JEDMELK

So, I went back and read the OP's post in this thread and in the other thread he started with the same topic.
One thing that I noticed is that he says he booked this cruise in the US but is now in Europe. NOTE, he did not say that he was "LIVING in the US" when booked. My point is, he may have decided to book while in the US for a previous trip (cruise, vacation, business or whatever) so that he could take advantage of the differences in refundable vs non-refundable  options that also exist between booking in the US or in the UK. 

This may have saved quite a bit of money just as booking non-refundable hotels can save and I can understand wanting to do that. So, this all may be the result of finding a way to navigate the system for one's benefit but then complaining when the plan blows up.  Just a wild thought I wanted to share.

Happy Cruising to All

Jed

First to answer 3rdGenCunarder, taxis from port to airport are all metered and as mentioned it is usually $20 or less depending upon traffic.

Second, I would just like to add some information so that nobody is too surprised. We returned to Port Everglades on Friday, Dec 20 and there were a total of 7 ships (I believe that was the number) that returned to port that day. We got outside the building and I began the Uber process however, I stopped dead in my tracks. It appeared that since there were so many ships in port, it turned a short ride into surge pricing. The quoted price for Uber from terminal 25 to FLL was about $57 (yes, you are reading that correctly). Needless to say, we walked over to the line for regular taxis, waited our turn (maybe 5-8 minutes) and were in a cab to the airport. The total on the meter was about $17

The bottom line, Uber is more often than not a wonderful option however, those few other times it is not.

Hope this helps

Jed

On 12/31/2019 at 2:52 PM, candydane said:

Where is the area for Uber/Lyft?  Easy to find?

 

 

Just one reminder---- we got off ship on Fri, Dec 20 and there were 7 ships in Port Everglades that morning. We had no issues with customs, etc (used Celebrity Luggage Valet service). Disembarking was delayed by 10-15 minutes because they had to reposition gangway. That did not cause much of a problem either.

One thing that was very eye opening though was the Uber pricing due to high demand. It was about 8 AM and I went to book Uber except the rate they wanted was $57.00 for Uber Comfort (not luxury, or XL). Considering that Uber from airport to the Embassy Suites was $15.40 for the same class of vehicle on Sat Dec 7, we opted to walk to the regular taxi line and were in a cab in 10 minutes as well- the meter was about $17 because we found every red light on the way (we were at Terminal 25).

The bottom line is very simple- be prepared to go either way-- cab or Uber and make a decision when you get the pricing

By the way, in the past, we have gone through customs, etc and been through security at FLL by 8:30 AM with no issues.

Jed

Once again, the only thing I can report on and speak to is our experience which was in a fact a conversation with a supervisor in the terminal who told us that we could drop off bags. She went further to say that the Reflection is the ONLY ship for which they hand out the cards in the terminal. ALL other Celebrity ships (according to her) now have your card keys waiting in your cabin.

The bottom line is that we boarded the ship, went to our deck and our cabin. We did in fact see a few crew members in the hallway and none of them said anything to us about this nor did they look at us in any way that would make me suspect that this was not accepted policy. Or, in other words, believe what you wish

36 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

On Reflection? You are the first to report this. That would indeed be great news if we could drop off our carry on luggage before lunch. 

Yes, on Reflection. We were on Dec 9-20 and in Concierge Class although that does not matter. 

The hallway door was closed but we were told we can drop off carry ons which is what we did. Easy boarding as usual, just dropped in cabin and went on our way. 

We did receive our card keys in terminal and ended up with lunch in the main dining room because the Oceanview was a bit crowded and we did not want to deal with looking for a table 

Jed

We used SAS quite a while ago (almost 6 years) - they picked us up at Ft Lauderdale Airport and we were brought to our hotel in Miami (took a cab from Miami hotel to Miami Port) and they were scheduled to pick us up at ship in Miami and take us back to Ft Lauderdale Airport. Unfortunately, we had quite a bit of snow in NY area the day we were to return and flights were cancelled.

We ended up having to cancel their pick up early that morning and they were very understanding- no problem with the late cancellation. We ended up staying in Miami when we got off the ship because the best flight change we could make at the time was an early Sunday flight from Miami.

The bottom line is that they were very accommodating and I would have no issue using them any time.

Hope this helps

Jed

9 hours ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

Tiny suggestion Jed. While the font you're using is classy looking it's hard to read....especially on a phone. 

Suzy, Thanks for your info however I believe the issue may in fact be operating systems. I posted from a Mac using comic sans which is in fact very simple and straight forward (see screen shot attached actually of your post appearing on a Mac) 

It appears my friends that we have uncovered yet another little glitch with the "New and Improved" CruiseCritic coding.

I appreciate the input but am also very aware of readability issues (that comes from 45 years of work experience)
 

The bottom line, Hopefully the point has come across that I appreciate what Steelers0854 is doing for us and the time he is spending while on vacation

Jed

Steeleres0854- thanks for taking us along and for all of the information and photos. Although we are leaving on the Reflection in 3 weeks, we will be on the Summit for the repositioning trip back to Bayonne on May 2 as well. Have not been on the Summit since Dec 2017, before the refit/refurb/update or whatever you want to call it.
After seeing your photos and all of the information you are providing, it makes me look forward to this trip very much.
Hope the rest of your trip is great.

