kicker

We had this happen too. We had more on board credit that us used. On the last night went to ask what happens to it (credit my CC). When they checked they said I could not get a credit and had to spend it. It was all OBC from travel agent and future cruise.

 

The solution: Went to the casino and took cash on my sea pass (have to pay 3% fee) but better than losing it all. Final bill was $3.20.

Great Idea! Seems the way Royal works is, if you have OBC you should make sure that's gone before putting anything additional on your account. We usually prepay tips, but waiting to pay tips until you board might help use up the OBC.

CC, in my opinion, is far and away the best site for cruising info. You have to realize you'll occasionally run into negative comments and negative people on here, but 99% of CC'ers are friendly, and always willing to help with questions or concerns.

A word of warning: BE CAREFUL!! This site is highly addictive!:rolleyes:

we just did the irie mon beach break in falmouth. It's actually on cornwall beach, so yes, it's on the ocean. We chose it because we were told that the drive was only about 40 minutes each way as opposed to over an hour each way for bamboo beach club.

 

Here are some photos i took. We had a great time on this excursion.

 

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=23gy1l2&s=5

 

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2lmuwdk.jpg

 

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=122hzc3&s=5

Been away for a few days, just saw your post. Thanks for the info!:)

If its the Springhill Suites I'm thinking of, we ate at La Rosa Cuban Restaurant a few years back - it was maybe a mile or so from the hotel and the hotel shuttled us. What I liked about it was its not a chain restaurant, more of a family type place. Also, it wasn't in the best area, but the food and atmosphere were great. Definitely something different from the usual fare.

Royal Caribbean offers similar excursions to both. From reading their websites, Irie Beach seems to be on a river?? If I'm going to Jamaica, I want the ocean! Bamboo Beach Club appears to be directly on the ocean.

Anyone familiar with both of these that could offer a comparison, and/or tell me about the Irie "river"? Lots of info on CC about Irie especially, but I haven't seen any river comments. Thanks in advance.

We were there in October. You are totally safe inside the compound; only cruisers and natives with business there can get in.

Now, outside the compound is a different story! I had to find a pharmacy, walked by a bodega that had a security guard armed with a shotgun. That being said, I walked around that area for an hour and no one bothered me, but I wouldn't recommend going outside the "safe" area by yourself.

Bumping this up because I think a lot of cruisers might find it helpful, in particular Post #5 by cruise cookie.

If you are not already a member, join Hilton Honors (for free) and then check out the Gallery One room rates at hiltonfamilymvp.com. I found much lower rates there for Gallery One. Keep checking back. I booked in July for Jan. -- high season in FL. My daily rate has fallen over $100 since I booked. I just keep calling or emailing for the lower rate. No problem!

 

I was told that they do have a safe in each suite.

We're cruising in January and were hoping to get Embassy Suites, but even though we're already Hilton members we couldn't do better than the rack price. Tried the MVP site and saved about $50 with tax - great! Thnks for the tip!:)

The last time I was in Labadee I brought some children's clothing items and gave them to an Excursion operator to give to someone in need. He was very appreciative and said he stayed in a very poor village nearby.

Visiting again soon. Maybe I'll try to see the village myself this time.

If this helps anyone's thoughts:

Hertz quoted me $362 for a full-sized car renting in FL, returning to Orlando; $244 renting in Orlando. Amtrak schedules fit well - arrival time in Orlando would be the same whether driving or taking the train.

Also, other rental companies would be cheaper just renting in Orlando.

Is there some reason why you don't want to rent your car at FLL and then drive up the Turnpike to your timeshare? It would be so much easier.

I'm a married man. Two reasons for not renting in FL (although that could change):

1). Rates seem to be much cheaper if I just rent in Orlando ($20 per day as opposed to $45 (might do better with more research)

2). We live in a fairly quiet area of Central NY. My wife doesn't like the idea of watching me navigate Florida traffic for a four hour drive!:rolleyes:

PS: I'm Hertz Gold but I don't use it much - will give them a call and see what they offer.

PPS: Flights from FLL to MCO cost about the same as Amtrak, but it would require hanging around FL all day (nothing against FL, but did a post-cruise tour last year there)

Doing a cruise ending Jan 18 in Fort Lauderdale, then using a timeshare in Orlando for 4 days. My plans as of now (2 of us):

Amtrak from FL to Orlando, then rent a car

Questions:

1). Are there car rentals near Amtrak? (I see different info about that)

2). Seems much cheaper to rent directly at Orlando airport. Does anyone know the taxi fare from Amtrak to MCO?

Car Rental in FL with return to Orlando is another option, but seems costlier. Any advice from you great and helpful CC'ers will be appreciated. Thanks.

PS: Already booked a return flight out of MCO, so that means returning the rental car there.

Cruise will arrive at 8am, our flight is around 7pm. Where should we go? I planned to go to sawgrass, but renting cost for rent a car is around 200, that's too much. I dont know how much to call a cab from Everglade to sawgrass, and from sawgrass to airport, and how to deal the luggages. Anybody can help? Thanks.

What cruise line? It might not matter anyhow as most lines offer similar excursions: we had the same lat flight situation a few years back and booked a Fort Lauderdale tour through the cruise line. It was part bus, part boat tour (saw manatees and most FL highlights), and our luggage was held for us. Something like that would give you a chance to see the area.

