capriccio

It is a 10 minute or less walk to terminals 2 (Princess) and 4 (Disney) which are before the Eisenhower Blvd security gate. All the other terminals (there is no terminal 3) are further, some much further, away. There is a good map on the Port Everglades website: www.porteverglades.net

This a question better asked on the RCI board since embarkation procedures vary by cruise line. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/

Go to deck plans for each deck and enter 3 guests. All the cabins for three will highlighted.

Welcome to cruise critic! There is so much information available here that it takes a little time to research the various forums. For all things Princess check out their board (all cruise lines have their own board for cruise line specific questions and discussions): https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/119-princess-cruises/ If you have general questions about cruising with kids, the Family Cruises board is useful: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/28-family-cruises/ I presume you are on an Alaska cruise. Our first Princess cruise was Alaska 2007 and since then we've gone back two more times and have sailed on Princess over 30 times. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do.

The other alternative is to rent a car and drop it off at PBI but it seems that post covid the days of cheap one way car rentals between south Florida airports may be over. Is your disembarkation on a weekday or weekend? The former means you will get to experience I-95 rush hour and in that case, I would pad the expected drive time to 75 minutes (and be happy if you get there sooner).

And suite passengers' laundry gets priority and is returned within 24 hours. Elites also have a free laundry benefit but that can take 2 to 3 days or sometimes more depending upon how many elites are on board.

We (me, DH, my sister and BIL, and a brother and SIL) were on a 28 day Australian cruise last April. i had requested the same table every night and we were delighted to discover that our waiter was from India where my sister had spent a summer a decade ago traveling on a Fulbright teaching scholarship. He was even more delighted to find that out. The first night he explained that the chef was from India too and from that night on for at least half the dinners he would bring an off menu extra Indian dish to share. If he didn't have an Indian one he would bring something else. He even got ill with Covid for 5 days and the head waiter (who was not from India) for our section carried on the tradition. All this was totally unexpected and greatly appreciated. We made sure he and his assistant (from South Africa) were thanked profusely each time and deservedly tipped well at the end of the cruise.

A decade ago we did a power snorkel excursion off a beach in Grand Turk. The water was crystal clear and we saw creatures ranging from sea horses to barracuda until all of a sudden it was pitch black. We had 'gone over the edge' of the Grand Turk Wall with a 7,000 foot drop off. That was a most impressive, not to mention irrationally scary (since, as my father an avid sailor always said, if it is over your head its' over your head), experience. The best snorkeling we've done was Two Step on the Big island (Hawaii) 20 years ago and Klein Bonaire about a decade ago. Neither of those were especially deep but they were crystal clear and filled with fish and Two Step even had spinner dolphins. Unfortunately our scheduled 2020 Polynesian cruise was a victim of Covid and we are both getting too old to snorkel very much now.

A year ago today we boarded a ship in Sydney for a 28 day round Australia cruise that had been preceded by 5 days in Sydney and 7 days on the south island of New Zealand. One of our best trips - cruise and/or land - ever! Remember that you will need Electronic Travel Authority docs completed online for both countries: Australia: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/electronic-travel-authority-601 New Zealand: https://nzeta.immigration.govt.nz/ I've added my answers in red above.

Our last European river cruise (we did a New Orleans to Memphis cruise in 2019) was the one I mentioned. We had cruised on Uniworld the year before Budapest to Amsterdam so my opinions may be dated. We were very impressed the cruise directors (very important on river ships), and the included excursions and found the food and drink offerings (all included) excellent. The chefs would get fresh baked goods from local bakeries in the morning. On one of our excursions to a Chateauneuf du Pape winery, we had to wait 5 minutes on the bus while the winery staff loaded cases of wine. When we returned to the ship, the entire crew including the captains were lined up to pass the cases from the bus onto the ship. Uniworld's passenger capacity is smaller than Viking and many other ships which I like. One of my brothers has cruised with them 3 times in the interim but not post covid. In September we (me, my DH, that DB and SIL plus our other DB and SIL on their first river cruise) are going to Madrid for 4 days and then on a Uniworld 11 day Duoro (Portugal) cruise which ends with a couple of days in Lisbon so I'll have a more informed opinion on how Uniworld has changed (or not) post covid. I encourage you to post your questions and take a look at other threads on the River Cruising forum. There are lots of experienced and helpful river cruisers posting there.

Your son might consider getting an inflatable car seat booster. Then you don't need to worry about whether vendors will supply one. They are convenient, easy to inflate and deflate into a small package, and meet federal safety standards. We used one last year for our 4 year old granddaughter. https://a.co/d/1VP4KFx https://a.co/d/9kd2CT6

Glad to see you got a hotel! Have a great cruise.

@RH Cruiser Oops, I meant to address this to @rhbphoto! You might also want to post on the River Cruising forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/115-river-cruising/ Given that you are incurring the costs to get to Europe I would recommend back to back river cruises (2+ weeks): Bordeaux and the Rhone. Some lines offer them as a single cruise including the ground transportation between them. Otherwise getting from the first cruise's disembarkation point to the second cruise's embarkation point can be done by local transportation (France has high speed trains). I know Uniworld offers a three part Grand France itinerary (Seine, Rhone, Bordeaux). In 2016 we couldn't take the 3 weeks off for that entire trip so we did parts 1 (Seine) and 2 (Rhone). Bordeaux is still on our wish list.

Maybe the same people who buy pieces at art auctions on cruise ships?

