I plan to write more about the substantive portions of our Mediterranean cruise, but since I took the time to post a review on Cruise Critic, I felt I should include it.
If you're offended by the idea that kids don't get to do whatever they want whenever they want, and if you think super-fat people should be able to claim they have special rights that allow them to prevent the rest of the world from enjoying themselves, then don't read this.
We are a 28-year old newly married couple, with a background in Maritime Affairs. We have cruised 3+ times per year since we met three years ago. Four of these cruises have been on Norwegian Cruise Lines. We usually chose Norwegian because of its convenience - in the two major cities in which we have lived (New Orleans and New York), NCL had cruise ships in port less than one mile from our home. I suppose the other reason we enjoy Norwegian is because we enjoy seeing new places, and NCL is usually the first company to visit the most "new" places.
We also cruise to be together and to experience new places. So if you're someone who loves to "participate" in all of the events, visit the bars, etc., then I won't be much help here. However, if you're a person who believes in a (relatively) peaceful vacation, and that kids don't rule the entire planet, then you'll find my review helpful.
We didn't book this trip on the Jade ourselves. My parents (aged 60) are avid NCL cruisers because they don't feel like being told when to eat. But since they always travel in one of the highest cabin categories (think all-too-large suites that have way more space than they need), they don't see many of the problems inherent in traveling on a full capacity ship. Every response from the "special" butler and concierge staff is "whatever you want, whenever you want it," and it carries a hefty price tag. Luckily, on this cruise, my husband and I got all of the benefits of this service, as my father tipped the concierge and asked her to do so.
Let's start with the things my husband cares about: they don't give accurate maps! They do not want to help you at all if you're not interested in taking an "NCL" excursion. I understand that the necessary insurance causes these trips to be overpriced, but that's not our chief complaint. Our chief complaint is that the only style of excursion available on the Jade makes you hate, hate, hate the cities the Jade visits. There was one kayaking tour in Malaga - there should be more like this - "get up and go" action cruises - so that those of us who are healthy and who don't enjoy the company of children and parents who don't know how to raise said children, can enjoy ourselves.
If I have to "board [my] luxury motorcoach" one more time, I'm jumping overboard. On said "luxury motor coach," there is always a middle-aged and really fat couple who "reserve" the front seat of the bus for their "handicap" (their FATNESS). They hobble off the bus taking the maximum amount of time possible to see every jiggle of their fat and every wheeze of their awful health. They should be forced to go last. (These are the same people who complain about how there is not enough food available).
Then, there are loud families from non-English speaking countries who pretend they don't speak English so that they can have a right to be RUDE. They sing loudly while the tour guide is trying to talk, and they come into the bus reeking of smoke and still finishing their cigarettes.
Then there are the children. Ugh, the children. They, truth be told, weren't a ton of excursion problems (mostly because we tended to choose tours that had specific age minimums). There was one kid, about ten years old, named Tyler from North London (watch out for him) who had ZERO concept of personal space, and his parents cared not one bit.
Let's move from the excursions to the cabins - the cabins were fine. We had a lackluster cabin steward, but we've learned that's typical of NCL. My dad's policy is to tip in advance and receive preferential treatment. Sometimes the steward didn't take care of everything, like throwing away used soda cans. But you know what? I am also a person who doesn't believe in catering to slobs, so it doesn't bother me that much. Towels were replaced, toilets, sinks, and showers were sanitized, beds were made, sheets were cleaned, floors were vacuumed. That is all I ask.
The food was pretty bad, but then again, I'm a pretty picky eater. My body rejects processed, over chemically treated food, so I was at a loss for anything to eat, save for Cagney's. I found the service at the Italian restaurant to be great, but the food to be mediocre. Everything about Cagney's, however, is wonderful. Two of the three people for whom I wrote favorable reviews work in Cagney's (the other is the future cruise consultant).
THE WORST PART OF THE CRUISE WAS THE NON-ENFORCEMENT OF RULES FOR KIDS.
