Norwegian Star-Nov.7-14--NCL PhD @Sea

Norwegian Cruise Line really did an outstanding job with their new Sea program for NCL Free Style graduates. First I had reservation sailing on this line since I have heard negative input about their services and food coming from the Hawaiian Island cruises. I was totally surprised with the quality of food served in the Main Dining Room,the serving was the right size and very tasty. For $15-$25 per person, I opt to try Le Bistro(French),SoHo(Seafood),Ginza(Asian Fushion) and Cagney's(Steaks) Restaurant. Excellent and attentive services by charming Filipina Wait Staff.All the food was cook to order at a leisure pace-never rushing, only once I was in a rush to catch the first evening show that I requested my dinner be bought to me by a specific time which they accomandated.

Two six hours class room training classes: one from CLIA-Local Public Relations Techniques and the second one from NCL Product-Clark Reber( insight of Epic).

High light for me was the Behind the Scenes Ship Tour-personally meeting the Executive Chef and his stories of the galley and meeting the entertainers. The Q & A with the Panel of Ships Officers was very interesting.

We(42) Travel Agents from U.S and Canada experiencing Free Style Group Dining. Had a group photo taken and each of us received a framed certificate.

NCL was very generious giving us all Balcony Stateroom with Cold Appetizers,Cheese Plate,Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Mini Assorted White & Dark Chocolates daily. We also received $25 credit for Specialty restaurant, and 20 per cent saving on Shore Excursions. I choose to visit the beautiful and green Las Caletas Hideaway at the tip of Puerto Vallarata bay-a smooth boat ride(45 minutes) to John Houston's haven-enjoying the nice beach and a warm ocean swim. Inclusion: Snorkeling,Kayaking.Cooking Lesson,Yoga,Nature Walk and Lunch.Massage-$35-$70, I highly recommend this Tour for your clients! Childen would love the water,parrots and monkey. $95.99 per person.

The 7 day round trip from San Pedro,Ca. was only $296.16. It was really a wonderful experience for me-seeing everything first handed and I feel positive about the NCL brand. I hope that I will have the opportunity to cruise on the Epic.

San Diego (downtown) pre-cruise stay

I always believe in arriving at a cruise port at least a day or two early. We had visited San Diego several years ago and had hit many of the prime tourist stops like the zoo, Sea World, Old Town, etc. The San Diego cruiseport is adjacent to downtown so I planned a 2-night stay focusing on the downtown area. This is a short ($10-12) cab ride from the airport. A nicely located hotel is within walking distance of the waterfront, Little Italy, the Gaslamp Quarter and other attractions so a rental car isn’t needed.

Highlights:

--a nice hotel: Sofia Hotel is an upscale boutique hotel that has been nicely refurbished. Rooms are very small but adequate. Service is super friendly. There are 3 computers in the lobby that can be used for checking email. I got a great rate ($80/night) from Travelzoo. I should have tried the happy hour in their restaurant.  (http://www.thesofiahotel.com/)

--being close to the Gaslamp district: this is a vibrant area spanning several blocks downtown with lots of bars and restaurants. Many restaurants feature popular happy hours. At 6PM on Monday we got the last table at La Puerta, a Mexican place (1/2 price appetizers and drinks all night on Monday). We had a few margaritas, a great pork quesadilla, and a tasty dish called “carne asada fries” (like nachos with french fries instead of tortilla chips).

--touring the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier: the Midway is docked downtown and serves as a museum. The tour is self-guided. The cost of admission includes an excellent audio device which you can use to obtain more information about each of several dozen exhibits. Docents provide frequent talks about the operation of the launching catapult and the landing procedure. You can also get a guided tour of the bridge. In all we spent about five hours touring this huge ship. http://www.midway.org/

--touring the Maritime Museum: this is a collection of several ships docked near the cruiseport. Your tour begins with the Star of India, the oldest ship still sailing. She was built in the Isle of Man in 1863 and spent her early days transporting emigrants to New Zealand. It is interesting to compare the accommodations to modern cruise ships! Another highlight was going through a Russian submarine; there are five narrow portholes that you need to scramble through. Fortunately they have a sample outside the ship labeled something like “if you can’t crawl through this, don’t enter the submarine”. Those guys really roughed it! http://www.sdmaritime.org/

