Cruise Critic Sold!

[Jane110]

Congratulations on this sale! Kudos to you!

 

Now that Cruise Critic has been sold to Trip Advisor, I hope it doesn't affect our fashion board. There's no fashion board on Trip Advisor.

 

Any changes we should anticipate?

 

Jane

[Lois R]

Hi Jane, good to see you:)

 

I saw Laura posted a thread about the sale.

 

A question for you:) how was your 2 night pre-Inaurgural on

Liberty?

Did you have a nice 2 days? I have a few friends who were

on the ship as well they had alot of fun:)

I know you don't sail Royal so just wondered about your

thoughts on the ship and the entire experience.

[Happy ks]

Only time will tell!

 

If TripAdvisor is wise about it, they will allow CC to continue as they have for years past.

 

Hi, Jane110 and Lois :)

[karen sharpe]

I wonder what the cash exchange was??!! I imagine Kathleen Tucker will be taking a nice trip.:D

[Host Star]

Congratulations on this sale! Kudos to you!

 

Now that Cruise Critic has been sold to Trip Advisor, I hope it doesn't affect our fashion board. There's no fashion board on Trip Advisor.

 

Any changes we should anticipate?

 

Jane

 

no changes at all!!.. business as usual!!!!!.. Cruise Critic will remain intact as Cruise Critic!...Our Fashion board can only enhance Trip Advisor:D

[derf5585]

no changes at all!!.. business as usual!!!!!.. Cruise Critic will remain intact as Cruise Critic!...Our Fashion board can only enhance Trip Advisor:D

 

When one company takes over another they always SAY that nothing will change. But guess what. Things always change when someone is taken over. Maybe knot wright away but it wll happen

[caviargal]

I love Trip Advisor and use it often. Their forums for Europe are excelllent.

 

There are often fashion related threads there so perhaps they add a forum just for that:).

[ChefPeg]

When one company takes over another they always SAY that nothing will change. But guess what. Things always change when someone is taken over. Maybe knot wright away but it wll happen

 

I agree:rolleyes: !

[Jane110]

Hi Jane, good to see you:)

 

I saw Laura posted a thread about the sale.

 

A question for you:) how was your 2 night pre-Inaurgural on

Liberty?

Did you have a nice 2 days? I have a few friends who were

on the ship as well they had alot of fun:)

I know you don't sail Royal so just wondered about your

thoughts on the ship and the entire experience.

 

HI Lois,

 

Nice to see you too!

 

If you go to the RCCL board, the meet and greet, for the May 7th inaugural, you can see the comments I made about the ship, though it wasn't a full review.

Since everyone was an invited guest, it's hard to determine what would be different. The passengers are skewed differently.

 

Overall, DH and I had a great time! The ship is beautiful, though a bit "glitzy" for my personal taste, but I think it works well for what it is. The Ice show was amazing and in general, I think the entertainment is outstanding. The gym is fabulous.

 

The food was good, not stellar. It had its high and low points. The beds and the bedding are wonderful, really high end and the bathroom was pretty. Big fluffy towels. However the cabin itself is what I would expect in a 3 star hotel. It was too narrow and therefore felt cramped. DH said he'd have a hard time spending a whole week in it. Our balcony had two chairs and a tiny table, no chaise. No toiletries except for a bar of soap and shampoo in a pump attached to the shower wall. I loved the curved clear shower door. No curtain to get in the way! Another huge plus was a decent hairdryer that was in the vanity drawer and not attached to the bathroom wall. Someone was thinking, finally!

 

Honestly, I probably wouldn't cruise with them because they're a real family oriented line and I have no desire to vacation with hundreds (or thousands) of children. However, I have already recommended the ship to 3 couples I know who have young kids who are already looking into it for next year. I think it's absolutely perfect for them, as long as they take a suite.

 

Jane

[Jane110]

Only time will tell!

 

If TripAdvisor is wise about it, they will allow CC to continue as they have for years past.

 

Hi, Jane110 and Lois :)

 

 

I like Trip Advisor alot so it'll be interesting to see what influence they have.

 

So how was your cruise on the Liberty?

[Happy ks]

Jane I could have written your words myself! Only we didn't have the pleasure of a balcony cabin. A few years ago, I never would have missed it, but now I suppose I'm becoming a balcony "snob". These durned hot flashes are the real reason, I suffocate in an inside cabin. While we loved the bed, we weren't crazy for the comforter, too stiff and heavy, I like a lightweight blanket.

 

I cracked up at your "glitzy" comment. While some of it was a bit over the top for us, it's hardly anywhere near what we saw on our one and only Carnival cruise. I think they have the neon light industry cornered! There were a couple of places I wouldn't want to be in with other people at all, one place was a bar, I think it was called the Catacombs, I was claustrophobic in there when it was empty!

 

I loved being on this ship at this time, without children onboard. But, I kind of feel like you do, our kids are teens and I really don't want to hang with young families any more. But, I agree with you, it's a great ship for families and would work well for family reunions or large special interest groups. I would not hesitate to recommend it to people.

 

We tried our best to see as much of the ship as possible. They had a cabin viewing so we went to nearly all of those, the suites are gorgeous. The ocean view were fairly small, we didn't see the regular balcony cabins. The only interior cabin we viewed was a handicapped cabin, it was large and well appointed.

 

We spent a lot of time on the upper decks and in the promenade, my husband loved the gym, but they made him keep his T-shirt on while running on the treadmill. Not that he's a fan of wife-beater T's, but he sure wished he would have had one to run in. I spent some time reading in the adult solarium, it was so windy you were blown away on the outside decks.

 

The food was fairly good most of the time for us. I think I've just learned what to order and what to avoid (chicken) on cruise ships. We never ate in the buffet, but we did have a slice of pizza the first afternoon, it was OK, we had a salad to go with it, the freshest salad I've ever had on a cruise ship, out of a salad bowl, not pre-prepared and held chilled in a single serve bowl.

 

We had a great time, good company and the drinks really flowed, being free and all :) . We met a lot of CC people and made a few new friends, our new TA was onboard, he's great fun and a couple people I had met before. The only entertainment we attended was the piano bar guy, I can't remember his name :o , he's very popular. (Matt Yee?)

 

We're very pleased and grateful to have been invited.

 

Wow, this ended up almost being a review :rolleyes:

[Lois R]

Hi Kathy and Jane:) thanks for the mini-review!

 

Kathy, your TA was there? The guy you talked about when

we were at dinner in March?

How neat is that:)

 

2 nights of FREE EVERYTHING sounds good to me;)

[Steamboatin]

Question

 

When I look at Trip Advisory's web page I see nothing pertaining to cruising.

 

Will this purchase of Cruise Critics now change this and Trip Advisory will now expand to include cruise info on their web site?

 

Please advise.

[caviargal]

I agree with Jane and Kathy re the Liberty. VERY nice to be on an RCI ship sans kids, and she is pretty, albeit glitzy.

 

Food average but what I expect from RCI, and cabins nice but on the small side.

 

There were not quite 2800 on our cruise and it makes me cringe to think of adding 1000 more, especially since most would be kids and teens and the entire ambiance would change. It has been years since I have been on RCI and not overwhelmed by the volume of kids aboard. This ship is a kid magnet, just as intended.

 

Great ship for families looking for maximum # of activities, a casual atmosphere, and food that comparable to chains here in the states.

 

Azamara Journey was next to us and I found myself looking longingly at her, though I know the first 1-2 cruises were not stellar on any level.