The kids had a "curfew" of 1:00 a.m. This was awful if the ship was supposed to dock at 7:00 a.m. for a full day of sightseeing. The kids also didn't have much to do, and the parents were not interested in watching them. This one 16-year-old, Gavin from Reno, the playboy of the bunch, had a harem following him. He would lead many exciting nighttime activities, including playing a loud boom box in the stairwell past curfew (his refusal to move caused my mother to trip over him on her way down the stairs), sliding down the bannisters of the stairwells, and throwing other kids into the (adults only) pool. But Gavin was merely a representative of the crowd on this ship. The kids overall had NO respect for any activity that did not apply to them - a bunch of rude kids crowded into one of the lounges during the presentation about the Epic, the new NCL ship. They chatted as if nothing were happening, and they refused to move out of the view of the presentation screen. There were hordes of kids running through the Alizar dining room at 9:00 at night when mostly adults were trying to eat. One of the dining rooms should really limit kids after certain hours.
The kids also sang during "adults only karaoke," which would have been fine, except one of the kids chose a disgusting rap song full of curses and disgusting content (like the "n" word over and over again). The staff did nothing about any of this. When I complained to guest relations, he said he couldn't do anything, and didn't apologize. had the cruise been any longer, I would have thrown these kids overboard myself. The parents refused to respond to this behavior, and often, my parents, husband, and I found ourselves disciplining these kids ourselves. The kids didn't seem to mind (except the aforementioned Tyler brat), and they followed our requests, which proves that the kids are generally good and it's the parents that need to be smacked.
I take the most issue with the staff doing nothing about the kids sticking their fingers in the buffet. NCL is notorious for its fear of a gastrointestinal virus, and has people "spraying" passengers at every inch of the ship. Yet they do not supervise the buffet in any real way. I routinely saw young children picking food with their fingers and putting it back. I routinely saw parents watching their children doing that, and saying nothing to their children about their behavior. It made me sick to think about eating at the buffet.
Two "sanitation" incidents regarding diapers. One kid crapped in the pool, even though kids who are not toilet trained aren't allowed in pools. Second, one set of parents who have a special place in the ninth circle of h*ll, decided it would be more convenient for them and less smelly in their cabin if they jammed their kid's dirty diaper in the toilet. This resulted in the entire port side's toilet system being backed up for several hours and a lovely note in everyone's daily cruise newsletter reminding people to put only toilet paper in toilets.
There was also a rowdy Belgian family that had SEVEN children - they all came bounding into the library at the same time screaming and yelling. When the librarian did NOTHING, my husband had to yell, "EXCUSE ME! THIS IS A LIBRARY!" (can you tell we're both teachers? we understand that kids are kids but this sort of behavior we witnessed is so unfair to the other 50% of kids on this trip who were beautifully behaved). The father responded to my husband with, "well they're excited about their trip. they are going to scream." Too bad there's not a popular derogatory term for Belgians.
Children also routinely filled the "adults only" pool. They also routinely filled the "adults only" hot tub. I don't understand - they refuse to take a bath at home, but put the bath on a boat and add some bubbles, and suddenly something that resembles a bath is sooo attractive?
The entertainment on the trip was on and off. There was a really bad comedian who basically took pot-shots at a bunch of drunk women, which was stupid, not entertainment. But on the other hand, there was this really talented acrobatics team who "stole the show" for all nights of shows.
So the summary:
1. learn about the ports yourself (and what is available at these ports) before you get on board, because NCL purposely shields you from any "real" information that will not make them revenue.
2. Complain about the kids every day. Write down incidents and take names. if enough people make it known that these kids are annoying, then they'll start enforcing some rules, and we can all enjoy our cruise. Kids test boundaries, so set some and stick to them, and they'll fall in line and still have a good time.
3. Don't eat at the Asian fusion restaurant because they are extremely unpolished, don't understand "allergy," and they smashed a glass in my dad's face (accident, but it wasn't hard not to smash the glass).
4. If you can afford it, buy a "concierge class" cabin, or make friends with someone who can. You'll be immune from lots of the annoyances that would have made this trip unbearable if not for my parents' cabin's level of service.
5. Don't have kids unless you really want to spend time with them and raise them to be good people. Their bad behavior is just a cry out for their parents to care about them, and spend their vacation WITH them, not just "near" them.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Fiji - Fly Fiji and Visit Fiji
So after we spent "studying" in Australia during the worst winter on record - anyone whose first time in Australia was June/July 2007 would have sworn they were in Seattle - and then sightseeing in New Zealand, we were looking forward to the 12 days of R & R we had planned in Fiji.
