RCVoyager

If you treat others with respect and kindness, not for your own profit, but because it is the right thing to do and should make you feel better about yourself, you will oftentimes be rewarded by others, including the person you are currently being nice to, with good tidings beyond what you paid out by being kind in the first place. Not always, but it often does work that way.

I'll go out on a limb here: For the most part, I've found that when you treat anyone with kindness and respect, the other party will do the same. I've found that to be especially true in the travel/tourism industry. I'll give you an example: Two weeks ago, my wife and I spent a wonderful week in the Turks and Caicos Islands. We wanted to have dinner at an oceanfront restaurant called 'Hemmingways' on our last night (Friday). Being that my cellphone was expensive there and we had a car, I stopped in on Tuesday to make a reservation. The nice lady said "sorry, we're booked to half Friday, and since it's supposed to rain Friday, and half of our seating is on the beach, we can't add any more reservations now." She went on to say, "come by Friday morning, and we'll see if anything has changed." I stopped in Friday morning at 10:00 only to be turned away without a reservation again by the same nice lady as there was still rain in the evening forecast. She was as pleasant as can be, and I was to her as well. She did say that "if you and your wife can be here at 5:45 this evening, I will try to help you". We arrived at 5:45 and it was not raining. She said "I was hoping you would come back, and I was able to save the best table on the beach for the two of you". We had a really good, albeit pricey, meal with a front row view of the sunset over Grace Bay Beach. Point is, kindness, respect, and working with people goes a long way. Talking down to people and issuing threats seldom works. Based upon the reaction of the OP to other posts in this thread, I can see what happened.

It is kind of fun to watch people running and make it onto the ship. It does put a different light on the situation when they don't make it. However, there is a 99% chance this was not a simple misfortune, but rather a neglect of responsibility. If we can leap from misfortune to neglect, we can then leap to the possibility that it's not the first time they've pushed the envelope in any number of instances when in a public setting. In that you get a little piece of karma. I wish they'd have made it and this topic didn't come up, but as mentioned, there is a very good chance this isn't the first time.

I have cruised with the Barenaked Ladies twice. Both were chartered cruises through a company called Sixth Man. While these two cruises, when only considering the ship and itinerary weren't the best of the cruises I've been on, when combined with the entertainment, they remain the best cruises I've experienced. On both trips, the band set the tone at the outset. They were there with their families, and so if seen with family, they wanted privacy. Other than that, they wanted to meet the passengers and talk to them. They had many more events than were promised in the schedule, and they signed and talked to passengers constantly. It really was an up close experience. On top of that there was the now famous "Barenaked at Sea" photo and we met the band Gaelic Storm which is without a doubt, the most entertaining and fan friendly band there is right now. So, no it's not really a random famous person sighting, but it was an up close experience for sure.

Hi Breezy. I have no problem with Hawaii. If do prefer the Caribbean. My comment about the long tour was exactly that. I was a poor tour. Too much time on the bus. It had nothing to do with the beautiful state.

I agree with this. We had a great time, but we felt rushed almost every day. At that time, in order to get to Pearl Harbor, we had a book an all day tour through Carnival. Pearl Harbor was awesome, but the rest of the tour was not so great. If we did it again, we would book the tour again so we could see Pearl Harbor, but then grab a cab at the end of Pearl Harbor and skip the bus and the rest of the tour.

Hey Tiny. I'm always interested in what happened to the old ships I have been on, and I look at cruise history in the profile of other posters on the forum. The old NCL Seaward is alive and well and still serving her owners. She is now the SuperStar Libra sailing for Star Cruises. Pretty cool.

It sounds like a repositioning cruise. They are generally in April and October as the ships reposition seasonally. We did one a few years ago on Carnival. They are generally a good value, and we did note a few things not timed out perfectly by the cruise line... I think due to the fact they don't do these cruises every week. We would do one again in a second it the opportunity arose.

I never miss a chance to talk about Gaelic Storm because I think the plastic world of today's entertainment is missing out on the absolute best. If you get a chance to spend 15 minutes check out the songs 'Damn Near Died in Killaloe' and 'Raised on Black and Tans'. Fans also love 'Don't Go For the One' and 'The Night I Punched Russell Crowe in the Head' which is billed as a true story. Here's another great story abut them. One night in Indy they did an all ages show (many of their shows are 21 and up). My friend's son was about 11 and LOVES Gaelic Storm. Pat saw us in the crowd and saw the boy with his 'Designated Driver' shirt on. Pat called the boy up onto the stage and had him play the symbol in the song 'What's the Rumpus' which has a heavy symbol. By the end of the song, Pat had Michael running across the stage jumping in the air and coming down hard on the symbol. The kid will never forget it. Additonally after every show, they come out and do a meet great until every fan has gone. No other band would dare do such a thing. That's Gaelic Storm.

