tonyfsu21

Still a great value! Inflation tightening its grip.

Yes, that has been my experience connecting through ATL. It’s always something, either no pilot available or we are held on the ground at FLL until weather passes exc. A 30 minute gap has not been good enough.

How about they add $5/pp to all speciality dining venues, up the drink package by 25%, add 10% to all alcohol, coffee and soft drink and call it a day? Double the cost of the Starbucks and watch the line disappear. Forget about charging for the pizza or the hotdogs or extorting people for a grossly undersized rock lobster tail. There are plenty of ways to increase the bottom line and personally I don’t care what they charge for alcohol and food, people will pay! The bottom line here is that regardless of where this company decides to extort more money from customers it’s going to piss one portion of the customer base off and another just won’t give a crap. It’s a delicate dance and there will be people up in arms.

I would pay for food delivery for sure. When you have younger kids at the pool it would be much easier to pay to have a decent pizza delivered direct to a lounge chair. I would pay double for Starbucks delivery. There are so many untapped revenue streams that RC needs to jump on w/o having any impact to the free offerings. I also really would like to resolve the chair hog issue once and for all. Forget about charging for pizza, how does RC keep the hogs from taking every chair on the deck?

Hopefully you can fly direct. I have connected through ATL a few times in the past couple months and have been heavily delayed or cancelled each time. Maybe it’s just bad luck but I wouldn’t take any chances before a vacation.

Even though PizzaGate 2023 is officially over, I think you are on to something re: get rid of the antipasti. This place should be devoted to pizza and only pizza! All useable real estate on Sorrentos display counters should have pizza. That place is a pizza making machine and there’s no room to clog up this operation with other offerings which should be housed at cafe promenade or the windjammer.

I would consider booking a flight at any point after noon for both ports. This is certainly conservative but it allows for contingency in the case of issues with customs, transportation exc. As for pre cruise, come in the day before because of the mess that is current air travel (hopefully you NEVER have to connect through ATL or connect at all for that matter).

Comparing American pizza to Italian pizza = apples to oranges. Personally I prefer American NY style pizza to the “pizza” they serve in Naples. Sorrentos is a low rent take on a NY style pizza and it’s decent for a cruise but on land it could be compared to Dominos.

This has morphed into Pizzagate! By 1/1/24 the lines at Sorrentos will be very short. I wish the company focused efforts on mitigating the chair hog issue which is an actual issue and could be turned into a profitable chair reservation system for revenue.

I wouldn’t pay for the crappy pizza but I could see paying for the return of the midnight buffet! I could actually logic this fee especially if they resurrected the chocolate fountain and the elaborate ice sculptures.

It’s all about timing and you are unfortunately late to the game. I managed to book Icon for 2 holiday sailings next year and the price wasn’t too bad for a new ship. I repriced the categories we booked and they have more then doubled in price which is crazy.

Freedom is awesome!!! I wouldn’t hesitate to book a 7 day voyage on that ship. The crew is great and there are plenty of dining and activity options after the AMP. We sailing her again in a couple weeks.

It’s easy. The port will have vans running continuous from the parking garages to the terminal and they are frequent. Last time the lot was full I thought we were in for a hassle but it ends up being about a 10-15 minute delay in plans with a 5 minute drive in the van.

Unless you have an Earth Roamer, you shouldn’t worry about this at all. The large bus(s) used to transport guests and their luggage fit just fine.

Just pick your poison, they are all pretty much the same. There’s plenty of nickel & dime price gouges at these “all inclusive resorts”. I’ve been to 3 of the 8 you mentioned above and they were really bad to the point where we axed them as a vacation option.

I would pay for the pizza and even VIP seats in the Windjammer all day long in comparison to a land based resort vacation. Try a long weekend at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas or any comparable resort experience on the strip and cruising with the pizza package will seem like a bargain. It’s not apples to apples in fact this weekend at Cosmopolitan (w/o including gambling) cost at least 3 weekends in a JS on Freedom of the seas. On what planet do we have to pay for parking at hotels in LV??!!!!!!!

Yep, you nailed it with this one utilizing all the key catch phrases!

If they start charging for the pizza then there will be no end to the madness. What’s next? Windjammer becomes speciality dining? Towels at the pool? Drip coffee at cafe promenade? Shows? At some point the nickel and dime mentality will have a negative effect on the bottom line because many families count on the “complimentary” options and consider this value when cruising with the brand.

It happens. If you are cruising over the summer I wouldn’t be as concerned because the port is not as busy.

Really? Just mention the word “Covid” on this thread and it gets shut down.

Let’s be honest, who would actually pay for that crappy pizza anyway? It’s great pizza because it’s free. Once it’s not free it’s on par with dominos or Pizza Hut. I predict they don’t venture down that road because Sorrentos fans are passionate about their free pizza and the relentless backlash would be too much for RC to contain.

An armed gang looking to rob a bunch of cruise passengers of their sail & sign cards? Seems like an awful idea for a gang to trap themselves in an attempt to overtake a worthless peninsula only to be slaughtered by their own army.

If you want: More beach then you are about to get on your cruise vacation: Marriott Harbor Beach, Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach, W Fort Lauderdale beach. Close to Port Everglades despite the fact that everything in Fort Lauderdale is “close to port Everglades”: Embassy Suites 17th street, Hilton Marina, Renaissance. Gambling/Party Vibe and possibly the best resort pool on planet earth (my kids love it): Hard Rock Guitar Hotel. Close enough, cheap”er” and lots of dining options: Any of the mid tier chain hotels located in the Dania Pointe area. 15-20 Minute drive and a different resort/beach vibe and older crowd: Hollywood beach specifically the Margaritaville hotel. Great pool and close to plenty of dining options on the boardwalk. Prices are heavily dependent on the time of year. The highest prices will be during tourist season from Labor Day to end of April at the conclusion of Spring Break. If you are cruising during that time expect prices to double or triple current rates.

Perhaps a hotel on Fort Lauderdale beach?

Yes, prime location. Let me know exactly what you are looking for and I will give you some suggestions from a local perspective.