Back from the Pearl Feb 11-16

[Rusty Trombone]

There are garbage dumps and landfills in America too, and everywhere else in the world. Therefore, calling Cozumel a dump just because they rode by a landfill is a poor example for why.

 

I said that we passed the dump in Belieze, not Cozumel. Try being Earl EntirePostReader instead of Sam Skimandpick.

 

There were a few more things that I forgot to comment on that Don Haynes will contradict because while it may be truthful, it might not be 100% sunshine and happines:

 

Tahitan Pool Deck: Overall I enjoyed this area. The chaise lounges and couches were very popular and hard to get if you weren't on the deck early. On more than one occasion I saw people passed out asleep on them. It seemed like they shut down the pool and took the cushions off the loungers a bit early. I felt that they should have at least left the cushions out an hour later at night. The pool depth signs are a bit misleading. I know, I'm lucky enough to be on a cruise ship, I should just be happy to have depth signs at all. But I'm not sure how they measured. I'm 5'8 and had to stand on my tip toes in the shallow end that was marked 4'11. I loved how the pool had two levels, one for getting toes wet. The hot tubs are standard size. I got a kick out of watching people sitting in still hot water get surprised when a new person would get in and turn on the jets. The looks on their faces gave away that they had no idea the hot tubs did that. Thankfully, I never saw any children in the adults only pool. I did take a trip down the waterslide. If I was 8, I would have thought it the best thing in the world. At 35, one trip was enough. It isn't going to put Majic Waters out of business anytime soon. I didn't bother worrying about chair hogs. My wife and I moved up to the next deck and found plenty of chairs to lay out in. There were plenty of towels. Grade: A-

 

Drinks: Very expensive. I'm looking at the Freestyle Daily right now and the Drink of the Day is "Fruit Bowl" at the cost of $8.00, served in a souvenier glass for you to keep. Yippie! 1 3/4 cups of liquid (I measured) in a $.50 glass. The Fruit Smoothie "Bannana" is also served in a souviener glass and is $9.00. We don't drink alcohol, so I asked how much a refill in the smoothie glass was. I was told "$9.00, they aren't refilled, you get another glass." I know, I know..we were lucky enough to be aboard the ship and we should be grateful that we had glasses and didn't have to cup our hands to carry the smoothies. But maybe NCL could refill the glass I already bought for $7.50. Luckly, it wasn't hard to find some iced tea. Grade: E for Expensive. If you plan on drinking any alcohol onboard....bring money and lots of it.

 

Casino: I've been to Las Vegas a few times, so I wasn't surprised by the decor. It looked like any other casino I've been in. They have all the table games and slot machines you'd find in a land or riverboat casino. They do have a couple of penny slots for those that want to play but never win anything.Those that find the $10.00 min blackjack tables in the casino more than you want to spend, there were $5.00 tables on the pool deck near the "Dive-In" window. Grade: A

 

Everglades to Airport: NCL offers this service as a shore excursion to passengers with flights leaving later in the day. Adults are $45.00. You are taken by Greyhound bus (no landfills enroute) from the port to Everglades Safari Park. There you'll ride in a multipassenger Airboat through the Everglades. It was cool and overcast in Miami last Friday, so we weren't sure if we would see any wildlife. We saw a few large birds and about 3 alligators. I'm sure if it had been warmer, we would have seen more. Once back to the dock you go through a little exibit of alligators, snakes, and turtles to a small ampitheater. There, an alligator handler feeds a large alligator named "Big Daddy", showing off his wide jaw and how fast they close. As you exit, you have the option of holding a 1 year old alligator named "Snappy". For 3 dollars you can take a few pictures with your camera. Both my wife and I held Snappy. He was quite wiggly and didn't have nothing bewtween his mouth and my arms but airspace and opportunity. There is a small snack shop where you can purchase snacks and fried alligator nuggets. There is also a small gift shop. Afterward you load back on the bus and are taken to the airport and dropped off with your luggage. I really enjoyed this tour. The tour guide on the bus was very nice and had a great sense of humor. I recommend this tour as it was much better than sitting at the awful Miami airport waiting all day. Grade A+

[um5xno1]

Kudos Rusty for giving YOUR review, with emphasis on YOUR review.

 

You took to time to come onto CC and let everyone know YOUR opinion on YOUR cruise. Whether others found it to be detailed or vague, correct or incorrect, helpful or wasteful, it was YOUR account of YOUR cruise, and should not be chastized for content.

 

Thank you for your account, I found it informative, and thank you for your honesty. It's grizzled old verterans that have always kept me from this type of websites. Don, or the "Gorton's Fisherman" as my wife and I refer to him as, has no right to contest ANY comment you made about YOUR cruise. It was YOUR account of YOUR experience on YOUR cruise, so you are entitled to YOUR opionin. (Get where I'm going with this?)

 

Honestly, I have been to Belize and parts are a dump. I have been many other places, and no place is 100% perfect and to infer that Rusty was expecting the Garden of Eden is lucdacris.

