lucywestie

At Xmas we drove from Ontario, Canada down to Miami. Did it with just one night on the road and then two nights in Fort Lauderdale prior to the cruise.

Stopped at a Doubleetree Hilton in Fayeteville NC. Great hotel and very comfy beds plus in house restaurant and bar. That was supposed to be a 13 hour drive but turned into 19 due to the snow and traffic in Washington.

Still, we like to drive and it wasn't that great a hardship, I would rather drive hard and do longer hours on the road splitting the driving than take to many nights to get south.

We took I-81 from the border and unfortunately we should have continued on it rather than head to DC but I followed our GPS. Next time I will take the I-81 west of DC and then cut across to Richmond and hitting the 95 south from there.

Will be cruising for the first time with NCL and am wondering about how their specialty dining works. On our previous cruises with Royal and Princess you pay just one price at ,say, their Steakhouse venues ( lets say $30) and have whatever you want off the menu.

Does it work the same on NCL? I went through their website but it doesn't break it down into how you pay. Just wondering as if its more a la carte and things are priced individually then maybe it might make sense for us to buy the 3 dinner dining package.

If you buy the dining package are you restricted as to what you can have off the menu and/or how much you can have? (not that I want 2 steaks but sometimes the appetisers are so good you might want an extra)

Many thanks

Going on our first cruise that hits some of the Mexican ports and I'm wondering if I need to take Mexican Peso rather than U.S. dollars? (Cozumel, Puerto Costa Maya)

I was in Acapulco many many years ago but obviously being a land based holiday that was a different scenario.

Many thanks

So done Royal and Princess so far. Our last Royal cruise at Xmas we were on Navigator and had a balcony. Bed was pretty comfortable though from what we were told they no longer hand out the "egg crate" style toppers due to health/hygiene concerns.

So what about the mattresses on NCL and Jade in particular. Going on the 10 day Xmas cruise and although we may upgrade the cabin if the prices go up and down after final payment just wondering what we can expect. Will they supply the toppers if asked or do they not do that.

If it helps, at home I have a pillow top mattress so pretty comfortable though being ex-military I have slept in enough fields and trenches to know what a "firm natural" mattress can feel like!!

So not going to play devils advocate but....we were on Labadee twice over Christmas and New Years and all we booked was the Clam Shells on the beach. I think we paid $40 for the two of us and we pretty much had the whole section of the beach to ourselves. It looked like nobody wanted to pay the extra and it was perfect. There was probably 50 of the shelters on our section of the beach and I think there was one other couple the whole day we were there.

Admittedly we got nothing else included like soft drinks etc. but it was extremely peaceful and the lifeguards made sure that nobody used the shelters that hadn't paid for them. When we stepped away from them to get food etc. the other parts of the resort were packed with people, but we found our own little oasis and all for only $40 so we were very happy.

Thanks for the quick responses. Might do the valet parking just as a treat as it doesn't seem that much more expensive than the diy option.

So we may be changing up our cruise in December and cruising from Tampa instead of Port Canaveral. So saying that I was checking out google maps plus an internet search and the search function here on CC for info on parking.

From checking online the Port of Tampa says they have both inside and outside parking. I'm going to assume the inside/covered parking is the Channelside parking garage that's opposite Terminal 3. But I can't seem to spot the outside parking. I know on the overhead google view there is a large area of parking full of vehicles outside terminal 3 but when I do a street view that appears to be just for the Florida Aquarium.

Am I missing something or is that Channelside garage the only parking?

So taking the Jade on its 10 day cruise leaving December 18th. I know its a still a fair distance away so will they be offering more excursions the closer to the sail date? Right now there are only 13 excursions offered yet we are hitting 6 ports.

This is my first time with NCL so not sure if this is the norm and they only offer very few excursions or can I expect to see more? I plan to do some private tours but on at least one of the islands I was wondering what the ship would have to offer.

