pablo222

I wouldn’t classify this as a booze cruise, but the demographic was definitely skewed to the younger side and many, many, many first-time cruises who left their manners at the door.

This has been exactly my impression on of the folks on short cruises.

I really wonder why princess has done this --- for the people

who have only done this one short cruise, this is the complete

impression of Princess.

Short cruises dilute the brand.

...unless you have the misfortune of having your ship dock in the pier 21, 22/24 area and other ships are there too.....then it can be a disaster, with a long walk with luggage, to the end of the taxi line. Last March, on the Emerald, we boarded and got off there. Not a pleasant experience, at all.

Yup. If you're at 21, and there are several other ships, there is

big competition for cabs -- up to an hour wait.

Although, there are hundreds of posts here that say there is no

wait for cabs. Strange.

Pier 2 gets the bigger ship. We board the Ruby tomorrow, but Royal is in port too. That means we will most likely be at pier 21.

.

PE Harbormaster schedule says royal at 2, and ruby at 4.

Should be VERY crowded in that area. Plus, 4 is a dump.

Today, Crown was at 2, and Island was at 21.

Yes, Ft. Lauderdale .... on that road that leads around to the airport exit there had been a really bad accident and traffic was backed up and took us forever to get past it.

 

LuLu

~~~~

Um -- turn around? Enter from SR-84, cutting through air cargo. Enter from Griffin road. From the perimeter road, you can cut through cell phone waiting lot, and be right at the (arrival) terminals. Then, just walk upstairs. If you waited, it was only because your driver wasn't familiar with the area, or didn't try to use an alternate.

I have never been asked to show the color tag when disembarking any Princess cruise.

If you have a 'valuable color' -- like first airport transfer -- often Red-1 -- they ask.

How True!

Not only can disembarkation be delayed sometimes but also the traffic getting to the airport can be a problem if there's a wreck or something.

 

LuLu

~~~~

In Ft. Lauderdale?!?!??!

I have NEVER had a bottle be "marked" and I've brought more than one bottle onboard. And, no one will say a word to you about walking around with a glass of wine and bringing it to the dinner table......NO ONE!

 

Does being about to get away with it somehow make it right? I think this is the basis of all shoplifting.

Yes, I realize that. I was interested in the "policy" statement.

The rules say that you may bring one bottle per person on board with out a fee 'for consumption in your cabin'. Obviously drinking it in the dining room is not in your cabin.

Hi Jenn

 

What time did you get off the ship with no cabs waiting and what time did you arrive at the airport? I'm getting nervous because we are planning self disembarkation, grabbing a cab for an 11"20 flight.

 

Thank you

There are many, many posts here claiming that getting a cab is easy. As you can see from some of the posts, this isn't always true. It's unfortunate that people make such posts, and give the gentle readers a false sense of security. In my experience... If you are are at berth 2, and walk off, you should be able to get a cab with no problem. If you are at berth 21, it depends on how many other ships are at the nearby berths, as all the berths in that area compete for cabs simultaneously. If you are at berth 2, ask a porter or guard for a cab, as most queue outside the terminal area, and then are allowed into a section of the parking garage where they accept passengers. It is also possible to grab a cab under the portico as they drop people off.

So now I see I've made Platinum. OK, I'm the guy who takes 50 cents back to the grocery checker the next week because he received too much change.

As you can see, you are one of the very few honest people here. The vast majority of the posts are just take the benefit and say nothing. I would call and inquire. If nothing changes, then use the benefit with a clear conscience.

I just received an email solicitation this morning to remind me that I can still book these 'free' cruises through the end of the year. Complete with a countdown clock. I was amused by the clock, as it still had many days to run. Hardly compelling. And, the subject was "last chance to book"... ....somehow, I doubt it. I looked at the Ruby cruises from Ft. Lauderdale. To me, the itineraries are pointless. Way to many vacation days for the number of ports. Even for 'free'.

I do know the Emerald doesn't enforce this 9 AM treadmill rule, and since I'm cruising lots ofdays on her in 2014, this pleases me.

