thon

We stayed at the Rodeway near the airport in Feb.  Planning to book it again for our March 2019 cruise.  If I recall, it is $70 for the day.  They explain it all on their website.  They also have a free shuttle to FLL which we took.  We spent much of the day around their pool, took a nap in the room and showered before leaving for FLL.  There is a bar/restaurant attached to the hotel (different management I think).

I booked on Silhouette just before the website went down so had not yet gone to check out the roll call.  Now it doesn’t let me open any roll calls.  No rush - I can wait, the cruise isn’t until late March.

Thanks for those pics Carrie - we were there in the latter part of February when there was still enough beach to sit on. However, even then the waves were such that nobody went in swimming because of the strong undertow and rough waves. There were 9 of us that day and two of us went in although only as far as our knees, yet the waves breaking over me soaked me up to my shoulders.

Just got off the 14 day Eclipse Southern Caribbean cruise and we had 3 evening chic nights, all on sea days.

We will be in Antigua in November on the Gem. Is Beach Limerz kid friendly? I don't mean kid-focused (inflatables, beach toys, etc.) as we are not the kind of family who needs that but is this a place where we can bring our two girls (10 & 6) and not feel out of place?

We were just there a couple of days ago. Place would be absolutely fine for kids, although there were none there at the time. Restaurant even has a kids menu. At night on the weekends it may get crowded with locals in a party mood, but other times it’s pretty laid back.

You can generally put in POM into Uber, as all of the ships should be accessible from the same drive and there is plenty of signage indicating which ship is where once you get to the port. If you want to enter a specific terminal, check this link out the morning of your cruise and search for your ship name:

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-80.178/centery:25.762/zoom:14

Great. Thank you Pitzel.

A related question - we’ll be going from a hotel in FLL to POM on Sunday morning. Do we need the address of the port or do we just put in POM? And how do we know exactly which terminal to go to? We’ll be sailing on Celebrity Eclipse.

I just reserved the pay-as-you-go option for Feb 22. Emailing Gail back and forth a couple times was easy. She promptly answers questions and provides all the info you need to decide whether to go the PAYG or all-inclusive option. She also offers having a taxi for you waiting near the cruise port, at an extra cost - taxis are paid directly. Could easily get our own taxi, which would be the same cost I believe, but nice to know there is one dedicated for clients going to Limerz. Looking forward to this day and I will certainly post our experience once we’ve been there, both here and on TA.

they are not asking for tips now after one has washed their hands are they?;)

Good one.LOL

We have only been on 2 cruises, both on Reflection, both one-week Caribbean cruises and both using Select dining. The first was a few years ago and I do not recall having to wait too long each night. However last year we often had to wait long enough to be on our second drink before our buzzer went off. So for our upcoming cruise we have already made reservations for 7 p.m. each night.

Seems like sales only banned in USA. Guess sales in other countries are ok.

It’s not really sales that should be considered but catches of the fish. Blue marlin are one of the numerous highly migratory fish species found in the oceans, and like tunas, swordfish and other billfish can be severely depleted if not ‘managed’ properly. The last international assessment of blue marlin in the Atlantic was carried out in 2011 by scientists from member countries of ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas). They determined that the stock remained overfished. The next assessment is due this year I believe. Countries such as the USA and Canada have implemented measures to protect the stock, but not every country has. I’ll get off my high horse now!!

The dress code wording on the website has been like this for ages. As mentioned earlier, some ships seem to have adopted a slightly different dress code for their dailies that is somewhat contrary to the corporate position.

No matter what cabin class or what dining venue men NEVER need to wear ties, jackets or suits. Celebrity’s dress code changed a few years ago and while some still prefer to get more dressier, most don’t.

I don’t really have any issues with the website. I just try not to use it for anything, then I’m not disappointed. For my latest cruise I booked directly with them by phone then later transferred to a TA when they offered OBC. Then let my TA make my dinner time reservations. Called Celebrity again to buy the Internet package using my OBC. When my call gets put on hold waiting for the next available agent I put it on speaker phone and continue puttering around my home doing things until I get a real person.

How sexist: Men = sleeves long or short Women = sleeveless is ok. Calling my lawyer (sarcasm)

This seemingly double standard is rampant in many Caribbean and Mexican resorts where men are required to wear long pants at the resort’s a-la-Carte restaurants (but not the buffets) although most have no similar dress code for women. I remember one resort in Holguin, Cuba where the man was sent back to put on long pants while his female companion was allowed in wearing cheap-looking flip flops, the shortest short shorts and a tank top.

What continues to be on their website and what some ships print in their dailies is inconsistent. Website still basically says that men should wear shirts with sleeves - no mention of long or short. It has been like this since they adopted their smart casual/evening chic dress code I believe. Many, like myself, wear short sleeved casual and dress shirts. Then, you have a recent daily from Eclipse that says men should wear long sleeves on evening chic nights, whereas a recent Equinox daily says long sleeves are to be worn on EVERY night. My last cruise on Reflection (Feb 2017) followed the website guidelines.

