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AshleyDillo

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Everything posted by AshleyDillo

  1. Please, ask away! There are SO many different ways to take a cruise vacation and a lot of it is tailored to what your family expects, how they're used to traveling, what they like to do, what they are into, etc. Royal Caribbean has a very big product offering, even when you're just limiting it to a Caribbean cruise. There are options out there where the ship is more of the destination than where it goes in the Caribbean and then there are smaller ship offerings that can go to interesting and unique places. Then there are some itineraries/ships that offer a good balance between. I highly, highly suggest that you work with a travel agent that specializes in Royal Caribbean cruises. They can help you assess what would work best for your family and your finances and it doesn't cost anything extra. You will have a single point of contact and not have to call into a call center when you have a question. A lot of us, myself included, use the travel agency that is a sponsor of this blog, MEI Travel. If you go to the main blog page by clicking HOME at the very top left of the screen and fill out the yellow form on the right side of the page, someone from MEI will reach out to you to start helping you plan. There is zero obligation and zero cost to you..the agent works for you in navigating the process!
  2. I recommend dropping off first. These shuttles often use a trailer for the luggage so you have to load all of that in and then wait for the shuttle to be full with passengers. You don't have to worry about your luggage if you drop it off before you park. Your wife and teenagers can even go check in and sit and wait for you in the air conditioned terminal if they are comfortable with that. Otherwise they'll be outside -- it is covered and shaded, though. It may take a while for you to return because of the wait for the shuttle to be full and all the loading of the luggage and such. For this reason alone I always suggest it isn't really worth the $ savings to park offsite if you have others waiting on you. Port Everglades also has a security checkpoint for driving into the terminal where everyone has to show their IDs and SetSail passes AND the driver has to show his license. Your kids and wife may be waiting quite a bit for you to return. After the cruise you also have to wait for the shuttle and have it be loaded and potentially it be too full, so you have to wait for it to return. It's so worth the $ to just save that hassle and park at the port so you can hop in your car and drive home.
  3. You get debarkation luggage tags with The Key so they can put their luggage out the night before debarkation. Those bags will get pulled off and put in the terminal for collection ahead of the typical numbered tags, same as the suites/pinnacles tag. This way The Key folks can leave when they wish to and know that their luggage will be waiting for them in the terminal. Self-assist folks have to handle their own luggage.
  4. You can connect to the wifi onboard the ship and will be able to access Royal's website without paying for internet. Use that to price check what cruise you are interested in and then walk over and have NextCruise book it for you.
  5. They usually have a bunch of different drink cups -- I've seen a mix of the old and new patterns. You will get the cups with your package in your room. You can take the unwrapped cups to where they're hawking the drink packages on the Promenade and politely ask to swap them out.
  6. There's no routing of luggage with Amtrak so there's not that concern. But someone can easily walk off with your bag. I'll make a carry-on work if I'm really concerned about it..but the short hop direct flights I relax a bit. I haven't done it yet, but if I was on my own I would completely take one of the 6am flights out of JAX to FLL or MIA. Out of JAX they are often the first flights out of the day so no waiting for an incoming flight. But my concern is more the saving time because the flight times don't line up well with my schedule causing me to take more leave time..but if you're considering Amtrak then at all that's not really as much of a concern. I have thought about the overnight Red Coach luxury bus too..but I am also one who could completely sleep on the bus the entire way--takes care of the hotel cost and someone else takes care of the driving.
  7. Costa Maya has that at the port..free for use. It's just a pool. CocoCay has a swim up floating bar off the beach. I believe Labadee does as well.
  8. I see flights for way less than what Amtrak would cost between JAX and FLL and MIA. I fly out of JAX more than my home airport.
