First a bit of background. We have traveled throughout the world and have eaten in both the northern and southern parts of Italy. There is a difference in cuisine in both parts, but we couldn’t figure out which part of Italy the food on the Lirica represented. We have never eaten bland food in Italy.

Breakfast/Colazione
We usually ate in Bussola for breakfast. We tried most of what was on the menu in the interest of providing feedback on this blog. Don’t expect the selection of pastries that you would be offered on the NCL ships. What was offered was typical of an Italian breakfast – lots of breads. A cheese plate is a daily option for accompanying the breads.

Toast seems to be something unknown to the staff here. Although there are full-size pieces of bread on offer, these for some reason are not possible to use as toast. Whenever I asked for toast with my eggs, I received several cocktail-sized pieces of bread. These aren’t convenient for egg dipping. Even worse was the fact that I requested wheat bread, even tried calling it brown bread, but still never received anything but cocktail white, even though there were slices of brown bread on the tray that comes around daily.

The breakfast menu is a good one with pancakes, eggs, waffles, hot and cold cereals, yogurt, cheese and more. Most of the food was satisfactory, although the scrambled eggs that we had were watery, except for on departure day, when that is the only type of egg offered. Mine were acceptably firm on that day. The oatmeal leaves much to be desired and my request for brown sugar elicited a shocked response from the server.

Lunch/Pranzo
We also usually ate lunch in Bussola, although we also had pizza, hotdogs, burgers and le Bistrot food as well. We especially liked the ice cream in the dining room. This is the only place where ice cream is free. The food was edible, but we occasionally encountered problems with the pizza and hamburger place.

On one day, the only meal option on a port day was the hamburger and hotdog place. I took my place in line and when I reached the bun bin I found that there were only hotdog buns. Wrongly assuming that the hamburger buns simply needed to be replenished, I asked the grill cook if he would get some more hamburger buns. He brusquely replied that there were no hamburgers. How could there not be hamburgers? People in line were not happy about this, not only because the line was getting long, but also because there were no hotdogs available at the time either. Those would take a few more minutes. We ended up having the hotdogs with fries, which tasted fine. We wondered how the one place that served food at this time would not be adequately supplied with food. It made no sense to us.

We also tried lunch in Le Bistrot. (We still don’t know why it is spelled this odd way.) Roast beef was the carving of the day, so I hesitantly tried it knowing my experience with beef on this ship.(Read about that in the dinner section.) I requested medium rare and wasn’t shocked when the only way that I could have the beef was well-done. I took some just to try it and of course, it was dried out and well-done. I also tried a cheese pasta. It was cold, so I didn’t eat more than the first bite.

The pizza place might be more popular if the staff behind the counter weren’t so surly. On that day we had just picked at our food from the buffet, so we decided to try the pizza since we were still hungry and didn’t think that we could survive until our second dinner seating. We found that there were a few types of pizza made and grabbed a piece of the cheese pizza, which was cold. We returned to see if anything else had been made and the guy behind the counter snarled saying that it would be out in 10 minutes. Now just the other day, this same guy was having a heated discussion with a person who appeared to be his boss. Certainly this should have been done outside of a public area, but management obviously feels differently. And from this guy’s attitude, it seems that he deserved a lashing.

We returned later for the fresh pizza and were disappointed to find that the pizza guy made one type of pizza only – bacon. BACON!!! This is surely the most popular flavor of pizza in the world. We grabbed a few pieces not wanting to see if he might make a different variety of pizza. We noticed that he had pulled all the labels from the counter that indicated which type of pizza was on the plate. We didn’t bother with the pizza again. It really shouldn’t be so difficult to get a warm piece of pizza with a more traditional topping.

Dinner/Cena
Not being a fish lover, I usually opt for beef. Big mistake on this ship. It took me until almost the last day to figure out that if you want meat that isn’t well-done that you need to request that it is cooked rare, so that it comes out medium. Most of the cuts of beef were thin, which Bugsy said is how his Italy-raised mother prepared meat in her home. Well-done and thinly sliced made him hate beef and dread having to eat steak for dinner. The food totally lacked spices. One day I did try a lamb curry which was good and had some spice, but spice must be an expensive commodity for this ship.

