Gondo Girl

Thank you all. After listening to you and looking at the area, we have decided to book the Hampton Inn Brickell. 
We live in Los Angeles, and we know that there can be a wonderful hotel at a good price, but

if you aren’t comfortable walking around the hotel, it’s not a good choice. Unless of course, you’re there to sleep and leave at dawn. 
Thanks so much. 

Any hotel suggestions in Miami that have transfers to Port of Miami and in an area where we can walk to restaurants/bars in evening? We’re seniors, so mostly interested in sports bars, casual places. 

Twice this week I was on hold 70 min. before talking to someone, but “chat” was immediately. 

I agree with Turtles06. We were whale watching that same week and saw soooo many whales.

The small/10 person panga is the way to go. Go with that company they recommended or take one directly from a vendor 5 feet from port gate. All the boats will follow the whales to where ever they are that day, but the smaller boats can maneuver around the others more easily.

Princess just sent to its passengers booked on cruises ending Shanghai information re the new 144 hr visa exemption.

For those for whom this works, we are thankful that Princess acted and willfully posted this info for its clients.

I'm sorry. I'm not understanding you. The Chinese Consulate office in Los Angeles is where we go to get a visa. My question to them was whether we needed a visa or not because of the new 144 HR. rule, not wanting to be stranded in China with no visa.

We are traveling late April out of Singaore, thru various countries, disembarking in Shanghai on Princess. We are aware of the new 144 hr. visa. But today we went to the Chinese Consulate here in Los Angeles, and they knew nothing about such a visa! We wanted to get a confirmation from the Chinese visa office to show to Princess. They refused even to look at the new policy post directly from the Chinese Immigration Bureau. I printed out a copy for them to keep to further investigate. They refused. It is quite frustrating when two branches of govt. don't talk to each other (in the US as well). I am still waiting to hear from Princess on this matter.

I believe one person said that Princess wouldn't deny you boarding, but I need more concrete notification than that.

Also, I need to know from someone who has been thru the Shanghai Cruise port since Jan. 30th if there is a dedicated visa-free immigration line in arrivals at the port.

I hope we continue this discussion here as we have several weeks before we absolutely have to pay $140 p/p for a visa to go sit in the airport for 6 hours.

Thanks OP. it is helpful to be aware. I do appreciate the post[emoji3]

Thanks.

Thank you very much to cherylandtk. You explained my issue very clearly and politely. And thank you to sail7seas for understanding my anxiety and discomfort. In answer to jvillegirl Princess labeled the credit "lost luggage" and the insurance claim quoted that line item in their denial.

Thank you all.

Please understand. Princess giving us OBC was very generous. The way they labeled it negated the insurance. Thank you for your help.

Thank you all for the responses.

I think dsrdsrdsrdsr got it right. "So what you're saying is, if you hadn't received $200 from Princess you would have finished up better off?" Actually, if they hadn't labeled the credit "lost luggage." That appears to be the problem.

I did appeal.

Thank you very much for helping me understand I was wrong.

Yes, we know the dangers of flying in without spending at least one night in the port before leaving. We have taken over 30 cruises. Yet, when you can't get a better flight on a last minute cruise . . . you take that risk, but expect your insurance company to come through.

As for our claim, we made one for the clothes purchased out of necessity FIVE DAYS before our luggage was to arrive, that is IF it made it to the first port. We did not know Princess was going to give us a "courtesy" credit. We did not have insurance through them. We kindly accepted the credit, but expected it would be applied to the portfolio bill as it was, knowing that we had "lost luggage" insurance.

Yes, we read the full terms of the insurance policy. What I was emphasizing was that the Princess courtesy, labeled as it was, nullified the policy we paid for. Perhaps we should have overspent in the onboard clothing shop. We were being frugal and lost the opportunity to have the courtesy credit applied to something we would have enjoyed -- like some specialty dinners.

I wrote my experience to let others know that if a ship wants to "give" you an OBC, be aware that it may negate your primary insurance.

I'm sorry you don't see the difference of spending money in the way you wish, rather than being forced to buy a bunch of stuff that you will really never wear again.

Thank you very much. I'm done describing a situation that the rest of you would accept passively. I hope you never feel cheated by any entity. And, thank you to Princess for extending that courtesy OBC, buy we're still out $26.

The name of the company/plan is HTH Worldwide Trip Protector PREFERRED underwritten by Nationwide. I purchased it on Insure My Trip (whom I love).

In October we booked a Princess cruise from NYC to Ft. Lauderdale. We were coming from Los Angeles for our 10 day cruise and a 7 day land stay on St. Thomas.

