Before getting on the boat

[Tammy296]

We're boarding the norwegian epic. On the way there we want to stop at a store to pick up waters and soda...we can bring these on the boat right?

 

For those thst have done this before where did you stop ?

 

What kind of drinks did you buy and how were they packaged? Is it ok to get regular six packs or twelve packs of coke? And how about waters?

[mnventure]

We brought a six pack of bottled (plastic) pop, a six pack of bottled (glass) snapple, and two boxes of juice boxes. We left every thing in their original packaging - carried on the snapple (glass) and the rest went in our checked suitcases. We bought the drinks at a grocery store in town.

Edited February 19, 2015 by mnventure

[mearsfansinboise]

We drive to the port, but just stop at Walmart. We usually take 3 cases of pop and a case of water. We keep all in the original packaging and tape our luggage tag over it with clear mailing tape. Also we secure the edges with additional tape.

[chengkp75]

You will be able to bring soda and water on the ship, but will be prevented from bringing onto the boat. The lifeboats already have a supply of water. :p

[GeezerCouple]

We're boarding the norwegian epic. On the way there we want to stop at a store to pick up waters and soda...we can bring these on the boat right?

 

For those thst have done this before where did you stop ?

 

What kind of drinks did you buy and how were they packaged? Is it ok to get regular six packs or twelve packs of coke? And how about waters?

 

How are you getting to the port?

 

We brought an empty duffel bag with us, just folded in a suitcase, because we flew in and couldn't bring lots of beverages.

 

We arrived in Miami a couple of days early before the holidays, and the hotel gift shop and *all* nearby stores were totally out of Diet Coke :(

 

We had a taxi driver give us a short tour the afternoon before the cruise, and asked him to stop at some place that had Diet Coke, at not-too-expensive prices.

We stopped at a small neighborhood shop off the beaten path.

 

The price was right, and DH filled up the duffel bag, to the astonishment of the shop owner... we cleaned out all of their supplies of Diet Coke.

(It was a very small store, but for some reason the area seemed to have a shortage of some sort. Or maybe Coke makes their deliveries "the next day" in the area??)

 

Then we slapped a luggage tag on it, and dropped it with the porters along with our two large suitcases.

It was delivered later, along with the suitcases.

(We half expected to be called to the naughty room while they confirmed it was unadulterated soda. Perhaps they opened a randomly selected one? We hadn't actually counted until it was too late and we'd consumed "a few".)

 

It was very easy.

 

GeezerCouple

[GoofyCrew]

How are you getting to the port?

 

We brought an empty duffel bag with us, just folded in a suitcase, because we flew in and couldn't bring lots of beverages.

 

We arrived in Miami a couple of days early before the holidays, and the hotel gift shop and *all* nearby stores were totally out of Diet Coke :(

 

We had a taxi driver give us a short tour the afternoon before the cruise, and asked him to stop at some place that had Diet Coke, at not-too-expensive prices.

We stopped at a small neighborhood shop off the beaten path.

 

The price was right, and DH filled up the duffel bag, to the astonishment of the shop owner... we cleaned out all of their supplies of Diet Coke.

(It was a very small store, but for some reason the area seemed to have a shortage of some sort. Or maybe Coke makes their deliveries "the next day" in the area??)

 

Then we slapped a luggage tag on it, and dropped it with the porters along with our two large suitcases.

It was delivered later, along with the suitcases.

(We half expected to be called to the naughty room while they confirmed it was unadulterated soda. Perhaps they opened a randomly selected one? We hadn't actually counted until it was too late and we'd consumed "a few".)

 

It was very easy.

 

GeezerCouple

 

We flew so we brought a collapsible duffel as well. We brought a 24 pack of water and two boxes of Capri Suns for our kids. We left everything in the original packaging, put it into the duffel and put our tag on it. It was picked up curbside at the port along with our two suitcases. Everything arrived to our cabin safely (and unopened) within 2 hours of us boarding.

[Tammy296]

What store did you folks go to? We hired a private car to take us from fll to the port of miami.

 

Our boat leaves at 4, our flight gets in at 1:10. I hope we have enough time!!!

 

Thanks all

[SuiteCruiser]

What store did you folks go to? We hired a private car to take us from fll to the port of miami.

 

Our boat leaves at 4, our flight gets in at 1:10. I hope we have enough time!!!

 

Thanks all

 

You need to be onboard at 2:00PM for a ship that leaves at 4:00. Landing at 1:10, waiting for luggage and the taxi in will make that very tight.