Fish seems a good bet, although don’t expect the Cajun fish to have any spices in it. Another good bet, which consistently tasted good is the risotto. The portions are large enough to make that the main course and be satisfied.

My comments about the food and the fact that I rarely ate more than a few bites made our table mates think that I was a picky eater. I really am not, but I sure don’t want to ingest excessive calories when I am not really enjoying the food.

On the last formal night, lobster was on the menu. Not one person at our table enjoyed the lobster as it was tough. It would be better to not even put it on the menu if it is of inferior quality.

Overall, the food was disappointing. It was definitely edible, but certainly not notable. The presentation was always good. It’s too bad that the quality of the food didn’t equal the presentation.

I especially don’t want to waste the calories that come with dessert. I found most of the desserts to have odd textures, and I have issues with texture along with lots of other issues.
Ice cream is the best choice, although the chocolate pecan pie, which was a lunch choice was the best dessert that I had.

Food is a very personal issue and I did meet some folks on the cruise who thought that the food was very good. Perhaps they were on a bland diet. I was not.

Next Time: More on the food on the MSC Lirica

Sail Away

We found plenty of space to store our belongings and an adequate amount of hangers in the closet. Too bad that our luggage wouldn’t arrive until later. As we had already eaten lunch, we decided to explore the ship, but first I checked out the bathroom. The toilet seat looked like it had been through several battles with claws. Perhaps a dog had inhabited this stateroom before us. Two of the floor tiles were scratched and cracked. Neither of these things bothered me as much as the dark hairs that covered the floor. I had read numerous times about the cleanliness of the ship. Maybe that only referred to the public areas. I called and requested that the floor be cleaned. Obviously, it wasn’t thoroughly cleaned after the previous occupants left. The housekeeping person assured me that it had been cleaned and that I was wrong, but would send somebody to look at it.

We went to the top of the ship hoping to find a suitable spot for walking. There is a jogging track, but you had better keep your elbows close to your body and watch out for all the others standing in the middle of the track. We don’t run, but enjoy walking and wish that all ships had a nice promenade deck, which this one lacked.

The gym, although small, comes equipped with decent equipment. It’s necessary to sign a release before you are allowed to use any of the equipment, a new concept to us. Right next to the gym is a relaxation room from which you can access a sauna and steam room. The spa is just outside the gym and consists of only five treatment rooms. Unlike other ships, there were no spa tours or drawings taking place.

Our tour was interrupted by the muster drill, which was done in five languages – English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. This takes place on Deck 6, which looks like it might have a promenade deck. Don’t be fooled. This deck stops at the stern and bow, so would only be good for doing short turn-around walks.

The ship itself is very pleasant with an understated, but elegant decor, which we found quite pleasing. The areas seemed well maintained and clean. We found the Lord Nelson’s Lounge quite overwhelming with a strong stench of tobacco smoke. After all, it is a designated smoking lounge, but it’s necessary to walk through it to get to the Broadway Theatre.

Next time: The Food on the Lirica

Sail Away

Although we had booked an ordinary ocean view cabin, we got an upgrade to a Superior Ocean View, cabin 9572. What a bonus that was. Our stateroom seemed palatial. The Monarch is an older ship and it’s easy to see and compare the high style of the era when it was built with more modern ships. We found the ship clean, pleasantly decorated and very easy to navigate.

Once we dropped our carry-on in our rooms, we headed to the Windjammer for lunch and were struck by the difference between this buffet and the Market Cafe on the NCL Star. There were tables of all sizes arranged at different angles throughout the dining area. The many food stations offered every type of food, including lots of Asian obviously to appeal to that significant component of passengers. We tried the Asian, which was tasty. The only time we do buffet is when there is no other option, but we weren’t disappointed with this.

Monarch has a marketplace set up where you can get samples of food from the specialty restaurants, samples from the liquor store and demonstrations of products. They also have a raffle giving passenger one entry for each of the individual booths that they visit. We had nothing to do, so attended this and entered into the drawings.
I won something, but more about that later.

