Your favorite travel destination during the holidays?

Readers,

Are you ready for the holidays? What are some of your favorite places to visit during this time? Do you like snowy environments or do you prefer something warmer? I love the heat but the holidays are the one time that I actually like snow. There is something about waking up on Christmas and seeing a thick blanket of snow that makes you feel really good. Some of my family members love the snow as well but some actually travel to the islands during this time because they want a mild environment during the holiday season. Many people in my area (New Jersey) like to go to the shore during the holidays. However, because of Hurricane Sandy this has proven quite difficult because of all of the damage. Some people even rent cabins in the mountains to go skiing.

Whatever your destination is just remember to cherish the moments you have with your loved ones. Many of the families in Newton, CT cannot hold their children anymore. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. Let's be safe during the holidays no matter where we are and let's keep Newton, CT in our prayers.

Green light for Vegas!

Hey all,

Sorry it has taken so long for me to post. I have been very busy lately. So..I decided that I like Vegas so much I am moving there..seriously! Time will only tell whether or not I will stay for good but I know that I am not moving back to New Jersey unless I have no other choice. I really like Atlanta as well so if I ever leave Vegas it will be for Atlanta.

Atlanta is awesome, the food, the atmosphere, the people (except when they drive, ha ha), etc. Vegas is awesome because the people there are really diverse and the environment has so much to offer. Life has brought a lot of twists and turns so Vegas should provide the perfect reset.

Where are some places that you have visited throughout your travels that you wouldn't mind living? What do you like about these places? Is it the people? The atmosphere? It is important that we take risks in life sometimes and if we make it, then great, if not then so be it. It is better to take a risk and to fail (and try again) than to remain stagnant and run the risk of becoming dull, boring, and stifled.

I will be posting a lot more soon (several times weekly) but for now my posts will be about once or more a week until I am done packing. You think cross-country travel is hard..try moving ha ha! I hope all is well with you and that your holidays are going great thus far. Whether you are traveling this holiday or staying home, always remember to be grateful and to let your family know that you care no matter what. If there are any unresolved issues remember, the holidays are a time for forgiveness :-)

In the meantime, check out my other blogs and sites!

Writers:     http://shakyshelf.blogspot.com/

Renters:     http://rentersnet.blogspot.com/

Soundoff:  http://thesoundoff1.blogspot.com/

Stop Skyping the old-fashined way!
http://jeruzz1.wix.com/skypeout#!page4/cfvg

Travel tips

Like to travel on a budget? You can Google sites like Travelocity or Orbitz. The time that you search for deals like hotels, flights, and car rentals also matters. Your best bet of course is to search at least two weeks in advance for flights. Companies bet on last-minute travelers and look to cash in on them. Also, the time of week/day that you search also matters. I have had some of my greatest success with finding deals on Tuesday night between 9 and 11 pm.

Did you know that even if a rate is published on a website by a carrier in error, if you purchased the ticket, they still have to honor it at that price. For example, if a carrier (or other website like Orbitz) mistakenly puts up a flight for $50 rather than $500, then count yourself lucky because you got yourself a great deal! If you look on Ebay, there are people who sell unused vouchers for alcoholic beverages at a HUGE discount (be careful to check expiration dates).

One time, I was searching for a flight on Orbitz for a family member. I had been looking that whole day (Tuesday) and the price stayed high all day and night, until 9 pm rolled around then WHAM! Right as I started to buy the ticket, I clicked the search one more time and ended up saving her around $400! You just never know when you will spot a deal. If you really want a deal, check every hour and if possible, more frequently in the middle of the week. Of course, you want to try to avoid flying in or out on Friday and Saturday. Take things into consideration like (hotel, car rental, shuttle from the airport, flight, etc.) Also, check Facebook. Sometimes airlines (Southwest, etc.) post discounts just for liking their page.

Good luck, happy traveling and feel free to tell us about your trip. See you soon!

Vegas Baby!

Hi all, sorry it took so long for me to post these and tell you about my wonderful trip but here it is.
I will touch on the hot spots that I went to and give you an overall feel of the places I visited. We stayed off-strip at the Silverton Casino. It was reasonably priced and not extremely far from the action. The overall decor needs a serious makeover. It is very dated and pretty tacky. The whole casino was so dark that when you went outside you were shocked at how bright it was. When staying at this supposed resort/casino, it is easy to lose track of time and feel like it is late not matter what time of day it is. The slots themselves are pretty standard. They have a few old ones but most of them are updated and modern. The payout is minimal from other casinos that I have been to.

