AlanFromFL

Shoes. :p

Several years back we rented a 'small' 4-dr pickup (I believe it was a Nissan Frontier) that had a locking bed cover, it was perfect for our dive trip to the Keys (this is before we moved down here permanently).

Don't worry, if your GPS can get you to I-395, the tunnel is well-marked (remember to stay LEFT, the exit is on the left); once you emerge at the Port, it's just a matter of finding your ship and the closest parking lot.

Thanks SteveinOrlando & mike&joluvcruising! We did go ahead and book the excursion; Cathy should be able to navigate the sand just fine and we'll just avoid the rough spots whenever possible. We're really looking forward to this excursion, as we've been to Cozumel so many times and were looking to do something other than the same ol' thing.

Park N Go has been our #1 choice for both port and airport parking for many years. Never had a problem with them; shuttles are fast and plentiful, drivers are friendly and helpful.

We don't sail until January 2, 2016 and have already made final payment. Do we receive an e-mail about when to do online check in? Do we HAVE to wait until 3 days before or, could we do it now? What are the pros and cons to just doing it now?

You can complete your online check-in as soon as you like.

I always try to do ours as early as possible, it just puts me into that crusin' mood! :D

Question to those that have done this excursion - - how physically demanding is this tour - RCCL web site indicates 'Activity Level: Moderate', DW has a bit of trouble walking over uneven ground, but sand is no problem. :confused:

After going crazy looking for a hotel for 1/8/16- 1/9/16, decided on La Quinta Inn & Suites in Plantation Fl. It is 7 miles from the airport & 11 to the cruise port. Not bad right??? There is no shuttle so I am wanting opinions on this hotel/location.

Location is close to lots of shopping & restaurants within walking distance. Are you flying into FLL and renting a car?

We usually try to time our arrival at the port to somewhere between 11:00 and noon, so that we avoid having to spend much time actually waiting in the terminal & to board as early as possible. The sooner you board, the sooner you can partake in all that the ship has to offer - explore, grab some lunch, quench your thirst. Sometimes the cabins aren't immediately available for occupancy, but usually they're ready by 1-ish, in our experience.

We too sailed on Norwegian Getaway 5/9 - 5/16, and our experience was 180 degrees different from the OP.

The ship is beautiful, tastefully decorated. Arrival at POM to boarding the ship took no more than 20 minutes.

Our cabin steward Chris introduced himself promptly upon our boarding, we saw him every morning and evening and were always greeted with a pleasant 'Good Morning/Evening Mr Alan'; cabin was always made up early in the day, nothing to complain about whatsoever. And yes, we had towel animals every night except the first.

Service in all of the dining venues was good to excellent; even in the MDRs we never had to wait long and the service was attentive. MDR food was decent, maybe not quite as good as some of the other lines we've sailed on, but perfectly acceptable. Buffet breakfast and lunch was as good, more than enough choices to keep anyone satisfied. We dined at Moderno, Teppanyaki, and La Cucina; all were excellent and well worth the cover charge.

Entertainment was top notch; my DW is still raving about Burn The Floor. We had made reservations for all shows well in advance so we had no problems whatsoever with seating.

Crew in general was friendly, I never encountered any surly or indifferent staff.

And despite the sturm und drang regarding the room service and carrying out food to cabin, we personally did not witness even a single instance where anyone was prevented from leaving the buffet with food. Maybe they'd not had a chance to train the door dragons to do anything but spray hand sanitizer yet.

So in closing, I would suggest to anyone reading this thread to carefully consider all of the reviews, both good and bad, and make your own informed decision. We thoroughly enjoyed NCL Getaway and would recommend it to anyone.

We park at the port, for the convenience and security.

do we need reservations for Howl at the Moon also????

 

 

 

 

 

Marsha

No, it's open seating. Filled up quickly.

We just got back from cruise aboard Getaway...our impression was that our balcony was probably the smallest we've encountered so far, but still well worth the extra few dollars. Additional bonus was that we had an unobstructed, private view of the fireworks show - book a port side cabin if that's a must.

Found them yesterday in the Garden Cafe on Getaway. Very yummy!

Just got back from Getaway. No evidence whatsoever that this "policy" exists, or for that matter, being enforced, at least in the Garden Cafe. No door dragons, just the nice girls with the spray bottles.

I believe that other than breakfast, we've ordered room service a grand total of one time across 14 different cruises over the past 11 years. So that doesn't necessarily bother me, it's the PRINCIPLE of the thing! :D And yes, I'll bring a desert or some fruit back to the cabin as a snack for later.

We depart on the Getaway tomorrow, and all of this talk about bringing food back to our cabin, room service charges, etc. has me a bit discouraged. This will be only our second cruise on NCL, we had been a little hesitant about the whole 'freestyle' concept since our experience with 'anytime dining' aboard other lines has been mixed. I'm beginning to think that 'freestyle' really means 'a la carte' in that everything will have a charge or fee, nothing will be included in the fare except the cabin, and perhaps steward service - if at that. I'm trying to keep an open mind, this will probably be NCL's one and only time to impress us and win us over.

And once you've taken your food beyond the doors of the buffet are they going to chase you and take the plate from you if you continue on and carry it to your room? They'd have to hire more crew members to pull that off.

Release the Hounds...!

Alan from Florida we are with you meat suit it is

Oh, I'll just be mortified if we show up wearing the same outfit! :D

I'm going to wear a meat suit composed of bacon strips that I smuggled out of the buffet back to my cabin. Stick it to the man! :cool:

They can ask 'til the cows come home...will anyone listen? :D

I think the Sunpass and Peach Pass are now interchangeable, if you already have a Peach Pass.

If you take the Florida Turnpike from south of Ocala all the way to Miami Gardens (where you would pick up I-95 for the remainder of the drive to POM), yes, you'll encounter tolls. If you're coming down I-95 exclusively, then no, no tolls (unless you choose to ride in the "Lexus Lanes" on I-95 thru Miami-Dade county).

The SunPass web site now indicates that Peach Pass is now participating w/ Sunpass, so you'll be good.

We'll certainly never forget our first cruise, 9 nights aboard Caribbean Princess, back in 2004 the week before Labor Day. Started out as 7 nights, but thanks to Hurricane Frances, Port Everglades was closed for over a day, delaying our return.

"Chef's Special"?

Actually this thread reminded me of this story, a burrowing owl took up residence aboard the Oasis of the Seas a few years back:

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/weird/Owl-Burrows-Hole-on-Cruise-Ship-Golf-Course-103332944.html

The owl was captured and released in a nearby park; he didn't end up on the menu.

Has anyone actually tried the calling feature of the app? Is the call quality reasonably good?

Could you afford to pay out of pocket the cost of air ambulance evacuation from some less-developed port of call to your home country? Think $50k or more. Would your personal health insurance cover that, especially if they demand cash up front? That in itself is enough of a reason to purchase travel medical insurance.