My husband's blog, www.wherenomadstravel.blogspot.com, will tell you all about the historic "need-to-know" stuff.
We spent three days on the tourist-centric Denaurau Island, off Viti Levu (one of Fiji's two "major" islands). Denaurau is near Tourist International Airport (Nadi). The Sheraton/Westin and Hilton chains pretty much own Denaurau Island, so when we were there, we got to see a lot of luxurious swimming pools, expensive shops, and shuttles that would take you from the golf course to the beach to shopping, to the the golf course to the beach, to shopping, etc. Our time there was very relaxing, though fairly unremarkable. Instead of learning about Fijian life, we met a lot of Australians, most of whom told us that the environment, rather than the economy, was the biggest political issue of the day.
The highlight of our Denaurau Island trip was our day spent aboard The Whale's Tail tall ship, where we sailed out to a deserted island in the Mamanuca Islands chain. We were first greeted by a blue starfish in the crystal clear water, and then the staff of the Whale's Tale hosted a Kava Ceremony for all of use passengers. Kava is a root that when ingested, is a mild narcotic. You can make Kava by grinding up the root, mixing it with water, and drinking it (most authentically out of half of a coconut shell). It tastes like "paper bag juice," and as far as I've experienced, it doesn't give you much more than a fuzzy feeling in your mouth. Still, the Fijians seem to enjoy it, and it's a real honor to attend such a ceremony. Kava is perfectly legal everywhere. (Though of course the U.S. has "warnings" against its use, as the U.S. warns everyone against anything fun that happens to be popular in a country that isn't the U.S.)
After our time at Denaurau, we flew in a tiny propeller plane to the other "large" island of Vanua Levu. Interesting to note about flying in Fiji - YOU are included in your baggage allowance. That's right - each person's ticket price entitles them to 300 pounds of "carriage" per person - regardless of where the weight comes from. Whether you're carrying a ton of suitcases or your own really fat ass, it all counts the same in Fiji. Can you imagine if we imposed such a (reasonable and logical) rule on U.S. airlines? Well, first, half of the passengers would exceed the weight limit and would not be permitted to fly (good riddance, I say - walk to your destination and maybe you'll lose some of the weight). Second, many American passengers just could not get used to the idea (and the fact) that their weight affects the amount of fuel used, which means that even though they paid the same price for the ticket, they're using more of the airline's resources and must pay for it.
I've run into this problem several times (most recently when traveling from Heathrow to Kennedy on Virgin Atlantic). I weigh less than 100 pounds. Yet, one rude ticket agent at the check-in counter asked me to weight my carry-on, saw that it was over their 7 kg limit, and told me that I had to remove items from my bag, because for "safety" reasons, each passenger could carry only 7 kg per person. This infuriated me. Yes, I may be carrying 9 kg of carry-on (expensive souvenirs that I refuse to entrust with the baggage "handlers"). However, I am NOT carrying an extra 50 kg in "fat ass." I am less of a safety hazard, and less of a fuel drain on an airplane than even almost anyone. So since putting the carry-on items in my suitcase was not an option, I decided to think (or not think) like a ticket agent: I added the weight to my person! My (125 lb) husband and I stuffed the heaviest items into our many jacket pockets until we had reduced the weight of our carry-on bags significantly. Then, looking like typical American fat-asses, we went to a DIFFERENT agent (who didn't seem to care how much weight we had in our carry-on), and checked in, no questions asked. We flew happily, souvenirs in tow.
