When it’s the Destination, Not the Journey

I’ve always thought that cruising is right for everyone. But I was wrong.

After speaking to a friend who just returned from his first cruise, I rethought my assumptions.

While cruising has a lot to offer all ages, it’s not necessarily the best way to travel if you’re all about the destinations. Here’s why:

Itineraries change. Weather, a damaged pier, a government travel ban or a passenger with a life-threatening condition are just some of the reasons you may not make it to the port you lusted after. On one of our early cruises, we almost didn't get to Grand Cayman because the sea was rough and getting into the tender proved tough.

 

As the tenders bobbed briskly, the captain almost called off our visit to Grand Cayman
(pictured on a calmer day!)

Tenders take forever. If the port you long for requires tenders, know that the process of getting on and off, and back and forth to the ship eats up significant time.

 

Tenders can take forever; build in lots of time

Crappy weather can rain on your parade. I planned one cruise just for a stop in Martinique. When we got there, it poured. All day.

It could be Sunday or a holiday. If the pouring rain in Martinique wasn’t enough, it was also Sunday. The sole thing open was the supermarket. Another trip, we went to St. Maarten, only to discover it was a national holiday. But no parades or costumes. Just a half-empty city.

The stay may be short. In San Juan on one trip, we had to rush back to make a 1:30 p.m. deadline. While port stays of 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. may work for early birds, it doesn’t for night owls.

Excursion diversion. An excursion to ruins may sound great online, but you could spend most of the day getting there and back. Our first time in San Juan, we planned a visit to the Bacardi factory. The bus ride was long, the wait for the tour was long, and the tour was short. And so was the time we had left to actually see the city.

 

We missed seeing the fabulous El Morro our first visit to San Juan because the Bacardi excursion ate up the whole day

One of the neat things about cruising is that you can visit interesting ports, and hit multiple ports in one trip. But to view the cruise ship as merely transportation can set the traveler up for disappointment. Cruising is as much about the ship as the ports.

If that weren’t true, cruisers wouldn’t salivate as they do at the thought of a new ship debut.

So, go for the journey as much as the destination. You’ll have double the fun and none of the disappointment.  

The Truth About the Food

Let’s face it. A big part of cruising is the food. The joy of eating what you want, when you want. No muss! No fuss! No cooking! No clean up!

But to get this privilege, we have to bend on quality. And settle for quantity instead. Some food for thought when next you dine on the mass market sea:

If you’re feeding an army, how good can it be? If you ever go on a galley tour, you’ll hear how many eggs cruisers consume, how many pounds of potatoes and all the rest. You can’t help but be impressed with the vast quantities of stuff we ingest. In short, when they’re cranking out so many meals, they’re not likely to lovingly and artfully prepare and plate your food.

Ready to load onto your main dining room salad

Forget medium well. Our waiter on Celebrity once told us we have two choices for our Beef Wellington: rare or well done. You can generally get accommodation for special health needs, but want food made to order? Go to a specialty restaurant.

They take shortcuts. Wouldn’t you, with thousands of hungry mouths to feed? On one galley tour, I witnessed a crew member emptying a bag of frozen fries into hot oil.

The galley tour on the Caribbean Princess had some surprises

Some of the best food is at the buffets. Since the main dining room has to cater to average tastes, the food can’t be too seasoned or spicy. What you end up with is bland. But since the buffet offers so many choices, they can include some really different stuff. I’ve had a few dishes that were so terrific on Royal Caribbean, I tried to recreate them (unsuccessfully) at home.

An eye-popping chocolate-lover's dream--in Harmony of the Seas' Windjammer buffet

Want fine dining? You’ll have to pay for it. We resisted the specialty restaurants for years. After all, we reasoned, we’re already paying to be fed in the cost of the cruise. But in the end, our hunger for better food forced us to open our wallets. And what we found is that not only is the food much better, but so is the service.

Melt-in-your-mouth squash soup at Harmony of the Seas' 150 Central Park

The little spot that could—and does. Think Oasis class’ Park Café. Celebrity’s Aqua Spa Café. Princess’ International Café. These alternatives deliver great bang for no extra bucks.

