lx200gps

We've done the upgrade pre-cruise twice, both times by phone, and each time it was handled differently. The first time I upgraded, the Travel Summary and the Personalizer details all changed to showed Premier. The second time I upgraded, it was handled as an upgrade, not a new purchase. The Personalizer Summary Page still has us as Plus, but, as others have stated, it also showed the upgrade as having been applied, on the Extras tab as well as on the TS. Yes, the main page on the Personalizer still does show us as Plus, so we will be taking copies of the paperwork with us JIC.

Based on our experience last week, you should be OK assuming no major changes on how they run things. Princess had discovered that they have a major issue with their itineraries that have Portland as the first US stop after coming from Canada. We were originally scheduled to dock in Portland at 10AM, but the captain gunned it and we arrived at 8AM because of problems on the previous cruise. The USCBP agents boarded and split themselves into two almost identical teams, one to handle the few hundred non-US citizens, and the other to handle the thousands of US citizens. Incomprehensible, but that what they did. As Canadians, we were through the process and off the ship by about 9:30 and IIRC they had pretty much finished all non-US citizens by about 10AM. The last US citizens weren't out until after 2PM. As an Australian citizen(?) you should go through quickly as we did, but exactly how long it will take depends on the Group# ticket Princess will give you the day before. On our trip the interviews started around 9AM, we had Group 5, and they were calling out the specific Group #s over the PA. We actually hung around at the start of where the line was to be, and by the time they got to Group 4 non-US, things had opened up so much that the senior ship officer guarding the line let us through to the interview location early, as things were proceeding so quickly. Sadly, the US citizens didn't have it so easy.

Sorry for being so pedantic, but keep in mind that your ability to track someone is somewhat dependent on exactly where they are and and how they move around the ship. You probably won't have any issue with a 91 year young person (LOVE that they are cruising at that age BTW ;o), but two things come into play: 1) if they are mobile and not sedentary, you are tracking a moving target who could be gone by the time you reach their last reported position and 2) the tracking is not absolutely real-time, it takes time for the system to refresh and display their position. On the Emerald just last week, I kept track of SWMBO as she move around the ship on one of her shopping expeditions. Her exact position was sometimes a few minutes off what was portrayed on the app and had I needed to locate her EXACT position, it could have been challenging. Still, the system does work and as others have said you should be able to track your uncle just fine. Just be prepared to look around a bit ;o)

We were on the first Magic Castle cruise last year, so-identified long after we had booked the trip. It was interesting, and IIRC Carbonara's show was in the main theater open to all, but there was nothing about the trip we would have paid extra for. We did see a few folks with the special name tags around the ship. Unless you are a VERY big magic fan I wouldn't advise spending the hundreds of extra $$$s for the few extra perqs that come with it.

G'day. Re your stop in Portland, exactly when and how are you stopping there? Which cruise line, and when in the itinerary are you there? There's an issue with Portland and US Immigration clearance that definitely may affect excursions depending on the point in your itinerary that you arrive there.

You're quite welcome. Yes, the whole Portland immigration exercise was a nightmare, especially for US citizens. There were the same number of CBP agents processing the few hundred of us non-US citizens as there were handling the THOUSANDS of US citizens. We were on shore in Portland by 9:30AM while the last of the US citizens didn't get cleared until almost 2PM.

We sailed on the Emerald out of Boston on July 14 and yes, embarkation was the worst we had ever encountered anywhere. We prefer to arrive (and therefore check in) as early as possible but it did us no good this time. We arrived at the parking lot on Fargo, took a shuttle and were at the terminal by about 9:30. About 75-100 people already in line ahead of us. We then stood in line for at east an hour before the line started moving. I can't say for sure, but my impression was that the initial delay in starting check in was due to the security people not being ready earlier. Actual Princess check in was normal once we got past security and had checked in, we sat in the waiting room for only about 10-15 minutes before boarding started. FYI, there was no PES "lounge" set up, everybody sat in the same area and boarded according to where you sat in the waiting room. Re the question about how they handled folks with wheelchairs etc, we did notice that there was an area set aside with a few folks who needed boarding assistance. It was well positioned right in front of the elevator that led from ground floor where we stood in the huge line, up to the second floor where security, check-in and the waiting area was set up. One final comment, if you are sailing on the Canada/New England itinerary on Emerald and, like we did, have a stop in Portland as the first US stop before arriving back in Boston, do yourself a favor and review some of the postings here on CC about the US Immigration process you will have to go through in Portland the day before arriving back in Boston. This is particularly important if you have an excursion arranged in Portland. We docked in Portland around 8AM and some US citizens were only cleared to leave the ship around 1PM.

