snowskier

Sigh... Why is the world geared to stupid FB?

Same reasons so many are geared to this site.

The issue is not the boarding pass, but the ability to check luggage more than 4 hours before a flight from FLL. It might vary by airline, but it is my understanding the limitation is due to space at FLL. It is the main reason that I do not particularly care for that airport.

Of course if you used EZ Luggage this would not be a problem.

At least this has been my experience.

Thank you for making sure I know about luggage check in rules. Let me assure you I do. I fly much more than I cruise. I have lifetime status on two airlines. So am pretty good at knowing the ins and outs.

The post I replied to clearly stated the issue was the boarding pass and had absolutely no reference to luggage. I was not disputing the luggage check in times.

This would be a hard-to-do option.

 

The clubs are past security. You cannot get past security until you have a boarding pass. You cannot get a boarding pass until 3 or 4 hours before the flight, so you would have to wait pre-check in for several hours.

 

I suggest taking a Princess tour. Your luggage will be on the bus with you.

Really? SMH -- Just checked in and it is 23 hours before my flight. My electronic boarding pass is available on my phone and tablet. If I was on Princess -- easy to check in once we are in port, zip down to the Internet Cafe, air drop and print if I don't want to use the electronic pass.

I use lounges all the time. The lounge does not have to be associated with your airline. A couple minutes searching will provide info on location / prices associated with the lounge.

Get a waterproof cast - forget the whole cast cover challenge. If you do go with a cast cover ask the doctor where to order one that actually works. I never have had luck with the ones at the local drugstore.

Five weeks from now she will have figured out how to do everything she wants to do, in fact she probably figured it all out in less than 5 days. The question -- will the cruise line have rules that stop her from any of the activities -- no idea. I doubt you will know until you get on the ship as you will get multiple conflicting answers here and probably the same challenge if you call the cruise line.

Instead of changing your booking, try contacting your children's school administrators and explain the situation you're in. I'd bet you're not the only parents that made vacation plans in advance not knowing there would be a change in your school district's starting date. Explain to the administrators how much money you stand to lose by rebooking or cancelling your cruise. If possible, try to meet with your children's teachers ahead of time and explain the situation to them as well. Maybe they could give your children any necessary homework they might have to do to keep from being behind a week in their lessons. Doing homework while on a cruise will take away some of the thrill from being on a cruise, but it's far more preferable than the costly alternative(s) you're considering. Since the cruise isn't until Aug. 2019, you'll have plenty of time to work it out, but I'd do it as soon as possible.

Or respect your child’s desire to go to school rather than cruise.

She should not go. there will be other times.

The voice of sanity! I agree.

Because some folks just prefer to get it paid off as fast as possible. Some folks are not good with savings either especially if you are on a tight budget.

Nothing would be worse than to have an emergency come up right before final payment that required you to take all of that money in savings and then have to scramble to make final.

Really? Nothing could be worse? In this scenario I can’t pay for the expenses associated with the emergency but I can cruise. Guess we all have different priorities.

Odds are, everyone from Fort Lauderdale has done the same cruises over and over again.

Odds are, not everyone. I can easily drive to the port but repeating a cruise - not going to happen. There are way too many places to see and adventures to embark on in this world to for me to spend time cruising to the same place multiple times. Cruising limits ones options, as a significant part of the world isn’t near water.

Like others have said - each person should do what they enjoy. Seeing and experiencing the world is my passion. Cruising works at times, but not very often.

Hiking in Nepal is next - A cruise just doesn’t work for this one :D

Both Hertz and Budget have locations in Ft. Lauderdale with free shuttles to the port. Budget has a location that one can easily walk from as well. There are probably others, but you would have to move off CC and look at the rental car sites - unless someone here does the work for you :o

Easy enough to find out. Just ask her during a casual conversation.;)

Great suggestion -- I am sure she will quickly say -- I work from home, here is my address, thanks for asking.

 

I am Platinum now, so send out laundry, but I really wouldn't need to with this list. DH and I get a huge chuckle everytime we walk the halls the first and last night with the massive suitcases of stuff that people bring.

I get huge chuckle every time I read a post where folks make sure we all know they are Platinum. This one is really funny as it actually says being Platinum has no relevance to the answer.

This is an urban legend (or perhaps "maritime legend") that somehow keeps getting repeated on these boards. No such deadline exists for submitting the manifest to any government agency, whether days or hours in advance of sailing. Cutoff times for booking and embarking are set at the convenience of the cruise line. (Yes it is true that requiring those who did not complete online check in in advance to be at the pier earlier than those who did is for manifest preparation purposes. But for those of us who follow directions, once you complete online check in you are on the manifest. Period.)

