Caribbean Princess, sailing round trip from Houston. Young son and DIL is flying to Houston today, ship departing tomorrow. They paid around $400 as well. We leave home on the 17th, visiting some friends before we board the next day.

First time for us sailing out from Houston, and the second time for us sailing in the Gulf. Last time we sailed in the Gulf was 2001, from Tampa after Super Bowl and New Orleans was one of the stops, on board the then largest ship Carnival Sensation (70,000 tonnes) with Kathy Lee Gifford.

It would be fun if we can organize a Fodor's cruise with all the regulars from here. Sharing a brew is okay, but for you, it will have to be some high end tea or coffee. I'll bring a few of my favorite (or unusual) blends and you can bring your coffee press. If memory serves me right, I still owe you a couple drinks.

To hi-jack the thread for a bit, Jacket, how is your leg, knee? Hope the recovery has speeded up some.

yes it would be fun to do a cruise with the regulars here.

Coffee would be fine with me as I do like a good cup of Joe.

Sass thanks for asking and it would be nice to see you and hubby again. That dinner at the Tuscan Grill with you and Nigel was a lot of fun. As for the knee its coming along but I do wish the pace would pick up. My surgeon said it would take 8 weeks so I am just over 4 now and I have to be patient.

Here in the Chicago area we have been hit with a lot of snow, 14.4 inches officially in my town over three days with more to come today followed by the deep freeze Monday with temps of -10F and who knows what the chill factor will be.

So how is the weather by you guys?

Hmm ... Nigel ... that's a name that I have not heard for a while. Dogster, RIP. We miss you.

Larry, somehow I thought it was a hernia operation. With you out of commission, Sue is shovelling the snow?

You mean a himnia?

Actually I am able to get out a little and so the snow clearing I am able to do and it's fairly easy with our new snow blower.

We had 14.4 inches on snow over 3 days and man as I type we are getting more more, up to maybe 10 inches. Drat.

I do miss Nigel. Even though we met him only once he left quite an impression. Like I said Sass and us had a great time that night on the Constellation.


Take care and stay warm and dry.

Larry, from Sass's other post, I gathered you are going to be on the Carnival Legend ... It's too bad that April is not a good time for me to travel; otherwise, it would be awesome to cruise with you and Sue.

Btw, don't let the snow dampen your spirit. Go ski, go skate and do some winter sport

Well I am not into winter sports, even with two good knees. .

The extent of outdoor activities for me is using my new sno thrower which has come in handy as we had like 7 " on snow on top of the 15 we had the previous few days. That snowfall brought us up to 60% of our annual average so with the 7+ afterwards we are on our way to a new record it seems.

Take care and stay warm amigo.

To get back to the original post and re-hijack the thread, I would give Epic very high marks overall. I had a great time. The entertainment was amazing and there was a ton to do. I loved the blues club and second city, wasn't a big fan of the blue man group. Yes, there were a lot of kids, but it wasn't hard to find quiet, adults only spots on deck. The bathroom situation in the cabin didn't bother me, although I was traveling solo. One drawback to the wavy cabin design was it made for a really uncomfortable couch, but that was a minor thing. The smoke in the casino didn't really bother me -- and I'm usually pretty sensitive to it. I could see why it would annoy people. If they're going to allow smoking onboard and indoors, it should be in a separate room and not in a high-traffic area.

andrews98682,

Thanks for the post. I'm surprised you did not like the Blue Man group... most people rave about them.

As I mentioned earlier, we are going forward with the cruise based mostly on all of the "positive" comments here.

It probably would have been a different decision if we relied only on the Cruise Critic postings.

Thanks Fodorites

I was pretty tired the night I saw Blue Man, and I think that might have played into it. I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for that show. The crowd seemed to like it. I walked out.

I guess Blue Men Group may not be everyone's cup of tea, and as I have posted earlier, we paid over $100 a ticket a few years back and warch them in Vegas ... with the "free" admission to the show, the value of the show was devalued.

I am surprised at the smoking policy. A lot of the cruise lines have adopted a much stronger no smoking policy, inclduing banning smoking on private balconies. For me, the smoke would be a deterrent and will make me walk far away from it.