In late October we took the Royal Princess from NYC to the Caribbean ending in a week's land stay. We left LAX anticipating a super cruise and snorkel; however, our red eye flight was cancelled as we were in line to board. That was one of the weekends where computer glitches kept planes and crews grounded. Our crew never got in from Dallas so the flight was rescheduled for 9:00AM the next morning. Really, there must be 5000 AA crew living 10 minutes from LAX. Anyway, we had to dash off to rebooking because flying the next morning would make us miss our plane. They were able to put us on an American to Chicago (an airport we always try to avoid) then connect to a flight getting us into an alternate airport LaGuardia. We would only be 2 hours later than planned. Although the agent promised our luggage would be removed from the original plane and be with us because "luggage could never fly unaccompanied, it was not on the luggage carousel when we went to claim it. We "met" every flight coming in that afternoon, and still no luggage. We filed a lost luggage claim, but discovered United was supposed to handle it because we had been put on a United flight out of Chicago. No new tickets were issued so it was complicated to file with AA luggage tags and a United boarding pass. Anyway we were one of the last to board with NO clothes to speak of and certainly too heavy for the Caribbean. I kept telling John not to worry as we had full insurance. We did get our luggage 5 days into the cruise and at our first port. The gift shop clothing isn't my usual style but I got one outfit which was too sporty for formal night and John got a couple of T-shirts with names of ports that were thousands of miles from the Caribbean. Turned out Princess gave us a "courtesy" $200 room credit because they felt sorry for us (even though we did not insure with them). That "courtesy" negated the claim we made to our HTH insurance.

I tried fighting (with the date the credit was issued and that it was simply a "room credit") but got nowhere. We paid $351 for a policy that paid us around $26.00 on a $126 claim.

We travel 4-6 times a year for 40-60 days a year. We will NEVER book with this company again.

I hope my review of the company will cost them business.

This "local toll" for pasage happens in Papua New Guinea as well. The local guides there happily pay the small toll. They say the guys on the road are "usually" actually doing work. After our first toll (bribe), we stopped asking questions. It was the local custom.

Why don't you contact Winston Gayle at

tourjamaicatoday@yahoo.com

We used him for a private day tour to various locations, including a gentle tubing experience. He understands how long or short of a trip it is from your cruise port, and he deals with ships coming in at all ports. He knows the entire island.

We were last there in January 2015. Jamaica is much more enjoyable when you are with a local. We never felt unsafe.

It's worth it just to email him to get specific answers to your beach and activity questions.

Good luck in your planning.

Jerie

Does Winston speak good English? We are looking for a guide to do a sightseeing tour of Montego Bay from Falmouth cruise ship port.

Winston has a Jamaican accent. After a bit, we understood him fine. Our main deal was his good price.

we are docking in ocho rios and want to go horseback riding, which ends at 11:30 then we wanted to get to duns river falls. our boat does not leave until 5 so I am assuming there is time to do this. is it close to the cruise port? and does anyone know how much a cab would cost to get there?

We're just back from Jamaica. I think you CAN do horseback riding AND Dunn's River in your time in port. We just spent 5 days in the Ocho Rios area and saw how close both of those were to the port. I would suggest to find a driver rather than just a "taxi." It so much simpler to have it all arranged before you even get there. We used Winston from Tour Jamaica Today. He took us up to Bob Marley's 9-Mile and River Tubing/rafting. But he is capable of giving you a workable timetable to fit several activities into your time. He is very reliable and safe and good at using the internet to communicate details with you. We definitely recommend him. Email him at tourjamaicatoday@yahoo.com. You can find reviews of his company Tour Jamaica Today on Trip Advisor.

If I want to got from Falmouth to Montego Bay for excursions, what reliable tour companies would you recommend?

We're just back from Jamaica. Spent 5 days in the Ocho Rios area. We used Winston from Tour Jamaica Today. He took us up to Bob Marley's 9-Mile and River Tubing/rafting. We also used him for airport transfer. He is very reliable and safe. He works Montego Bay, Falmouth, Ocho Rios, etc. All over. He does day tours from resorts as well as ship excursions. We definitely recommend him. You can contact him at tourjamaicatoday@yahoo.com

I want to write this to praise the trustworthy service of Odyssey Tours.

In September 2013, we were scheduled to take a Giants Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge tour out of our port in Belfast. Unfortunately, our ship did not make port due to very bad weather. I immediately emailed James Monaghan of Odyssey to say we could not make that tour. He assured me our money would be refunded.

We corresponded by email a few times, and he was always courteous and reassuring that the company and Pay Pal would make the refund. It took 8 weeks to make the refund, but that was not an issue. He kept us fully informed along the way. There was an issue with Pay Pal in that we had paid for the tour in July and they had a time limit for a refund -- yet, for cruises you wouldn't know that far in advance that you would not be making port. In short, Mr. Monaghan and Pay Pal worked it out, we got our refund, and Odyssey is altering its mode of payment so they can more easily accommodate ships' cancellations of ports.

I applaud Mr. Monaghan and Odyssey Tours as we know there were other passengers with different companies who reaceived no refund at all. They felt cheated while we were quite satisfied . . . except that we missed a tour we really wanted to take.

Thank you, Odyssey.

Jerie Morrison