  9. The ports for this cruise at San Juan, Labadee and St. Thomas. So not that port intensive and plenty of ship time. ?
  10. If no one else responds..paging @CGTLH who will be on Mariner next weekend and should be able to test this!
  11. If you're talking about the Villa Suite on Freedom, I saw someone on one of the comment threads in the main blog posts who was asking about this as well. He followed up with Royal and was told they aren't changing the suite but then he's still able to find the rooms for sail individually..so he's in the same boat as your (pardon the pun). Check out the comments section here: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2019/10/14/deck-deck-changes-coming-freedom-of-the-seas
  12. The themes are pretty standard on most Caribbean cruises. While they are making some changes to the ship, most of the changes won't have a direct impact on activities or themes on the ship. I would look at a current Compass from a Harmony or Symphony 7-night Caribbean sailing to get an idea of what themes there might be. Usually I've only see things such as Caribbean or a white theme and then there's usually a 70's or 80's night or both. I will be on that Oasis sailing as well so I'm pumped to get to see the all the new changes!
  13. Make sure you complete the Special Needs form: https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/allaboutcruising/guestSpecialNeeds.do You will want to arrive at your Muster Station early. They will need to scan your mom's SeaPass card to check her in for the muster drill but they will guide her to the best area for her to stay throughout the drill.
  14. For a flight out of Miami, don't think you'll have any problems if you get up and out of there early. I was at the airport by 730am when I self-debarked Symphony at about 6:45am. Of course I was using the rental car shuttle, so it didn't get caught up in all the taxi/rideshare mess since they operate out of a different lane in the terminal but even that didn't seem too busy at the very earliest debarkation time. It was a whole other mess when I was back at the terminal at 930am, though.
  15. Like everyone else has stated, Port Everglades will require that you show your SetSail and your ID. But the rideshare driver also has to show their ID..in fact if your friend dropped you off they would have to show ID. Everyone has to have ID to access Port Everglades..all it really needs to be is a valid driver's license. You would think Uber/Lyft drivers in the Ft. Lauderdale area would be used to this, but our last trip it was the driver's first foray into Port Everglades and he didn't know what he was doing. I got worried that he didn't have a valid license on him at that point..but finally he showed something in the app and got us through...but phew!
  16. I would do 2 rooms..book 3 in one and then 2 in the other..gets you all on the ship. The only thing is if you really want the special suite access stuff, everyone has to be booked in a grand suite level room or above ?
  17. Ouch...I didn't know that was a thing if they let you book with 5 in the first person on the original reservation, even for a guarantee. They didn't give you any other options? The thing with RoyalUp is that it's not a guarantee that they even have the room available when they offer it to you for bids. They collect bids so they can have them lined up in the case of a cancellation. Your best bet is to upgrade yourself directly to the room you want with the guarantee that all five of you are in the room and on the reservation, but that's going to be limited by what is currently available for booking.
  18. They make you purchase it for all the adults in the room when you are onboard as well. You have to at least purchase the Refreshment Package for your wife. For the best prices do this before you get onboard. It does require a phone call to Royal to make the purchase to override the requirement of both having the Deluxe package. The Deluxe package was $89/day onboard my last cruise. It was regularly $49-$52/day in the cruise planner. Totally worth calling and getting your wife the Refreshment Package (which is typically $20-$22/day in the cruise planner).
  19. RoyalUp doesn't change your original reservation. If the kids aren't on your original reservation getting a RoyalUp bid won't add them. i don't believe that you can add them without a reprice either. If you are working with a TA, I would speak with them about your options to get the kids added. If you aren't working with a TA, this would be a great reason to transfer your reservation to one so they can explore the options with you.
  20. It should be available for pre-purchasing stuff but it doesn't show sometimes until closer to the sailing. If you have a TA you can have them check on it for you and they can usually get it applied earlier.
  21. Having just done this search for the Freedom Group Cruise, from Jax the cheapest will most likely be Southwest. And you may want to consider Orlando as the routes from Jax to San Juan all went through FLL. Orlando has direct flights.
  22. On a Harmony sailing we ordered a bunch of stuff at 1am and it probably took close to 2 hours to get it. We ordered through the TV and got a call a few minutes later letting us know they were slammed and that it was going to take at least an hour and a half and asked if we still wanted to go ahead or cancel. Usually you can expect 30-45 minutes.
  23. Ooh..maybe you and @Matt could work on a podcast about working on the ships or about the casino specifically!
  24. Alamo/National/Enterprise all use the same shuttle bus from the port to the airport. I have not taken it from the airport to the port, but it is available. It is a full sized bus with luggage racks.
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