shutterbug63

I'd rent a car and do the the luggage valet. Alamo and Hertz both offer pier pickup.

It's so easy...you just get off the ship, go to the rental shuttle, pick up the car. I love getting to the airport & just walking through security instead of having to check bags.

And it's $20 per person. Best $20 I ever spent.

It's way early, but I'm a bit OCD when it comes to planning.

This is our 3rd cruise but our first out of Fort Lauderdale where we haven't had a car the day we return. Also our first on the Oasis (March of next year). I'm looking for recommendations for transportation from the port to the Fort Lauderdale airport. We won't be under tremendous time pressure because our flight doesn't leave until 2.

Is it possible to just walk off the ship and get a taxi? Or can someone recommend a shuttle service I can pre-book? We won't have bags as we're planning on using luggage valet.

Any information is appreciated.

If you rent a car for two days would you not pick it up on the 13th when you arrive at FLL and then return on the 15th by 2:00 PM before you board the ship?

 

Driving the Keys I would at least go across the 7 Mile Bridge, then turn around and come back.

We're planning on getting a very early start on the 14th, so we might do that. :-)

We board on the 15th..and I have an 11 year old who is chomping at the bit (with 123 days to go) to get on the Oasis. We like to get there early so we can board and enjoy the ship. He'd never forgive me if I made him wait until 2.

And again, thanks so much for all your help and suggestions. I've bookmarked the thread about what to do in the Keys.

I seriously hope this doesn't eliminate the soda only package. I can't do $20 a day for soda and juice for my son. Much more cost efficient for us to do the soda only package and get just a glass of juice with breakfast in the morning. He's not a big juice drinker. I think I'm going to pre-purchase the soda package just in case. Wasn't planning on doing that now, but $32 or so is a lot more palatable to me that $140.

I just flew out of St Louis yesterday back to Ft Lauderdale. I was there to see my Tigers whoop up on Tennessee and take care of some business in Columbia and Jeff City.

 

The LaQuinta - Airport is a nice property with a good breakfast. It's located on the south end of Oakwood Plaza Mall where you will find Red Lobster, Sweet Tomatoes, Sal's Italian Ristorante, TGIFriday's, Dave and Buster's, Hollywood Ale House, Wendy's and Moonlite Diner a reasonable walking distance from the hotel. On farther into the mall towards Stirling Road is a K-Mart where you can buy your last minute supplies and they have a decent selection of popular wines as well.

 

You can rent a car from Budget at the airport and then drop it off near the Port Everglades entrance and they will shuttle you to the port. That location is in a strip mall across the parking lot from the Renaissance Hotel on the 17th Street Causeway. It's a little difficult to notice because it looks more like a retail storefront than rental car agency. Use this discount code : Y937800

 

Now...We need to address your idea of a day trip to the Keys. If you plan to drive through the Keys on the 14th I would suggest you go ahead and rent the car for two days so you will have the car, ready to go, early in the morning. With no delays you're looking at a 4 hour drive if you go all the way to Key West and 4 hours back (and that's without any stops), so you really don't want to waste a couple of hours catching the hotel shuttle back to the airport to pick up the car.

 

Now I guess you're going to ask what there is to do in the Keys?

 

Here's a thread where we had a good debate on what to do in the Keys. I think your son will be thrilled with the Turtle Rescue Hospital...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1897407...

Thanks so much. I'm not sure we'll go as far as Key West. I know at least Islamorada and Key Largo. I bookmarked that thread...we're not booking anything in advance, but I am keeping a list of things to do and we'll look that over as time gets nearer and try to make a loose plan what things we really want to see.

And great minds think alike, I had already decided to change my car rental from one day to two. Thanks for the offer code...worked great....renting from the airport location, though, because the 17th street rental office closes at 6 and I was planning on a later return time since we want to be able to take our time in the Keys.

Hi Empehi

I believe the reservations for shows on our cruise opened up about 60 days out but I've read to start watching at the 90 day mark.

We made all of our dinner reservations in advance and I'm glad we did because one night I wanted to move the time and they didn't have anything available until later in the evening.

If you look up information of the secret balconies on Oasis these are perfect places to sit for anything with the I'm trying to remember off the top of my head I want to say it was on deck 11, 12, and 14.

Have a great time

I'm sailing on the Oasis on March 15, and our show/dining reservations have been open for a week or so. But my TA was told by RCCL 90 days...I just happened to go in and check and saw they were already open.

It's really not that close to the airport, it's in a very isolated area where there is next to nothing within walking distance and it's in an area that is very unfriendly to pedestrians. With two days you are definitely going to need a rental car unless you want to stay in your room and watch TV for two days.

 

I would check the area LaQuintas using the discount code of H O M E D L. Using that code I'm getting rate of $140 for a King and $144 for two Doubles at the LaQuinta Airport which is a much, much, mucho better hotel in a much better location.

 

Where are you from in Missouri?