Goodies awaiting your appetite at Regal Princess' International Cafe

In the end, no matter whether we find ourselves served by waiters or serving ourselves, dining dressed up or dressed down, we’re going to be well fed. Few are the folks who can claim they lost weight on a cruise!

Photos by R James Photography

Dark Skies, Bright Lights

Do you like the sea at night? After all, when there’s no view of land, the sky and the sea seem to merge into one vast sheet of darkness. And yet…

It can be the most peaceful time. Or it can be a lively time.

When the party’s inside. With all the hustle and bustle inside, a walk on the deck in the dark can be mellow and romantic. (Remember those moonlit scenes on the “Love Boat”?) With everyone inside, you can feel like the ship belongs to you.

When the party’s outside. That’s a whole different vibe. Princess often does a ‘70s theme party for rockin’ under the stars.

Lighting up the night. Unobscured by buildings, trees or wires, the dark sky shows off its stars. Then there are the ship’s lights—around the pool and strung overhead. The Boardwalk and Central Park neighborhoods on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships are ablaze of colored lights when the sun goes down.

Central Park decked out in lights on Harmony of the Seas

Enjoying an empty hot tub, lights and the dark on Oasis of the Seas.

At the drive-in. Princess’ Movies Under the Stars is a way to enjoy the outside at night while cozy under a blanket with a front-row view of the big screen. You’ll even get popcorn or milk and cookies—without ever leaving your seat.

Snuggling up under the big screen on the Caribbean Princess.

Night on the verandah. Lights off, feet up and wine in hand. A room with a view as the ship cuts the water in two. What a soft and soothing way to ready for another full day!

Photos by Roger James Photography

One Class, Two Ships. Are They the Same?

Say you’ve been on a cruise and liked it. Now you’re thinking about another one—on a different ship but the same class. You wonder, will the two ships be the same?

Sister ships, as they call them, are indeed, like siblings. They may look kind of like each other. But they can be very different. Or very similar.

Take the Caribbean Princess and Emerald Princess. Pretty similar ships. Then take Oasis of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas. Very different ships.

Here are some of the ways sea-going siblings can differ:

Spacing out. Ships can use their space differently. The first in class Royal Princess debuted without an aft pool and after a fair amount of cruiser griping, her younger sister, Regal Princess, was built with one.

Another example is Celebrity’s Solstice; where the ship had space devoted to glass-making demos, the later ones gave it up to cooking lessons. Harmony has its bionic bartenders where folks sip champagne on sister Allure of the Seas.

Adding activity. Sometimes, a later ship gets more fun stuff. The Harmony added the Ultimate Abyss, as well as two water slides. You won’t find these on its older sibs.

Taunts on Harmony for the Ultimate Abyss

How to chow. Specialty restaurants can vary from ship to ship, even within the same class. For example, Oasis and Allure have the terrific Giovanni’s, but the Harmony went for Jamie’s Italian and added a new one, Wonderland.

Types of chow. The main dining room lunch buffet with the Tutti salad bar is on all the Oasis ships. But the Harmony took the sweets up a notch, with a grand dessert buffet, complete with chocolate fountain.

 

Chocolate, cake and much more to sweeten your lunch in the Harmony's MDR

From one stage to another. Each ship has its own shows, featured artists and sidebar entertainers.

Room for change. Harmony’s room configuration is not the same as that on Oasis and Allure—the two closets are far away from each other (which, by the way, is a good thing).

Art work. What graces the walls, sits in public spaces and hangs from the ceilings are all unique and can give the ship a feel of its own. I’m thinking about the big head in the Harmony’s Promenade, which, well, hits you in the face.

Techie talk. The Harmony is much more plugged in and booted up than its sisters—from its free-standing tablets to its modernized elevator buttons.

We’ve talked about the differences, but what’s the same? Nearly everything else.

So, really, you get the best of both worlds when you jump ship within a class. The ship is familiar. You (more or less) know your way around. Yet, it’s different enough to make it feel like a new experience. How neat is that for your vacation?

