lx200gps

The new rule only applies to those on the very lowest "Basic" fare. Everyone else, the old rules apply. And for those traveling on points, the points rewards are always "Standard" fare class which also does not have to pay for carry-on as it's one step up from Basic..

Welcome to Cruise Critic ;o) Yes, the food in the MDRs is very good but for us they suffer from noise, overcrowding, dreadfully-placed tables for 2, and general pandemonium. After all, they are dining rooms and not restaurants. We prefer to eat in the specialty restaurants most of the time as they tend to be quieter, better served with fewer sweating and dead-tired waiters, shorter kitchen to plate distances, and generally better ambiance etc ;o

On the Sun last month, we had absolutely no issues booking the CG, Sabatini's and the Catch, all multiple times, for the early times. We booked as soon as we boarded and used the DINE line. We prefer to eat as early as possible, when the restaurants first open, to avoid the crowds, enjoy a bit of peace and quiet and get the staff fresh on their shift. That being said there was no doubt in our minds that the SD restaurants were definitely more crowded as we were leaving around 6:30-7PM than we have seen in the past. The new Premier plan does seem to be adding more diners to the restaurants for sure.

This is a well known scam at both FLL and Port Everglades, lots of discussions here on CC about it. The trick for us is to ensure that the meter is running BEFORE the taxi starts moving and kill the trip if he refuses to run the meter. The taxi dispatchers at both locations should be managing that and ensuring all drivers use the meters, but they don't always do it. We've been lucky, the last half dozen times we've traveled by taxi between the two locations we've made sure the drivers play ball and haven't had any issues. A few years back one driver did not start the meter and I didn't catch it in time. We only paid $20 for the run and of course didn't tip him a penny. Interestingly, I chatted not too long ago with one of the Sheriff deputies manning the lines at PE about that and he was absolutely adamant, incorrectly of course, that taxi drivers always use their meters. As to Uber, we use it in Fort Lauderdale everywhere except PE, as I've found the lines of folks all waiting for THEIR ride to be too big and congested, so we've always used taxis between PE and the airport.

Welcome to Cruise Critic ;o) We fly in and out of FLL all the time off cruises, usually on the 11:30 AC flight to Montreal. We prefer to self walk off early and are usually at Terminal 2 at FLL by 8AM, often before the AC check in counter even opens up. An 11:30 departure should be absolutely no problem. As stated above, taxis will be plentiful.

You're quite welcome. Traffic reporting aside, I would also second your choice of the Hyatt over our choice, the Sheraton. When we landed at LAX Terminal 6, we stood outside the terminal for well over a half hour waiting for the Sheraton bus to arrive. During that time, multiple Hyatt buses were picking up passengers. Our next stay near LAX will be at the Hyatt ;o)

We did exactly that a few months back. In our case, Uber'd from the Sheraton on Century Blvd (right next to the Hyatt) on a Saturday morning around 8:30AM and there were absolutely no problems. Took less than 30 minutes in "light" traffic

Thanks very much for the heads up. Although our cruise schedule is well clear of Fort Lauderdale for those dates in 2025, we do have a 7 dayer booked for May 16-23, 2026. Given that the 2024 date was May 11-12, and the 2025 dates are May 3-4, I'm hoping that the 2026 show will happen at least one week before we arrive on May 15, 2026. Unfortunately we did get caught in the 2025 Boat Show hotel mess in November 2025 ;o(

I use Tripadvisor at the start of a hotel search, as I love its map function. Choose a date, zoom in on your chosen area, and it will show you approximate pricing for many hotels in that specific geographic area. You can then dismiss the ones you are not interested in, too expensive etc, and settle on a few hotels for further investigation. Tripadvisor consolidates and displays rates for a number of sites like Expedia, Hotels.com etc but most of the time, as other have said, it works out best to go with the hotel site (which Tripadvisor also usually shows). With few exceptions, in our case at least, going direct with Marriott and using their senior's discount will match most other's rate, gives us Marriott points and doesn't require pre-payment, a huge no-no for me.

Stick with it, NEXUS is certainly worth it. Our last trip through YUL, a month ago, was a breeze. Much, much shorter security line and effectively no waiting either at the NEXUS kiosk or the line to meet the USCPB agent, while the "regular" line probably had at least 100 people in it. There are a few threads here on this sub-forum re people's experiences with their NEXUS applications and renewals, and yes, apparently new applications can take a long time, but you won't regret getting the card. Best of luck

Any chance you have NEXUS? That will significantly speed up transit through to the US side.

