Beverly Hubbard

Age: 46
Occupation: R.N..
Number of Cruises: 12
Cruise Line: Carnival
Ship: Celebration
Sailing Date: September 23rd, 2002
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Until a few hours of boarding we were advised that all was on schedule in spite of Isadora. We would take an alternate route and miss the bad weather.and still make our planned scheduled destinations. Boarding was fairly timely and the crew seemed to go out of their way to get everyone on board and on their way.

The Wheelhouse Bar and Grill took a while to figure out as the main course was at one end and the salad bar at the other, everything was separated and spread out. We got our late dining changed by the second night without problem to early dining. Our wait staff were very kind, personable and efficient. Our cabin steward wasn't very friendly but he did a great job and was kind enough to meet our few minor requests. Room service was fast which was really nice and always brought exactly what we ordered or more.

Our room was pleasantly larger than we expected since it was inside cabin, a first for us. Unfortunately Isadora made our lives miserable. Shows were cancelled due to danger to the dancers. The activities guy fell off the job. We were hours with nothing to do but dwell on the hurricane. The ship felt like it was going to split into two most of the time. Thank heavens I took some sleeping medicine with me or I would have been in big trouble. It was so rough and noisy especially at night I would have never slept. We have been on so many cruises that we just take it with a grain of salt but our 23 year old daughter and her husband came with us and it was their first cruise and I'm afraid it will be their last.

We heard all kinds of stories around the ship. One of which was that the cruise line flew 500 people home from Cozumel when we finally reached there on Thursday. I have never seen so many people vomiting in such close proximity and I'm an R.N.. We were supposed to stay on Cozumel until midnight but had to leave at 5PM and didn't even get close to Cancun. I'm just thankful we got to stop at Cozumel. We rented a car and drove the island. Snorkeled at Corona Beach one of the only beaches the water and sand wasn't churned up so much you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. And we did some shopping with the kids. It was their first time there. I'm sure we went through the eye of the hurricane on Wednesday afternoon as we were at the pool deck and the water calmed and there was clear blue sky. I looked at my watch and it was 30 minutes later we headed into the same miserable, rough, 15 ft. waves that we had been battling since we left Monday afternoon. It was horribly rough Thursday night but by Friday it had calmed just enough that you could sit outside without fear of being blown off the ship. But regardless of the weather that ship is noisy. It rattled and shook like nothing I have ever experienced. Then of course we pulled in to Galveston late, about 8am Saturday morning. We learned a long time ago to pay no attention to the colors and to wait for yours to be called to leave the ship. The minute the ship is cleared we are at the door and off. We have spent hours in the past waiting our "turn". Especially this trip. We were desperate to get off that boat before it sank.

On a scale of 1-10 we gave this cruise a 3 and I doubt that we will cruise Carnival again. We love going out of Houston or Galveston so Royal Caribbean will be our next cruise. Thank you for your consideration,

Richard and Beverly Hubbard

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