Have been soaking up all your good information for months now and have decided to take the plunge and do an intro. My family...consisting of 21 people...is going on the Bermuda Navigator cruise 7/14. The specific reason is to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday(which was in March but because of college kids/teacher daughter we needed to wait till July to get all together!)I have appreciated your reviews and all the information including the recent pictures posted.
Have done 5 other cruises...three Celebrity, one NCL, one Carnival. Maybe I'm not too discriminating but I found things to like in them all! I love to be on the sea and the pampering doesn't hurt either...
I'm looking forward to what everyone says will be the most upscale experience of my life on RSSC.
My husband is a customer service manager for an office products company and I am a secretary at a hospice.
We are delighted to be sharing this cruise with the whole family as there is always someone to do something with and my mom will be thrilled to have EVERYONE around her...the problem is when she tries to organize EVERYONE into all the same activities...hahaha. Once on a prior cruise it took two hours just to do breakfast because she kept wondering, "where is your sister?" "have you seen your brother?" "we should all eat together" we spent HOURS looking for people!!!(only kidding)She is a "trooper" and I hope I have half her ambition when I am her age. Whenever there is discord my husband will pipe up with "I feel a lot of love in this room"...that always lessens the tension!!
There will also be mega-opportunities for us to be with our toddler grandson who is making the trip with his parents...and that's a good thing!
So, thanks for the good read...you all sound like a fun group and very helpful! <img border="0" alt="[12]" title="" src="graemlins/18.gif" />

tennispretzel, I know you and your family will enjoy RSSC. I love your attitude..."found things to like in them all", and I agree with you.
Cruiseing with family can be a little challenging. We are only 11, but when we do cruise all together, we usually do so with the understanding that everyone is free to do their own thing (sleep late..excursion..on-board activities..etc.) The only command attendance is dinner together. It works for us.
Welcome to LCT and have a great cruise. :)

Betty

Welcome tennispretzel and thanks for the intro!

Masaki

Welcome tennispretzel! When our whole family cruises together we are only 8 - but even then coordination can be daunting. We follow the same rules as BettyK. We talked about the plans and if something works out to do together great and if not we meet up for predinner drinks and dinner. After that - each to his (or her) own!

How lucky you are to have so many family members wanting to cruise together for your mom's birthday!

Greetings tennispretzel:

I agree wholeheartily with Betty K when commenting on your attitude. Super!

I envy you in regard to your family entourage. It sounds like great fun and I have no doubt all of you will have a most enjoyable cruise.

Welcome aboard!


Cheers! Ray
If you begin the day with love in your heart, peace in your nerves, and truth in your mind, you not only benefit by their presence but also bring them to others, to your family and friends, and to all those whose destiny draws across your path that day.
(Unknown)

tennispretzel: Welcome, and thanks for the intro! This sounds like a trip my former mom-in-law organized a few short years ago over New Years on a mega ship (she paid, and no-one was complaining). There were 3 generations and about 22 aboard, and they all loved it except my former husband, who jumped ship after 3 days! The rest had a ball It was just too big for him. You will love the Navigator! Only time I've had all my 4 children together was in Alaska. I put out no rules, except let's "try" to eat dinner together. I spent time with each of them individually on certain outings, and sometimes we did things as a group, like the Virtuoso excursion that was gratis. It isn't a good idea in my mind to take them all on a cruise and then dictate what everyone does. So long as we eat together at dinner, there is more sharing of experiences this way. Your group is so big it would be impossible to please everyone with a plan! Just go with the flow and all will have a great time!

Ray, I love your everchanging quotes that reflect on the subject of the thread!

Welcome, tennispretzel. I enjoyed reading your intro. What a great time you will have celebrating your Mother's 80th birthday. I know you will all enjoy sailing on Radisson.

Ray, I concur with Olivia. I love your quotes. They are very inspiring. You give so much thought into your selections.

Thank you all for your welcome...as much as I joke, we do love being together a lot and are looking forward to having "relax time" together as all are busy in our daily lives and it is nice to get all the college age kids together and hear what is going on in their world.(although we as parents know it is the "censored" version!!)

We will try to do dinners together as you all mentioned.

Tennispretzel...welcome to LCT! I'm intrigued by your "screen name" - can you tell us why you selected it? As an avid tennis player I'm always glad to meet kindred souls :)

Your family cruise sounds like a great way to observe an important birthday. Hope everyone enjoys the cruise and your special time together.

Don't really know how the name came to me...perhaps I was eating a pretzel when I was dreaming about my passion, tennis!
Love the game...it's different every time...doesn't take the 5 hours that golf takes..don't need a lot of people...get fresh air, etc. We have just started outdoors up here in the Northeast. Sept to May we are inside and the first time playing outside feels wonderful!
Thanks for your well wishes, I Travelnow, and enjoy YOUR tennis!

Tennispretzel:

I share your love of the game...and I've made some terrific friends on the tennis courts.

While I play outdoors year-round (Florida) I do remember summer tennis in the Northeast. Hope you have a good season.

Game...Set...Match!

Welcome to the boards I am so glad you decided to post.

Thanks for the encouragement, Ngaire, and your help with plans. I've learned so much here and hope this won't be my only RSSC cruise!