 

As for Princess specifically, online booking remains open until the evening of two days before sailing; i.e. a Saturday cruise can be booked online up to close of business (Pacific Time) on Thursday. Can it be booked on Friday, or even Saturday morning, by calling direct? I know on Carnival you can do exactly that but if someone on this board has done so on Princess I have yet to see that report.

I have booked morning of on Princess and posted on this forum that I have done it. Sometimes even those that live on CC miss posts.

There are some medical situations where the policy may be waved, but "I don't wanna" is not one of them.

No doctor in the world can guarantee a person won’t have a drink. They can recommend but that is about it.

It is naive to think every pregnant woman abstains, people in AA don’t slip, and others don’t ignore Medical advice.

Medical justifications will be on the internet right next to service animal vests if Carnival starts allowing this.

I always find it best to leave these decisions up to the person with the challenge - and I then do everything I can to support them. I hope that others respect my decisions and support me if I ever find myself in this situation.

Insurance to bring remains back to the U.S. is included in many "policies" purchased by those that plan ahead for their passing. Yes I know this is not medical coverage but it is something.

One of the main complaints here seems to be -- there were no reviews. Change that - post the review on Trip Advisor. Yo may start something that helps others. Make sure you name their website.

I was just reading a review about a nice AI in Mexico where someone had $1700 stolen out of their safe. Why on earth people bring this much money with them, is beyond me. The credit card with no foreign exchange fees is absolutely a must.

Depending on where I am going and the latest challenges in the area I might take a bit more cash than you feel appropriate. I know from experience that a credit card is useless - cash is king - during many emergencies - from weather events to terrorism.

Extended power outages, ATM not being refilled and a zillion other reasons a credit card would be useless. A backup plan of access to cash is never foolish.

I would mind my own business.

I am with you. People are paid to work in the photo gallery. They know the rules and can choose to take action or ignore if the rules are violated. If they miss a violator or two or more - not my issue. It has no affect on my cruise. I have not, and will not, apply for that job so will mind my own business and move on.

I understand from reading CC there are many people that feel helping the crew enforce rules is their responsibility - respectfully I say - go for it and have fun.

My suggestion is...since you'll be in a suite, if you get cards with an expiration date, complain (nicely, of course). See if you can get it switched for a card with no date.

If the ship name/voyage # is on the card...your choice if you want to try to get that reversed.

Good Luck!

And, please, come back and let everyone know how it goes.:D

Love it - since you are in a suite - complain when policy is followed. Make sure you complain “nicely” because combined with being in a suite this makes you special.

You have to remember too how many other perks are included. They save big expenses. They aren't paying for things like rent, car, food, gas, car insurance, etc, the things that eat up so much of our pay!

Some CDs have families that live in houses, have cars, need gas, need car insurance. Are you saying the cruise line pays these expenses? That is a pretty nice perk.

Does your card provide trip cancellation coverage?

 

Consider this - Do you feel that the actions of passengers are in some way leading to all the changes and cutbacks? e.g.:

 

- people booking multiple cruises to bag their favourite stateroom just on the off chance they might go and subsequently cancelling them.

Thank you Princess - we often decide to cruise a few months out and this will make it so much easier to just book and ignore until it is time to pack. Now we book and have to wait for final payment cancellations to see what cabins are really available.

People on here brag about reserving multiple cruises when first available so they get cabin of their choice on the off chance they decide to go a year or more later. They now have to cancel earlier which is good for us.

Non-refundable deposits help when the deposit is more than a dollar. This drives me crazy when people post on here - we have no idea if we will go but who cares as we only lose a dollar so we booked several cruises and will decide by final payment.

Although I see logic in this, I see us always being at the terminal early! We are the kind that want to get on as soon as possible. We pay for the day and want to start enjoying as soon as possible. We have never felt overwhelmed or stressed about it, just pure excitement. We've been cruising for many many years and it's still exciting.

You also are paying for the last morning and port days so does this logic still apply? Do you stay on the ship on port days and are you last off when disembarking? Just curious as I read this so often.

I use TripIt for everything. The only paper needed is the boarding pass (I cruise Carnival). Everything else is in TripIt. Easy to just email all of your confirmations to the app and it puts all of the information in for you. Very simple, and free. Nothing else requires paper.

Haven’t been on Carnival in a couple years but back then PDF of boarding pass worked just fine. No paper for me.

Have someone not on the cruise check you in if it is that important and paying for internet is not in your budget. It is all about choices.

I have a VPN. Won’t use public WiFi without it as I just don’t take chances with info being compromised. VPNs are very inexpensive.

Several on here will say “I have been on a zillion cruises and never had a problem”. It only takes one good hack and you will see how useless that statement is.

Public WiFi is convenient but we all must be responsible for protecting our info. Remember you could be putting everyone in your contact list at risk as well.