Galaxy March 7/08 10 nights in SS1212 with kids?

[BrightIS]

Hello all,

 

We took our very first cruise on RCI Explorer of the Seas in 2003, 2 seven night cruises back to back, East and West Caribbean. We enjoyed it but found the food bland and suffered a little from sea sickness (tropical storm).

 

After a nearly 5 year gap, we have booked a 10 night southern Caribbean cruise out of SJ on Galaxy. We have SS 1212 for myself and my wife and an inside cabin across the hall for our 12 and 15 year old.

 

We travel a fair bit, usually land trips to Hawaii, various parts of US and Canada.

 

We have decided to avoid to large, glitzy ships as frankly, we are a little boring ourselves and prefer quiet elegance over large crowds and loud situations.

 

All the reviews of the Sky Suites with their large balconies sound great and it sounds like all 4 of us can catch rays etc in private.

 

My questions:

1- food is obviously very much an individual taste, but do you find Celebrity flavours and offerings more varied compared to RCI?

 

2 - the condition of Galaxy is much discussed. I don't mind wear. Many fine old hotels have much wear bit are still wonderful (Chateau Laurier in Ottawa where I live for example). However, my main concern is cleanliness and smell. My wife hates moldy or smelly places. Thoughts?

 

3 - Smoking. We are non-smokers and really dislike second hand smoke. Is smoking commen-place? Do the public areas smell smokey?

 

4 - I believe the Oasis Cafe is an alternative to the main dining room. Is this correct? How does it rate?

 

5 - St. Maartin - the Zip Line/forest experience at Loterie Farm. Anyone have good/bad comments? Sounds like something my kids would love.

 

6 - Any suggestions on a good hotel in SJ before the cruise on the beach?

 

Thanks so much.

[Lois R]

Hi, Did you say you booked March 7th? We have a roll call

started for this cruise...please pop over there and say hello!

 

As for the ship, I have sailed both Mercury and Century (same

class ship) but this will be my 1st time on Galaxy:) Seems there

are always debates about each ship. I have no worries and I know

I will have a great time:D And one of the folks on the Roll Call is

in a cabin near ya'll....I know they have a suite 12 something LOL cannot recall exactly which cabin.

 

Food is always subjective (always)! I have enjoyed the food

on all my sailings but cannot compare to RCCL them because I have only

been on one Royal Ship and that was 4 years ago.

 

Alternative Dining is upstairs and is where you sit down and are served and it is casual. They do request reservations and a 2.00 per person gratuity is suggested.

 

Again, hope you come say hello on the Roll Call!:)

[PatC]

Hi

 

We sailed Galaxy last March in SS 1218 and loved it. The balcony is much larger than other cabins on the M class ships. As for the ship, yes, she's a bit older and we'd sailed her when she was new, but it was wonderful

 

Wear and tear won't ruin our vacation and although there are some, repairs and upgrades have been ongoing for a long time. They have replaced much of the bedding and as far as cleanliness it was spotless on our trip. Our butler was Elvis and I can't say enough about him and how well he treated us.

 

The Oasis Cafe was fine. Food was cafe food but and grill outdid themselves. We loved the hot dogs and hamburgers, sausages and chicken breasts, and the fries were great. We're not much for these items but when we hit the deck we head for the grill.

 

Had the best bartender at sea at the Sky Bar - Orville. I don't know if he's still with the ship but he was top notch.

 

I hear they've done more updates on the ship and that can only make it better.

 

Only negative I have is that the staff at the customer relations desk were not of great use at any time. The shore excursion desk was always empty, not that we needed it often, but when we did try to request a trip from the ship we never received a reply from them nor a reason why the trip wasn't available. Not much "human" contact. Of course we book our excursions from home well in advance but did think if we opted for another one while on the ship we'd have better service. This is the first time on Celebrity that we had this problem, although it wasn't much of a problem to speak of.

 

All in all we'd sail this ship again. She's just the right size for us, even though we do love the M class on Celebrity. We're actually thinking about trying the Solstice but are still up in the air because of the size.