One night, I was playing some slots and a homeless man walked up to me and asked me for money. I did give him some change (although I was not supposed to) because I felt bad for him. I also wanted him to get away from me because I did not feel comfortable with him around me like that (he was pretty close and I had money out to play. After that, I got up and went to another part of the floor and continued to play. Who walks up to me but the same guy. I was somewhat annoyed at this point and told him that he already asked me five minutes ago. He walked away. I got up and waved a staff member down because I did not feel comfortable at all anymore. She asked me what he looked like and I told her what I thought he had on (wasn't extremely attentive because I was more concerned with just getting away from him. I sat down at one of the slots where I was and started to play. The same man comes up again. Thoroughly annoyed, I told him that he needed to pay attention to who he was asking for money and that this was his third time coming to me. I also reminded him that I already gave him money. He quickly walked away and about a minute later, the staff member brought security to me and asked me about him. I pointed them in his direction. The staff member told me that they did eventually get him. She was very nice and every time I saw her, she was very friendly and always said hi. That brings me to my next point: the staff is what gives The Silverton a glimmer of hope. From management, to security, to regular staff..everyone was really nice and provided exceptional customer service.

There is not a lot of action as the crowd is understandably older. If you are young and crave any type of action, then I would suggest that you steer clear of this place unless you are either coming here to eat (the food is pretty good), going to see the aquarium, or going to Bass Pro Shops (located inside of The Silverton), which is nicely put together.

The rooms were dated, ugly, and extremely dirty! We switched rooms and also had to switch sheets because our sheets had blood on them! Oh, and can you say tube television? really? Who watched tube TV anymore? I think we turned that TV on once and that was it. When you are accustomed to seeing things in high definition, a tube won't do. In fact, I was pretty insulted at the fact that these were still in the rooms. The dirt was extremely apparent in the rooms. There was so much dirt that you could see the layers of it in certain spots. Also, some of the towels and washcloths were dirty. It made it hard to believe that they had a cleaning staff.

One of the cool things is that they had an outdoor area and pool complete with cabanas (you have to pay extra to rent the cabanas despite the already included resort fee per night). They had a DJ one night while we were there and the music was pretty good. If you want action, this is the only place in the casino where you will find it. Unfortunately, it closes at  ten o' clock..yes ten. Needless to say, we will not be staying at The Silverton again.

The picture above is from The Luxor in Las Vegas. Can you say ENERGY? Wow,  it was so cool to be in there. While I have not been to all of the casinos in Vegas (nearly impossible because Vegas is huge. Also, there are even casinos at the stores and gas stations), this one is among the best!

There is so much going on at this casino as well as Mandalay Bay, which is connected to The Luxor. The Luxor has awesome architecture, great drinks and food. Mandalay Bay had much of the same thing but it also has the Minus 5 ice bar. We were not able to go in because I had a dress on and I would have frozen to death, he he. We did go into the lobby and you can see the back of the bar from the outside. From what I hear and have read in the lobby, everything is made of ice, from the bar to the stools to the cups! You are charged admission just to go in but that is mainly because you are renting things from them like parkas, boots, gloves, hats, etc. If you do happen to go or have been there, please come back and let me know. The next time I go to Vegas, I will be prepared to go to the bar.

When you go to Vegas, you definitely have to check out The Venetian. There are so many cool things to see from the Gondolas to the indoor Italian city. The attention to detail is apparent regarding the construction of this casino. When you go there, you really feel like you are in Italy! There is lots to do from riding the Gondolas (which we did) to shopping to dining at one of their fine restaurants. It was extremely hot in Vegas when we visited so we did not spend a lot of time outside even though there is so much to see there as well. The great thing about this place was the fact that there were so many places to take pictures inside that you are not missing anything outside. Please do check out the Gondolas as well. While I was somewhat disappointed in the duration of the ride (very short), I loved the singing Gondolier. Her voice was really beautiful and she actually happened to be from Italy! I also did not like the fact that the indoor and outdoor gondola rides are not connected. There is an outdoor price and an indoor price and while they are the same, you must pay double to do both.

There are many free outdoor shows on the Vegas strip including the pirate show at Treasure Island, the water show at The Bellagio, the show at Caesars, etc. I did not get to see all of them or even most but I did see the volcano show at The Mirage. This was an intense show and I was amazed at all that was put into creating it. It was so much fun to watch that I actually wanted to see it again before we left. I must warn you though..this is real fire and you should not be the first in line to see it unless you want to feel like your eyebrows will get singed. I was in  the front and I felt like someone put me into a pizza oven and left me in there. Older people and little children should be especially careful not to be too close.

Food can get pretty expensive, so if you play at the casinos, be sure to sign up for the cards so that you can get comps. Also, I was shocked by the fact that the Mc Donalds on the strip was priced regularly. I expected their prices to be nearly doubled because it is right on the strip but it was not. If you want to save money, go there for at least a meal or two.

Also, if you want to see a show, you had better plan ahead. We wanted to see Criss angel one night but we were too late. Apparently, you cannot purchase tickets at the box office for certain shows at showtime.The cutoff for Criss Angel tickets was 3 pm. He only played a few days a week so we were pretty bummed that we missed it.

