EnterCruise

It's an ongoing battle to keep the wildlife population at bay in Florida. I doubt you could find a hotel thats completely bug free. A roach infestation is different than spotting a random roach.

 

Roz

 

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Most likely the reviewer saw a Eurycotis floridana...What we call a palmetto bug which you can keep at bay but never fully eliminate.

...hahah...just my luck...

I'm just about to book this hotel for our pre-cruise night next month, because it seems so popular with cruisers..

So I go to Tripadvisor for some current reviews....

And...The latest review there is title "ROACHES!"....yuk!

Some poor guy apprently found found roaches in his room! Wadda I do now...? (other reviews are still pretty good)

Welcome to South Florida.

The reviewer probably saw some leetle leezards running around, too.

Tropical Acres is under a half mile away, but Islamorada Fish Co is a full mile as the roads & sidewalks run. And the bridge is still out on Ravenswood Rd so walking directly to Rustic Inn is a no-go even without mobility worries. From either of the OPs choices if anything finer than casual franchise food is desired a short taxi/Uber ride will be necessary.

 

The OP's date is September 23 which is another 4 months away. The bridge on Ravenswood will most likely be done by then. Again, though, they have a van that provides transportation even to Oakwood Plaza Mall across Stirling Road from the SpringHill Suites.

 

Well technically it is the same local franchisee operating two hotels from two competing parent corporations. Sharing the shuttle van--which undoubtedly is licensed as an independent entity from either hotel--is a non-issue, but openly allowing guests from either property to breakfast at the opposite could be a violation of the respective franchise agreements--especially as providing a head count from breakfast (independent of the number of guests registered) is likely a requirement.

 

So as a practical matter, questionable. As an issue of discomfort--if a one-night tourist gets away with it, good for them.

Not everyone that stays at hotels eat the breakfast so if there was any kind of "head count" it will always come up less than registered guests. And no one does any checking, asking or sign in. I know, I've stayed at the Homewood Suites several times before I move to Ft Lauderdale.

Not the same ownership. Fairfield Inn is a Marriott property & Homewood Suites is a Hilton property.

 

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JHM Hotels in Greenville, SC owns Marriots, Courtyards, Renassaince, La Quintas, Hiltons, Hamptons Inns, Hilton Garden Inns, Comfort Suites, Hyatts, Sheratons and...

They actually own the SpringHill Suites the OP is asking about.

https://www.jhmhotels.com/jhm-portfolio/our-hotels/

Ha! So glad that someone understands!!lol

 

Where else would I ask my question besides cruise critic? That's kind of my whole point in signing up here.. to ask questions of people who may know info that I do not know.

 

You asked your question in another thread, now you are on a crusade by digging up a 7 month old thread thinking you can gather some sort of torch and pitchfork crowd for a show of force.

I certainly didn't sign up just so I could comment to someone that I think it's odd that they have their own personal interests...especially if I had nothing relevant to the question to add.

To each their own though :)

 

I have no personal interest this. Just answering your "questions" and trying to bring you into reality.

Yes, I would be more than willing to pay $250 if it was guaranteed that I could stream the entire game.

 

Is this possible?

 

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It's possible, but the Internet connection is slow and fades in and out. Will you be giving up a port to watch the game?

Am I the only one that is bothered by this?

Why does it bother you? Same ownership, same company. Do you really think it makes a difference to the owners if they feed him breakfast at one or the other?

Guests from both hotel ride the same shuttle van. Does that bother you?

Can I stream it? That would be wonderful! I thought I read that you couldn't stream while on board

 

I'm glad you were able to watch some of the baseball game!

 

 

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How much are you willing to pay for the Internet time to watch it on your laptop? $250?

Bizarre that people watch big football games while on vacation? In my experience there are a lot of vacationers who do this. It's always a fun time.. wearing your teams gear, high fiving strangers.. just good fun.

