rexy69

This may get bumped, but I don't know where else to ask this question. I tried asking on Trip Advisor, in the Fort Lauderdale forum, but nobody replied. I'm having a hard time finding out what car rental companies will shuttle you from the ship to their nearby Port location.

I initially booked a car from Alamo, from their Fort Lauderdale Airport location, but then when they sent me the confirmation email it stated there was no shuttle service to the Port from the Airport & vice versa.

So then I was able to read on someone's post that Alamo and some others have rental locations right near the Port. Now I need to know whether any of those Companies will shuttle you to the Port, or from the ship to their location.

I've tried doing mock bookings, but shuttle information doesn't appear. I tried calling Alamo's 1-888 #, but that only gave me a guy at a Call Centre in St.Louis, who didn't know anything about shuttle service.

Has anyone rented a car pre/post cruise that included free shuttle service from the ship to their nearby Port location?

Our first cruise, 2007 on the Valor, we booked the Inside Guarantee and ended up on the 10th deck! We thought it must've been a mistake, since we were totally prepared to be in the belly of the ship. It wasn't a mistake and it was amazing and so memorable. Think positive...you just never know.

WOW, that picture is amazing!

quote=ronbe65;54989859]This is a beach paradise created by the cruise line specifically for what you have been doing: mixing up the time with going in & out of the water and enjoying every moment of this precious time. This is essentially a luxury extension to a resort cruise ship.

Enjoy your cruise!

I just tried and can view mine.

We are so excited to have finally booked, after researching for weeks! We've been to Half Moon Cay a few times and always mix up the time with going in & out of the water, and laying in the chairs and baking. What are some ideas for different things to do, while on that island? I like walking around and exploring...is there anything interesting to go searching for?

Thanks! :p

We love our ship on a sticks!! We have 2 and won the first one in a Trivia game and the 2nd one was a game in the pool. They threw a whole bunch of golf balls in the pool and whoever collected the most from the bottom, won. My guy has big, meaty paws, so I just knew he was going to emerge with the most, lol.

Good morning, Mr. Snarky.

 

OP, prices have indeed gone up over the past couple of years. I've finally thrown in the towel and adjusted my pricing expectations. If I find something well under $100 per day per person, it's a bonus.

That is good advice. Words of Wisdom.....I should probably do the same. Thanks!

When DH taught at a community college, his spring break usually fell the third full week in March. Many years I was able to find an affordable cruise after the final payment date. Some years, though, I would watch prices and just see them rise and rise after the final payment date.

 

We just booked a cruise for February at a great price on the Regal Princess, but that's before the OP wants to sail. Now that we're retired, we don't have to wait anymore.

Ahh, retirement sounds wonderful :p Yes, following the school schedule definitely puts a limit on travelling options. We never had to worry about that before, but since we both work for the school board now, it's what we're having to deal with. Have fun on the Regal Princess!

That is $640 US $, but is it per person or one going solo?

 

There is no point in quoting costs without stating what those costs cover.

Sorry..... just an interior cabin for 2.

That price is very reasonable. I would expect it to go up instead of down. Your timing is off for two reasons, first you should have booked six or eight months ago to get the best price, and second, as you know you are dealing with March break, which is always more expensive.

Very true.

Which cruise are you quoting?

 

 

We are on Celebrity Eclipse 14 Day Southern Caribbean, March 18 to April 1, Veranda CAT 2C 2 PAX

 

Spring break + Holy Week

 

$140 USCy $176 CAD PerPaxPerDay. and your quote is:

 

$1,200 CAD is $85.71 CAD PerPaxPerDay. in a 7 day cruise

I've been watching the 6-day Conquest and the Celebrity Silhouette. The initial price that you see advertised, quickly changes to a much higher price when clicked on. (I still don't understand that one). We used to get our cruises for around $700 cdn pp.......but I guess that was when we were able to cruise in months other than March Break, summer & Christmas. After reading the replies, I gather that's most likely the whole reason/problem.

(y)(y)

Watch for 7 night Eastern Caribbean cruises out of Fl after Final for a good chance to see a better rate .

Be on the cruise lines email lists or tell a Good Cruise Specialist TA what your wishes are .

 

 

 

 

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Your suggested price range seems pretty reasonable for a cruise during that time frame. It would be helpful, however, to know what cruise lines and stateroom categories you are looking at. Be prepared for fairly high airfare as well. Not likely to see price drops between now and March with either IMO.

We are not looking for anything extravagant....just the 6 day, on the Conquest. Interior cabin. We liked the price of the cruises out of San Juan, but then realized the airfare was astronomical, like you mentioned. I guess booking many months in advance is the answer.

Travel much?

 

 

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Not as much as I would like..... stupid job keeps getting in the way! lol

2 weeks vacation time per year. We wanted to go on a cruise in July and ended up settling on Vegas because again, the cruise prices were too high (in my opinion).

Maybe it's because I'm looking at March Break, but I'm just not content with paying $800 - 1200 (Canadian) for a 6-7 day cruise out of Florida. Does anyone know if the prices will drop, for any reason, between now and March?

