CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE-CARNIVAL LIBERTY

I returned this weekend from a 6 night cruise on the Carnival Liberty…WHAT A FANTASTIC SHIP!!! The Carnival staff is super - they want you to have the best vacation possible. Our stateroom was huge - Carnival has the largest staterooms of any cruise line. Our 3 stops were Key West, Florida which was very quaint, we took the trolley train excursion (we booked all the excursions on the tv in our stateroom and the tickets were delivered to our room which is very convenient). I would go back to Key West anytime. Our 2nd stop was Grand Cayman, the island is small, we booked the city tour. If you are into scuba diving or laying on 1 of most beautiful beaches in the world Grand Cayman is the place for you. Our final stop Ocho Rios, Jamaica which I can not say enough about. We booked the jeep tour which lasted about 3 hours driving thru the beautiful countryside and we ended up at Dunn's River Falls - which is a DO NOT MISS. We could climb the falls or just rest and enjoy the beautiful scenery and watch people climbing the falls. Our tour driver was fantastic - the people of Jamaica are friendly and happy you are there. Carnival is a wonderful cruise line - I can not think of 1 negative thing. They take care of your every need from the moment you board the ship until the moment you leave the ship. 

 

SHERATON IN CHICAGO 

Just had some clients stay at the Sheraton. They had a great time.    Absolutely loved the Sheraton.  She said it was very "opulent".  It is in a great location for everything.  The only restaurant at the hotel was Don Shula's which was very expensive but the concierge helped them find  inexpensive restaurants in their area.    She did tell me to tell  everyone not to go to the museums in Chicago on a Wednesday.  Apparently, that is when  all the kids get in free and it is crazy at the museums and Shedds Aquarium.....unless you have small kids and you don't mind crowds. 

 

BELIZE 

Had a party of three ladies go to Belize and stay at the Banyan Bay.   LOVED IT!!!!

There were lots of side trips to take you around - Mayan ruins etc.  Great snorkeling.  Not a lot of night life.  Shopping was good - i.e. wood items etc.

The Banyan Bay is on Ambergris Cay and you cannot get lost on the island.  No pestering from the locales - three street town  - loads of vendors with jewelry.  

Since you cannot get all inclusive at most resorts in Belize, food is very expensive.  Meat was outrageous and the grocery store  prices were  way out of  line.  They found lots of little fruit stands and a great little bakery.  Most everything food wise is imported.  English is the main language in Belize.   Clients rented an electric cart to get around the island which was not that expensive divided by three people.  Not really a good place for families  because  it is so laid back but great for people who just want to get away  from it all.

 

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINE-SERENADE OF THE SEAS 

I had  a  Group on the Southern Caribbean  itinerary on the  Serenade of the Seas.  Several couples had commented that this was their favorite cruise so far.  They really liked the  many stops the ship made.   Food was better than on some of the other ships they had been on .   S hows were good ,  but the comedians were just so - so.  They had been to St. Maarten before but this time it was their favorite port and liked it even better than St. Thomas.  They thought St Maarten had the better deals.  The bedding was fantastic and even the pull out sofa was  comfortable.  Crew and Staff were very friendly.  They went over spring break and there were a lot of children but Royal tried to keep them occupied.   

 

BRANSON, MISSOURI

 I  had some people go to Branson Missouri over Spring Break.   My clients stayed at a medium priced hotel called the Grand Victorian.  Very nice.  Breakfast was included.  They said they  saw Branson and didn't need to see it again.  They drove down and couldn't imagine what it would be like during the busy season , because   the traffic there is terrible.   They thought Silver Dollar City was a place to go for antiques, but it really was just an amusement park with rides and such.  They saw "Lost in the Fifties with the Platters " with  Mickey Gilley.  They liked  it  very much but at the time the theaters were only half full.  She felt the shows were like a glorified Spartanaires show (our local high school travel show).  She raved about some of the restaurants  like Ruby Lena's ,  which served home made food for a lunch crowd.   If people drive to Branson, she also recommended Lamberts which was on the drive into Branson which is another home cooking restaurant.  The drive from  Battle Creek to Branson took about 10 hours.  Old Branson ,  which is downtown ,  is filled with  antique shops, flea markets  with collectibles etc.  

