thinfool

We took this tour....it was interesting....I decided to buy a bottle of their product...they asked if I wanted to use my credit card and charge it in USD. Knowing this trap I said no and that I wanted to charge it in local currency which was likely euros. That action dropped the price of the bottle about 20%. Buyer beware!

When you board the ship, heading for your cabin, and you see no housekeeping crew in the ever-so-long hallway, you will know that the ship or cruiseline is not paying their help.

$160.00 Round trip from West Palm Beach to Orlando.(cheap seats) I am hoping for some promotional pricing.

Nice of Ken to post that....I was going to comment that you should not try to contact a Travel Agent to answer that question because Princess gives them a 'heads up' for upcoming itineraries and when pricing will be available.

The question was about wifi...if free wifi is available on a Princess ship. The short answer is Yes...most anywhere. Wifi is what powers the Princess app that so many are raving at, and about. What is NOT free is internet access. You must pay to have your account access the internet. So if you want to check your email or facebook or other things that you routinely use at home, your device and onboard account must have internet access....for which there is a charge. If you want to use the messaging feature of the Princess app while you are onboard your ship, that is free....or included, depending on your viewpoint.

You can use Google. I just entered this criteria into the search window,,,,cruise leaving 09/28/23, More than one came up....you can also enhance your query to include the departure port, etc.

At some point in the not too distant past, Princess tried pricing their US offerings with gratuities included. It didn't last long. Because it didn't, I can only conclude that it was not successful, or worse, disastrous. The US (biggest market) is so totally used to the tipping structure, that to see a price of say, $2200. pp for a balcony, and then mentally add the gratuities, when a competing line had no fare modification....it's easy to see why Princess reverted to their original practice.

You can use Signal...written by the same dude as WhatsApp, but he refuses to sell it to you know who.

The last and only time I tried to rent at the airport and then drop off at the port, Budget quoted me in excess of $300.00 for that privilege. I used a taxi after returning the car to the airport.

I receive on a fairly regular basis an email from Princess for Drop n Go sailings. These are usually 'deals'. Pre covid I often had to give my TA the offer code from the lower part of the email so that he could access the same rate that I was seeing. Each cruise line has a sign up screen for their offerings....Princess, Hal, Cunard are the ones I am familiar with. LIkely there are others, but you must visit their webpage to enroll for their offerings.

I used to advocate Park n Go....and they do have a nice offering, however for our December Princess sailing we are opting for the main garage because Park n Go seems to have joined up with https://airportparkingreservations.com/ and their rates are within a smidgen of the Garage, so we will go with the port parking garage. If anyone finds something better, please post it.

Sorry, no one is facing a firing squad if they do not use the app. Ignoring it and just using the medallion to open your cabin door seems like a thing. Who cares if the ship ID is a medallion or a card? And the desk at guest services is usually well stocked with Patters.

Ages of your children could help with replies. Generally if someone wants danger on a balcony they must have alcohol onboard or have help to go overboard, although I did see a photo of some teens sitting on their balcony railing. There are lines that offer inside cabins that are considerably larger than the average balcony cabin.

Once you are booked you can make a payment for 'crew appreciation'. We have no need for a coffee card...I am elite and swap my minibar for the coffee package(no charge). 50% off of wifi, even for two packages, still does not approach the $400+pp charge for the Plus package.

A couple of things about non-cruise line excursions.... Many folks think that using the ship excursions offer protection from the ship leaving without them. I have a bridge in Brooklyn as an investment if that's what they think. We have been on ships that leave regardless. Especially if the next port is a fair distance away. The Captain has a schedule to keep. OTOH, non-ship excursions know very well what the cruise line requirements are for everyone, hence, to stay in business they are extremely punctual, sometimes overly so, to make sure their tours return before or by 'all aboard' time. I cannot remember the last ship excursion that we took as we stopped doing so a long, long time ago.

So you went on a cruise in the past and now you are trying to go again. Most of us here fall into that group. We were hooked. And we may have explored the various lines that you have looked at. Still, over time, we have all had bookings on several different cruise lines and came away with our own evaluations and opinions. So....this will be your second cruise. Pull the trigger, use a dart board, whatever you can find to make a decision....after that experience there will be another one, and another one. Eventually you may or may not settle on a favorite cruise line. One with the correct mix of passengers, cost, food, entertainment, etc. Great! You will fit right in! So go for it. See you on the seas.

You leave out the details of your sailing....the Regal, if not already, will soon be homeported in Galveston which makes the airport at least 80 miles away. Are there details that would make this different?

For texas, you would fly into Houston which is 80 miles or so from the port of Galveston where all the texas ships board. For Florida, Ft Lauderdale is the winner for your criteria, hands down.

Princess had some, 19 days as I remember, however they didn't survive the pandemic....as I see none listed now.

Take a cruise of 7 days or longer. Most parents cannot be off work longer than that. We always cruise in early January, maybe the 2nd week or so, after the college folks go back. Or you could do a full transit thru the Panama Canal. The year that we did it there were less than 6 children on board. The big time for families in the winter is over the holidays.

Because your CC id says you are in South Florida....we have had GE for several years...even went thru renewal without a new interview. It took a couple of weeks after applying to get approved to have an appointment (they have to do a face to face to get your fingerprints). After that we looked for a site for our interview, found one in Riviera Beach. No appointments available but I asked if they did 'walk-ins' and was told 'yes' and what time of day to show up. We did...badda bing...all set. Note: the CBP interview site in in the new office building at Riviera Beach right next to the pier where the Margaritaville ship boards. In fact they were boarding at the same time that we had our interview. Overall it probably took us 4-6 weeks to get our GE interview....the cards came 10 days or so later.

My opinion of the Ruby is a Class Act...great ship. Compared to the junky Royal class ships it is a top notch choice. My thanks to posters who drew attention to the cost conscious offerings available.

Well, we didn't have a choice. Several years ago on HAL around South America we were informed that our fare had been reduced by around $38.00. Never found out why....possibly something to do with the exchange rate or port fees....no one seemed to know. Also we were not given a choice as to whether to accept it or not.

I agree that there is little chance of rail construction to the port. I did read recently that a BL stop is definitely planned for Brevard County. This would enable cruise folks to use Uber/Lyft to get to their ship. Althought I have not tried it, I have read that BL already offers a free shuttle from their Miami station to the POM. Something like that could possibly happen at a BL station in Brevard County.