Razerbkfan

Looking for information/suggestions for parking at New Orleans cruise port. We’re driving in so are not planning a hotel stay. Full disclosure we’re going out on NCL but since we’re Emerald with RCL you have always been my go to for help. Just as a FYI we are trying NCL this cruise because we thought their 5 for free offer was going to be a savings. So far we’re not that impressed. By the time we actually booked, sorry we’re balcony snobs, the cost is pretty comparable to what we would have expected to pay all in with RCL. But at this point we thought why not g ahead and give them a try. I can offer a comparison review latter if anyone is interested. Thanks

Just to add more for the discussion we take two. One hangs over the bathroom door for those small items you want to keep handy. The other has a Velcro top that fits over a close rod. We put that in the closet. We don't take a lot of hang up cloths anymore but seem to take a variety of shoes, extra socks etc. nice to have them rganized and not all thrown all of the floor in the closet. Also saves trying to jam stuff in the drawers which are pretty limited. We always pack in our regular luggage and never have been questioned or sent to the naughty room for either of these.

I believe for the Top Tier event it is usually for Platinum or above. We enjoy them. Usually have a limited selection of free drinks. They introduce several of the ships officers and the guests with the most cruise points. We feel like it's a nice extra perk and usually only last 45 minutes or so. As mentioned if you qualify you'll get an invite card in your room when you board giving you the time and place.

Our two surprise items we didn't think we would need but now don't leave home without. A small digital camera. We used to take all of our pictures with our phones. But the last thing you want to do is drop your phone over the side or in the pool. So now we put the phones in the room safe to get out at the end of the cruise. The other is a shoe bag or some other pocketed bag you can either hang over the bath room door or in the closest. Great to hold the flip flops, sunglasses all of those small items you don't want on the floor or taking up the limited counter space you have.

Actually I like booking during Hurricane season. Hurricane weather tracks while not a 100% are so well covered by multiple outlets you have a pretty good idea of what you might be getting into as you get closer to your cruise. I know someday our luck will run out and we'll face some cancelled ports but so far that hasn't been an issue for us. I would much prefer being on a cruise where the captain can move us as needed for safety rather than a land vacation where they virtually close the place and tell you good luck. The prices are better, just remember to buy trip insurance.

Its been a couple of years and Its not the answer you requested but we usually use a parking garage literally accross the street from the port. You have the option of driving into the port to drop your luggage then parking or if your a light packer just walking to the terminal from the garage. We found the cost of parking combined with a hotel not offering port parking was cheaper. We literally have stood on our balcony on the ship and waived goodbye to our car as we sailed. Also in our opinion the Galveston port was one of the most congested because there was only one entrance for two different cruise line terminals. By the time you caught a shuttle packed in with a bunch of folks and their luggage then waited through the snail drive in line we could be through the terminal and already enjoying our first drink. When you return instead of waiting for a shuttle we just walked to our car and got on the road. I know they've been working hard to improve so things may have changed. Just trying to offer you options.

Sorry to hear the cruise didn't live up to your expectations. You did a great job of detailing your experiences. Based on what you said we would probably have come back commenting we had one of our best trips. I think it boils down to your individual tastes and expectations. If you try again sometime I would offer a couple of ideas that work for us. We spend the first day or so finding our bar. By that I mean there is usually one that seems to have the right mix of crowd and bartender. For us it is not the pool bar as that is almost guaranteed to give you the experience you had. Secondly we usually do a cash tip of a few bucks up front to the bartender that we like. It is amazing how quick they recognize you for the rest of the cruise. I'm a planning nut so one of the things I like about the large ships are the amount of things I can pre-reserve. Maybe you'd like one of the smaller ships as they tend to be open ended as far as scheduling is concerned. Hope you give it another try someday

To pile on with the doubters you may also need to do some research on the airline and their ticket process. We also have TSA precheck but that only helps with the security line. Some airlines let you get your boarding pass in advance and since you don't plan to check luggage you might be able to go directly to security. However if you need to get boarding documents or check something you also going to be a the mercy of that line. We usually fly out of FLL instead of Miami so I don't know for sure. We usually check luggage and I can tell you that easily can add 30 minutes or more that you probably don't have to spare. Good luck.