But I digress. What I meant to say was that Fiji plane operators (Air Pacific is their national airline) have the right idea. Another cool thing about flying in a propeller plane in Fiji is that you can see the reef system from the air:
Savusavu is a great place because it is the authentic Fiji. It's not as popular of a tourist destination as Denaurau, but if you're a traveler rather than a tourist, you'll have a great time. During our eight days in Savusavu, we stayed at Tropic Splendor at Sekawa Beach. To this day, it's the best "hotel" in which we've ever stayed. First, Tropic Splendor is not a "hotel," so to speak, it's one cottage set off from the home of the owners, Susan and Jeff. They're a couple from New Mexico who scrimped and saved for years to live their dream - a beach front house in Fiji. They built a cottage to house guests and turned it into one of the best-run tourism operations we have ever experienced. They have been operating "ecotourism" and "green living" before those were even buzz words. It's hard to do the place justice with words. You must take a visit for yourself. Until you can make it out there, I took photos. You can also see the raves at: http://www.tropic-splendor-fiji.com/beach_rental_fiji.htm
Besides being able to build one heck of a gorgeous cottage, they are also immersed in the society of Savusavu. Jeff and Susan are content to let you have a tropical beach holiday, or really immerse you in the culutre of the unique island. They can arrange coconut demonstrations (it's amazing how much you can do with a coconut), fishing trips, hiking tours, boat rides (where you can see the fisherwomen and their families on "bilibili" rafts on the river), and the highlight of our tour, a live "meke," a variety show, performed by the students of the local school.
Fiji still ranks as our favorite vacation ever, and we've been plotting to go back there for a while. But I think we're afraid we might never leave.
The photos speak for themselves.
My husband's blog, www.wherenomadstravel.blogspot.com, will tell you all about the historic "need-to-know" stuff.
We spent three days on the tourist-centric Denaurau Island, off Viti Levu (one of Fiji's two "major" islands). Denaurau is near Tourist International Airport (Nadi). The Sheraton/Westin and Hilton chains pretty much own Denaurau Island, so when we were there, we got to see a lot of luxurious swimming pools, expensive shops, and shuttles that would take you from the golf course to the beach to shopping, to the the golf course to the beach, to shopping, etc. Our time there was very relaxing, though fairly unremarkable. Instead of learning about Fijian life, we met a lot of Australians, most of whom told us that the environment, rather than the economy, was the biggest political issue of the day.
The highlight of our Denaurau Island trip was our day spent aboard The Whale's Tail tall ship, where we sailed out to a deserted island in the Mamanuca Islands chain. We were first greeted by a blue starfish in the crystal clear water, and then the staff of the Whale's Tale hosted a Kava Ceremony for all of use passengers. Kava is a root that when ingested, is a mild narcotic. You can make Kava by grinding up the root, mixing it with water, and drinking it (most authentically out of half of a coconut shell). It tastes like "paper bag juice," and as far as I've experienced, it doesn't give you much more than a fuzzy feeling in your mouth. Still, the Fijians seem to enjoy it, and it's a real honor to attend such a ceremony. Kava is perfectly legal everywhere. (Though of course the U.S. has "warnings" against its use, as the U.S. warns everyone against anything fun that happens to be popular in a country that isn't the U.S.)
After our time at Denaurau, we flew in a tiny propeller plane to the other "large" island of Vanua Levu. Interesting to note about flying in Fiji - YOU are included in your baggage allowance. That's right - each person's ticket price entitles them to 300 pounds of "carriage" per person - regardless of where the weight comes from. Whether you're carrying a ton of suitcases or your own really fat ass, it all counts the same in Fiji. Can you imagine if we imposed such a (reasonable and logical) rule on U.S. airlines? Well, first, half of the passengers would exceed the weight limit and would not be permitted to fly (good riddance, I say - walk to your destination and maybe you'll lose some of the weight). Second, many American passengers just could not get used to the idea (and the fact) that their weight affects the amount of fuel used, which means that even though they paid the same price for the ticket, they're using more of the airline's resources and must pay for it.
I've run into this problem several times (most recently when traveling from Heathrow to Kennedy on Virgin Atlantic). I weigh less than 100 pounds. Yet, one rude ticket agent at the check-in counter asked me to weight my carry-on, saw that it was over their 7 kg limit, and told me that I had to remove items from my bag, because for "safety" reasons, each passenger could carry only 7 kg per person. This infuriated me. Yes, I may be carrying 9 kg of carry-on (expensive souvenirs that I refuse to entrust with the baggage "handlers"). However, I am NOT carrying an extra 50 kg in "fat ass." I am less of a safety hazard, and less of a fuel drain on an airplane than even almost anyone. So since putting the carry-on items in my suitcase was not an option, I decided to think (or not think) like a ticket agent: I added the weight to my person! My (125 lb) husband and I stuffed the heaviest items into our many jacket pockets until we had reduced the weight of our carry-on bags significantly. Then, looking like typical American fat-asses, we went to a DIFFERENT agent (who didn't seem to care how much weight we had in our carry-on), and checked in, no questions asked. We flew happily, souvenirs in tow.