To win something, you had to attend an event in the theater, which was followed by a shopping seminar. At the first draw, I won a game of bingo. Not really my cup of tea, but I did go attend the big event. Of course, I didn’t win. There are lots of complaints about the cost of bingo and the poor payout for the games. I am always amazed at how much people spend on bingo, but that is because I am neither a big gambler or addicted to bingo. Obviously bingo makes huge profits for the cruise lines.

Not being big shoppers, or maybe I should say, not being jewelry shoppers, we weren’t sure if we would learn anything here or be interested in what they had to say. We noticed that the crowd expected to get prizes from the shopping guide who had several things to give away. He simply asked people to raise their hands if they wanted something. He should have paid attention because he gave one woman several prizes. That seemed a poor way to distribute his stock. We sat way in the back and would never been within tossing range of a prize.

What I did learn from this seminar is that you can get VIP certificates from the shopping consultant. One just happened to be for very good rates at the spa. This came as a surprise and I never would have expected the shopping consultant to offer such good rates. So, if you want a good deal on spa services, you might want to consider sitting through the presentation or even tracking down the shopping consultant. On the other hand, if you are a big shopper, you will see the shopping consultant frequently.

More next time.

Sail Away

Some of these old maritime laws protected the shipping industry in the US. As far as the PSA, it seems to apply to the transport of passengers from one point to another. Those laws apparently applied to ferries and it makes sense that we don’t want foreign flagged ships to infringe on the passenger ship business. But, how many people go on cruises and use them as a ferry?

Take for example the ships that are part of the Alaska Ferry System. Of course those should be US flagged ships. They provide transportation, unlike cruise ships, which although they move, aren’t really used to get from point A to point B. They are large recreational vehicles that offer an experience to passengers, not transportation per se.

Proponents of these laws say that they take away US jobs and contribute nothing to the economy. So, as an example, does that mean that the foreign flagged ships that sail from LA to the Hawaii Islands have no effect on the economy or local jobs? Who provides dock services to these ships? How do the passengers get to LA? Do they stay in hotels, eat the food, rent cars, visit attractions? I am not convinced.

It seems time to re-evaluate this antiquated law. How hard is it to separate cruise lines from cargo vessels and the laws that apply to them? Ok, end of being political.

NCL recently decided to pull the Pride of Aloha from the Hawaiian waters supposedly because these foreign-flagged ships offered too much competition. What do those passengers who had reservations beyond the May withdrawal date do?

The following is from the NCL website:

Guests booked on Pride of Aloha
For guests booked on Pride of Aloha from May 11, 2008 and beyond, NCL is holding space and will offer the same cruise fare as they currently have paid on their Pride of Aloha cruise if they would like to transfer to the same week on Pride of America, departing one day earlier. In addition:
-Guests will receive a $100 per person on-board credit (up to $200 per stateroom).
-For guests who made their air and/or hotel arrangements through NCL, NCL will protect the rates they currently have paid and cover any air or hotel change fees.
-For guests who purchased their own air, NCL will protect up to the first $100 per person of any increase in air costs and cover up to $75 per person in air change fees.
-For guests who made independent hotel arrangements, NCL will cover any hotel change fees up to $25 per person.

Guests may book any other NCL cruise and receive a $100 per person on-board credit (up to $200 per stateroom) if they rebook by March 7, 2008. In addition, NCL will cover up to $75 per person in air change fees and up to $25 per person in hotel change fees. Guests may cancel their cruise and receive a full refund if NCL is notified by March 7, 2008. In addition, NCL will cover up to $75 per person in air change fees and up to $25 per person in hotel change fees. After March 7, 2008 cancellation fees will apply in accordance with NCL’s cancellation policy.

On our NCL Star cruise, we booked a future cruise onboard, planning on taking a Hawaii cruise. We found the cruise that visited Fanning Island intriguing. That is not an option though and it looks like the only option that we would have would be on the Pride of America. Better start looking at other itineraries. At least, we got an onboard credit and a reduced deposit. So much for planning ahead.