Vegas can be a bit overwhelming with all of the sites, lights, and action. Make sure that you take a moment to check out the simpler things. We went to Red Rock in Vegas (pictured above) and it was awesome. You pay a modest price per car to go in and you can drive around to take pictures. It is really big so plan to spend a little time there. Who knows, you may see some cool wildlife. I was talking to a woman there and she told me that she saw a lizard right before we arrived. I would suggest that you wait until the sun starts to set if possible (check hours of operation first). It was extremely hot when we went and we could not stay outside for long periods of time. We kept getting back in the car to cool off again. Funny thing though..as hot as it was, the heat was not as bothersome as it is on the East Coast because it is a dry heat so you do not feel nasty. In New Jersey, when it gets hot like that, you sweat a lot and feel the need to take multiple showers a day during the summer.

There is so much to see and do in this place. The people are friendly (although we did see a big fight on the strip at around 2 a.m.). There is so much energy on the strip that it is easy to lose track of time. I also thought it was interesting to see so many people drinking outside (open containers are illegal where I am from). This place is the absolute best and I did not even scratch the surface! One thing you need when you come here (besides money) is time! This place is enormous! I did not get a chance to do everything I wanted to do because we were only there a few days but I had a blast and I cannot wait to go back.

Viva Las Vegas!!

So we're on our way to Vegas and then California for a much needed vacay! We will be checking out some of the coolest spots around and I will definitely keep you posted on what's going on. I will be taking some great pics as well so stay tuned! This Friday..we are on our way!!

Empire City Casino

Recently, my husband and I went to Empire City Casino in Yonkers, New York. Previously, I had seen commercials about it and I wanted to check it out. I asked my husband about it on occasion. He was not really interested because he felt like it may have been a fake casino. I had my suspicions as well. However, I figured I would give it a shot. We wanted to do something else that day but it fell through. I thought that Empire City Casino would be a nice choice since it was only about forty minutes or so from where we were.

When we arrived, it was a bit confusing. There was a sign for valet parking and an officer standing in the lot to direct crowds across to the casino entrance. At first, we did not see any signs for general parking so we asked the police officer where it was. He told us to leave that lot and make a right, a right, and then another right. That was simple enough we thought. Although, I found it a bit strange that we had to go back into the city to get there, but it was close. The lot was crowded so we had to go toward the end of the lot to find parking. We made note of our location via the numbered/lettered marker and headed toward a shuttle stop. We asked some people standing there if it was free and they told us that it was. Okay I thought, "Free parking and a free shuttle!" So far, so good! This was a change from Atlantic City because in order to get free parking at one of the casinos, you had to be a member. The shuttles "Jitneys" in Atlantic City are not free either so that was a plus.

After waiting about fifteen minutes for the shuttle, we got on and sat down. The driver was friendly and made some small talk with my husband. The shuttle was however crowded and there were people at the next stop who could not get on. After we arrived at the casino we saw the racetrack with the horses. I asked him if we could go check it out before we went into the casino. there were some friendly people there who passed out racetrack magazines and one lady even offered tips on who to bet on! We stood there for a few minutes and watched the horses walk around (the races had not started yet).

We entered the casino and immediately, we noticed how grim it was. The lighting was absolutely horrible! it was so dark in there that we were very uncomfortable. We were both thirsty and tried to find a waitress so that we could get a few bottled waters. They were nowhere to be found. We did not want to go to the bar for it and we did not see the cafeteria area at first. We did find water fountains and decided to have a drink of warm water. We were not satisfied as the warm water hardly quenched our thirst. We asked one of the attendants if there was a restaurant nearby. He told us that there was a cafeteria and pointed it out. We went and found some overpriced soft drinks at $2.75 to $3.75 per bottle. We purchased a drink and headed back onto the casino floor only to find a waitress. It is funny because we had not seen one when we were looking around, now there were a few of them.

After getting our player's cards and a nifty five-dollar ticket for free play, we headed toward the slots. We looked around and found that many of the slot machines were not only taken, but they had people in line waiting for them. We sat down at the few available ones and began to play. Immediately, we both lost the money that we had put into the machines. We tried more machines, same story. This continued on throughout the night until we both found one good machine each that at least let us win more than the standard "two cents" that the others did. We played those for a little bit until the machines began taking their money back. At least we did find those two machines out of the whole casino. We were well-aware of the fact that every machine has a certain payout but these machines had horrible odds. We also noticed that most of the machines did not have bonus play. Many of them were standard thee-pay line machines. They were tailored toward the 'golden' crowd. This was the main crowd that was in the casino anyway. Since we are young, we wanted and expected a more diverse group of people in terms of age. I guess we were used to Atlantic City. My husband had been to Vegas many times but I have never been there. However I did have a few casinos to compare it to. I had been to Atlantic City casinos and Foxwoods. I can tell you that there is a huge difference between a casino, and a building with slot machines in it. This was a building with slot machines in it. It was only two floors although the second floor only had a few machines and a restaurant on it.
As we played, a waitress came and asked us if we wanted drinks. We asked her what she had and she told us that she had coffee, tea, soda, etc. What?!! Where are the "real drinks?" Are you serious? Not hat we wanted any alcoholic beverages but the mere fact that they were not even offered was very disappointing. We got our "standard" Pepsi and sent the waitress on her way as we kept losing our money. We decided that it was time to go. We did visit the racetrack on the way out and placed a few small bets. We won a few dollars and lost a few dollars but the race itself was fun to watch. There were people outside selling grilled foods. The cost was not that bad.(except for the small bottle of six dollar beer).