 

CC's help me out please.....where did Rusty ever say there where no landfills in the US either?

 

Back off....this site is for communication from people's experience and creates a place to share. Rusty thank you for taking your time to share.

 

Don and you other nay-sayers, thank you....you are the reason I was disenfranchised from posting in the beginning, and you are the reason I may not come back to CC again!

 

This is an open forum, not a place for you to judge, chastize, and ridicule people's accounts. This forum is for information sharing, not information bagdering.

 

Again Rusty, thank you!

[Stillfloatin']

"He was quite wiggly and didn't have nothing bewtween his mouth and my arms but airspace and opportunity."

 

Thanks for the good laugh. You painted a perfect picture of holding the little guy! And thanks also for your review. I find that there is always something useful from an informative review, whether positive or mixed. I appreciate your efforts in posting.

[electricron]

Kudos Rusty for giving YOUR review, with emphasis on YOUR review.

You took to time to come onto CC and let everyone know YOUR opinion on YOUR cruise. Whether others found it to be detailed or vague, correct or incorrect, helpful or wasteful, it was YOUR account of YOUR cruise, and should not be chastized for content.

This is an open forum, not a place for you to judge, chastize, and ridicule people's accounts. This forum is for information sharing, not information bagdering.

Again Rusty, thank you!

 

So, who is doing the badgering now?

Isn't Don not allowed to express an opinion on Rusty"s review?

 

After reading his first post, one would think he experienced lousy service from everyone. Later, Rusty comes through and states he received excellent service from 99.9% of the crew. Even so, the one who gave him lousy service eventually came through with the correct colored tags. Who knows how much trouble the NCL person went through to get them, and how many other passengers were put off over all this trouble for just one?

 

Yet, Rusty doesn't even appreciate the trouble the NCL worker went through to please him, just reread the original post again. He criticized NCL for running out of a particular colored tags at the main desk. As if he never ran out of something in his life.

 

He is entitled to his opinion, so is Don. Don didn't erase his original post, it's still there for all to read. Haven't you read anyone reply on this forum that the review was great before? So what's wrong with someone replying that the review was lousy?

[above sea level cruiser]

So, who is doing the badgering now?

Isn't Don not allowed to express an opinion on Rusty"s review?

 

After reading his first post, one would think he experienced lousy service from everyone. Later, Rusty comes through and states he received excellent service from 99.9% of the crew. Even so, the one who gave him lousy service eventually came through with the correct colored tags. Who knows how much trouble the NCL person went through to get them, and how many other passengers were put off over all this trouble for just one?

 

Yet, Rusty doesn't even appreciate the trouble the NCL worker went through to please him, just reread the original post again. He criticized NCL for running out of a particular colored tags at the main desk. As if he never ran out of something in his life.

 

He is entitled to his opinion, so is Don. Don didn't erase his original post, it's still there for all to read. Haven't you read anyone reply on this forum that the review was great before? So what's wrong with someone replying that the review was lousy?

 

I believe posts #24 & #25 is a good indication that you can't have you cake and eat it too. You can't complain about how a poster posts and then do the same thing yourself. Don gripped about the OP's opinion of a port then a few posts later did the same thing himself. This thread is not that long. Before everyone looses their mind over what was said and to whom, I suggest people should go back and reread the entire thread.

 

At the end of the day, no one is wrong.

[Down-Unders]

Tip toes everybody..Don Haynes is here. Don't you dare have an honest opinion...just 100% postive ones.

 

Forgive me Don. You are right. Everything was 100% perfect. Everything. From the tippytop of the smokestack to the barnacles on the keel. Anything that I might have disliked or didn't think the world of was my fault. NCL did me favor by letting me spend my money and get on their ship.

 

I apologize for not making it clear enough that we didn't eat at Le Bistro's because we didn't like the menu, not the food. If I had it would have robbed you the opportunity to defend the cruise line. And even though I stated we toured Belize by bus and ATV, I was at fault for missing the spledor of a smelly landfill. My fau

 

I'm sorry I put both positive and negative things in my review. I didn't know you of all people would be reading. I'm so..so..sorry.

Please forgive me Don.

 

Well done for standing up for yourself, there are a few who think they will get extra perks from NCL if they act as cheerleaders. We had first hand experience of a couple who told the reception desk on the Dawn they should be treated better as they had so many positives posts on Cruise Critic. It appeared to be falling on deaf ears!

 

:) :)

[SailAways]

Duplicate post - sorry

[SailAways]

Well done for standing up for yourself, there are a few who think they will get extra perks from NCL if they act as cheerleaders. We had first hand experience of a couple who told the reception desk on the Dawn they should be treated better as they had so many positives posts on Cruise Critic. It appeared to be falling on deaf ears!

:) :)

 

It would seem that the longer and louder the cheerleaders beat their drums, an agenda is perceived, and they are taken less seriously than if they relaxed, and allowed others to voice an opinion.

