velmasue

We are going on a repositioning cruise on October 23, 2017, leaving from Cape Liberty. We usually fly out of Baltimore and would like to return there after the cruise (still 3 hours drive to home). I can't find a reasonable direct flight from BWI to Newark so was looking into Amtrak. We have never taken Amtrak, but it seems like the most logical transportation between the 2 cities. There is no checked luggage on the train, but personal item and "carry-on" up to 50 lbs. We will each have a large suitcase and a backpack. What does one do with the large suitcase on the train? Is there a specific storage spot once onboard?

Would it be better to arrive at EWR or Penn Station, Newark? We would be arriving the day of the cruise and most likely get a Uber ride once we get to Newark. Is that reasonable?

Thanks for any advice.

We have been on both ships. We went on the Pride with our grandson who was about 13 at the time. He absolutely loved Circle C. We primarily cruise with RCCL now and enjoy the Grandeur, but it seems like a more "mature" crowd. We haven't had any grandchildren go with us on the Grandeur, but there just doesn't seem to be as many children onboard ( but I've heard Holidays are different). Hopefully, someone can give you a better idea concerning the children's programs on the Grandeur. With that said--we have reservations October 2018 to Bermuda along with our daughter and her family (3 kids) on the Pride. But we would chose Grandeur for adults-only cruise.

We prefer the covered balcony, primarily for the shade, but will be fine with uncovered. Definitely accepting the free upgrade. The current mini-suite price is about $600 per person more than we paid for the original balcony and we booked during the "sip and sail" promotion (which is retained with the upgrade):):):):):):)

What is the itinerary for your cruise. What are the dates?

It is the 8-day sailing of Feb 10 to ABC islands. I don't particularly like the uncovered balcony, but the room will be a nice upgrade.

Me again. We've been on almost 30 cruises, but only 3 on Princess. Have never been offered an upgrade of any kind until this Crown Princess cruise.

So now we have gotten another notice for the same Feb '17 Crown sailing and have been "upgraded" (again!) to a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck! I would assume any mini-suite would be more desirable than a plain ole balcony room.

We cruised on Harmony for a b2b in February in a Boardwalk balcony near the aft. It was the first time we had cruised a mega ship and were uncertain if we would enjoy the location, but had gotten a good deal and liked the perks that went with the room. WE LOVED IT! We normally choose either ov balcony or JS and have especially enjoyed those facing the aft so we were surprised that we found the Boardwalk balcony so appealing. We could still see the water, enjoyed the "people watching", and found the location quiet once the balcony door was closed. As a matter of fact, we sat on our balcony more than we normally do. We will book a Boardwalk balcony the next time we cruise on a Mega ship.

Thank you for the information. It sounds like a good deal not to have to worry about retrieving luggage when we leave ship and dragging it to the airport to check in. :)

We have never had opportunity to use luggage valet, but will get that choice (I hope) on our upcoming Harmony cruise. We recently cruised Princess and I noticed on their flyer that there was no extra charge from the airlines for over 50 lb. luggage? We spent a night in FLL after the cruise so didn't use the service. My husband and I will only have 1 bag each to check in.

My questions:

1. Isn't it possible for just one of us to utilize the luggage valet option and check in both bags (flying SW so both bags are free with airlines)? I realize the other would need to get boarding pass from airport or show on phone. Therefore, paying only one fee to RCCL?

2. Does anyone know if there is an overweight charge? Both bags are close to the 50 lb. limit.

Thanks.

We only had a cabin on Lido deck once, on a Carnival cruise about 10 years ago. We did enjoy the convenience and don't see any real drawbacks. We have never sailed on Crown so appreciate the feedback.

The upgrade is from L230 to B428, but we are leaning towards declining the offer. I realize it is an upgrade within category, but haven't decided it is a more desirable location for us. Thanks

We received an email concerning a Crown Princess cruise we have booked for Feb. 2018. We had booked a balcony cabin on the Lido deck, and our "upgrade" is a balcony cabin on the Baja deck, directly across from elevator. This doesn't sound like much of an upgrade to me? However, we have never been on the Crown Princess. What am I missing? We have 48 hours to decline the upgrade and may do so.

We just got of Serenade on Friday (in cabin 1600 aft balcony), and emailed Special Needs to request a mattress topper 2 weeks prior to sailing. Our bed had a topper and was great. I think Walter will be your Stateroom Attendant. As him for a temperpedic pillow too.

