It’s VERY VERY simple, it’s probably very obvious, but it wasn’t to little old me.

Heres the gist.

I have been trying to find a cheap One-way flight from Prague, Czech Republic to Barcelona, Spain on the 30th Dec 2010. Yep a day before news years eve.

Using all the normal cheapy websites. The prices ranged from $250 to $2000 dollars for this short flight.

So the TA tells me, just look / book for a return flight instead of a one-way, put a return date for a few weeks after your arrival time. Obviously you won’t turn up for the return leg but it may be cheaper as a return

Low and behold, the cheapest flight of $250 for one-way, became $180 return.

Every flight I looked at was cheaper return than one-way, in many cases the prices were reduce by 2 Thirds

Lesson is if your looking for a cheap one way flight, also look at return prices and they may be cheaper………..defies logic

Anyway sorry if this was really obvious, but I had to share

Happy sailing

Some of the detail is tailored towards travel agents, but a little inside information never hurts

All you need to do is register at www.cruiseweekly.com.au

Enjoy

It was amazing how many passengers put little presents in his boot, candy bars etc

Bit of fun, and a little humorous embarrassment for Dad

Cheers

Our trepidation was also fuelled by the Passengers & Crew from our HAL cruise, that had joked with us that we were in for a real shock when cruising with Carnival……….what an understatement. An experience we would come to enjoy, but what a culture shock

1st off the Carnival terminal was huge, packed with people; the waiting line itself wound its way out of the building. But the biggest difference was the people, far more diverse. All different shapes, sizes etc. We should also have known that booking a cruise over “thanks giving” would mean a thousand kids on board, but we weren’t prepared for the sheer numbers of young ones. I had forget how much energy kids have, particularly when their overloaded with cola and free ice cream

Embarkation went smoothly. We had a funny moment as a mature couple on mobility scooters just ahead of us, tried to board the liberty. Their scooters were a little heavy getting over the door jam. Its amazing how much smoke, a mobility scooter can produce at wheel spin.

Once on board, we had a nice bite to eat in the lido and then went off to our Cabin. We were pleasantly surprised; we had booked an ocean view on Rivera deck. The cabin was huge, brightly lit, and very comfortable. A bed the size of Texas

The only issue we had with the cabin over the course of the cruise was the noise, for some reason the crew needed to vacuum and stack glasses right outside our door at 3am each morning.

The Carnival Liberty is a big ship, at 115,000 tons this is the biggest ship we have sailed on to date. But its size doesn’t really help when you manage to pack in almost 3000 passengers in. The main difference between Carnival Liberty and other cruises we have been on is that the ship always felt packed, no matter where you were, in the bar, in the dinning room, in the corridors. It always seemed busy. The whole ship had this kind of frenetic energy in the air, an air of expectation, which I found made it a little hard to relaxing

In terms of food, we found the selection very good, dinner was excellent but unlike other lines, where they seem to actively force feed you and make you have a full five courses, the wait staff gave you the impression you could only have one appetiser, entrée etc. The dinning room also seem to have an air of being rushed, which made the experience a little less enjoyable. But the food in its self was great

We didn’t go to any shows, but enjoyed the live music through out the ship. Particularly the bar outside the casino strip, which was a great place for passenger watching

One HUGE disappointment with the Liberty was the level of cigarette smoke on board the ship. It was generally hard to find a venue (outside the dinning room) on the ship that didn’t have a lot of smoke. This is something we haven’t encountered on other ships and we were quite surprised by the level of smoke everywhere

We always enjoy a good sing-a-long at the piano bar on other cruises, but had to give up on the Liberty’s piano bar due to the smoke. It is an amazing talent to be able to play piano and sing with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth. Where does carnival find these talented entertainers?

When I spoke with Butch the Cruise Director regarding the smoke, his answer was simple. “We tried making the piano bar non smoking but revenue dropped”.

As for the ports, we loved Cozumel & Cayman Islands and would easily go back again, very pretty places, nice people and relaxed environment to have a few brews and do a bit of shopping, Orch Rios in Jamaica was a little scary, we made it about 500 metres off the ship and decided it wasn’t worth the effort……….the locals are hard work (yes they lived up to their reputation), although we did have a laugh at the Margaretville bar, where 50 or so of our fellow passengers were stoned drink and it was only 10am., quite an achievement really.

Overall we had a great time on the Carnival Liberty, once we got over the culture shock of getting off a Holland America (quite & sleepy) and got use to the world of Carnival (Party Central).