Our first four cruises were Alaska and the west coast. We had inside cabins for both of those as we found we spent so much time outside watching for wildlife when the ship was at sea. Saw lots of whales even on the last cruises of the Alaska season, you just have to be outside a lot and find yourself a good viewing point. On our cruises that was either above the bridge or right at the bow of the ship. I had wrapped up warm and had a good pair of binoculars and spent hours outside whale watching.

If you are going late in the season then take layers that you can add and remove as the weather can be very changeable. Our first Alaska cruise we had lots of sun and little rain, total reverse on the second one and it was the same ports and same time of year.

Great choice for a first cruise

For instance Royal uses the far west terminal which is closest to parking garage G. Just wondering if NCL uses a specific terminal so I can figure out which garage to park in on arrival.

Thanks

So after finishing our cruise out of PC we have to head down to Fort Lauderdale where we spend 3 nights before heading out on another cruise from Miami. Seeing is how there is no rush to get to FL what would be a nice leisurely route to take driving south.

I checked out the A1A but it seems that you are blocked from views of the ocean by condos and the like. Is there another route that might be a bit more interesting or scenic?

Our next cruise does the same thing. We have been to San Juan once before so plan to revisit spice shop and a hat shop then find a nice restaurant with good people watching views and sit and have a meal and a drink. Then head back to the ship. Thats about it...a nice leisurely day

Apologies...I meant to say the off site parking is 2 thirds cheaper than the cruise port parking.

$5.95 per day v $20 a day at the port

The companies website states fenced and secure parking but when you check out google maps and google street view it seems anything but. Can I safely assume that google is just out of date and the company has updated since those pictures were taken?

Their price is less than a third of what it would cost for daily rate at the port and they seem to be recommended on here in various posts from long time and local-ish cruise critic-ers (thats probably not a word!)

I agree with the medicine.....we did a trip to Canada for the fall foliage. My daughter had been exposed to poison ivy and broke out horribly. Had to stop at a CVS to get bandages, band aids, and tape.....bill was about $100 (social medicine, y'know).

Took exception to this. Yes we have free medical care in Canada, for Canadian citizens. If you had been in the UK with their free medical care you would have been billed as well.

But also, there are no CVS pharmacies in Canada. We have Shoppers Drug Mart, Pharmasave and some others. But no CVS. Why would you think that a regular drug store should give you bandages and band aids for free. Your post makes no sense

So doing a 4 night cruise out of the port. We have our own truck as we are driving down from Canada for 3 weeks. I found what appears to be a newer Hampton Inn off I-95 in Titusville.

Just wondering what the area is like. From looking at Google maps there are plenty of restaurants etc. across the highway and some of the bigger chain stores. I know its about 25 minutes from the port but the hotel is only about $120 a night whereas the hotels in the Port area all seem to be running at $180+. That includes deals for parking etc. Considering that parking is only $20 a night at the Port it doesnt seem worth it to pay all that extra just to be a few minutes closer.

So just wondering if Titusville is an "ok" area. We are staying two nights prior to the cruise and plan to spend the only day we have visiting the Kennedy Space Centre.

Thanks for any info people can provide.

First time on Norwegian. I searched the NCL website but couldn't seem to find anything about coffee cards plus a search of CC only turned up posts for other cruise lines.

Bearing in mind that we have the Ultimate Drinks package. Does NCL do a coffee card? i.e. 10 latte's/cappucino's etc. for a set price? On our previous cruises with Princess and Royal such a thing was offered.

Or, are such drinks included in the drink package. I couldn't seem to find much of a break down about what the package included though a bit of research on here said its drinks up to $15. Though not sure if that includes any of the fancier style coffees.

Many thanks

So we are reasonably seasoned cruisers having done 2 back to backs with Royal, one to Alaska and then down the west coast and the last was over Christmas last year on the Navigator to the southern Caribbean. Our other back to back was with Princess to Alaska and the west coast as well.

