usviking

Thank you.

Thank you all for the prompt replies.  I will try for the taxi but have a back-up plan.

We will be disembarking at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal on Wednesday, September 4, 2019.  Will there be taxis lined up and available to disembarking passengers?

When I search here, I find that it might be difficult to get a taxi from Manhattan to the cruise terminal but I did not find information about getting a taxi from the cruise terminal to Manhattan.

Thank you.

We don’t enjoy alcoholic beverages and drink very little soda so the exchange of the elite mini bar for two coffee cards was great for us. Any change that reduces our elite benefits is certainly disappointing. Selfishly, I would appreciate more exchange options that might include specialty dining, the spa, or on-board shopping.

While I understand that Princess wants to control the abuses that have been discussed I cannot imagine that the number of abuses is that significant to warrant these changes. To avoid disrupting those who actually purchase coffee cards, I think it would have been much easier for Princess to have a different style/color of coffee card for the elite benefit that is only valid on the current voyage. Those who purchase coffee cards could then continue to enjoy their unused punches without an expiration date.

I want to stay at a hotel and use a car rental facility as close to the pier as possible. Here's where I think I should reserve a room and book a car:

 

Crowne Plaza at 601 S Palos Verdes St, San Pedro, CA 90731

Enterprise 235 W 6th St, San Pedro, CA 90731

 

Does that look right?

We have rented a car from the Enterprise location on 6th street in San Pedro, just around the corner from the Crowne Plaza. We picked up and returned the car to this location while staying at the Crowne Plaza.

For our upcoming trip, we will be using the Hertz location on 6th street in San Pedro, also very close to the Crowne Plaza. For this trip we will be picking up the car at the Long Beach Airport and returning it in San Pedro for our night at the Crowne Plaza before our cruise. Hertz had a much better price for not returning the car back to the airport.

Be aware of the operating hours for both Enterprise and Hertz. I believe that both agencies close early evening on most days, have limited Saturday service, and are closed on Sunday.

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I think Princess should also make the survey available online through My Princess. This would allow access to those staying onboard without having to use up valuable internet minutes.

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We went to Disneyland after our cruise in October 2014. Our first night after the cruise we stayed at the Crowne Plaza because that's what we always do but it was not necessary. We then relocated to our hotel near Disneyland using ExecuCar's point-to-point service (https://reservations.execucar.com/Default.aspx) where we stayed for three nights.

For our stay near Disneyland, we bid on Priceline and won the Marriott Suites Anaheim. The hotel had a Disneyland tourist representative for tickets/information and a low-cost shuttle to/from the park.

There may be cheaper ways to get from San Pedro to Anaheim but we have had great service with ExecuCar and you do not have to use a shared van with multiple stops.

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We bought this one on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MP-OTG400-BK-Outlets/dp/B000F9YN2M/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

After reading about it here on CC back in March 2014:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42107564#post42107564

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We had a tour in Victoria cancelled on our most recent voyage. We did get an email from Princess in advance. I was surprised when the tour fare was charged to our onboard account. A visit to the excursions desk confirmed that it would be removed by the end of the cruise and it was removed as promised.

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I took the plunge and booked the Mercure Southampton Centre Dolphin Hotel. I listened to you, JB, and decided that I wanted to have that special authentic feel that I'm sure this hotel will give to me. All said and done, it was $92 USD. Not too bad.

 

It appears to be a 13 minute walk to the cruise pier, but it does caution against walking - Google maps says that a walk would include a "partial restricted usage road" - which I'm assuming (hoping) that it means it's restricted to cruise passengers?

 

Nonetheless, I thank you all for your input on this thread.

If you have the opportunity to comment here after your stay, I would really like to learn about your experience at the Mercure Southampton Centre Dolphin Hotel.

Thank you in advance.

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There's a strong probability that QM2 will be at QE11 terminal - the one terminal that's deep in the docks & the one terminal for which even without luggage you really do need a taxi because of both the distance & the absence of a proper sidewalk - there's only a painted yellow line between you & heavy traffic accessing both that terminal & a couple of busy vehicle-export ro-ro berths.

