MISTER 67

I live in Sebring, are they close to US 27?

We walked off the Equinox at 7:20 AM last Saturday.

We got a call from Princess about 12 years ago a day before our cruise asking us to cancel completely, cant remember what they offered but it was quite substantial but we said no.

9.11.01 changed everything. I remember our first cruise on Sitmar's Fairwind in 1982, we were with another couple on a tour in San Juan and when we returned to the ship, Carnival's Festivale was docked right next to us, so we went up to the gang plank and asked if we could check out the ship, no problem at all, just showed them our ships pass card which was in those days made of cardboard and you printed your name and cabin number on it.

My biggest gripe is the quantity and quality of entertainment aboard HAL ships. BB Kings and Lincoln Center are pretty good but the rest is a joke.

Down through the years I'm a loser at slots but ahead playing Blackjack. Most of the ships slot machines are pretty tight especially RCI and Celebrity. I've done pretty well on slots on MSC, not as tight. My wife won 400 dollars at slots on the old Noordam about 18 years ago and the next year won 300 more on the Veendam. Walked away from the machine both times with her winnings. My theory on slots is I'm only there for one reason, to get lucky and win some kind of jackpot like my DW did.

Time of the year doesn't matter, just got off the Equinox last Saturday and woke up Monday with a sore throat and the rest of the week has been miserable. You may be right about the stewards and how well they clean the cabins. Lot of pressure trying to get the cabins ready for a shipload of new passengers plus they have a lot more cabins to clean than in previous years.

You can cruise with HAL a lot cheaper than with Celebrity. Here are some other differences, HAL entertainment has gone downhill. MDR's are about equal but X is better in the buffet because of the many choices. Service is excellent on both lines. Older crowd on HAL but going on 74 I'm no spring chicken. Specialty restaurants on HAL are less costly. Both lines have beautiful ships and are well maintained.

Actually I come down with the cold after leaving the ship, most of the time its been the next day or two. Only twice in 61 cruises have I come down with a cold while on the ship. We live in Florida and drive to the various ports so no problem with planes.

All kinds of things like what the OP said is happening throughout the Cruise Industry. We sail with HAL, Princess, MSC and Celebrity and all those lines are constantly cutting costs. HAL's has trimmed down their entertainment budget, Princess has cut down on their food budget. MSC has never had free movies in the cabin but they have not cut back like other cruises. What is going on is becoming the norm and our only recourse is to not cruise but that is something at this point we are not ready to do. What we do is find the best deal we can find for the time of the year that we want to cruise, right now we are taking 3 cruises a year, on the first of December, March and August. Like I said whoever comes up with the best price of the 4 lines I mentioned gets my business. We only sail in the Caribbean as we hate flying and the Itinerary has no bearing for us, the ship is the destination.

I'll start this off by saying that in no way am I picking on Celebrity but because I think the Celebrity board of all the boards I visit is this is the one I respect the most. That plus we were on the Equinox on the 8/31 cruise. Here is what is going on with me and its driving me crazy. I'm 73 and in very good health but in 6 out of the last 8 cruises I have come down with horrible colds after dis-embarking the ship, this has happened on Princess, RCCL, MSC, HAL and now with Celebrity. In 61 cruises we have never come down with the Norovirus but down through the years I've had more than my share of colds after a cruise, we live in Florida and only get colds after a cruise. Is this going on with anybody else? We are extremely careful when onboard using the hand sanitizers just about every time we pass by one. Is this happening to others? Any tips than you might hep us out with would be gratefully appreciated.

We sailed on the Veendam 4 times as well as her sister ships more than a few times each. The Statendam class ships when they came out were great ships but now they are probably a little too long in the tooth for our tastes, not that she is old and dirty but we like the Vista class ships much more, we have gotten use to a few more bells and whistles, not that they are mega RCCL ships but just the right size for us.

We sailed on the Divina 4 times, one of our favorite ships. Great shows except no orchestra to accompany the great singers.

Sitmar was the best, I really miss them.

Exactly, Edge has room for about 80 more passengers, only a little bit wider and longer and is listed at 129,000 tons while Equinox is at 122,000 tons. We love the Equinox, a classy ship and our favorite.