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Cruises have long been promoted as all-inclusive vacations with accommodations, meals, entertainment and transportation all rolled into one price. But the number of extra amenities passengers must pay for has been proliferating as cruise lines go beyond the usual extras (like shore excursions, cocktails and Internet access) and add increasingly elaborate offerings.
Read the NYTimes article here >>>
Do you have any other tips? We’d love for you to share.
This is a video of the 7-day repositioning cruise we took on the Norwegian Jade from Barcelona to Venice in April of 2012. We spent a few days prior exploring Barcelona and a few days in Milan, Italy at the end of the voyage. We met several other LGBT people on this cruise and made many new friends. Bon Voyage and Happy Cruising!
See our cruise photos:
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| Mediterranean Cruise | April 2012 |
For me, the last day on a cruise can be very depressing. I know that I will once again have to return to my 9 – 5 workday, plan the meals for the week and say ‘goodbye’ to new friends. For Dale and I, this trip was full of positive experiences that can only be felt on a cruise. We had our last meal with our new friend Gilles and his partner Gord where we shared our many memories over a few bottles of wine. We both agreed that cruising is about the community we build on board and the new friendships that we make. Since our experiences were so similar, I asked Gilles if he would share his thoughts. I will soon be writing about our trip and posting it in ‘News & Expert Advice’.
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by Gilles Marchildon*
To paraphrase Maya Angelou, people will forget what you say and what you do but never how you made them feel. Norwegian Cruise Line seems to have payed particular attention to Angelou’s words.
Travel provides opportunities to see incredible, breath-taking sights but there are only so many mountain ranges, ocean sunsets, church spires and castle dungeons one can absorb within a short period of time. These are often best revisited through pictures to prompt our recall.
It’s funny, though, that we don’t need pictures to recall the people or stories of a particular trip. For the vast majority of travelers, the bedrock foundation of a truly enjoyable and memorable trip are the people we encounter and the experiences we share. Humans are social animals and nowhere is this more obvious than on a cruise.
Cruises are often used to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. They’re also opportunities for people to cut loose during the many zany on-board game-shows as well as trivia and dance contests, not to mention make friends at the bars.
Our Barcelona to Venice cruise (with stops in Sicily, Croatia and Slovenia) was our “in-between-birthdays” trip. My spouse and I celebrate our respective birthdays in mid-April and early May so travel between these dates is our annual gift to each other. We find a trip so much more meaningful and fun instead of splurging on extravagant gifts for each other. No gift-wrapping required!
Prior to our trip, we had put in a special request for birthday cake at one of our dinners. Except we got caught up in their “free-style” approach, forgetting to book a specific night. So it was that on our second-last evening, we finally remembered our request. We were at a table of fellow gay men whom we’d met (thanks to Norwegian’s promotion of a nightly “Friends of Dorothy” LGBT meeting). Near the end of the meal, a tentative enquiry was made with our cute Indian waiter. We weren’t really expecting that a cake could be produced on such short notice and at this late hour. Indeed, our chatty group, aided by 3 different bottles of wine on the table, was practically the last one in the grand dining room.
Well, about as fast as Dorothy could click her heels together and be swept back to Kansas, our table was surrounded by close to a dozen staff singing “Happy Birthdays” (yes – plural) and a jumbo cake landed among the wine bottles and first round of desserts. We had foolishly ordered desserts from the menu, not thinking that a birthday cake was realistic. Round two of desserts. Such is the hardship. We did our best, particularly aided by the ferocious appetite of one of our sweet-toothed fairies. Complementary digestifs helped us wash it down.
See? Norwegian’s efforts ended up being just as memorable as the splendours of the Adriatic cities through which we’d walked during the previous two days. Maya Angelou would just smile knowingly.
* Gilles Marchildon is the former Executive Director of Egale Canada, the country’s main LGBT advocacy group. He was also director of Winnipeg’s Reel Pride gay and lesbian film festival and editor of the city’s monthly queer publication, Swerve
Dubrovnik, looking out to sea. Photo: Mark den Hartog
Dubrovnik, Croatia is a spectacular city in an amazing natural setting. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, It is an ideal port stop. A day in the old city gave us a good exposure to this unique part of the Adriatic.
It was heartbreaking to see the damage to this beautiful walled city done as a result of shelling and incendiary bombs during the war in the early 1990′s. For those of us untouched by war on our own soil, it makes us grateful. It also makes us think of the thousands of people who are in the midst of war and conflict today.
We’ve met a great group of LGBT folks aboard. The first night of the LGBT get together in the Star Bar, we had to rearrange the furniture to accommodate our large group. The second night our little corner of the bar was all ready for the large group. Nice work, Norwegian Cruise Line, we appreciate it.