Sail Away

Back to the guarantee cabin
Perhaps this should have a different name like the Take a Chance cabin or Try Your Luck cabin. When you book a guarantee cabin, you first find the particular category of cabin that you like. In this example, we will select an outside guarantee. By booking this, we are guaranteed an outside cabin in at least the same category the we selected. Let’s say that we chose a guarantee Category G stateroom. Before I make that choice, I look at the deck plans and see which deck the Category G staterooms are on. If they are on Deck 3 and I want to be on Deck 5 or higher, then I would not go with a guarantee in that category. Although I could get moved to Deck 5 where the Category C cabins are, I have to assume that I will get the deck and stateroom category that I have originally chosen and paid for.

Of course, I am going to hope that I get moved to a higher category. But, a higher category is a relative term. On one cruise we selected an inside guarantee. We moved up several categories from what we original booked, but those categories where all within the inside cabin designation. What makes a certain category of the same cabin style an upgrade is often rather subjective. In our case, our big category jump was because the inside cabin was on a higher deck. We were fine with that.

Sometimes, it is possible to get a guarantee and get upgraded from one cabin style to another, but don’t count on it. When you select a guarantee, the cruise line will assign you a cabin. When you get your cabin assignment, you can’t expect to go back to them and request a change because you don’t like the location, the type of category or because you are superstitious and don’t want a cabin with the number that you received.

For those who want a specific location on the ship, the guarantee is definitely not the way to go. For those who are flexible and find it worth saving a few bucks for their flexibility, the guarantee cabin may be a good risk. Just remember that as long as you are happy with the original cabin that you selected and would be happy with any type or location of a cabin in that same category style; you can’t go wrong with the guarantee.

Sail Away.

Have you considered sailing on the Queen Mary 2? A few dates offer the low rate of just $899*) You can sail Eastbound (from NYC to Southampton) for this rate on April 16, April 28, May 10, and June 8. Westbound sailings on May 4 and June 2, 2008. Book at Cruise Bug Vacations.*This rate is a base fare.

Onboard activities rank high for many cruise ship passengers. Cruise directors develop new activities or borrow them from other ships. One of the ubiquitous activities is Quest. We had heard about this adult activity described in a cryptic way. Fellow passengers claimed it indescribable. Curiosity got the best of us, so we decided to see for ourselves exactly what this game entailed.

When we reached the spot where Quest would take place, we found plenty of people already seated. Knowing very little about this activity, but enough to know better than to participate; we sat away from the forming teams. The assistant cruise director asked for 5-6 people for each team that must include both male and females. A few people immediately formed teams, but for this game to work well, there needed to be several more teams. We watched as unwitting participants were persuaded to join the remaining teams that lacked for members.

The assistant CD explained the rules, noting that it was legal and encouraged that team members use the audience to help them fulfill their quests. The first team that fulfilled the requirement got the most points with the following teams receiving a lesser amount of points.

The first quest was to find a copy of the Freestyle Daily (we did this on the NCL Star). A woman seated in front of us flagged down a participant and pulled the requested item from her purse. She also told the person seeking the item that she had some other items.Obviously, this person had observed Quest before, and felt a need to come again supplied with whatever objects a team might find useful. The game proceeded and this woman donated enough items. Guess that passengers can participate in Quest in anyway that they want.

It’s no surprise that some of the objects or requested actions were risqué and tasteless. The final Quest involved a man from each team wearing women’s shoes and a bra and carrying a purse. The official judges did not choose the winner by the applause of the audience, which was supposedly the criterium to select the winner. The contestant that the official judges chose actually received the least amount of applause from the audience.

For all of their public humiliation, the winning team members won something like a key chain. One visit to Quest was enough for us. It was offered on another ship and we declined to attend. However, if you enjoy seeing people in various states of undress performing strange acts; you might enjoy Quest.

Maritime Quest
photo courtesy of Cunard

Don’t expect this Quest to be similar to the above described. This Quest is a heritage trail that describes the history of Cunard from the 1840′s to the building of the QM2. Definitely don’t expect to find the former Quest as an activity on any of the Queens.

