Daisyloo

I sailed on the Westerdam and loved it. However, given an identical itinerary I would say go for the Nieuw Amsterdam, only because it has the Tamarind restaurant. It's an Asian restaurant you pay extra for. Westerdam doesn't have it. If that isn't important to you, either toss a coin or go with the cheaper option. Either way you will have a great cruise on HAL.

Yup, I'm an addict.

I had 2 dresses picked out that I liked for my daughter's wedding. How I decided which one? : the one that was the lightest weight, therefore better to pack for a cruise.

One of our bathrooms needs renovating, but when I mention it, DH says "well, I guess we will have to give up one of our cruises then". The bathroom reno is still waiting as I would rather cruise.:o

Within a few days of returning from a cruise my DH is on-line looking for the next one, but insists he's not addicted.

Cool! How great that you were able to catch that shot.

Thanks for writing this "live from" thread. I'm going to be on the Regal in 17 days, so loving to hear anything I can about her.

Have a great cruise.

Definitely a cab. Probably be $13-$15 dollars plus a tip. Short ride, mybe 10 minutes tops.

Thanks for the review. Had no problem with the Internet on the Royal's T/A in September. Perhaps the slowness was due to factors such as what people were doing on the Internet.

 

The balconies are smaller than the Grand-class ships. Those balconies are approximately 9'x5' or 9'x9'; the Royal balconies are approximately 9'x4'. A bit narrower but just as wide.

Thanks. Just having any balcony will be great. :)

Forgot to add: we have seen Bonine for sale in the shops onboard every ship we have been on. A bit more expensive than on land but not crazy priced.

Bonine works very well for me, and I can get sea-sick on a porch swing! We buy it when we are in the States, either just over the border for the day, or in Ft. Lauderdale prior to a cruise. Start taking it a day before the cruise. It is one pill a day, and if you notice any drowsiness from it just take it at night as you'll be sleeping anyway.

Great review. Thanks. Nice to hear some positive things about the new ships. Looking forward to trying it out for myself.

I know the balconies are not big, but when you say small can you be a bit more specific? How many feet wide, how many deep.?

Liked the dresses last night, except for Erin's shear hemline area.

So glad Michael was eliminated. Finally! He seems like a nice guy and he tries, but he was awful - painful to watch.

Agree that Val looks better with the stubble.

How many more weeks til the end? I think I'm going to miss it, as we will be cruising starting Nov 23. I guess we will have to PVR it.

My daughter and her husband stayed at the Copenhagen Admiral Hotel. It was right on the waterfront. They could see the cruiseships from the hotel. They loved the hotel and the location. They could walk to lots of places. They took a cab from the airport and to the port. It gets good reviews on Trip Advisor.

This is the first time we have cruised with Princess and we would love any information on Emerald. We leave next tuesday getting very excited. You just don't see much information on her about this ship.

We have sailed on the Emerald twice and loved her. You should be able to see lot's of pics, deck plans etc if you go to the Princess website. Also there will be reviews here on CC.

The centre of the ship, the Piazza on deck 5, 6,7 is a great hub of the ship. That's where the International Cafe is - lots of yummy treats, soup, salads, sandwiches -all no charge. Drinks are extra. They also make a nice breakfast sandwich, like an egg McMuffin - great to grab for a quick breakfast. And you have to try a cronut - cross between a croissant and a donut. Yummy.

In the Piazza there will be all sorts of entertainment off and on all day.

The shows in the Princess theatre are great. The top deck open air "movies under the stars" every night are fun.

There are 3 main dining rooms - 2 are anytime, 1 is traditional set dining.

The crew is great. You can expect friendly helpful service from all the staff.

Enjoy your cruise.

Hi Susan,

 

 

 

Go ahead, Daisyloo, rub it in! ;) Have a great time, and don't forget to try one of those Chili Lime Crab Maragarita's at the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar.

 

:D

Sorry!! Lol That sounds delicious! I will have one for you. :)

So excited to see her in Ft Lauderdale. We will be on her in less than 3 weeks. Can't wait! :D

That was really interesting.

I thought the part about the hand sanitizer, Purell, not being just the ordinary one, but a special formula especially for cruise ships, hospitals etc. a very interesting bit of info. Next time a hand sanitizer thread gets going, and one will, this would be something to add to the discussion. :)

We have cruised out of PE many times and never had a wait time like that. The most we have waited was about 20 minutes and that was unusual. Usually it is wait for 5 - 10 minutes, or basically walk right up to the taxi area and hop into a cab. I think the warning about it being a wait of 1 to 2 hours is an attempt to get you to take their transfers.

