cruises42

5 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

Now here is some random info.  I cruised with only my husband, so the transportation was for two people.

Uber at 5:00 pm on Thursday from MCO to a hotel at Cocoa Beach (Homewood Suites) - $69.96 plus tip 
Uber at at 9:19 am on Saturday morning from the hotel to the port (about 2 miles) - $37.75 plus tip

Here was my morning.  We reached Platinum this cruise and chose to carry our bags off of the ship ourselves.  We received a letter in our cabin stating to meet in the theater at 7:30.  From past experience, we knew we should arrive earlier.  We arrived at 6:25 am and there were already people in line.  They had everyone line up their luggage and sit, in order, in the theater.

7:15 am - We were escorted off of the ship and wound our way through the terminal 
7:25 am - We went to the "passport" line and didn't have to show our passport, it was facial recognition
7:30 am - boarded the shuttle
7:50 am - Shuttle left for the airport
8:50 am - Got off of the shuttle at the airport. We had to wait until all of the baggage was unloaded
9:20 am - Finally arrived at my gate.  We had TSA precheck and carry on luggage only

 

Wow, that Uber to the port was expensive! Do you know why?

8 hours ago, mlshum said:

You know what, you are absolutely right!  I didn’t even notice that!  Some of them were repeated later.  After about 10-11pm, I’m usually “done” and I didn’t pay a lot of attention to things after that time.  Sorry for my mistake!

I was very happy to see they were repeated. Now if we choose to keep late dining, we won't miss a show.

On 2/22/2022 at 8:17 AM, mlshum said:

You're very welcome and the answer is definitely "no" on the shows.  I had hoped for the same thing!  That's one reason you have to get there early....you just get one shot at it.  People do come and go a little, but it tends to stay pretty crowded, at least on our cruise.  One reason it stays a that way is the seating arrangement on the main deck area.  A lot of the seating consists of tables and chairs which can be moved.  People tend to move everything around and it can become very disorganized.  Also, all of the tables have four chairs.  They're fairly close together but when two people sit down, you then have to share the space with people you don't know.  That wasn't a problem for us, but I could see it being uncomfortable for some people.  There were a couple of times we went up to someone and simply asked if we could join them.  It was the only option.

 

I didn't sit much in the bleacher style seating of the upper decks.  As far as I can tell, one of the problems up there was the noise level.  A main walk through area is right behind those bleachers along with stores, bars and venues.  It gets a little noisy.  I love Grand Central/Center Stage and the idea of what they're doing there, but I think it needs just a little more tweaking for the design to be all it can be.  Thanks again!

I looked at the Fun Times you posted and saw that the shows were listed as being done twice. Did you not find that they were redone?

13 hours ago, mlshum said:

You're very welcome and the answer is definitely "no" on the shows.  I had hoped for the same thing!  That's one reason you have to get there early....you just get one shot at it.  People do come and go a little, but it tends to stay pretty crowded, at least on our cruise.  One reason it stays a that way is the seating arrangement on the main deck area.  A lot of the seating consists of tables and chairs which can be moved.  People tend to move everything around and it can become very disorganized.  Also, all of the tables have four chairs.  They're fairly close together but when two people sit down, you then have to share the space with people you don't know.  That wasn't a problem for us, but I could see it being uncomfortable for some people.  There were a couple of times we went up to someone and simply asked if we could join them.  It was the only option.

 

I didn't sit much in the bleacher style seating of the upper decks.  As far as I can tell, one of the problems up there was the noise level.  A main walk through area is right behind those bleachers along with stores, bars and venues.  It gets a little noisy.  I love Grand Central/Center Stage and the idea of what they're doing there, but I think it needs just a little more tweaking for the design to be all it can be.  Thanks again!

Thanks again! I might need to look at the Fun Times to see when the shows are. I don't want to miss some of them because we are at dinner. We've missed shows in the past because they have them once and during late seating.

13 hours ago, rebeccac said:

 

We just got the form letter (only mentioning the 2/26 sailing) about the change and we are on the 3/26 sailing.  When I login to my account, it still lists San Juan and not Nassau.  I am assuming that either the letter was sent mistakenly or that the website will take a few days to catch up.  I guess time will tell.

That is what John Heald wrote. I would have thought he would know for sure, but apparently, he was wrong.

31 minutes ago, mlshum said:

When you have anytime dining, you can check in for complimentary speciality restaurants any time you’d like.  When you have assigned time dining, you can’t check in until after 7:45.  Then you are subject to availability.  

Thanks! Do you know if the shows in the Central area are done more than once a night (so late diners won't miss them)?

We're scheduled for late dining. Why do you recommend anytime?

Someone asked John Heald the dates for the itinerary change. He answered: 

Bluebird.

12 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

As a diamond, in either regular debark or self assist, time off the ship was les than 15 minutes.  For regular debark addm10 to 15 minutes to locate bags in the number one group.

Thanks!

35 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Either should work from our experience, but to be safe, Self debark will DEF work

What I'm asking is how long does it take to get off the ship? What time do we need to get off the ship to ne outside at 8:30?

6 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

We have done both self debark and regular (luggage in the terminal) debarkation on the Mardi Gras.  In both instances we were of well before 8

Thanks. I wanted to know what time we should leave the ship so that we are outside to get 8:30 transportation.

On 1/31/2022 at 7:42 PM, jimbo5544 said:

So, some comments on the last day.  The captain came on over the speaker mid afternoon and said due to significant weather even, we were planning on the deck to PC by 12:30 AM.  The weather even was gale force winds, and it did get windy.  During the night we could hear the deck chairs be moved around, fairly loudly.  We awoke at 5:30 and got ready to get off.  We had let them take our bags and the diamond letter said to be in the Punchliners club by 8.  They started early, and we went to go down there at 7:20  and found they were already released.  

 

Outside it was really cold and windy but we quickly got our bags and the shuttle back to the Raddison was there in 2 minutes.  We were in our cars and on the road by 8:10.  After a drop off in St pete, were home at 2pm.  

We're cruising in May and I'm trying to set up transportation to the airport. We are thinking of having them pick us up at 8:30. Can you give a suggestion on when we should leave the ship? We are diamond so we don't really have to wait for any luggage tags to be called (and we may just carry off our own luggage).

Backyard visitors.

Frozen bubbles.

White-tailed deer in our backyard enjoying some pumpkins!

Some snowflakes taken with my iPhone.

3 weeks (Oct-Nov.) non-expedited.

8 hours ago, Beagleluv6107 said:

 

Hey Cruises42.

They quoted $150 one way and they require a $30 tip so basically $180. We split the cost between us and that helped. It really worked out great. Have a wonderful time on your May Cruise!

Thanks! Enjoying your review! Have fun!

Do you mind saying how much you paid for Orlando Transfer? We need to book transportation for our May Mardi Gras cruise.

Missed the shot by a nose! I heard running behind me and was not quite quick enough to get the shot.

Burst mode of a Robin eating an ornamental pear. This guy/gal ate five pare in 14 seconds! It would just grab them and swallow them whole!

25 minutes ago, PurpleHays said:

I like that corn cob feeder. Where did you find it?

It's pretty old but I think it was Walmart. I'm sure if you Google it you will find it several places.

A cute tufted titmouse with a sunflower seed treat.

A Carolina Wren about to get some bark butter. 

A Bluejay eating from a corn cob. It would just pull off a piece and swallow it whole.

Friday evenings moon.