LeeW

It's the people yelling down the halls, not the elevator itself.

Last year and a half we see maybe 30 people on a ship with masks. Twelve cruises on Royal, Celebrity and Princess. Similar to what we see in local grocery.

Used to see drinks plus voom and soda plus voom. Sometimes more expensive than separate price. Since they went to new satellite system about a year ago (with only one speed internet) haven't seen packages.

Just note when you go that Atlantis is cash free and they want a photo ID to use a credit card for food.

Odyssey dropped off a crew member in Bermuda at 7 pm, then had to turn around and drop off a passenger at around 7 am.

Ocean World. Dolphin show and experience, shark demo, beach, snorkeling in tank, great bird house where you can feed them. Pretty good park food. We would go again.

Tried to book an onboard Northstar experience and kept getting an "oops, something went wrong" message when adding it to the shopping cart. Asked at help desk and after checking my internet connection, stopping and restarting app, and logging in again he looked and said there was only one space and I was trying to book two. So if you see the Oops, try booking for one person. Don't visit the help desk.

Normal port all aboard is 30 minutes before departure. Tender ports may be 45 to an hour. Initial departure port in US is generally 90 minutes (depends on when they submit final manifest). Times can change even from the time posted at the gangway. If weather is coming in ships leave early. Rare, but they have even left ship excursions.

United normally does participate in EZCheck and it would be great for you. The Fort Lauderdale airport won't let you check bags until 4 hours before your flight, so when EZCheck isn't working I have to store bags ($10 each, and they search them) a half level down from right end of the ticketing desks. Then we go in to the United lounge until I can check luggage in. I leave the lounge, get the baggage tags, get the bags, drop them off and reenter security. Have had two cruises recently where the luggage handling wasn't available, but we ALWAYS use it if it is. Ask at Guest Services early in the cruise for the form. If it isn't available, you might want to rent a car for the day. Avis and Budget are just across 17th from the north port entrance, within walking distance if your ship is at the usual terminal. When you make your reservation specify airport dropoff. No dropoff charges in Florida.

On Sky last year think steak was only a few days (filet for upcharge) but many meals had a decent beef cut, like medallions. But many nights we wandered up to the buffet for desserts and they were cooking steak to order up there. And they looked much better that those in the dining room.

Also check AlaskaShoreTours. Lots of offerings in many ports and we have used them many times. DyeaDave also great in Skagway (and they can book car/train combinations into Canada).

We've only booked pre/post cruise hotels through Princess a couple of times, and all transportation was included. HOWEVER, hotel price is roughly rack rate per person, so they have a lot of your money to pay for that. Several times we were supposed to put bags in hall and be downstairs by 9 AM, only to find out the bus wouldn't come until 2 PM. Have seen a couple of times in Ft Lauderdale where people from ship would arrive at Embassy post-cruise at 9 and not be able to get into their rooms until 4 (pretty typical at that hotel even when not going through cruise line). In London got into airport 7 hours late and transfers to hotel worked very well, so there can be some advantages to booking through the cruise line. Traffic was nasty, but small vans did a great job and unloaded us in the hotel courtyard. Bus to ship was big bus that loaded on street for trip down to Southampton. Didn't get to that ship until after 3, though.

Bring an inflatable noodle or even floating lounger - start at around $8 on Amazon. Only place we can't use these is on Disney cruise. Turn right when you get off the tender. Fewer people and more trees. The clamshells are over there as well, although lots of folks quit using them due to lack of air circulation out in the sun. Buffet and bar less crowded as well. Snorkeling gets pretty murky after a few hours, especially near the pavilion. Less traffic to right of the harbor so it stays clear longer. WATER SHOES, WATER SHOES, WATER SHOES. Highly recommend taking your ID and going out to the vendors outside the fence. Lots of fun crafted items and some local food. Cash required (US$). Most vendors inside the compound except hair braiding use your cruise account.

Denali Lodge has a strip of stores across the highway. Several restaurants. Subway was $8 for a half sub 10 years ago first time we went. We used this for our lunch, although the box on the bus wasn't bad for me. The longer Tundra Wilderness tour into the park is not running this season - landslide isn't fixed at Mile 43 Hotel bar had great burgers/fries, large enough to share. Other lodges are out in the woods by many miles. About 45 minutes to Talkeetna from McKinley Lodge and bus costs after one trip. Not that Talkeetna has much there - shopping is more like a fishing lodge at a lake. All the hotels have gift shops with some snacks. Most longer Princess excursions do supply some kind of food (might be only granola bar, reindeer sausage and a soda).

The Hampton Blue Lagoon shuttle picks up just after the hour at MIA. Lots of restaurants around that hotel and decent breakfast with waffles. We have also stayed at the Embassy just NE of the airport. Both are easy to get to the pier either by shuttle or cab. Downtown locations are more expensive, and you will need transportation both to hotel and pier. Technically hotels in Brickell area can be reached by the metro, but you will need to haul bags to rental car center on free train, then switch to paid train for trip downtown.