I use what I would call a hiking sandal. The toe is covered which is nice around all of the deck chairs and they have a strap across the back so they can't slip off like flip flops. All of the large sporting goods stores offer something similar. The fun thing to do however is to buy them on clearance in the fall when everyone else is gearing up for winter but your counting down the days to a cruise.

First I'm sorry you had a poor experience. I would agree with an earlier comment that a 3 or 4 day cruise can be a different experience than a 7 day cruise. Also we have found the date of the cruise can make a difference. Going at Spring break vs a time when more kids are in school comes to mind. I'm not saying one over the other is good or bad but individual cruises can take on a personality so to speak. Maybe this will help if you plan another cruise. I'm in the service industry so maybe I view the "sales" deals a little different. I think wait staff are professionals that are working hard to be promoted from say Windjammer thru MDR to a specialty restaurant. I know we have had waiters that were with us in the MDR who later were with us in a specialty. Anyway I think in addition to working hard at my venue I also have to cover shortages such as busy days in the MDR, and I have to make sales pitches to guest throughout the ship. So with that in mind I try to smile and engage them with a little friendly conversation. I can end it any time with a statement that I'm not interested. On our last cruise we were approached by a waiter with the sales pitch for a dining package. During the cruise we decided to splurge on a dinner at a specialty restaurant and sure enough the guy turned out to be our waiter. Not only did he recognize us but he made sure everything was fabulous. We've never received a response on the company survey either. My guess is RCL has a variety of sources it uses to gauge how effective they are being. I think they are very good at recognizing trends based on the ships and services they bring to the market. Finally I would offer that certainly cruising has changed in the last 10 years. All entertainment is constantly looking at their product. I think back to the all you can eat buffet that you used to see in Vegas. Those have largely been replaced as consumers have spoken with the pocket book saying they is what I like now. We cruise because the whole package seems to be a good value for us. Meals are not 5 star but are usually very good. Our room moves us each evening to a new location so I don't have to repack. We get to see great locations while being pampered by some very hardworking folks. Ok enough of my owns sales pitch. I hope you try another cruise again and you have the time of your life.

Let me get my disqualifications out there first. I'm a lowly Platinum member with RCL and we've only been regularly cruising for about 10 years. Part of the reason our club status isn't higher is because we have cruised on other lines. I still feel like Royal's loyalty program is very good. Compared to other programs like frequent flyer for an airline it is not time limited. You simply continue to accrue points as you cruise even if it takes you years to get to the next level. There are shortcuts to the top if you want to spend the money to get there. Nobody guarantees that benefits won't change but I think their system is pretty straightforward as to what you can expect at each level. Maybe because we're still newby's we don't have as high of expectations. We enjoy the little "welcome back" statements from the staff when we join the line to board or the loyalty reception that we now get to attend. Ok the drinks are watered down at the event but we're still pinching ourselves that we're on a cruise. As far as food and service 20 years ago that isn't in our minds as we felt that the cost of a cruise was beyond our reach back then. While we have cruised others so technically we have loyalty points with them we continue to look at Royal first because we think their ships are newer and better, price is fair compared to other vacations we might take and generally we love the people on a cruise. I think this is a little like reading after cruise reviews. You read about someone's terrible experience on a cruise you were just on and had the time of your life. Any you wonder were we really on the same ship?

Yes you can bring but ... I believe it has to be empty when you go through security both when you first enter the port and each time you board the ship. As mentioned I think you'll have to transfer all drinks from the bar supplied glass to your cup. With the ultimate drink package you'll be supplied with a RCL cup that while not as good as a Yeti it is insulated and the bar staff will refill directly for you. Finally your glass will not work in the freestyle soda machines if they are available on your ship and you just want a non alcoholic drink to carry around. My wife loves her Yeti cup also but that is one thing she leaves home when we cruise. hope this helps have a great time.

