rolloman

Good review thanks for posting the daily compass.

Mods-if this does not belong here, please feel free to move to the right board.

 

We are 2 couples flying into Orlando on a Saturday for a Sunday departure for a 7 night cruise. It's our first ever cruise so we'd like to board as soon as it's allowed. [emoji16]

 

What transfer recommendations would you suggest?

Stay in Orlando and rent a car for one day/one way to get to PC on Sunday morning? And do the same in reverse (without the hotel stay) on the debarkation day?

Stay in Orlando and take a transfer company to PC? Can this even be done since we probably wouldn't be staying at the airport?

Rent a car one day/one way to go to PC on Saturday, stay in a hotel that has a shuttle to the port, and do a one day/one way car rental back to MCO?

Rent a car for the 8 days on Saturday, go to PO, stay at a hotel that has parking for cruisers?

Or another suggestion that I haven't considered?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

The whole rent a car thing to me just sounds like a lot of needless steps. I live in the local port area and I am extremely familiar with the landscape. IF I were you, I would contact Alexis Shuttle, 888-295-7969. I can vouch for the fact they offer the most affordable rates and can be trusted. I have found the rates of the "other" shuttles mentioned in this thread to be outrageous.

While it is possible to build larger ships, I don't think the size inflation curve will continue as it has. It may be quite some time before a ship larger than Oasis is contemplated.

If another cruise line wants to build a ship 6 inches longer than the Harmony of the Seas.....I see nothing stopping them.

I did not have much luck either on this cruise. The largest win I was able to see was a 400.00 wheel of fortune......outside of that....crickets.....

My wife and I just got back from the Allure 2-night cruise to Nassau from Port Everglades. We're longtime, Emerald RCCL cruisers and we learned and observed some important things this time around. Some of this might be old hat for most of you, but I felt like sharing anyway:

 

1. Short cruises attract a type of passenger that I'd rather not travel with. They're cruising on the cheap and still feel entitled to cut in line, reserve seats, speak loudly on their balconies and generally ignore the fact that there are others on board the ship.

 

2. NEVER cruise from Port Everglades on a Friday! The outdoor parking lots were full and we were forced to park in the Midport garage. I'm assuming this is because many cruises leave on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and the parking lots were filled on those days. There was only one shuttle bus running from the garage to Terminal 18, which made for long waits.

 

3. Once you reach the terminal, RCCL employees no longer handle the check-in as in the past. It's now handled by an outside company, and they are far less efficient and friendly.

 

4. We're not Gold card cruisers, not even Diamond or Diamond plus. Still, we'd like to feel that being a Crown and Anchor member meant more than a package of cookies and two bottles of water in our stateroom.

 

5. The Windjammer - never our first choice for dining - seems to have gotten worse in terms of food quality, choice and general chaos. I do not need to listen to loud top 40 music while I eat!

 

6. I had to chuckle during our last morning eating breakfast in the Windjammer. They play a recorded announcement every few minutes, a woman with a very pleasant British accent saying (in much nicer language than I'm using here): "We've had enough of you. Please eat and get the F off our ship." I realize what probably led to this "innovation:" hoardes of rude, entitled travelers who sit and eat far longer than necessary.

 

Anyone think I'm off-base with these observations?

I was on this sailing. I had zero issues checking in and debarkation was a breeze. I found plenty of parking right next to the ship. Staff were friendly throughout. Something that helps, I typically like to talk to crew about their life and not mine. Such as the country they are from.... etc.

I agree the food in the "complementary" dining areas has gone down hill. One is basically forced to eat at the " additional charge" restaurants these days. I also found the Allure quite crowded compared to previous voyages.

Diamond lounge was completely mobbed. I talked to at least 2 people who were in the lounge and not diamond at all. They need to fix this.

All in all , fabulous ship, plenty of things to do and still a value for the dollar.

The ship is scheduled to arrive at 5 AM. This arrival time is earlier (1.5 hours) than normal. The ship will be arriving in a terminal designed for it and quite honestly has a history of expedited excellence during embarkation/debarkation. While delays can happen on any cruise line for multiple reasons, the stage is set for an embarkation of the "usual" time frame.