After we watched the races, we got on the shuttle and then in our cars vowing never to return to that awful place! My advice to you "if you live near the area, go to Atlantic City" unless you feel like going to Foxwoods. Save your money and do not go to Empire City. For such a glorious name, this so-called casino is mediocre and unappealing. They should have kept this place a raceway and nothing more because this is not a casino! I would rather have a root canal with no anesthesia..thanks!

Holiday Inn is anything but a holiday!

Ahh traveling..I love it! It is one of the things that gives me great joy. The feeling that you are going somewhere makes it hard to sleep the night before, and easy to wake up the morning of. Sometimes the journey is just as fun as the destination. Whether flying and looking at "Sky Mall" mag or enjoying the open road..it's just plain fun! However, when you have a bad experience during the trip, it makes you think about what you could have been doing instead (getting those reports done at work, getting your car detailed, cleaning your home, etc.) Nothing annoys me more than knowing that not only have I wasted my time on a trip, but I wasted my money too!

Because of the nature of my experience, I am writing this article a bit differently. I am showing recent events before I share the background of this story. Recently, my wonderful husband and I celebrated our third anniversary. We went to Atlantic City for a few days. I had this crazy idea to save a few dollars by cashing in on the "free" room that was owed to us by Holiday Inn (more on that later). However, I had been leaving messages for the guy who was supposed to set it up for us. I did not receive a call from him (in his defense, it was fairly short notice). I did receive a call from another manager at the site saying that he was trying to get in touch with the person who would set up our free stay. Needless to say, we did not hear from him in time so we ended up paying for the night. This was on a Saturday. Because of our experience, we decided that we could not do another night there.

What we found:

We stayed at the Absecon, NJ location (there are no Holiday Inns in Atlantic City itself and this was only a few minutes away). I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed with the modern decor and amenities that the main lobby-area had. The colors were well put together and it was relaxing overall.
Upon check-in, we met a nice man at the desk who checked us in. He seemed to enjoy his job (despite the poor standard of business that this company has). He told us that he was from PA (about 1 1/2 hours-2 hours away) and that he spends several nights there every week. He gave us great tips on how to bypass the AC expressway and we were appreciated not only the information, but the great conversation! We grabbed out room cards and headed to our car to grab our bags. We went upstairs to our room and I thought the overall design was quite nice. However, upon further examination and doing our usual room check (sheets, towels, wash cloths, tub, etc.) we found some nasty stuff. There were questionable stains on most of the towels, hand towels and washcloths. They were frayed and blood-stained..yes BLOOD stained! There was also something on the bottom of the bathroom wall underneath the counter area. Too me it looked like blood, to my husband, it looked like someone spilled something and they used a strong cleaner to get rid of it. I didn't buy it. I think he said that because he knew I was freaking out already and did not want to exacerbate the situation. Since the room was clean overall (most importantly the sheets), we decided to stay but got the towels and washcloths changed. However, we didn't unpack because we knew that we would not be staying another night.

The next morning, we woke up and decided to see what they had for the "free hot breakfast". What a joke! Most of it was continental (muffins, danishes, etc.)The few hot items included; "eggs". "ham", biscuits, pancakes, and gravy. Well, against our better judgment, we decided to try it. The "eggs" were cut into a flat circle. We bit into them and almost hurled! They had the consistency of wet fat and they were flavorless! They tasted like water. that is the best way I could describe it. The "ham" was flavorless and nasty as well. My husband tried the biscuits and gravy and hated that too. There was a cool device that they had that I never saw before. This device made pancakes automatically. The batter is preloaded and you touch a button. The pancakes come out hot..and unfortunately disgusting and hard (very cool idea though..sign me up for the improved model). After "breakfast"..we grabbed our bags and hurried to Atlantic City to get some real breakfast at our favorite spot (look for the review on "Country Kitchen" in an upcoming article).

You are probably wondering how we ended up at the Holiday Inn and why we were entitled to a free room. Well, here is the original email that I sent to their corporate office (after I got no response from the original letter I wrote to them via the form on their site):

"I am forwarding this email to my husband. I left all of the details on the form on your site. I will tell you that we were at your location in Hazlet, NJ and it was last winter and that my husband went to use the towel in our room and he ended up wiping someone's semen on his hands (after just washing his). Also, there was excrement on another towel. Obviously, this worker was disgruntled and nasty!! Also, in that room and the next, the rooms were FILTHY and there was blood on the sheets in the first room and hair on the next sheets as well as various stains!! It stank something awful.

