gladahc

I just want to make sure that I'm understanding all of the current restrictions and not missing anything.

We are currently booked for an 8-day cruise out of FL in the end of March (my family is 2 adults, 4 kids: 16, 14, 10, and 2.)  The 2 year old will not be vaccinated unless the approval process for that age group gets sped up a ton.  I'm working off the assumption that this child will be unvaccinated.  We booked this cruise almost 2 years ago, before Covid changed everything so it's not a situation where we should have found out about this stuff first.

1) The 2 year old will need to apply for an exemption (WHERE do I do this?  google is failing me, and I don't see an obvious link on the website) to get on the boat? 
2) If said child gets an exemption will they have to wear a mask when in all common areas, except while dining?  Or does the exemption cover masking as well?  And our entire group will be placed in the "non-vaxxed dining room?"
3) The exemption does not cover excursions, and we would have to do bubble excursions?
4) We would NOT be required to purchase travel insurance because they are under 12 years old?
5) Everyone has to get tested prior to getting on the boat, but the 2 year old would have to be tested multiple times during the trip?  And we would be charged an additional $150 for this testing?

DH wants to wait and see if the policy changes, but I'm not optimistic it will before the trip is scheduled to happen and I don't want to lose a chunk of our refund playing the waiting game.  My BIL/SIL and their family is going to be in exactly the same situation with their own 2 year old.

disregard please

this thread is 8 years old. :lol:

Cave Man Diving (might be Cave Man Tours? I haven't had coffee yet this morning) get a lot of suggestions in the POC sub-forum. Private Vendor out of Caye Caulker (so there is a bit of walking and a water taxi involved to get there). Limited number of people, lots of time in the water, can tailor the trip to the groups wishes depending on full/half day excursion. They have a website, and are on Trip Advisor as well.

it's not an embarkation time, it's a check-in time. Basically you can't show up BEFORE your time slot. If you have FTTF, are platinum/diamond, or in a wedding group you can show up at your convenience (as long as you are there before they stop letting people on the boat!) You'll show up, do your check-in paperwork, be assigned a boarding zone, and you can board when they call your zone.

Alamo does. and I think that Budget will pick you up and shuttle you to their downtown location The Alamo facility is always busy, but it is large and any line moves right along. You have to decide your level of angst here. It is a holiday weekend. Allow an hour or a little longer to get your car, possibly as much as 3 hours to check in at FLL. Atlanta will seem tame.

 

Unless you have PreCheck, airport arrival times are sometimes recommended to be 3 hours prior to flight time. This could especially be true on a holiday.

 

If you really want to sightsee in southern Florida, delay your departure for one day so that you will have time to see something.

 

It has been awhile since I flew out of FLL on the same day after a cruise....but I remember seeing the SW line spilling out of the terminal doors and all up and down the sidewalk for folks trying to check in. Obviously it went away, but we were really glad we had different flights.

Thanks for a thorough answer. I really can't imagine Atlanta traffic seeming tame :eek: but i will take your word for it. It's not so much that we want to go sightseeing as we don't want to sit at the airport from possibly 9am-4pm with nothing to do, and renting a car seems like the most cost-efficient way to get back to FLL and be able to go out to lunch.

And I'm sure the SW lines will be long.....they were $60+/pp cheaper than everyone else for the same flight.

There have been a few recent reviews of the whale shark excursions in the POC sub-forum (and in here).

Short version from what i've read is: AMAZING "once in a lifetime" type of thing. Very long day (it's a long way to get from Coz to where the sharks are). and to bring a snack and sea-sickness pills just in case seas are rough.

We are flying SW our of FLL. Cruise is out of POM. After some looking on here, it appears that for *almost* the same money (when you factor in tips) we can rent a car in Miami, return it to FLL, AND have a way to do something during the day. Our flight doesn't leave until 4:20pm, and all things considered, I'd rather NOT have to spend the day sitting around the airport or pay for a shuttle, pay for luggage storage, and then pay for a cab to go out for lunch or shopping. Dollar and Alamo have about the same rates.

--Which of those 2 have a free shuttle from POM to where you pick up the car?

--If we self-debark will we be able to miss the massive crowds of OTHER people getting rental cars I'm reading about?

--Is doing this something that is going to be a much larger PITB than I am anticipating? (the getting TO the rental place, getting the car, returning the car, and getting to our gate, etc). This will also be Labor Day weekend.....should we plan on TSA lines being significantly longer at FLL?

--How horrible is traffic getting from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale? Are we talking I-75 in Atlanta-level of craziness?

--Any other experienced advice about this?

There have been some inquiries about this excursion in the port of call sub-forum....someone may have done it by now?

They said that if we requested a 9:30 pick-up we would get a 9:30 pick-up. Which is, of course what I figured they would say. They did also say that there usually isn't an issue with filling a shuttle at this location because there are several very nearby hotels. We will see. :)

Yes, we did end up calling. I detest making phone calls if I can avoid it, so I was hoping I could find an answer in the wealth of knowledge available here.

The airport shuttle is possible....it costs $2pp from what i can find, but all things equal, I would rather just stay somewhere else and not have to take TWO shuttles (one back to the airport and then one to POM.)

I can't find *any* information about what time SAS usually picks up from that Hyatt.

Looking into a different hotel after reading a LOT of poor reviews for the one we had booked. Original plan was to take MJS to POM with a 930am pick-up, but the Hyatt on 17th seems to be highly recommended and closer to more things to do/dining options. MJS doesn't service that hotel, SAS does. My question is, how likely is it that we could still get a 930 or 1030 pick-up from SAS? Their website says that the shuttle has to have a certain capacity before it will leave and we are a party of 2. Anyone have experience with this?

