Itchy&Scratchy

we didn't have a problem with sticking around the airport on Tue, Nov 29. We left the ship around 9:15, go to the airport right away, dropped off our luggage with Spirit for our 1:55 pm departure, and then went through security, and firmly planted ourselves at the gate. I read a book for a bit, the boys were on their phones (DH and DS), then DS and I got him a lunch at Steak and Shake, and then it was time to start boarding at 1:10. It's much worse when the return flight is at 5, like it used to be when Spirit temporarily didn't have any mid-day flights. Ugh, that was painful. But pre-pandemic we weren't worried too much about sitting around at the airport for hours. To be honest, during the holidays Spirit's luggage drop off line lasted at least an hour, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time...

Stayed at the Crowne Plaza two weeks ago. Will not stay again... The hotel itself was good, the room clean and spacious, and it actually had a pod coffee maker (we didn't use). But they greatly soured our experience with a 1.5 hour wait for a free shuttle (after a long day) and by hanging up on us 4 out of 6 times when we called to ask if it was still coming. Eventually we took a taxi for $25... When we complained at the front desk at check-in about the unreasonably long wait (the hotel is like 3 blocks away) and the hang ups, we were told to basically get over it, because a free shuttle is not a guaranteed amenity. They said they were super busy at the hotel. We were the only people there! If they told us they were busy and the shuttle would take over 1-1.5 hours, we would have taken a taxi and saved all the aggravation. We were super tired and it was 10 pm when we finally got there. We landed at 7:30! The lady checking us out in the morning was a lot more apologetic and understanding. We took an uber in the morning - took 3 minutes to arrive and about 5 minute drive to the port.

Kid's club program:

We had a fantastic voyage and didn't even get covid this time! Yay! Very exciting! I'll post all the patters, menus, etc., so please be patient. We paid for an upgrade bid from inside to an obstructed deluxe balcony. E324 was perfectly located, even if the view was a bit more obstructed than in other cabins. We dined at Santorini every evening at 6 pm. We were seated within minutes, however, the service itself was slow paced, unlike on our previous Princess cruises. We saw almost all the big production shows and enjoyed them very much - better than in previous years for sure. The food was mostly great - more about this later. We didn't use the kid's club - the kid refuses to go, but I do have a program for the 11 yo group. We didn't have princess plus, but we got the soda package for our son. He loved the sodas and mocktails, especially the Key West cooler:

it's totally possible with the meter - depending on the airport and port terminal locations, our METERED fares ranged from $15 to $23, plus a separate tip.

Tue Nov 29 2022: $15 fare plus $5 tip (told him to run the meter) (Enchanted princess to FLL terminal 4 for Spirit), minivan, 3 people. 2019: the taxi driver didn't run the meter and requested $50 upon arrival. I paid, but was very upset, because I knew it was supposed to be $20-25. By law they must run a meter. Stick to it. The bigger ripoff was a taxi from FLL to Crowne Plaza - $25 (literally a couple of blocks), no meter, but we were tired and upset that Crowne Plaza shuttle didn't show after 1.5 hours of waiting, so we didn't care.

but at least RCI has the same show repeatedly during the cruise, so if you missed your reservation, you could show up again without one and still have a good chance of seeing it. On Enchanted last week each show appeared on one day only, with two showings. We constantly missed the 7:30 showing due to slow service in MDR, so our only chance to see the show was to show up at 8:45-9 pm for a 9:30 showing.

it was on Enchanted last week. Also: Dune, a bunch of X Men movies, Maze runner (3 movies), Deadpool, Aquaman, last Jason Borne movie, the Martian (great movie), last Bond movie, some Spiderman stuff, Superman vs. Batman, etc. a bunch of older stuff, but some are still my favorites: Hidden Figures, Gifted, Elf. Some thrillers/horror I can't watch, like 28 days later. As usual, some stuff appeared only after it was played on MUTS.

we've just completed a 10 day cruise with a standard fare and $90 OBC per cabin. I had a fancy coffee every day, DS had a raspberry gelato (vanilla and chocolate gelatos are free at MDR), DH and I had several alcoholic drinks. And I still had $1.95 left at the end, which I donated to the crew appreciation fund. We did prepay for a soda/mocktail package for the kiddo, and he did use it a lot (but not near as much as he used the cheaper soda package on the Allure, because most bars were closed in the morning on Enchanted and Enchanted didn't have a free style coke machine). It didn't make sense for us at $40. It didn't make sense for us at $50. And it sure doesn't make sense for us at any more than that. We are going to try MSC next time - alcohol and wifi are included.

