Hello all.

New to the group here.

I've spent the last couple of days reading over
all the posts on the server, to get a feel for
the group, and to read about what's being talked
about, and I have to say that I'm not too sanguine
with what I've seen here.

My wife and I have been given a cruise by our
kids, for our 25th nniversary, and the departure
port, line, date, and cabin have already been
selected, but the kids haven't paid for it yet.

Having said that, I paid special attention to
all of the posts I've read that talk about the
particular cruise line, and now I'm a little
worried that it might not be what is advertised,
nor what it's cracked up to be to take a cruise.

The Evil Tessmacher wrote:

It was my parents who gave us a cruise for our 25th anniversay and we
are now have our 20th and 21st cruises booked.

If you would tell us which ship and what itin. you are going on, you can
get a lot more information here then on any cruise lines website.

On May 24, 12:41 pm, The Evil Tessmacher ya.hoo.com>
wrote:

Good kids ...

Generally ... the basic cruise is included ... Rooms/Meals in the main
dining room or buffet/Entertainment/Pool/Library/card/game room ...

Hi, Evil,

You received some good responses from Sue and number 6, both
experienced cruisers.

I think anyone who has cruised will tell you the same thing: There
will be things you like about it and things you won't like about it,
but all in all, you'll have a good time. I still prefer land travel...

The Evil Tessmacher ya.hoo.com> wrote:

Hi Evil

You need to take everything including what I'm going to write with a
grain of salt.

Some people can always find something negative to complain about, and
some people are incurably optimistic. Reality is probably somewhere
in the middle. And different people have different expectations. Some
realistic and some unrealistic.

Some people (like myself) can detail both all the things liked and
disliked about our cruises attempting to be fair and even though I
say that on the whole I've had a good time, some people will read what
I write as a negative complaint and take issue with it because what I
have written has not happened to them so they think I must be let's
say exaggerating. And I may indeed have built the story up for effect

For instance - I took a Royal Caribbean cruise and it was the worst of
any of the cruises I have taken. I was very disappointed because I
had heard so many good things, especially about the food. Probably an
unrealistic expectation on my part.

In article 4ax.com>,
Rosalie B. mindspring.com> wrote:

I also try to remember that mostly only the po'ed ones get on these
kinds of fora.
"Never in the history of mankind, has there been an incident
recorded where large numbers of people were motivated to go to
their windows, fling them open wide, lean out and scream at the
top of their lungs: 'I'm as content as Hell and I'm not gonna
take it anymore!'"

Please tell us which line and ship you are considering. It won't be
anything this group hasn't seen before.

I thought of the QMII by your description, but after looking further, I also
think that you have a cruise on NCL.

The Evil Tessmacher writes...

Thank you to the many of you who responded to my
original angst-ridden post.

I hadn't intended to name names, as they say, for
several reasons, not the least of which was that I
am not willing to offend someone for speaking ill
of their favorite. Having said that, I was, and
still am, a little too underinformed to even know
precisely what to ask.

So...

Our son and daughter have done everything except pay
for (they await our choice of date) this cruise, on
Norwegian Cruise Line, leaving Charleston, SC for
seven days, to the Bahamas & Florida. My spouse and
I are thinking November as the time frame.

Dear Tessmacher,

There is an old expression... don't look a gift horse in the mouth. In other
words, accept your good and enjoy it. It is not only rude to question the
kindness of others, but extremely tacky.

Trying to second guess the generosity of others, on a newsgroup such as
this, will simply lead to controversy. Already, half the responses here are
asking you... which cruise line, what ship, and of course what itinerary?
This is simply a setup for the NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line) bashing to start
if indeed that is the chosen cruise line. Yet, the same goes for just about
every other cruise line as well. Some people will have opinions on just
about everything - right or wrong.

Now, this is not to say that a few on this newsgroup do not have a lot of
valuable experience, they certainly do. However, many others will offer
nothing more than simply opinions, not facts, much of it based on what they
like or don't like - or worse, a personal vendetta that they may have for
one reason or another.

On May 24, 10:05 pm, The Evil Tessmacher ya.hoo.com>
wrote:

I'm the main NCL proponent here ... So you'll get a positive spin from
me ...
The freestyle concept is the major reason ... We cruise for
relaxation ... and the atmosphere that NCL gives us with free style...