bigguy6

We are sailing next week from Pier 2. This will be our second cruise as Platinum. Our first Platinum cruise 2 years ago was a breeze at embarkation. We were directed to a Platinum/elite lounge that had maybe 150 people in it and were lead to check in as soon as check in began. Now however I gather there can tend to be many more Platinum/elite passengers, maybe as many as a 1000+. What should we expect this time if there are a large number of Platinum/Elites? Also I know if you arrive at the dock in the 10:30 to 11:30 time frame there is usually a big line of early arrivals. If we wanted to avoid this initial zoo what time does the line clear off. 12:30, 1:00, 1:30? Thanks for any input.

Do you have any further updates on the water temps of the pools and hot tubs? Still cold?

Apparently since the last time we cruised 2 years ago Princess has added the ability to use your cell phone on board the ship. First of all is this true and secondly how much do they charge?

You book a cabin in a particular category and let princess decide which one. It could be any one in that category or better.

Is it the case that people book a guarantee instead of specific cabin because it is cheaper? If so how much, on average, do you save doing it this way?

Dollar, Thrifty, Sunshine:

 

Customer must opt-in (decide) at the time of rental.

If renter particpates, there is a $6.99 daily fee each day of the rental wether a toll was used or not.

All tolls are included in the daily fee.

The maximum fee is $36.99 per week.

If customer does not opt-in and a cashless gantry or SunPass lane was used, a $25.00 fee per infraction will be added at the end of the rental.

 

Hertz, Advantage, Avis, Budget:

Particpation is automatic, no descision is made at the time of rental.

If a renter accesses a SunPass Lane or cashless toll, the renter is charged a $2.95 per day fee plus the actual toll.

The daily fee is only charged on days a cashless toll or SunPass Lane is used.

Maximum administration fee is $14.75 per rental month.

 

National, Alamo, Enterprise:

Particpation is automatic, no descision is made at the time of rental.

If a renter accesses a SunPass Lane or cashless toll, the renter is charged a $2.00 per day fee plus the actual toll.

The daily fee is only charged on days a cashless toll or SunPass Lane is used.

Maximum administration fee is $6.00 per rental period.

Thank you this is helpful. Our situation is that we are staying in Orlando before our cruise. Our daughter is flying down to stay with us for a few days and is then going on to visit a friend in Tampa for a few days before she flys home. I believe the only toll she will encounter is the, I believe, one toll booth between the airport and I-4 on the Beeline expressway going west and that again when she returns. The last I knew that toll booth had cash lanes. Therefore she can refuse the toll charges with Thrifty. Correct?

Some one on these boards indicated that as of a couple weeks ago Cafe Caribe on the Emerald was converted into the Crab Shack on a couple nights during the cruise. Is this true and if so how does that work? Is there waiter service? Is there an up charge like a specialty restaurant? If Cafe Caribe is not a buffet those nights how does it affect the Horizon Court on those night (i.e. more crowded)? Also , it is my understanding that the Crab Shack is similar to Joes Crab Shacks on land (i.e. buckets of seafood) is that correct?

Does anyone know if these "new" TVs are on the Emerald and do they have a jack to plug in head phones?

Boxed wine exceeds the 750 ml limit for wine brought onboard and thus not allowed. Whether it's enforced or not is anybody's guess & may vary by ship, port or day you're there. ;)

The box we are thinking of bringing on board is 750 ml, so again can it be brought on board?

What is the current policy regarding boxed wine. Can you bring it on and if so what size?

There are two lines to get into the terminal but the preferred line is not very obvious even though there is a sign. We recently cruised on Royal and used hotel shuttle that got us there at about 10:30am. There was a long line forming along the wall of the terminal and your first instinct is to just get into line since you used to be split up after you got inside. But if you look at the entrance doors, there are 2 and the one to the right is the preferred line. When we got there they were just opening the doors so we wandered down sort of wondering if we should go into the right door and sure enough we eventually noticed the sign and walked right in. After we did that we noticed a few people step out of the original line and follow us since they had preferred boarding too and were confused like we were. Once inside we went directly through security, then check in and then to the appropriate area to wait for boarding. In our case, we are elite and we were directed upstairs to the elite lounge.

 

Lesson learned for us, if you have preferred boarding, stay right and watch for the signs. Dave

Thank you. This is very helpful.

We thought Magic Ice was really awesome! There were so many art sculptures and we really enjoyed it there. It was something really different than anything we had seen in the Caribbean before! It was also fun to drink at the ice bar :)

 

One thing I can say to anyone thinking of going to Magic Ice - just go on your own, not on a ship tour. The ship tour to go there for Princess was $49 a person and you just get to go to Magic Ice, then have some free time in downtown Charlotte Amalie, and then come back. The admission price to Magic Ice is only $22 a person and to get a taxi from Crown Bay there there and back is $8 ($4 each way). So between the two of us by doing this on our own, we saved $40! Plus, we weren't there with a large tour group or anything.

