Freckles83

Again why 30 mins, if I have a swim and go to the toilet and grab a burger it'll probably take more than that won't it?

maybe you dont need to put a chair on hold then if you're so busy doing all those other things ? find another chair when you're back from swimming/eating and using the restroom.

I'm pretty sure a lot of the cruise lines limit a chair being held to around 30min approx.

For the record, i think chair holding is rude but if you're going to remove someones stuff I would be prepared for a confrontation.

You could always ask a staff member to remove the items but even they are hesitant (in my experience) to touch someone else's belongings even if it is a posted rule :roll eyes:

I think it should be within reason too though, if theres empty chairs around and the one you want has stuff on it then it might be better to just grab an empty one for the time being.

WOW, thanks for sharing, I can fully understand what happened, when you are new to the routine stuff happens.

and for the record for how horrible it sounded (and was to an extent) it really was one for the books. We look back and have a great laugh about it because it was just a crazy adventure to tack onto the start of our cruise. But for some people those things wouldn't be so funny.

Either way as I said before, If the price hadn't sky rocketed for the Rodeway so much I still probably would have stayed there again for around $100 a night and maybe just took care of the transportation ourselves as opposed to relying on the shuttle.

Im sure its not the worst hotel in the area and clearly not the best but for one night we survived to tell the tale :p

Thanks, the Eurodam is awesome. We sailed her a couple years ago and had an amazing time. :D

Actually, when you live on the water, the front of your house faces the water and the back of your home faces the road. That is why the water taxi is so cool. Fort Lauderdale is definitely a city to see by water and not by car.

 

The Bahia Cabana is a waterfront restaurant/bar that is really laid back and fun. It is almost next door to your hotel. Ignore the resort and just walk through.

 

http://www.BahiaCabanaResort.com

 

There will still be a ton of yachts left because many winter here in Fort Lauderdale. We are the yachting capital of the world October-April.

well thank you for the info! i do appreciate it :)

You can take it off and not pay anything if you want. I don't like the cruise companies telling me what I have to tip..

wow .. every time. Its impossible to have a tipping thread without it taking this route eh?

You'll LOVE the Bahia Mar! Don't miss the Bahia Cabana next door.

 

If you are here over boat show, make sure you get tickets and GO! It is amazing, it will blow your mind. Some of the mega yachts are as big as cruise ships.

I think we just miss the boat show by about a week which is a shame.

Glad to hear good things about the Bahia Mar though. Ive been looking into taking a water taxi up to Las Olas to just wander around and look at the way rich people live :p What is the Bahia Cabana?

I love that your front door can have a road and the back door has the water. Amazing, I would love to live like that.

Just wondering if anyone has a chart that shows the room square footage and balcony square footage for verandah staterooms vs suites etc. I remember seeing one for what I recall was the NCL Breakaway and thought it was a really cool quick way to see the info.

Wondering if there is anything like this for any HAL ships, more specifically the Nieuw Amsterdam ?

Im considering upgrading from a verandah to a suite possibly and was wondering what the actual size difference is for the balcony. The rooms look to be about 1.5 xs as wide.

Also something i noticed on the room layout was that the TV in the Verandah staterooms seem to be wall mounted across from the bed and in the Suites are off to the side on a desk.. seems like it would be a pain to watch tv from the bed in that position. Probably a silly thing to worry about but i do enjoy to watch some tv before i pass out for the night.

Thanks for any suggestions/info in advance! Hope everyone is having a nice weekend :)

how come you haven't left yet? i thought it was a 4pm sailaway

I'm sure it is because of the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. It is the largest boat show in the world and that Rodeway is by Marina Mile.

 

Me? I want to find a bar somewhere so I'm not waiting for a shuttle :D

It was also our first time using a shuttle so I just didn't know how long it should really be. Either way we learned our lesson and that is no longer a criteria for us when searching for hotels. :)

Trying out the Bahia Mar this year so we'll see if my choice fares any better lol. Wish me luck :p

Why on earth would you ever wait two hours for a shuttle?? Waiting three hours is ridiculous.