A couple things to consider, since this is a 2 day cruise, 90 percent of the passengers will be local. That being said, the departure time is later (8 pm) to capture as many locals as possible to fill up a 5000+ ship without interrupting their work schedule. The later than normal sail away will also dramatically spread out the flow of passengers needing processed during embarkation. Personally, when sailing out of this pier during peak season, I have walked right onto the ship.

I am extremely confident, an arrival time of 11:30 AM will meet zero resistance during embarkation for this voyage. If it does not work out that way, it will be classified as an anomaly.

I've been playing spin to win with my "coupons" and my husbands.....and more recently my DD who turned 18 last year.

 

At last count I have accumulated 38 RCI key chains. I wonder if I can trade them up for bigger prizes? LOL :rolleyes:

No Robin you can't, this simple question is what made the idiot in the cage go off on me.

I won an insulting rant from a jerk who works in the casino cage on Explorer of the Seas.

We are taken are first cruise on disney fantasy the week of october 17th.According to the weather every port is expecting 80 percent chance of thunderstorms. Will DCL possible pick a different itinerary. If not we have booked port adventures at each port thru DCL will they be canceled due to weather.

The short answer is no. However, the Captain does his best to skirt around pop up storms so folks can enjoy on deck activities. In the Caribbean there is always a chance of rain, I would not even remotely worry about the weather. Yes of course, if you miss a port because the ship does not dock there, your ship purchased excursions will be refunded.

I do not think it is a hard decision...Magic hands down. Sunshine is the old Destiny. Nothing more than an old ship they changed the name of an then added a ton of extra passengers.

IMO the start of the Drill is the time stated in the cruise compass. So let´s say the compass says the drill is at 4pm.

I agree....the start of the drill is when the alarm sounds. In an actual emergency there is no such thing as getting to the muster station early and waiting for an alarm to sound. By design, the alarm is the notification in a real scenario. However, I guess if you are an overly cautious person you could spend your entire cruise hovering near your muster station just in case the unlikely event of a real emergency were to occur.

I agree with Merion Mom that wearing the life jackets would be -- on the whole -- a good idea.

 

Several have mentioned Costa Concordia. There had not been a muster drill for at least some of the passengers on that cruise. You never know, but if there had been, perhaps the migration to muster stations [even though I believe part of the problem was the Captain's long delay in ordering muster/evacuation] would have been more efficient.

I do not think dragging a life jacket to the drill is a good idea at all. I for one am glad they have softened the rule. In the event of a real emergency you are not going to race to your cabin to grab a life vest. If you are in your cabin at the time of the event, sure grab it. In most other cases you will instead get to your muster station in an orderly fashion and be given a life vest stored in a nearby locker or on your lifeboat.

I also like the idea of having muster stations away from the life boats. Recent events have shown it is not uncommon assigned stations are not operable.

I agree the muster drill is more for the crew than passengers. I feel they should practice more with the actual dropping of the boats in the water as there has been documented cases of failures to accomplish this.

Having been a sea going sailor in the US Navy and veteran of tens of cruise ship sailings my biggest fear is panic from fellow passengers during an emergency situation. It is up to the crew to keep people calm and assured. So again, crew training for muster drills is most important. If you are really concerned about operation of a life vest. Turn the TV on embarkation day and watch the video which shows step by step procedures, in the event you are still unsure of how the vest works, ask your cabin steward to demonstrate.

IWe are saying that people should not have to stand out in freezing cold, 100 degree heat or 30 mph winds for 30 to 40 minutes over the scheduled time because of the inconsideration of others.

For this reason, I do not rush down to the muster station. I wait until the alarm goes off and then make my way down.

No need to take life vests, chances are in a real emergency you will not have time to go to your cabin to retrieve. This is why there are plenty of life vests at the muster station. Also in a real emergency, there is a good possibility your assigned muster station may not be accessible.

Lots of variables at play in a real emergency which requires abandoning the ship. The most important take away's are knowing how to put a life vest on, knowing not to panic, knowing to follow instructions.

If you actually have to jump into the water....the best advice is to get as far away from the ship as possible. If it indeed the vessel does sink....a good part of the radius surrounding the vessel will go down with it.

After hearing the local news, I would almost guarantee ships leaving the next few days will encounter rough seas. It was stated their was 25 foot waves off shore and we should expect 10 foot waves on shore locally. Not pleasant but like others have said the ships will sail, even if they closed port Canaveral, in the past in rare cases they have relocated departure ports between the 3 Florida ports (PC, FT, MIA).

