Scott6428

Looking at staying at the hampton Inn Ft. Lauderdale Airport/South Cruise Port pre cruise and taking the shuttle to the ship.  

Anyone have any experiences there ?  was the shuttle booked or just line up ?

Thanks!

The ship is to dock at 7:00 am - we plan to self debark with our luggage.

What time should we book  a pick up at the port ?  we will have to clear customs on arrival.

Thanks. 

I would personally cancel, cruise ships seem to be quarantined  / miss ports due to fear and then you're stuck with kids.  In terms of the actual virus not much concern, I'd feel that the plane ride is the highest risk, you have no idea where travellers next to your have come from and you're all breathing the same air.   Live your life yes, but be cautious. 

51 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

What about the screenings at the airports??? 

 

We would be okay going on cruises (screenings and clean ships) but what's stopping and worrying us is the air travel to embarkation ports.

 

We flew back from Dubai a few days ago and we were surprised to see lack of screenings at the airports.

 

 

exactly we're quarantining cruise ships but not airplanes which are the source of the pandemic spread.  

I really liked the aft balcony penthouse on the Jewel, sister ship to pearl.    did that in Alaska and sat out (with jacket) all the time.    I've done a forward facing suite on the sky a smaller older ship.  the wind did make it challenging and you are exposed but it's a larger, huger if I may balcony.   If your cruise has alot of sea days I'd go Aft, if you plan to hold parties on your balcony I'd go forward.

Hope that's of some help. 

Question about the paddle boats, I see them in your photos but I can only book kayaks on ncl.com.  Were the paddle boats just a walk up price ?

Thanks. 

I read on cc that we needed to take bus outside of the port to get a taxi but that's seems to no longer true.

I was in a suite on the Dawn. There's a free bottle of sparkling wine on the first day. There was a coffee maker in the room that gets replenished. You'll pay for water / mini bar etc. Butler was like a senior room steward for us, brought snacks mid afternoon and will be the person to answer your call. They can arrange room service, help unpack etc. The concierge is like onsite guest services, She in our case was helpful with booking activities and resolving a problem. Suite guest get preferred seating in the theater and have a private breakfast restaurant. The concierge can also arrange for priority exit from the ship at ports.

Thanks for the video. What did you think about the aft cabin? how was the noise level / engine vibration etc.

Thankfully I've never seen this behavior in all my cruises. I can understand unarmed "security" not wanting to get injured themselves or worse for the cruise line hurt a passenger while 'breaking up a fight'. fights can start anywhere yes but then the police come and someone gets arrested and then there's consequences, at sea that seems rather murky. Ejection from the ship seems the worst you can get, then there's jurisdiction issues etc.... I would be ok with a few large X cops on board and visible, with a taser, you're less likely to start something if you feel there's an actual consequence.

I liked the piano bar near the 'Le Bistro' on Deck 6, various entertainment nightly.

Yes my suite (SJ) is one room and one bathroom, albeit larger. It could hold up to six but DSC is per person.

Oh good lord you just opened up a can of crap-storm as you have never seen before. Some people will say that it depends on how often you use them (they are not included in the DSC). Others will say $7-$/10 per person per day in your room, which can be a bit excessive depending on how may people are in your room.

Opps didn't mean to step in 'it' just never had a butler before :) thanks for letting me know they're not included in the DSC which is already higher than normal cabins so I thought they would be included.

We have never been charged anything. You do call your butler, not room service. You will be tipping the butler . We do it at the end of the cruise.

First time in a Suite, what is the normal tip for a butler that provides typical service on a 10 day cruise ?

KSC is a large place spread out over two campuses.

The main area has the rocket garden - Imax movie theatre and the Shuttle Atlantis display and simulator. I'd recommend you do Atlantis then take the bus tour that will take you around the launch pad then to the second campus where it's all moon stuff including several displays and theatres. you can even touch a moon rock. When you get back to the main campus you can check out the Mars stuff and the early space section if you have time. For me the Atlantis display was the highlight.

I prefer to give God the credit for the fabulous Hawaiian Islands but I suppose if you were so inclined you could give the credit to NCL, I guess.

 

I didn't intend to come across as pitiful when saying I had to ask for water refills, just speaking to the service level in the dining room. It's ok though, flame away.

I appreciate your information it will be helpful in determining which option I take for Hawaii.

I've been to Hawaii twice before on land vacations and just saw on island on each trip, I also don't give NCL credit for the beauty of the islands :)

curious about windows on 12518 on dawn ? if anyone has been in there recently.

Thanks Paul, that's useful information.

When ever I've bought the drinks package in years past I've never had a grat added it's always included in the price quoted.

Does seem like a bait and switch.

Thank you Swank for posting your followup.

This information is useful and helpful, especially on the topic of post cruise compensation for your stolen items. Best of luck in finding resolution.

I pre booked select dining times on the Jan 9th Sailing, had no trouble getting the times I wanted. You can always change them. Specialty might fill up if you wanted to pre book those too.

Thank you donsullivan, drmomto3kids, reallyitsmema and jillsarch for providing useful information.

I appreciate it.

On the March 28th Sailing a film crew setup at the aft end of Deck 11 Port side to film in the new 11330 suite. The placed equipment in the hallway, including furniture from the suite, blocking access to our cabin. I have Notified RC but wanted to hear if anyone else was impacted by this film crew, perhaps elsewhere on the ship. This wasn't just an inconvenience as they blocked us in our cabin and was also a safety hazard.

I'm on Oasis now, got the 2 device pack for 126 as a Gold member.

Speed is awesome, even got signal on labadee from the ship!

I'm going to get a rental car post cruise at FLL.

Can the taxi drop me right at the Rental car center? or do they have to drop us at the terminal and we shuttle over?

Thanks.

I did Venice to turkey then back around to barcelona on Celebrity equinox last sept. I'd highly recommend the soltice class ships and definitely Venice and croatia.