 

OP is entitled to HIS opinions and has given a well balanced review.

 

Hang in there Rusty!:)

[jimc_usa]

Yes thanks Rusty for an honest review (opinion). I have been on many cruises and I have been treated very well, indifferent and sometimes quite badly. But I can brush off most innapropriate bad customer service, mostly it is not personal. But I hate to be thought of as being stupid, and you are right on the color of the tags. We both know that the wrong color tag no matter what is written on it - goes to the wrong place. (I always check my airline tag).

I have been to the western carribean twice and my views did not change, but remember they are third world countries. I have been to some US cities where it was hard to drive on the road because they were so bad. anyone remember John Rocker's opinion on New York? I thought it was pretty close to the truth, but he was lambasted. I guess you always have to be careful when you express an opinion even if it is a constitutional right!

[kwall17]

Appreciated the review. Will be on the Pearl in May and looking forward to a great trip.

 

My only comment is your statement about Belize. It is too bad that cruise passengers have to port in Belize City as I agree it is not a nice place. What you don't know is that any place outside of Belize City is fantastic. They have some of the best activities I have ever done from cave tubing to several Mayan ruins to the cayes and barrier reef. This is coming from someone who has been on 5 trips to Belize, never on a cruise. I have seen the cruise facilities when I took a voluntary bump on my flight and they put us up for a night at a hotel next to the cruise terminal. I would highly suggest a trip to Ambergris Caye or just about anyplace else in Belize to anyone. I can only say you probably missed something special by not taking an excursion that was outside Belize City. Also, the people of Belize are really warm, pleasant people and always strive for you to enjoy their country. Again, referring to areas away from Belize City

[mlbcruiser]

Great review, Rusty. I especially liked how you gave grades for everything. If you read these boards or any other similar board, you have no doubt realized that there are people that can't distinguish between a reviewer who just has problems w/every little thing on a ship and someone trying to give an overview, stating both positive and negative aspects to his/her cruise. Some people think you MUST ONLY say positive things. And yes, they do seem to get upset if you don't say everything was perfect on your cruise. This isn't fair. Almost nothing is perfect. You weren't saying you didn't enjoy this cruise. Seemed to me you tried to be fair.

 

Having said that, and maybe I because of my job (in which I have to deal w/customers a lot), my only suggestion is next time maybe you can think of a way to word your insistance/request, whatever, a bit better. The phraseology you used at the desk did seem sarcastic enough to elicit the response you got. As they say, you catch more flies w/honey! I'm not saying she shouldn't have gone the extra mile for you, or that she wasn't being lazy. (Did she have enough help to be leaving the desk to go search for the tags? Maybe she should have told you that she would find someone would bring them to you shortly?) I'm saying maybe just asking if you speak w/a supervisor would have been enough.

 

Thanks again for a super review!

[can'twaittogoagain]

Rusty Trombome: When you referrred to your balcony: framed versus unframed, could you tell us more, please? Were you able to sit on your balcony? I booked a BC yesterday, and now am wondering if we are really getting an OV with a larger window, which is not what I want. Thanks

[SailAways]

Great review, Rusty. I especially liked how you gave grades for everything. If you read these boards or any other similar board, you have no doubt realized that there are people that can't distinguish between a reviewer who just has problems w/every little thing on a ship and someone trying to give an overview, stating both positive and negative aspects to his/her cruise. Some people think you MUST ONLY say positive things. And yes, they do seem to get upset if you don't say everything was perfect on your cruise. This isn't fair. Almost nothing is perfect. You weren't saying you didn't enjoy this cruise. Seemed to me you tried to be fair.

Having said that, and maybe I because of my job (in which I have to deal w/customers a lot), my only suggestion is next time maybe you can think of a way to word your insistance/request, whatever, a bit better. The phraseology you used at the desk did seem sarcastic enough to elicit the response you got. As they say, you catch more flies w/honey! I'm not saying she shouldn't have gone the extra mile for you, or that she wasn't being lazy. (Did she have enough help to be leaving the desk to go search for the tags? Maybe she should have told you that she would find someone would bring them to you shortly?) I'm saying maybe just asking if you speak w/a supervisor would have been enough.

Thanks again for a super review!

 

The phraseology did not seem sarcastic IMHO, any more than the responses which OP received from a person who should have been able to help him without causing undue stress at all, as proven by her later tearful appearance.

She clearly goofed up here. She should have apologized for not being able to locate the correct color tags, stating that she would follow up on this as soon as possible, and deliver said tags to his cabin, or something to this effect.

Are we to believe if Rusty had used different phraseology, he would have gotten the correctly colored tag? This is the gist of the entire complaint. He did not want to chance loosing his luggage. It seems that the girl he had this exchange with did not conduct her responses in a professional manner at all.

Why continue to negate the importance of the tags?. No one wants to lose luggage - even on a cruise ship, or perhaps especially on a cruise ship.