So to try and keep cruising and keep costs reasonable I did some research and grilled my work mates and I plunked down a deposit on the 10 day Jade Caribbean itinerary over Christmas this year.

We didnt really like RCI Navigator of the Seas as it was full at 4800 people and we found it to crowded. We chose Jade for a number of reasons.

1. Two people I work with have over 50 cruises with NCL and both love the experience and I trust their knowledge.

2. The Jade has either just had a refurb or is getting one and is only 2400 people.

3. We have only been to one of the ports on the itinerary

4. We can drive down from Canada like we did last year and spend a week in Florida before to do some sight seeing and shopping

So saying that, what do I need to know about NCL? Our cruise comes with the unlimited drink package so sodas, cocktails and beer. We just have to pay the gratuity on that separately.

Any advice would be welcome. We are i our 50/60's and very easy going, like a drink and a laugh and nice dinner whether its in the main dining area or specialty dining.

Pete

In December we parked at the Port. $20 a day and I believe thats taxes included because we stayed for 16 days and our bill when we got to the gate was $320 on the nose.

The only issue I have with the parking is the actual structure and lack of signage to let you know what floor you are on and what are you are parked in. Only the elevators have signage and having been on a cruise for so long I got turned around when we got back to the garage and it took me a few minutes to find the truck. No biggie in the scheme of things but it is poorly signposted.

Getting to the garage was easy, we took the tunnel and then just followed the signs all the way to wherever our ship was docked. Terminal G springs to mind which is the terminal closest to the city. Lots and lots of parking when we arrived at approximately 1030am. I have a truck with 4 wheel drive and there was plenty of height above the truck.

Go onto Google maps and you "drive" the area on the map so you will realise where you have to go. Before entering the parking structure we dropped off our bags with the porter at the terminal, pretty much utter mayhem at that point but we were in and out in 30 seconds.

Went at least twice on our B2B at Christmas. Possibly 3 times..I just don't remember. Went once for lunch and once for supper. Food was excellent both times. Even if you dont have a drink package (not sure what the big deal is there) when we were on board they were offering a "flight of margaritas". Three different drinks for $18 I believe. One original, one Raspberry and then one that was "spicy". All were delicious and we had it both times.

For the appetiser we just shared the chicken stuffed jalapeno, or the jalapeno stuffed chicken, can't remember the order but it was extremely tasty. In fact all the food was very tasty. For dessert they bring out a tray with a selection of six different Mexican inspired dishes. All small portions but plenty enough to share. The coffee con leche was divine.

Anyway, you will not be disappointed. Each time we went there was probably only two other couples/parties in the room so the service was excellent.

On our b2b Navigator cruise at Xmas there was no advertised special. I happened to mention to our cabin attendant that we wanted to do some laundry and she provided the $34.99 bag that evening. But there was nothing advertised in the Compass at all.

I had asked a fair few questions on this part of the forum regarding my stay before our cruise over Xmas and New Years so I thought I would post a bit of information about what we did and maybe why.

First of all we drove from Ontario, Canada all the way south to Miami with some stops on route. We actually did the drive in one night with a stop in Fayetteville NC before driving to Fort Lauderdale for a two night stay prior to the cruise.

I had originally done the usual and asked about various places to stay but I wasnt worried about closeness to stores and restaurants etc. as we had our vehicle. In the end we ended up spending the two nights at the Best Western Plus on Stirling Rd.

It reportedly appears to be a newer hotel but we had some issues that were resolved once we got home. We arrived late on the Friday night (2130hrs) and because it was a big cruise weekend we were offered either a room on the 1st or a room on the 6th floor. Needless to say we took the 6th. On closer inspection there was a fair bit of mold in the bathroom on the shower caulking and grout plus the ceiling. Lots of damage to the baseboard around the door and alot of marking and damage to the wall where you could tell people had been opening suitcases etc.