 

Sometimes there are traffic hold-ups, but the different cruise berths are accessed by 2 / 3 different gates - QE11 terminal shares an entrance (Dock Gate 4) with Ocean Terminal, the other cruise terminals are elsewhere & should have no impact.

Long-term road improvements to improve traffic flow there have just finished, and there are now separate access & exit gates so hopefully traffic should be easier.

 

No problem getting a taxi - there may be a taxi rank near your hotel but its a little cheaper to phone from your hotel for a private-hire taxi.

 

No other sensible transport options for QE11 terminal, the only bus route into the docks (to the Oceanography Centre) stops well short of the cruise terminal.

 

JB :)

Thank you, JB. This is excellent information.

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We will be in Southampton for our first time in May 2016 for two nights pre-cruise for the QM2 to New York. I am just beginning our research regarding our stay in Southampton and have made notes regarding the hotels mentioned.

I would like to ask about transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal on the day we embark on the QM2.

1. Are taxis readily available and dependable?

2. It appears that there will be at least 4 ships in port the day we leave, will the taxi be able to get us to the drop zone without having to sit for a long time due to port traffic?

3. If we chose to walk to the cruise terminal with our luggage, is it easy to get around on the docks as a pedestrian?

4. Are there other transportation options we should consider?

Thank you in advance.

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I like using Priceline's Name Your Own Price when traveling to San Pedro. I have frequently won the Crowne Plaza for a bid of $75. Taxes & fees are extra bringing the total cost to around $94.

Crowne Plaza has started to charge a small fee for their shuttle to the ship on embarkation day but we were not charged for the return shuttle to the hotel after our voyage.

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USVIKING ... I think part of the problem comes from an incorrect e-mail address on one of their web pages (their contact page). That's why my e-mail from them bounced back. I had copied and pasted directly from the page that had the incorrect e-mail address.

 

I let them know about the problem this weekend. Hopefully it won't take long for them to correct it.

Thank you for letting me know.

I have used Already There Towncar Service multiple times in the past. I was getting concerned about using them again based on some of the comments on this thread.

I did choose to make contact over the weekend by email and got a response within a very reasonable time. Today, I reached Charlotte directly by phone on my first try to finalize our reservation for our May, 2015 voyage.

To date I have had no problems reaching Charlotte at Already There Towncar Service by phone or by email and she continues to provide DW and me with great service.

Charlotte wants everyone to know "... we are indeed still in business and ready to roll for cruise season 2015!"

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There is a ground transportation video of Pier 91 here:

http://www.portseattle.org/Cruise/Explore-Terminals/Smith-Cove-at-Pier-91/Pages/default.aspx

Here is another video about Pier 91 recently posted by a CC Member on a different thread.

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I too had emailed them twice with no response. We used them in 2013 and had great service. Wonder if Callie is no longer there.

 

I gave up and found another service. I figured if they can not answer a repeat customers email then I dont need to use them

I will appreciate learning which other car service you have chosen. I have used Already There in the past but the comments here have me a little concerned about using them for our May cruise.

Thanks in advance.

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We are on the full transit on Island Princess Feb 19 from Ft. Lauderdale to LA (15 days). There are eight sea days plus the one day in the canal. I think I read that with this length of trip there will be three formal nights. Will this be the case and how do they space them out...every second sea day or?

Thanks.

The Travel Summary for this voyage does show 3 formal nights but it does not show which nights.

If you are not familiar with the Travel Summary, it should be available on your Cruise Personalizer at Princess.com on the same page as your boarding passes and luggage tags. The number of formal nights is showing on page 2 of my Travel Summary as the last item under Itinerary.

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We visited Santa Barbara on our California Coastal voyage last month. There was a short walk from the tender dock to West Cabrillo Blvd, where a number of very nice Santa Barbarans were on hand to assist with maps, brochures, and helpful information.