It really was a lot of fun, and something none of us will forget. I have a copy of the photo that was given to everyone who did it by the Barenaked Ladies. They were amazing hosts. Totally accessable and did more appearances than advertised. I also have an 8 X 10 portrait that was also a gift from the band. It is the 5 of them and the 4 of us in our travel party. Not only that, but that was the cruise were we discovered Gaelic Storm which has become the favorite band of virtually everyone in my family and many of our friends. Great music, an unmatched stage presence, so entertaining, and the most fan friendly band you will ever meet. A couple of years later my brother became ill with ALS. The last time he saw Gaelic Storm he had a cane. Patrick, one of the two front men, asked him about it. He was visibly shaken as he had gotten to know us. We lost my brother 5 years ago, and Pat still asks me about him and his family every time I see the band. Even dedicated a song to him last Spring in Indy.

One of the coolest things I've done on a ship involves the bathrobes. January of 2007 on the Carnival Legend was Ships and Dips 1 which was the Barenaked Ladies Cruise. One morning an announcement came as an invitation to go to our staterooms, remove all clothing, put on the robe, and report to the Lido Deck. With robes on, 700 of us were staged for a photo. the band was there too. After about 10 minutes to set the whole thing up, we were told on the count of 3, drop the robes. You can still find the "Barenaked as Sea" photo on the internet. We were naked for about 5 seconds, and now 700 people I will never see again were part of one of the coolest things ever. You can check it out.

If you love beer, you must check out 'The Beer Song' by Gaelic Storm.

Thanks Pete. This is helpful. I'm interested in anyone's else's informed input

Thanks Waaytoo. I hadn't thought about the Ritz. We'll be going 4 days early for our cruise, so it may be a little too spendy. However, I'm going to take a good look at it. I'm interested in opinions on both hotels... particularly my original question about room type.

Has anyone stayed here? Thinking of treating the wife on our trip next year. So, here's the question: Which is better (King Heritage or King Tower City View). Is one newer or more updated than the other? Are the views that much better in one rather than the other? These are the things that impress the lady of my house. Thanks.

I haven't been there for a few years, but we really liked Grenada, and as mentioned is easy and safe to walk around. They are very pro American which is good in my opinion.

Any thought as to why RCCL doesn't visit Grand Turk? Is there any known movement toward stopping there? My wife wants to go, and I want to take her. I would rather book RCCL than Carnvial, but my hand may be forced in this situation.

St. Croix has become one of my favorite places in the Caribbean. It's mostly because there is a fantastic beach right off the ship. If you bring a baggie, you can fill it with sea glass, some of it very old, on that beach and in the water there. Additionally, Fort Frederic, some shopping, and some dining are all right there. No need for any kind of transportation.

Gaelic Storm. Best band on the planet that many have not heard of. Lots of drinking songs. Give em a go. You won't regret it.

Let me first say that I'm glad we have some environmental rules that we didn't have in the early decades of the industrial revolution. We should not have the Cuyahoga River on fire. We should not have industrial sites abandoned with highly contaminated soil left behind. We should not have smog blocking the sun in our cities. We should be able to breathe the air, drink the water, and walk around without having to dodge huge piles of waste and trash. We should have sanitary sewers to separate sewage from runoff. There should be regulation on the use of fertilizers. If, as a society, we want to encourage walking or bike riding rather than driving a car, that would be great. However, things have gone way too far. We have politicians and activists flying from city to city on private jets to tell us to not drive our cars. We have gone from paper to plastic back to paper bags at the store. We have low emission electric cars that plug into a wall to charge a car when there is no reliable source of electricity that is renewable. We have mass transit forced down our throats for hundreds of millions of dollars that no one rides (Cincinnati is an example). The Holy Grail is the Climate Change movement...which is the biggest redistribution of wealth in history, and even if man did have an effect on the climate, it is minuscule. If anyone thinks they will rid the world of plastic straws and then leave us alone they are wrong. It's not just cruises either. It's everything we choose to do (right down to the number of children we have). There is too much money in it for these people. At some point we have to tell them to get bent. This is it. Save the straws. Just make sure you put them in a trash can when you are done with them.

There are paper based straws. Seems that would be the way to go.

Actually, I'm not planning to book the Spirit. I try to keep an eye on the roughly 140+- ships from the major cruise lines (RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity, NCL, HAL, MSC, Costa, & Princess) with an interest on the ships that I've been on. I went onto carnivalaustralia's website. The have multiple brands available on that site. Some are outside of the big 8 brands listed above, and some are ships from the group above. With a quick look, only the Spirit appears to be taken off it's company's website, but still sailing under the same name. Interesting to me... probably not anyone else.

Thanks for all the insight. I was unaware there was a Carnival Australia website. Seems that would not be great for business. It should be available on the main website.

I realize this is a RCCL blog. But most here have experience with Royal's competition. I am interested in what ultimately happens to ships on which I have sailed... including the Spirit. I can no longer find it on Carnival's website. I find vague news stories that she now operates from Australia. However, there is no mention of her on Carnival's website. Anyone here know what has happened to her and what her future holds? Thanks.

If you're leaving from San Juan and you plan to be in your room as your cruise begins, you will want to be on the starboard side. The views of El Morrow as you leave the harbor are awesome.