But I digress. What I meant to say was that Fiji plane operators (Air Pacific is their national airline) have the right idea. Another cool thing about flying in a propeller plane in Fiji is that you can see the reef system from the air:
Savusavu is a great place because it is the authentic Fiji. It's not as popular of a tourist destination as Denaurau, but if you're a traveler rather than a tourist, you'll have a great time. During our eight days in Savusavu, we stayed at Tropic Splendor at Sekawa Beach. To this day, it's the best "hotel" in which we've ever stayed. First, Tropic Splendor is not a "hotel," so to speak, it's one cottage set off from the home of the owners, Susan and Jeff. They're a couple from New Mexico who scrimped and saved for years to live their dream - a beach front house in Fiji. They built a cottage to house guests and turned it into one of the best-run tourism operations we have ever experienced. They have been operating "ecotourism" and "green living" before those were even buzz words. It's hard to do the place justice with words. You must take a visit for yourself. Until you can make it out there, I took photos. You can also see the raves at: http://www.tropic-splendor-fiji.com/beach_rental_fiji.htm
Besides being able to build one heck of a gorgeous cottage, they are also immersed in the society of Savusavu. Jeff and Susan are content to let you have a tropical beach holiday, or really immerse you in the culutre of the unique island. They can arrange coconut demonstrations (it's amazing how much you can do with a coconut), fishing trips, hiking tours, boat rides (where you can see the fisherwomen and their families on "bilibili" rafts on the river), and the highlight of our tour, a live "meke," a variety show, performed by the students of the local school.
Fiji still ranks as our favorite vacation ever, and we've been plotting to go back there for a while. But I think we're afraid we might never leave.
The photos speak for themselves.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Australia
We studied abroad at the University of Technology in Sydney in June-July, 2007. We were supposed to be learning law, but mostly, we learned that we love Australia. If you enjoy looking at these photos just half as much as we enjoyed taking them, then we enjoyed them twice as much as you (thanks, MP).
Isn't the Yarra Valley beautiful? We took this trip when we visited Melbourne. Dustin had a mini-reunion with his high school friend, Chris, who was kind enough to take us around for the weekend. We weren't all that impressed with Melbourne (okay, Cindy wasn't impressed ... but native New Yorkers are impressed with few other cities ... not to say that is a positive quality, but it is what it is). Anyway, we remember a few things about Melbourne and its surrounds:
First, the Yarra Valley has GREAT wine. It is so good that we don't remember much of it.
Second, it IS POSSIBLE to fuel your car with natural gas. The technology has existed for years. Ask any Aussie or visit any Australian petrol (gas) station for proof. We learned yet again that American politics and schmoliticks result in lies, hurt people, and mess up everything. It's a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad situation (we think we'll move to Australia).
We spent the majority of our time in Australia in Sydney "taking classes." That was the excuse for us to be there, anyway. It was the Australian winter, so most of the time it was miserable and rainy. (Australia was, at the time, supposedly suffering a "drought," the same way we "attended" law school classes.) We managed to get out to take pictures of a few things. However, Cindy liked the koalas at the zoo a lot more than cliche photos of the Sydney Opera House.
Although it was too cold to swim or surf at Bondi Beach during our trip, we enjoyed taking photos of the scenery and the idiot surfers who actually enjoy swimming in ice cold water. Note: the surfer below is NOT Dustin.
Cairns is beautiful, and one of the two places where we experienced sun and warmth during our trip. Cairns has it all: rainforests, Aboriginal culture, beaches, nice restaurants, wildlife -- it's the perfect vacation spot for almost anyone. We really enjoyed ourselves here.
Cindy and Dustin even made a few new friends at the crocodile farm!
Outback time! We boarded the Ghan train, which runs north from Darwin, through Alice Springs and south to Adelaide. We loved this train trip because we got to talk to interesting Australian people (mostly retirees). It was a pleasant journey through the red centre.
