Holiday Review- 04/15/04

[waterbound]

First let me say.. overall we had a wonderful time!! We did absolutely nothing!! This was our 4th cruise together and typically we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get to one activity to another and dont get much of a chance of relax.. so that was my main objective!! This was a surprise cruise for my boyfriend.. he had no idea about this.. He had told me that I could surprise him with a getaway weekend and he wasnt to know where we were going until we were well on our way... well the night before he figured it out because he had asked me a question and not thinking I said something that kinda clued him in.. I found out afterwards that he had been on the computer earlier that day and noticed that I had been in the website for his birth city as I had to get info on requesting his birth certificate.. so he knew I had requested his birth certificate because I couldnt find the one we had from last cruise... well anyway.. he was surprised when he found out for sure what we were doing..

We left around 2 in the morning and drove straight thru to New Orleans.. We arrived around 12 or so.. We parked the car and went straight to the terminal.. the line was very short and we got right on.. We went directly to our cabin-- which was an oceanview!!! I had booked an inside guarantee and we got a window cabin.. I was thrilled because we have only had inside before... I think Im spoiled now and will never go back to an inside cabin again!! Even though alot of time is not spent in the cabin, it was beautiful to look out and see the ocean.. We then went to eat and then walked around and got acquainted with the ship.. after muster drill we had some drinks and again just walked around abit.. I really cant remember exactly what we did for the rest of the night other than eating dinner.. We decided not to go to the show so that we can turn in early since we were tired from driving...

We slept in the next day pretty late.. We tried to get some chairs on deck, but they were all full... so we just walked around.. drank quite a bit, played some cards and went back to the cabin and took a nap.. That night was formal dinner so I decided to have my hair put up in the hair salon because I never can seem to make my hair look nice.. I thought it looked horrible after I saw it in the pictures.. when I looked at my hair in the mirror it didnt look so bad, but after looking at the pictures, I realized how bad it looked.. I was a little disappointed with it and it cost me $45!!! Just to have it put up! I have had my hair put up before on the Pride and it was only $27.. so I thought $45 was a little pricey just to have it put up.. But again I can never seem to make it look nice so I figured it was worth it to have someone else do it for me.. I think I will try to do it myself next time and see what happens.. We made it to formal dinner which was very nice and we went back to the cabin to change immediately after dinner and then went on to the show.. I believe the Midnight Gala Buffet was that night and it was beautiful.. We turned in after that and slept in a bit the next morning.. which was in port in Cozumel.. we decided we just wanted to do Playa de Sol Beachbreak as we hadnt done this before and had a good time.. We didnt do much at all.. Had a little too much to drink.. but just laid out on the beach.. we did do the paddleboats and tried the water trampoline and attempted that white mountain thing.. but that was about it.. Then we just went back to the shops on the pier and walked around and headed to Fat Tuesday.. Had a great time there and then headed back to the ship.. We went back to the room and slept for a bit.. We seemed to hit some high winds and we were rocking there for abit.. There were barf bags all over the place on the ship in case one was needed.. we didnt make it to dinner that night but got up a little later and made it to the show and then the midnight buffet and went to the Lido deck where all the activity was.. We made sure we got up the next morning and got some seats.. we just sat up on deck in a chair and got some sun... then tried our luck at bingo and went back to cabin till time for dinner... went to the casino after and then turned in..

I have heard all kinds of reviews for The Holiday and wasnt sure if Id like it, but we really enjoyed it.. I knew going in that it was a smaller ship and an older ship and didnt expect all the glitz and glamour of some of the newer and bigger ships we have been on.. To be honest I thought it was in pretty good shape for its age.. We were a little disappointed that there wasnt a past cruiser party this time.. I realize it was only a 4 day cruise, but we did a 5 day cruise last year and there was one.. also there was no passenger talent show.. this is always one of my favorite things to watch and was a little disappointed there wasnt one.. also just in case anyone needs to know.. there were no hairdryers either.. again all other cruises we have taken there was one, so it would have come in handy.. The food in the dining room was wonderful and I am a very picky eater and was able to find something each night that we were there.. Roomservice was also wonderful.. The turkey sandwiches are the bomb!! Luckily I had ordered roomservice with the card I put on the door handle last night for this morning.. I also had called for a wakeup call for this morning as we wanted to be up early so we could be ready to leave and the wakeup call never came.. luckily the roomservice man woke us up.. otherwise we would have slept thru.. I am sure there is more to tell but thats all I can think of at the top of my head.. Overall we had a great time..

Pride- 07/06/02
Jubilee- 02/22/03
Conquest- 10/19/03

4/15-- Holiday--Surprise cruise for my boyfriend!
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;4;15;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0600[/img]

5/15-- M&M at Rawlings All American Grille
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03/13/2005- Conquest with the kids[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2005;3;13;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0600[/img]
[img]http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/baby21.gif[/img] [img]http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/beerchug.gif[/img]

[hilltopfamily]

thank you for the informative review---it really sounds like you both had such a relaxing and good time. And I always learn so much from reading reviews! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Penny
Disney Magic~~Eastern 7/03
Carnival Celebration~~Western 3/04
Aug 1, 2004 Carnival Elation--Yippee, Our 3rd Cruise!!!
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;8;1;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0600[/img]

[Cotton]

Thx for the review! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] I'm always glad to see a favorable review for the Holiday! Glad y'all had such a nice, realaxing cruise.

About the Past Guest party - next time you'll just have to make it a 5-day cruise! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Festivale 1987
Carnivale 1988
Mardi Gras 1989
Pacific Princess 1990
Norway 1994
Holiday 2001
Holiday 2002
Holiday 2003

[pc2425]

Thanks so much for the review. We are leaving on the Holiday this Saturday and I am so excited. I have been reading all the mixed reviews for this ship. It seems you either love it or hate it. I am sure I will love it, because after all, it's a cruise! What's not to love???

Peggy

Pride 03/03
Holiday 04/04

[MS QUEEN]

Thanks for the review and I'm glad you had a good time!

<img src=http://www.animationlibrary.com/Animation11/Geography_and_History/Islands/Tropical_sunset.gif>
"Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down..."

Sea Ya....Crazy Queen <img src=http://www.websmileys.com/sm/angels/newangel.gif>

Celebration---12/97
Holiday---5/02
Holiday---10/02
Holiday---11/02
Conquest---11/02
Conquest---3/03
Holiday---6/03
Farewell My Holiday---3/04

<img src=http://www.bigotis.com/saintsinners.gif>

"Toes Dance~~ Carousels Spin~~ Balloons Lift Our Cares Away~~When We Take The Child Within Ourselves On A HOLIDAY"

Click here for my cruise photos!
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/queenames"]http://community.webshots.com/user/queenames[/url]

[HOSKI]

We appreciate all reviews on the Holiday as there does not seem to be a lot of them. We are doing the 5 day in Sept.

Fascination 1997 Destiny 2000
Victory 2000 Sensation 2001
Norway 2002 Legend 2002
NCL Dawn 2003 Inspiration 2003
Victory 2004 Holiday 2004