Has anyone been eyeing Mariner's January 15th (2009) sailing to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, etc.? Looks like a GREAT winter trip!

it does!

I thought so too!

We've been to Bonaire and loved it. I've always wanted to go to St. Lucia and also check out the Turks and Caicos so this itinerary looks great to me too!

The Navigator is doing one in March 2009 with a similar itinerary plus one extra day that I have been considering, too.

Navigator ABC cruise

And here is the Mariner\'s itinerary, both look pretty good!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by KarenS:
[QB] The Navigator is doing one in March 2009 with a similar itinerary plus one extra day that I have been considering, too.

Navigator ABC cruise

Wow, I see the Navigator is stopping in St. Croix, USVI on this cruise! That is one of our favorite Caribbean Islands.

The cruise ships had stopped going there and the small town of Fredricksted sort of turned in to a ghost town, but the last few years we've been there (we rent a private home) they've been doing a lot of work to bring the town back to life in hopes of the ships returning.

Karen you have a "following" so you never know- name your cruise
:hug:

How about the Alphabet Cruise? :D

Hi, Karen- I didn't realize Navigator had a similar itinerary in March... and with an extra day! Choices, choices...hum...I guess we have two "ABC" sailings from which to choose! (Mark and I would love to sail with you and Mark again...) to all!
By the way, for anyone who has sailed recently on Navigator ... has she been retrofitted with a coffee bar similar to Mariner?

Is the March Nav cruise during school breaks ?

We would like to avoid that.

Looking to book for 2009 while on board the Mariner this April.

billp1. Usually, people only have a problem when the cruise are "Kids Sail Free" that bring on many more children. March is spring break time, but not sure that particular cruise is free for kids.

Easter 2009 is April 12 so "spring break kids with parents" would not apply

Lindy, the Navigator has a coffee bar but it's not like the Mariner's. If I remember correctly, you can't self serve. I think it is staffed starting at 6am.

PS, we would love to cruise with you and Mark again, too!

I'm all set for the March 11th Navigator cruise! :woh: (no cabin # yet)

Who's joining me??? Let's see if we have enough interest to name the cruise :)

What a coincidence - Tony and I were just talking about that trip - some ports we have not seen, nice length of trip, we'll join you and Mark! Joanna

ME ME ME.....and Larry too!!!!!!!!

This just might work out for Carla and I.
Nice relaxing ports and lots of sun.

Will be the talk over dinner tonight:

The best part is none of us will need Euros!!!!

FV

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed you and Carla join us - know we'll see you on Samba BUT we love cruising with you two!!!

Carol and I are booked. Ngaire said cabin 721 for us.

We would love to cruise with all of you, I think this will take little talking into. My birthday is March 7th so I could justify this as a two week non stop party for myself in 2009.. OOOPSS I mean Carla too. We will be in Ft. Lauderdale this
Friday for a week just to relax and get out of this cold!

FV

As a recent empty-nester, I would suggest that any cruise > 7 nights will have few school-age kids on board due to the time away from school; however, we were prone to travel with our kids for a couple of "extra" days around school vacations as an added-value education (I know, nice example I set as president of the school board!).

We will also consider this cruise and, along with Betty and Larry, scout the Caribbean during our upcoming March 24 sailing.

Karen, The Navigator has a staffed coffee bar in the Navigator Lounge on Deck 6, plus a new self-serve in the Galileo's Lounge on Deck 11. The best of both worlds!!

Beth, that is great news!! Sometimes I like to sneak down to the self serve in the early am without other humans seeing me :eek:

The sistah's are booked for this cruise :banana: :banana: Strange things happen on boring Sunday mornings. Old friends to meet and new friends to make and Hello! again my old friend Navigator :hug:

Oh what a fun group we will have! I am not sure if I can contain my excitement for the next 378 days :)

I guess that gives me time to get down to "cruising weight"! I can't buy too many new pairs of shoes with the new 1 bag per person rule but if we fly on US Air, I am quite sure we will be paying the fee for extra bags, lol.

I just looked at the preliminary excursions for our sailing, there are plenty of things we can do to break our necks on this trip! There is 4 wheeling, zip lining and dune buggying, not to mention feeding sharks (but through a partition of some sort)

FYI - Karen's cruising weight is awesome ;) ;)

We have decided to book when we are on board the Mariner this April...

Good news Billp1.....look forward to meeting you and your wife -

Hoorah, Billp1!!

This cruise does have a great itinerary. Sounds like there are lots of exciting excursions to consider too. Hmmm, great company, smaller ship, sure sounds tempting.

Donna: We felt same way - nice itinerary etc...a "chill" cruise - we had nothing planned for 2009. I was looking at fall 2009 BUT this is close to home, etc. And Karen is the "leader" an added extra. Hopefully we can do river trip in 2010 -

Joanna, so far, no travel plans in 2009 for us despite my nagging :D . We'll see what happens, maybe this will be the one. Yes, sailing with "leader" Karen and the rest of you guys is a great incentive.

We booked this cruise back in Dec. and are happy to see we won't be cruising alone! I just noticed that it is a "Spotlight on Food and Wine" cruise and that we will have "an internationally acclaimed mixologist" aboard whipping up Caribbean cocktails. Should be a great time!

Kathy

Hi Kathy!!! That's great and I know you'll enjoy getting out of chilly Boston in March - Joanna

Kathy, I am glad for the chance to meet you!

Kathy,

Glad you hear that you are on the cruise. Look forward to meeting you.
Spotlight on Food & Wine, huh? Two of my favorite interests. :)

I always dreamed of meeting a 'mixologist'...Already feel a hangover coming on :p

Let's hope they have a girlie martini night, I can go for a strawberry cheesecake or creme brulee martini :yummy1:

I'll have a lemon drop (thanks Kathy & John for introducing me to that yummy drink on Lamb)

We are in 631.