 

RIVER CRUISE FROM AMSTERDAM TO BUDAPEST 

 I had clients on a back to back river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. They would rate it a 10 out  10.  Ship was new and super clean.  Food was gourmet.  The captain ' s dinner was a seven course meal and the rest of the meals were always four course meals  except for breakfast  which was a buffet with everything you could possibly imagine.  Crew was fantastic.  Turn down service every night.   Tour directors were independent contractors and were from all over Europe - they did a great job.  They kept the clients well informed about shore excursions etc.  and were very knowledgeable.  They left a schedule every night in their room for next day.  Ship only held about 160 people.  Every day at 430pm they had pastries with coffee and tea.  Wine and beer were  included in the dinner.  There is  Happy  Hour later in the afternoon to unwind.  They never made it to the late night snack at 1030pm.  There was local entertainment on the ship every night.  A famous glass blower came on the ship and did a show.  Then they had a stop at his shop where they could use the internet for free, free beer, free use of the restroom (apparently you have to pay to use the restroom everywhere else).  Most everyone bought a glass item from his shop.  They loved the trip.  Budapest was very interesting.  They couldn't say enough good things  about the tour company.   

 

MIRAMAR HOTEL IN HONOLULU

I booked  my clients at the Miramar and they LOVED it.  She said it was in a fabulous location, near alot of shopping,   restaurants  and only a block from the beach.  She would definitely recommend it to anyone not needing to stay on the beach and she thought it was a great price.

 

CANCUN/RIVIERA MAYA-SUNSCAPE RESORT

The ride from the airport to the resort was a little over an hour.  I think if it was any longer I would have to look for a closer resort.  The Sunscape resort was great.  Our rooms overlooked the resort pools, beaches and the ocean.  A very nice view.  The rooms were very large.  On the Sunscape web site they advertise NO SPRING BREAKERS OR SINGLES.  There was a lot of spring breakers there.  They were no bother.  As a matter of fact it was quite comical to watch them doing "shots of Tequila".  Kind of reminded me of my younger days of wildness.   The resort staff very helpful and polite.  They need a little larger wait staff in the restaurants.  They definitely need more bartenders.  At times you would have to wait 10 to 15 minutes for a drink.  One of the Apple representatives was not very cooperative.  You had to pry information out of him.  When you got him to talk it was short replies.  There were only two public restrooms on the grounds.  One by the big swim up bar and one by the adult swim up bar.  They were underground and the small exhaust fans were on the light circuit,  When the light was turned off so was the fan.  You could imagine the "odor" that remained in the area.  There was only one stall in each restrooms.  They really need to look into this area.    There is one thing that you (and or Apple) should mention.  About a 10 minute walk from the resort there is a shopping area with restaurants, night clubs, souvenir shops, ATM machine, a limited  "C" store and a marina.  The Marina puts on a show where you can swim with the dolphins.  I believe it is on every day around 9:00 AM.  They also have seals, manatees etc on display and have feeding times posted.  It was very interesting.  It's no Sea World but fun to watch.  We went down there a few times.  The 10 Minute walk was a very safe walk.  We walked down there both in the daytime and nighttime.  No problem.   All in all we enjoyed ourselves very much.  Although going down to the dolphin show made us miss "first call" one day. 

 

PUNTA CANA-RIU PALACE

 We had a super wonderful week in Punta Cana and absolutely loved the hotel.  It was by far the best food we have ever had at any hotel OR on any cruise and probably one of the nicest (ranking right there with the Bellagio and Beau Rivage hotels that we have ever stayed in anywhere in the world .  USA 3000 was the nicest charter I ever have flown on. Their seats are not closer then regular airlines, maybe even just a touch more room. They start with their juice service offering you  four  differen't  types of juices.   Then go in to their meal service (yes meal service...which you dont even get on regular airlines any longer and include that with their beverage service )   Then shortly before landing they come thru again with beverages and packaged cookies. They show a movie and offer free headsets.   Their flights were 10 mins early getting there and 40 minutes early on the return.    The transfers worked smoothly through Apple. We got to our hotel and they took our group (maybe 5 couples) to a  separate  rate sitting area where they passed out the room keys, safe keys, gave general info on the hotel etc.  W e had the minimum room type  and it was fabulous. All were junior suites with large tiled floors which our maid washed every day on her hands and knees. You would walk down 2 stairs with gold rail and marbled area to the sitting area with a tv, sofa couch, long dark wooded cabinet to hold the tv and 6 drawers for clothes etc. Then you walked out of a sliding glass door to your own patio with 2 chairs and table.    All rooms had king beds  with a huge ceiling fan. All of the furnishings were awesome. All thick dark wood, very elegant and elite. Each room had a mini fridge which they filled every 2 days with bottled water, all types of pops, club soda, tonic water and beer. Then they had 4 bottles of booze in each of the rooms as well. The bathroom was almost as big as our bedroom at home. They had double sinks, toilet, shower, tub and hydro bath. The towels that we got each day were the thickest biggest towels that I ever have even seen in my life. Apple had a meeting that day at 500 pm for the Apple people at our hotel. The meeting lasted approximately 1 hour and they gave you info on the hotel...like where everything was....talked about the food options at the hotel...drink options....suggested modes of transportation....gave our info on exchanging money....where to feel safe and where they suggested we not go....then went over their tour options...then answered questions....it was very informative and I would always suggest that clients go to this meeting to get this valuable information.   We went at their off season...very humid...rained 1 and 1/2 days.   Downtown was not much, roads were awful, the poorest island I ever have been to.  We  only left our hotel  one  time, went downtown and would not do that again.  The food was the best that we all have ever had. They had 5 restaurants all of which required that men wear long pants.  4 of the 5  restaurants required reservations which could be made that day between 1000am and 100pm.