Not sure I would say Princess uses facial recognition at PE. The embarkation/disembarkation is run by Princess contractors who manage the FR cameras in the arrivals area but facial recognition surely must be the sole responsibility of the USCBP folks.

Same here. I think I'll wait to hear from a few other brave souls who enter their details, before I update mine ;o)

Interesting. After you posted this I was able to log in just fine. An hour later, now when I try to log in, on every PC, every browser, both Windoze and Linux, I am presented with a Princess window demanding that I update all my personal information. Notice that it says "...complete your registration" when I have been a member for years

Could you clarify? Are you flying into LAX and need a taxi to the Crowne Plaza? If so, taxis are very difficult to obtain at the terminals at LAX, you will probably need to take a free shuttle to the LAX-It lot to get a taxi or an Uber. If you need a taxi from the Crowne Plaza on cruise morning then the CP has a shuttle service to the San Pedro terminals, or you could walk it as the distance is relatively short. A taxi would easily be available from the CP to the port, as would an Uber. If you are asking about getting FROM the port back to LAX after the cruise, then taxis and Ubers are both an option, with Uber preferable for the reasons stated above.

We left the Emerald just last week, and made a very interesting discovery. SWMBO is always careful to block off every possible light source in the room, and very quickly disabled/taped the sensors under the nightstands and the overhead light in the closet. I discovered, however, that even after she had taped over the closet sensor to block the motion activation, I could still reach up and turn it on by touching the sensor. The light would then turn on, but seemed to be on a timer and would turn off a few minutes later. I found that strange as there didn't seem to be a physical switch, but I could turn it on quite reliably by touch.

We did exactly that a few months back. Landed at 9:30PM, took the hotel shuttle the few hundred yards down Century Blvd to the hotel, so no need to worry about LAX-It that late at night. Cruise morning called an Uber who was 5 minutes away and we were at San Pedro in less than 30 minutes. Added benefit was that the LAX hotel was cheaper than the Crowne Plaza, Doubletree or any of the Long Beach hotels for that specific date.

We were on her just last week. It sails from the Flynn Terminal as stated above

There is another lot, the "C1 Lot" right next to the terminal, but it seems it's only open to NCL passengers who sail on Fridays, as it's only open that day.

We parked there last week as well. No issues. Interesting how you say your license plate was scanned, I guess I missed that. When we arrived the gate was already open and an attendant was standing there directing traffic. Note also there are actually two halves to the 93 Fargo lot, and the attendants want cruise ship passengers to park in the second lot by driving through the hole in the fence into the second lot. They told us it's because the shuttle buses load and unload in the second lot and not the first, but we had parked in the first area anyway. When we arrived the shuttle had stopped right in front of our car to load a lady who needed special assistance. We did a very early self walkoff from the Emerald Princess and were outside the terminal around 8AM. There were already a few of the shuttle buses there loading passengers and we boarded immediately, no waiting at all. We had planned to walk to and from the Fargo lot but the shuttle system did work extremely well

AFAIK the construction referred to is the complete closure of the Sumner Tunnel, from July 5 to August 5, affecting travel to and from Logan. https://www.seaporttma.org/sumner

Digging around a bit, I found that Parking.com has both US and Canadian parking lots, which may explain why they seamlessly billed me in Canadian $$$ https://parking.com/ca/ As to safety, our car had zero issues parked there. I can't say whether the lot is manned 24/7, but I highly doubt it. I wouldn't say it is any more or less safe than any other semi-remote parking lot, but we will definitely use it again. You can see the lot on the Google Satellite or Street views to get a feel for the immediate area.