Know your ship and its demographics. I recently heard a woman expressing disappointment that the ship she sailed included such things as the hairy chest contest as an activity. Because of this, she said that she would never cruise again. Had she done some research in advance, perhaps she would have figured that this particular cruise line was not a good match for her. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to realize that all passengers are not required to attend the hairy-leg contest. It’s optional.

If you find an activity offensive or just not to your taste; just don’t participate. Even the ship with the hairy-chest contest had plenty of other activities.

Sail Away

Having only seen photos of this huge ship, I had some idea what I might expect and I would say that my imagination and reality converged rather nicely. Unfortunately, the tour of the ship was quick and not all-inclusive, but reinforced my desire to sail on this ship one day soon.

We enjoyed a quick lunch that included a mushroom bisque, tenderloin and a decadent bread pudding. My meat was cooked to perfection. I only regret that lunch was more of a marathon than a nice relaxing meal because the event took longer than expected.

Equipped with my camera in hand, I got a few shots of some of the areas that I visited.

The Chart Room

G32 Bar

Britannia

Grand Lobby

Illuminations

The Queen’s Room

On Wednesday, January 23, Carnival is having a sale on 3-7 day cruises from the West Coast. Get a good fare and possible onboard credits as well. Book early for best selection of cabins.

A recent article article on CNN lists 13 suggestions for saving money on a cruise. These tips were offered by experienced cruisers and travel agents. Some of the tips make good sense and seem reasonable, but the validity of others needs to be questioned.

My suggestion is that some of these need to be qualified or totally ignored. You need to refer to the article to understand my comments.

#2 – In most cases this is correct and the agent rightfully states that just because you are buying air travel through the cruise line, doesn’t necessarily mean that the ship will wait for you if your plane is late. This is a common misconception that you should be aware of if you book your flights through the cruise line thinking that they will wait for you if you have a delay. If a flight is several minutes late and there are many passengers on the same flight, the ship might wait. But, what if you are delayed for 10 hours? The ship has a schedule and can’t delay departure for late arrivals. They will take care of getting you to the next port if you booked through them. On some itineraries, the next port could mean missing a few days of the cruise.

There are times when having the air travel included is a deal, such as when you book late and airfares are high anyway. The cruise line might have a better fare. Cruise fares that include free air might also work out cheaper. So don’t totally rule out buying the air travel with the cruise.

#7 – Private tours usually do save you money and we usually choose this option. Keep in mind that if you arrive back to the dock late, you may see the shipping sailing away into the sunset.

#9- Huh? Why does a VIP need an upgrade to start with? Wouldn’t they already be booked in the highest category cabin? I am certain that agents and cruise lines will love all the requests for upgrades from every VIP and his brother who took this tip to heart. Then again, the veteran cruiser says it works for him. Maybe it’s a coincidence. We have been upgraded a few categories when booking both guaranteed cabins and the cabin of our choice. I suspect that there could be another reason for these upgrades. All cruise lines know for a fact that if a passenger likes the cruise, they will cruise again. They don’t need an agent to tell them this.

#11 – The price of soda packages varies from one cruise line to another. Figure out how much soda you drink and what that would cost buying individual cans.(The soda package usually gets you soda from a fountain, not cans.) You might find that you actually spend more with a soda package.

#12 – We found low-end wines on our Monarch cruise priced in the low $20′s. If you like better wines, you may be better off bringing some from home and paying the corkage fee. (If you are flying, remember that you aren’t permitted to pack this in your carry-on.)

On that same Monarch cruise, we had the tequila and beer that we had purchased in Mexico on the cruise immediately preceding this one, quickly confiscated as we went through security. It was held and returned to us on the last night. If you read the fine print on Royal Caribbean, you will notice that violating their “no booze” policy could be reason for denied boarding.

I agree with the other suggestions offered and will add a few of my own:

-If you are tight on money and get along well with your friends and/or family, book a room that can hold four people. There are often specials for 3rd and 4th passengers and sometimes kids sail free.