Thanks again for all the info and pics

Jed

12 hours ago, opa&oma said:

Do we REALLY need the "Are you happy with the direction HAL is taking" thread?  No!  Get a life people!

As a matter of fact, YES!
I doubt I am wrong when I state that there are quite a few people like myself that used to cruise on Holland America but for one reason or another began cruising on a different line. After having cruised with other lines for quite some time, we may be interested in getting on a Holland America ship again but, I am also interested in seeing what loyal customers think about the product offering so that I can weigh what I see written and decide if I want to see for myself or not.We have not been on a Holland America ship since 2001 and I am now looking at their product again.

The bottom line is indeed very simple, as others have said. If you're not interested in the topic, just skip the thread. Or, perhaps let people know why you are (or are not) pleased with the product.
Thanks for your understanding why this may be important to others

Jed

OK, for what its worth, here is my thinking.

We are boarding the Reflection in early December and although I am confident we will enjoy ourselves, we  will most likely not be happy with some changes. Such is life, you can't always have things your way (I learned that a long, long time ago).

Now, a large portion of the changes have happened under the guidance of LLP who has been in her position since December of 2014 (I believe that is what her bio states) which means she will be reaching her 5 year mark as the "Big Cheese", "Big Kahuna" CEO or any other title you may wish to bestow. After working for some large corporations for quite a few years, what became apparent to me is that the CEO's take the position and work it for several years to put their mark on it. Then, after they have alienated a portion of the customer base (or employee base  in some instances) they take their "Golden Parachute" package and move on to their next mission. My guess might be a Golden Parachute in the not too distant future with a new leader changing things to their liking.

Just a thought

Jed

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Finally came to my senses and just booked a flight out of JFK instead of Newark. Although it is a bit longer ride, once we are in the car it really does not make much of a difference (especially on a Saturday morning). Just spend 15 or so more minutes getting to the airport as opposed to dealing with an extra 45+ minutes ride once we are off the plane.

What ever in the world was I thinking!

thanks again

Jed

Cruisestitch, have a great trip.

I'm just following along-- we board December 9 but this will just make it a bit easier to be able to wait until then. I'll live vicariously through your trip for now.

Thanks

Jed

Great........ Finally, a use for the small bit of duct tape (a few feet wrapped around a small core) I bring along on every cruise.
I can tear a small piece off, double over one end and attach the other. Voila, a Handle!
Thanks, my day is now complete 😊
 

OK, actually, this is good to see. We'll be on the Repo from San Juan to Bayonne and now look forward to Captain Matt. Of course that is along with the refurbished Summit itself.

Jed

Thanks Marco, skrufy and John, this is pretty much what I expected but had to ask.
This also gave me some time to think this through and have found some alternatives which are probably a wiser choice even if it does mean leaving out of JFK instead of Newark. That gets the nuisance out of the way up front instead of after we land.

Thanks again

Jed

Although I believe that my best option for landing at PBI and heading to Ft Lauderdale (17th St area) is probably UBER, I thought I might as well just ask to confirm my thoughts.
Normally, we fly into FLL and just cab or Uber to hotel however the plan is to use points and right now, the amount is almost 50% less to fly into PBI. That much of a difference is hard to ignore.

I know that there are shuttles to go from FLL to Miami but the only shuttle I found from PBI is super shuttle and their trip estimator is more than a one way rental car. Since we will not need a rental while in Ft Lauderdale, it is not worth the hassle of pick up and return. We have no issue using Uber, just wanted to see if there were any other options I may have missed?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions or confirmation of my thoughts

Jed

Radio, thanks for taking the time out of your vacation to bring us all along with you so we can all share the trip and the new look and features of the Summit.

From what I have seen, it looks great and now I really want to go back for another great trip.

To that end (and to be a bit selfish) I was hoping that someone can confirm that the Sweet 16 cabins are still as they were in terms of balcony size. Although it is hard to beat the aft cabin balconies, these always seemed like a good option as well.
 

Thanks again for your efforts Radio, it was a great ride along

On 5/11/2019 at 8:32 PM, Luv2Crus40 said:

Thanks again for everyone's input.  We don't do stress well and hate flying nowadays.  So if I can get another day off, will fly down day before.  Also flights from Newark to San Juan are usually really early so gives us a day to recover.  Thank goodness we only have to fly one way because our B2B ends up back in Bayonne.  Bon Voyage !

Just for the heck of it, looked at United and Jet Blue schedules- both offer non-stop service EWR-SJU and both appear to have late Friday flights on that route. Jet Blue approximate times of 4:45 PM and 8:15 PM and United approximate times of 8:15 PM and midnight. IMPORTANT NOTE: No schedules for late April 2020 yet but these do appear on schedules that are currently published.