There are also lots of M&Gs on Princess sailings as well. Some times they are successful, sometimes not so much, but they are being organized.

We've sailed out of PE many times, most recently in mid-October. Lots of construction going on, which has been happening for a few years, due to the re-vamping of the Convention Center and the construction of the massive new Omni hotel. All this construction is happening around the Eisenhower entrance off 17th. We have never had any problems exiting or leaving the port area due to this construction. There may be small delays in the immediate area of your specific terminals, due to the bunching up of taxis, Ubers, etc but it won't be because of construction.

Finally did get my Email from Valuetrips, 8 days after my application. Denied. The published blackout dates include Oct 28 - Nov 1, which I incorrectly assumed meant that our desired date of Nov 1 - 2 was outside the blackout period by one day. I was wrong. Makes sense as the Boat Show ends Nov 1. Looks like we'll be in Dania Beach or Plantation as the 17th St strip hotels are very expensive for that date.

That $10 cancellation fee has been around for a little while. It's clearly an attempt to minimize the problems caused by people booking then not bothering to show up. To the OP, beyond the possible cancellation fee for not showing up at all, Princess staff are quite flexible at allowing changes, assuming you can find a time you want. Shouldn't be a problem. You should try to make any such changes ASAP, preferably right after you first board on embarkation day.

Whether they confirm or deny it, don't they send an Email either way? I just checked my Hyatt account and there's still no sign of any booking yet.

Same here. Booked on Nov 11, and as at today, Nov 18, still no Email confirmation. I'll give them a bit more time then try an Email.

Thanks for the confirmation. I had vaguely remembered the 80% but wasn't sure. I had also assumed that CFAR insurance wasn't available to us residents of the Democratic People's Republic of Quebec, since Princess's CFAR 100% coverage was stopped for us a few years ago. Interestingly, the Manulife CFAR page makes no mention of Quebec, so perhaps it is available here.

Would you happen to know what % Manulife covers under their CFAR plan? IIRC it was 75 or 80% only? The gold standard in CFAR cruise coverage used to be Princess who offered full 100% "refund" in the form of an FCC if you chose to cancel for non-covered reasons, but that coverage is no longer available for us Quebecers, residents of BC, and residents of New York state, owing to local insurance laws.

As am I. Their web site still clearly shows 10/28-11/01 as the blackout date range but it would not surprise me if they tweaked the dates and added the 2nd as well. In any case, my reservation request is in and we'll see whether it gets approved. I'll breath a bit easier if both the hotel AND the Hyatt site confirm the reservation.

Just booked another stay for Nov 2025. Would you consider the booking showing up on our Hyatt account as being true confirmation, or is a call to the hotel still necessary? I don't expect to get the VT confirmation Email for a few days though.

There's a lot of love here on CC for both properties and we've stayed at both, with the Riverside just a few weeks ago. Both are excellent choices. We found the Riverside to be older and quaint, but in a great location in the heart of "downtown" Fort Lauderdale. We do find its location somewhat inconvenient for our sailings out of Port Everglades, not an issue in your case. The HP on 17th St is newer and the rooms are quite large. I would say both are the same as to access to the beaches etc. If you are finding that the prices for your dates are comparable between the two, you may want to look into Valuetrips.com, who seem to have an in with the HP. VT offer rates which are VERY low compared to other sites, including Hyatt.com. No idea how they can offer those low rates. but they are very enticing. I just booked us a night for next November in fact.

Absolutely agree. We usually arrive into LAX in the afternoon and prefer to Uber/taxi down to Torrance (our current preferred hotel zone) the day before a cruise. but last time we traveled, we had a late flight and arrived into LAX at 9:30PM. We elected to stay at the LAX Sheraton, one of the closest hotels to our arrival terminal, T6. In future, however, we will stay at the even closer LAX Hyatt due to its superior shuttle system. The morning of the cruise, our Uber arrived at the Sheraton within minutes of my calling it, no need to involve ourselves with the wonderful LAX-It system

Good point. I had checked a while back and the 2025 show dates had not yet been published; I see now that they are and fall Oct 29 - Nov 2, with us arriving Nov 1. I will probably try and book and see if the VT site will let me book Nov 1-2.

Question for experienced Valuetrips users: The 2025 rates just published show one of the blackouts as "10/28-11/01/25", and we need to stay the night of November 1-2. I expect that we should just be OK, anyone have any comments? I do know from personal experience that VT do change and add to their blackout dates after people book, so I don't want to get caught.