 

During our visit, there was a regularly scheduled bus running from the water front through the downtown area on State Street with a number of posted stops available for getting off. While I rode the bus to the last stop on State Street and walked back to the ship, I was told that the bus could also be taken back to the water front by boarding at one of the posted stops on the other side of State Street. My fare as a senior was $0.50.

I found links to the Santa Barbara Downtown and Waterfront Shuttles (with map) and the fares:

Schedule & Map: http://www.sbmtd.gov/maps-and-schedules/waterfront-shuttle.html

Fares: http://www.sbmtd.gov/fares-and-passes/index.html

Based on this fare schedule, my fare might have actually been $0.25.

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We visited Santa Barbara on our California Coastal voyage last month. There was a short walk from the tender dock to West Cabrillo Blvd, where a number of very nice Santa Barbarans were on hand to assist with maps, brochures, and helpful information.

During our visit, there was a regularly scheduled bus running from the water front through the downtown area on State Street with a number of posted stops available for getting off. While I rode the bus to the last stop on State Street and walked back to the ship, I was told that the bus could also be taken back to the water front by boarding at one of the posted stops on the other side of State Street. My fare as a senior was $0.50.

We use Taxi Fare Finder to get estimates of what a taxi might cost: http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=SF

For a number of reasons, DW prefers a car service whenever possible. We used ExecuCar in March, 2013 to get from SFO to our wharf hotel. We have also used ExecuCar multiple times getting from/to LGB when traveling out of San Pedro.

http://www.execucar.com/

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Bid Date: 7/08/2014

Date: September 7, 2014

Number of nights: 1

Hotel: Radisson Hotel Gateway SeaTac

Rating: 3.5 stars

Area: Seattle Airport (SEA)

Site: Priceline

Price: $120.00

Taxes & Fees: $26.25

Total: $146.25

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Bid Date: 7/08/2014

Date: August 23, 2014

Number of nights: 1

Hotel: Radisson Hotel Gateway SeaTac

Rating: 3.5 stars

Area: Seattle Airport (SEA)

Site: Priceline

Price: $128.00

Taxes & Fees: $27.55

Total: $155.55

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On our last cruise (Star to Hawaii in 3/14) I used two of the Belkin Mini Surge Protectors in our cabin. About half way thru the cruise we were visited by a couple of crew members from the Engineering department. They said they were having an electric issue and wanted to look in our room. Another crew member was using some kind of testing equipment in a nearby electrical panel. He came into our cabin and went right to the two Belkins (one behind the TV and the other on the desk top}. He said that the Belkins were causing a problem and asked that we not use them. He said that he would bring us a power strip' date=' which he did. This is the first time that this has happened. We have used the Belkin on numerous other cruises without a problem. Except for this time, in which we used two of the units. We use the extra outlets for I-Phone, I-Pads, hair dryer and curling iron. Next time I’ll only take one. :)[/quote']

 

I used to bring the Belkin with surge protection until I read that surge protectors are not always the best for use on ships (here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2010705) .

 

So now I bring a couple of these non-surge protected divices

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MP-OTG400-BK-Outlets/dp/B000F9YN2M/ref=cm_cr_dp_asin_lnk

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Like many of you, I signed up for the Princess Standby Program some time ago without any luck. One possibility is that they are doing a much better job of filling ships through normal sales and with Flash Flares through travel agents.

There have been reports by CC members regarding offers from Princess to change their voyage due to over-booking. This would suggest that some routes are filling up just fine without using the Standby Program.

PunkiC, it might be worth testing a direct call to Princess a few days to a week prior to a given cruise that you would be ready & willing to take. Princess might be better equipped at taking incoming calls from customers wanting last-minute deals than they are at reaching out through the Standby Program. With the number of Alaska cruises out of Seattle, I would hope that you could at least get one at a great last-minute fare.

If you do try this and it works, please let us all know.

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