born2cruize

So we're all talking about Scootaround but I asked about Scootogo. Any info on that company?

Sorry to hijack you thread but I needed to set the record straight. ANY company that says they provide for cruise ship passengers has to go through one of the two "approved companies". There are companies that do not deliver to the ship as was mentioned. That's one of the things you need to research. A free phone call is a good research tool. But as a whole those two approved companies are not the cheapest.

It appears based on their website that they are a subset of a company call Scooter Direct, which is more than a scooter rental. If no one here has not used them and you're still interested then I'd contact the BBB, I believe based on their website that they are based in Tampa, Florida. (Scooter Direct claims to have an A+ rating). If they are a good company then I believe they are similar to Scootaround. Then it just becomes a matter of Price.

Shop around, I think you'll find that the 2 approved companies have higher prices sometimes because they are the approved provider.

Just an example. In 2013 out of Fort Lauderdale I paid $407.00 for 20 days (B2B). The other two "approved companies" wanted several hundred more for the same 20 days. BTW, I keep the literature that came with the scooter on the ship and it came from Tampa/Orlando.

As was mentioned

In order to have the scooter delivered directly onto the ship waiting in the cabin and picked up directly from your cabin you must use the approved rental provider for the cruise line.

 

Approved vendors for most cruise lines are www.CareVactions.com and www.SpecialNeedsatSea.com as these are the only vendors that are pre-approved by the cruise line, Port Authroity and Homeland Security to deliver directly to the ship. NCL's only approved vendor is www.SpecialNeedsatSeas.

 

Scootaround is NOT an approved vendor for any cruise and is not pre-approved by the Port Authority and Homeland Secruity.Therefore you must make arrangements to pick up and return the scooter to a non-port, non-ship location which can definitely impact travel plans as you will not just be able to leave it and walkaway. You have to wait until some arrives to drop it off at emabrkation and pick it up at disembarkation.

 

It's been rumored that Scooteraround may at times second party your scooter resevartion to CareVacations and or SpecialNeedsatSeas to be able to deliver/pickup directly to/from the ship but not certain of that. need Scootaround . It's my personal opinion that Scootaroundgenerally works best if you have both pre and post cruise hotel arangements.

The information you provided except the second paragraph is UNTRUE. As I said Scootaround is a valid company for cruise ship passengers and the rental equipment is in your cabin if that is what you want. I had to do nothing for this to be done. They themselves DO NOT deliver the equipment they go through the two authorized cruise ship companies. This is from first hand knowledge as of January 2013. And there website still lists cruise ship passengers as their clients.

Has anyone used the company ScooToGo?

http://www.scootogo.com

 

 

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Never used this company, but have used a company called Scootaround. As I've mentioned in other posts, check out prices from various companies and make sure that they provide mobility devices on ships. If they do, they will work WITH one of the two cruise line approved companies. Prices do fluctuate widely between companies.

This seems to be the most often type thread on CC. The two mentioned companies are NOT the only companies that you can rent from. They are however the only two companies that the cruise lines will deal with. If a company says that they will provide a mobility device on your cruise, they will work with one of the two listed companies. I use to use a company called Scootaround, they were cheaper (by a lot) than either of the two APPROVED companies. When we got on the ship the scooter was there with "Special Needs At Sea" literature attached. BTW I don't need to use them anymore only because I bring my Travelscoot whenever I fly or cruise.

This is only my limited experience. Prior to last year I always received 2 cards for B2B. Last year out of Southampton we received one card for the dates 7/12/14-8/9/14. I made the assumption this was because it was not a U.S. turnaround port and we did not have to go throught immigration. We sat in the IC and watched everyone get off and all the new people get on.

Any US port you would have to go through immigration if this was your turnaround day. Don't know if there has been a uniform change in card policy.

We were in Copenhagen last August on the Emerald Princess. We were there from 8 - 5 with all aboard at 4:30. The shuttle ran from 9:00 til 4:00. At the time it was $8.00 one way or $16.00 round trip. So 10 - 20 Euros may be right as you could use either currency.

In my signature is a link to my home page which currently has our Princess Patters. If you go to it, select the day before Copenhagen as that is when the flyer came out. It has some other info that may be of interest.

I know you're talking about Kauai and I've been to Allerton but the best Botanical Gardens in Hawaii is in Hilo on the big island. They provide a driver in a golf cart to take you down into the gardens and bring you up to the parking lot for anyone with mobility issues.

Allerton is a little more formal type gardens whereas Hawaii Tropical is more natural style gardens.

