MISTER 67

IMHO is that you can't go wrong with any of the Vista ships. They are almost perfect, beautiful classy ships with wonderful artwork, only 1900+ pax, full promenade, no rock climbing walls and no horrible ear piercing Electric Dance Music.

Agree with you on how hard it is to get a drink in a lounge, we have found this to not only be a HAL problem but also with the 3 other lines we sail with on a rotating basis. It's like pulling teeth to try to get a drink from the wait staff on Celebrity, Princess and MSC. Dont know what the problem is but it's very annoying.

No contest, Zuiderdam. We are Elite with Princess but our last cruise on Caribbean Princess left a bad taste in our mouths, literally, the worst food we've had on Cruise in 10 years when we sailed on the Carnival Freedom. Not only was the food bad but the ship was a mess, propulsion problems, old and soiled furniture plus the carpeting around the ship was the original, in our room it was filthy. We sailed on her 8 times from when she was brand new and now would have to think twice if they offered us an incredible deal.

Back in the day before automatic gratuities I came out with these numbers based on our first cruise in 1982. Our waiter serviced 14 passengers on first seating, suggested gratuities were 2.50 per passenger per day, so multiplying 14 by 2.50 equals 245.00 but then you have to multiply that by 2 because of 2 seatings which comes out to 490.00 for the week. The asst. waiter was tipped 2.00 per day per passenger. Cabin stewards suggested gratuities were 3.50 per day per person, not sure how many cabins they serviced so cant give an accurate number. That way was pretty easy to figure out and IIRC we paid around 130.00 for the week, pretty sure there was a 15% gratuity on drinks at the bars but drinks were around 2.25 each plus tip. What with auto gratuities there is no way of figuring exactly out what crew members are paid in this day and age. BTW I see no problem with anyone being curious to the amount gratuities they are paying out to various crew members, the way the lines are being run these days I have a sneaky suspicion that they keep part of the gratuities. I wonder when there are free gratuities included what it is actually being paid out to crew members.

We've sailed with MSC 5 times and disagree, never felt crowded except at lunch in the buffet area one time on the Divina, that's a peak time in the buffet and it happened to be in summer with lots of kids. Seaside has 2 buffet areas and was never hard to find a table. MSC is not a budget line, food is very good (especially the Italian dishes and pizza) and the entertainment is excellent. The reason for the low fares is MSC wants a bigger share of the American market and is trying to build a loyal following. I believe there will be 4 ships sailing in the Caribbean this winter with 3 out of Miami. Next winter MSC will offer year round sailings out of Tampa, can't wait for that as Tampa is the closest port to our home. We are booked on the Meriviglia in April and she is suppose to be quite a ship, looking forward to sail on her. One other thing, MSC is very fair with onboard shopping, photos and drinks, they don't gouge and you can't beat the Loyalty Match Program, we were Black Card on our first cruise. Because of our Elite status with Princess.

We met a guy on the Celebrity Equinox in June who cruises 26 weeks a year, Lives near Ft. Lauderdale. Every time you saw the guy he had a black suit on and walked around like he owned the ship. Up in the buffet he walked around like he was inspecting the food and saw a few people ask him questions thinking he was in charge of the buffet. Basically the guy was a jerk. As for us, we cruise 3 or 4 times a year, usually every 3 or 4 months.

We sail exclusively in the Caribbean with Passcards.

Have taken 4 cruises since last November, 2 on Celebrity and 2 on HAL, and 21 on HAL since 1997. I have found the food on both lines to be very good as far as cruise ships are concerned. Where Celebrity has an edge is in the Buffet, food a little bit better and so many more choices, also have found of late that HAL's desserts aren't as good as they once were. Service on both lines are excellent. One more point if it matters to you, fares are less on HAL.

We refuse to patronize the specialty restaurants on any of the lines we sail on. Why should people pay these ridiculous prices when the food in the main dining room on the various lines we sail on is very good, at least to us they are. We have sailed 4 times in the past year on the Equinox and HAL's Oosterdam and on both ships we have had the best food we ever had on our 61 cruises. Let me add that I don't begrudge anyone that does eat in the specialty restaurants, it's just that we are traditionalists when it comes to cruising and sometimes feel that the lines are pushing that if you want a fine meal you need to eat in an upsell venue. So far for us this has not happened. We had a free meal in the Pinacle Grill on one of the HAL ships a few years ago and were disappointed in the meal, glad we didnt pay extra for it. I have read more than a few threads saying the same thing.

We have always had very good food on HAL going back to 1997 including 2 on the Oosterdam last November and again in March. Next up is the NA on Nov. 30, you have me concerned.

When you order eggs sunny side up or over easy or medium, you get real fresh eggs. Have them 3 times a week when on a cruise.

Our last 2 cruises on the Oosterdam there was an area right next to the pre-made sandwiches were you could have a crew member make you a sandwich just the way you want it. IMHO, the premades are a joke.

Went back and looked at a webcam photo that someone had posted, I stand corrected.

It looked on Webcam that the NA was docked at pier 29 which is at the south end of the port and if you park at the main lot at the port you have to take a shuttle to the ship, it's a real pain. With so few ships in port I wonder why she wasn't at the usual HAL pier 26.

Many many hotels and motels on Brandon ave (Florida Rte. 60) in Brandon, a few miles east of the port. Tons of restaurants and stores. If it's not on Brandon ave, they don't make it.