Thank you, thank you, thank you. That worked like a charm and saved me a nice amount of money. That place gets great reviews.

We're in St. Louis. This is our 3rd cruise on RCCL, 2nd out of Fort Lauderdale.

Thanks for all the info. I've cancelled that hotel and am looking at some of the recommendations. As far as a car, we're renting one anyway, just for the 14th, as we're doing a day trip to the Keys before boarding the Oasis on the 15th.

Has anyone stayed here? This is on State Road 84 close to the airport. The price is right for us for our two night stay prior to our cruise on the Oasis in March, plus they have a free shuttle to/from the airport and Port Everglades. Reviews on Trip Advisor are kind of lukewarm, but I thought I'd ask and see if I can get some feedback here.

We honestly just need a place to lay our heads, so we don't need a five star hotel, but we don't want a fleabag either.

I thought about doing a guarantee on the Allure, but decided I didn't want to take the chance of getting a connecting cabin. And when I looked on RCCL's site and what was available for the date I was looking at, a lot of the cabins were connecting.

Opted for the Oasis instead for just a bit more than the guarantee on the Allure so I could choose my cabin. I'm super picky about my cabin, so I doubt I'd ever go for a guarantee.

Just booked Allure 8600 for Jan 2015. Is it just me or does it appear to have a smaller balcony than the ones on either side?

 

Also, anybody know if the bed is by the balcony or the closet? Anyone have pics of this room?

 

Thanks!

I don't know about the balcony, but here's a thread that will help you figure out where the bed is. I used this for our upcoming cruise on the Oasis as I'm not crazy about the idea of the bed by the closet.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1569806

I'm trying to book a family trip for my husband and I along with our 4 children and then some of our relatives. We've sailed Carnival 5x, Princess 1x and we're now looking to branch out and try something new. We'd like to do a Caribbean cruise in Jan/Feb. 2014. I'm looking for a ship that will keep the kids entertained. Things they can really enjoy doing. For example on Carnival in addition to camp they love the splashworks/waterslides, pools, 4D or was it 5D movie theatre, pool games, etc. Of course I'm looking at price, itinerary, departure port etc but i'm just wondering if some ships are more or less child family friendly? Our kids will be 9,8,4 and 3 at the time of sailing...Thanks in advance.

I'd second the previous recommendations for the Freedom class ships. We've been on the Freedom and the Independence. My son is 11 and we loved both ships. He did not lack for things to do, and the ship is lovely.

On to the Oasis next year, though. :-)

I got an email saying our Turtle Farm Excursion with lunch (March, 2014) in Grand Cayman is cancelled. However, they are still offering the Turtle Farm Excursion without lunch. Seems a bit odd, but we rebooked for the no lunch excursion. We'll just bring extra spending money to buy lunch there.

OMG. We have #1100 on the Serenade in March 2014 for 7 days. Can't wait. Thanks for the great pics. :)

Ship - Independence of the Seas

Deck - 10

Stateroom # - 1702

Stateroom Category – D1

Starboard or Port Side - Aft

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Extremely quiet

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Aft view was amazing.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - HUGE. Had room for two regular chairs, a table, two loungers, and one other oversized chair.

Was wind a problem? - No.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - No.

Any specific problems with this cabin? - No.

Any other comments? -The superstructure was bit distracting, but after the first day or so, I didn't notice it. Could see down into balconies below you if you stood at the rail. Mostly shaded, but some sun depending on what direction the ship was traveling and the time of day. Loved this cabin.

Balcony view (docked in Fort Lauderdale)

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531651_10200952146028632_1125250061_n.jpg

Users should be aware on the Indy before drydrock shipwide is a misnomer. We were up on the top decks and it was erratic. It was so weak compared to the newer system on the Allure that in Jamaica in our room the only network we could attempt to connect to was the one on the Allure even though we were on the Indy!

 

The pre-dry dock indy was the worst of the ship Wifi's I've experienced. The Dream class and Oasis classes are much better. After the dry dock I think it'll be better on the Indy.

 

It would take at times 20-25 minutes to retrieve a dozen or so emails. It was that bad. They did issue credits without complaint and this is something that is supposed to be upgraded in a few weeks.

 

But please in the meantime if you absolutely rely on internet while at sea be prepared for long periods without a reliable connection on the Indy at least until dry dock and be prepared to pay through the nose when it does work it's so slow compared to the Oasis/Dream class.

 

Again I was told multiple times it's going to be upgraded in a few weeks.

OMG. I can testify to the perfectly awful wifi on the Indy pre dry dock. Just got off on Sunday. It was S L O W as molasses, even if you used the computers on Deck 8 as opposed to using your laptop in the room.

Looking forward to the Serenade next year...it's my understanding it's had the new, better wifi installed as part of its revitalization.

55 and counting!

No way is this worth it for me. Even on cruising days, I don't drink $44 worth of alcohol. I'll stick with the soda package for my son & the occasional drink for me.