Freighter Travel

Cruise Ship Travel

The major cruise ship companies are Carnival, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises and Windstar Cruises. There is a lot of incestuous ownership in the cruise ship industry, and while some of these cruise companies may be fierce competitors, others may be friendly siblings.

Carnival Cruise Review

Efficiency of the originating port embarkation (Tampa) was phenomenal. They took your bags quickly, had your state room number and for a small tip took bags to your room. We were dropped off so cannot comment on parking or airlines.

Boarding the ship again was quick and efficient. We found our room easily and inside had everything one could need. The cruise company provided toothpaste , soap , shampoo. Towels, beach towels, and robes. Copies of the itinerary were in the room. It listed all the events, what time they were and in what location.

There was interactive TV. They had a few movies to choose from, news, regular TV and the ship TV ( repeats of ship shows and events that were videotaped). They had laundry rooms with irons and you could also have it done by the ship. The room was bigger than expected and luggage was able to fit under the bed. There was drawer and closet space. We had an interior lower level so there was no view. I especially liked how dark it was for sleeping.

Eating On Board A Cruise Ship

The dining room was lovely. The food was for the most part very good. The beef dishes were exceptionally good, as was the pasta. The servers were very helpful and would get you anything you needed. (They even sang and danced for the guests at dinner time which turned out to be quite amusing. )

Many people would order more than one dish at a sitting to try out different things and that seemed to be perfectly fine. At dinner you sit with the same people so it was nice to learn about our table mates and talk about our trips and events of the day. Breakfast food was okay, you could get most of the same things on the buffet upstairs. If you are looking for eggs benedict or poached eggs or salmon then the dining room is best. Breakfast and lunch are open seating and you usually sit 6 to a table and have a chance to meet more people. It was amazing how many different types of people you find onboard.

They also had some fair sushi almost every night. It gave us a little something to nibble on while waiting for dinner.

If you like to eat you will find food at any time of day. They even had midnight buffets that we were just too full to partake of.

My only complaint with dinner was that we had requested 2nd seating dinner (6:45) and we received the last possible seating at 8:30. They were unable to accommodate us when we requested something earlier.

As far as the dress code for dinner, you couldn't wear shorts or t-shirts in the dining room. I saw everything from casual to dressy. There was one formal night where they requested gentleman wear jackets. It doesn't matter what you wear for the buffet or grill areas.

The staff come thru recruitment agencies. they start as assistant waiters in crew restaurant. ( in general, very few of the crew are American born, the only ones I can recall were on the Cruise Director's team or were entertainers.)

Food and Health On A Cruise Ship

Ferhad, one of the maitre'ds said that no food is loaded in foreign ports it would be shipped from the United States.

According to the Maitre'd, the US Coast Guard inspects the ship every 3 months. For public health issues such as food preparation areas, the United States public health inspection occurs randomly and unannounced. This is through the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP).

It is the responsibility of the environmental officer to manage waste disposal. Food can be disposed once 15 miles from shore.

The majority of the food preparation area is stainless steel.

Cruise Ship Activities