jb456

I presume you're going end of Sept early Oct based on your countdown.

Rental car pickup FLL drop off MIA full size car $50 I've seen vans in these months going for $60.

Alamo is who I use. If your a Costco member extra discounts plus 2nd driver free. There is also many discount codes you can find online.

Alamo, national, enterprise and thrifty offer free shuttle to cruise port when you drop off rental at mia airport.

Super cheap and easy.

You can do the same returning. Have a reservation with Alamo print it out bring with you on cruise. When you get off ship shuttle picks you up, show them reservation and of you go to mia airport. Get your car then drop it off at fll airport

Fully agree with post above. Park n go has been exceptional every time I used them. Excellent service. I've seen them help people boost their car after cruise I've also seen them change flat tires.

I've always paid cash when leaving and they give you bottles of water for the drive home.

The other thing I like is there is some type of animal preserve next to the parking lot. All kinds of monkeys walking around and on the fences. One cruise to Mexico we went to that Chakonobee or however it's spelt. Beach fish alligators dolphins etc and I seen more animal life exiting parkngo then I seen in Mexico.

Hope it's still like that at the exit in park n go when I exit early October.

The Ultimate Arcade Package.

$10 per person per day. For the entire duration of the cruise. All people in a cabin must purchase package. (E.g., mom, dad, DS in cabin x $10 pppd x 7 day cruise = $210).

 

With the package, you can play all arcade games with a green card reader.

 

 

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Thank you. Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for the info on arcade package. Much appreciated!

If you pass by the casino, at some point, could you ask them about the ultimate arcade package?

All it says on the dailies is casino deck 7 ask our staff.

Thank you very much and have a wonderful trip!

Someone reported on a Facebook post for Bliss that they were offering all you can play for $10 per day . Must purchase for entire cruise

Thank you! I thought it would be much more.

At that price, it will be well worth it for the kids

I've seen on some dailies an arcade package. Says "ultimate arcade package"

Anyone have info on this? Price? Might be good for the kiddos lol.

Thank you!

It’s your choice to play along. You can remove the DSC too you know. But hey thanks, we enjoy the discount!

So what's the recent process to remove the dsc? Anyone?

Did they go back to adjusting it while on board? Or they still making you fill that silly forum and then you have to wait for a refund on your cc?

Check priceline and hotwire.

I just checked quick for your dates, lots of options. One on priceline just now was 3.5 star, north fort lauderdale area, 7+rating for $93. $116.97 with tax.

With priceline its pretty easy to figure out the hotel you would get or at least narrow it down before booking. Open 1 page of all the hotels they offer and one page with the express deals. On page of all hotels, tick the amenities that is offered on the express deal. Tick the area the express deal is and sometimes if there is a few left use the rating. Might be 3 hotels left 2 with 8+ rating and one with 7+ rating. Then you pretty much know it will be that. Anyways how to figure them out is for another thread lol.

The one I mentioned I am pretty sure it is Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale At Cypress Creek. If it is and you guys are using uber then its like 5 miles to the beach and around 12 miles to port everglades cruise port.

Wal-Mart.

Check different options each company offers. Some sell a data card like $20 for 2 or 3 gigs of data.

Then buy the prepaid sim for that company. Cheapest prepaid sim I've seen at Wal-Mart was 99cents

I thought about that originally. Apparently you have to buy a ticket ahead of time to reserve a seat. When I checked, I was told there was no schedule set for that far ahead, due to Miami soon to come on the route.

Are there stairs involved at either station, as we have 2 pieces of luggage and a backpack each?

 

 

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You can pay at station.

From their website "Passes and tickets are available at all Tri-Rail stations and NOT sold onboard the train"

I don't know about stairs but I can tell you that my 81 year old grandfather takes it all the time from west Palm to fll airport stop with a bag and has never complained. He lives in port st Lucie but the plane he needs only flight is from fll.

Tri rail. Free shuttle from airport to train station. Train like $5 per person to Fort Lauderdale. Then uber from station to hotel.

Here's a thought.

Check out vrbo dot com. You can rent apartments,condos, houses. I just looked quickly for your dates and some are not that expensive like $130 USD a night. (Not including taxes, cleaning fees and refundable security deposit) I just checked quickly didn't go through the steps to see final price.

If you look more in the Deerfield/pompano area lots more options at a decent price.

I know you don't want to rent a car but if you think about VRBO option you kind of would need one depending what area you select. It's more convenient in my opinion. Come and go as you please, maybe someone wants to go somewhere and the other wants to just relax.

If your a Costco member. You get 2nd driver free with Alamo. Just book on Costco travel Canada site. I just looked at the site quickly don't know your times so just did two full days and a full size with 2nd driver free for your dates with Alamo is $135USD. Plus prices always change do you can cancel reservation and rebook new price till jan1st if you see a better price. Also Alamo has all kinds of promo codes for discounts. You just have to search online.

