deep1

I live an hour and a half from Miami port. No reason that it should take nearly 4 hours to get to the terminal..,,,.

The port was to blame for the first part getting to the terminal. Royal owned the end though. Despite having the key we were routed to circling deck 4 shoulder to shoulder for extra 45 minutes instead of the exit path we were supposed to get. That part was inconvenient but not earth shattering. The port at the beginning was beyond awful. Added at least an hour and some once inside the port. An extra half hour or more of in town detour just to get to the bridge ,,, Its usually complicated at the port but this was the worst I have ever seen anywhere!

I did and customer service as well. They got back to me and were appreciative of the constructive criticism rather than a run of the mill complaint.

Shopping new cruise right nowand plugged in Lauderdale. Turnpike or 95 to 595 and straight into the port... Southern on Oasis is talking to me.... It was 40 minutes to go from terminal f to terminal G! One ships length...

As mentioned the Miami port problem was the worst I've seen in all my years of going through there... Definitely not the run of the mill crazy... The swing through downtown was not just irritating it was flat out dangerous. ... We watched three fender benders in a 1/2 mile and another in the port... From what I could see there was no reason at all to close the inbound tunnel... Outbound was backed up because of ongoing construction at an intersection ...

Just got back from cruise on Independence Of the Seas. I will say that from check in through the cruise it was seamless flawless. Entertainment was best in a long time. Food was vastly improved from where it was after Covid... The ship was clean, crew fantastic, weather fantastic. Couple notable issues though. I had been reading that Port of Miami had been having traffic problems. Couple? Just prior to entering the tunnels they blocked them off with no warning. That resulted in thousands being rerouted through downtown back to the bridge. There were eight ships in at the time unloading and reloading. Icon up in "A", Indy in G... Over an hour from the bridge to our terminal! I parked then went to the curb to meet my sister who was transporting my 89 year old mom. She got parked and all inside went smooth in the terminal and aboard. We had the Key so it was quick once aboard. The topic among the passengers that lead the way was the traffic. I have done about 15 cruises from Miami, most on weekends, and I have never seen a worse gridlock. Why would they shut down the tunnels to the busiest cruise terminal on the busiest day? Not just this weekend either, several in a row!!!! Disembarking we hit another snag. People were rerouted to do basically a full lap of deck four to exit! My sis had mentioned "Key". She and my mom went straight through. My Fiancé and I were a few minutes behind. The girl that helped my mom was replaced by one who never heard of the key. 45-50 minutes of shoulder to shoulder mess getting off. My mom would never have been able to endure that line. Thank goodness they were fortunate enough to get through when they did... Traffic leaving the port was "normal". Still I heard after our cruise that the port experienced more problems with gridlock. Allow extra time for that. Perhaps as much as an hour extra cushion. All in all though we had a great time... Any suggestions on who to contact about the Key? The disembark could use some tightening up and we had wifi issues the whole trip that should be brought to their attention.

Mid may or October...

I made a mistake... While looking through trans Pacific cruises (Want Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia). I saw Japan crossings and made mention out loud. Next thing I knew pitter patter of feet came fast and furious. Japannnnnnn!!!!! It was really never on my bucket list though I had sent tons of tuna to "SKI-JI", a fish market thats a self contained city in itself. She has a different bucket I guess. Price was right sooooo... I know didly about Tokyo. What airport of the many do I want to go to? I can save substantially if I go from FT. Lauderdale instead of Palm Beach but don;t know which on that side do I want to go? Its a brutal 18 or so hours to get there. Any recommendations how to sedate my Fiancé ? Then which hotel? I only want to shake off jet lag and visit the fish market. Not sure what she wants to do? I see Mt. Fuji is a stop that I might like but looks a good distance from the port. Do they have excursions? I mean why not. Once in a lifetime. Been to Ranier, Matterhorn, Denali, Table Mountain in South Africa why not Fuji? :D. What are other shouldn't miss spots?

I'm taking my 88 YO mother on Indy in January to keep the multigenerational thing going...

