lx200gps

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Heads up, it is against CC's rules to expressly state the name of ANY travel agency in these forums. Other entities like cruise lines, insurance providers, airlines etc can be discussed and named, just not travel agents.

Agreed, RCCL do have a lot of "toys", probably more than NCL. But when comparing cost/value etc., I was amazed at how expensive RCCL have become in recent times. In our experience, the cost differential is significant. When hosting a group of teens, if money is no object, then yes, RCCL would be a better bet.

A great option, but I'm not sure about the 100% when pricing is factored in. We've done a LOT of researching for the various alternatives to our usual line, Princess, given all the recent price hikes. We've sailed NCL and X a few times as well though prefer Princess. Apples to apples, HAL and X are very expensive these days and we also find that RCCL can also be too pricey. They tend to offer low initial pricing, but by the time you add a drink package and all the "extra" charges, their prices are up into X territory. RCCL seem to have very high drink package prices, and charge huge amounts for the right to select your cabin ahead of time, which is a killer for us, as we don't ever do guarantees, we need to select our exact cabin ahead of time. If we have to compare RCCL and NCL, Norwegian comes out ahead every time on price. While we prefer the calm and quiet of a Princess or Celebrity ship, we've sailed NCL enough times and had no issues with them. For a group with young people, I would consider them a great option and in our experience quite a bit cheaper, especially for Canadians with our weaker dollar. With young folks, definitely not Princess, HAL or Celebrity

I take it you are familiar with the Vesper, Ian Fleming's contribution to modern bartending and James Bond's go-to martini ;o) Three parts Gin (technically has to be Gordon's per Fleming's recipe), one part Vodka, one third part of Kina Lillet (or the modern equivalent Lillet Blanc) and a twist of lemon. All Princess bartenders either offer it on their menus or can make it upon request. It's right up there with the Chairman Of The Board as one of my favorite Princess Martinis

You don't even have to go to GS to buy the package. On our last trip two months ago we never made it that far and were virtually tackled by a crew member at a station right by the gangway wanting to sell us the upgrade within seconds of us boarding. And yes, it goes "live" instantly

Returning to Pier 92 (next to the Iowa) back in Feb, we "drove straight in" on our return, but had backed out all the way down the channel on our way out a week earlier. This may be due to the fact that Pier 92 is where the ship docks in the channel, so does not afford an easy way to turn around. We have also left Pier 93 many times, which is in the small cutout and on those trips, I'm pretty sure we always were able to back out and maneuver so that the ship was able to sail directly down the channel both departing and arriving.

We're Canadian, so we only started to receive our Medallions by mail a few months ago. It really makes very little difference to the check-in time, maybe two or three minutes, the length of time it takes to walk over to the big table, give them your cabin # then wait while they find your Medallions.

Montrealer here. Are you talking about a hotel for the evening pre-cruise? There is virtually nothing of interest anywhere near YUL, you would be much better off either staying in Old Montreal near the port, or in the downtown core, which is not very far from the Port.

When I check EZAir for any of our four current booked trips, it also defaults to our home airport, in our case YUL. You don't have to accept the airport it puts into the origin field, you can type in any ICAO designator in that field (such as DTW) and it re-calculates the trip and shows all the available flights. You can also put in different airports for the outbound and return flights. We've never had to use EZAir (thanks largely to our Aeroplan status) but it has lots of fans. It's allegedly particularly good for flights over to Europe. You will probably get a lot more EZAir experiences and advice, even Canada related, over on the main Princess forum.

Even if you stayed on the ship when it visited Jamaica, you visited Jamaica. Better list it on the application. We did.

This is very interesting, thanks for posting. We've been NEXUS members since program inception, and were not aware of this. It seems that if a close relative is a NEXUS card holder and commits an offense, we could lose our status as well. What if the family member was not a NEXUS card holder? Could their transgression also result in our losing ours? We are the only members of a large family who even know what NEXUS is, let alone are members.

We need to dig a bit deeper to find out the real situation here. If you look at the Princess site and drill down to the SPECIFIC dates that have Princess ships at the MCT, it is very clear that all of them are in-transit stops where the MCT is an intermediate stop on a longer voyage, so NOT the origin/destination of the trip. As has been stated many times on this (and other) threads, Princess trips that start and then return to New York, will be from Brooklyn. There will be very, very, few exceptions to this rule.

SWMBO spent time in Greece a lifetime ago, and even today she's still stuck on this idea of eating VERY late. We only eat early on a cruise ship to enjoy the benefits of a quiet and peaceful experience. And you're dead right that we should all be a lot more understanding and flexible. The staff on these ships are amazing, and not appreciated the way they should be.

Princess have abandoned formal arrival and check-in times. Basically, show up when it best works for you and your party. We usually sail out of PE a few times a year (always arriving at the pier by around 9AM), and Princess does it better than most cruise lines. Assuming you actually land at 7:30AM at FLL, by the time you get your bags, get a taxi and drive the 20 feet from FLL to the port ;o), it will probably be around 8:30. That's a bit early for the security lines to open up, so you may sit outside for 30-60 minutes +/- until they open up the check-in line. If it's Terminal 2, the usual Princess terminal at PE, the "waiting" area outside is a bit loud and frenetic, but there are benches you can sit at while you wait for the security and check-in to open. You may want to consider waiting at FLL before heading to the port, as it will be a bit quieter and you won't be breathing bus fumes. Re the EZ Check, you will receive a document in your cabin a few days before return showing the details as to which airlines do EZ Check for your particular sailing, but I'm pretty sure United is one of them.

