UKDEB
Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2000
- Messages
- 11,840
Panic over - I'm here! 
Sorry it's taken me so long to catch up - we've had a few things to contend with since we arrived back in sunny Gloucester shortly after midday yesterday. Oh, and for the cynical amongst you, Gloucester was actually sunny 
. We've had to sort out a few problems for younger dd (which also allowed me to apologise to my ex-husband for accidentally phoning him from Miami Beach 
) and, rather excitingly, we've collected our brand new 20" iMac dual core which we ordered online from Disney's Vero Beach on Wednesday (doncha just luuuuuuv the internet? 
).
Anyhoo, to get back to the point, we had such a fabulous time. Kev and Tam were the best company. Love you guys
. We didn't stop laughing once. OK, maybe we stopped laughing for a moment or two in Antigua after walking the entire island in search of the rental car. But hey, we'll only remind Tam of that...hmm. let me see - oh yes - incessantly.
We loved cruising with NCL. As Kev says, the ship was way prettier than we'd expected from viewing pictures on the internet beforehand (it looks very lairy, but it's actually quite classy). The overriding factor in booking it (for me at least) was that it's a new ship, but, even then, it way expected our expectations. We all agreed that we've probably done with cruising for a while - that's not to say we didn't enjoy it, because we so did (the clear azure-blue seas of the Caribbean have to be seen to be believed) - but, even with the Freestyle Dining (which is such an improvement on fixed seating), the whole cruising thing is pretty regimented and full-on. The ports of call were one day after another and, as we wanted to experience them properly, we needed to be ashore early each day. Even with the Freestyle Dining, we needed to book our restaurant times at the start of the cruise - that's very tough when you don't know how you will be feeling from each day's activities. With the best of intentions at the start of the cruise, the 'free' dining put us at huge pressure to experience all the restaurants (the NCL Jewel has the most options at sea) and we found ourselves bloated and uncomfortable from day after day of breakfast, lunch and dinner. We felt we were quite reserved given what we could have eaten (free food is available 24/7) and compared with that consumed by our American cousins, but it was almost a relief to get off the ship and back to 'normal' eating.
The Celebration Hotel was lovely - just a pity that we weren't able to be there longer. We were on the later Virgin flight from Gatwick which meant we didn't arrive until gone midnight (GMT). We then had to leave early the next morning for our drive to Miami to board the ship. We also missed the pie festival which was drawing to a close by the time we arrived - imagine a scene from Doc Hollywood! I would love to stay there again. Both that and our stay at the Hotel Victor in Miami's South Beach have confirmed my belief that one night stays are not the way to go - we really didn't have the opportunity to make the most of the facilities on offer. At both hotels we really just got a bed for the night.
The Cottage at Disney's Vero Beach was a dream. A wonderful relaxing and fun post-cruise break. I would definitely stay again given an opportunity. The only downside of the whole trip was flying in and out of Orlando without doing WDW. After our January trip, I thought I was growing a bit tired of the theme parks and felt I could easily visit Orlando without needing to do them, but maybe I've not quite reached that point yet - I was definitely feeling withdrawal symptons!
Claire - I've seen your post about the Raglan Road meet. Thanks for organising that - it sounds perfect. The Snug is an area off the main bar/entertainment space (and through which you pass to get to the patio seating).
I've got loads more to say about our trip, but it will have to wait - off now to catch up with what I've missed on American Idol.
Sorry it's taken me so long to catch up - we've had a few things to contend with since we arrived back in sunny Gloucester shortly after midday yesterday. Oh, and for the cynical amongst you, Gloucester was actually sunny . We've had to sort out a few problems for younger dd (which also allowed me to apologise to my ex-husband for accidentally phoning him from Miami Beach ) and, rather excitingly, we've collected our brand new 20" iMac dual core which we ordered online from Disney's Vero Beach on Wednesday (doncha just luuuuuuv the internet? ). Anyhoo, to get back to the point, we had such a fabulous time. Kev and Tam were the best company. Love you guys
. We didn't stop laughing once. OK, maybe we stopped laughing for a moment or two in Antigua after walking the entire island in search of the rental car. But hey, we'll only remind Tam of that...hmm. let me see - oh yes - incessantly. We loved cruising with NCL. As Kev says, the ship was way prettier than we'd expected from viewing pictures on the internet beforehand (it looks very lairy, but it's actually quite classy). The overriding factor in booking it (for me at least) was that it's a new ship, but, even then, it way expected our expectations. We all agreed that we've probably done with cruising for a while - that's not to say we didn't enjoy it, because we so did (the clear azure-blue seas of the Caribbean have to be seen to be believed) - but, even with the Freestyle Dining (which is such an improvement on fixed seating), the whole cruising thing is pretty regimented and full-on. The ports of call were one day after another and, as we wanted to experience them properly, we needed to be ashore early each day. Even with the Freestyle Dining, we needed to book our restaurant times at the start of the cruise - that's very tough when you don't know how you will be feeling from each day's activities. With the best of intentions at the start of the cruise, the 'free' dining put us at huge pressure to experience all the restaurants (the NCL Jewel has the most options at sea) and we found ourselves bloated and uncomfortable from day after day of breakfast, lunch and dinner. We felt we were quite reserved given what we could have eaten (free food is available 24/7) and compared with that consumed by our American cousins, but it was almost a relief to get off the ship and back to 'normal' eating.
The Celebration Hotel was lovely - just a pity that we weren't able to be there longer. We were on the later Virgin flight from Gatwick which meant we didn't arrive until gone midnight (GMT). We then had to leave early the next morning for our drive to Miami to board the ship. We also missed the pie festival which was drawing to a close by the time we arrived - imagine a scene from Doc Hollywood! I would love to stay there again. Both that and our stay at the Hotel Victor in Miami's South Beach have confirmed my belief that one night stays are not the way to go - we really didn't have the opportunity to make the most of the facilities on offer. At both hotels we really just got a bed for the night.
The Cottage at Disney's Vero Beach was a dream. A wonderful relaxing and fun post-cruise break. I would definitely stay again given an opportunity. The only downside of the whole trip was flying in and out of Orlando without doing WDW. After our January trip, I thought I was growing a bit tired of the theme parks and felt I could easily visit Orlando without needing to do them, but maybe I've not quite reached that point yet - I was definitely feeling withdrawal symptons!
Claire - I've seen your post about the Raglan Road meet. Thanks for organising that - it sounds perfect. The Snug is an area off the main bar/entertainment space (and through which you pass to get to the patio seating).
I've got loads more to say about our trip, but it will have to wait - off now to catch up with what I've missed on American Idol.
) Love the sound of Vero Beach and glad you liked the Celebration hotel....cant wait to see the video and catch up with you all soon........Im extremely 
Glad you had such a great trip guys.
