independence-of-the-seas.html I was taking this cruise on a recommendation of a friend who had sailed on the Independence recently. We decided on a 14 night cruise leaving out of Southamton. The cabins onboard were great and we were quite comfortable for our trip and we loved having a balcony where we could go out for some fresh air. Onboard the food was excellent though sometimes the buffet food was a little cool for my liking. I like my food piping hot. There are lots of activities onboard and we really liked the ice skating and flow rider. I wasn't the best at either but had a lot of fun. The staff everywhere were so courteous and friendly and we enjoyed talking to all of them. The shore excursions to Rome which is the only one we booked with the ship were excellent. The guide was so knowledgable and we saw everything we were hoping to see. I loved the Independence of the Seas and look forward to going on another cruise. ]]> Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:33:29 -0500 65-173 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/ruby-princess.html We recently were on a 12 day cruise on the Ruby Princess with my extended family. We felt the ship was wonderful and we liked the ambiance onboard. We were a little worried with 3080 passengers onboard that it would feel crowded but this wasn't the case. The itinerary was wonderful and we enjoyed all the ports and they did a good job of giving us all the information we needed the day before. We had only an outside cabin which means it has a window. There was lots of room for all our things and our stewart did a wonderful job of cleaning everyday. Wish I could take him home to clean my house. The dining room staff were always humourous and very courteous. With the quality of the food we didn't think we needed to try a speciality restaurant. There was always more than enough food onboard and we really enjoyed all the different kinds of foods onboard. Though we all did put on a few pounds. The entertainment on Princess is great and their shows rival shows I have seen in Theatres. Always lots of things to do and I would recommend trying movies under the stars. In conclusion me and my extended family all had a wonderful time on the Ruby Princess and if you have a chance to cruise her take it. ]]> Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:12:06 -0500 195-172 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/msc/msc-magnifica.html The Magnifica is a new ship so we were surprised to see some bad reviews from people. I don't think they sailed on the Magnifica because it is a beautiful ship and everything is still new. The cabin has a comfy bed and though the room is small we had no problem storing all our things. If you are using the sofa bed it definitely uses up a lot of room. Though we were rarely in our room. The food was okay but we have had better on other cruise lines. The dinners were more Italian in flavour but there was a lot of choice and we always found something that we liked. The staff was friendly, courteous and helpful. Activities are like any other cruise line with lots of things going on that you can take part in. One complaint I would have is the smoking onboard. Having more Europeans I found smoking everywhere even in nonsmoking areas. None of the staff enforced the no smoking so some rooms you entered you saw a smoke fog. In total for the price we paid we had a wonderful cruise and we wouldn't have a problem sailing on the MSC Magnifica. ]]> Thu, 20 May 2010 18:29:54 -0500 65-171 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/ruby-princess.html A little background about us we are in our 50's and have cruises a lot with Celebrity and Holland America. This was going to be our first cruise with Princess on the Ruby Princess. We both have a fairly laid back attitude so we weren't worried about trying Princess. The embarkation was smooth and we were in our suite in no time. The cabin was beautiful and we were glad we treated ourselves to a suite. The room was spacious and we could easily pack all our things away. The Ruby Princess is really a lovely ship and our favourite place was the Piazza. You could pick up a coffee here or a snack or just have a drink. We found we spent a lot of time there. The main theatre does fill early for shows so be sure to arrive early to get a good seat. The shows were all professionally done and we really enjoyed them. Movies under the Stars is a new experience that we enjoyed and we watched a few movies at night. The open dining was really convenient though we didn't get the same waiter each night which we enjoy with set dining. The food was excellent and there was enough choices for us sometimes too much. If you like Casino's the Princess's casinos are very tight so don't expect to win much. In conclusion we enjoyed ourselves on the Ruby Princess we liked the ship, the food, the staff and will cruise with Princess again. ]]> Tue, 18 May 2010 23:42:40 -0500 65-170 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/ruby-princess.html Well my wife and I are recovering from our cruise on the Ruby princess. We really did enjoy ourselves and were kept busy with a lot of activities. Our flight down on American went smoothly and we took the cruise line transfers to the ship. Boarding was quick and we were soon in our balcony cabin. We really made good use of the balcony and often spent a lot of times at sea reading out there. We went with personal choice dining onboard and it was a good choice for us as we like flexibility with our schedule. We never had to wait too long to be seated though we didn't go during the prime dining times. The food everywhere was plentiful and good quality. I liked the fast food near the pool and the snacks in the Piazza. The dinners were really good as well and we tried many different foods that we never have eaten. I tried the frogs legs though they do have your regular choices as well. The ports were fun and Princess took good care of us on the excursions. I really liked the Ruby Princess and I look forward to cruising on her again. ]]> Fri, 14 May 2010 18:07:42 -0500 329-169 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/component/content/article/287-celebrity-eclipse/329-Eclipse.html We were on one of the first cruises of the Celebrity Eclipse and I have to say we were hoping for more. I thought it would be perfect being a new ship. The food was not good in the main dining room. The food was often cold when it arrived and the service was slow at times. The presentation looked like something from a cafeteria. We ended up paying extra and going to the speciality restaurant onboard. The ship itself was lovely and everything is new and well designed. The rooms were spacious for our needs and quite comfortable. The entertainment as well was quite good and we definitely enjoyed some of the shows. That said I was not really impressed by the Eclipse and not sure I will sail with Celebrity again. ]]> Tue, 11 May 2010 19:19:11 -0500 157-168 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/disney/disney-wonder.html This was going to be our first cruise with Disney though we had sailed with other cruise lines. We just love Disneyland and Disneyworld so we were hoping for the same from this cruise. We were expecting when we got to the ship that there would be a lot of kids running around. We found this not to be the case though there were a lot of families onboard. Embarkation - smooth Food - it was okay but I wouldn't say great. The buffet breakfast was just average and I didn't eat much for it. The dinners were better and we had a great server. The entertainment is a lot of fun and we did watch many of the shows. Disney is always great at their entertainment. The cabin looks exactly the way is shows on the website so there were no surprises for us. In general we did enjoy the cruises but I think as far as cruising goes we can get a better deal on other cruiselines. ]]> Mon, 10 May 2010 20:56:49 -0500 73-167 http://www.cruisereviews4u.com/cruise-reviews/princess/grand-princess.html We cruised with my family on the Grand Princess with Princess Cruise Line. With our grandchildren we knew we wanted to take a cruise as they would be well taken care of. This is true as they were off doing their activites and we only saw them at dinner. This allowed everyone to just relax and enjoy. The Grand Princess is beautifully decorated and is in good shape considering it was built over 10 years ago. I wouldn't spent the extra money for a balcony cabin and obstructed or oceanview is just fine. The natural light is nice and there are so many places on the deck where you can sit. Overall a good cruise with Princess and now we are going to plan our next one. ]]> Mon, 10 May 2010 20:35:07 -0500