My husband I, along with another couple, are planning to take a Princess Alaska Cruisetour in 2016. We're eagerly awaiting the release of the Alaska schedule. We're hoping Sitka will be on one or more itineraries.

 

We took a 7-night Alaska cruise on the Sapphire Princess in August 2013. The only other Princess ship we've been on is the Ruby. While both ships were lovely, the Ruby did not have full-length loungers on the Promenade deck as the Sapphire had. Since We enjoy relaxing on the Promenade, we were disappointed. for that reason, the Sapphire is my favorite of those two ships. We'll be sailing on the Caribbean Princess in March. Looking forward to seeing that ship.

 

Alaska is so spectacular, It probably doesn't matter which ship you're on. We also did a Disney Alaska cruise right after the Princess one. Both were wonderful experiences...... And the Disney Wonder had full-length loungers :)

 

Karen

Never say never, but if you want to do a cruisetour then your chances of having Sitka is currently slim to none. Generally the cruises that include a cruisetour of Alaska would be the standard milk run of Vancouver, Ketchikan, Skagway and Whittier or those ports in reverse.

I just booked our first Princess cruise. When I booked, I didn't see the option anywhere to add pre paid gratuities. If that an option for Princess? I would rather have them pre paid than added to my account daily.

 

Thanks!

 

 

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Please note even if you prepay your gratuities that will still be added to your account daily. They will just be balanced by your credit.

We last did the railroad in 2012. Your fine in height and width. and the 2 inch difference in depth should not be a problem except that you'll probably feel them against your legs as they will slightly stick out.

They use to cash Traveler's Checks but the last time I did this was maybe 8 years ago. Never heard of them cashing personal checks.

In July of this year we did B2B 14 days on the Emerald our cards were dated for July 12 through August 9. No card on turn around day. I assumed it was because the turn around port was Southampton.

In 2005 we did a round trip 11 days out of Seattle. Only tender port would have been Sitka but missed it due to engine problems. (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Seward, Sitka, and Prince Rupert).

In 2007 did 13 days from San Francisco only tender ports were Nanaimo and Sitka. we would have also tendered in Icy Strait Point but missed it due to engine problems. (Victoria, Nanaimo, Prince Rupert, Ketchikan, Sitka, Skagway, Icy Strait Point, and Juneau).

In 2009 we did 14 day round trip from Seattle only tender ports were Icy Strait Point and Juneau. (Ketchikan, Skagway, Valdez, Seward, Kodiak, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Victoria).

In 2012 our NB nor SB cruise from Vancouver had tender ports. (Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway).

I guess the question is how many of these items were also included in the Princess Explorer Level? Probably not the wine pairing dinner but DW does not drink wine. Looking at the brochure the main difference is included meals on the Connoisseur level but everything else looks to be the same.

 

Dennis

Unless I'm missing something what I see as the difference is Explorer is 3 to 5 days, Connoisseur is 5 to 8 days. Comparing the two 5 day tours the difference is the Explorer's only full day is in Fairbanks and your first day is in Anchorage. On the Connoisseur as mentioned your meals are included, you spend a full day in Denali and full day at McKinley including arrival days and departure days. At Denali you have the longer Tundra Wilderness Tour plus an evening Dinner show. On neither Connoisseur 5 day tour do you go to Fairbanks.

If you book the cruise through Princess it is about $1,000.00 more for the Connoisseur Tour. Which I think is acceptable considering the tours, meals and longer time at McKinley and Denali.

Having been to Glacier Bay 3 times, Hubbard Glacier 3 times and College Fjord once, if this is your only Alaska Cruise I agree with most that Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier are a must if you can get close to Hubbard Glacier. College Fjord is interesting but you don't get close to any of the many glacier. Of the three times at Hubbard Glacier we only got close once although the last time we did get closer than I thought we would because of all the ice.

The buffet IMHO is the only drawback to Princess ships. I will not book any ship with a forward Horizon Court. Can't stand the layout. That being said. Ships with aft Horizon Courts have better flow because they do have people standing at the exits to prevent people from entering from two different directions. Still not the best because people don't "go with the flow".

It's one thing to pass slow moving passengers but another when passengers form two lines to attack a station from two different sides. Especially difficult for W/C or scooter disable passengers.

I prefer the Buffet on the Pride of America myself. While it uses the island concept, the islands are across the full width of the ship not just one side or the other. This leaves a lot more room to maneuver than the Horizon Court.

We have done 8 B2B's and about 1/2 the time our steward was reassigned to different rooms.