I just don't know if fll car rentals offer free shuttle to cruise port like mia does. But fll cruise port is not that far from airport so uber is probably cheap.

Benefits of VRBO you won't be stuck in a small hotel room for two nights with 4 adults.

thanks so much for your suggestions. we would just do a regular uber but we are afraid with 3 people and all of our luggage, we wouldn't fit in a regular sized car that would show up. I know you can get an Uber "XL" but it seems to run about the same amount as a car service or taxi.

 

The idea of renting a car in FLL and dropping off at Miami sounds really great. Thank you so much for checking prices. I really appreciate that!!! We may do this instead.

Car rental is very convenient. Go where you want when you want without the worry of taxi or uber. Lugging stuff in and out or several cars. I know how it is with a little one with you.

Just checked Alamo for fun without any promo codes or discounts like Costco.

A full size car. Pick up FLL Oct 13th drop off MIA Oct 14th is $42

Uber is popular and would be cheaper than a taxi.

Tri rail $5 per person from FLL to MIA airport then uber from there or before mia stop there's another stop to connect to another train to downtown Miami.

My thought though is plenty of nice hotels in ft Lauderdale area. Rent a car at fll airport to drop off at Mia airport the next day. Probably be $50.

I rent from Alamo when you drop off at mia you get a free shuttle to cruise port. Also if your a Costco member you get second driver free.

There's other rentals that offer free shuttle from mia airport to cruise. National, Thrifty and Enterprise.

If you flying back after cruise from fll. You could do the same. Reserve a rental car from a company listed above. Print reservation and bring with you. Shuttle will pick you up at cruise port and drop you off at mia to get your car.

Also lots of hotels will hold your bags in their bag room until it's time to check into your room. So no need to buy and extra night. Just go to hotel have them hold your bags then enjoy exploring Miami

This is for early September.

 

I have located a few options:

 

1. Embassy Suites airport for around $100/night pro: inexpensive, easy to get to from airport, free breakfast cons: unless we just want to crash at the hotel, not convenient to seeing/doing anything in Miami

 

2. Hampton Inn Brickell for around $160/night pro: near things to do in Miami, close to port

 

3. Hilton Cabana Miami for $225/night pro: right on the beach con: price and most inconvenient location to airport and port

 

We arrive at 10:00 a.m., so we are stuck with either paying an extra night to guarantee getting in a room early, or waiting several hours until a room is available. We are not big on "night life" and really have not looked at all into what we would be interested in seeing/doing in Miami.

Looks like you're on the Sky September 3rd. I gather you need a hotel for the 2nd.

Looked quickly at hotwire. Plenty of 4 star hotels with 80+% recommendations for well below the prices you listed. A few even $70ish.

If they don't offer a shuttle you could use uber for a ride. Cheaper than a taxi.

Only thing with hotwire and priceline is they tell you the name of the hotel after you book.

Did you prepurchase $3000 OBC prior to the cruise so that you did not have to use a credit card for any on board purchases? Is that what you do as opposed to giving cash at check in when you board?

I bought it prior.

The Canadian bank rate was 1.30 for USD money. NCL rate at that time was 1.07. So $107 CAD for $100 USD. Much better than bank rate which would have been $130 CAD for every hundred.

So once on ship I went to casino and withdrew it for a 3% fee. Got back $2910 USD.

Once back in Canada went to bank and sold it. Got $3750 CAD back.

Thanks NCL for paying for my cruise :)

I have an issue of the opposite of above and could use some insight. Flying into FFL a couple days before cruise and will rent a car there. Plan to stay a couple days and then wanted to head to this location of Budget RAC to return vehicle and was hoping for a shuttle to take us to the Miami Port. Cruise leaves on a Saturday by the way.

These offer a free shuttle when you drop of at mia airport Alamo,National,Thrifty and Enterprise.

I like Alamo. Lots off discount codes online and costco members get 2nd driver free. You get to pick your own car in wtv class you booked.

Love My Butler, have you been on NCL recently? There have been recent reports that they inquisition you, and will not remove the DSC if you tell them you prefer to tip staff members directly. There are several reviews on youtube and cruise critic that suggest that they will not allow you to fully adjust the DSC to a subjective amount but instead a percentage that the customer service staff member believes is justified based on your complaint.

Guest ticket contract says "© Service Charges: Certain members of Carrier’s crew are compensated by a combination of salaryand incentive programs that are funded in part by the service charge paid by each Guest. The charge ,which is automatically added to your onboard account and subject to adjustment at your discretion, isintended to reward service provided in all departments and job categories and is distributed to employeesaccording to Carrier's evaluation of job performance. A portion of the service charge collected by Carrieris also used for fleet-wide crew welfare programs.