I have seen cleaner motels!! When we told the lady at the reservation desk, she simply shrugged it off and gave us another room. This ruined our ENTIRE night!! Imagine a man rubbing his hands in another man's sperm!! He did not want to tell me but I knew that something was wrong, he just threw the towel down but I kept prodding until he told me. He was embarrassed, that is why he did not tell me at first!! You took so long to respond that I am even more disgusted! If he had caught hepatitis or some other disease, you would have a hell of a law suit on your hands..ESPECIALLY since it took you MONTHS to respond to our complaint!! I am completely insulted as a customer! Not to mention the fact that, after waiting all this time to contact us, you don't even call, you send us an email AND you ask us to recount the events that happened over a year ago?? You need to contact my husband [name omitted] at [number omitted].

He has been waiting to hear from you for a while. We will NEVER stay at another Holiday Inn, we would rather sleep in our car! We have stayed in other Holiday Inns and they are ALWAYS sub-par (generally unclean). However, we never had an experience nearly this bad! We had no choice but to stay there because it was all we could get on such short notice (we were stuck on the Jersey shore because of the weather). I am a successful blogger and the only reason I have not yet written about this is because I do not want to embarrass my husband any further! I take it will not take another year to hear from you?"

To my readers:

I apologize if I seem so out of character but I was so disgusted with this situation and would never suggest addressing a letter to any business in this manner. Besides, there is more than one way to skin a cat! We stayed the next few days at the Tropicana Casino and Hotel.

After our vacation, we still have yet to hear back from the original manager at the Hazlet, NJ location. If and when we do, they will offer us a stay at one of their disgusting locations (which they owe us) and we will refuse. I do not want their room..want their blood! I am going to bring light to this situation so that consumers do not fall prey to their substandard health practices. I was told by one of the managers that one of my reviews has turned away customers. GOOD..I plan on continuing until they have none left because they do not deserve what they do not care about..YOU!
So..I will tell you, DO NOT STAY at HOLIDAY INN! God forbid someone has some type of disease and you end up bathing in or sleeping in someone another person's fluids!!

Long live the power of the consumer!

Norwegian Cruise Line

It was the night before we set sail for the beautiful Bahamas. We finished our last-minute packing and made sure that everything is in order before we left. We were so excited that we went to bed at about four AM. The next morning, we got ready and went to drop our car off at a relative's house. They dropped us off at the terminal in New York. Before I go on, here is a word of advice about the Pier 88 terminal; get there early because you may be inching in traffic around that area for thirty minutes or more.

We arrived at the terminal and prepared to go through the security/check-in process. Luckily (and thanks to a friend), we were amongst the first to board. We made our way up the ramp and were asked to give our cards to the attendants to swipe. Right before we actually entered the ship, we were met by a nice man who was holding the most delicious-looking drink you ever did see! He asked us if we wanted one and I thought to myself "Wow, I'm in love already..a free drink upon boarding?!" Then reality hit me when I realized that the drink was not free (luckily we did not take it). I had done research and I was well-aware that this line (like many others) charge for alcoholic beverages (plus 15% gratuity). However, I thought that they were trying to win people over with the first round. I was sadly mistaken.

Since we boarded so early, our rooms were not ready yet. We liked the fact that we could still explore the ship until they were. However, we opted to carry our own bags (NCL is notorious for losing bags or getting them to the rooms late) so we just went to the Garden Cafe to sit with our bags and grab a bite to eat. The selection was the standard pasta, bread, rice, burgers, desserts, etc. They did have a small Indian section that was okay. The food at this restaurant was nothing to write home about. Most of it was lukewarm and bland. The dessert looked so pretty that I had to try a few of them. I dug into the two desserts and despite how they looked, they were absolutely flavorless and just plain sad! It reminded me of Stephen King's 'The Langoliers'; when they described the food as being devoid of flavor. My husband tasted it and could not believe it either. Looks truly can be deceiving!

I made my way over to the drink station to get something for us to wash this stuff down and I saw a little metal box with four buttons on it. none of them were labeled so i figured i would press them until a familiar color came out. One was iced tea, one was cranberry juice, one was orange juice, and the other was water. They all turned into water after pressing them for a few seconds. I had forgotten that juices were only free in the morning and we had finished the last of it. I shared what little juice I could get with my husband. The free drinks included; milk, unsweetened iced tea, tap water, hot chocolate, coffee, and hot tea. Before we boarded, we were fully aware of the fact that carbonated and alcoholic beverages were extra. A soda card will run you over $7 pp per day for adults and about $4 pp per day for children. In addition, there will be a service charge (not included in your gratuities). You will spend more than $60 for an adult (after grat./fees)and $30 for children.