Just wondering: the helpful taxi fare sign shows a $10 fare to the beach at Montego Bay, leading me to believe its fairly close by. How long does it take to get from the Falmouth port to Montego Bay?

Just noticed my question was basically answered in a another thread - 30 to 40 minutes.

Just wondering: the helpful taxi fare sign shows a $10 fare to the beach at Montego Bay, leading me to believe its fairly close by. How long does it take to get from the Falmouth port to Montego Bay?

Everybody knows that it's all about the free soda!

Don't forget the crab legs and shrimp on the buffet!

Are these hotels in NYC????

The hotels I mentioned are in Jersey, but are basically as close to the port as some NYC hotels (Secaucus, Meadowlands area, Newark).

For us....Amtrak and a cab was cheaper!

Would you believe: Amtrak would be cheaper. Only problem is, of the 4 trains which would fit our schedule from Syracuse, none allow luggage to be checked!

Don't think I could do an 8 day cruise with only a carry on.

Check out the East Coast Departure threads. We're doing an Oct cruise out of Manhattan and leaving our car in a hotel parking lot free for 8 days. Several reputable hotels offer free parking (others charge, but nowhere near $35 per day).

Btw, this still leaves us needing a way to get to the port. In our case, we have our 3 yr old DGD with us which reduces options. Some other cruisers are talking about staying in Staten Island hotels (with free parking), and taking a ferry that goes close to the port.

PS: I would personally trust the hotel lots as much as I'd trust the port parking.

7 RC cruises, one Celebrity (last January). We'll be doing Crown Princess 1/14/12, and right now the reviews are enough to scare the bejeebers out of anybody! Not really Princess' fault - Noro problems.

 

Here's what I'm expecting after reading these threads for a long time:

 

1). Food comparable

2). Better entertainment on Royal

3). Service about equal

 

I think Royal's done a great job with their private island (Labadee), where Princess Cays sounds like what I saw in Labadee years ago. Princess seems to have a better embarkation & debarkation process.

 

We chose Princess because of its itinerary (seems every Royal cruise went to San Juan, St. Thomas...). I will certainly post a review after returning offering my thoughts on Princess vs Royal.

Now that I'm back, let me address a few things:

1). Food: I actually liked the food better on Princess. Have spoken to some former Royal cruisers and the basic feeling is Royal was always "same old, same old" for menus, while Princess was quite varied inn the main DR. Pizza on Princess much better; buffet nod goes to Royal though. Now, if all I cruised was Princess I'd prob feel the same about their food, but it was a nice change from Royal's menus.

2). The production shows far exceeded my expectations - at least equal to your basic Royal (I'm not counting Freedom or Oasis class). The CD had more trivia and activities going on than any ship I've been on.

3). I still give Royal an edge for overall service. We had no problems - our waiters and room stewards were great, but (as I put in my review), Royal's service was always 100% great, Princess 98%. I attribute that to Princess seeming to have a much younger crew, at least on our cruise (Crown).

I would do either Royal or Princess in the future with no qualms (our one Celeb cruise was nice but Celeb wouldn't be my personal choice). Price and Itinerary would be determining factors. but I'd be happy with either cruise line.

7 RC cruises, one Celebrity (last January). We'll be doing Crown Princess 1/14/12, and right now the reviews are enough to scare the bejeebers out of anybody! Not really Princess' fault - Noro problems.

Here's what I'm expecting after reading these threads for a long time:

1). Food comparable

2). Better entertainment on Royal

3). Service about equal

I think Royal's done a great job with their private island (Labadee), where Princess Cays sounds like what I saw in Labadee years ago. Princess seems to have a better embarkation & debarkation process.

We chose Princess because of its itinerary (seems every Royal cruise went to San Juan, St. Thomas...). I will certainly post a review after returning offering my thoughts on Princess vs Royal.

It looks like ping pong played on a smaller size tennis court. Boring!!!! Right up there with bocce ball. Now dodge ball, that's a game the cruise lines should be playing.:D

I disagree with your "boring" quote, but I did play Dodge Ball on Liberty OTS in 2008 - crew vs guests. Only different rule was, if you threw the ball into the ocean you were out.

Positives: nicely laid out; bed near the closet, still easy access to the closet.

Possible Negative: its underneath the stores - we heard nothing during day & evening hours, but overnight you could hear movement (I'm assuming crew passageways with movement of carts). I slept there several nights (we took turns, having 2 cabins, watching our DGD in this one); it didn't bother me but it might bother a light sleeper.

Concierge C3 Stateroom. Standard sized room with the typical Concierge amenities. Bed was near the closet - we (3 of us) didn't think it crowded the closet - still had easy access. Our adult DD slept on the sofa (a twin mattress pulls out from underneath and rests on the sofa).

What I liked best was the cabin's location, just off the forward elevators but still almost mid-ship. The elevators are far enough from the door that we never heard any noise from that area.

Try this site:

http://cruisett.com/ports.php

Also, when you get more familiar with these boards, you'll find many answers by using the Search feature. I see you're a "newbie" (we all were once), so welcome to CC - this is a great & helpful site.