thesnoopster2

You have given me a few things to ponder and I will need to look into it. You are right, just because some idiot phone rep that has zero skin in the game says one thing, doesn't mean the port agent which could be facing termination and massive fines will have the same happy go lucky let everything go type attitude. The GFs daughter will be 13 at the time of the cruise and the cousin, with no mom or dad, but grandma, will be 10 years old. Not to bring race into it, but the cousin is black and grandma is white so that could, in theory, bring up a 'how we know she belongs to you type thing.'

I ended up buying the full insurance package from the Costco vender. They said basically same thing. Any medical on the ship and I would be charged, come back home and then submit for reimbursement. However if it was something major, idk - like $5k, I could call them and they would work out something like a credit line. The cost was pretty low. I think the trip is around $9k for flights, prepays, taxes, fees, ect. Once I removed all the prepays and such, it was only $400. They said personal effects are covered for the duration so if the kids bring ipad to swim with dolphins and they dropped it in the tank or if they dropped it on the reef, the insurance would pay for it.

You are of course, 100% right about this. I asked NCL about this and they basically told me they are ok with things. Which I was a little surprised about. The gf's daughter's father has full custody and he has given us verbal permission, plus texts too but doubt that counts as much, to take her. While on ship, if medical is needed, her mom is right there so "shouldn't" be an issue. NCL said as long as mom is there, there is no issue. The only issue I see is if there is a national amber alert thing going on and it pops up while checking in. We did put her down as the 3rd person in a "#3 and #4" per are free deal. This way is dad pulls permission at the last minute and she doesn't go, she was free to begin with. This way we aren't on the hook for anything money wise. Right now the only costs for her are the prepaid gratuities, taxes, and port fees which are all refundable. I will try to get dad to fill out the NCL health form just in case because nothing wrong with being over prepared. Same with the cousin, that one I will need a health form from her mom since she isn't going. As far as the state dept form, not sure what you are alluding to with that.

I really appreciate this thread. I have a direct flight from PDX to MIA and then FLL to PDX. Flying in friday afternoon, cruise from sunday to sunday, flying home Monday. With cruising I really want to fly in 2 or 3 days prior to sailing. I don't trust airlines with my cruise. Going to Disney and I miss a day, ehhh....oh well. Going on a cruise and fly in the same day, you miss the whole boat. I have a group of 6 people going in 2 cabins. The GF and myself and our 5 year old and in cabin #2, we have grandma, a 10 year old cousin, and the GFs daughter who is 13. When cruising, it is hard enough to maintain the people in your cabin and your kids. This will be cruise #7 for me, #3 for the gf and my kid. This will be cruise #1 for cabin #2. Also, first REAL vacation for the 2nd group. The biggest vaca the group of 6 has been on together is a 2 night trip at Great Wolf Lodge that was a 2 hours drive. This is significantly different. My main concern is medical coverage since cousin will have no parents on the trip and gf's daughter - her dad not on trip. He has full custody so we want to make sure *if* something happens, we will be ok. I want to give him that peace of mind. I don't want a kid to step on coral and have a gaping wound and then the ship's infirmary says I need to come up with $1,000. Then I have to call a parent on shore asking for a CC or them to wire something. I checked with AE and they wanted $150 for medical only. Not too bad. Now I'm looking at Costco and $335 for the cruise and if I add flights, it is $390. I compared AE vs Costco and AE wanted close to $1,000 for similar coverage, although Costco gives double the medical coverage vs AE baggage delay is 3+ hours and Costco is 12 hours. Our goal is one carry on and one checked bag per person so I think I will opt for the Costco program. Not too worried about missed connections as it is direct flight, not too worried about baggage delay on the way there as we have 40 hours between flying in getting on board. Mainly worried about medical and bringing home stuff from the cruise and duty free shops. Anyways, what do ya'll recommend....should I do just medical only or, if it was you, would you spring for the extra $150 for everything to be covered? Thoughts/ideas/am I over thinking? PS. Anyone know if this is covered under the 2% executive + 3% Citi bank? since the bill isn't through costco itself, I just wasn't sure....

That is why I was looking at something with 1 vehicle vs 2. With 6, possibly 8 people I would need at least 2 ubers and trying to avoid that.