Once our room was ready, we made our way to it. We were on a lower level without a window. However, we had an upgrade to a very large room (about twice the size of a stateroom). We were celebrating a late honeymoon/anniversary, so we were greeted (thanks to our agent) with a bottle of red wine on our desk. The room seemed okay on the surface but we did not have much time to inspect it (more on that later). There was so much that we wanted to explore on the ship. The activities in "The Freestyle Daily" were abundant. There were things like game shows, live shows, bingo, raffles, etc.

We decided to go check out some of the raffles first. We headed down to the Crystal Atrium (this is where the concierge/reservation and excursion desks are) and entered the raffle. I was one of the lucky winners! What did I win? A photo album/frame. It was cute until I was told that the professional photo would cost $19.99 extra. I thought we had won the frame AND the photo. Of course, we now felt obligated to purchase the photo..especially since it was the perfect size for the frame. Wow..what a way to make money! We checked out some more raffles on board (including the art raffle).

At the beginning of our trip, we were checked under V.I.P. status (I could tell you why, but I'd have to kill ya'), so it came with a few perks. We were given a "free" piece of art for attending an art auction/raffle. However, when my husband told the art manager (at Park West) that we wanted to obtain our art, he asked if he had planned to bid on one of the pieces. When my husband told him "no", he hunched his nose up, gave him an appointment card and told him to come back at 7:30. We did not feel apologetic that we did not come with an extra ten-thousand dollars to bid on local art. If you ever find yourself attending a Park West "auction" with "free" champagne, be prepared to bid because every person who sits in those seats have that in mind and are not concerned with raffles (although many winning bids come with a free piece). Also, I found out that the raffles were for $500 toward a bid).

Throughout our trip, we have been sent invitations to numerous Park West raffles. Every time we showed up, we (along with a few others) were ignored and the raffle was never mentioned. When my husband asked about the champagne, he was told that it was for the auctioneers after the auction was complete. We decided to leave and find something else to do.

I wanted to sign up with the casino (Casinos at Sea). We went into the tiny casino and signed up. We received a free coupon book with a few casino goodies. One of the coupons was good for a free spin at a special slot machine to win a trip. I did not win the trip, but I did win thirty dollars. I chuckled a bit because the casino attendant was utterly shocked that someone had won. I knew it was a rare occurrence because she had to walk the other casino attendant through the casino card-crediting process..this was very weird. It did not matter because I did not plan on spending much at the casino anyway.

After playing a few slots, we headed to a restaurant to grab a bite. We went back to the garden cafe and ate there. The food was the same as it was before for the most part. There were other restaurants but there was a hitch to some of them. Out of about twelve restaurants, only four were free..yes, you heard right..FOUR. Usually, out of the four restaurants, only two were open at a time (sometimes only one..the Blue Lagoon (very limited menu), which was the ONLY twenty four hour restaurant). The rest had different hours. There were also a few bars that had a few select items every now and then. The rest had different hours. There were also a few bars that had a few select items every now and then.

Norwegian Cruise Line prides itself on a new concept called "Freestyle Cruising". This means that there are no set dining times, you can sit wherever you want, and the dress code is supposed to be relaxed. This is what made NCL appeal to us because although we wanted to dress up a few nights, we did not want to do it every night. NCL gets around this by limiting your choices of where you can eat. Only about one-third of the restaurants are free and the hours are so sporadic that you often end up using the pay restaurants. This is how they get you to pay. Also, the few free soft drinks that they have are often not readily available and you have to hunt something down to drink. Of course, there are numerous bars at every corner of the ship..so you will never be thirsty as long as you are willing to pay (drink + autogratuity).

That night, we were out doing a few activities on the ship and decided to go to Tsars. We were thoroughly embarrassed by the Maitre'D when she said that my husband's shirt was inappropriate because the sleeves were too short (so much for freestyle cruising). However, she said that since it was the first night, we could eat there but to be mindful of it the next time. She sent us down the stairs, where we were greeted by a man in a suit and bow tie "Are you looking for someone?" he asked. "No, we would like to eat." we replied and he gave us a look and escorted us to a table while saying that he needs to dress the next time. At this point, he wanted to leave but I said 'no", we paid for this cruise like everyone else here and we will eat here. When our waitress came, she repeated the dress code again and we let her know that we were already told TWICE and that we did not need to be reminded again. What was interesting was the fact that most of the people there that night were not even causal, they just wore whatever. We even saw people in hot pink and orange short-shorts..what gives?

I spoke to one of the representatives on board about the incident politely and explained to her. She told me that there was a dress code in Tsars and that the only reason we were allowed to eat there was because it was the first night and they understood that not everyone had received their luggage. I told her that it was not fair that no one told us that there was any type of dress code and that it was not announced, posted, or listed. In fact, in the newsletter for that day, the heading said something to the effect of "Feel like Dressing up? Don't feel like dressing up? With Freestyle you're free to..whatever" Yeah right! This is NCL's gimmick...as are many other things. I showed her this heading and she said that Tsar's policy is listed in the fine print of the newsletter. However, when she and another rep looked for it, they could not find it. I told her that it would be wise to make sure that this is known in order to avoid embarrassment to guests.

