Home > Still Traveling > Archives > 2005 > May > 13 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USActivities on board
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Our trip was the type of voyage where a cruise director proves his mettle � very cold on Thursday and heavy rain on Friday.
Thursday was OK because you were exploring the ship, had your emergency (muster) drill, could tour the spa and fitness areas and were just tired from getting to the ship.
Friday was a whole different matter. With our trip being so short, it was depressing to find it raining and cold our first full day on board. The cruise director, who was outgoing and entertaining, moved activities around. He scheduled extra bingo, trivia games and passenger participation games.
There was the onboard art auction, duty-free shopping, casino, spa treatments and the very popular drinking to fill your time. But all of these can involve spending extra money.
The only other free activities were reading and playing ping-pong. So we played ping-pong until the kids made us feel bad for hogging the table. We wanted to find a quiet bench by a window to read, but they were all full.
My big beef about the rain is that to the best of my knowledge we were never told that rain was likely by the crew, captain or on the TV. I would have planned all my spa treatments for Friday had I known on Thursday what to expect.
Jennifer de la Cruz, Carnival’s public relations director, says there was no intentional withholding of the weather forecast. The captain is supposed to announce the weather around noon and there should be reports on TV and at the purser’s desk, she said. She suggested that we also could have gone to the Internet café to look up the forecast (and pay a boatload for this information.)
When it did stop raining, my husband would have liked to play basketball. But the sad little rim on the upper deck had a ripped net.
Experienced cruisers: What do other ships do when it’s raining? How did you find out about the weather? What ships have a nice basketball court?
Tomorrow: The Spa
Permalink | Comments (11) | Categories: Cruising
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Lyrazel
May 13, 2005 8:28 AM | Link to this
I had the best cruise on a Windjammer. Best food, people and enjoyed the more casual aspects. There were big problems—like flooding in the rooms during a storm.
Took a Freestyle cruise to Alaska. Everything three times more expensive than needed with none of the perks, pay for everything to watch the crew ignore you. Terrible food…steam table pasta reminded me of cafeteria nightmares. Of course, if I would have paid the extra now being charged to dine in their restaurant—I might have a different opinion but the idea of forking over SIGNIFICANT more cash for a decent dining experience was annoying.
As for ‘activities’ kids were herded in groups and stuck with age-close other kids—so 12 year olds were with 6 year olds and could not get out of Romper-Room to be with 14 year olds. Bingo—expensive. Spa—could not get what I wanted—sold out before on ship. Could only access beauty salon AFTER captains dinner. Off-ship tour—fantastic but pricy. Worse was the stench in the room where they hold ‘shows’. Everything was sticky—spilled booze everywhere—and the acts—pathetic.
I guess the only cruise memory that really stays with me is watching how many suntanners squeeze into deck chairs. Walking past the group is like wandering through herd of elephant seals all greased up and ready to tan.
I remember Cozumel before they blasted the reefs to make way for the new hotels. It was a perfect place to eat red snapper on the beach…that belonged to no one. No cruise ships, just a ferry to Merida and Isla Mujeres…
By Theresa from the AJC
May 13, 2005 10:01 AM | Link to this
Lyrazel —- This is all very depressing — do you think your experiences were the norm or unusual occurences? Excuse my ignorance - is Freestyle the name of a cruise line or is it a type of cruising? (If a type - please explain more) I too have a big issue with paying extra to eat at restaurants on board a ship — it somehow indicates that what they are normally serving (what you have already paid for) isn’t very special. I’m wondering would you cruise again — maybe on the Windjammer again? Are there any other lines you would be interested in?
By Theresa from the AJC
May 13, 2005 10:06 AM | Link to this
I posted some questions for you guys at the bottom of my blurb about the activities aboard our ship. My husband really wants to know which lines/ships have good basketball courts. That was the only thing he really wanted to do and couldn’t because the rim was in such poor condition. Also how did everyone else find out about the weather? Were there free things to do aboard your ships?