There's early and there's early. It's been our experience for many years, even immediately post-Pandemic, that getting a reservation for the opening sitting in an SD, usually 5PM, is not a problem. We prefer to eat very early in the SDs, as the places are quietest, the wait staff and kitchens are relatively fresh on shift, and the crowds are only slowly filling up to peak in the 6-7PM range. Between 5 and 6PM, the SD restaurants are still nice and peaceful. Eating early also allows us to easily get to the early theater show. In the age of the Premier package we will still book our two freebies ahead of time, but have never had an issue getting our desired dining time in any of the SDs (CG, Sabatini's, La Mer, The Catch etc) when we book on board. As always, head straight to the restaurant, or call the DINE line immediately upon boarding.

We've done this a few times in the past, consuming part of a bottle in one venue (say on MDR) and having it retrieved in another such as a specialty restaurant. If it is possible, be aware that retrieving the bottle can possibly a LONG time depending on where it is being stored. We had to wait one time over 30 minutes while they searched, and there's no guarantee they will find it in time if you are in the middle of a meal.

It's no big thing to pick them up at the pier, it adds just a few minutes to the process. Once checked in at the podium/desk by the CSR, instead of going to sit down in the waiting room (or go right on board if after boarding starts) you simply walk over to a big table, give them your room # and they sift through a big pile of envelopes to find your Medallions.

As mentioned above, we usually arrive for Princess check-in, regardless of which terminal it is, around 9AM. Check-in usually starts around then, give or take a few minutes, worst case if you arrive before check-in starts there will be a small line up outside before they open up the security lines which come before check-in. Assuming you will have your Medallion already in hand, the check-in will be very quick and you then go inside the terminal and sit in one of the waiting areas until boarding starts around 10:30 +/-

As you say, Princess did away with the "official" check in times a year or two ago, but in practice they hadn't really applied them for years anyway. Even when our assigned check-in time was as late as 11AM, we would always arrive VERY early, usually among the very first to arrive, often as early as 9AM. There is usually a small line of diehards like us who like to arrive well before boarding starts, but the security and check-in process tends to be quick that early in the process, before the thundering herd starts to arrive by about 10AM and the lines really build up. For at least the last half dozen trips, out of Brooklyn, PE and San Pedro, we were walking up the gangway to board by 10:30AM, and I think our record was abut 10:15. It's my understanding that for those who don't care to arrive early and want to optimize the check-in process, by about 1PM the lines have dissipated and folks pretty much walk right on board, no lines at check-in at all.

It's been two years since we did it last, but IIRC from Red Hook it will happen pretty soon after sailaway. I'd want to be up on the top decks NLT a half hour after the ship pulls away, probably sooner. Given the proximity of the Statue Of Liberty and all the other NY scenery, you might as well just go upstairs for the sailaway and stay for the bridge passage. It's an impressive sight, this is a shot from our last Princess trip out of the BCT as we approached the bridge

Fair enough, we haven't taken a hotel shuttle in a few years since we discovered the ease of Uber. Every time we shuttled from the Hyatt Place or the Renaissance, there was no ship at T4 so we usually headed straight for T2.

I would have thought that T2 would be the first stop, as it is the first terminal off the driveway, the first one a driver would come to after turning off Eisenhower. That should mean that the Princess passengers, if any, would be disgorged slightly before the T4 passengers, thereby adding an intolerable 5 minute delay for the Disney passengers ;o) And this presupposes that the van driver doesn't decide to head straight down Eisenhower to the farthest terminals first, then double back to drop off the the T2/T4 passengers last. That did happen to us once, hence our love for Uber.

How are you arriving into Boston do you have the flexibility of being able to stay farther out and driving in? We are sailing in mid-July a VERY expensive time of year, and I was amazed at how expensive Boston is. As we are driving in from the north, we elected to stay far outside of downtown, in Burlington, and drive the 30 minutes to the port on cruise morning. That specific area was still far cheaper than pretty much any other area I could find. As in hundreds of dollars cheaper. i can highly recommend using a site like Tripadvisor to scout hotels. Enter your desired date(s) and use the map view to have it show you hotel pricing by location. You will quickly get a good idea of the relatively expensive, and cheaper areas.

Here's one data point. A few years ago, our Princess ship's return into Galveston was delayed by about 6 hours due to the ubiquitous winter fog that port is known for. Needless to say we missed our return flight and there are few flights back to YUL from Houston so we had to overnight at Bush and fly home the following day. While were parked offshore in the fog, I got on the phone to start the process with Blue Cross and Air Canada. In the end, they seamlessly paid for our Air Canada change fees, our hotel at IAH, our rental car, a small Per Diem etc. IIRC the only thing they wouldn't cover (and maybe it was a bit cheeky of me to try and claim it) was the one extra day parking charge at YUL due to the delay. They paid out quickly and without issue, though of course it was only a few hundred dollars in total.

Fair enough, we have no experience with Disney. We usually sail Princess, who only "suggest" an arrival time but in practice now pretty much allow you to show up whenever you want. Re the transport issue from the Renaissance, a group of six would be a challenge. I personally wouldn't want to do it with a shuttle service, as you may not even be able to load your entire party onto the same van. It's quite probable that those shuttles have limited hours and the schedule may not even work for you if your arrival time is too late. Even with 6 people and logistical challenges, you might still find Uber will work. On 17th St they are as thick as flies on cruise ship embarkation mornings and we never have to worry about finding one as they arrive in less than 5 minutes. In your case, I'm quite sure you could have two XLs arrive with in a few minutes of each other. You could possibly also pre-order them for arrival at the hotel at a certain time. I say probably as we never bother to pre-order them, we just call them in after check-out. Best of luck, have a great cruise.