Musing’s Top Tip: We’ve been building up our Facebook site. If you like what you read here, there’s more at www.facebook.com/musingcruising. Hope to see you there!

Endearing and Enduring Cruise Traditions

Formal nights, baked Alaska and towel animals—are they a thing of the past?

Those of us who have been cruising for a while have seen our share of changes. Out with the midnight buffets, tuxedoed waiters and pillow chocolates. In with the bumper cars, zip-lining and skydiving.

But over the years, some endearing cruise traditions have endured. They may not be what lures us onboard but are fun just the same:

Welcome onboard, this is your captain speaking. We may have stopped going a while ago, but for many folks, the captain’s welcome is the “official” start to the cruise. And probably the only time you’ll see the face of the captain. (But you’ll sure hear his voice over the PA often enough.)

The captain's welcome on the Caribbean Princess features a champagne
fountain--and a glass for you too.

Getting formal. Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, formal nights are still part of the cruising experience. You can ignore the whole thing and eat in the buffet, but you can’t beat the treat of seeing everyone else dress up. From toddlers in bow ties, men in kilts and women in stilettos—people-watching is never better.

Photo posing. Even though today so many people have a camera in their back pocket, there are still plenty of cruisers who like to pose for the professionals. With backdrops real and pretend, in their gowns or in port, they’re happy to make the ship photographers feel useful.

What the crew does with those towels. We never tire of the monkey swinging from a hanger, the swan about to glide across our bed or the puppy poised for petting. How do they find the time to do it?

The bed with open arms. While I still pine for the postcards and pillow candy once routine on Celebrity, there’s still nothing like an inviting bed, fresh towels and a clean bathroom to end your day.

Baked Alaska. Having been to Alaska in late May, this seems like a contradiction in terms. No matter, baked Alaska the dessert does still make an appearance. Princess serves it. And Carnival made the news recently when the cruise line pulled it out of storage. The meringue/cake/ice cream dessert may not make you scream for seconds, but it’s so very cruising.

The napkin wave/waiter parade. Just as the captain welcomes you on board, your waiters see you off. One of the last nights of the cruise, the staff makes noise of some sort, prompting guests to wave their napkins in thanks for their satisfied palates.

 

On this Holland America cruise, the waiters drummed on salad bowls.

Custom cards as blue as your mood. This is one cruise tradition that has recently disappeared. You will no longer see these on your bed as your trip comes to a close. Which is a good thing, because who needs yet another reminder of the lurking trip back to reality?

Photos by Roger James Photography

Princess Plus: a Review of the Regal Princess

The Regal Princess—the newest in the Princess fleet—takes what we love about its ships and betters it:

More pizzazz in the piazza. The Regal’s stunning atrium is way bigger, giving a spacious and open feel to the hub of the ship. It’s all done up in marble and glass, with lounges that jut towards the center and tables positioned to eye all the action.

And action there is. In turns, there was a steel drum, varying bands and juggler, as well as the Captain’s Welcome champagne waterfall, a balloon drop—and on our trip, even a groom whisking his bride across the dance floor.

The International Café is as good as always, with its 24-hour array of terrific quiches, sandwiches, salads and desserts.

A robust buffet with better navigation. Princess has always had the best buffet at sea, with quality unmatched by the other mass market lines. This new Horizon Court stretches out on both sides of the ship, with a Pastry Shop in between—think “H” shaped.

Part of the buffet, “Horizon Court Bistro,” has lighter fare (Note: you can tell the difference because the furniture is white while in the regular buffet, it’s brown. This is important because my first time there, I got seriously lost.)

There’s never congestion or seating issues, and the options are seemingly endless—from American fare to Asian, some even with a bit of spice.

To this foodie’s delight, there were was papaya and smoked fish such as mackerel, Mahi-Mahi and trout at breakfast (there was even an “everything chocolate” section the last morning). There were good choices at lunch, but dinner is where the really special stuff made an appearance: poached salmon; shrimp; cheeses such as Stilton, Port Salut, Havarti and camembert; and dried figs, dates and apricots.