The main difference was energy; Carnival is a light hearted, fun filled ship, with lots of activities catering to families and party goers. We thought that HAL was probably better value for money; certainly the drink prices were cheaper. But in general the Carnival product offers a good value holiday if you want to be busy and party hard

And the free “Just for Men” hair colouring samples in the Gym were a nice touch…what were they trying to say

Its website by Jay Herring, an ex-cruise ship employee, he offers a free eBook that you can down load, you just need to registers on his site

The eBook is a good read, its filled with use tips on cruising and includes a number of humorous stories that only a crew insider would know

Enjoy

Brett

I will update any information I come across regarding NYE in Barcelona as the year goes forward

Cheers

NEW YEAR´S EVE BARCELONA 2009/2010

ALMO2 BAR
Bruniquer, 59
 932 199 345
Web: www.bcnsevendreams.com
Ticket 31/12: 35 €

ARROSERIA XÀTIVA
Bourdeurs, 35 (Les Corts)
 933 226 531
Torrent d´en Vidalet, 26 (Gràcia)
 932 848 502
Web: www.arrosseriaxativa.com
Ticket 31/12: 70 €

BARCELONA SEVEN DREAMS
Plza. Mayor, 9
Poble Sec
 933 254 604
Web: www.bcnsevendreams.com
Ticket: 99€

BARROC
Rec, 67
 932 684 623
Ticket: 50€

BETAWI
Montsió, 6
 934 126 264
Web: www.restaurantbetawi.com
Ticket: 35-40€

BIKINI
Av. Diagonal, 547
 933 220 800
Web: www.bikinibcn.com
Ticket: 40€

CARPE DIEM LOUNG CLUB – CDLC
Pg. Marítim Barceloneta, 32
 932 240 470
Web: www.cdlcbarcelona.com
Ticket: 60€

CATWALK
Ramón Trias Vargas, 2 – 4
 932 216 161
Web: www.clubcatwalk.net
Ticket: 45€

EL FORO
Princesa, 53 (esquina Comerç)
 933 101 020
Ticket: 60 €

ELEPHANT
Pg. Til.lers, 1
 933 340 258
Web: www.elephantbcn.com
Ticket: 45€

GRAN CASINO DE BARCELONA
Marina, 19-21
08005 – Barcelona
 932 257 878
Web: www.casino-barcelona.com
Sopar de gala / Cena de gala / Soirée de gala / Supper state.
Ticket : 190 €

HABANA BARCELONA (HBN BCN)
Pg Joan de Borbón, 74, esquina / Escar
 932 250 263
Ticket: 70 €

JAMBOREE
Pl.Reial, 17
08002 – Barcelona
 933 191 789
Web: www.masimas.com
Ticket: 20€

LA FIRA CLUB
Provença, 171
 680 204 277
Web: www.lafiraclub.com
Ticket: 15€

LA TERTULIA
Moralels, 15
 934 195 897
Web: www.arrosseriaxativa.com
Ticket: 95€

LUZ DE GAS
Muntaner, 246
 932 097 711
Web: www.luzdegas.com
Ticket: 35€

MIRABLAU
Pl. Dr. Andreu, 2
 934 185 879
Ticket: 22 €

MOOG
Arc del Teatre, 3.
 933 017 282
Web: www.masimas.com
Ticket: 20€

NERI
Sant Sever, 5
 933 040 655
Web: www.hotelneri.com
Ticket: 180€

OTTO ZUTZ
Lincoln, 15
 932 380 722
Web: www.grupo-ottozuzt.com
Ticket: 40€

RAZZMATAZZ
Almogàvers, 122
 933 208 200
Web: www.salarazzmatazz.com
Ticket: 35€

SHOKO
Pg. Marítim Barcelona, 36
 932 259 200
Web: www.shoko.biz
Ticket: 50€

SIDECAR FACTORY CLUB
Pl.Reial, 7
 933 177 666
Web: www.sidecarfactoryclub.com
Ticket: 20€

SUTTON MUSIC CLUB
Tuset, 13
 934 144 217
Web: www.suttonmusicclub.com
Ticket: 40€

SALA DE BALL TANGO
Diputació, 94
 934 231 420
Web: www.saladefiestastango.com
Ticke: 37€

TANGO
Diputació, 94
 638 732 853
www.saladefiestastango.com
Ticke: 33€

TARANTOS
Pl. Reial, 17
 638 732 853
Web: www.masimas.com
Ticket: 20€

TRAUMA
Concell de Cent, 288
Web: www.zac-club.com
 934 875 109
Ticket: 45€

ZENTRAUS DANCE CLUB
Rambla del Raval, 41
Web: www.zentraus.com
 934 438 078
Ticket: 45€

TORRE ROSA
Francesc Tàrrega, 22
Web: www.torrerosa.com
 933 408 854
Ticket: 45€

RESTAURANTS

CENT ONZE
Les Rambles, 111
 933 186 200
Ticket: 195€

DIONISOS
Borne (Av. Marquès de l´Argentera, 27)
 932 682 472
Ticket: 50€
Web: www.dionisos-bcn.com

EL PUMA
Riera Palau, 3-5
 932 684 628
Ticket: 85€

IL MERCANTI DI VENEZIA
Josep Anselm Clavé, 11
 933 171 828
Ticket: 38€

LA BALSA
Infanta Isabel, 4
 932 115 048
Ticket: 50 – 85€

LA BODEGUETA DEL MUSEU
Pg. de la Campsa, 1
 934 753 544
Ticket: 44€
Web: www.labodegueta.es