We were so tired we put it out of our minds and spent the two nights there though I did take pictures which will come in to play later on. On return from our trip, some 3 weeks later I called the Best Western customer service centre and using honey rather than vinegar I had a great conversation with a customer service rep who gave me 16,000 Best Western Loyalty points (enough to cover approximately two nights in a hotel). I emailed them the photos and they assured me it would be looked after.

I call that a result

I think I chose the hotel because it seemed to be central to a lot of the things we wanted to do in the one whole day we had there. There was a shopping plaza across the road with a K-Mart (not in Canada anymore) plus a nail salon for my wife etc.

On the Saturday we did some shopping then after a quick drive West we went to the Sawgrass Recreation Park. Now even they admit they arent really on the Everglades but for $24 each we did a great airboat ride out over the grass and were immediately in and around 3 big gators. Very up close and personal experience with them plus turtles, Ospreys and then another gator on the way back. It was well worth the money and the guide we had was extremely knowledgeable. I would recommend it to anyone that has an afternoon or at least just a couple of hours to kill.

On the Sunday we had a 25 minute drive down to the Port of Miami. I have a new truck and elected to park it at the port rather than trust it to some of the off site places. I know the POM is pricey ($20 per day) but to my thinking it was peace of mind.

We had a gps in the truck which actually tried to divert us off the 95 and take us over the bridge into the port rather than through the tunnel but I had done some research and we took the tunnels. Very easy drive which allayed a lot of my fears about getting there.

Our ship was the Navigator so we were at Terminal G which is pretty much the closest terminal to the city of Miami. Once we had circled round the one way system security let us do a quick stop right infront of the terminal where a porter took all our labelled bags (labelled them the night before) and threw them in a cart. Then it was a 30 second drive around the garage and we were in and up on the 2nd floor.

Now here is where the Port could improve. Once you are in the garage there is no signage to show what floor you are on, what are of the parking garage etc etc. Its very poor. When we returned from the cruise we got a bit turned around and it took me a few minutes to find the truck. Im not dumb, but there really needs to be better directions inside the place. The only signage was inside the elevator.

We parked for 16 nights and the total was $320. I expected there to be tax on top but I guess that either its already included in the price or they just don't tax on parking. It was a very short walk from the truck to the terminal which was another blessing when we were carting our luggage on the way back.

So there you go, all my fears prior to getting to Miami where quickly allayed (never cruised or driven down there before so I had some concerns). Very easy to get to the garage, my truck has 4 wheel drive and I think in the garage we had about 4-6 inches spare above the height of the truck so if you do drive a bigger vehicle its not an issue.

Hope this might help with some of you that are heading down. We also picked staying in Fort Lauderdale over Miami because

a. the prices seemed to be cheaper (I booked and cancelled numerous hotels in the months leading up to the trip) and,

b. I just felt we would be a lot safer in the area we were at in FL rather than in Miami.

Pete

That's too funny. I happen to agree with you, but friends of DD, who live in Florida, complain about Floridians that don't know how to drive! LOL At least the Canadians who cut you off will apologize! ;-)

Ok typing this with a smile..but....I posted my review of my Navigator cruise and the first thing I pretty much started with was how about Americans put down their cell phones when driving. We drove the length of the country and everywhere we looked people were either on their phones or had something large and exciting in their laps that was making them smile when they looked down!!

As I was in a truck I could look down on a lot of vehicles and both my wife and I were stunned at the texting going on. I dont know what the laws are like in the various states but up here in Ontario its illegal to text and drive or even use your phone unless its hand free/blue tooth etc. I witnessed some absolutely terrible driving because people were using phones. There were plenty of road side signs warning people etc. but the point doesnt seem to be getting through

OP again here. Re the question about going east from Toronto instead of west through Buffalo. Going east you hit way less traffic than having to cross Toronto and then down to Niagara.

I believe the Queenston Lewiston crossing and others around that area are some of the busiest in Canada. I know we have had to wait up to 2 hours once just to cross and that was with no strike action going on. Then again depending on what time you cross can make a big difference.

