MamaMindy

We researched a similar question and have picked Long Beach. The Hyatt Centric or Hyatt Regency are close to several things to do. The Hyatt Centric is supposed to be attached to the mall, but it is still close to The Queen Mary, the beach, several eating venues etc. If you have Chase points, you can transfer to your Hyatt account and they usually require less points per night than Marriott. ( another idea to research)

One more question, did you tell them at Check In she would not be joining, did they ask anything at check in, or did you go to guest services later and let them know she was a no show? Thank you~

Hyatt Regency Vancouver... 3 blocks up the street and great use of Hyatt Points.

We are using Umbrella Transfers for the first time. I haven't used them before. I found communication is very good, and they sent our trip reservations on their app once we booked. We don't have to pay until 24-48 hours prior to arrival. The bus is the other option, National Express Bus, but the fee and hassle, for 3 of us was better for a private service with direct transfer from hotel to port.

I had the same experience yesterday! They are very quick and efficient and very good keeping us informed. KUDOS to NCL for excellent service on the Shareholder credit. We had ours posted in a few hours also.

Yes. That would be what we are looking for. Thank you.

Just curious, do you have a preference, or do your clients between Silver Sea versus Regent.

I appreciate your thoughts. It's a silly topic to discuss overall, it's all about unmet expectations that's all. We are thankful cruising is still here, and I'm sure the cruise lines are also, because bookings are through the roof. They should all be feeling the "love"! Now to work on their balance sheets, which I think they are working through.

I appreciate all the feedback. Personally, I can't accept the "cost cutting" measure as a valid excuse for an advertised Luxury Cruise line resorting to fill in your own, paper luggage tags, but that's just me. IMO, If I was Regent and I wanted to sell and resell my product, I would always want the first introduction and excitement about your upcoming vacation to be a bit more splashy and welcoming. Again, Disney has a way of packaging your paper cruise docs in a way that you are excited to get those filled in and attached! And that's a family, kid cruise IMO. We picked Regent for an adult, LUXURY branded cruise. They advertise and set the stage for "expectations". Mine were higher than what Disney delivers and this packaging failed. Regent has already raked in the money upfront, so it feels so "blah"..."your cruise is coming".. "we are so excited to welcome you that we want you to fill out these paper tags from this bland envelope." For those of you that travel extensively with Regent, I understand you don't "need" anymore and it's wasteful. I'm not there yet. We haven't had the budget for Luxury cruising and now that we can make the choice, it's just not as advertised from the start. For me, choosing to step up to the Luxury brand, it feels "blah" and "uninviting" at the start. Option for Regent: They could send them out to first time cruisers/ guests. For returning cruisers, they could ask for their preferences during online set up. That wouldn't be as wasteful. Paper delivery envelope, paper tags, etc... It is what it is, it's definitely not an example of Luxury. Thank you for an open opportunity to discuss what is happening in the world of cruising and NCL's examples of cutbacks. This isn't a big deal. I'm sure the service will be priceless. Princess is switching to Medallions and RCCL, Disney is using "apps" now, which are all good changes. Agree: Just let me print it off at home like the other lines and put it in my Amazon plastic tag protector. At the end of the day: we all have to attach our stateroom location to our luggage. Moving on to have a fabulous day!! Hope you all do too and are looking forward to your cruise.. any day on a cruise is better than a day in the office!

I'm willing to call and email. That seems so trivial for "cost" cutting savings, but obvious it's a change, even from February. Makes me wonder what else is "cut" from this advertised referenced "LUXURY" line. For some of us that are stepping up to the Luxury Line for the first time, and have read about the quality differences, this is not a good first impression. Let me know if anyone else gets a response.

We received our cruise documentation today in a plain paper envelope. It is all paper. Nothing nice, nothing quality. The Disney documentation we receive is head and shoulders above the quality that we received today for our August cruise. There isn't even anything to get excited about. I haven't seen much discussion lately, but I thought one of the perks of paying the Regent price, was the way you feel preparing for your cruise once your nice cruise documentation arrives. Did they cancel all the leather bound books, nice leather ( faux or not) luggage tags, etc?

Car service Miami is the name. You will find them if you Google it and on trip advisor. CarserviceMiami.com is the website for quotes

We used car service Miami. They were very good communication, on time , clean cars. We were a bit of a pain because we had 3 kids plus stroller plus a ton of luggage in a suburban . It was difficult to get us all in but they did both ways with a smile ! Extra tips help ! good luck!

This looks like a fabulous service. I did check and the quote was $420 for the one way drive to the port from an airport hotel. Part of the price is that there are 6 of us total and they would only pick up in a Van. This may work for large families, but Car Service Miami is much cheaper for our family of 6. I will check with them in the future if we have a larger crowd needing carseats. Thank you

Yes we can and that was the plan. But then reality hit trying to travel with 3 littles and so many extra pieces that were for only a 15 minute transfer. And we didn't want to split up in different cars. I found Car Service Miami with good reviews, availability, and the 3 car seats. It's quite a bit more than UBER or taxi rates, but we won't have to travel with all the car seats and store them in our already "full" cabin all week! Larry's Limo was really high! I did try him. Thank you!! I didn't go for Best Deal but will keep my eye on this is anyone has used them.