They both came onboard ok...after dinner they felt like bricks were in their stomach. Within hours they were sick...at the same time. Vomiting and diarrhea lasted a few hours followed by severe fatigue. They are fine today. I'm leaning towards food poisoning because they both had the same crab cake and started getting sick at the same time. I know this can happen anywhere ..I was just wondering if there were any other complaints.

Well...if you are hanging out with them, you will find out first hand relatively soon whether it was food poisoning or NORO. The symptoms you describe are exactly the same way I came down with NORO on a Celebrity ship once. It was day 2 of a 11 day cruise. By the end of the cruise everyone I mentioned it to stated they came down with it as well.

I have been on a few cruises. I have noticed on my last couple of cruise,my ankles tend to swell. How can I get low salt entrees on the cruise I will be taking in Oct? My doctor isn't concerned. She says they go back to normal after I'm home. I just feel uncomfortable & think lowering the salt intake will help. Thanks

Try not to drink shipboard water. This will help dramatically. The sea water has to go through a de-salinization process, depending upon how thorough the maintenance of these salinity cells are equates to the amount of sodium content in the drinking water.

I know of this because it was part of my job in the US Navy. By the way I see you are from Bayshore...my wife grew up on Deerpark street.

So on a cruise with 3 stops, a cabin with two adults is restricted to two cases of beer and 16 bottles of wine. Somehow that seems like it should be plenty.

Exactly....and I do not see how the OP thinks this even comes close to "mirroring" RCCL.

I thought these forums were more friendly. I just asked a simple question. You don't need to attack me for requesting information.

 

I am not trying to take advantage of her D+ status, nor I would try to gain access to the CL if I am not allowed. I have cruised with my niece before (on balcony cabins) and have been able to access the CL with my own card, given her D+ status without problem. Since the last time we cruised was 2013, and so many changes happening, I was wondering if this too, changed. People really need to chill. If you cannot answer a simple question without being rude or disrespectful, then please don't.

Unfortunately, these boards are not friendly. Sorry for this, I often get the pleasure of experiencing this myself. To answer your question, only D+ can get into the CL lounge and D and D+ can get into the D lounge. As you stated a junior suite will not provide access to anything and only offers an extra credit for your cruise. Maybe your niece will offer you a drink or two from her 3 drink nightly coupon and you two can enjoy this in a separate lounge. Have fun on your cruise boriqua.

I was on this ship this past year...you will have a great time...deck 8 is a quiet deck for sleeping and I doubt if you will feel overcrowded. In the event you want a quiet place to go there are plenty of spaces for this. My only issue on this ship was with a jerk who worked in the casino cage but other than that it was a fun cruise on RCCL as usual. Enjoy your cruise, come back and let us know how it went.

Happens all the time......I am sure those in the raft are upset because now they surely will go back to where they came from.

Very happy about this. Love the Epic. I have a feeling it will not be here long as I feel this will just be a test in order to get the new NCL Bliss home ported in PC.

If passengers arriving early was adversely obstructing the operation I feel quite confident the Port Authority or the cruise line would put a stop to it.

 

Just my opinion:)

Well over the past couple years they have been implementing strategies. For example cruise lines are contacting guests in advance and giving them suggested arrival times. I do not see anything they can do outside of this but trust me it has been and will continue to be a concern. I understand the excitement part of early arrival, however it only takes getting burned a few times to come to the realization it is best to wait until at least 11AM until showing up. Typically debarkation should be complete by 10:30. This leaves 30 minutes for the cruise and port authority to shift to embarkation.

The cruise tip I think folks should know is it is actually dangerous to show up too early, a lot of behind the scenes activity is taking place and in some cases urgent. Fork lifts, ambulances, service/replenishment vehicles hoards of folks coming and going. Just chill people, enjoy your hotel breakfast, arrive after 11 AM while they are actually starting the embarkation. Enjoy your cruise. :)

How are people arriving at 10:30 in the way of those leaving at 9 or 9:30?

Reading comprehension is a bonus on this web-site, in this case the key word was "after". Plus the mention of service vehicles and porter shift changes.

Try leaving before 9:00

Thanks for the tip.....however out of 60+ cruises I have left the ship first and last, therefore I have a good idea of what to expect from all phases of debarkation.