One of the stops on the Darwin-Alice Springs journey was Katherine Gorge. It was gorge-ous. :-)
Flying over the Outback was amazing! Seldom do clouds ever cover the area, so one can get a better view of the famous rocks from the air than they can on the ground -- and without the sunburn!
The Whitsunday Incident: We remember two things about our trip to the Whitsunday Islands/Airlie Beach: First, the color of the water is amazing. Second, bedbugs are bad. We didn't get bedbugs, but we came close. We were supposed to take a boat trip aboard the SS (as far as I can tell, SS stands for "Sh*tty Sailboat") "Spank Me" in the company of smelly, unsanitary backpackers. One look at the "Spank Me" clientele, and we said "no, thank you." So we found a doctor to write us a medical note so that our travel insurance could cover our cancellation due to Cindy's "illness" (she was sickened by the thought of close contact with backpackers). So while we unfortunately missed out on seeing interesting sea creatures on the Great Barrier Reef, we fortunately also missed out on taking home some interesting insects on our clothes, selves, and gear.
We loved seeing the animals that are unique to Australia as well as the ones that Australia protects in its wildlife reserves. Many of the animals would "perform" for us. See below:
Isn't the Yarra Valley beautiful? We took this trip when we visited Melbourne. Dustin had a mini-reunion with his high school friend, Chris, who was kind enough to take us around for the weekend. We weren't all that impressed with Melbourne (okay, Cindy wasn't impressed ... but native New Yorkers are impressed with few other cities ... not to say that is a positive quality, but it is what it is). Anyway, we remember a few things about Melbourne and its surrounds:First, the Yarra Valley has GREAT wine. It is so good that we don't remember much of it.
Second, it IS POSSIBLE to fuel your car with natural gas. The technology has existed for years. Ask any Aussie or visit any Australian petrol (gas) station for proof. We learned yet again that American politics and schmoliticks result in lies, hurt people, and mess up everything. It's a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad situation (we think we'll move to Australia).
We spent the majority of our time in Australia in Sydney "taking classes." That was the excuse for us to be there, anyway. It was the Australian winter, so most of the time it was miserable and rainy. (Australia was, at the time, supposedly suffering a "drought," the same way we "attended" law school classes.) We managed to get out to take pictures of a few things. However, Cindy liked the koalas at the zoo a lot more than cliche photos of the Sydney Opera House. 
Although it was too cold to swim or surf at Bondi Beach during our trip, we enjoyed taking photos of the scenery and the idiot surfers who actually enjoy swimming in ice cold water. Note: the surfer below is NOT Dustin.
Cairns is beautiful, and one of the two places where we experienced sun and warmth during our trip. Cairns has it all: rainforests, Aboriginal culture, beaches, nice restaurants, wildlife -- it's the perfect vacation spot for almost anyone. We really enjoyed ourselves here. 
Cindy and Dustin even made a few new friends at the crocodile farm!
Outback time! We boarded the Ghan train, which runs north from Darwin, through Alice Springs and south to Adelaide. We loved this train trip because we got to talk to interesting Australian people (mostly retirees). It was a pleasant journey through the red centre.
One of the stops on the Darwin-Alice Springs journey was Katherine Gorge. It was gorge-ous. :-)
Flying over the Outback was amazing! Seldom do clouds ever cover the area, so one can get a better view of the famous rocks from the air than they can on the ground -- and without the sunburn!
The Whitsunday Incident: We remember two things about our trip to the Whitsunday Islands/Airlie Beach: First, the color of the water is amazing. Second, bedbugs are bad. We didn't get bedbugs, but we came close. We were supposed to take a boat trip aboard the SS (as far as I can tell, SS stands for "Sh*tty Sailboat") "Spank Me" in the company of smelly, unsanitary backpackers. One look at the "Spank Me" clientele, and we said "no, thank you." So we found a doctor to write us a medical note so that our travel insurance could cover our cancellation due to Cindy's "illness" (she was sickened by the thought of close contact with backpackers). So while we unfortunately missed out on seeing interesting sea creatures on the Great Barrier Reef, we fortunately also missed out on taking home some interesting insects on our clothes, selves, and gear.We loved seeing the animals that are unique to Australia as well as the ones that Australia protects in its wildlife reserves. Many of the animals would "perform" for us. See below:
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