i have two questions that have been on my mind
you guys seem th be more knoweldgable that most so i figured i would throw them out here

first in reading John heald's blog recently they had pictures of the holiday, and i was somewhat suprised to see open lifeboats still on her. i don't believe the jubilee (next in the series) had open lifeboats so i am believing the maritime laws re open lifeboats changed about 1984
but heres my question will the holiday still be compliant with the 2010 SOLAS? or will she need to be refitted with enclosed lifeboats?

Currently there are no ratified amendments to SOLAS that would prohibit open lifeboats on existing ships in the future. This is something that has been discussed but it has not yet come to pass.

like i said it was just somewhat suprising to see a quote un quote modern cruise ship with the open lifeboats

what also made it suprising at least to me was that the sister ships jusbilee, celebration had the enclosed lifeboats

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
And yes, the "new" GRAND HOLIDAY will start service with Iberocruceros in May 2010. See here.

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Originally posted by Waynaro:
Thanks for the link Doug. Seems like the current interior will be ripped out for brand new interiors.

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Needless to say, all the exterior pictures are actually of the GRAND CELEBRATION.

Still, she's been a workhorse for Carnival and certainly deserves praise as a money maker.

even with a refit it seems like she will be out of service for a long time though?
retired from carnival fleet november 2009
start ibero fleet may 2010

give the shipyard a month for the refit, i wonder where she will sit? or what she will be doing the remaining six months

I look at the HOLIDAY now and think what a dump. She is horribly outdated and needs an "extreme makeover". Even then I'm not sure I would sail on her. Too many better choices today. Carnival is doing the right thing sending her off. She can't compete in the US market any longer, and I think she gives a poor impression of Carnival for those that take their first cruise on her.

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Originally posted by eroller:
My high school graduation cruise was onboard the HOLIDAY. She was only a month or two old at the time and I thought the ship was fantastic. Everything was new and the double wide promenade was quite cool. Even then the Blue Lagoon Lounge was rather odd though, and had a horrible smell of plastic and glue. All that plastic really rattled when the ship was under way. You would think the ceiling would come crashing down.
Ernie

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So funny, I remember sailing on her in 1992, I was 11 and I still remember the smell the blue lagoon lounge had. I remember thinking it smelt like something that had been left in water for years and years! Kind of fitting given the theme of the lounge. And I too remember that rattling! We were coming into Oco Rios and I thought the entire celeing was about to come down...the plastic was rattling like nobody's business. I also remember her listing a lot while making turns. Lastly, I disliked her buffet.....you actually went into faux ship hulls to obtain your food but however inside these faux ship hulls was equivekant to being in a sauna!

Even though I was 11 I had been on 5 cruises before this one (brat I was and brat I am!) so I was comparing the ship to the then brand new Horizon of Celebrity Cruises (which I had sailed twice by 1992) so the Holiday came up a bit short. Nevertheless, my family and I had a great time and enjoyed the Western Caribbean.

[ 10-12-2009: Message edited by: nycruiser ]

[ 10-12-2009: Message edited by: nycruiser ]

[ 10-12-2009: Message edited by: nycruiser ]

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Originally posted by nycruiser:

Lastly, I disliked her buffet.....you actually went into faux ship hulls to obtain your food but however inside these faux ship hulls was equivekant to being in a sauna!

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Oh yes, I remember the buffet very well. There were three lines and like you say, you walked into faux ship hulls and once inside it was bargain basement! Basically you were inside a prep kitchen. You slid your plastic tray along the metal rails and your choices were hamburgers, hotdogs, some lettuce, tomatoes, onions ... maybe a desert and that was it! The presentation was horrible because there was no presentation! Before you knew it you exited back into the main seating area. Can you imagine how this would go over today?

People always like to reminisce how much better cruises were 25 years ago, but trust me not everything was better. I think food quality was better, and there were less hidden charges but then again the cruise itself was a lot more expensive. Most of all, and this is generally speaking, it was a better class of people on cruises. Today it's truly for the masses which is great as prices are lower and the ships are amazing, but there is tradeoff.

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Originally posted by eroller:
Even then the Blue Lagoon Lounge was rather odd though, and had a horrible smell of plastic and glue. All that plastic really rattled when the ship was under way. You would think the ceiling would come crashing down. The finish wasn't too great either, as parts of the plastic molding had large gaps between the panels.
Ernie

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I was working in Operations when HOLIDAY came on line, so I was on board every week. I never liked the Blue Lagoon Lounge--that plastic smell lasted for years. Of course the whole room was changed in the '90s into a Country/Western-themed lounge, and then you smelled (or imagined the smell) of wood and sawdust!

the things i will remember most were, just how big the celebration looked

that compared even to the slightly larger fantasy class you really felt a connection to the sea,
(for me especially that first morning, in an upper bunk, on an interior cabin, in the foreward part of the ship. after having a couple of tropical drinks the night before)

another thought which you really don't see today
any body remember the cruise ship walk? on the smaller ships since you actually felt the movement
you would step to meet the deck (in looking back sort of like monty pythons silly walk bit) i myself must have dont it for the better part of a day after leaving my first cruise

and yes the maybe it was just me but the people did seem different then, maybe a little nicer? maybe a litttle friendlier, hard to put into words.

probably the only thing i could say i disliked about the celebration was that the reception lobby, pursers desk, to me it felt very confined, almost claustrophobic if she would have had a two or three deck atrium it would have really opened the whole place up.

i am not one that has been sold on the mega ships at all Carnival triumph absolutely hated it, carnival liberty too much walking