LA RUEDA
Roselló, 266
 932 073 163
Ticket: 25€

NERI
Sant Sever, 5
 933 040 655
Web: www.hotelneri.com
Ticket: 60€

PALACIO DEL FLAMENCO
Balmes, 139
 932 187 237
Web: www.palaciodelflamenco.com
Ticket: 170€ (sopar Cap d´Any)
Ticket: 105€ (espectacle + Festa Cap d´Any)

POBLE ESPANYOL
Av. Marques de Comillas, 13
 935 086 300
Ticket: 29 – 35€ (Festa Cap d´Any)

SUKUR
Avinyó, 42
 933 010 102
Ticket: 70€ (sopar Cap d´Any)

HOTELS / HOTELES / HÔTELS / HOTELS

HOTEL COLON
Av. Catedral 7
 933 011 404
Web: www.hotelcolon.es
Ticket: 214€

GRAN HOTEL HAVANA BARCELONA
Gran Via Corts Catalanes, 647
Web: www.hoteles-silken.com
 934 121 115
Ticket: 220€

www.barcelonaturisme.com
info@barcelonaturisme.com

RESERVES ON-LINE
www.hotelsbcn.com
Tel. 932 853 833
Fax: 932 853 831

Noordam aint she a beaut

A few comments about a recent voyage on Holland America Noordam

There is an old adage that says “a team is only as fast as its slowest player”. This thought came to mind as we first stepped on board the beautiful Holland America Noordam in Fort Lauderdale for our 10 night Eastern Caribbean Cruise.

It was a little confronting as we entered the lido deck to grab some lunch, as we waited for our cabin to become ready. We found that we had to navigate a virtual sea of slow moving people with a mix of Zimmer frames and mobility scooters. My wife and I are in our Mid Thirties, we know all the usual commentary about cruise ships being floating nursing homes, but this cruise was the oldest demographic we have experienced thus far in our cruising journey

Before you Tar & Feather me. Let me qualify, that we found that this demographic mix would come to be one of the main reasons we enjoyed our cruise on the Noordam so much, but more about that later

The Noordam is a beautiful ship; it has majestic lines that give it proud, classic ocean liner look. Its interior is tasteful and light, and full of hidden places where you can spend a quite moment

Our cabin (a VA Balcony), was very pleasant, bed was comfy; the bathroom even had a small bath. We loved the balcony as its design protected it from the elements, allowing for a couple of great snoozes in the ocean breeze. Nothing like catching a few Zee’s as the world sails by.

The food was great, very high quality and on par with what we have experienced on Celebrity, the lido deck was always busy at lunch, but the food was always fresh and varied, the Asian station in particular was great

Now the age thing……..

Initially we were quite confronted by the general age difference, we’re in our mid thirties and the average age on board had to be 70 – 75 years, but as the cruise went on it became clear that this was quite the advantage, for a number of reasons

Because of the general age, the ship was incredibly quite, which made for a very relaxing cruise, no loud neighbours or hyped up kids running down the corridors late at night

Superstar status; Being amongst the youngest on board, gave us a kind of superstar status, everyone wanted to talk with you and kept calling us Kids all the time. Great for the ego, in general everyone was just plan polite and friendly.

Another plus of the general age group, was that that most facilities were under-used. The pool and sun deck was quite. In particular the gym was always quite, which made for a much easier work out. To give you an example; I’m of moderate fitness, I can pull off a singlet fairly well, nothing too buff, but their I am working out in the gym and I kept being mistaken for the personal trainer, simply because I was youngish. Great for the ego, not to mention my wife got a kick out of it

One downside to the age factor was the entertainment. It was tailored to the older demographic and most bars finished quite early. We hadn’t planned on having a party cruise, but our table mates who were in our age demographic (yes their were a few others) had other ideas. Luckily we found the piano bar. Our piano man, was a gent from the UK, Mark Waterman a very talented performer with a bitter and twisted sense of humour. Mark had only a few weeks left on his contract, so he enjoyed some lively banter with his patrons, particular around HAL’s treatment of entertainers. Very funny to listen too

The lesson for us regarding entertainment on HAL, is if your of a younger mind set, be prepared to make your own fun, we staged a small bath-robe party in the piano bar one night (the look on the other patrons faces was priceless, they weren’t quite sure of what to make of these silly young people dressed in bath robes) and we also managed to start a conga line involving about 50 of so people that made its way through the casino and a couple of bars. Although the majority of players in the casino looked up from the tables in disgust, at least we had some fun and their lack of smiles made it that much more fun

HAL isn’t know for its party antics, so they don’t employ the same security as say Carnival, so crazy antics seemed to go under the radar a while longer on HAL

As for the Caribbean, The islands were beautiful, but very commercial. Curacao was our favourite, a very pretty time warp of Dutch and Caribbean culture. We had expected a bit more Jack Sparrow, but no the less the islands were nice. In general I would go to the Caribbean for a relaxing break, rather view it as a must see destination

Overall the Noordam is a great ship, we found that the initial shock of being out of comfort zone regarding age became a real strength as we enjoyed the general quietness of cruise and depth of conversation with our fellow passengers that can only come from life experience

But if your looking to party just be prepared to make your own fun and remember to take it all as it comes

So this is my blog, tales of misadventure at sea, planning tips and just plan funny stuff

Hope you enjoy