Today my daughter sent me a picture of my youngest grandson (10 months old) enjoying himself at Chops aboard Utopia. His 2 1/2 year old brother was with my son in law eating ice cream and dancing up by the pools, waiting for sail away... As she detailed their boarding and activities my mind drifted back about 25 years. We had planned for her mother and another couple to join us but work schedules wouldn't permit. She was crushed thinking the trip wasn't going to take place. I wasn't about to let that happen and it was a daddy daughter epic that followed. I closed my eyes and could hear the horse drawn carriage. hooves clopping along Nassau's Bay street, I could see her happiness. She laughed when the "man" asked me to not fish off our balcony. The "pirate coin" i planted at Coco Cay for her to find was a real hit. Especially when she showed it off at a tiki bar. Before we knew it the area was jammed with new "friends". In response to the harp music being played at the midnight buffet "Daddy am I dreaming"? Today I knew she would make memories for herself and my grandsons along the same lines. I'm far from done but that torch has been passed. I am pleased beyond words...

I'm spoiled with Oasis class beasts with RCL. For us it was the "feel' that earned our praise. Clean, sharp, crew on the ball. Dont get me wrong, Summit wasn't bad but Reflection was a cut above good...

I'll be there as well. Sister and I treating 88 year old mom to it. Having been on Indy twice before I chose it over Oasis class as its easier to get around. The grand promenade is a straight line with plenty of stuff to entertain without having to run to venue after venue. They even have a Parade (or at least did)... We too have side by side balconies on deck 8. Mom used to cruise in the suites till her other could no longer get around....

Back in April we cruised on Summit to take in Key West then Bimini and finally Nassau. That run was a dud... Key West was ok. They didn't do Bimini worrying about slim chance of weather (that never did happen). We lost power twice. No water for showers, no AC, no Wifi, no operating toilets. The ship did not have a crisp clean feel. Over all the crew was great except the customer service desk. We ended up ok but needed a re do. Jumped on reflection not expecting much. It was sharp, crisp and something to be proud of. Crew again fabulous. Flawless. Night and day over Summit and will be earning more of my business...

Sis already sourced one. Great tip. Not expensive at all.

Added a 5 night on Indy out of Miami in late January. My fiancé and I do a lot from there but this time is a bit different. My sister and I have teamed up to provide my mother with a cruise. She used to cruise with my dad then boyfriend after he passed away. She was big on getting biggest suites and exotic ports. When her boyfriend no longer was in condition to cruise she more or less gave up her favorite pastime. He too passed about 3 years ago and its been close to 8 years since her last one. Well, sister and I can't swing the $$$ for a fancy suite but were able to book side by side balconies for a surprise gift trip. Mom is a very sharp 88 years young. Pretty good shape but could use some help getting from the curb to on board. At airports my sister has porters with wheelchairs get her from the curb to the gate and from the gate at the other end to ground transportation. Sis was wondering if they have ground support like that at port of Miami? Once aboard mom can get around pretty well with our help to lean on but long lines and distances associated with boarding are a bit much. So, do they have assistance available and how would we obtain it? Can we arrange in advance or obtain right there at the port? Any input is appreciated...... Thinking that we might get the "Key" to shorten the lines, improve show seating, and generally make things a touch easier...

Add Reflection Sept for another KW Bim quickie to the collection.

They wound up sending enough FCC to make a second try in September...

Sept 9-13... Silhouette ... Re -do Key West- Bimini after Summit failure. They gave enough FCC to make it worthwhile...

I had no reason to think they would have any mishaps. Especially multiple ones. It had great reviews and though fresh out of dry dock still had the issues. My biggest concern wasn't the power, head and water problems. It was the lack of communication and utter indifference to the passengers by guest services. I didn't find that remotely acceptable. I approached them calmly and with respect. When given no viable answers to my questions, I escalated to executive branch. Though slow to respond they did show concern. Then today they offered a compensation. A touch short of what I had hoped for but good enough. For me, its astern of us and adequately resolved.

Either fast ferry or air. Not eager to risk it again.

While I'm certainly bugged by the power and water issues and outright indignant about their lack of response I'm not so sure for me this is one and done. In fact I'm looking hard at Transpacific run with them. What they offer may well be the determining whether I do go but not only deciding factor. As mentioned the three days without problems were delightful.