The next day there were several activities including a barbecue (nice although we could not find anywhere to sit due to over crowding) by the pool that was overrun with children. We ended up finding a small spot at the bar where we stood and ate. It was so crowded that people were actually waiting for us to finish eating so that they could use the small spot that we had.

The rooms:

We had a really large room, which had a couch. I was happy about that. Our room attendant was very nice (however, when you are in your room, you want to use the dead bolt because they will walk in if you do not answer them immediately when they knock the one time). I read horror stories about the minibar, so that it the first thing we checked when we got in. sure enough..someone had drank most of a Red Bull and left it in the fridge. We immediately called the reception desk and told them. We immediately asked them to send someone to remove the rest of the contents.
 After inspecting the room further, I noticed specks of blood on the pillows. Some looked like they had been bleached, some not. We called to get fresh pillows. This happened about three times, including a dirty washcloth and sheets on occasion. Norwegian does a horrible, horrible job cleaning the rooms and the linens. The room had layers of dirt and dust but it was made up very nicely to cover its flaws. If you ever stay here..inspect the sheets and linens! The television was very small but we made it work (really missed our flat screens though). The shower was very refreshing and the shower gel, shampoo, and hand soap all come out of dispensers. The bathroom is not pretty by any means but it is pretty functional. The bed was horrible. we both tossed and turned for seven whole days. My husband asked them to flip the mattress. Either they did not flip it, or the problem was the bed itself. The bed was very creaky and felt like two metal cots pushed together. Our bed is worth close to 2k at home so this was a huge adjustment! If you are looking for luxury in a room..do not book NCL. Our room attendants did work to make our stay as pleasurable as possible, but with this no-frills line, they did not have much to work with.

The staff:

The upper echelon was quite rude and nasty. They thought that they were better than the guests. They failed to realize that without the guests, then their no-brainer jobs would not exist. We did love the majority of the staff. Many of them were so very nice and no matter what you thought about the ship and what was going on, you had no choice but to smile! When you entered the Garden cafe, they have a spray bottle of hand sanitizer and say "washy, washy" while smiling. The kids and adults loved it and even when they were not around, all of us aboard started saying "washy,washy" and making sure that we used the hand sanitizing stations. It is good practice and really helped people do what they needed to do. The staff made small talk (when they weren't being forced to sell) and it was actually nice getting to know them and seeing them everyday.

The children:

Despite the fact that there were a few activities and areas for the kids (Splashdown Club), they were everywhere! We do not have children yet and were annoyed at little rugrats constantly running in, out, around, and through the ship! it was like 'Lord of the Flies' where the children had taken over the ship..literally. It was impossible to even walk down the main steps of the ship without running into kids and groups of teens sitting on each and every level of the stairs. You could take the elevator if you are willing to wait for the fifty people in front of you. If there were counselors onboard the ship..they were virtually unseen. The children were involved in each and every activity onboard and even the "Adult-only" newlywed game. They actually had to say things like "make whoopee" to accommodate the same children who were not supposed to be there in the first place! Speaking of children, any child aged 3 and above is also charged a gratuity of twelve dollars pp per day.
 There were two public pools and four hot tubs..all were overrun with kids (including the adult-only pool and hot tubs). At first, we though "it is not so bad because these kids will be taken to do their own thing. Well..what is their thing? YOUR THING! whatever you want to do or attempt to do..they are there. They run through the halls and do whatever they want without structure. Also, despite the fact that there are clear signs posted about not allowing your child to swim with diapers (even swimmers), parents felt the need to do it anyway. The pool had been drained several times (I am not referring to the nightly drain/cleaning), only once was for broken glass, I wonder what the rest was for. Because of this, we did not get in the pool or hot tub even once.

The floating market:

Everywhere you go on this ship at every turn, you will be pitched to buy something. Perhaps a drink, perhaps a $300.00 watch, perhaps a $6,000.00 painting, perhaps you will just end up $10,000.00 in debt after you are done. Norwegian Cruise tickets..the gift that keeps on giving!

There were numerous announcements (about fifteen per day) for different things being sold and how we needed to buy these things because the prices are so great. They constantly announced jewelry sales, gift shop sales, art auctions, and if I heard bingo one more time I would hurl something into the speaker! Nestled into each Itinerary sheet for the day, were different ads for their floating market. Although we paid a nice amount to take the cruise, we were treated like it was a free trip and we just sat through these "timeshare-like" presentations all around the ship! Kim is the main jewelry lady aboard the NCL Jewel.

 If you are brave enough to go on this cruise, you had better steer clear of her. We went to one of her "raffles" and sat through a presentation of over an hour before she did the raffle. She was telling us about all of the (high-end) jewelry shops in Nassau, Bahamas and how we needed to shop there. She made one quote that particularly upset my husband "If you see it, and you like it..buy it!" He was done after that and really wanted to leave the raffle. I know that they want to make sales but Kim and NCL will have you putting a second mortgage on your home for jewelry!