We find flying to be a pain as it is so restrictive and chances of delays so great that we drive whenever feasible.

 

You didnt say where in Canada you are from but could you drive to NYC?

We live in Southern Ontario, 2 hours from Detroit. Unfortunately, NYC is quite far from us.

Ok, since cruising is our favourite trip to go on, and we have to fly to get to any Port, which Airline do you recommend, since Spirit turned out to be a huge disappointment and we will never fly with them again.

We live in Canada, but always fly out of Detroit. I was unaware that Spirit was such a disliked company by so many people until I posted my issue regarding their service, here on Cruise Critic, and was surprised to see every reply be a negative one. It shocked me, as I've never had a problem with them, and we've flown with them every time. Since that's not in the cards anymore, which Airline should I be researching?

Wow, thanks for everyone's response.....I had no idea that people thought so poorly of Spirit. The general consensus shocks me, as we've flown with Spirit for many trips in the years past, and never thought once that they were inadequate in any way. Maybe we've just been lucky.....

But now that we are aware, we will definitely be looking into other airlines for future travels and I also appreciate the advice of watching every action throughout the luggage check-in process, from the scale weights to the conveyor belt. I guess our luck has just made us take it all for granted. Awareness is good and I will definitely be watching more closely from now on. :o

Am I missing something? Why would they weigh the bags together. They have always weighed each bag seperately to my knowledge. Just curious, hope it gets resolved in your favor.

I have no idea.....I haven't travelled in a while and even so, I don't usually question an employees actions if I don't know their job. It just all happened swiftly and we were on our way.....you'd think if there was an issue (overweight bag) they would've/should've let us know?

The 79lbs was a combined weight of both bags. Based on what she said, her bag was 35lbs and hubbys was 44lbs. So he should have been charged at most $25 for being over the 40lbs max. Though if it's all about fuel costs, they both combined weighed less than 80lbs allowed for two bags, but we know it's harder to get your extra money if you're nice to the consumer :)

Thank you, that's exactly correct

Sounds to me like they took the weight of both bags and assigned that weight to just the second bag? Wrong yes, but it possibly explains how it happened.

 

 

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I'm wondering the same thing.....

I just got off the Valor last Friday and LOVED it! It's fun to read your posts and see your photos, as it's all very familiar. We absolutely LOVED watching the Boardwalk Band. They were a 4-piece band of men that played every night just outside of the Casino. They were FANTASTIC! We just did the 5-day Bahamas cruise and loved every minute. Can't wait to hear more....

My apologies if this is the wrong place to post, but I don't know where to start with this issue. Our cruise on the Valor was amazing, by the way. But the reason I'm asking for help is because we had an issue with the airline accusing my SO of having an overweight checked bag, which it wasn't. My sister has been a member with Spirit Airlines for the last 5 years and since we were travelling with her and her husband, she booked all of our flights through her discounted membership. So, on our day of travel, back on July 1st, my SO & I took our luggage up to the counter, put them on the scale, they tagged them and put them on the conveyor belt and we were on our way. Same exact process on the way back on July 9th. Just a couple of days ago, my sister checked her Credit Card online and saw that Spirit charged her card with an overweight charge of $100!! It named my SO's bag as the luggage. His bag was not overweight. How can they justify charging peoples' credit cards with bogus fees? If it showed overweight on their scale, shouldn't they have said something to us at that time? I recall back in the day, when peoples' bags were overweight, they would take their luggage off to the side and start switching some of the contents over to their partners bags, to even out the weight and lessen the heavy one. If we had've been told his bag was over, we could have done that. Plus, on Spirit's website, they show that the first 10 lbs is an extra $25 fee and it goes up from there....where on earth did they pull a $100 fee from? On the way back, we actually did watch the scales as we put the bags on and my bag came to 35lbs (the limit is 40lbs) and when my SO put his bag on, the number went up to 79lbs, which means his bag was 44lbs. On the flight back his bag was the exact same, only he had a bottle of Rum in it...so it would've actually been that much less on the way there. Even so, 44lbs =4 lbs overweight should be just a $25 extra charge.....where do they get off charging $100. We just weighed the bottle of Rum and it weighs 6lbs. That means his luggage was 38lbs going and 44lbs coming home. My sister dealt with Spirit over the phone and got nowhere with them. They offered her a credit towards a future flight. She doesn't want that. Their only answer was to file an online dispute, which is now on our shoulders, as it was our luggage. How can a business, that you trust with your credit card number, just start charging people with unjustified charges? Sorry for the long rant, but I just wanted to know if anyone else has had this happen and what can we do about it, short of trying to defend ourselves through an online procedure? Also, why did they weigh both of our bags at once? They told me to put my bag on the scale, it came to 35lbs, then they kept it on the scale and told my SO to put his bag on and they number jumped up to 79lbs. That number was a combined weight of both bags, right? Thanks in advance, for any advice or feedback.

I'm loving your trip report...you sound similar to myself. Can't wait to read more!

Did you see my review? I got back Saturday...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2358670

Yes, thanks! :)