How Do You Cruise?

Good Afternoon,

Though I had been to Alaska during the early 1990s for a journalism project, on the American Bald Eagle, we did not go via cruise ship.

We were in Haines River Valley, southern Alaska, which at that time was the route of the Sockeye Salmon, and thus, the American Bald Eagle and the Kodiak Bear are two of the world´s mammals who feast on this salmon breed.

However, my father´s twin brother worked for Holland Cruiselines and thus, this could be a fine option. The other cruiseline suggested for this route, would be Norwegian. We had taken a cruise ( I live in Europe ) to Norway and it was heaven on the sea ... the gastronomy, the professionalism, the entertainment and the service --- all 5 stars.

Best of luck.

From Margcata: Hope all works out. I would also contact the Alaska State Tourism Board. Keep me posted. June is a great time to go. Have a great cruise.

I go on a cruise about every year. been to Alaska the cruise is great, sailing and the landscape of getting there is best part. Alask itself a bit primtive. In fact most cities only open up(Stores, Shoppes when a ship is in otherwise not many locals available) Cruising to Alaska ends mid August as it starts to freeze up(the waterways)  Of all the line I prefer NCL.lines (also most casual  and I found friendliest people)

      Holland America was an old age home with unfortunatly to many wheel chairs and canes and crutches for you to fall over or get around.. Attracts much older clientel. ALSO FOUND THEM MOST EXPENSIVE OF ALL THE MAJOR LINES.

     .Also ships are old and in need of some repair. Make sure you dont pick a time when kids are off school otherwise parents let kids run amok all over any ship. Worse part of cruising all the nickel and dimeing xtras. Otherwise its the only way to go.

I was on Princess to Eastern Carib. It was good , but I  still prefer NCL for overall food, variety,service and shows. Plus no have to"s  at any set time .  Eat whenever and wherever you want, sleep the same, play and games the same. At your leisure. I would not go on Holland again, Princess I I would. go again.

The cruise industry is trying to change food service. Many have 1 main dining room and a buffet. All  the other restaurants are at an additional cost. Lets say $25.00 pp, but it is really not 25.00pp because you are not eating what is already included in the price of your cruise. This is known as displacemrnt  profits  and they  make a lot of $ on it   I have talked to many friends in the cruise industry. The lines will eventually give you an option when you buy ticket. With food or without.  In view of the high food prices they are paying this makes sense.  Example, I dont' eat lunch on board therefore I dont pay for  it. It sounds confusing but even with the new super ships (4000 or more passengers it can be done)  I remember drinks were $1 or $2  now there $6.00 and keep in mind they pay no tax on their liquor. 

You can do better then 200.00 per day. In a alot of cases travel agent can save you $. If you go Alaska ,take the Glacier tour thats all. All the rest you can do on your own for free. Most of the tours on all the lines are not worth it. You can do them locally on your own for 1/2 the price.

2 Princess ships came in to Fort Lauderdale yesterday  on one 92 peopl e sick (stomach and other related problems)  the other number of people undisclosed but  same type of problem. Sounds like Bacterial inborn food problem. This time it was Princess  but it happens quite a bit.

       I can tell you first hand, I have been through many cruise ship kitchens(I send Chef a note when I  embark, most are happy to take me thru the galleys) I can tell you first hand they are spotless.snd sanitation is really a top priority. In this case the problem was probably in the food when placed on the ship. It was probably  a salad or fruit item that requires no cooking..

Hello,

Although I think a cruise ship can be such a nice holiday I also have quite a bad experience with the kitchens. We were in Egypt (which yes is very different to a cruise to Alaska, for example) but it was 5 star. My younger sister became so ill she was on a drip for 5 days on the cruise ship, the doctor said it was an issue with having not enough work space for cook on the ships, and mixing for example veg and fruit chopping boards with meat chopping boards. 

This is not at alll to say you shouldnt go on a cruise, because they can be really really fantastic, but I think wherever you are its good to remember that you cant see the food being prepared.

Here is a website for the best cruises in the world, take a look at that :)

All keep in mind  1 sick person at the self service buffet( a carrier) can contaminate and make 1000s of people sick.   That why most of ships today have someone stand at entrance  and insist you use their sanitizer before entering buffet. They have the right to refuse admittance if you don't.  And I don't know what they do on Egypt cruise but no ship or line I know of would intermingle cutting boards. They are all color coded. Red meat, yellow poultry, green vege, blue fish. And the boards are steamed after use.

% wise you will never get true statistics. I can say that considering the amount s of people that cruise yearly , it is quite low almost like flying . Considering the amount of passengers per annum very low death %. Just don'y eat anything RAW  if possible

Sista, I was cruising through Kaneohe a few weeks ago, going to the north shore. I made sure I had an extra Chicken thigh for you when I ordered the Shoyu Chicken. There is something about the macaroni salad on the plate lunches, I love it. It was 82 degrees everyday, no rain in Honolulu, but there was rain in Kaneohe. The shrimp truck with the garlic shrimp truck is always good in Haleiwa, so is the farmers market..........I think they banned all Hawaiians from Cruising to Alaska, they complain to much about the cold, maybe have to take a outrigger canoe.............Chefbillb

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaneohegirlinaz 

:Laughing so hard, while rolling on the ground, with tears streaming down my cheek:

Braddah Man!!  Where you was?  Long time no spock!!  Eh, you went my hometown and you never tell me before?  Howz ‘dat…

Where was it that you enjoyed Shoyu Chicken in my honor? 

I am SOOO jealous of you guys (Pohaku too) you get to go Honolulu!!

Anyways, Cruising… have you gone?  And we get plenty jackets, no worry!

 

Hey Local girl, The driving in Honolulu is crazy, I was happy to get over that side of the island. I had the Shoyu Chicken at Rainbow Drive in. I do it better, but hey, I like give them a chance to shine. I posted a pic of the Shoyu Chicken on Pohaku post about Chinese New Year. My wife wants to go to Phoenix next Christmas, we did Hawaii the last two years, so she wants a change. GGEEZZZZ she has me for 34 years, she hasn't said anything about a change here yet...................My little girl loves the flea market at Aloha Stadium, so we try to get there a few times.....Take care, hope all is well....... P.S. never did a Cruise, never will, I like getting to my place fast not float around all day....................ChefBillyb
 

Since an outbreak on ship involves the Feds. God knows when anyone will find out what it was and what caused it.

Reason behind it is if it's caused by a raw product The FDA wants to know as to keep an eye out for that product being shipped in for land use. Example it could have been put on by a food service company and the FDA wants to check the source, as do other cruise lines.e

And SNOW what is SNOW  75 here today and slightly overcast but sun comes through.

Federal law mandates that no cruise ship coming into any US port can purchase fresh seafood .

   .It must be prefrozen at least 72 hours prior to embarcation. This method kind of makes it safer as freezing kills many things that are harmful and then thorough cooking assures both hi and low end of bacteria is killed. The oysters and clams and lobster is frozen. Be honest with you fish frozen on factory ships which are miniature factories is better then fresh which has been hanging  around for days before you get it .From the Place of harvesting to the middleman to the local store. and finally to you. Minimum 3 to 4 days.. EJB

Safer then a local restaurant or supermarket. Most of shipboard problems in the past was traced back to raw vegies and berries, which are not frozen or cooked.

What happened on the Princess could happen on any ship or even a plane for that matter. Many years ago I worked at Kennedy Airport for ARA food services and even then our neighbor Marriot airline catering had a food poisoning on the plane. It happens a lot, but only makes the headlines when its a lot of people involved.