Throughout the ship, there were numerous tables with different items for sale throughout the ship. Either someone was aggressively shoving a drink in your face as you walked through the corridors and areas of the ship, or someone was snapping a twenty-dollar picture every five minutes, or some other gimmick was going on. We never got a chance to relax at all.

Many of the activities listed in the "Freestyle Daily" are not free. Most of them state that a fee applies. Sometimes it was on almost every other line of the activity sheet. It got so bad that you did not know what was included and what wasn't anymore. Beware, some of the activities have fees even if it is not stated in the newsletter. You will find this out when you attempt to go to the event.

The ports of call:

Our first stop was Port Canaveral, FL. There was nothing there and we did not plan an excursion so we did not get off. Some people went to Cocoa Beach via NCL but said that it was nasty and over-crowded. They also said that the water was nothing special..just dark murky water.

Our next stop was Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas. This is Norwegian's private island. There was not much to do beyond the excursions (snorkeling, etc.). We had fun swimming, snorkeling, and lounging in the float rental. The sand was okay and the water was beautiful. However, I found stray garbage floating like cigarette butts, bandaids, etc. Also, I found a few cigarette butts in the sand. It was not horrible messy but left unchecked, it could get much worse. I wanted to get a tote bag from the little market. I figured that since it was NCL-owned, that you could use your room key as you could for everything else. However, the merchant told me that it was cash-only. This was not told to us and we did not want to wait for another tender (ferry) to get back to the boat, just to get spending money, especially since we only spent a few hours at this location.

This island was super crowded and there were not nearly enough seats to handle even half of the cruisers. Nevertheless, we still had fun. My husband even encountered a stingray while off snorkeling on his own (not recommended of course)!

The next and final stop was Nassau, Bahamas. If you are not booked on an excursion here, you will be at a loss because NCL does not promote third-party taxis, etc. I would say that you can take a ferry boat or bus to Atlantis for a few dollars per person but be careful. Never travel alone and always take a bus where there is more people because Nassau can be dangerous and criminals are unlikely to target a large amount of people. You should be fine as long as you do not get into an individual taxi. When you get off of the dock, there are so many commercial retailers (the ones that your jewelry expert Kim constantly tells you about). These include; Gucci, Fendi, etc. You will not get a real feel for the place unless you venture out a little. You have to walk over a few blocks to get to the local retailers because this is where you will get the real bargains. NCL wants you to stay by their partnered stores and spend all of your money. You would do yourself a service and really help the local economy more by shopping at native stores. However, please do be careful and be aware of your surroundings.

Crime is indeed an issue here but we walked over a few blocks and were fine. You will want to sample the local cuisine and stay away from Tropicana, Starbucks, etc. You can get that anywhere. Sample the local conch salad or Bahamian cuisine.

After we left Nassau, everything changed. We did not see most of the staff (could have been resting I guess). The ship did not seem lively at all anymore, except they really ramped up the last-minute gift shop, art auctions, jewelry store, and bingo sales, oh..let me not forget another thing..trying to get you to put a deposit on your next cruise. This is something else that we heard all cruise long. The demeanor of the whole ship changed. it seemed like they did not care about the guests anymore because they had been bled dry of their money. What happened to the "washy, washy" people? What happened to the friendly staff that we saw before we hit Nassau? Where did the crew disappear to? What happened to all of the activities that we had experienced earlier in the cruise? It was replaced with music, bingo, and shopping! We were extremely happy to be done with the trip. The gratuity is twelve pp per day which added up to about $170.00. Gratuities are added on some cruise lines. This is becoming the standard industry-wide but some lines allow you to give out your own tips.

One of the cruisers told us that despite paying over $900.00 to NCL for a family of four for Atlantis resort access, the beach was not included. She told us that they were dropped off miles from the resort and had to walk with their small children to and from the resort from the bus. It rained while we were in Nassau and they were only able to do two things in her itinerary. I asked her if they received a partial refund and she said that she tried, but to no avail.

 As my husband stated "It is a shame that all of the paid options overshadowed what was included by a large margin." His boss was considering NCL for his cruise (leaving in a few days). However, after speaking with my husband, he opted not to use NCL and will go with another line. My husband had cruised before but never encountered anything like this. His boss stated that he had also been on other cruise lines and although they sell things, they do not force it down your throat or make announcements every five minutes like NCL does. He said that he had never encountered such a thing. I hope that this will help my readers to steer clear of Norwegian Cruise Line..more specifically, the NCL Jewel (although i am sure that it is the whole fleet of ships on NCL). It is a shame that my husband had only one week off from work and school to celebrate our marriage and it was partially wasted. We made the best of it but the joy that we found had nothing to do with Norwegian Cruise Lines and everything to do with the two of us and the destinations explored.

Have a great trip AWAY from Norwegian Cruise Line!