34XB

The Zaandam and Rotterdam have just rendezvous  off Panama according to Cruisetracker.com.  The Rotterdam is bringing medical supplies and additional  supplies from the Oosterdam and medical staff.  HAL sent the Rotterdam from PV as it is the fastest ship in the fleet.  We did the WC on the Rotterdam in 1999 and have always enjoyed her.  May these supplies and additional staff bring comfort to passengers and crew on the Zaandam.

Thrifty and Dollar have a rental office just outside Port Everglades gates. The shuttle will take you to your berth location and pickup there as well with your bags. We often pickup car at FLL and drop at Port Everglades office. No extra drop charge for this or vice versa. Just off US1 and State Rd 84

Location is: Thrifty Car Rental 2400 Miami Rd Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 954-463-2958

Thrifty has a midtown location. They will pick up at the Anchorage Port gate or at the downtown museum. They have a key drop for after hours. They are open 8- 7pm. They are on 3730 Spenard Rd. 907-276-2855.

Why not take the train from Civitavecchia to Roma. It is so easy and frequent. You can get off at St Petros Station for the Vatican or go on to Roma Termini and walk down to the Forum and Coliseum.

We have found the train is faster than the bus into Rome from the port. There is a train to return to port every hour. Just my thoughts.

I now recall it is called "The Menu of the Decades" where Princess highlights special dishes of the first 50 years. So is that Tuesday night on the Regal while at sea?

For those who have been on the Regal recently. What day do they have the Princess 50th Anniversary Menu served in the MDR?

We have done this several times. Try to walk it the day before to avoid any mistakes. There is an elevator and a bridge over the canal. The bridge has porters to help for a tip as there is no ramp only steps. Allow about 30 min for trip when pulling bags.

Side note: Venice and other European cities are rough on bag wheels. We had to replace some of ours. Venice is planning on banning pulling bags in city due to noise from wheels?

Cruises to Cuba would fit nicely into the 3-5 day short cruise from Miami and Port Everglades. If Princess wanted to be creative it would offer pax a overnight land tour getting off in Havana and back on in Santiago.

Who will be the first to offer tours to Gitmo?

Consider renting a car or minivan. There are several car rental places at the port in Le Havre. Take several guide books with you and re-read to each other on the way. It takes about one to 1.5 hours to get to the beaches. Take the toll roads and just use your debit card .

The key is first off the ship and walk to the car rental when they open at 8:00.

Have some maps already downloaded with the route and sights you wish to visit. We did this last July and enjoyed the day very much. Take a coat as can be cool in July!

We just did a day visit. They picked us up at the tender dock on Bora Bora.

We enjoyed your Saturday ship departure parade pictures. We are on the Ruby in two weeks