Desserts at lunch and dinner—such as opera cake, peach cobbler, various mousse-y-cakes, pineapple

upside down—were nearly always of good quality. And you could always rely on fabulous rolls at every meal, which varied from sunflower seed-studded to focaccia.

Love that Norman. The Norman Love desserts are knockouts—as yummy to eat as to look at. The main dining room had several—a kind of tiered chocolate, merengue thing, and a chocolate and pistachio dome. The Crown Grill featured a milk chocolate peanut butter bar.

A dome of Love in the main dining room.

MUTS is now a must. The Movie Under the Stars big screen is not just bigger than previous ships, but the picture is much sharper. We were really taken aback by the difference. It’s now actually worth watching a movie you’ve been wanting to see on that screen. And you get a blanket and popcorn to boot.

What could be improved

Like all the cruise lines and all their ships, not everything is perfect:

MDR a mixed bag. The main dining room food was fair, with a few decent dishes amid a sea of mediocrity and sometimes, dishes that just weren’t quite right. A mixed seafood skewer early on and lobster tail on formal night were well prepared and flavorful. But the red snapper and beef Wellington were neither.

Design flaws. The Regal has some of the same weirdness in layout of other Princess ships, with challenges getting to a few of the dining rooms. 

And the jogging track on Deck 18 was clearly an afterthought. While it has wide separate lanes for joggers and runners, it’s a small track (seven laps=a mile) and when we tried to use it one day, we were shooed away, as the crew was doing maintenance there—at 6 p.m.

A small room with a view. The standard balcony staterooms are smaller on the Regal than the Caribbean Princess. If you can afford it, it’s a good ship to spring for a mini-suite, a Princess specialty. If you pick the right ship, itinerary and time of year, you’ll not pay much more for a mini-suite, yet the difference is enormous. Think full-sized couch vs. two chairs. More storage space than we could even fill.

The mini-suite feels like a hotel room. Pick your trip right
and you won't pay much more than for just a balcony.

The bottom line

Princess still deserves the crown for the best all-around cruise experience and the Regal delivers it best. Even the “Love Boat” “crew” thinks so.

Find this shrine to the TV show on the Regal Princess, Deck 5, outside Guest Services; the six
original cast members are the ship's godparents. 

Musing’s Top Tip: Princess now has an app you can use with the ship’s wi-fi at no cost to access your account balance, daily activities and more. No downloading is needed; simply put your phone on “Airplane mode” while you’re on board and bring up the cruise line’s website.

You can also text your cruise companions while you're on the ship, but this part of the app has to be downloaded with real wi-fi from Android or Apple online stores. You can do this for free if you download the app before the trip. See Princess' website for details.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…On Your Favorite Ship

Cruise ships are eye candy every day. But add boughs to the bow and Santas to the stern, and you get a whole new and joyous level of wonderful.

Here are just a few of the ways the ships get decked out for the holidays:

Oh, Christmas tree, how lovely are thy ornaments. Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and its sister ship, Allure, certainly wow with towering trees and snowflakes dangling along the Promenade.

 

Leave it to the Oasis of the Seas to do up Christmas in a big way

Suddenly seeing red. When we boarded the Caribbean Princess one early December, lighted garlands lined the piazza. Then, one day, live poinsettias popped up out of nowhere. And were everywhere.

Hung where you can see. We started our Regal Princess cruise this November 27, but December 1 turned on all the lights. While we lunched in Horizon Court, wreaths were literally getting hung over our heads.

The guests join in. From dolled-up doors to Santa hats, some cruisers have their own special ways of getting into the mood.

The most marvelous decor of all. Nothing beats the magic when it takes a village to make  gingerbread. The display on the Oasis is great, but it's Celebrity’s Constellation that takes the cake.

A fantasy wonderland in gingerbread aboard the Constellation

Making the Most of Your First Cruise

If you’ve booked your first cruise, you’re probably not quite sure what to expect. But you’ve got a lot invested in this trip and expect a great time. Here are a handful of tips to help ensure you make the most of it:
 
Read, read and read some more. About everything—the ship, the cruising experience, the ports. The more you know, the more you’ll get out of the trip. Be sure to read the forums in cruisecritic.com and other sites (see the posting “Cruising the Web”).
 