I don't expect help with her, i've tried but that is a different issue. Just trying to find a different mode of transportation that would work. I mean transfers are ok so we are on the same vehicle, but if I could rent a limo and spice things up a bit, that would be great. We have another party of 2 that is going on the cruise as well so having a 10 person strength where we might include them as well would be nice, but not necessary.

Uber XL would work for the people, but not the bags. UberXL, last I saw it defined, was like a Tahoe OR a Suburban. Subs have room for 6 people + driver so that is fine, but only rated for 5 suitcases if I remember correctly. So if everyone had a medium case and a carry on, that is going to be 10 - 12.

I agree. It is mainly due to the gf and trying to keep her positive, which is hard enough in normal life.

We are flying in on Friday, landing in MIA around 6pm. Cruise is on Sunday. When cruising, i want to fly in 48 hours prior just incase there is a weather/aircraft equipment/lost bag issue. This was you have a day to play with, just in case. I'm a little stressed, but still confident in Ubers and such. However, the gf thinks the world will end unless she can see everyone while getting from point A to B. I have a buy one get one for $100 airline ticket and we were going to have 2 people fly Friday and then the other 4 people fly Wednesday because it was $900 cheaper to fly due to the tickets. She thinks that no one else knows how to fly and that we have to fly together (personally I think I will be more stressed). She doesn't want two different Ubers because she thinks one will get lost/accident/get there late/ect. She is a real freakazoid to travel with sometimes with major fly off the handle at the drop of a hat.

Good idea. Wasn't aware of that page.

We have a rather large group of us on a trip, well, I think it is large. There will be 3 adults and 3 kids plus all the luggage. Most of the transfers i see are $20 to $30 a head so that is easily $100+. Other option is to Uber/Lyft but that will be $40 or so each plus the stress of, "We got here first? Where is the other driver?" This will be the first cruise for 3 of them and first real big trip for 2 of them so I wanted to class it up a bit as well. So I was thinking about looking into getting a stretch limo so we all feel fancy and such. I found one company that wanted $100 an hour, 4 hour minimum so that was off the table. Anyone have any experience getting a stretch to the Port of Miami? I'm thinking stretch limo vs a black suburban as the burb would have room for 6 + driver, but don't think it could carry 6 full sized suit cases + 6 carry ons

Dead zones happen. I completely understand that. You could be right about streaming classroom though. I could see a situation where they let you in the classroom, tech freezes up for a second so it kicks you off, then you can't get back in.... Could see that happening

Taking a couple kids and if we upgrade to premium Internet, will the kids be able to stream into their classrooms if needed? Is premium service ok to do that? Also, second question. I saw some place that streaming/video Internet is only available in cabins and not in common areas. I doubt that, but someone did say that so I thought I would ask. My youngest likes to watch Bluey during dinner so checking to make sure that would be ok

Any idea why the bed configuration changes? What's justification for bed by closet vs by the slider?

Can you imagine going door to door today with phone in hand with the latest sex offender address/map list?

I feel my post has been hi-jacked....oh well.....better the post versus the ship

Pretty much.... Just felt like I wanted to be sarcastic for a minute

sadness 😞

Yes I am. I feel that if I don't sell at least 10 boxes I don't feel alive

I wouldn't mind buying a credit every year or every two years for balcony room 'worth up to xxx amount' and then I could just go online and book something. I'm part of fabathletics program. You pay $65 a month and then get a credit up to $90 monthly. Every month they just auto bill you. I would do the same with a cruise line. They bill you monthly and once you hit xxx amount you have a credit to spend toward xxx amount on a cruise. If you pull out after only 4 or 5 months, that amount turns into a credit.

that sad....When we sold chocolate bars in school we made 50/50 with the manufacturer

One thing that doesn't change with cruising is the elitists that are better than others....

That is pretty much the idea i'm at...not sure if worth it... on the flip side...my brother lives in your town. that's just funny

Main reason this is even a thought.....we are trying to bring the gf's daughter. We don't have custody of her, the gma does and one of the excuses she is giving to not let her go is 'it is cookie sales time' No way would we be bringing ton of cookies, maybe 2 suitcases worth at most. This way she is still selling cookies. Also, the other thought is whatever room they take up on the flight down, would be emptied for various tshirts, towels, ect we would by for the trip home...if that makes sense. From the initial responses, sound like I can't set up a table and I understand why. i might set up a thing in my roll call and do some pre-sales there and bring those though....

I wonder if I could get away with going to my Roll Call for this ship and arrange people to reserve cookies and then distribute that way....