Hi,

Got an email today saying our excursions are ready to book.Went online and sure enough I got to the reserve excursions page but it only showed the points of interest not the actual excursions. So I called Princess and a wonderful Customer service rep helped me for almost 2 hrs. She could see them on her end. Nothing worked,we tried 4 different browsers. Our b2b cruise is next August, even the representative was shocked they are out that early. Anyone else having trouble?

I got the same email for our upcoming 2 Alaska cruises. It allowed me to see and book including our cruise tour days.

Having spent 10 minutes searching, I'm hopeful someone has very recent experience/knowledge to share.

 

On the Emerald Princess what is the payment method in the self-serve launderettes? Coins or cruise card?

 

Thanks - planning for our departure very soon!

 

 

 

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As of August the Emerald was still using quarters.

From NCL:

port/arrive/depart

 

Ketchikan/7:00 am/4:00 pm

Juneau, Alaska/10:00 am/8:00 pm

Skagway, Alaska/7:00 am/8:00 pm

 

Due to security reasons, all guests must be on board 2 hours before sailing. Disembarkation usually begins 2 hours after docking. Itineraries are subject to change at any time without notice.

They are referring to embarkation/debarkation times. (First day and last day). Generally speaking you must be on board 1/2 hour to 1 hour before leaving any port depending on NCL policy. Getting off the ship is generally within 1/2 hour of arriving at a port. (Depending when the port authority clears the ship. That being said, you and 2 - 3 thousand of your best friends are all trying to get ashore at the same time from one gangway.

I for one would never never do a DIY in Alaska. I've been the designated driver for 45 years and when we did our first inland tour in 2012 I let someone else drive so I could relax, enjoy the scenery and not worry about driving. (No matter how good of a driver you may be or how much you LOVE driving) driving is not a relaxing activity.

I'm sorry you were disappointed, but cruising has changed a lot in 30 years. I'm not sure what blue panels you're referring to. The Island, now pre-drydock, has a lot of great outdoor viewing areas. A major drydock is coming in the spring. Maybe they are starting some of the changes early while the ship is still sailing with passengers. You may need to step up to a luxury cruise line to get a much better cruise experience. Good luck with your future cruises.

The OP is referring to blue tinted glass on the Sun deck (15). Both the Island and Coral has this glass as wind screens on the upper deck. I must agree that if you are a serious photographer this can be very annoying. We did a 19 day Panama Canal back in 2008 and the only place on the upper decks with clear viewing was the Sports deck (16).

As I post this the OP is a one post wonder. Why would someone post to announce he will not cruise Princess again???? No need to respond as that was a sarcastic response.

You know the old adage, "you get what you paid for." How much did you pay!

Mine came a month ago without requesting it but then I ordered one last year and never received it, maybe they were filling last years order with this years Cruise Atlas. :)

When the Brits come here they say they tip because it is our custom but not theirs. Why did the custom change when we go there? Are they taking advantage of American tipping customs?

We spent 6 days in London before and after our B2B, maybe Brits don't tip but they have their hands our for tips from tourists! Without fail Brits in service industries expected a tip.

I think it would be really difficult for someone with mobility problems on a river cruise. There was one small elevator that only went to 2 of the 4 decks. One of the decks was cabins only so that would not be a problem but the other deck was the main viewing deck. The tours were mostly walking tours through old medieval cities that at not set up for those with walking difficulties. There was no one on our river cruise with mobility problems.

I have found the passenger make-up on river cruises to be mostly "active older"... people who have the time for a leisurely river cruise and the energy to walk 2-3 hours every morning or afternoon. Ports are mostly older villages or towns (some cities) that are not designed for scooters or are difficult for those with mobility issues. You are likely to be walking over cobblestones or other uneven surfaces. Castles and other places you'll visit are not handicapped accessible.

 

Dress on a river cruise is generally casual to smart casual. We often just wore our day clothes to dinner. There isn't a dress code but there is a "Captain's Dinner" and people make an effort to dress up a little bit for that. Nothing fancy. The vibe is very relaxed and friendly. Passengers are generally people who are interested and interesting. You won't find anyone looking for the nearest beach. :)

 

The elevator not going up to the main viewing deck can be a problem because often, lectures, movies and talks are given on the top deck. When you're not touring, there will be activities such as a history talk, language talk, etc. so you'd miss those if you are unable to get to the top deck or meeting area.

Thank you both for your information and responses. Just as a comparison can either of you compare the cobblestone streets to the cobblestone streets in "Old Town Tallinn, Estonia". Of all our European cruises Old Town Tallinn probably had the worst street I've been on but was still doable.