Inside or out. Consider an inside or outside room your first trip. Avoiding a balcony room your first cruise is the best way to ensure you get the whole ship experience. We love having a balcony, but it’s so tempting to stay on it at sail-away, on a sunny sea day, coming into port—nearly all the time! Our first trip, we had an outside room and never regretted it. Check out “The Cure for Deck Plan Distress” to help you navigate deck plans and find the right room for your needs.
 
Plan, but don’t plan. You may want to do some planning; for example, if you’re taking the Oasis or Allure of the Seas, you’ll need to schedule your shows before your trip. But you don’t want to plan every minute of your cruise; you may miss out on great spur-of-the-moment experiences.
 

Ice show on the Oasis: worth making plans for

Don’t feel compelled to excursion. For our first visit to San Juan, we booked an excursion. Mistake! The bus trip and Bacardi tour took forever and by the time we got back to town, everything was closing. When the ship sailed away, we knew we were in San Juan, but hadn’t a clue what it looked like.
 
Open for fun. If you got pushed into going, go with an open mind. One of the great things about cruising is that you can have any type of trip you want. Relax or be active. Be social or recluse. Eat to your heart’s content or sweat it out at the gym and spa.
 
Oh-oh. If something goes wrong, know it can happen on any vacation. Try not to judge the whole experience by your one trip.
 
Join in the fun. Some of it may feel silly and may not be to your taste. But getting into the games,

Joining in on the fun at Mardi Gras, Caribbean Princess-style

dancing the disco, singing the karaoke and showing up at the shows will guarantee you a good time. And no worries—you’ll never see your fellow passengers again!
 
Tap the wealth of info around you. Share a table. Seize the moment in a bar. Go to a Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. You can learn a lot by talking to others on the ship, who may be experienced cruisers.  They can tell you where to go in port, what not to miss and what on the ship is worth seeing or doing.
 
Digital pictures are free. Whether your memory-capturing tool of choice is a smart phone or camera, don’t be stingy with taking photos. You’ll really appreciate it when you get home. I filled a digital frame with tropical pictures and it does wonders on those days of stress and strain.
 
Don’t leave the ship without it. Book your next cruise while you’re still onboard. You may get some great deals, like a super low deposit and shipboard credit. It’s a no-lose because you can get a refund at any time. I share this because I know once you get a taste of cruising, you’ll be lusting after more!

Photos by RJ Greenburg

Catch ‘Em While You Can

Once you’ve been on a cruise or two or three, you start looking for the little treats you’ve come to expect onboard that you don’t often find on shore. Some are well advertised but for others, you need a keen eye to find. Here are a few that fall in both camps:
 
The daily drink. The ships usually have one tropical drink a day at a reduced price. You can find it in the ship’s newsletter, or sometimes on display at bars or tables at the buffet. Some recent ones from Allure of the Seas, all $6.75 and you can keep the glass: Bahama Mama; Paradise Punch; Red, White & Blue; Pirate’s Hurricane; and Caribbean Tea.
 
Dress better, eat better. If you have any meal in the main dining room, let it be on formal night. Because that’s when you’ll find filet mignon, lobster and the MDR’s best meals. On a seven-day trip, they’re typically the second and fifth night. Check the newsletter to make sure.
 

Dazzle by the inch. The chains-by-the-inch vendor seems to be a staple on many ships. I bought a bracelet on Celebrity’s Constellation and had its clasp changed on the Caribbean Princess. The gold- and silver-plated chains come in many styles, are pretty and durable, the prices are reasonable (starts at $1 an inch) and of course, the best part is you can have them sized exactly the way you want.
 
Unfortunately, where and when the vendor shows up is not often advertised. He or she will pop up once or twice a cruise for about an hour in a common area, such as a hallway or outside the buffet. You can try asking Guest Relations, but if that fails, you’ll just need to luck out and stumble on it.
 

The $10 crush. What does $10 buy you these days? A lot, when you catch these floating sales. They tend to be advertised in the ship newsletter, but only last an hour or two, so you’ll need to plan around them. Few warnings: they’re popular and can get crowded. If the ship hosts it in a small area, be prepared to compete with your fellow passengers. (Any Bostonians? Think Filenes’ “Running of the Brides.”)

