FLUFFLULA

We recently stayed at the Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel before our cruise.  The hotel is close to the port and has a great view of the ships.  The hotel was spacious in the common areas, the room was excellent, and the staff were very helpful.  There'are a few shops and restaurants attached to the hotel, and we had dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant in this area the evening before the cruise.   We will definately stay at this hotel in the future when we cruise out of Miami.   

We are cruising on the Fantasy soon and we're looking for parking options that are less expensive than the terminal parking ($18/day).  We will be staying the night before with relatives in the area so we don't need a hotel for the night.  Can anyone suggest safe, less expensive parking options?  Do any of the hotels allow parking without staying a night?  BTW, I've already looked at bestparking.com.  

Many thanks for any suggestions. 

Many thanks!

We have our second cruise on the Fantasy in 3 weeks.  On our first Fantasy cruise, I found a super specialty coffeeshop but I can'tremember where it was.  I had a coffee drink that tasted like a Toasted Almond!  I definately want to go there on our upcoming cruise.  Does anyone kow where this coffeeshop is lociated?

Thanks for your help!

Many thanks for the suggestions!

DH andI are going on Breakaway for the first time soon.  We've been on quite a few cruises but this is only our second on NCL. 

On another ship I found a small coffee shop that made coffee flavors, for example, a Toasted Almond!  Is there any place on Breakaway that makes specialty coffees?  

Thanks for your help!

On several cruises, I have taken the individual sized liquid hazelnut creamers in their original box and put it in my checked bag. I've never had a problem with the creamers breaking during the flight. More recently, I have switched to the hazelnut powder creamer that's in a plastic container that I put in a gallon plastic bag, and it goes in my checked bag. The creamer works just fine in my coffee and there's no worry about it spilling during the flight. I take a couple of small plastic bags, and each day, I pour some of the creamer in the bag and take it with me for my coffee.

I have had bouts of motion sickness far more often on land than on ships, but I always bring something on cruises in case I get motion sick. I've used the patches, Dramamine, etc. with varying success. On our last cruise in June, I had some motion sickness and I used Motionease for the first time. It relieved the motion sickness almost immediately! It is topical, not ingested, so there are no side effects and it can be repeated as needed. A drop is applied to the finger and then placed behind an ear. It also has a pleasant smell. I first heard about it on this site and have carried it with me for a number of cruises but I had not used it until the last cruise. BTW-it is available at Wal-Mart and I also saw it in the ship store with aspirin and similar products.

Thanks Joe! That's exactly the information I needed, and the map is super!

We'd like recommendations for good restaurants near the HI Express Cocoa Beach where we're staying the night before our Disney cruise. We are combined families with 6 adults, a toddler and an 8 year old.

Many thanks for any suggestions!

The best packing tip I have came from these boards. The tip is to pack clothes in 2.5 gallon zippered bags, such as Hefty bags. I pack one or two outfits or night clothes in each bag so I can easily see the outfit(s) in each bag. My husband also uses this system but he packs several shirts or pants in each bag. Once on the ship, I put the bags directly in a drawer or on a shelf until I'm ready to dress for the day. The best part is that the bags are cheap and we use them over and over again--just put all the used bags back in one of them and store until the next cruise!

We haven't been on NCL yet, (going on the GEM in June!), so I can't compare the two lines. We have been on 20 cruises, most of them on RCI, though. I do want to share the experience that my DH, SIL BIL, and I (all in our 60's and active) had on the Equinox on the New Year's Eve cruise this past January. It was the second time on Celebrity for DH and me. We enjoyed the cruise a lot, and the food was very good. There were few announcements which was nice and it seemed less crowded than our RCI cruises perhaps because there aren't water slides and similar activities that create mayhem on the pool deck. We had a lot of time to talk, read books and relax but near the end of the cruise, we commented that while we had a good time, there didn't seem to be much to do on the ship! You mentioned this concern, and it did seem to us that there weren't enough activities of interest to us on the Equinox compared to other ships we've been on.

One other comment in response to your item related to the RCI and Celebrity points. It is my understanding that the points you have with RCI will transfer to Celebrity (as it did for us), but the points you receive for a Celebrity cruise will not transfer to RCI. You may want to check this to be sure in case that is a major consideration in your choice of a cruise line.