-Check fares on a regular basis. Amazing fares come and go. Last fall, I found a fare of $99 for two weeks on NCL in South America. Too bad that I had already made final payment for another cruise.

-Gather a bunch of friends and family to qualify for a group fare and free berth. Spread the savings amongst the group or take the free berth yourself.

Do you have any money saving tips?

Sail Away

Divided into basically three regions, the Caribbean offers something for everybody. The Eastern Caribbean itineraries include such islands as St. John, St. Thomas, St. Maarten/Martin, the Turks and Caicos, and Puerto Rico. The advantages of this itinerary are that the distances between the islands aren’t that great and several of these islands belong to the US, which comforts those who seek the familiar infrastructure of home.

St. Thomas

Don’t even think that just because these islands are relatively close geographically, that any of the islands are carbon copies of one another. Although there are some similarities, there are also plenty of differences to keep them interesting. Hiking along a trail to a secluded beach or experiencing nature at its finest is the draw of St. John. Shopping abounds at St. Thomas, although a plethora of alternate activities await those who leave the downtown area. Watching a bird show, kayaking the inlet or walking underwater are just a few of the non-shopping activities that attract St. Thomas visitors. Sharing an island and coexisting peacefully are St. Maarten (Dutch) and St. Martin (French). A tour around the island will highlight the differences on the two sides. The French side has many beaches, some of which are topless. The Dutch side has its beaches as well. Try the famous local liqueur called guavaberry.

The Western Caribbean includes Mexico, the Caymans, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Belize, Honduras and the Florida Keys. Looking to explore ancient Maya ruins? Go ashore and explore Cozumel, Tulum and inland Belize. Trek through the jungles and listen for the varied and prolific bird life that inhabits this spectacular area.
Tulum

Spend some time on the beaches. In the Caymans, swim with the rays, an absolutely different and unusual experience that gets you up close and personal with these magnificent creatures. Touching and feeding these odd looking animals is an experience not to be missed. With convenient departure ports in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and the East Coast; cruising to the Caribbean is easier than ever.

As varied as the countries that conquered them, the islands of the Caribbean still maintain their original influence, but have also developed their own island culture. The Southern Caribbean appeals to those looking for a longer cruise and visits to more islands.

Barbados

The islands themselves somehow seem to have more exotic, romantic names – Barbados, Dominica, Bonaire, and Aruba. The mere mention of their names conjures thoughts of sun, warmth and sand. The islands vary from lush, natural Dominica, to desert-like Aruba, with its cactus and aloe vera plants dotting the landscape. Of course, you’ll find everything in between. Music is a common denominator throughout the Caribbean and not lacking in the Southern Caribbean. Trinidad is the home of steel pan music and reggae is synonymous with Jamaica.

Grenada

Now, the ports of call are just one part of the cruise experience. You may choose to simply enjoy the amenities on the ship – good food, a cozy deck chair, a swim in the pool or a massage at the spa, and never leave the ship. Whatever you decide, you will surely forget the winter chill, at least for the duration of the cruise of the Caribbean.

Antigua

To help you decide which part of the Caribbean to discover, check out the websites of the cruise lines and look over the shore excursions. The descriptions will give you a good idea of what to expect, whether you decide to sign up with a cruise sponsored tour or venture out on your own. If you are looking for the perfect combination of sun, sand and camaraderie, you can’t go wrong with a Caribbean cruise. It’s no wonder that the Caribbean, with its many diverse islands is the most popular cruise destination.

These cruiselines offer a variety of itineraries.

Sail Away

We recall our first visit to Mexico and all the horror stories that we heard. We were warned of the dangers of traveling there; the food, the water and of course, the banditos. Many people who warned us had never even traveled to Mexico, so their tips were simply based on hearsay. Nevertheless, we proceeded into Mexico cautiously. If you take common sense precautions as you should whenever you travel, you will have an enjoyable trip.

A restaurant in Ensenada.

A few tips for visiting Mexico

A fish market in Ensenada

Kids selling Chiclets

What are your Mexico cruise travel tips?

Sail Away