Yes, it's the 93 Fargo lot. I booked and paid through Parking.com by selecting our specific cruise (14 July Emerald Princess) https://parking.com/boston/destinations/flynn-cruiseport/events When I checked our credit card account on the TD website the transaction had only cost $CAD220.50 instead of $US220.50, was billed by "Parking.com" but the "location" for the transaction was given as "TORONTO ON CA". Hopefully if you book it will also charge you in Canadian $$$s

Excellent idea, thanks for the reminder. Here in Canada, I'm only aware of Equifax and TU, and I just locked/froze both. I think I'll keep them pretty much permanently frozen from now on, only releasing them if needed, which fortunately is very rarely. That being said, simply freezing credit reporting agencies won't stop someone who, thanks to Princess IT, now has all my CC data and can order massive amounts of goods online. Fingers crossed Visa Security can stop any such fraud, as they've done for us in the past, like the time they called me in a rush and asked if I had just ordered a fur coat in Houston ;o(

FYI, Dania Beach is a bit of a mis-nomer, it's not that near a beach ;o) The Plantation hotel area is perfectly fine and is very well stocked with all the major mid-range hotel options from Marriott, Hilton, HI etc as well as malls and restaurants. I can't remember which one, but one of the hotels in Plantation used to offer both airport AND cruise port shuttles. Hopefully someone can chime in a tell us which one.

I like to use Tripadvisor for initial hotel hunting, as their map view function lets me easily compare prices visually in each geographical area near Port Everglades. As you say, prices for your specific dates are very high on the closest hotel zone to PE, 17th street. A popular alternative to 17th St is Dania Beach, immediately south of the airport. Prices there seem to be lower than 17th St but still high-ish. A good alternative that we have used in the past is Plantation, west of PE down the 595, somewhat farther out but still a good option. Prices there do not fluctuate nearly as much the other areas and in high season can be much lower than the prime 17th St. strip. Plantation is well served by lots of hotels, restaurants, shopping etc. but is obviously far from the beach. I checked your dates of 6-8 Feb 2025 and indeed the prices for all the hotels in Plantation are significantly lower. Only downside is a longer Uber ride to get to the ship.

It was utterly preposterous, that's for sure. When it was all over, the Hotel Director came on the PA again and apologized profusely for the fact that the last US citizens weren't cleared until almost 2:30PM (the processing having started at 9AM). He laid the blame squarely on the CBP folks who, he said, caused the problems because they steadfastly refused to treat the US citizens differently from us foreigners. Hence they had as many officers processing the THOUSANDS of US citizens as they did for the few hundred of us non-US. Also, I can't say whether the four CBP agents who worked on us foreigners in the Wheelhouse Bar then went to Club Fusion to double the number of agents handling the US citizens. It wouldn't surprise me if they simply walked off the ship. I honestly don't know how you can avoid the delays, unless Princess, in handing out the Group#s, prioritizes them according to whether you have an excursion? I can't say whether loyalty status applies; We're Elite and our non-US Group 5 was through is less than 45 minutes. Maybe other folks who went through US processing early, with or without status, can chime in so we can get a feel for whether higher status gets us earlier times. I would expect that having a ship's excursion would though, but that's speculation on my part. The only upside to the whole mess was that with so many people getting cleared to leave the ship so late, by dinnertime the ship was still half empty. Those of us who did get on and off in a timely manner had the ship to ourselves. It was eerie to be in Crooners at 4:30 and the place was almost deserted ;o)

Definitely. At the exit from the Immigration area, immediately upon leaving, our Medallions (like cruise cards) are scanned. That way the ship's system knows we have been cleared and we were them able to walk off the ship. Had we tried to walk off without having been scanned outside the Immigration area we would have been instantly stopped.

They surely do vary by ship, but the "Premier" package chocolate cake on the Emerald was excellent. That being said every outlet on the ship was utterly unable to make a palatable Cappuccino, while on the Discovery, last time we were on her, they were fine.