Best wishes for a great cruise whichever ship you choose!

We live in Alabama but we are looking for a hotel in Atlanta near the airport in a safe, easily accessible area that includes parking prior to a cruise. We have used a hotel in the Camp Creek area but we want to try a different area. I have looked at other CC posts/threads but haven't found anything about Atlanta. We drive to Atlanta to fly to Florida for cruises because it costs more to fly from B'ham to Florida and we have to change planes in Atlanta and end up on the same flight we would have taken from B'ham--at a higher cost!

Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

Thanks for your advice. Will do it today!

We are cruising out of Miami for New Year's and need to make flight reservations from Atlanta. We're finding that flight prices are higher than we expected, perhaps because of Hurricane Irma. Should we "bite the bullet" and make reservations soon to assure we have seats or wait a few days/weeks to book hoping that prices come down a bit? BTW, we checked southwest to Ft. Lauderdale, and the prices are not much better after adding in the transportation to Miami.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations

DH and I stayed there before our May cruise this year. It is great hotel with views of the marina, the water, and the cruise ships. The suggestion by another poster to get a tower room is right on target. Also, we were able to choose our exact room a few days before arrival. We also liked the food options on site including the bar/restaurant outside. We would stay there again in a heartbeat!

My DH and I are in our 60's and have sailed on both Vista and Harmony this year; Vista for New Year's 2017 and Harmony in May, 2017. Both ships are beautiful and have lots of activities for all age groups. There are so many and varied activities on both ships that there is no way to do everything you want to do on either ship. We enjoyed both ships a great deal, but I am partial to Royal Caribbean so we have sailed all three of the Oasis class ships. Unfortunately, we enjoyed Harmony less than Oasis or Allure because there were about 1,000 more people on Harmony even though the ships are about the same number of tons. We found the Vista to be very crowded too and we were always trying to avoid the crowds. In fairness, I don't know if the crowds on Vista were due to it being the New Year's cruise or if it was the usual number of passengers.

Sadly, we will not sail either these two ships again because of these concerns. If crowds don't bother you, though, Harmony is amazing and I would choose it over Vista. We haven't sailed on NCL so I can't offer any info on that line.

Finding a cruise a family can be a challenge, so good luck!

DH and I are going to Alaska the first week in August. We know that the outdoor temps will be cool (60's) during the day with rain so we need to dress warmly in layers. When I started planning clothes to take on the cruise, I couldn't decide whether to pack summer or winter clothes. So, on sea days and at night, do women wear short sleeves and pastel colors or long sleeves and darker winter colors?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

DH and I have been to St. Thomas several times and we're looking for something to do other than beaches. I saw some information today about Phantasea Botanical Gardens and the many orchids in the pictures look beautiful. Is it worth going to? How do we arrange to get there and back to the ship? What is the travel time?

Many thanks for your help!

My DH and I will be going on HOTS in 4 weeks and I can hardly wait--the Oasis class ships are my favorite and DH humors me!

Anyway, we are excited to try the excellent food choices on the ship, so we'd like to know the best food items that you had in the restaurants that were included in the cruise fare. We know the specialty restaurants are excellent, but we're most interested in restaurants that don't require an upcharge .

Looking forward to making a list of "not to miss" food items on HOTS!

Thanks for your suggestions!

We booked the Hilton Garden Inn Marina in Ft. Lauderdale for the night before our cruise in May. My husband has stayed there before on business and being at the marina and watching the ships in port should be fun. After reading about the hotel restaurant on this site, and then looking at the information I realized that the only breakfast option is the $22 buffet! No way are we paying that much for breakfast the morning of the cruise. We could bring or buy snacks for breakfast, but I wonder if there is a bakery or small breakfast restaurant nearby?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I know what to ask for now!:)

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, we have tried parkstayfly but none were in the area we want to stay in. The two websites are helpful.

If you've been on Harmony, how would you describe the mattress--from hard to very soft? If hard, are mattress pads or egg crates available? This is a concern for me because on my last RCI cruise on Adventure, the mattress was hard and with a sore hip, it was very uncomfortable. I asked for an egg crate but I never got one, so I had to make do. If the mattress is hard on Harmony, I can take something to cushion the hip.

Thanks in advance for any info!

Thanks for the great suggestions!