Also, as you would imagine, you get what you pay for. The jewelry, scarves, purses and such are not the highest quality. But can fill a quick need or serve as a souvenir.
 

Sidewalk sales. The ship stores have regular sales outside the shops, with the best ones occurring toward the end of the trip. Again, the newsletter will let you know when and where they are. Some examples from the Allure: up to 75 percent off sale of Citizen, Bulova, Gucci, Movado and Fossil watches; 40 percent off Sophia Fiori and Effy  jewelry; Tag Heuer watch sale; and Royal Caribbean logo items.
 
Hook it and book it now. One of the best deals are the ones for future cruises. Many of the ships let you book the next one while you’re still onboard and entice you to do so with lower deposits and shipboard credits. They also give you the option of applying the low deposit and cruise credits toward some trip you plan in the future. 

The one or two sales folks on the ship have scheduled hours and as you might guess, as the cruise winds down, they get that much busier, so plan accordingly. It’ll be worth your while—what better way to end a cruise than knowing you’ve got another already lined up?

When Cruising is Unforgettable

A big reason I think most of us travel is for that element of surprise. Let’s face it; our lives can become pretty routine. Leaving home brings out the explorer in us and brings the promise of the unforgettable.
 
As we’ve cruised over the years, we’ve had a number of moments that will stay with us always.
 
Many have been in the ports we’ve visited, and some have been onboard. Here are just a few:
 


Curaçao in color

Sunset over Curaçao. With no trees or power lines in the way, you can get some amazing sunsets over the sea. Rushing back to the ship in Curaçao after putzing around in town, we were treated to an amazing blaze of color that changed by the minute. Cameras came out and we captured memories that bring us back to that day again and again.
 
The schooner, the sunset and the Pitons. During a slow turn around St. Lucia’s Pitons on Holland America’s Noordam, a schooner in full sail passed between us and the iconic peaks, just as the sky was putting on its own show. The confluence of the elements made for some spectacular shots.


Some twists and turns, and then a peek into paradise, on the lovely isle of St. John

St. John the Divine. Tired of shopping in St. Thomas, we ventured out on an excursion to its sibling  isle of St. John. The bus took us up and down the steep slopes, and round and round tight turns. But nothing could have prepared us for the overlooks—pure paradise. It’s no wonder the island’s remote and untouched beaches show up again and again in cruising brochures and websites (and Musing’s blog wallpaper).
 
Alone on the bay. We couldn’t tear ourselves away from Mahogany Bay—even when nearly everyone else was back on the ship. The prize was the chance to float in the calm clear water—completely alone with a relaxation seldom known.
 
Sugar cane and an ocean view. The quality of excursions varies wildly, but the best we took was a bus tour around Barbados. The driver was knowledgeable and chatty, happily doling out Barbados 101 as we passed banana trees, poinsettias in the wild and windmills. A lookout stop over the wild Atlantic side brought incredible ocean views for great photo-taking and a vendor who shared his sugar cane with me for my first taste of raw sweetness.
 
Juiced up and iced up in Glacier Bay. The cold gray mist that chilled our bones was quickly forgotten as the Golden Princess slid gingerly through the narrow mountain-framed channel and icy silent waters of Glacier Bay, eventually revealing a massive baby-blue glacier, its frozen spires piercing the cloudy skies. While not a postcard-perfect Alaska day, most definitely one we’ll not forget.
 
Midnight at the buffet. Our first cruise on Celebrity’s Constellation started it all for us, now 10 years in the past. The eye-popping midnight buffets may be long gone, but cruising’s still making us marvelous memories…



The Constellation's Grand Buffet is a thing of the past, but the memory lives on

…like a stunning sunset at a Ft. Lauderdale sailaway….water show high dives on Allure of the Seas…the Constellation room steward rushing to open our cabin door for us…Michael Love truffle pops at the Welcome toast on the Caribbean Princess…Christmas music with a reggae beat on the ferry into Philipsburg…

What are some of yours?