Once again I have to say how much we’ve enjoyed the food on this trip. The buffet line food is not only plentiful, but high quality. The fact that I’ve been eating quite a healthy diet so far is more a testament to Norwegian than to my will-power. I go out of my way to pretend the dessert table doesn’t exist! Mark admits that he’s had his first ice cream at what I call “gluttony central.” He doesn’t know I’ve been there twice already today while he was napping!
Franklin cuts into their anniversary cake. Photo: Mark den Hartog
We’ve only been on the Jade now for 3 days and already we’ve met so many other wonderful LGBT sailors. Dale and I thought it would be a good idea to form a small group so we could all enjoy a fine dinner together and to share our stories from the day. Again, the staff on the Jade went out of their way to make sure this was a memorable event. After a wonder day in Messina, Italy (Sicily) the ship departed at 6:00 p.m. and we we all met for dinner at 7:00 p.m. Smiles, hugs and laughs were shared by all. Kelly and Franklin from from Fort Lauderdale were celebrating their 2nd anniversary and the chocolate cake that was delivered for this occasion was divine!
After a full stomach, it was time to call it a day. Tomorrow is another sea day as we continue sailing to Dubrovnik.
Meeting other on Board--what it's all about! Photo: Mark den Hartog
Before we even entered the terminal we knew this would be a great cruise. The check-in was quick, smooth and well-organized. The hospitality started with the baggage handlers and continued all the way to the personal escort to our cabin. Airlines should take notice.
The remodeled JADE is a fine ship with good flow and nice tasteful decor. She used to sail exclusively in Hawaii so there is a lot of art and decor from that earlier positioning, especially a theme of blown glass flowers.
One major improvement over other ships is the buffet line. The organization of that space if much more user friendly than we’ve seen in the past. We’ve been extremely pleased with the food, and the Norwegian staff is already calling us by name. Could that be because we buy so many drinks?
Norwegian Cruise Line sponsors an LGBT gathering every night. Interestingly, we were originally scheduled for the Star Bar. When we noticed hoards of elderly Germans in the room we thought we were in the wrong place. Indeed the room was double booked, but Norwegian had the courtesy to have a staff member from the group cruising department meet us there and direct us to another space. The new location gave us each a drink on the house. Thanks, Norwegian, this shows that you recognize we are a significant and important portion of your market.
We are cruising on the Norwegian Spirit Oct 30th 2011 for the Halloween cruise out of New Orleans….We love cruising on halloween…..who else if going? Hope to meet you on board and have a great time.
David and Ed
djguy327@yahoo.com
Lots of cool stuff happening on our “news and expert advice” section! Check out this groovy video showing the new “studio” cabins on NCL’s Norwegian Epic: http://meetmeonboard.com/blog/2010/07/cool-video-shows-norwegian-epics-new-studio-cabins/
Tom Baker just sent me this link with 200 photos of the new Norwegian EPIC. Amazing ! ! !
Hello Mark and Dale,
Thanks for sharing the photos of the cruise ship Norwegian Epic with all of us.
I looked at about a dozzen or so photos, but quickly came to the conclusion the “Epic” isn’t my type of ship.
The ultra modern look (space age look) is too cold and without depth of character.
I perfer the cruise ships which have the feeling of “warmth” and “finese” – utra modern ships – such as the Epic – don’t have that.
Dave
Took some time yesterday afternoon to check out the photos. 200 is a lot of photos. I understand it’s a nickle and dime operation for most of the venues? What’s up with that?
Don’t they make enough just renting the cabins during a normal sailing?
It was in the local Philadelphia Enquirer today, that NBC will be hosting the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks at 9:PM (East Coast Time) and will be showing or broadcasting from the NCL EPIC., the article or I should say ad was not clear on the specifics.
Is anyone going on the NCL cruise in June 2010 to the hawaiian Islands? It’s not a gay cruise, but just seeing if anyone might be on board this cruise?
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MarkDale, 
Bruce, and 
rogerbeto are discussing. 
rontom, and 
Luv2Cruise are discussing.
rogerbeto 11:58 am on May 8, 2012 Permalink |
Great video guys and the music was perfect.. Sure makes you want to go back. What camera were you using?
Roger
MarkDale 3:23 pm on May 8, 2012 Permalink |
Thanks for the compliment Roger. I shot it in HD but usually don’t upload it in HD since the files get way to large. The video camera I have is the Canon HD Vixia HEM300.
Bruce 9:22 am on May 9, 2012 Permalink |
Great photos and video. It was nice to meet you and the rest of the others on the cruise. We had a fun time.
MarkDale 10:25 am on May 10, 2012 Permalink |
Great meeting you guys too. When are we doing it again?