 

I guess I'm just shocked that other people are shocked by the fact that big football weekends are a big deal to some.lol. I didn't realize it was unheard of.

 

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No, what's bizarre is you think a cruise ship is some sort of sports bar you can walk into and ask the bartender to change the channel on the TV. It's not, it's a ship at sea owned by an international company that has to contract specific satellite programming and TV programming is simply not a priority no matter how much you post on Cruise Critic.

thanks cat ...just about to book what i think is HI Express on HW ...$106 All-in! Sound OK?

They have breakfast, an airport shuttle and are located right at the port entrance, so they would be very convenient.

Trying to decide between Fairfield Inn or Springhill Suites for my 9/23 cruise on the Splendor. I'm especially interested to know just how short (or long) a walk it is to food. Burger King or Wendy's is fine....I just can't walk a very long distance (1 block might be about the longest if I'm having a good day). Also which has a better breakfast - thought I saw that one of them had omelettes.

Thanks for your help:)

 

 

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Tropical Acres, Islamorada Fish Company next to Bass Pro Shop and Rustic Inn Crabhouse are about 2 blocks from the Fairfield Inn. Beyond that is a Mexican Restaurant and an Irish Restaurant/Pub. I think they have a shuttle van that would take you to any of them.

SpringHill Suites has a free shuttle to Port Everglades. Both have airport shuttles.

Homewood Suites next door to Fairfield Inn has the best breakfast and is owned by the same group. Just go in and help yourself and they will never know your a guest from next door.

The only way you are going to get a room on Deck 2 is if you are a crew member.

That varies from ship to ship.

Let's say one deck above whatever deck the gangway is on.

I just posted a thread about the same weekend for 2017. I'm specifically interested in the OSU vs Michigan game.

Was told the game won't be shown, so googled the subject to see other comments, and this thread came up.

Crazy that they don't show the games.

Less than 1% of the guests on the ship will care about that game. If it's really that important you should pick another week to cruise.

Looks like we might have approx. 4 hours to kill in Fort Lauderdale between the time we disembark and the time we have to be at airport (flight departs at 2:45pm)

Date is Saturday, June 17. Any suggestions what to do, where to go-other than waiting at FLL? 60+ couple, BTW, and bear in mind no car & 2 suitcases (we'd look sweet dragging them up the beach!) :)

You need to be at the airport checking your bags by 1:30 PM, so you really don't have the time to do anything other than a post cruise excursion, especially considering you have luggage to deal with.

But...If you get up and get off the ship early, you could go to the airport, check your luggage with Bags To Go (or whatever) then catch the free Sun Trolley to Downtown (Saturday & Sunday only). You will have to pay close attention to time, though, because the Trolley only runs once an hour departing from FLL on the hour and I believe the return Trolley leaves Downtown at the bottom of the hour. That means the last Trolley you could catch from Downtown would be at 12:30 PM to be on the safe side.

http://www.suntrolley.com/routes-schedules-fares/airport/

But...By the time you pay for transportation to the airport and bag storage, you might as well rent a car. If it's on the weekend you will probably be able to get a decent weekend rate.

What a hoot. I am half Irish. And damn proud of it. If you met me on the street you would think I was in steerage.

 

I do hang out with many friends and family who do not cruise in suites. We always have a blast no matter where we land. I like to think my parents raised me to not judge people and interact with folks in every situation and as individuals before making judgements.

 

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It wasn't I that made such a snooty judgement, yet you are judging me. I guess some people speak with fork-ed tongue.

Haven't been in the Deluxe Owner's Suite. Wouldn't think it would matter which one. We always book the Owner's Suite because DOS is only accessible by stairs and has only one bathroom. This might not matter to you.

Nope...Itinerary and ship are what are important to me and the Pearl is one of the best ships in the cruise industry, so an Inside Cabin on Deck 2 would be my preference. When I come back from port hot and tired and there is a big stinky, sweaty crowd standing in front of the elevators I just pass them by, go up one flight of stairs and I'm at my cabin. Meanwhile, the big, stinky, sweaty crowd is crammed into the elevator stopping at every single deck all the way to Deck 15.