Per the most recent FunTimes for the Glory (someone posted pics of them in their review) for this itinerary, elegant nights were the first full day at sea, and the last port day(cozumel).

I'm looking through some FunTimes someone posted from a recent glory cruise and i'm seeing "Chef's Choice" and "Comfort Kitchen" as options. In all the reading and research I've been doing I've not seen these mentioned AT ALL. The *only* ones I've seen people talk about are Guys, the deli, BlueIguana, and Fish & Chips (and the buffet). Do these labels actually refer to what the buffet is serving? Or are these separate dining options? As in "Chef's Choice: Italian" means the buffet is serving Italian food that day?? :confused::confused:

thanks for posting! I know there are several of us who have been looking for a recent Glory/Western review, and especially a pic of the funtimes! (60 days to go!)

I live in Louisville KY so wanting to drive wherever would be the closest port for departure.

If you are going to book a specific region (western, southern, etc) you might need to search for what cruises are available for that itinerary for that week. You may not have more than one or 2 options for embarkation port.

I know we were originally looking at an early october cruise and there were very few option for over 5 days, and other cruise lines either didn't have ANY sailings, or only had 1 boat. Southern will probably be a longer cruise as well, with a higher cost.

ETA: I looked and there's an 8day out of Miami on oct 22, and an 8 day out of Pt Canaveral also on the 22nd. Both southern itineraries.

First-timer here. I'm seeing a lot of posts about "seating times" and "talking to the maitrd (i know i just butchered that spelling) about table selection, etc. When we booked we selected "early dining." But what does that mean? Is that a range of when to show up? (545-630pm kind of thing?) or are you expected to be at the MDR at a certain time (such as 615) like you would with a restaurant reservation? Are you pre-assigned to a table and if you want a "private" table (such as a 2-top instead of being at a shared table) that's when you would need to go the the MDR shortly after boarding to request one?

Cruising Canival in the end of August and we are looking for a snorkel-only excursion. Carnival offers a reef snorkel, but I'm wondering what private vendors offer this as well? Everything i'm finding is snorkel AND stingrays. We are the only ship in port that day, so I am hoping finding something with availability will be easier (and less crowded.)

we bought an olympus tough for our upcoming cruise. Mitsugirly's cruise reviews sold us on it (if you check her reviews that's what she uses for all of her snorkeling excursions). We got a NIB off ebay for $140, but if you were open to used or factory refurbished (or willing to wait around for an auction) you can get them for less.

How long is the cycle on the self-serve washing machines?

I've read that the dry cycle is 90min, but that stuff is usually dry after 60. I can't comment on the wash cycle though.

Be warned, the laundry is washed in hot water and only sort of folded.

 

Press service was very nice.

 

Also, the laundry rooms on several ships were not open while in port. This likely varies from ship to ship and port to port.

Hmmm. Hot water wash is something to make me reconsider.

I'm an over-packer. And we always stay somewhere that has a washer/dryer when we go on vacations, so the thought of packing for being on a boat for 7 days and 2.5 days of travel has me dreading how much i will over-do it. AND we are having a "luggage situation"; our luggage is old enough that it doesn't meet the "new" carry-on size restrictions and we may have to check 2 bags. While I don't want to spend my cruise doing laundry in some tiny room on the ship, I'd like to have the information just in case. I know there are self-serve laundrettes on several decks, that they are coin-op, $3/wash/dry, $1/detergent.

Are there irons (thinking of DH's dress shirts)? Do you have to pay to use them?

And does anyone know the hours you can use the laundrettes?

And on the other side of things.....they will do laundry for you? I read somewhere $15/bag? Is this also true? is the bag equivalent to a "regular" size load of laundry? Smaller? 1 day turn-around for this? Same day?

We have selected 10:30 am as our boarding time for the Carnival Glory,

 

10:30, as others have said is your check-in time, not your boarding time

 

will we be allowed to board as soon as we're checked in, or will we have to sit and wait to board at a later time

 

Boarding won't start until around 1130 at the earliest from what i have read, and is contingent upon how quickly the previous cruise's passengers clear the boat, and whether or not there is any kind of [surprise] coast guard inspection. Carnival boards Platinum/Diamond members, wedding parties, and suites first, then FTTF, and then by zone for general check-in

 

we also bought FTTF. THANKS

 

With FTTF you can just show up to the port whenever you want (within the boarding hours) and check-in. You have to SELECT a time (or they assign you one if you haven't picked one) but you may show up at your leisure. Theoretically, you could show up at 1130, check-in and only have to wait a few minutes to board, or board immediately, instead of having to wait for your zone to be called for boarding like non-FTTF people would.

 

As to whether you have "wasted" $60 by getting a 1030 check-in....that depends on a lot of things. A lot of people think the FTTF is a waste of money for their own reasons. We are also sailing on the Glory (in August) and got FTTF because we can be among the first to board, but not have to get to the terminal for check-in at 1030 and then sit around and possibly wait for an hour and a half. FTTF gets you priority tender for tender ports, and 2 of our 4 stops ARE tender ports, and a 3rd depends on weather (from what i have found.) So for $60 we get to sleep in a bit and not have to worry about traffic issues to make our check-in time, AND not have to wait in lines for tender boats at half of the ports we stop at.

So if you've already paid in full you're SOL?