 

It is so high in November because it is the start of peak season for us and probably the FLL Int'l Boat Show.

 

When it comes to hotels/motels in South Florida, you get what you pay for.

Because the few times we called it was "minutes away" and we weren't really in any rush to get anywhere, in vacation mode ya know? :) But yes you're right We shouldn't have waited that long, and if we had somewhere important to be we would have just called a cab.

As for when it comes to hotels you get what you pay for mantra - that doesn't really explain why the price has almost doubled for the same hotel at the same time of year. As i said, the $125 was pushing it but $200+ for the Rodeway ? If i had been spending $200 USD + for a night I would hope for something at least remotely acceptable. Perhaps my expectations are bit off now though ..

I was notified this by my online Travel Agency:

 

Starting on December 1, 2015 the standard service charge is increasing from $11.50 to $12.50 per person, per day for Inside, Ocean-view, and Verandah categories. Suite category service charges will be increased from $12.00 to $13.50 per person, per day. Any guest that sails on or before November 30, 2015 will have the option of paying their service charges at the current rate onboard. Please note that Holland America's call center does not have the option to pre-pay service charges before embarkation.

my bold/italics - the option ? Are we to assume if you sail before November 30th then the charge will be 11.50$ pp ? Just the wording of the "option" part has got me wondering. Not that it really matters, an extra dollar a day is not going to change much for me just thought that the wording was a bit curious.

my husband and I stayed here two years ago this november for about $125 CAD for the night. They gave someone a key to our room and they would have walked right in if I hadn't had the latch thingy in place. The room was painted lime green and almost glowed.

Bathroom was kinda moldy. We booked it mostly because of the price and the free shuttle from the airport-hotel and hotel-cruise port.

We waited over two hours for the shuttle to pick us up from the airport (after calling a few times and each time being told it was on its way) Another couple waiting with us had been there for an hour longer according to them so 3 hr wait for them. The shuttle driver was road raging and swearing at other drivers which at that point me and my husband found somewhat entertaining.

The owner (Iggy if i remember correctly) tried to sell us on a cab to Las Olas for the smoking deal of $50 each way. We called a cab ourselves and spent half that much.

The next morning while we were waiting for the shuttle to take us to the pier he did this stand up style show for everyone over the microphone and blatantly stared at my breasts with my husband sitting beside me. Then asked us why we were going on the funeral cruise (Holland).

We were told to wait outside for the shuttle for 10am and it didn't leave until 11:30am because of some mix up with some other passengers getting to the airport on time for their flight. It was such a mess. Finally when our shuttle came to take us they stuffed us into this van that didn't have enough seats or seatbelt for each passenger and literally pushed this woman in (who was probably in her 70s I would guess) and shut the door .. it was like stuffing in too many clothes into a piece of luggage and then sitting on top of it to zip it shut.

The driver was an even bigger jerk than the one that took us the day before. I know this sounds like a complete over exaggeration but I assure you it is anything but. Looking back we should have just paid for a cab and avoided the shuttle all together.

With all that being said me and my husband still laugh about it to this day and had an interesting "adventure" if you will when staying at the Rodeway Inn. I actually considered staying there again this year until I saw the price went up to well over $200 USD a night.

If you want to have some good stories to tell after a (hopefully only one) night there then go for it. At $125 CAD a night it was a bit of a stretch but I think if I had paid more than $200 USD I would have been a lot more upset about it.

I have no idea why prices are up so high this November but everywhere seems to be quite high. But for real rebooking somewhere else was probably the best decision you made this week.

Thanks! I never even thought to look on the private island forums. I appreciate your help :)

I just copy and pasted the list below from another thread that I think was from 2008 so I was just wondering if anyone here had updated prices on these rentals ...

Hobie Catamaran rental (1 hour) $50

Sunfish Sailboat Rental (1 hour) $40

Single person kayak (1 hour) $25

Double person kayak (1 hour) $50

Water Bike-1 person (1 hour) $25

Water Bike-2 person (1 hour) $30

Paddle Boat-2 person (1 hour) $40

Snorkel gear rental for the day-$16 adult, $10 kids

Floating Mattress-$9 for the day

Anyone been to HMC recently and have some updated prices? I can't seem to find any info on these rentals on the HAL website either.