I agree I would recommend you do self disembarkation. Basically you don't put your luggage out the night before and you carry everything off yourself. Now the bad news. Maybe it was just me but on our most recent cruise in April it seeemed like more people are choosing this option. So basically a line starts forming very early for us that was about an hour before the advised time shown in the cruise compass. Also our experience is there is very little organization to the process. Your generally directed to where the line might start. But there is no segregation of those trying to catch early flights vs folks that just want off early. We followed several families down the gangway only to see them picked up by a local realative. This is of course their choice. Just be aware and take your patience pill.

We recently completed a 6 day cruise and did not buy the drink package. Generally we have purchased it in the past. Both my wife and I are not heavy drinkers during the day but usually have a couple of glasses of wine at dinner and cocktails during the shows. I was upset when RCL changed to requiring everyone in your room get the drink package, unless you get the exception, as my wife may only have one or 2 drinks. My thought was we had some OBC and we would use that to offset our drink cost during the cruise. With that as background I would say going forward we agreed we will purchase the drink package. We both agreed not having the drink package added to our stress, which is the last thing you want to do on a great vacation like this. As mentioned in the other post individual drink cost can add up quickly with the gratuity added in. Also we found we were making choices of do you really want that drink before the show or not? Or do I want to go to the spa since I've already spent some money for a couple of drinks today. We enjoy the little things like picking up a couple of bottles of water as you leave the ship for your excursion or letting the bartender make you one of their favorite drinks. I would recommend just adding the drink package into your estimated cost upfront as you choose your choice of cruises.

Thanks for answering this question for me. I to have a collection of the cups most still have the wrapper on them. Again probably should have got the drink package. With that I usually spend more time smiling and less time observing.

We just got back from our Adventure of the Seas cruise and overall had a great time. We didn't buy the drink package because it was a 6 day cruise with 3 port stops so we didn't think it would balance out for us. Although we did come in slightly under the money probably going forward we'll buy it in the future. We missed ordering drinks that we would not normally have, which is a plus for us when we've had the package. I did buy the soda package for my wife as she has to have here soda fix every day. One thing I noticed there were a lot of soda glasses from previous cruises brought on board. They were pretty easy to spot as the new glass is completely different. It looked to me like the old glass worked in the freestyle machine. I can't be sure however. I do know when the wife used the new cup it indicated a date that the refills were good for, which was a few days past the end of the cruise. I thought all of the old cups also were RFI'd so they would not work past your cruise. Anyway throwing this out for general discussion. Being the rule follower that I am I would think if people can use the old cup to not buy the package RCL will eventually just raise the price and change the rules like they have done with the drink package. Of course maybe everyone was just getting water in the old cups. Interested in your thoughts.

Let me pose an alternative thought for you. One of the reasons we love to cruise is we feel like it is the one vacation we can over pack. We start with if we are flying to the port then the restriction is really just what airline we're on and it's baggage costs. We enjoy unpacking one time when we fist get our room. Then changing depending on the activities and ports from there on out. We consider the evenings our date nights so we probably dress up a little more than we would normally do. So yes we over pack but we think that is part of the fun. Enjoy your cruise. There is no right or wrong answer as long as you have fun.

Against my better judgement I booked an early flight (10:30 am) for our Adventure cruise this month out of FLL. The cost was just to tempting. Because of the time we plan to carry our luggage off. I've never done the self assist before. Do we just head towards the gangway as early as we can or is there some type of notification we need to do? Since the port is so close to airport I think we can make it provided the ship is not late arriving in port. As always I appreciate all the help and experience of the group.

