lx200gps

Exactly this ^^^. We've stayed in Plantation a number of times when we've sailed in the "high season" for hotels nearer to Port Everglades. Although Plantation is a bit farther down the 595, the hotel rates can be substantially better than the 17th St strip and the area is well served by restaurants and shopping.

We did exactly this last summer, before our Bermuda trip on NCL. We've been to Manhattan many times anyway, so we didn't need to sightsee this time, and as Canadians paying a high premium due to the value of our dollar, staying in Jersey and taking the ferry saved us a ton of money. and was dead easy. In fact we did it again in September, staying in Teaneck at a big cheap Marriott and driving to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal for our Princess trip. The best located hotels are the Residence Inn and the Envue, both Marriott properties located in the same building literally across the street from the Weehawken/Port Imperial ferry terminal. Morning of the cruise, we walked across the street, got on the ferry (that crossing is a busy one so ferries are frequent), and 8 minutes later were at the 39th St ferry terminal. The ferries are very luggage-friendly and getting on and off was simple. From there, it was a very easy 15 minute walk north up the Hudson Greenway, a pedestrian-only path, to the MCT. Walking 15 minutes towing luggage may sound daunting, but for us, healthy 65-year olds, it was a no-brainer. There is also a big Sheraton just south of Weehawken also on the Hudson, but the ferry terminal there does not run nearly as often as the Port Imperial service. The Residence inn a snd the Envue are very new and clean and we will definitely stay at either whenever we sail out of the MCT in the future. There are actually two parking garages at Port Imperial. One is in the same building as the hotels, and there is another ferry garage one block north which is $2/day cheaper. There is also a pretty decent restaurant, the Highwood, in the lobby of the hotel if you don't want to travel out for dinner. Great views of he Manhattan skyline.

Thanks for the heads up. We'll ask Stewart when we are on the Sky in a few weeks. The Room Service line is usually very busy that first day, but then so are the stewards, so we'll see if this improves things.

I wasn't aware that EZ Check was available for us Canadians, I assumed it was only for US airlines. If you used it off a Princess ship to send your bags back to Canada, was it Air Canada, and exactly which flights did you use it on? We would LOVE to be able to use it to send our bags back here to Montreal post cruise. Thanks...

Interesting. Equating Carnival with Princess. X, HAL or Cunard?

Regular Air Canada flyer here. Assuming you are flying on Air Canada hardware, I doubt your United CC would give you the free bags. I have a top tier Aeroplan CC and it gives many free inclusions, like free bags, priority everything, unlimited lounge access, etc, but only on AC flights it won't work on United codeshare flights so I doubt yours will work on Air Canada. Have you already ticketed and do you have a booking reference? Also, what ticket fare class are you flying, as that will determine what freebies you would get included? AC have five Economy classes, Basic, Standard, Flex, Comfort and Latitude. These offer improving amenities and term conditions with increasing prices. Only Flex and higher offer one free checked bag and free seat selection. You can only select AC seats online once you are ticketed.

You are quite correct, Viking would be a tremendous option, but I believe most responses here just default to the "assuming mainline" cruise lines such as the aforementioned Princess, Celebrity or Holland America. If we widen the search to include more expensive, smaller ship lines, then very good options for older cruisers could also be Viking, Azamara, Seabourn, Oceania, Regent etc.

My wife also loves sushi, and I definitely don't, but we eat there a few times on each trip. When she wants her fix, I just run down one deck to the IC and pick up something there to bring upstairs and join her.

If it turns out that you can't pre-order, then simply ask your Steward once on board. He/she will get you the required bottles no problem.

If you're going to be there for two nights pre-cruise, then that would be a good bet as it's near the beach and the "fun". The closest hotel zone to Port Everglades is 17th street, and the Hilton Marina tends to be a good bet, VERY close to the port though not directly on the beach. Lots of good reviews on the Florida Departures sub-forum. We usually stay at the (Mariott) Renaissance right next door and love waking up to seeing all the cruise ships docked in the harbor right outside our window. Have a great trip ;o)

We have been on Princess ships (Sky and Enchanted) twice in the last few months and will be back on the Sky in a few weeks. Please keep in mind that regardless of what Package level you have, you are not "stuck" with any one type/class of wine. You are perfectly able to but ANY drink on the ship. The type of drink package you have merely determines the deductible you pay for each glass. On our last trip in November, we had only the Basic package but exclusively bought the best wines in every dining venue which were almost all around $17/glass. Because of our lower level Basic package we paid maybe(5$?) more per glass than if we had had the Premium package, but the total extra cost for having lower deducible was still far less than the cost of the Premium package.

