[net.travel] Cruises

barbaral@sri-unix (11/01/82)

I would like to go on a cruise to the Virgin Islands, Bahamas, etc. around
there.  I would appreciate recommendations of cruise companies people have
had experience with.  

barbaral (12/29/82)

Has anyone been on cruises in the Virgin Island, Bahamas, Carribean area?
If so, I would like to know which cruise company you went with and
what you thought of it.

kvr82 (12/30/82)

Subject:  Winter Vacations
Newsgroups:  net.travel
 
I would like to rent a 2-bedroom villa during the first 2
weeks of Februalrry in a vacation spot with a warm climate
(Virgin Islands, Caribbean, Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, etc.).
Can anyone recommend a person whom I could contact to rent
such a place?
                                            ihuxj!kvr82
                                             K. Romano
                                             Bell Labs
                                             Naperville, IL
                                            312/979-1398

dkatz (01/05/83)

In response to query about cruises in the Caribbean -

Last year my wife and I went on a Holland/America 10-day Caribbean cruise.
The line was recommended to us by our travel agent both because of the good
responses from previous bookings and because of the composition of the crew.
It was her observation that the Indonesian stewards are best, and that she
personally prefers Scandinavian crews over Greek or American.

I don't have a basis for comparison, but I can certainly say that the
attention we got from the crew/stewards was continually excellent.
The ship was the Statendam which was the oldest one belonging to Holland/
America.  It has since been de-commissioned, but we did have a chance to see
the Veendam (?sp) and it looked good.

Some hints:

- Look carefully at the ports of call.  Some are not particularly interesting
  or are unfriendly to tourists.  Haiti was perhaps the most depressing stop on
  our cruise.  I also understand that Jamaica is less accepting of tourists
  nowadays (this from a co-worker, I've never been there).

-  As a matter of comfort, I would suggest finding cruises that do not have
   a long time at sea after the last port of call.  We spent 2 1/2 days going
   home after the cruise was over!!!

-  Never book onto a ship that has never sailed before unless the line is
   VERY reputable.  A standard scam is to leave the ship in dry dock (or sell
   it, or go bankrupt) and then withhold some or all of the passage money.  I
   know that it may not be legal, but who cares about the legality when you
   are sitting around home stewing because your cruise was 'cancelled'.  The
   best bet is to only travel on a ship personally recommended by a friend.

-  Cruise lines depend on ~80% return customers for their business, so you
   can complain when justified and be sure of being heard.  They can't
   afford to ignore customers.

-  Enjoy yourself!!!

Good luck and happy cruising    %-}

Dave Katz