Taf

The Next Cruise option is only for US & Canadian citizens. We tried to book it whilst on Splendour in the Med (where more than 1/2 of the passengers aboard were not US or/Canadians) but they refused to allow us. We were able to book a specific cruise but not the "next cruise" deal.

A back to back would be lovely - to stay on the ship when everyone else is leaving, great!

They have great prices for cruises just before and just after the holiday sailings. I would defiunately take advange of them, but we are stuck to the school holiday dates. Just wait until the kids are old enough to stay home alone - then there`ll be no stopping us!:D

As for smoking on Costa, we are all non smokers too, and have not noticed smoke any more or less than other lines. The Casino is always a bit on the smoky side on any ship, but we haven`t noticed it in the bars & restaurants. Actually, Italy has the one of the strongest no smoking regulations is Europe - a total ban in all bars & restaurants. This doesn`t apply to their ships though!!

Princess is my moms favourite line - I heard they are great, but on the sailings we have looked at they were quite expensive - always high season & no kids rates at that time. We cruised once with Carnival, but never again - we couldn`t wait to get off the ship! It was too roudy for us, and the ship felt dirty and shabby....

Only 3 weeks now before we head off to the Caribbean.

I hope you enjoy your trip over New Year!

This will be our 2nd Costa cruise - we enjoyed the first one very much.

Pros: - Really fantastic food, beautiful ship, large cabins, good entertainment, great service

Cons: Language. Everything is announced in 5 languages, entertainment is only musical & visual (magicians/pianists) no comedians, quizes, trivia etc, again because of the difficulty of the various languages.

What I really love about Costa is they have a flat rate 150 Euro charge for kids under 18. We are paying 1500 pounds each child on P&0 next year, as 3 & 4th passengers, it`s irrelevant whether they are kids or adults. So Costa is excellent value for money for us.

We have sailed P&O (Uganda!!), Royal Caribbean, NCL & Costa. All have plus & minus points. I am looking forward to the "Britishness" of P&O.

I am British but live in Austria, and being an "ex-pat" makes you very patriotic!

Looking at you Itinery, there aren`t any ports that coincide with ours, but it sounds a like lovely trip. Twice in Fort Lauderdale - are you doing a back to back?

Hi Shogun

We are going to St Lucia, St. Martin, St. Thomas, Antigua, Jamaica, Cozumel, Costa Maya & Grand Caymen. It`s a 2 week cruise.

This year we are on Costa Magica for Christmas (Costa Atlantica last year) going to San Jaun, St. Thomas, La Romana & Grand Turk.

I love cruising in the Caribbean, especially at Christmas time. Last year we were docked in Antigua on New Years Eve, next to P&O Oceana & Oriana. They were having such a great party from ship to ship, before departue. It was an hour or so of both cruise directors whipping up the passengers on both ships, calling to each other, singing songs together etc. It looked so much fun - we were watching from the decks of the Costa Atlantica (where everything was quite low key) and shouting over to the Oceana. We were waving my daughters Union Jack Bikini, the only thing we had, to join in the party! We were determined to do that cruise next time, but for this Christams everything was fully booked. So as soon as the 07 Itinery came out, we booked 3 cabins for the whole family. The Oriana & Oceana are again due to dock together in Antigua on 23 Dec - if you are there then, watch out for the party (don`t forget to take a Union Jack item!!!):D

I was also in Tortola last year, and loved it the Island tour, we just got on an open "mini bus" at the docks. My only regret is that we didn`t have time to go across to the Baths at Virgin Gorda. It is supposed to be spectaular, have you been there?

Where are you going on the Emerald Princess?

We`ll be on the Oceana Christmas 07 cruise from Barabados...... only 395 days to go!!!!:D

My first cruise was also on the Uganda!

It must have been late 70`s, and was a school trip. I remember being in a very basic inside dorm of about 20 girls, with very rough seas and a class room on board (yes, we had to do school work too!) One day we were allowed through the "passenger" decks and were shocked at the opulence and luxury compared with our quarters. The Itinery was Greece, Turkey, Isreal, flying home from Malta, I think.

Was it a P&O Ship? I didn`t know, but it certainly got me hooked on cruising - I now take my own kids on cruises.

I took 2 bottles of wine onto my Splendour cruise - I didnt realise that I shouldn`t! It was packed into my checked luggage - not hand luggage. The only problem was that there were no glasses or cork screw in the cabin, so I though I would be taking them home with me again! I left the bottles in plain sight on the dressing table in the cabin.

The 2nd night we returned to our cabin and found glasses and a cork screw provided by our steward.:) Nice!

PS - I bought the wine package for drinking at dinner time, the other was purely sipped on the balcony of our cabin as we left each port! So RCI didn`t loose out either.

Cheers!