 

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Thanks for that info. We will ask prior to the cruise next time. Our stateroom attendant was not very responsive. We had to beg for an extra chair for the balcony to use as a stool. Other aft balconies we have booked have had a lounge. We never did get robes and had to beg for the upgraded shampoo, but no big deal on either. Unfortunately, our bed was just too miserable to get a good night's sleep.

We just got off Serenade of the Seas on Friday in aft balcony cabin 1102. The bed was too firm for us and there doesn't seem to be a solution on the ship to take care of the problem. I did not sleep well either night---kept waking up with aches and pains. But it sure felt good to get home and sleep all night long without waking.

The first few times we cruised we thought the beds were the most comfortable we had ever slept on, but that hasn't been the case for a few years now.

I'm glad you posted---I thought I was the only one that had seen this issue. I went to book a cruise a couple of weeks ago and everything looked fine until the last screen---then the price was almost double! I called RCCL thinking it was a glitch and would be an easy fix and I would book at the lower price that had reflected throughout the booking process (until the last screen!). I talked to 3 different people, two of them telling me it must be taxes. I was very aggravated and said taxes are NOT $2,000!!! On the phone for an hour, never was able to get the lower price so didn't book. THEN an hour later, "our" PVP called us (didn't know we had one!) and inquired if she could help with anything. I told her what was going on and that we had just decided to forget it. Lo and behold, she was able to offer the lower price with the aft balcony we were interested in and said she would have champagne and chocolate covered strawberries sent to our room on the cruise! :):):):):):)

We usually buy the insurance through the cruise line, but have never needed it (thank goodness!) We had a small deposit on a cruise from about a year ago and just recently made final payment. Some health issues had arisen prior to final and we had some concern about pre-existing coverage. From other forums it seemed tripinsurancestore.com had a good reputation and we appreciated being able to call and ask questions. Steve was very informative. Here is the information from email confirming our purchase:

Steve Dasseos

TripInsuranceStore.com

1-888-407-3854 (toll free US & Canada)

1-816-282-6858 (local)

Mon - Fri: 8:30 am - 7 pm ET

Saturday: 11 am - 4 pm ET

Sunday: 2 - 4 pm ET.

We have only dealt with the purchase side of travel insurance and that usually goes fairly smoothly, but hope this will help.

There is a forum on CC dedicated specifically to travel insurance.

We have a 10:35 flight out of FLL when debarking Harmony in February. Is self-debarkation the only way to make that flight?

When do they usually open registration for M&M?

Good information here concerning pre-existing.

I have a question concerning the cruise line insurance. If the insurance offered is added to the reservation at the time of booking, would pre-existing conditions still be excluded since the insurance would not be paid for until the final payment date?

Specifically I am referring to Princess.

Just a little disappointing to basically have that "perk" eliminated---RCCL ups the price and then offers OBC (and doesn't allow the balcony discounts to be combined with the OBC).

We are Diamond and get a balcony discount. We booked an Oasis cruise a couple of months ago in Boardwalk balcony, but when I priced a Boardwalk Balcony yesterday without signing in (so no balcony discount) it was a total of about $30 less! This is taking the promotional OBC (which is not combinable with the balcony discount) into consideration.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Great service from SAS last January from FLL to POM and awful service returning from POM to FLL. We were left waiting 1-1/4 hours standing outside the terminal as we were promised the van would arrive any minute. Awful!

Thanks for the feedback. Great service sounds good from FLL to POM--I'm a little nervous about flying in the day of cruise. We were thinking of renting a car when we return from the cruise since we are staying in Fort Lauderdale overnight.

Thanks for the responses. I will check into SAS transportation. I was checking TripAdvisor and it looked like a lot of positive comments about MJS Transportation. But, I don't want to take any chances! I've read good reviews on here for SAS and for Jiffy Jeff. Any feedback from folks who have had experience is appreciated.

We have the same question so will be interested in responses.

Just FYI----We have never flown in the day of a cruise---always come the day before. However, taking annual leave into account, higher cost of flights on Friday, etc, we are considering flying into FLL (love Southwest) and getting a shuttle to POM on April 16. The flight arrives in FLL at 9:40.

Is this doable?

Has anyone used MJS Transportation from FLL to POM? They had good reviews on Tripadvisor. Rates are $15 pp.