Neither of us take this so I can't answer your question directly. My wife has several health issues which requires a pretty big group of daily medications. She just packs them in a daily pill bottle and puts them in her carry on luggage. I do maintain a single sheet list of all of her prescriptions with a copy of the actual prescription in a folder with all of our cruise/travel info. We've never been asked to see it or asked to open our carry on by the cruise line or airlines. My concern would be at emigration returning from the cruise. Again we've never been asked but since you mention CBD I'm not sure how that would be treated. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information as State laws are not necessarily matching up to Federal laws. I not sure if there would be website you could consult or not. I would at least visit with my pharmacy and explain that I was traveling out of the country. They might have a resource to check for you. We're pretty excited about some of the new treatments being discussed as they might be of help to her in the future. Right now however we"re going to sit on the sidelines until the Federal laws are updated.

We've booked through Expedia multiple times. To answer your original question your potential credit is probably going to show up in two forms. There may be a cruise line credit which will immediately show in your account. These are typically credits offered by the cruise line and are available wherever you book from. That amount is usually pretty small but will be available to you prior to cruise as you book excursions, drink packages, etc. The second credit(s) are usually travel incentives either from a credit card company or expedia as the travel agent. These are not available until the second day of your cruise. So you can not use them for advance purchases but can use them after you board. For example you could purchase something the first day even though the credit doesn't show up yet. It would net itself out through the time of your cruise. Word of caution many times to receive the promotional credits you have to complete a redemption form on the expedia booking site prior to boarding. You can submit before your cruise but I'm afraid if you didn't do in advance you probably not get those credits. I like expedia as I find the site more user friendly than using the direct cruise line website. Also I'm a control freak in that I like booking all of our travel connections myself. As mentioned above I would not recommend them if you want the support of a travel agent behind you. I've called there customer service a couple of times and they have followed through on my requests as needed. However they do not watch for price drops, additional benefits, etc that a travel agent might do for you.

Global Entry is a process that allows you to register with the TSA. It was provide you precheck status automatically on all of your flights. I think the cost is around $75 per person. You must have a passport and there are only so many locations that you can go to. For example there are only 2 in our state and you have to make an appointment, usually about 6 weeks out. The application process is online but you have to complete at a registered site with an in person interview. I think it is good for 5 years. We think it's a benefit if you fly a couple of times a year. Just getting to be in the precheck lines and not having to take your shoes off is worth it to us. Mobile Passport is a phone app mananaged by US Customs. You basically enter all of the information from your passport and answer the standard entry questions that immigration will ask you. You also upload a phone of yourself. You then show your phone along with your passport when your enter the port. Our experience has been that you get to go to a fast line in the port if you have the app loaded. Another benefit is you can load multiple people traveling with you. So for my spouse and I we only need it on one phone. Both have good websites that can answer your questions. Hope this helps.

I agree with above that Global Entry helps with the airlines but doesn't apply to the port. I do highly recommend downloading and using the mobile passport app. Our last cruise on Allure as we disembarked there were basically 2 lines. Those that had mobile pass got to shortcut to the front of the line while everyone else had to work through the regular emigration line.

Thank you. Looking online we can see how to make it out but sounds a little sketchy on how to return. We did find a local tour that includes the Garden as a stop.

Has anyone toured QE II Botanic Park and how did you get there? We've kind of done the beach thing several times and this looked liked it might be a nice change of pace. We don't really need to tour the whole island. Thought we might go to the gardens for just a couple of hours then head back to shopping which is my wife's preferred excursion. Any help would be appreciated

We had some points to use so we stayed at the Embassy Suites on 17th street. We were in early enough to get in on the managers happy hour. So we had a couple of free drinks in the evening and a great breakfast the next morning. We could see our cruise ship in the morning from our balcony. Even though they offered a shuttle we did a uber to the port. We don't like waiting around for everyone to show up to cram into the shuttle. They hotel is looking a little worn but we had good service and found it convenient to everything. We have 2 restaurants that are within walking distance, probably 3 blocks, if you like seafood. Southport Raw Bar or Kelly's landing. Both seem to be a locals hangout and we love the food. Both are pretty small however so you'll have to judge on the lines if you want to wait it out or not. There are several chain restaurants also in the area.