 

Enjoy your cruise - you'll love Galaxy.

 

Pat C

[Lsimon]

We were on the Galaxy last February, and have some pictures on our web site with the link below. We were in one of the CC rooms at the end of the hall by the Sky deck sky suites. This is a wonderful area. Do be aware that the deck above is open for walking, so others can look down on your balcony and see the outer 2/3 of it. So you won't have absolute privacy there unless you're in the 1/3 closest to the door.

 

For the most part the common areas are not smokey. There are a couple of lounges where smoking is allowed on one side, so if you are on that side it might be a little smokey, but not bad on the other side. We really dislike smoke and were not bothered, except a couple of occasional times when smokers sat on the wrong side of an outdoor deck. We don't gamble, but do find the casino is often smokey when we have to walk through.

 

We've taken 7 Celebrity cruises, and only one RCL cruise. To our tastes we like Celebrity a lot more. The only food we personally don't care for much is lunch in the main buffet line. But there are lots of great options for lunch including pizza & pasta by the aft Oasis pool, the grill serving hamburgers, hot dogs, and other specials each day, a specialty sandwich area, and a small salad bar.

 

We never ran into any moldy or smelly areas. There has been a lot of refurbishment done since some negative threads were written a year or two ago. I think the biggest indications of her age that we noticed were small things like lots of coats of paint on the deck railing supports - not at all a big deal. Items of more concern, like carpeting and upholstery were in very good condition in most areas.

 

Yes, the Oasis cafe is an alternative to the main dining room. But be aware that the main buffet is not open at dinner time. Instead, they have casual dining there with waiters for dinner with a limited menu which repeats every few days. They ask you to make reservations and charge $2/pp for this service. Other options for alternative dinner include the limited buffet areas of Pizza, Pasta and Salads set up though the evenings and they also add a Sushi bar in the evening (great for a pre-dinner snack to hold you over for late seating).

 

We always go to the beach in St. Martin. They have fantastic beaches there!

 

There are some nice resort hotels in the San Juan area. But we chose to stay in Old San Juan. Old San Juan is the old downtown area, where the fort (El Morro) and shopping districts are, lots of pretty sights to see. It is also the area where the cruise ships stop when San Juan is a port of call. We stayed at the El Convento - a wonderful hotel in a historic building that was formerly a Convent. Very nice rooms building and facilities, but not like a typical modern hotel. I'd highly recommend it although it is a bit pricey - there is a pre-cruise special on their web site that you have to ask for over the phone (wasn't available for online booking). Another popular hotel is the Sheraton right on the water front by the piers used for the port-of-call stops (but not for the Galaxy embarkation - that is at the Pan Am Pier a short cab ride away). I'd recommend planning at least an afternoon in Old San Juan the day before your cruise. We stayed 2 nights pre-cruise which was perfect.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

Hi!

 

My husband and I will be staying in 1209. Luckily it's on the other side of the ship, since he does like his cigars!

 

We like staying at Caribe Hilton pre-cruise. It gets mixed reviews sometimes, but we have only had good experiences there. It's very tropical and gets you in the mood for the cruise. We've also stayed at the Ritz for a wedding, which was also wonderful.

 

Come join our roll-call!

 

Donna :)

[Hflors]

We did Galaxy this past March and are booked this comiing February. This ship is wonderful. We do not like smoke either, but never had a problem with it.

 

A good hotel to stay in SJ is Caribe Hilton. Wonderful. It has it's own beach and also a wonderful pool area. Very nice rest. We stayed two nights and loved it. We are going to be staying three nights in FEb.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

I forgot to mention the food. We sailed RCCL 2 years ago, and I found the food just a notch below Celebrity. Celebrity's dishes seem to be a little more interesting and varied, while I found RCCL slightly bland.

 

Donna

[BrightIS]

Thanks for all your replies and helpful information. I will check out the Hilton Carib.

 

We have been to SJ before when on our previous cruise. We really enjoyed Old San Juan and I am looking forward to a day or 2 exploring before the cruise.

 

I will check out the roll call.