By dekalb-rez
May 16, 2005 3:03 PM | Link to this
We took a 14-day cruise around south america (their summer) in january and it didn’t rain much but it was very cold and windy and cloudy, especially when we got down toward the tip of anarctica, where it actually snowed on us in ushuia, argentina. we did have sun on the way back and by the time we got to buenos aires, it was downright hot. we were on princess cruise lines and they always told us what the weather was expected to be and each evening, we were given a newsletter that updated activities, news, weather, etc. most of us, though, did not bring as many winter clothes as we should have, but you always knew what the weather was going to be by what the duty-free shop was selling (we were offered raincoats, polartecs and even swimsuits during the 15-day cruise) we also discovered that if you took all of your meals in the dining room (which we had never done before, you didn’t notice the weather as much—or at least we could all complain about it together. we were lucky to have a table by the window with 4 other passengers the same age as us—one from kansas and one from australia, so we also enjoyed the company. we had been on four other, great weather caribbean cruises but this was the best cruise of all even though it had the worst weather. The scenery, even through the cold and fog and clouds, was beautiful which made it easy to endure the weather. we didn’t spend any extra money except i played a couple of games of bingo. we could also find a place to stand and look out. i have been on carnival, holland america, ncl and princess. i thought they were all great cruises except on carnival—even though it had a great itinerary. one of the people on the south american cruise said that carnival was the paper napkin cruise. that may be what you discovered on your cruise with them.
By Theresa from the AJC
May 17, 2005 8:54 AM | Link to this
Dekalb-Rez - I think our biggest problem with the weather was it was such a short cruise that one cold day, one rainy day, one day in port and that only left you one nice day. If we had more days to spread the bad weather with the good, I don’t think we would have been as bothered. But I don’t think they did a good job communicating on Thursday night “Hey we can tell by our radar it’s going to rain the entire next day so go ahead and book your spa appointments or sleep in” THey could have put a positive spin on it somehow.
By Donna B.
May 17, 2005 1:28 PM | Link to this
You can’t predict the weather and it depends on what time of year you are taking your cruise and location. Don’t blame the Captain and staff of the ship for the weather! Royal Caribbean has the largest ships and the most activities. They have a full court basketball court, roller blading, walking path, ice skating, 9 hole golf course, large gym with the most up to date equipment and lots more. Stay away from the smaller ships unless you want smaller. Good luck next time.
By Donna B.
May 17, 2005 1:33 PM | Link to this
Carnival is the lowest level cruise line out there, next in line is Norwegian. Stay away from those unless you like the budget cruises.
They don’t spend the money to improve their ships and the food is like a 99 cent buffet. I have been on Carnival and was mortified by the stench in the rooms, the stained carpets, railings falling from the hallway walls and the horrible food choices. Will not ever take Carnival!
It’s true what people have said, Carnival is a floating frat house.
By Donna B.
May 17, 2005 1:38 PM | Link to this
Lyrazel, You aren’t cruising material. Find another way to travel. You see the glass half empty.
By A S McKeeeman
May 17, 2005 2:05 PM | Link to this
There’s a reason Carnival is known as the “K-Mart of Cruising.”
By Theresa from the AJC
May 17, 2005 3:56 PM | Link to this
Hey Donna B — It’s good to know about Royal C. ammenities — my husband would love the full basketball court! We were limited to a smaller, older ship because we could only take a shorter cruise because of our children — Do all the Royal C. ships have the full courts or is just the ones on the longer voyages? Now our Carnival ship was an older one - but I actually thought it was pretty well kept up. I didn’t notice any smells and our room was very clean. The decks were tidy and painted. And other than worrying about invisible germs, the ship seemed clean. I was disappointed with the food but I wasn’t sure if our standards were too high. But most of our traveling companions were a little disappointed with the food as well.
By Diane
May 18, 2005 11:13 AM | Link to this
Who needs activities. We had a king bed suite on the Veranda deck with a private balcony, the gentle rocking of the boat, and each other. It could have rained all trip and it wouldn’t have mattered. It was our 25th anniversary and it felt like a honeymoon. You can’t please some people who need to be busy every moment of the waking day (one lady at our dinner table said she was taking meds to calm down)—cruises are for relaxing and slowing down, enjoying the sunsets. I’ll go again any day. And Carnival was clean, the staff more than eager to please.