Besides, there is always something that much more relaxing about waking up in the departure city for a cruise and, San Juan is a nice place to spend the evening if you can get in early enough for a nice relaxing dinner.
 

By the way, I am working on a way to convince someone else that we need to take the 2nd part of your B2B- did that once before and found that there is also something very enjoyable about getting off the ship and just having a not too long ride home after the cruise instead of dealing with air travel.
Of course the bonus of being able to tell people that I took my wife on a pleasure cruise to Bayonne, NJ is also fun 😀

Hope this info helps- either way, go and have a great time

Jed

Of course the most popular dance song for the trip would have to be "Dancing Cheek to Cheek"

Although we have bought pieces in several islands in years past (including Imperial Jewelers as mentioned) the bargains of years gone by are definitely not really there any longer. Either the store owners and/or the manufacturers have learned that they can and have increased prices quite a bit which really means that there are just very, very few real bargains. There is such a range of quality that can be used which makes things less valuable, period.
 

If my wife and I were going to be doing this, we would go to our local jeweler and sit and talk through this to get exactly what we wanted. We have done this at home with great success. You can pick their brain, let them look around for ideas for you and go back to see what they can come up with. My guess is that you would get a much better value, get exactly what you want from a local business (which is always nice) and if you have an issue or a question, they will be there to answer you. All of the above plus, you may even have enough time to get these made before you leave so you can wear them throughout your cruise celebration.

ONE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER, you want to be happy wearing these for the next 50 years!

Congratulations and Happy Anniversary

Although I am far from an expert, you seem to have missed quite a few Hilton properties that might suit your needs. At a quick glance, the Hampton Inn Downtown, Las Olas has rooms within your budget and all Hampton properties offer breakfast. There are quite a few restaurants in that area and they offer a shuttle for a fee to the port. There are also several other Hamptons, Hilton Garden Inns, Homewood Suites, etc in the Ft Lauderdale area.

Do yourself a favor and go to Hilton.com and look again- if you have AAA membership or AARP they have discounted rates as well. I would also remember to look at the total bottom line cost including cabs and/or shuttles. Embassy Suites has rooms available and although the price may be a bit higher, they are very close to airport and pier so cabs are relatively inexpensive (Uber XL from FLL was about $17 on a Friday at 5 PM - and Sunday AM to pier was about $12- cabs have traditionally been a few dollars more) and there are many places in their area for dinner.

The bottom line is, take a deep breath and go back and look again. You might surprise yourself after all.

By the way, our experience in that area has only been at the Embassy Suites and although it can use a "freshening up" we have always had a clean and comfortable room with good service.

Just remember to go and have a great cruise

Jed

Thanks for the great photos and information.

We do not sail on Reflection again until December but its always good to receive first hand information.

Please do come back and let us know how well the luggage valet program works too. To us, it sounds like a great deal, not having to hunt for bags in the terminal, find a porter to drag them through customs and to a cab.

We are (as I am sure others are) very interested.

Sorry that your trip must end but, at least you have a great welcome home greeter!

thanks again,

Jed and Melanie

Recent First hand Experience: we arrived Ft Lauderdale on Dec 21 on Silhouette. There were a total of 7 ships in port (about 13400 passengers according to PE website).

We requested an early/low number for departure (sorry but I refuse to drag my own luggage off ship, just not worth it) and our number was scheduled for 8:20AM. My guess is that we were one of the first ships docked that morning because they started disembarkation early. We were called at 7:40AM, found our luggage (must say that they did a great job- all 3 pieces were together on pier and no hunting), got a porter and then through customs to a cab.

We arrived at airport, checked our bags and through security by 8:15 AM. Truly the fastest we have experienced in quite a few years.

PLEASE NOTE: • although I do have the mobile passport app, it did not feel like working that morning but still had no delay

• this was just our experience on this particular day and yours may vary

• our flight was scheduled for 11:04 AM which may be a bit on the early side. When we booked, it was originally scheduled for 11:45 but United changed times - we opted not to ask for the later flight (around 2:00 PM because of previous experience we believed we would be OK)

• your own experience may be very different and I am sure changes every day

• bottom line is that I would be extremely comfortable with a noon flight that time of year

If there are any questions I can answer, please ask away

Jed

We got off the Silhouette about 10 days ago and although we did not make use of the Elite Happy Hours (we had the premium beverage package) my recollection  is that they loaded the drinks to your sea pass card so you could have them at any bar however, I believe they did have the happy hour in the sky lounge where they offered some appetizers. As I said, we did not make use of this mostly because it was too early for us to be dressed appropriately to join.

As far as ships clocks, although we were in the eastern Caribbean, we did in fact change clocks so that ships time would be the same as island time. For our trip it was one change before first port and then a change after last port so not a big deal to make this change. Hopefully, someone that has done the same itinerary as you will be able to confirm time change as well.

Either way, go and have a Great Cruise

Jed

Thank you to everyone for the information and answers. Looks like we will be booking while on board after all.

We appreciate the assistance always offered by everyone on these boards

Jed & Mel