The current public website for Celebrity clearly says that on both casual and evening chic nights the dress code for men includes shirts with sleeves. In the past I, along with many others, have interpreted this to mean shirts with either long OR short sleeves. And I, along with many others on my cruises, wore short sleeved shirts to the MDR whenever we chose, either sport or dressy as required. I only own sport shirts and dress shirts with short sleeves.

Not sure if anyone noticed that recent dailies posted by cruisers from the Eclipse, Equinox and Reflection said that LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS were required EVERY night. I did. So I called Captain’s Club about 10 days ago and was told that their internal website and their public website were clearly at odds on the dress code requirements for men and the ships were obviously going by what their internal site said. The nice woman I spoke to said she would look into this and get back to me. Well today I received a message from her on my phone.

Apparently the requirement for men on Evening Chic nights will now be to wear long sleeve shirts, although short sleeve shirts can be worn if a sports coat is also worn. She also said that their website will be changed to reflect this.

So, the dress code for men will be changed without any notice.

I am sure there will be some out there who think that long sleeved shirts should be worn no matter what but this is not the point. The point is that Celebrity has chosen to make immediate changes to the dress code based on......I don't know what. And without any notice.

Welcome to CC fellow Ottawan! As others have already pointed out there are pros and cons to both options. For us, we have only cruised twice before (both times with Celebrity) and our third one is coming up. All three in the Caribbean. And all our excursions are privately booked. If we were to go to other parts of the world perhaps we would then consider ship-sponsored tours. I guess it depends what ports you are visiting, what your interests are and how comfortable a traveller you are.

Good luck with whatever you choose and if you have any further questions just ask - there are loads of more-experienced cruisers (than me) here to help you out.

I am in the same boat as the OP (no pun intended!) and have been looking at the Rodeway - has a pool, restaurant and free shuttle to the airport. Reviews are sort of all over the place but most of the more negative comments I believe are primarily associated with guests checking in, staying overnight and/or eating their ‘included’ breakfast. I haven’t made up my mind yet, but will probably book this for our early March return.

Yes short sleeves are allowed as per the written corporate policy on their website. That’s all I wear.

Our cruise ports in POM on 11/13 at 7a.m. We want to go to a hotel and enjoy beach/pool/food before our flight leaves FLL at 4 pm. We probably need to be at airport no later then 2-2:30 but we have a lot of time to kill once we get off the ship. I have read the threads but the ones I've looked up that people suggested don't appear to allow day passes or are sketchy such as the Rodeway :o. If I need to start calling around I will but I don't want to call every possible place without having some sort of idea if I'm on the right path or wasting my time on places that don't offer this.

 

Thanks in advance!

I plan to use the Rodeway for my full day wait until my flight home in the evening when I disembark the Eclipse in February. Although I haven’t booked it yet. I know you think it is “sketchy” but I don’t share your trepidation. I’m a big fan of doing my research on Trip Advisor before travelling and I think I am pretty good at weeding out the outliers when it comes to reviews that are opposed to the majority. For instance, I think one has to be careful with reviews written by people shortly after Irma as the hotel and surrounding areas were still in recovery mode. Most of the more recent reviews are fairly decent. For years I have been paying back by writing honest reviews of every hotel I stay at, and will do one of the Rodeway if I do end up spending my day there (or wherever else).

If I am just staying there for the day, all I need is a place to store my stuff, use the bathroom and a place to change before and after using the pool. I don’t care if the walls are cinder block and have no pictures hanging on them, or that the furniture is outdated, or the breakfast was not particularly good, etc. To me having a free shuttle to the airport is a big plus, and they have a pool (so I don’t have to spend all day in the room) as well as a restaurant.

I sincerely hope that you find something suitable for your day in Fort Lauderdale - everybody’s viewpoint is different.

Oops - forgot to mention. Depends on when/where you plan to cruise but for the past few years (including this upcoming season) Celebrity has had a special on for Canadians flying out of certain cities that includes airfare, etc. We’ve taken this option twice. But only goes to either east or west Caribbean in the Jan-Apr period. For Feb 2017 we had picked our 2 perks and then later they threw in free wifi for everyone who had booked this package so both my wife and I had it. So that’s an option - and if you book through a TA that gives OBC then you would get this as well. In the past they have flown out of Hamilton as one of the cities which would be good for you.

I have an upcoming cruise that comes with 2 perks and my TA has thrown in a whopping $100/ cabin. I’ll use it to reduce the cost of getting wifi since it wasn’t one of the perks I originally picked.

As of July 13, the ads are on Celebrity Cruises Canada Facebook page: "Our Winter 2018 All Included Caribbean Vacations have launched and can now be booked! Departure cities: Hamilton, London, Ottawa + NEW: Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon - don't delay these packages book up fast!"

We did Book'n'Go cruises in 2015 (Reflection) and 2016 (Silhouette) from Quebec City, flying on Canadian North. Would do it again, but now we look for longer cruises.

Claudart, we did two trips on the Reflection - east and west Caribbean and really enjoyed the all-inclusive as well. And, like you we now want longer cruises - in Feb we're doing the 2-week southern one on Eclipse. But for many Canadians I think these packages are pretty good deals.

I tried Toronto Star website and could not find any advertisements on their site. I no longer get the paper.

Well, anything specific you'd like to know about it? I may be able to remember what it said.