LPYRCRUISER

Sorry, answering late, just debarked from a cruise. Yes, we left our car at the front entrance. There is no shuttle from ship. If physically able, the trolley is fine. I wouldn’t think a taxi would cost much.

Yes, just walk out to the street and it’s right there.

We did this last February, although we arrived the day before. It took us forever to find where to return our car. It’s right at the hotel lobby. We went in, found the rental people and then checked into the hotel.

Very happy with location and amenities. The next day we took the trolley to the cruise port. Easy peasy!

On 3/19/2023 at 1:07 PM, TC Cruiser said:

I have stayed at least twice at the Rodeway Inn in Ft. Lauderdale and am currently booked there for a cruise next February. They have a shuttle to/from the airport and they have free shuttles from the hotel to the cruise terminal up until 11 am (I think) and then anytime after that for $5 pp. Basic accommodations but they do have a restaurant. We've been pleased each time and plan to stay on each departure out of FFL.

I've booked this hotel for our group cruise next January.  I was a little hesitant but your post put my mind at ease.  I know it's not upscale, but as long as it's clean and safe......

On 1/5/2023 at 12:30 PM, kernie968 said:

We have taken Yankee Trails many times. We always try to get off the latest we can. There are plenty of benches to sit on since they will not let you stay in the building. If it is raining or freezing cold they do have bathrooms you can stand in.

 

 

 

Can you explain about bathrooms?

Sorry, responded to the wrong post!

On your first post you mentioned bathrooms we can stand in, if it’s raining or cold. I’m confused.

Bathrooms?

Looking for experiences using Yankee Trails/ Cruise Express from Albany to Cape Liberty. It’s the return trip I’m most concerned with. How was the wait between debarkation and the bus arriving for pickup. TIA

On 10/27/2022 at 9:01 PM, boscobeans said:

Thanks for the response.

We have been sailing Royal for almost 20 years ( D+ ) and choose MTD when we can, going way back

 

We are going on our FOURTH Anthem cruise and was emailed that the earliest MTD is now 6:45.

We have ALWAYS showed up at 5:30 and were always seated. 

As usual I will just see the seating director once we board and have it taken care of.

 

Thanks again for the reply.

This is good to know.  just booked this ship for February.  We were assigned MTD and when I looked to make reservations they were all after 6:30  We generally do assigned early dining but I will look into getting earlier seating once on the ship.

Thanks for all the comments. Some were very helpful:

All you'd really be able to say is that you saw some famous buildings through a window as you drove by.

 I was pretty stressed about time management

disembark the ship when it ports in Le Havre (occasionally Cherbourg) and take a direct train (2 hours) from there to Paris.

book a WWII Normandy full day tour

It's given me some other options and things to think about.  One of the reasons I enjoy this site !

I've always wanted to do a British Isle cruise.  I'm starting to research for 2024, our 50th anniversary.  I know those schedules aren't out yet, so I'm looking at what's offered next year.  There are a few that have Paris as a port.  I understand it's quite a distance from the port to the city.  I've never been to that part of the world and wondered if we should include Paris. Is it worth the time and effort to get a glimpse?

My plan is to stay in London a few days prior to the cruise to see those sights. We did a Western Med cruise for our 40th anniversary, staying in Rome before and took the train to Venice after. That was DH's bucket list cruise and this one would be mine. TIA.

We sailed with friends who had a 1PM boarding time, while ours was not until 2:30. We arrived at 1PM with our friends and handed our luggage to the porter and went right into the terminal. We had completed the Verifly app and they had not. We went into a separate line from them and were on board about 15 minutes before they were.

I know we bent the rules but were traveling together and arrived at the terminal at the same time.  if they had refused us entry we would have abided by the rules and not argued. There was a slight delay with a computer issue but the lines weren't that bad and moved along nicely. Montreal was one of the best embarkations we've had.

we just completed a HAL cruise, Montreal to Boston.  Enjoyed it very much with a lot of excursions to choose from.  While HAL has a reputation for being for an older crowd, we saw much less walkers and scooters than our RCCL cruise in March! Food and service was excellent.

We just got off Saturday and found them quite crowded. Not very large and irritating when someone hogs a slot machine.  Card was in the slot, drink nearby and chair leaned up against the machine so no one could use it.  Gone potty? playing another machine? I thought about reporting it, but it was our last night and really didn't want to go there.  I had terrible luck with tight machines, but DH won a jackpot on his!

I registered on the web site. It was quite straightforward and not difficult. When we get a few days from our sailing I will print out the QR code to present at the border.

Living on the Canadian border, we know of several people who may not enter Canada because of past DUI charges. It's a Canadian law and I don't believe the history goes away.  Since you are boarding the ship in the US you shouldn't have any issues with that.  It's once you want to enter Canada that you will run into issues.  I don't believe the cruise line will deport you, I think you will just be denied entry into Canada at the port. 

Montreal is only an hour drive and crossing into Canada was a common occurrence for us before 9/11 and COVID.  Rules have gotten stricter and it's harder to make a trip on a whim. But that DUI law has been enforced for many years.

I would think Canadian immigration could answer your exact question.

looks like the Zaandam is docked in Port Everglades

I'm not sure where your cruise departs from but in northern Vermont and northwards the leaves are usually past peak. It's not unusual to have snow fall by Halloween and that wreaks havoc on the foliage. I can't speak to the coastline as we live inland 10 miles from the Canadian border.

If you don't mind chilly temps the views should still be fabulous, leaves or not!

At this time, a Covid test is needed to board the ship. you must show proof of that.  To enter Canada you will have to show your vaccine card to enter the country. No test required. That will need to be done on the Canadian app before you will be allowed to disembark at any ports.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites downtown, nice accommodations , free happy hour drinks and took the free trolley to the port. found it very convenient.

We were upgraded on the February 28th sailing from an interior to one of these cabins.  The only time it bothered was when we were docked.  Couldn't see straight down, but certainly nothing to complain about for a FREE perk!

On 1/29/2022 at 11:39 AM, Angiedw1 said:

We stayed at the Embassy Suites downtown. The TECO stops right outside the hotel and we rode it to the port.

How did that go with handling your luggage?  I was thinking about doing that, but am a bit concerned with lugging all our stuff.  How far a walk from the drop off to the pier?  We are staying at Embassy Suites as well. TIA

2 hours ago, GTJ said:

Correct; that is the reason why I used scare quotes around the word "cruises." Moreover, sometimes the distinction between a ferry vessel and a cruise vessel is not always clear (consider, for example, application of the statutory definition of "ferry," 46 U.S.C. § 2101(10), to the Alaska Marine Highway . . . is it a "ferry" or not?). But the larger point of my observation was that international passenger maritime commerce is starting to return, even if only with smaller vessels, and on shorter route, and it is a good omen for the return to normalcy with respect to the return of the larger cruise vessels.

thank you for your helpful and informative reply

At this point to drive into Canada you need proof of vaccination and negative test results on the Canadian Health app.  I don't know what the requirements are for flying. I appreciate people being curious and don't enjoy the posters who give curt even rude responses. We know what the situation is today, but anything could change at any time.  Our borders have just barely opened to Canadian citizens. It's been pretty painful as our local economy is quite dependent on Canadian visitors.