Thanks!

I've cruised with my DM, in the same cabin, having both separate accounts/credit cards and combined depending on how much OBC we had to spend between the two of us. There was no difference for us; we both received the same number of cruise day credits. I thought the calculation is based on the total spent by everyone in the cabin but the cruise day credits are only credited to the first and second pax (not third and fourth).

 

Found the info on the HAL website: Onboard Spending Bonus Effective with cruises on or after September 18, 2009, one bonus Cruise Day credit will be granted for each $300 in eligible onboard purchases. This is calculated on the combined folio charges for all guests on the booking, regardless of who signs each charge and who pays the bill. Only the first two guests on the booking receive the limit of one bonus day for each day sailed; 3rd and 4th guests on the same booking do not earn the onboard spending bonus.

WOO HOO!! :) :) :)

Thanks RuthC and Alberta Quilter. You two just made my day. :D

It would be helpful and I'd appreciate your comments if you find a moment to post about your stay in that hotel. Hope you enjoy it. :)

 

You got it! I'll keep ya posted :)

Finding out you can book in CAD to save a bit on the exchange rate! Thank you CC.

Thats great! I love hearing about good cabin assignments. have a great trip :)

Neither of the above. :( But don't put on a frowny face! :)

You both get credit for the full $220! :eek: That is, unless you have different booking numbers, or run separate credit cards for your bills.

 

What a deal. :D

Im pretty sure we would have the same booking number, as we were booked in the same cabin and i booked us both on the trip at the same time. But.. we generally do use separate credit cards attached to our separate passenger cards. So maybe its more beneficial to have both on board accounts attached to one credit card ?

Thanks Ruth. :)

I, for one, would have no interest in sailing a ship which had been essentially the "Ashtray of the Seas". Can you imagine the stench? It would be like staying in a run down Days Inn a couple of decades ago!

 

Tom

LMAO this made me choke.

Coming Spring 2017 the MS Smokestackingdam

Staterooms that you can hot-box yourself in with blue smoke to your hearts content.

I pre-booked an excursion for my husband and I on our upcoming cruise and the total for the both of us was around $220 which was charged to my credit card. My question is ...

If each of us are using one of the excursions bought does that mean he gets $110 towards his account spending to garner points and so do I or does the $220 go completely against my account spending ? I hope the way i worded that makes sense.

Im booked here for my pre-cruise accommodations and although I've never been i can certainly let you know how it goes when i get back. Not sure if that timeline is going to work for you (end of november) but i'll keep an eye out.

I always say you can get older without getting old. I've met women in their fifties that can out party me lol. When I say elderly I pretty much just me in the mindset of the person. In my mind you can be 20 and be that annoying person that whines about the noise.

and then theres always going to be that annoying person that doesn't understand when to call it a night :roll eyes:

if i were to be on one end of the spectrum or the other id gladly be the annoying whiny person that respects the noise level. its hard being this "elderly" and boring but i suppose some of us have to do it :D

And, Motleyfan, I do take offense to the term "there are cruise for the ELDERLY"!!. I may be "older" but what is your interpretation of "ELDERLY" 40,50,60,90?? I may be able to get senior discounts where ever I can, but I certainly am not "old" I can enjoy myself to the fullest, even with the young folks I may be cruising with.

 

Anyone, can you find a cruise for just the "ELDERLY"? Maybe we should all book a "dinghy" for Motleyfan.

Agreed. And at the risk of this post being deleted - Im in my early 30s and i shudder at the thought of having the misfortune of being placed in a room next to someone like Motleyfan (any post I've ever read from him seems to be offensive in nature one way or another, i seem to recall his inappropriate comments about women going topless last year)

If you want to be loud there are more than enough venues to do it at, when you're in your cabin which also happens to be located by other surrounding cabins please exert the courtesy of being quiet especially after 11pm. Its the same if you were having a party at your home/residence, theres a noise limit cut off - try to respect that.