So, to quote The Wizard of Oz: That is a horse of a different color. You would definately have a different opinion of Epic had you been in a suite, especially if that suite was located in The Haven. But, by your own admission you might rather walk the plank.

 

I prefer kind pretentious folks in suites to those in steerage who proclaim to make assumptions about things and people they really know nothing about.

 

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I prefer the unwashed Irish Folks down in steerage because we have hootenannies, dance, drink beer and have a lot of fun while the snooty, pretentious people in the suites get all worked up if they don't have the right toiletries.

Since I am a highly valued guest with NCL, I know many of the hotel directors and I always get invited up to the Haven for the cocktail parties. It's always fun when I walk into the Haven and the Hotel Director and others greet me by name. If it weren't for the free booze, though, I wouldn't bother to even be around such self-absorbed people.

A number of years ago we had booked this cabin but ended up doing another land based trip. We've now booked for next year on the western Caribbean route in the dos 15500 but 15000 is also available. I wasn't sure it really made a difference ie port vs starboard given the placement of the suite but what do you all think ?

What is DOS?

Which kind of suite did you have on the Epic and who was the concierge?

 

Why did you thought it sucked? Did something special happened to you or was it just an overall experience?

I don't do suites. Those are for pretentious people. I prefer steerage.

Without question, the Epic has serious design flaws that turns more than half of the guests off. That is a bad thing in business and the reason why NCL has a hard time filling the ship on a regular basis unless it's heavily discounted the last 30 days prior to sailing. Also, the suckage is the reason there is only one of them and NCL completely moved away from it's design. The reality is that the Epic was a huge mistake.

Hello-

Starting to lurk and read posts as I am really thinking of booking our first NCL cruise. My first major decision is the Epic out of PC or the Escape out of Miami. We are doing a Haven cabin. Travel party will be me, my hubby, and our 4-yr old daughter. Any thoughts or advice or things for us to consider? This will be my daughter's 1st cruise, but we have gone on 5 prior cruises.

Thank you so much!

I would say "None of the Above" because as a ship the Epic sucks, but the Escape's upcoming itinerary is some serious suckage.

The price on www.valuetrips.com for the Hyatt Place from May 1st to September 30th is $109/night (no need to reserve multiple nights) with blackout dates given as 6/9-6/10, 7/17-7/22, 7/27-7/30.

My question would be does Value Trips hide a fee in the taxes? That's what Hotwire does. The tax on $109.00 should be no more than $11.99 per day.

Can you get Hyatt points booking through a third party like Value Trips? Does the Value Trips rate include 2 drink vouchers? I know that's not much, but it's something extra.

I have booked 3 nights at the Hyatt Pier 66 Fort Lauderdale using points for our January 2018 cruise. I am just reading on line that the hotel has been sold. Hyatt tells me they know nothing about the sell - that the booking will be honored - anyone else booked there for next year?

I doubt you will have any problems. Pier 66 is a resort with plenty of prime acreage that I am sure the new owners would like to develop into apartments and condos leaving the Pier 66 in place and most likely the centerpiece. Besides, not much can happen with something like this in 6 months.

Since you are going to be there for 3 days, will you have a rental car? The Pier 66 charges quite a bit for parking.

The walls between cabins are not metal so I see no reason why they wouldn't work like they do at home.

Hyatt Place 17th Street $119 - The catch is you have to stay a minimum of 4 nights.

https://www.travelzoo.com/2481024/?searchGuid=47d003b4-0c31-4513-ada0-601691839949

Very nice! I'll have to give it a try.

If you just want to get out for a drive through the Everglades give it a try.

Are the new Princess beds better than the old beds? We actually quit booking Princess because of the beds back in 2010.

Well, I guess...I never had a problem with the old beds, so I haven't paid much attention to the new beds.