It will be about $14 for the cab and the ride is about 10 minutes.

My daughter and her DH did the 12 night Baltic cruise this summer on the Eurodam and said it is a very busy itinerary. You are in a new country every day, over night in a couple. They found they had no time for much on board activity, as after a day of excursions they just wanted to eat and sleep. They are in their mid-late 20's. Holland America Line is the favourite for all 3 of my kids (aged 23, 26, 28) They liked Princess too but prefer HAL.

Princess and Holland America are the two lines we have cruised on.

We have found Princess beds to be as hard as rock and we request the mattress toppers. Princess is in the process of changing their mattresses over to more comfortable pillow top mattresses, but it is still hit or miss whether you get one or not.

On HAL they have wonderful beds - they call them their "Mariner's Dream Bed". They are great - you won't need a topper for the HAL beds.

I second the tour SuiteTraveler mentioned, the photography tour led by Ronnie Carrington. We really enjoyed it. He gives you a great tour of the island, packed with all sorts of interesting things.

As the title states, we're doing one leg on the Carnival Freedom and the second leg on the HAL Westerdam in early December. I'm sure it's been covered before, but I didn't see specific answers to my questions when I searched CC.

 

Unless these ships dock near each other I'm sure we're going to have to take a taxi to get from one terminal to another. I saw a mention of a port shuttle in one post, but I've never noticed one in several cruises out of Port Everglades (too be honest, I wasn't looking, too busy catching a cab back to the airport).

 

1. Is there a flat fee to go from one terminal to another, or is it metered? Heck, the airport fee is reasonable so we wouldn't mind paying that.

2. If there is a shuttle, what is the price?

3. How close are these ships? I saw a map of the port, but it has numbers for the different berths. I know, do more research. ;)

 

Thanks,

Jim

As far as I know, there is no shuttle that specifically runs to transport passengers between the different piers at Port Everglades.

The port is huge, very busy and not walker friendly. The two ships you mention may or may not be near each other.

We are doing the same as you, B2B on 2 different lines. What I have learned on CC is that cab drivers don't like to take people from one ship to another as it is such a short trip, and by doing it they lose out on the chance for a longer more lucrative trip. So, what we plan on doing is trying to be in the last group off our Princess cruise, grab a cab, and if he is unhappy about it being such a short trip offer him a flat rate, maybe $15, which is about what it would cost to go to the airport. Then he can drop us off at our HAL pier and get back in line for another fare.

Hopefully it works.:o

We are doing a B2B2B out of Port Everglades. The first segment is on Regal Princess, the remainder on Nieuw Amsterdam. They will probably be docked a fair distance from each other so we plan on taking a cab between the two. If the cabbie doesn't want to do it as it is such a short distance, we plan on saying we will pay him off meter, probably offer him $15 which is what an airport run would cost us. It would mean he could drop us off and be back in the taxi line quickly, and pick up another person.

That's our plan. Fingers crossed that it works.

You could probably do the same. It would be worth spending a few dollars for the convenience of it.

On the ship I use a small cross body purse. It's just big enough to hold my glasses (otherwise I couldn't read a menu), my cruise card and a lipstick.

Well, with all the concern about telling people what city you live in, see the thread "Why is the city are area you are from not in your signature?", perhaps I shouldn't say.... But yes, that's where we are.

 

We saw the buildings when we cruised out of Port Everglades in the late 1990s and thought it would be cool to have a condo in one them.

Like I said, I'm jealous! It must be awesome seeing all the cruise ships coming and going.

POA1, I gotta ask. Do you live in one of those big condos at the entrance to Port Everglades? If so I am sooooo jealous! I always say if I win a lottery I'll retire and move in there. I will spend my days watching ships coming and going. And cruising too! :D

Princess and HAL are the only two lines we have cruised on. We like them both and would not hesitate to book either of them again. As a matter of fact, our upcoming cruise is a B2B2B. The first week is on Princess, and the next two on HAL.

The cabins on HAL tend to be a bit larger. The food is comparable , maybe a bit better on HAL. The crew on HAL are mostly Indonesian and Filipino, whereas Princess has crew from around the world. Both are great and will do a great job looking after you. The entertainment on Princess is a bit better.

Overall we love both lines. Go on the cruise with your friends. Try out a new line. You will enjoy it.