But crossing at Hill Island (east of Kingston), we got there at 6am and drove straight up to the border agent checkpoint. Through in 30 seconds and that was it, we were on our way south on our trip. I just find that driving east is far more relaxing and at least scenic. When you go west from where I am as soon as you cross into Durham you are driving past concrete and construction till you get past Hamilton, its pretty depressing.

We drive to Watertown NY quite regularly and at least once a year for the last few years we take I-81 to I-90 and then east to MA. I like the drive, very few major cities to cross and mostly country side.

Our flight prices up here in the frozen north are ridiculous. Even a so called seat sale isnt really a sale in the end. We have very little competition for the two major airlines, Westjet and Air Canada so they set whatever prices they like. If I wanted to fly to Calgary right now which is about 4 hours flight time it would cost me close to $800 Can or approx $650 US. Ridiculous prices.

The exchange rate is great for Americans coming north but lousy for us that like to go south.

So for starters I had almost 4 weeks off of work for this holiday season. I have some seniority and our holiday is booked that way so I took off from December 15th to Jan 11th 17. So time off was not a factor.

Originally we had only planned on the 11 day Navigator cruise that left on Dec 23rd and we were planning to stay in the Fort Lauderdale area for 5 days prior to the cruise and do some roaming around. Well it worked out cheaper to do the 5 day Navigator cruise that left on the 18th rather than hang around spending money in FL. It was $1200 Canadian for the cruise for two of us and we got upgraded from an inside to a balcony for only $4 more. Yup, it was really $54 more but with $50 onboard credit.

So at that point time was a bit of a factor getting down to Florida but we still arrived on the Friday before the Sunday leaving date.

I had previously checked out flights from both Toronto Pearson (sky high prices due to all the taxes and fees involved) plus no direct flights to Miami or so it seemed. I then checked flights from Buffalo and Syracuse (all about the same driving time for us) but when I factored in time to get there, hotel over night and of course the lousy exchange rate the only saving would have been time. Flights and a hotel would have been approx $1300-1400 Canadian.

Driving down I set aside $700 US for hotels (approx $850 Canadian) and $300 for gas though probably should have had maybe an extra $50 US there. $320 US for parking for 16 nights. Total was approx. $1350 US which was about $1500 to $1600 Canadian.

So yup, bit more than flying but we love driving trips. Previous 5 christmases we have regularly driven to Cape Cod and back again. Only 10 hours I know but distance doesnt bother us.

My wife and I figured after 27 years of marriage we could tolerate each others company for that long on the road plus we always had satelite radio if nothing else!!

I know for a lot of people time is of the essence as they dont get that much holiday time but where I work, after 18 years, they are pretty generous so I took all that I could.

I also know its not everyones cup of tea about driving, infact on the ship when we told some people they were astounded that anyone would drive that far. Bear in mind I would never drive that far for just a 7 day cruise but we were on board for 16 days so it made it worth while to us. We were also able to pack as much as we wanted without any worries about baggage fees etc. We could also do a bunch of cross border shopping and lug it all home with no issues.

The only thing that was a real pain on this trip down was the snow we hit in and around Syracuse. Once we got south of there the weather was fine. We hit a belt of rain around the GA/SC border but it lasted 5 minutes and then that was it.

I have no issues with flying but for us we made the drive down a part of the holiday rather than just the boring part till we got to the interesting part. We stopped at some bbq places in the south and had some really good food, did a bit of shopping on the way, in Florida we did a great airboat ride out of the Sawgrass Recreation park and got up close to some big alligators and turtles etc. It was nice to have the freedom of the truck to roam around a bit.

Like I said, not everyones cup of tea but we love driving trips and it was a great way to start and end the holiday (minus the snow !@!)

I mean to add that the total round trip including driving around FL for the day was approx 5500km's. I have a new truck and am not worried about mileage etc. but I probably wouldnt have wanted to do the trip at this time of year in an older veh. Was nice to be high up above the traffic and with 4 wheel drive for the snowy side of things