lmt219

Thank you to everyone for the responses! We've decided to stick with what we have. If SW ends up cancelling, we have options within driving distance (Boston, Hartford, Newark, BWI, etc). I'm still stressed out, but i'm reassuring myself that it'll all be ok :D

We are weather watching as well here in CT as we have an early Sunday morning flight. Noon forecast is still a question on if storm heads north or dips south then things change but up near Bradly BDL limited snow in the 2-5 inches over super early on Saturday morning. Of course wait a moment and that could change. Southwest tends to try to keep to schedule as much as possible but will a delay be an issue for you?

No, a delay would be ok. Our cruise isn't leaving until Sunday.

There's a 5 pm non-stop flight out of Hartford that I'm looking at now....

Does Southwest allow you to be protected on a later flight in case of irrops?

I don't believe so.

Getting out today doesn't seem like a possibility, unfortunately.

Fellow Northeasterner here (MA born, CT living), my two cents is with the forecast this close being primarily for rain with a small mix of snow, I'd hang on to the 11:45a Saturday flight. Even if there's some snow overnight, it doesn't seem (with the current forecast) to be a storm that should have much in the way of equipment interruptions getting planes to the proper airports. You may face a delay on Saturday, but at least you're there well in advance of your ship's embarkation.

 

At the same I'd prepare for the worst. Go to Google Flights and copy down every combination of flights (times, connecting cities, and individual flight numbers) on Saturday and Sunday that can get you from Providence to Miami or Fort Lauderdale, both on your current airline and others. That way in the event you are cancelled, you're armed with all the information you need to play the Match Game with a ticket/gate agent or customer service rep.

 

If you're really worried about the flight not happening, look into flights on your chosen airline from Bradley outside of Hartford. We're forecast to get just rain and (slightly) less wind on Friday, with Saturday being clear, and every major airline flies from BDL to MIA (American w/ 1 nonstop and Delta) or FLL (Jetblue w/ 4 nonstops a day, Southwest w/ 2 nonstops, and United) on Saturday. The right attitude ("I really need to be in Florida on Saturday and I was wondering if it was at all possible for you to waive the rebooking fee due to the storm...") with the right customer service rep could probably move you to flights there. Not ideal, but piece of mind in getting to the ship on time.

That's reassuring! Thanks for the input :)

Providence sometimes has limited flights. Did you go online to see if the Sunday flights are pretty full? If so, I would suggest rebooking. If not, you could, as the other poster noted, wait and see how it goes. are there any other flights on Saturday? The wind is supposed to be really high, and Green is right on the ocean.

 

I have to say I'd be scrambling to get out tonight... Anything not to miss the cruise! :)

There are definitely seats, but it's Southwest, so I don't know how many. There afternoon flight is sold out, so that's a no go.

We live in MA and are flying out of Providence on Saturday morning at 11:45. We're supposed to get a huge Nor'Easter with extremely powerful winds and rain/snow on Friday with lingering effects into Saturday morning. They're not able to say whether or not it's going to change to snow at this point and if it does they change, they don't know the amounts. I can change my flight to 7:30 am on Sunday. We'd just have to take a taxi directly from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, which hopefully shouldn't be an issue. Would you cross your fingers and hope for the best on Saturday or would you switch to Sunday. I never like to fly the day of the cruise, but I think it might be best in this case. Thoughts?? Just trying to calm my nerves ;)

We haven't been on the Pearl since we started bringing my daughter, but we've been on the Sun and the Dawn. Both had a dedicated play room with age appropriate toys. Most of the day was free play time, but they had an activity scheduled every day. She cruised as a 14 month old and 18 month old and had fun both times.

I am a TA and we were just notified yesterday. If you booked through a TA, she should be notifying you shortly. If you booked direct with NCL, than you'll have to rely on them.

I booked with a TA, so that's good to know! Thanks for the info :)

I'm on the March 6th sailing as well, but I haven't received official notification yet. I did notice the switch a few days ago when I was on the NCL website. I called the Shore Excursion number yesterday and was told that they hope to have updated excursions for Belize and Roatan within the next week or two.

We're on the 3/6 sailing on the Star. I noticed yesterday that our itinerary was switched around and now we're going to Belize City first instead of Roatan. There are no shore excursions listed for either port. Did this happen to any other sailings or just ours?

Definitely disposable bibs. That's my biggest suggestion. Also, we brought leftover cellophane goodie bags from her first birthday party dirty diapers. They were a super cheap, a great size, and definitely helped with stinky diapers. You just need some sort of bag that you can tie off and throw in the trash.

We brought a blow-up tub last month and she HATED it. She hated the shower, too, but at least we didn't have to spend all that time blowing it up......

Very helpful! Thanks!

I don't recommend the diapers and wipes as they are more then twice the price buying precruise. $5 for 12 wipes was on my online check in

Check the family boards and you'll see this question comes up a lot. Every parent that takes a baby on a cruise, we all thought we are the first ones ;0p

 

Having taken twins at 9 months, 12 months,18 months and 2.5 (their age now) it is easier then you think. They usually slept through dinner and were content to lay anywhere and sleep. Once they start walking it becomes difficult.

 

 

As for car seats,you really need them in the states but not in the Caribbean . Ports didn't require them and lugging them around would be a nightmare. I took mine up to a year it only used them in the states to get to and from the port/airport. Storage is also problem. My back can't handle lugging a baby all day in a carrier so I take the stroller. A cheap umbrella type is all you need. If you have more space you can take a larger one.

Try diapers .com and order diapers, wipes,baby food and a baby tub to your precruise hotel. I did this every stateside trip and it worked great. Way cheaper then the cruise line.

 

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Thank you SO MUCH for all of this. I'm taking my daughter (she'll be 14 months at the time) in March for her first cruise and I've been stressing out a lot. I've done a ton of cruises before, but never with a toddler!

Thank you so much for your review. We leave on the Sun on March 8th, so I'm starting to get really excited!

I have one quick question (and I apologize if this has been asked before): Does the Sun have the new menus in the main dining rooms yet?

Thanks!

I just just had the same thing happen to me. I called 1.866.234.0292 and the woman fixed my account within 3 minutes. She said that the Latitudes program was going through a conversion and for some reason when they're moving over the accounts, they're indicating that people are "past guests," but they're not actually activating their accounts. She had me log out and log back in and my 70 points are now showing up again. PHEW!

Great to hear, Lauren! We have a reservation with him for our trip in September. I am a little concerned, as our return flight leaves at 12:15.

 

What time was your departure flight?

What time did you get off the ship?

Did you do self-debark?

Angie- You'll be there in plenty of time! Our flight was at 12:01 and we were at Orlando airport by 8:30 (at the latest). We didn't do express departure, but we were in group #4. You shouldn't have a problem at all!

Shirley- I just wanted to thank you for pointing me in the direction of Mike and VIP Limo. He picked us up from the Freedom of the Seas on Sunday and was phenomenal. He called as we were walking through customs and it was an absolute breeze meeting up with him. I HIGHLY recommend him to everyone else!

Hi Shirley- I ended up booking with Mike at VIP Limo. He was great on the phone and totally sold it for me. I'll report back as soon as we return. Thanks for all of the great info!!!

I'll be on the Freedom of the Seas in July and I'm trying to make reservations for a shuttle or town car. I'm close to booking with Cocoa Beach Shuttle, but I've read some horrible reviews about them after doing some research. Can anyone reassure me that they'll actually be there to pick me up? Should I just book a town car?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Explorer of the Seas - Costa Maya, Mexico 7/04