Well, Bryan and I made it back from our first ever cruise. Thanks to the "terrible" swine flu, instead of a Mexican Riveria vacation, we were treated to a California Riveria experience. We weren't too excited about this change at first. Our cruise line (Princess) wasn't very cooperative, they let us know that our only option was to cancel and loose all our money... Nice.We ended up still having a good time. Our ports were Santa Barbara, San Diego and San Francisco. My favorite was San Francisco where we toured Alcatraz, visited Pier 39 and Fishermanns Wharff and saw the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges. Our three days at sea were spent lounging by the pool - the weather wasn't real warm, upper 60's, but if you laid in direct sunlight and really concentrated on soaking in the rays, your goosebumps would at least go away - and reading books, my kind of relaxation.
Although we had fun, we weren't overly impressed with Princess. The food was mediocre (not that that stopped us from stuffing ourselves just for the point), entertainment was practically non-exsistent, the pool areas played elevator music and ice cream was a la carte. It definitely seemed geared for an older crowd, say 65+
Bryan's parents came out and stayed with the boys. I wasn't too worried about the kids, I was more concerned with Gary and Linda surviving. But, thankfully everyone was breathing when we got back and Grandma and Grandpa didn't look too battle scarred. They will probably go home and sleep for a week...
Princess did end up offering us half off our next cruise...The catch is you have to use it by 2010. I was lucky to get this cruise, let alone another one in a year and a half. Oh well, live and learn. If we do go again, we will definitely pick a different cruise line.
8 comments:
Any vacation without kids is fantastic.
I've never cruised with Princess - sorry to hear it wasn't QUITE as awesome as you hoped.
Bummer that the food wasn't top notch. That is what I remember most from the Disney Cruise. Bet the one on one time with no kidlets was sweet!
I WAS planning to go on a cruise for our 25th anniversary, now I think I will look into all inclusive resorts instead. However, twist my arm, I would be up for a Disney cruise anytime. Pool, diet-coke, book, sunshine, sounds great. Elevator music-not so much. At least you got away together. good times...
We just got back tonight from our cruise, it was FANTASTIC! Like you, instead of Mexico we were rerouted and it was chilly and rainy up the coast into Canada where we went. But we went on Royal Caribbean and they were spectacular, great food - great entertainment, employees were wonderfully nice and helpful. We only had 2 days where the weather was good enough to enjoy the outside things on the ship, but we still had plenty to keep us entertained indoors. I've heard others comment like you did on other cruise lines, makes me want to just stick with these guys when we do this again! Sorry yours was less than thrilling.
I'm with my Mom. I recommend Royal Caribbean. I'll definitely use them again. Next time you should try them!
I've never been on Princess either. Sorry to hear that it wasn't so great! I'd also highly recommend Royal Caribbean.
Also, the jewelry you commented about on my blog is the stuff I made. I ended up finding some beads at Roberts, Joann's, and Michaels. It all worked out great! But next time I make some jewelry, I'll check out that store in the University mall.
Go Disney. It was worth every penny.
Looks like fun though.
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