bajathree

FINALLY🎉

I believe the OP said they were flying into MCO the night before the cruise....so my suggestion is rent a car....drive to Tampa...return to Tampa airport if needed and Uber to a hotel for the night. There are also some hotels like the Marriott Water St Tampa that have car rental drop off with one of the companies I believe....so that may kill 2 birds with one stone looking into something like that.

Totally agree with the above....since you are going to be at the airport just do a one day rental and drive yourself to Tampa.

Drive yourself and park at the port. Port parking in Tampa is right across from the terminal and so easy...they even have valet if you like. https://www.porttb.com/parking

I would defiantly not suggest the Tahitian Inn.

Getting off a ship in Tampa and trying to catch a same day sailing out of Miami or FLL is not something I would suggest. Port Canaveral is doable as long as you can debark the ship in Tampa early. Only caveat may be a delayed arrival into port of Tampa due to fog which during Jan is always a possibility.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-have-to-take-a-test-before-i-cruise#united-states

I lived in Fort Lauderdale for many years and have stayed at many Fort Lauderdale hotels. I wouldn't book that location for a 3 night stay pre-cruise...it's not in walking distance to the beach or many restaurants...very busy area...it's basically right off a highway. I would look at the Hilton Forth Lauderdale beach Resort....much better location for a 3 night stay.

Like mentioned in the post above parking at the port in Tampa is very easy. I really don't see the necessity for pre-booking but if you want to https://www.porttb.com/parking

Totally agree. I just didn't understand dropping the vaccination requirement for sailings out of certain ports before dropping testing for vaccinated people....made no sense whatsoever to me. Now they they are going to have to retract and change their new protocols even before implementing them....so confusing.

Testing just got dropped by Carnival...just received this in an e-mail I just got from them.....Royal I am sure will follow: Vaccinated guests must continue to provide evidence of their vaccination status prior to embarkation. Pre-cruise testing is no longer required, except for cruises to Canada, Bermuda, Greece and Australia (per local guidelines), and on voyages 16 nights or longer. Unvaccinated guests are welcome to sail and are no longer required to apply for a vaccine exemption, except for cruises in Australia or on voyages 16 nights and longer. Unvaccinated guests or those who do not provide proof of vaccination must present the results of a negative PCR or antigen test taken within three days of embarkation.

The new info on sailings from LA, Galveston and NOLA are in regards to vaccination status...not testing protocols....they still require testing....so not sure your comparison.

Would make sense as it's a much nicer hotel in a much more desirable location.

Yea it pretty much is except for a very few counties that would effect a limited amount of sailings such as mentioned above.... like Bermuda and Canada.

Hello Royal Caribbean...time to end all testing!!!

Jan 18 is a Wed....midweek you have absolutely nothing to worry about as you will most likely be the only ship in port.

My daughter just flew NY to Dallas a couple days ago. She had an 8am flight......morning of she gets a text that her 8am has now been changed to 11am.....then her 11am ended up delayed to noon.....flights are a mess right now. Week before her quick DC to NY flight was cancelled....she quickly booked with another airlines going out a couple hours later....after waiting for that flight it also got cancelled....ended up taking the train back to NY.

Stayed there years ago and don't remember it being overly noisy...but it's an airport hotel. I would much more recommend the Marriott Water Street location...easy free less than 10 minute trolly ride to the port or you can even walk to the port.....and it's a much better location as well as a much nicer hotel.

I have never heard of someone testing positive on a ship that got refunded for their entire group....just the person who tested positive. As far as the person who told you on the ship your entire party would be refunded....not an excuse but reality...they probably didn't know the exact corporate policy...if you asked 5 different crew members you would have probably got 5 different answers...just the way it usually is. And yes....unless you have something in writing from tht person on the ship who told you your entire group would be refunded.....what they said isn't going to mean anything.

The ones I had were like soda cans...no reseal.

I have stayed in both. If you are more than 2 people then I would go for the 2 bed ATS for sure....there is little to no privacy in the CLS if you have children. As far as location the CLS wins out...it's a really long walk to the very aft of an Oasis class ship and you are among regular cabins verse a private suite area with the CLS. The balcony of the ATS is something to experience. As far as noise it is a bit noisier in the ATS verse the CLS but it's minimal.

I don't like the cans....cant reseal once opened.

7/11 at 1529 E Las Olas Blvd

Call....online is a waste of time for a casino booking.

Sounds like an Odyssey sailing;)