--a quick tour of the US Grant Hotel: we had a few hours to kill on embarkation day so we started a walk about town and popped into this historic upmarket hotel. The lobby is stunning. I asked the concierge a question and he suggested that we go down a level to look at the historic photos. After doing this I stopped by the main desk and a receptionist offered to get someone to show us a room. This place is definitely worth a walk-through.

Hackney's Exotic Vacation 11-24-2008

I attended the PATA seminar on Wed Nov 18, 2009 at Chef Chu in Los Altos. It was about 48 people in the small dining area on the second floor. The food was pretty yummy. It started with Chinese chicken salad, bun with duck meat, honey prawns, fried rice wrapped in lotus leaves, chicken curry, spicy garlic beef and steam veggie. The desert is almond pudding with canned fruits.

We watched the video Eye On The Bay which Brian took it when he went on vacation to Indonesia in March 2008. First he went to Borneo to see orang utan/gorilla then flew to Java to see the biggest Buddhist temple in the world Borobudur in central Java. On the way to the airport in Jakarta he forgot his camera so he had to go back to his apartment. By the time he got to the airport he missed his flight to Denpasar, Bali. After stand by for several hours with no luck a stranger approached him and asked him $400 for a ticket to Bali. All the flights were full due to the biggest holiday in Bali. Finally he was able to board the plane.

His video Hackney's Exotic Vacation you can find it at www.cbs5.com/eyeonthebay.

It is very interesting to watch especially for anybody who never been to Indonesia.

Carnival Spirit--8 nights to Mexico from San Diego

Sharon and I recently enjoyed an 8-night cruise on the Carnival Spirit. This itinerary features four days at sea with port stops at Acapulco, Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo. While we prefer more upscale cruising, we still had a good time on this voyage.

What we liked best:

--Food in the dining room exceeded my expectations for quality and variety. We had good waiters and several times I relied on their recommendations with good results.

--Evening entertainment: there was a nice assortment of the typical cruise ship song and dance evenings interspersed with comedy and a big band night. The show room was large enough that it was not necessary to arrive early to obtain a seat.

--The water slide appealed to adults and kids alike and provided good exercise climbing up the stairs to try it again and again.

--The ship is in good condition. It has a straightforward layout that is easy to navigate

--San Diego is a great cruise port and I recommend a few days of pre-cruise stay to enjoy it; ship embarkation and debarkation were both smooth and quick.

Areas of disappointment:

--Activities during days at sea are definitely oriented to the ‘sun and fun’ demographic. There were very few activities that are more intellectual than “hairy chest contest”, beanbag toss, bingo and trivia contests (may also be true for Mexican Riviera itineraries of other cruise lines also).

--The breakfast and lunch buffets are a bit of a zoo. The layout is somewhat confusing. However the ‘deli’ station produces very good panini-style sandwiches (especially the reuben) but lines can be long.

The Ports:

--Acapulco: beautiful harbor and convenient docking facility. We began a walk around town starting with the fort (excellent exhibits) but got sidetracked by a tout on our way to old town. For a future visit, I recommend a shore excursion or staying on the ship. Others on the ship enjoyed the cliff divers (we both had seen this on a previous trip).

--Zihuatanejo: a tender port with a pleasant seaside town. Took a cab to Playa la Ropa but wished that we had taken the tender to Playa las Gatas (see cruisecritic.com message boards)..

--Manzanillo: the ship docks in a container port.  We took a Carnival shore excursion to Barra de Navidad by bus and it was pleasant. Others took a cab to Las Hadas resort for the day (see cruisecritic.com for a description). There is nothing to do in town.

Tips:

--use the main dining room for breakfasts (any day) and lunches (sea days only) to avoid the crowds in the buffet area. Service was prompt and the experience was far more civilized.