When I was on Emerald in April, the policy as 7:00 AM.

OP- Not an assumption, that's what happens.

 

From the last few years I've had the same Assistant Cruise Director on the Ruby, Emerald and last month on the Crown. Now Ryan is on the Royal. Cruise Directors are always changing ships, filling in for vacations, etc. It was the end of my cabin stewards contract at the end of my last cruise. Asked him if he was returning to the Crown. He said they never know what ship they will be on until they sign their new contract.

 

Not an assumption.

Your assumption is that the same people will be on the poster's next cruise. They could stay on emerald, or they could go to another ship. You can't say for certain that it will be the ship the original poster might be on. And, most crew know their rotation when they sign off, if not before. They don't get their contract until about two weeks before they join.

I refill before I leave the cabin and take my glass into the dining room. Saves buying one glass of wine in the dining room.

Hmmmmm ... I wonder if such actions could have anything to do with princess collecting the corkage at embarcation?

I believe the time is set to 9 am as the cabins just below the treadmills hears the pounding of those running on the treadmill. 9 am sounds reasonable time to set for those in the cabins below before the noise starts.

Of course, if Princess cared to, they could simply sound insulate the treadmills. They have only known about the problem since 1998, when Grand entered service, so I'm sure they will be working on a solution very, very soon.

Walking/jogging path -- why can't people follow directions (precisely spelled out that walkers are on the inside, joggers on the outside and to walk counter clockwise)? They need icons on the track and the walker lane should be the wider of the two (it isn't). DB who runs 6 miles everyday came to love it as long as he was out there as day broke.

 

Maybe they have been reading cruise critic, and have learned that rules are (only) for other people.

Tom Cruises,

No offense, but can you stop wasting everyone's time with such a nonsensical post. You have something to say, say it-otherwise,nobody cares.:mad:

And yet, 'nobody' keeps replying.

 

We're embarking the Emerald on January 28th at berth 21 and she is the only ship in port that day.

 

Far more likely you will be at berth two. Of course, more than a

month in advance, there is no accurate schedule...

I am also still posting that I did not pay the tax out of Port Everglades on Princess. And my folio from the trip states this as well.

The florida sales tax is 6%, with some county variations.

If one is sweating $3-$5, perhaps spending money on a cruise isn't

such a good idea.

Personally, I wouldn't wait to purchase. I would be giving up the

use of the card/sticker for most of the first day, for an unimportant

savings.

And, I wouldn't order in advance, as there is a chance of that screwing

up. There was one correspondent here who reported that there was

a problem with her advance purchase, and she didn't get it resolved

and receive the sticker until 9:00PM. Again, penny wise...

By the way, I'm getting this berth info with the CruiseSchedule Port Everglades iOS app. It's free! They have apps from some other ports also.

I don't think your source is very reliable. How can it be?

From time-to-time, the berth assignments change right

up to the night before arrival.

Grand Class ships are too big for 4.

Not always.

There can be a second grand class ship at berth 4. It's usually

if there is lots of stuff to be loaded/unloaded. Like before after

a TA or drydock.

And, WRT some other comments. I haven't seen Princess use

19 since Oasis/Allure started sailing from Ft. Lauderdale.

#2 is the easiest as it is closest to 17th St. Easy in; easy out for passengers. If of course they use that entrance. #29 is the most awful area you can get.

Berth 29 is why there is 'cancel for any reason' insurance.

Geez, their IT department really needs a major overhaul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think all their developers were busy on the obamacare website.

We are taking the Emerald princess on next March 19th. It being the only Princess ship leaving that day I assume it will leave from dock 2. When we return, however, on Sat. March 29th there will be 2 Princess ships in port, the Emerald and the Ruby. From what I gather when two Princess ships are in port one of two things happens. Either both come back to the north port area, using docks 2 and 4, or one returns to dock 2 and the other returns to midport dock 19 or similar. My first question is what is the likelihood that both would return to north port docks 2 and 4. And if they return to separate port areas which ship is likely to dock back at dock 2? If it is important to the answer the Ruby will be returning from a 5 night cruise

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