danicolie

39 minutes ago, CJDepew said:

We are likely flying into FLL next March but sailing out of POM. Just started kicking hotels around and saw Hollywood looks like a good bet. What transportation would you recommend?

We often fly into FLL when cruising out of POM and stay in FLL or Hollywood beach for a few days before our cruise.  We just use UBER.  It is the easiest and most economical.  

We have rented a car in the past to take a day trip to Key West.  But we returned the car the same day since hotel parking is very expensive.  Our hotel charged $40 per night.  And you don't need a car to get around in Hollywood or FLL beach with so much to do within walking distance.

If you're only coming in the day before and simply looking for somewhere to spend the night before the cruise, if you stay at hotels near the FLL airport, SAS Transportation offers a shuttle for $15 per person that will take you to POM the next morning. .   

7 minutes ago, Cruiser Who Knows Nothing said:

Going to definitely walk over there July 2 and check it out.  And absolute no brainer on 3-5 nights vs 1 night.  We got lucky, our daughter works for Marriott and I'm not even going to tell you what I'm paying for the one night.  You'll throw up.  LOL  Me and the hubby are staying an extra week in SoFlo at my mom’s place in Boca.  If another employee rate opens up during that time we are ditching the condo on the sand in Boca for the Hollywood Marriott.  I check like 10 times a day.  lol

Lol.  Good plan!  Lucky you.  Enjoy your vacay.  🙂

On 6/10/2024 at 12:48 PM, Cruiser Who Knows Nothing said:

Personally I'd stay at the Costa - you're right in the heart of the Broadwalk.  We never stayed at either and have been to Hollywood at least 15 times.  We are Marriott folks for Hollywood - our absolute fav.  In fact we are staying there in a couple weeks on for the night before our cruise.  Flying into FLL, and sailing out of POM.  

Thank you.  Usually we are Marriott people too.  But these 2 hotels are a third the price ($155 vs $404 Marriott) during our dates so it means we can stay 3-5 nights before our cruise instead of just 1.  We love Hollywood and really enjoy our pre-vacation before our cruise vacation.  I think we will go with Costa.  We stayed once before.  Excellent location.  Awesome rooftop pool. I was just curious about the Doubletree since their price is usually way up there as well.   

DoubleTree by Hilton Resort Hollywood vs Costa Hollywood Beach Resort  

They are the same price for our travel dates.  Anyone familiar with both and could recommend one over the other and why?  

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks, 🙂 

Wow.  Thank you all so much for the awesome feedback!  In September 2025 we'll be 52 & 54 so we can handle a lot of walking.  I was leaning towards Option #2 so thank you for helping me solidify this decision!  🙂  It just so happens to be the least expensive cruise option too, bonus!      

Back in September 2020, we had a 12 day East/West med cruise booked for our 20th Anniversary which sadly was canceled because of Covid.  Some ports on this new itinerary are the same so it will be fun to go through my old files to see what we had originally planned.  I had done quite a bit of research and had private tours booked for some ports before we had to cancel.  That cruise also left from Barcelona.  We were supposed to spend 3 nights in Barcelona and go to Montserrat for a day, visit Segrada Familia, etc... 

Excited to start planning now that the itinerary is picked!  I'll definitely add all your great feedback to my file for each port which will be a big help!  I am sure I will have more questions! 🙂

Thank you so much! 🙂

Hello, I wasn't sure which forum to post this in so please let me know if I should post it somewhere else... My husband and I are planning a European cruise for our 30th Wedding Anniversary in Sept 2025.  Neither of us have been to Europe before.  We are having a hard time choosing an itinerary that would be best for first-timers. We don't know if we'll ever be back to Europe so trying to cram as much in as possible.

We love the beach so we'd prefer a mix of history and beach and try to hit all the must see attractions at each port.  Easy to navigate ports for do-it yourselfers would be a bonus too. 

Option 1

10 nights - Depart Rome, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Split, Bar Montenegro, Olympia, Messina/Sicily, Naples, Rome (End)

Option 2

14 nights - Depart Barcelona, Valencia, Nice, Ajoccio/Corsica, La Spezia, Santa Margherita, Rome, Naples, Messina/Sicily, Santorini, Ephesus/Kusadasi, Mykonos, Athen (End)

Option 3

12 nights - Depart Barcelona, Marseille, St. Tropez, Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, Napes, Siracusa/Sicily, Santorini, Ephesus/Kusadasi, Mykonos, Athens (End)

Option 4

14 nights - Depart Rome, Naples, Messina/Sicily, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split, Ravenna, La Spezia, Nice, Marseille, Barcelona (End)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  :). 

On 9/6/2022 at 3:50 PM, Ms411 said:

 

Emerald is busy if you're on a Royal Caribbean ship that docks at Crown Bay, and a new attraction opened there that looks like it will become pretty popular.

 

 

Hi,  We've been to Emerald once, a few years ago... Considering going again in a couple weeks.. Can I ask what is the new attraction you're referring to?

1 hour ago, Diver2014 said:

There is a CVS on the corner of NW 2nd Street and Biscayne Blvd, across from Bayfront Park.  There is also a seven eleven one block south on Biscayne Blvd near Flagler Street.

Noted.  Thank you for the info.  🙂. 

Thank you so much everyone for the excellent feedback!  It was extremely helpful!  I just booked the Marriott Biscayne Bay.  In the end, the price and location could not be beat.  Also, I am a Marriott Lifetime Gold member so I get extra points.  Thank you for the comment about construction. I reached out to the hotel and it should not impact us since we are staying on a Saturday night.  If we were staying longer, it would have.  Thanks again!  Very excited now!  Not having a hotel was stressing me out!  lol!  