This is correct, but IIRC they have made it easier in recent times. Instead of you having to remember to go to Logout.com each time to manually "switch" devices, if you forget to log off the first device, when trying to log on to the second one, the system sends you a reminder that basically says " You are currently logged on to another device, would you like to log off that one so you can log on to this one?"

? It's a longer drive for sure, but Google Maps has Regina-Galveston as about 2800km and Ottawa-Orlando as 2300km. To the OP, I've visited the center of the US many, many times on business over the years and know Wichita as well as I know Montreal. You won't have any problems with roads, though as someone else pointed out, weather (thunderstorms and tornadoes) can be an issue. You can use the Interstate system most of the way.

Thanks. We just did order the 4-night package today, and I noticed that, as you say, there's no way to book the times. We always prefer to eat as early as possible, as soon as the SD restaurants open, so hopefully we will get the times we want. BTW, do the SD restaurants open at 6PM? When I tried to make mock bookings at Murano and Tuscan Grill, the earliest times I could see were 6PM. Worryingly, Murano was rarely available before 8 or 9PM, far too late for us. Hopefully as Dining Package customers we will find earlier slots.

Sad to hear, but thanks for the confirmation. Do Celebrity keep a certain % of SD booking slots off the on-line booking system, or are ALL available slots put out there for pre-booking? Our first stop after boarding will be to head for the restaurants, do we have any hope at all of being able to get seats for early dining?

Thanks, that's what I was afraid of. 4 months out and I'm finding very poor availability of dining times for TG and Murano, forget the first night special. We'll have to hope that we have better luck getting decent times when we board. Eating at 8 or 9PM doesn't work for us and that's all I'm seeing right now. Pity the poor folks who book a last-minute cruise, there would be no availability of anything.

This is exactly where ours is located as well. Middle of Page 1 under "Notes" Our invoice breaks down our Celebrity OBC and our TA's OBC as well. It also shows a cryptic message saying "Please note that $50 US will appear on your on board account as of the 2nd day of sailing"

When do the reservation slots for the 1st night discount usually open up for booking on line? I am trying to book the Tuscan Grill on night 1 for our May trip on the Equinox but am met with a message saying: "We’re stuffed! Reservations are currently not available." I assume that means I've waited too long, and 4 months out they are already booked? Or do reservations for the first night only open up later? Thanks....

+1 on that for sure. We did two trips this past summer, one out of Manhattan and one out of Brooklyn, staying in New Jersey each time and are absolutely hooked. We plan to increase the number of times we sail from NY, NJ or Boston in the future. Can't beat the ease of driving 6 or 7 hours from Montreal to avoid the living hell of modern air travel.

Another factor which, surprisingly, no one has mentioned yet; You will almost certainly find the level of service, and particularly the food, to be much better on any of X, Princess or HAL than on Carnival.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. I believe you will find that Princess, Celebrity and Holland America are your best bets.

This is pretty much the only way currently due to the convention center construction going on in the area. From Eisenhower and 17th to Terminal 2 is about 600 meters on level ground. There is a sidewalk most of the way, until you hit 20th and turn left towards T2, then there MAY be some construction going on which may compromise the sidewalk. It was like that when we drove to T2 for our November trip. The whole route is easily visualized on Google Maps/Street View

Thinking out loud here, and it probably isn't your issue, but exactly what phone number did you use (and that it wants to send an SMS text message to)? If you used a non-SMS capable phone, such as your home phone, then their system may recognize that you can't receive a test message. Our home phone can't receive texts.

Unfortunately, that requirement varies. When we checked in at the counter for our last flight, in November from YUL to Fort Lauderdale, even though we had already attested to being vaccinated when doing the online checkin, the Air Canada agent definitely asked to see our vaccination cards. Bring them along just in case.....

Typical Air Canada obfuscation ;o) It does clearly say that regardless of whether you booked a "Vacation" or a "Cruise" the first bag should be free. My only worry would be what the tiny little "1" is against the "FREE 1st checked bag" Did you dig down into the Ts and Cs to see what the 1 refers to?