really? we've never seen the cruise tours there. And it's pretty big - enough space for everyone. They can't really send you away - there is a lot of natural space. Lots of chaises for rent, but some people don't need it. There is a resort to the right and to the left... We were there last week. Lovely as always, not very crowded at all.

we need shade and gorgeous views, so we usually go to Sapphire beach. this is to the right side of the regular beach (so you don't see pretty sand on the actual beach): It's not very big, it's quiet, has chaises for rent ($9 each), lot of natural shade, water is not too deep, it's pretty - great pics. Beach: We went to Magens once and left underwhelmed. A soup of people in the water, hardly any space with all the people there, water was murky, too crowded.

yes, the rates were an unpleasant surprise compared to 2019-2021 rates. interestingly enough, we went to Sapphire beach ($15 pp) and then the taxi continued to Coki beach ($14 pp). Weird, right?

if you are bringing a Bubblebum inflatable booster, please make sure that your child is at least 40#. It has a good seat belt fit on kids over 40# and has a min 40# limit. Mifold has a questionable seat belt for small kids. You can always take an open air bus like this: it's equally not safe for anyone. Other than that, you could bring a very compact and lightweight Cosco Scenera NEXT for your 16 month old: you may need to learn to install car seats with a seat belt locking clip because the seatbelts may not lock the way you are used to, and the vehicle may not have latch/isofix. locking clip: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Safety-Seat-Belt-Locking-Clip-Universal-Accessories-Adjuster-Black-Kids-Safety/1020329963

stop assigning feelings to me which I didn't express. I noted that there was nothing else for kids to do on Princess ships aside from a kid's club, but I didn't complain about it. We are perfectly happy to sail on Princess WITH OUR KID IN TOW and have just gotten off a 10 day cruise which we all loved.

Why do you all assume he is bored? Did I say that? No.

that is not what WE assume, and my kid and we enjoy Princess ships. We don't go on short cruises, though. I didn't say my kid was bored. well, excuse my bluntness, not everyone can or wants to cruise in the med or Europe. And not everyone wants to have a port rich itinerary. good grief, we would be dead after this kind of a trek. Our kid is not this active either, but he does like ice skating or rock climbing on occasion, or jumping on a trampoline for a bit and maybe a ropes course on a sea day very much. plenty on sea days. And even some time on port days: our Grenada port day ended at 1:30 pm, for example. And we didn't get to Bonaire until well after noon. Oh, and due to some technical problem with the engine we were quite a bit late getting to St Thomas. maybe, you need a cruise to relax so you don't bite people's heads off for having a different opinion.

off Enchanted yesterday. In all 6 other ports we used deck 4. In Port Everglades we disembarked off of deck 5 right across from the piazza. Can't remember what deck was used for embarkation, but if Juliet says it was 6, then it was 6. Not important to us.

my kid doesn't do kid's club. There is nothing else to do on a Princess ship....

my kid loves all and every cruise ship. 🙂 My friends (with kids) hated the food served on RCI's Allure and disliked the food on whatever Celebrity cruise they went on. we almost always sail on Princess during Thanksgiving, and there is always a ton of kids on the ship. I must say, though, that on our 10 day TG cruise which ended yesterday the vast majority was pretty old. Very few kids, since it was a 10 day cruise as opposed to a 7 day cruise. I don't think I've ever been on a Princess cruise before where pretty much everyone was an old fart. No offence to older people, but the crowd looked geriatric at best. I must also say that I was impressed by the new theater shows - they were definitely geared towards somewhat younger crowd (30-40s). The shows resembled RCI's and NCL's and we really enjoyed the younger feel to them.

we (the adults) have never gone to a spa or casino on a cruise. Is Princess thrilled about that? As for bars, we aren't big drinkers at all. Maybe, a couple of beers or mixed drinks per cruise. Oh, and most fun things on RCI are free anyway. They aren't exactly producing the kid related revenue either.