16 minutes ago, mondello said:

We had a nice stay at the Intercontinental several years ago. Seeing better prices on the Hilton. I'm considering waiting to the last minute in the hope rates drop after the Christmas bookings. Pretty sure I'd rather be downtown rather than by the airport, for dining over Christmas.

That's what I am trying to figure out too.  We're staying on Nov 27th.  Thanksgiving weekend so prices are high.  We're 2 weeks out.  Wondering if I should wait even longer or if I should book now.  If only I had a crystal ball.  lol. 

7 minutes ago, mondello said:

I'd like to know, too. We're in for 2 nights on Christmas Eve and I'm looking at the Hilton. I know others have posted the Holiday Inn POM is in bankruptcy and up for redevelopment. Curious about YVE Miami after seeing so-so reviews.

 

Oh thank you for the tip on Holiday Inn.  That explains the recent terrible reviews.  I think I will scratch it off the list. I liked it because it was across the street from Bayside, but the other two are still within walking distance.  We'll need our exercise after a full-day of flying.

YVE was on our short list too.  

Hi there!  These 3 hotels are the same price and I am having trouble deciding.... We are only staying 1 night pre-cruise, arriving at 2pm. 

Miami Marriott Biscayne

Hilton Miami Downtown

Holiday Inn Port of Miami Downtown

Any of them near where we could walk to purchase our 2 bottles of wine and case of water to bring on the ship?

On 7/13/2019 at 8:01 PM, Ashland said:

Try looking at the tour operator we just used May 26th ..."Greek Traveling" their Oia Experience tour that includes a jet boat to get to Oia from the tender ... a winery visit and drop off at Fira. We paid 82 Euros pp.

Which tour operator did you use?

11 minutes ago, Stinger-pr said:

Not really sure about showing up without a reservation and being able to get in on one of the earlier tours but if your back on board time is 12:30pm I wouldn't risk it. Your biggest wild card would be the ferry back to San Juan. IF (and it's a huge "if") the ferry is spot on with it's schedule that day (highly unlikely) you could make it work. But personally, I'd plan for something else. Sorry...

Ok, that's what I thought.   Thank you for the info.  Much appreciated.

Hi!  We want to do the Historical Tour at the Bacardi Rum Factory on our own.  Any idea how much time we should allow for transportation to get there and back?  We are planning on taking the ferry across and then the quick taxi over to the factory.

The 9:15, 9:45 and 10:15 tours are sold out.  The 10:45am tour is available.  I believe they last 45 min so it would be finished around 11:30am.   We have to be all aboard at 12:30pm (Ship sails at 1pm)

That does not sound like a lot of time to get back to the ship?  Advice? 

If we show up early without a reservation, will they let us on the tour?

20 hours ago, dawnelda said:

I had 3639 on the Brilliance recently and I despised it. The extra space in the room was fantastic of course but there is a crew work area (galley maybe?) either behind the room or one floor up and there was incessant noise until 11 pm. Things dropping, banging, rolling, on and on it went. I'm an early-to-bed person so that really wasn't going to work for me.

 

We switched cabins that first night to the same category, 8th floor. Yes it was a lot smaller but at least we could sleep.

Interesting... first time I`ve heard about noise issues in this room.  Thanks for the feedback! 

4 hours ago, MrBacardi5 said:

Sorry, I won’t be able to help. I just got “Royal upped” to a balcony! 😃

Oh wow!  Congrats!  Enjoy your cruise!  

Awesome!  Thank you and have a great cruise!  

Ah ok, that makes sense.  Thx

Ok thanks for the info!  I really would love the extra space since we're doing a 12 night.   

The other cabins we're consider are 4059 & 4057.  Seems like a really convenient location but worried about noise level (next to the lobby and the public space above).  They are also connecting rooms?  Did I read that you lose the sofa in connecting rooms?

I know this is an old post but I'm thinking of booking 3639.  Hoping someone who's stayed in this cabin can comment on whether you felt a lot of motion since it's at the aft of the ship?

8 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

Then his/her prices may be reasonable.

 

Do you have the RC Visa card?  There are some events just for cardholders.

 

 

The cost is about $400pp more than another date we're looking at.  I read that last year, Diamond and up got to see the special concert live in the theater while Emerald and below had to watch it broadcast on screen in the Aqua Theatre and Studio B.  To me, that's no different than watching a concert on YouTube at home and not a perk. 

I am wondering what those Emerald and below's experience has been like?  If the live concert is the only event they missed out on.  ie. If it's only worth it if you're Diamond and up.  

I am from Canada so no RC Visa card either. 😞

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

There are no cabins below an Owners suite left to book 

My TA has a block of insides reserved.  

My mom and I are considering booking the Presidents/50th Anniversary cruise on Nov 2nd.  We've never done a regular Presidents cruise and I imagine this year will be even more special since it's the 50th anniversary cruise as well.   

What are the pros/cons?  Is it worth the extra cost?   What are people's experiences with the regular yearly Presidents cruises?  

I am only turning Diamond after my next cruise so will we be left out of many "birthday/presidents celebrations" if we're only Emerald?  I am worried that all the venues or special events/concerts/gifts will be mostly for Diamond and up? 

Currently on the plane leaving Montreal.    We were supposed to fly to MIA but got rerouted to FLL instead.  What is the cheapest way to get from FLL airport to a Miami Mid Beach hotel?   Is there a shuttle?  Hoping to have suggestions by the time we land in FLL in a few hours.