At least 40 0/0 of the beach had woman that were topless. Americans were the minority there. It was fun trying to figure out where the other people were from.  Mostly Germans, Europeans, and South Americans.   Most of the help at the hotels could not speak or  understand much English.   

 

CARNIVAL-CARNIVAL LEGEND

I had some clients just get back and they totally loved everything.    The ship is named the Legend and all of the bars, dining rooms, etc are named and themed on sports legends. She said it was awesome.   They didn’t like the Belize stop. Even the shore excursions didn’t show much except for a very poor island. She said the local people were pawing all over them wanting money from them. She said one of the ladies from the cruise got offered a baby that she could buy to take home with her.   They did Carnival shore excursions and each one was great.   Her boyfriend had been on RCCL and he thought Carnival was better.   The food was awesome and everything went smoothly.   They gave Carnival a debit card initially for their ship board account and then decided on the last ,  day to use a credit card instead. Carnival puts a hold on the funds available on debit cards and then wont release that hold for 72 hours after their return.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE
Well we are back from our cruise and had a good time, even after all the hassles before and during our trip. We were two hour late getting to the ship because good ole airlines had to switch us to a different plane ten minutes before departing in Detroit. That mad us getting to the ship at 4:40 pm, ship left at 5:pm.  On top of everything else my husband got sick on the fifth day of the cruise and had to see the ship Doctor, which cost $221.00. Thank heaven we had purchased the Insurance because it looks like we will be reimbursed for those charges. We had a great time as always and did some fun things on the ship. WE enjoyed the Captains dinner/pictures and the “RETURN” party for those who have traveled previously on Royal Caribbean.  Aruba was beautiful and the Panama Canal was very interesting. We did see a USS Submarine go through the Canal at the same time we did and it was breathe taking. We were disappointed in Costa Rica, as no one was working that week of our cruise due to a Government Holiday for Easter week. We did get to see bananas on the trees but couldn’t see how they were actually processed. Grand Cayman is beautiful but very expensive due to the value of the American Dollar.  Needless to say, you can’t beat cruising, beautiful weather and great friends for a perfect vacation.
 

PUNTA CANA-BAHIA PRINCIPE HOTEL

A family returned recently from the Bahia Principe and could not say more nicer things about this hotel. They totally loved it. The property was beautiful, had 3 huge pools, the employees were all so nice to each of the 15 of this family and the food was great. They highly would recommend it and would love to go back there again very soon.  Punta Cana really doesn’t have much of a downtown but they did go on all day jeep trip and 1/2 day snorkeling trips while they were there.
 

CANCUN-GRAN CARIBE

I had a large group get back from a package to Gran Caribe Hotel in Cancun and they all had nothing but great things to say about the hotel, its grounds, the food and the staff.  It is one of the lower priced All Inclusive hotels offered and they were a little worried about it being up to their standards and was very happy to hear it was.  One of the couples actually got married at the hotel and they were impressed with the wedding arrangements which the bride made directly with the hotel.

 

MAUI-KAPALUA VILLAS

I had a client stay there and called me today to tell me "thank you" and to rave about the Kapalua Villas.  He was on a package and he stayed in a 2 bedroom villa-golf view and his parents stay in a 1 bedroom villa-ocean view.  He said they were well equiped and really nice.  He said the golf view villas are about a 1/4 of a mile from the beach and the ocean view villas are about 1/8 of a mile from the beach.  He said it is about 20 miles north of Lahaina and pretty quiet and layed back there.  He said by 8:00pm, there wasn't much happening, which made me wonder how he liked it, since he is a bit of a night owl.  He said it was fine with him because he said that they did so much during the day that they were exausted and didn't have the energy to go party.  He loved Maui and would recommend it to anyone...though he said he wouldn't go back again because he couldn't stand to be in a plane that long again.