Royal 2/28 10 Day Eastern Caribbean Voyager

We board in 3 days. I have 500 minutes of internet and plan to post every day- will answer Q's as best as I can- I won't post any pics until after we get back- our POC are PC, St Thomas,St Kitts, St Lucia, Barbados and Antigua. We have been to all the islands multiple times. Our plans are- PC-duh:cool:, St Thomas- after over a dozen times and multiple times to St John and multiple daysails- we'll head to Sapphire so I can snorkel. St Kitts- again multiple times, land tours, cats and a tour of Nevis- this time a Cat with Leeward Island Tours- snorkel and beach time in Nevis. St Lucia, first time with Herod- amazing, then a number of snorkeling/ beach excursions- last time an Eco tour with Mysticman- whale/dolphin watch-and beach- this time another tour with Cosol. Barbados- have done an island tour,, and beaches, Lobster Alive, Antigua- again- have done island tours- this time most likely Jolly Beach. Heard that with the new show Princess and CC will have reps on this sailing- so I may have to go to both the show and M&G :D

Tomorrow we pack, Tuesday our flight is at 1 pm-arrive 4:30- hotels are expensive this week- or booked solid. Even though we don't get in until late-ish I didn't want a hotel that was just a 'hotel' and cheap- nothing on the strip available- so I splurged and got one on the beach- Plunge ( resort fee is a downer ). Location is also a minus as far as cab fees go. looked into Hollywood hotels too- just as far from the pier and not as nice

Chris

Looking forward to your posts and the photos when you return. My husband and I love to snorkel and are hoping to do another Caribbean cruise next year.

Have fun!

I'm old school, but willing to learn and save some $- car service vs drive and park for this was a no brainer to the airport- but once in Fort Lauderdale I had to check out options- will report once back. Internet research- Airport to hotel- taxi, $32.00 + tip- Uber $ 21.00+? ( I've never done Uber before) just wondering about the wait at the airport for pickup

Have a great cruise! Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

Have a great cruise look forward to all your post.

Tony

Wishing you a Bon Voyage and look forward to your report.

Keith

See you on board!!!

Looking forward to reading your report. We'll be on the same cruise soon. First time on Princess.

Maybe I can help with your taxi or uber or lyft ride. I was in FLL in Jan. We stayed at Courtyard Marriott. Used Lyft. It was $11.61 from airport to hotel. The hotel is about 2 miles north of cruise port and hotel sits right on the beach. You can google it. Lyft or uber will pick you up to the left of the taxi stand. When you come out of the baggage claim you turn left and will see the taxi stand at the end of the terminal. Right past the taxi stand is another sidewalk island and this is where uber and lyft pick you up. Piece of cake to use; however, you have to download their app and set up an account prior to using them. Normally uber or lyft will give you a free ride or discounted ride the first time you use them. So what you could do is download both apps and use one to hotel and one to cruise port. As for the price of hotels; this is peak season in Florida; not just cruises but people coming down for the warm weather. Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.

Maybe I can help with your taxi or uber or lyft ride. I was in FLL in Jan. We stayed at Courtyard Marriott. Used Lyft. It was $11.61 from airport to hotel. The hotel is about 2 miles north of cruise port and hotel sits right on the beach. You can google it. Lyft or uber will pick you up to the left of the taxi stand. When you come out of the baggage claim you turn left and will see the taxi stand at the end of the terminal. Right past the taxi stand is another sidewalk island and this is where uber and lyft pick you up. Piece of cake to use; however, you have to download their app and set up an account prior to using them. Normally uber or lyft will give you a free ride or discounted ride the first time you use them. So what you could do is download both apps and use one to hotel and one to cruise port. As for the price of hotels; this is peak season in Florida; not just cruises but people coming down for the warm weather. Hope this helps and enjoy your cruise.

Thanks,My CC has an offer for the first 2 rides on Uber- signed up/ got the app - still wonder when I should ask for a ride- before/ after we pick up our bags

Finally got a cabin assignment, an upgrade from a BD to a DB- bigger balcony- we can have our chairs looking forward lol- all packed- well almost- just have to shuffle some things around-trying to bring our 2 bottles of wine and not have to buy them in Fl- this one is easy as far as ground/air going/ coming- mid day on both, talk some more tomorrow

Thanks,My CC has an offer for the first 2 rides on Uber- signed up/ got the app - still wonder when I should ask for a ride- before/ after we pick up our bags

I've never used uber, but have used lyft about 6 times on our cruise trips. They operate about the same I'm told, I just picked lyft cause they were cheaper than uber and require never cars than uber did.

Open the app and call for the driver once your outside and ready. I've never had them take more than 3 minutes to arrive:)

Enjoy your cruise!

Could you let us know if they have the Buy One Get one for $1 promotion on your sailing.

Bon Voyage!

My experience with Uber has been anywhere from a 2 to 8 minute "estimated arrival time," and they are accurate. Don't do the request until you are ready to get into their vehicle.

I also like that the charge is sent to my credit card and I don't have to mess with money and paying the driver. We do give a small tip even though I know the tip is supposedly included in the quoted fee. I've never had a bad Uber experience; they've always been great.

Finally got a cabin assignment, an upgrade from a BD to a DB- bigger balcony- we can have our chairs looking forward lol- all packed- well almost- just have to shuffle some things around-trying to bring our 2 bottles of wine and not have to buy them in Fl- this one is easy as far as ground/air going/ coming- mid day on both, talk some more tomorrow

Where is tour DB located to have a larger balcony? Thanks..

crisp1, like others have mentioned. Request your ride as you walk out baggage claim. They have drivers hovering around the airport. If it is just two of you then request a regular four passenger car. The app on your smartphone will tell you name of driver, what color and type car and tag number. When your driver arrives at airport you app will buzz to let you know the driver has arrived. Have fun and enjoy your cruise ***** forgot to mention. If your or anyone on this thread uses lyft, you can link your account to your fav airline and when you use lyft you get miles. I have mine linked with Delta and it works flawless.

See you at the M&G. Safe travels

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If you have time post some pics from the ship

Finally got a cabin assignment, an upgrade from a BD to a DB- bigger balcony- we can have our chairs looking forward lol- all packed- well almost- just have to shuffle some things around-trying to bring our 2 bottles of wine and not have to buy them in Fl- this one is easy as far as ground/air going/ coming- mid day on both, talk some more tomorrow

Hi crisp1,

Did happy hour disappear on the royal yet?

Looking forward to your report - we board soon. Curious if you have an old coffee card and if the punches are honored, since we are getting conflicting info from folks on the Royal. Have a wonderful time!

Looking forward to your report and wishing you a Bon Voyage!

Enjoying following this thread.

Keith

Internet is painfully slow on board, so that may explain why Chris is not posting. This was my third attempt to get into CC since we boarded. Seas are glasss-flat calm as we make our way to St. Thomas. Capt Nash even commented yesterday that this cruise is the first of 2018 that there has been light winds and smooth seas...lucky us! Meet & Greet is today, so maybe some more folks will post.

Internet is painfully slow on board, so that may explain why Chris is not posting. This was my third attempt to get into CC since we boarded. Seas are glasss-flat calm as we make our way to St. Thomas. Capt Nash even commented yesterday that this cruise is the first of 2018 that there has been light winds and smooth seas...lucky us! Meet & Greet is today, so maybe some more folks will post.

Glad to hear you are having such calm seas. Hope you and Brenda are having a great time so far.

Chris, is there happy hour this week on board?

Have loads of fun and enjoy some great wine!

Looking forward to reading your reports. We sailed on the Royal in December and had a great time.