So how can NCL deny you from adjusting to zero? Since its at your discretion no reason has to be given.

NCL is sneaky and have all different things listed on their site and faq section. Their like a telemarketer lol. Use words like "fixed" "important one".

According to the Guest ticket contract. (The only one that people need to read). NCL tries hard to word it in a way where they are not saying the word "optional" but wording it in a way that still means "optional" but they use the word "subject to an adjustment". Just like a telemarketer using words that kind of mean the same to get you to buy. Wonder how long NCL Lawyers worked on that wording. lol.

One NCL webpage says "The reason there's a fixed service charge is an important one: Our Crew (as are the crew from other lines) is encouraged to work together as a team. Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports"

Another says "Unlike most other ships in the cruise industry, there is no required or recommended tipping on our ships for service that is generally rendered to all Guests. While you should not feel obligated to offer a gratuity, all of our staff are encouraged to "go the extra mile," so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities for exceptional or outstanding service if you care to offer them."

NCL ticket contract starts off by saying "certain crew members" then it ends with "is intended to reward service provided in all departments and job categories"

So is it all crew members? Some crew members? Whats the money for? Is it a tip or incentive program?

Ticket contact says "© Service Charges: Certain members of Carrier’s crew are compensated by a combination of salaryand incentive programs that are funded in part by the service charge paid by each Guest.

No word of gratuities/tips. Says combination of their salary and incentive program.

Then it goes on to says "isintended to reward service provided in all departments and job categories and is distributed to employeesaccording to Carrier's evaluation of job performance. A portion of the service charge collected by Carrieris also used for fleet-wide crew welfare programs"

So basically all those hard working people never see that money. They get a portion depending on their job evaluation. Probably a quarterly evaluation and NCL takes some for "fleet wide crew welfare programs"

So the way I see it is,maybe all cruisers, even the ones that make sure they tell everyone that they tip above the dsc is getting screwed from NCLs gimmick thinking their hard working friend from the Philippines is going to get something good for all that hard work he did to make your trip great!!

Just watch YouTube. Plenty of vlogs. Plenty of videos of young, older, families posting clips of their vacation.

First off I do not know anyone named "u" so I cannot answer as to what that person thinks. Your entire argument is based on multiple false premises. 1) that every sailing is full. 2) That no one ever reduces the DSC. 3) That the DSC is paid directly to the crew as cash. 4) It is anyone else's business but NCLs and the crew's how the DSC is distributed. No one ever said that the entire DSC is handed directly to the crew as a cash tip. That may or may not happen. However the DSC going to the crew includes (as NCL puts it) " Staff members including complimentary restaurant staff, stateroom stewards and behind-the-scenes support staff are compensated by a combination of salary and incentive programs that your service charge supports." Notice it does not say "The DSC is paid directly to the crew in cash", it says it is used to fund incentive programs. In the end I really do not care one iota how NCL distributes the DSC as incentive to the crew and it is none of my business. It is a huge non issue.

I said 1 7 day sail at max. I'm sure out of a year they sail one 7 day cruise at max.

Anyways so is it a tip or is it to pay for the crews incentive programs?? Cause that is two completely different things.

On top of that charge then they add 20% for the drink package for gratuities. I've seen 2 bar tenders at the same bar on the ship working together. One was horrible and the other was friendly. Do they deserve the same tip amount? I think not but again that's just me. Also if someone only drinks bottled beer do they really deserve like $1.40 tip to open a cap and slide it over the bar?

Dsc is a complete joke at least other cruise lines discount the amount for kids. As if a 3 year old should be charged the same as an adult.

Yes, there is no reason to believe otherwise.

So let's Say the Breakaway sailing one trip (7days) at full capacity. 3963 passengers.

We know some rooms pay higher gratuities but let's Say everyone pays $14.50.

We also know not all workers are part of the gratuities buts let's just say all 1657 workers are part of it.

3963 x 14.50 x 7 =$402,244.5

402,244.5 divided by 1657 =$242.75

So do u believe in a 7 day trip every worker gets a $242 tip??

Now not all workers are part of the dsc so that$242.75 can be much higher when you calculate the amount of workers that are apart of it plus all the rooms that pay $17.50 and not $14.50

I seriously doubt all that money goes to the workers but that's just me.

Ncl should state what the dsc is. Half their pages say a service charge the other half says it's to tip the workers.

If it's a tip. You normally tip after you received the service. You decide the amount based on the service. You don't tip before and hope to get exceptional service.

Ncl needs to make their gimmick clear cause it looks like a scam to make more money.