My DH - who spent a decade (2002 - 2012) traveling at least twice a month internationally - and I both have had problems back then. He was traveling with 2 colleagues and I was alone and both incidents happened in Frankfurt around 2009 - 2010 when transiting flights from the US to Eastern Europe. He and his colleagues all used eye drops for dry eyes. One went through security with no problem, one was told to put the drops in his eyes, and one's drops were confiscated and thrown out. All within 5 minutes of each other. In my case my trip had originated in Prague and required a change of planes in Frankfurt. The security officer had me open my purse and she rummaged around pulling out a 7 day pill box. With a gleam in her eye, she told me to open it. The gleam turned to surprise when all she saw was seven sets of earrings. She seemed so flustered she closed up the purse and sent me on my way without even looking further into it where I had 3 meds in their original containers. Our son and daughter-in-law were traveling in the US with their 2 year old a couple of years ago. She had a doll that accompanied her everywhere. They put it in the carry-on luggage so she didn't lose it in the airport en route to the plane. When the luggage went through the x ray, everything stopped and a supervisor was called. He asked our son what was in it and was told just the usual stuff (clothes, meds). Meanwhile the line is backing up. Our son was ordered to open it and remove things very gently. Out comes "sister baby" and a big sigh of relief from the TSA agents. The 2 year old then insisted they give her the doll. Something in her insides (IIRC it was her eyes) looked very suspicious on the x-ray. Turns out the TSA supervisor had a 2 year old with a favorite doll so was very understanding but told them to put sister baby in checked luggage on the way back. They've done that on numerous flights for the past 2 1/2 years without an issue.

As others have mentioned, take the time to investigate the rules and regulations for each country you are visiting on their own websites (not just take the words from other CC posters). When we went to Australia and New Zealand last year we did exactly as @GeezerCouplerecommends. Since our meds are mailed to us, I just cut off the informational section (patient, doctor, med, dose, pill description) of each informational page that accompanies the delivery and taped it on the small pill baggie. That greatly reduced the weight in my purse even compared to carrying pill box(es). When the Australian customs official asked my DH about the steroids he had noted on his entry form (you have an extensive entry form to complete entering both Australia and New Zealand) I was ready to pull out the baggie. I didn't have to because she took one look at an old guy doubled up (the steroids were for his back) after a day's worth of travel and just welcomed us to Australia. For over the counter meds they are in blister packs (cold medicines) or we use pill boxes with the name (ibuprofen, etc.) on the label. Another thing to remember - bring more than you need for the trip. We always take an extra week's worth at least. Flights are delayed, trips are disrupted, etc. that can extend your trip. The worst case of this - and why I've made sure we've done this for over two decades - was immediately post 9/11. A colleague and his wife were due to fly home on 9/12 after visiting their son stationed on Okinawa. Air traffic restrictions and then the pent up demand from all those air travelers meant it was more than a week later before they could return to the US. His wife ran out of meds but in her case, at least, was lucky to be visiting a US military base. The pharmacy dispensed enough meds to get her home.

Did the two balcony chairs recline and was there a small table too?

We have had the same experience. In those cases, I tell my TA what cabin category and location we want (usually down to the exact cabin) and she will come back with her discounted fare plus an OBC from her because her agency had group space. If we aren't offered OBC we know she didn't have group space on that cruise,

Given that you can see Port Everglades from the airport (they are separated by a highway), it would be more efficient to take Uber/Lyft or even a cab. I presume the Celebrity shuttle charges per person not by vehicle so Uber/Lyft or a taxi would be cheaper too.

Given that you are arranging private transport, ask the vendor. They should have experience picking up passengers at the port. In fact, many of them will ask you which ship your are on when booking the reservation and advise you what time to book (and not leave you if you are late).

Princess offers EZ-Check which includes check-in on board and delivery of your luggage to your flight. See this current thread:

Don't forget to add the overnight parking price to the budget. According to the Riverside's website it is $36 per night.

Actually it is worse than that at FLL during high season. The airport website (https://www.broward.org/airport/passengers/pages/cruisepassengers.aspx) currently has this warning: Due to peak cruise travel activity with multiple ships in South Florida ports, airlines at FLL may only be able to check your bags up to two hours before your scheduled flight. This is necessary to ensure that all passengers receive their luggage at their final destination. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding. Passengers have reported that it depends on the airline (so check that in advance) and success in checking luggage with the skycaps outside the terminal earlier than allowed inside. For more info on luggage storage see https://www.broward.org/Airport/passengers/SERVICES/Pages/Default.aspx Some cruise lines have programs where they take your luggage the night before disembarkation and you don't see it again until on the carousel at your destination airport so check that out on your cruise line forum. Then you are free to spend your time in Fort Lauderdale after disembarking and just get to the airport and pass through security.

To expand on @Coral's mention of the the Naturalists. Each Princess Alaska cruise has a full time naturalist who gives presentations in the theater and is on-call for narration from the bridge with wildlife sightings. After 3 Princess Alaska cruises, this is one of the outstanding features. For more information, check out the North to Alaska section of the Princess website: https://origin-www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/north-to-alaska-cruise-activities/

Last year there was no shuttle at all (we had hoped to get into the city and take an excursion river boat to/from the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary) so here's an alternative excursion if the shuttle doesn't work out. The Princess Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was an excellent excursion. It was a guided bus ride back and forth so we learned quite a bit about Brisbane. We loved the Sanctuary and on the ride back (a slightly different route than the ride to) we had stops at a scenic overlook of the river and city and 15 minutes to explore the views from Mt. Cootha.