THE GOOD>>>>>Picked this one cause of itinerary that included Key West and Bimini, both on bucket list for Fiancé. Boarding was seamless. Crew was best I have ever seen! Ship clean and not crowded. Buffet better than Windjammers. Room was smaller than Royal but balcony was bigger. Items purchased online had not been delivered though. Call to guest services solved part of it. Some items did get delivered. Guest services called to say they were sold out although there was plenty of the other items plainly visible in the gift shop at higher cost than what I had agreed to pay on line. They said they would refund to my card form of payment. NO biggie but still a minor glitch. Two of three outlets and both usb ports were intermittent or mostly not working. TV , Wi-Fi as well barely operational... Guest services said they would send somebody. They never did come. MDR dinner was like old days on RCL excellent!!!. Comedy/ magic show was good. After that we had to get logged back in to internet that repeatedly kicked us off. Yet too minor of a glitch to moan about. Day 2 breakfast was excellent and Key West great, especially for Fiancé who had never been. Second dinner as good as the first... THE BAD>>>>>Day three we were unable to dock due to wind and current... Many aboard were upset but I had to agree with the call. We would have two sea days instead of one to crawl to Nassau. Mid afternoon I noticed no Wi-Fi again. Also noticed we had come to a complete stop and were adrift. Phone wasn't working so I decided to go to Wi-Fi desk. Emergency lights in hall and elevators not working? Had to use stairs. Full on black out! Water was out as well, No ice for the bars, no showers. Public restrooms closed and guests told to use the ones in their cabins and flush after power would be restored. With no elevators guests had to hoof up several decks worth of stairs. Many of them elderly. Some didn't make it and suffered the ultimate indignity. Sections of stairs roped off to clean that mess! Power restored for a while. It went back out at around dinner time. Many were in showers and unable to get soap off. Dinner was hot with no AC.... Kitchen escalators and elevators didn't work. Poor wait staff had to run up and down hot dim stairs with their orders. After that black out the Celebrity Apps wouldn't work. No way again to check upcoming shows or monitor account. Next day started ok then multiple pipes on multiple decks burst! Again public facilities were closed. People had to scramble to find safe places to relieve themselves. Some noted the water went brown when the water quit running properly. Decks 2,5 and 7 were soaked in many areas.. THE REALLY UGLY: Repairs were made, Nassau stop no problem, but ugly was on its way. People were upset. They were told in some cases after we docked that BImini port fees were refunded to onboard accounts and needed to be spent while aboard?!? Nobody was notified and with no tv or working apps no way to see their accounts. My fees never were refunded nor my online goods that were never delivered. Some people were told they would get 30% off their next cruise but couldn't use any other discount? Their every day sales offer bigger discounts off full fare!!! Some were given like $90 being and told that equated to 40% of their total fares????????????? Many were told there would be no compensation what so ever!!!! Some were told there had been cold towels and free drinks at some pool but nobody let the passengers know. Then most, like me several days later have not received or been told a single thing. I had been given a promise of a call this morning but none ever came! After I took half day off to take that call! I called them and no apology or update. I am far from impressed!

I'm gonna rent a golf cart and ride to the other end of the island. Conch fritters and conch salad are calling me. Introduce my Fiancee to OLD friends. Stop by Bimini Big Game club and visit my old home crowd. Stop at the burnt ruins of the Compleat Angler bar (one of Hemingway's hangouts and pay my respects to those from there no longer with us. Wade the waters of radio beach. Go to the mini strawmarket. I'll head back up to the port with enough time to shop the nice shops ar the resort there.

Summit April 1: Mia - Key West- Bimini- Nassau.... All places I've lived. Fiancee hasn't done Bimini or Key West so that was the reasoning. Gotta say, compared to Royal, they go out of their way to make you feel welcome...

Heard some rumors elsewhere that points were going to be cross honored between C+A ? I know they kind of honor levels but the rumor said points could be earned on either line and be applied to a "combined type account"? Any real in that rumor or just another internet story?