In pricing shuttles for a family of 6, needing car seats, the pricing is really high., $135 and up. However, Best Deal Shuttles is showing $70 for the short drive from our hotel to Port of Miami. But I can't find many reviews on them? Has anyone used them?

Someone just posted this link on another chat. If you are planning to sail on the Dream or Fantasy from now through April, there is a deal for Disney+ subscribers in which the 3rd and 4th guests can sail free with 2 people booked at full fare: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/featured/disney-plus-offer/ You do have to subscribe to Disney Plus to look at the offers. And they are only good through April ( at least for now) There were several sailings. You can also call Disney Cruise direct and find out more. We found that some cruises only had room for 3 in a room on some sailings versus 4 to a room. So options were limited.

I vote Disney. Just a personal opinion of course. We just took our 5 and 8 year old grandchildren, on NCL Prima at Christmas. It was a fabulous ship, but it was geared towards mostly adult experiences. The kids saw the Disney cruise ship parked beside us at one point and they were so excited. The kids club on the Prima was so small, and very unattended. The staff loved seeing the kids though and were very attentive at meals. The Disney staff is geared towards kids as is the ship, the activities, the meals, the restaurants, and the swimming options. The girls LOVE the Disney Castaway Cay, and meeting all the characters. We love the adult only options on Disney cruise too if the girls will go to the Disney kids club. On Prima, they were miserable so we wouldn't leave them. We love Celebrity, as adults, and will be on the Disney cruise with the kids, in early March for Spring Break, then following up with Celebrity for ourselves once we get them back home, for grandparents break. They are a very different product. Disney does cost more, but we were able to pick up the Disney + savings where 3rd and 4th passengers cruise for free. It still cost more than the Christmas NCL cruise even on sale. (I think that promotion is over. ) Again, the girls eyes light up when they see the Disney ship and plan for all of the character meet and greets, and swimming in the pool, and riding the Aqua Duck. One thing we did, was watch You Tube videos about "overviews" of the different ships to help us pick. Maybe that would help you find which one works for you. Good luck!

Maybe someone can help with this also. If he is a Captains Club member, at some level there is a 1 category upgrade for free. I haven't used this but my TA did consider it when making our reservations for pricing considerations. The upgrade to a suite is a great idea depending on the sofa bed concern.

That is great news!! Thank you 😀

To wrap up my research: I found enough unfavorable reviews on cruise critic, or comments in this posting, about deck 12 in S3, that we were lucky enough to relocate to deck 8 in a Magic Carpet suite. The concerns about the Magic Carpet sitting right above the cabin most of the day, looking out at the white "teeth" while it's docked on 14, cleaning it at 3 am, and the potential music, additional crowd noise from being right under the pool deck, gave us enough reason to move as soon as another cabin opened up. We will still live the adventure of this special cabin and beautiful deck, but hopefully with less " potential "obstacles. Interestingly, there isn't a wealth of reviews on deck 12, magic Suite cabins, and only a couple of pics. I hope someone that stays in a Deck 12 cabin will post a review soon. Thank you!

Thank you for answering this. The earliest available check in time was 11:30 and it had us select it to complete check in. So it's confusing as a suite guest, with advertised "priority" embarkation, why they even have us select a time if it's not enforced. Thank you for the update on ignoring the selected time. We will head to the port much earlier than 11:30. Is 10:00 reasonable for arrival even though our check in time is recorded as 11:30?

Oh my! Those are some of the scenarios that concern me for the 12th deck cabins. I haven’t heard any bad reviews on 6th floor yet , and they still have those to switch . It’s just Raw and that walkway are right below , so not sure about noise from that. I did call Celebrity. The first 2 agents were not helpful, and transferred me around. The third agent confirmed what was stated above : there is no schedule. It all depends on wind and speed of travel where it needs to park. Thank you all !

Thanks everyone! I'll check with Celebrity tomorrow to see how often it stays parked on Deck 14. Looking out at the "teeth" would be rather weird. Otherwise, I like being higher on Deck 12. What's hard to know is how much pool or cabana noise transfers to deck 12 cabins in that area. Or, if we chose Deck 6, it is right above the Raw restaurant and I've always read don't stay above or below a restaurant. I'll post what they can tell me about the duration of it parked on Deck 14, versus 16, 5 and 2. I think it looks like a great cabin otherwise and it's a much cheaper option to get to suite level experience.

Our option for our sailing on the Apex in the S3 category ( significant savings) is only deck 6 cabins or deck 12. They both seem to have negative reviews. Has anyone stayed in either location abs have any reviews ? Reviews are very few and far between on these cabins.