 

Here's the latest blog post all about Magic Ice, with some other ship stuff thrown in there, too!

 

http://justinpluslauren.com/caribbean-cruise-magic-ice-in-st-thomas-us-virgin-islands-day-4/

Here in Wisconsin we pretty much been living in "Magic Ice" for the last two months.

It used to be that you went through Security after check-in and before boarding the ship. That's changed to now going through before check-in so whatever you'd remembered would have changed. :)

So this means you have to stand in a common line when you arrive at the dock to go through security before you are allowed to go to the Platinum/elite lounge. Is this correct?

The last time we cruised (2yrs ago) we were Platinum for the first time. I recollect that when we got to the terminal we were directed to the Elite/Platinum lounge and after a while we were called to checkin. For the life of me,however, I can't remember if we went through security before we went to the Platinum lounge or after we were called out of the lounge. Could someone refresh my memory. In the title I meant PORT evergaldes. They won't let you edit the Title.

Can someone refresh me on what the deal is with rental cars and the various toll road charges. I recollect that you can pay something upfront and thereby use their IPASS recorders in the car or you can decline that and go through the cash lanes. However I recollect that if you decline and go through the fast lanes by mistake they nail you with a large charge. Is this correct? I am specifically interested in Thirty Car Rental's policy.

Are these mattreses that you are complaining about too hard or to soft?

I am getting the sense from reviews and blogs that the number of security check point agents at embarkation and the number of custom agents at disembarkation are less than there use to be, maybe because of the sequester. For people who have cruised over the years have you found this to be the case and if so how badly has it slowed thing up on either end recently? This might be a question for someone like Pam who has cruised a lot over the past years.

I know Princess has gone to recomended, graduated check in times at Port Everglades. But apparently the majority of people are still arriving about 11;00 which makes for long lines. My question is at what time do these lines disappear? Is it thinned out by 1:00, 1:30, what? Also if you are platinum what happens if you arrive at these later times?

We have always book our cruises through an agent and always chosen the cabin we want. What is the benefit of booking only a guaranteed catagory rather than a specific cabin? Is there a price discount? And if not, why not book a specific cabin?

I know Vines is primarily a wine bar, but can you get beer and mixed drinks there also? Also is the Tapas and Sushi free or is there a charge?

We are sailing on the Emerald Princess in March. We really don't want to bring clothes for the formal nights. I know, on formal nights, you don't have to dress up for the buffet, but can you wear smart casual attire to the specialty restaurants on those nights. Sorry, not interested in peoples opinions on this, just what is the policy.

Arymay

Thanks for the running review with photos. Could you elaborate more on your on board experiences. i.e quality of the food, experiences in the buffets etc.

Also if you have then, and can post then, download any Patters and/or menus. Again thanks much for taking the time to write and post your review, it is much appreciated.

Apparently you had a nice time!We were aboard the Emerald the entire twenty days before you and the only thing that comes to mind,is that it sucked!I only make mention of this because corporate must have leaped on the crew and staff so that your cruise could be so enjoyable.Your welcome!:)

Tom

It would be helpful if you could elaborate on the problems you encountered in your time on the Emerald.

We just returned on the Ruby this past Saturday at Terminal 21. We had left from Terminal 2 where we parked our car. Our Disembarkation instructions notified us of this change in terminals and confirmed a complimentary shuttle would be provided for pax who desired to return to T2. We were off the ship by 8:10, gathered our luggage, a porter went with us thru C&BP, went out the front doors where several smaller pax vans waited (as opposed to a large charter bus), our luggage was loaded and we were on our way to T2 within five minutes. We were at T2 in minutes and on our way home by 8:55!

NANA Thanks for the feedback. We will probably be doing the same thing the end of March. A couple questions. You apparently got off the ship fairly early. Do you think those who got of later in the morning would have had much of a wait for the shuttle? Also did it seem to you that it would be possible/desirable to leave a person (in my case my wife) with the luggage and go myself to Pier 2 to get the car and then return to the disembarkation pier to get her and the luggage?

You're not very clear in your post. Am I correct in assuming that you are talking about FLL? I've always flown to ports so I can't help with parking. Perhaps you'd get more responses if you posted this on the Home Ports Boards.

Yes Port Everglades. Did post similar on Florida board and didn't get much feedback. Thought since this usually happens with Princess might get more responce here