--try the upscale specialty dining restaurant (Nouveau Supper Club) at least once. It might seem a bit pricey at $30/person but the food and service are excellent. Given how little you pay for this cruise, the supper club is a good value for a very nice dining experience.

--the ‘ultimate ship tour’ was thoroughly enjoyed by a couple that dined with us. They saw all sorts of interesting places on the ship and had a chance to speak with several officers. These tours are only given a few times and are limited to 15 guests per tour. The cost is something like $90. Consider it a shore excursion onboard ship.

--the water slide is best on sea day #2 and during port days (limited hours in port). It gets very windy on the last two sea days.

--if you are using ‘anytime’ dining, ask for a table in Ricardo’s section; he is very good. You can switch from fixed dining to anytime dining with a bit of angst by being polite but assertive.

--the self-service ice cream bar sometimes had sundae items added during afternoons

--The Filipino band (Music Network) that plays in the Versailles Lounge does a great job with 50s, 60s and 70s rock covers.

--the ‘farewell party’ on the last sea day was very nice; free drinks and entertainment were provided.

Who would enjoy Carnival:

--Just about anyone who sails with the proper expectations. This itinerary appeals primarily to a ‘sun and fun’ demographic: people that like to drink by the pool, play bingo and hang out in the casino. You are not paying for Holland America/Cunard level of service and you won’t get it. But you can still have a good time

--Families and multi-generation groups were plentiful. The kids program seems to be effective as we didn’t see much of the 300+ kids who were aboard our sold-out cruise.

Who would not enjoy Carnival:

--Someone who strongly prefers a more elegant style of cruising with intellectually stimulating daily activities

--Anyone who would be put off by people wearing shorts and t-shirts at dinner in the main dining room; it appeared that the dress code, if any, wasn’t being enforced on this itinerary.

--Sophisticated travelers should not use Carnival as a first cruise; they should have their first cruise experience on a more up-market cruise line, later using Carnival for a quick getaway.

Vermont Tour Group

I recently returned home from escourting a group of 24 to Vermont. It was a successful trip and I feel that everyone had a great time and is looking forward to the next trip. We flew into NYC and then to Burlington, VT. Our bus picked us up at the airport and we were off to a new adventure. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express for the 4 nights that we were in Vermont. Great service, nice breakfast, enclosed spa and swimming pool.

Each day was a new adventure for us. The first day was a CiderMill, Stowe,Vermont, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream(if you go make sure that your visit the grave yard where all the discountued flavors are resting). We had a buffet dinner at a country club. The next day was the Vermont Teddy Bear factory, Shelbourne Museum (outdoor museum with a lighthouse, covered bridge, train, ship, circus experience, tiffany glass, quilts, etc.), Christmas Loft, and a dinner cruise.
Thursday we visited a granite quarry, the state capitol and a maple farm. Dinner was a buffet with the rest of the Diamond Tour groups in the area.

If you are in Vermont, make sure that you stop at these sites for a real picture of how Vermonters live.


Chris

Last year my family decided to hang up the pot holders and go away for Thanksgiving. We went to Monterey and it was one of the best Holiday's we have ever had. No cooking or cleaning, just all day and night to visit, relax and site-see. My Brother is incredibly cheap and picked a substandard hotel a few miles from the Wharf. It was clean, but had nothing exciting about it (I can't even remember the name). We still spent about $129 a night as it was a Holiday.

This year I decided to call our rep, Cara Berends, from the Larkspur Hotels and see if I can arrange a stay at the Casa Munras with a site tour on Friday. Of course they were happy to accommodate me with a great TA rate of $99 a night. When I called to see about 2 more rooms for my family, they extended the same rate - what a deal.

So while the rest of you are exhausted from cooking (or picking up) dinner, I will be at a ocean front restaraunt eating lobster with my family....

(I will write up a full hotel report after Thanskgiving)

2009 Garden Tour of New Zealand

You can follow our progress (and learn a lot about New Zealand) at

www.rhododendrongardentours.com

Diane