Edited February 21, 2015 by SuiteCruiser

[rvsullivan]

What store did you folks go to? We hired a private car to take us from fll to the port of miami.

 

Our boat leaves at 4, our flight gets in at 1:10. I hope we have enough time!!!

 

Thanks all

 

I'm guessing the ship leaves at 4 and will be taking all of her boats with her?:D

[roger001]

What store did you folks go to? We hired a private car to take us from fll to the port of miami.

 

Our boat leaves at 4, our flight gets in at 1:10. I hope we have enough time!!!

 

Thanks all

 

 

That's a super tight schedule. I really don't think you are going to have any time available to stop and buy stuff. You really need to be making a mad dash straight to the dock. It's about a 40 minute drive down there....no traffic. You'll be lucky to be away from FLL by 1:30. You'll already be past the 2 pm boarding time when you arrive at POM. The ship's water is very good. Just buy a couple of bottles of water on board and then refill them with ship's water. My opinion.

[AEckhardt]

What store did you folks go to? We hired a private car to take us from fll to the port of miami.

 

 

 

Our boat leaves at 4, our flight gets in at 1:10. I hope we have enough time!!!

 

 

 

Thanks all

 

 

Oh, no! You might want to reschedule your flight, because chances are, you'll miss "the boat"

 

Most people are at the dock by 11am.

[Tammy296]

Haha you guys and your boat ship comments.... I'm from maine ok? All boats considered equal here... Lol

 

I'll have to reschedule I think,..I'm too nervous about this already

[Barb Nahoumi]

Haha you guys and your boat ship comments.... I'm from maine ok? All boats considered equal here... Lol

 

I'll have to reschedule I think,..I'm too nervous about this already

 

Yes, it's less stressful to arrive in port on the day before you sail.

[LrgPizza]

Haha you guys and your boat ship comments.... I'm from maine ok? All boats considered equal here... Lol

People are making the comments and such because by definition, ships are not boats. Ships sail on oceans and high seas. Boats sail in rivers, lakes, and along ocean coastlines, like restricted waters. Or as they say, ships can carry boats, but boats cannot carry ships. You should work on breaking the habit before your cruise. I had to learn myself. :)

 

Now, when they were singing, "I'm on a boat! Look at me, m*****f*****, 'cause I'm sitting on a boat!" in Howl at the Moon, no one seemed to complain about the distinction. :D

Edited February 21, 2015 by LrgPizza

[Copper_beeches]

I second the thought of getting there earlier, you don't mention in the post (and I can't view your sig so apologize if you have it listed there) but being from Maine as well, with the month we've had you don't want to risk flights being cancelled or delayed!! If possible I'd fly in the day before, that way you can do your shopping either the night before or morning of and be less stressed.

 

We also bring a few cases of soda (because the ship will not have Diet Mt a dew or Pepsi Max and that's almost exclusively what we drink...) and a 24 pack of water. We bring a collapsible rolling duffel as well, but we transfer the contents of 2 rolling carry ons to the duffel and pack the water and soda in the carryons to check at the curb... just think it's easier on the porters and stewards to have the drinks be more supported and easier to roll to deliver. When I pack the carry ons to begin with I pack everything in zip lock bags, makes it easy to transfer everything, and the zip locks really come in handy on the trip ( even the little ones, I fit an outfit for my three year old in sandwich bags, and always seem to have a use for all the bags!)

[GeezerCouple]

Haha you guys and your boat ship comments.... I'm from maine ok? All boats considered equal here... Lol

 

I'll have to reschedule I think,..I'm too nervous about this already

 

Yes, it would be an excellent idea to reschedule your flights, for two reasons:

 

First, you really ARE going to be at risk of missing the ship.

Traffic from FLL to Miami can be horrendous. One major accident, and traffic is delayed for an hour to two, or temporarily stopped entirely.

 

Second, you don't want to be stressing about this, and even if you do make the ship (which is truly "iffy"), you don't want to be a nervous wreck starting your vacation.

 

It's always a good idea to fly in at least the day before.

Then there is time for delayed flights due to weather or mechanical problems, etc.

And it's especially important when there are any flight connections.

 

For our holiday trip in late December, we flew in 2 nights early.

If there had been major weather delays at a holiday time, then once the planes were flying again, there would be no seats (or very, very few) for us to get.

(So what we did, is we reserved FULLY REFUNDABLE tickets for the next day. Once we got to Miami, we simply canceled the "next day" "back up" tickets. That took a LOT of stress out of the holiday travel what-if-there-are-major-storms, etc.)

 

And it turned out to be a treat: There was an unexpected "holiday parade of boats", where a seemingly unending parade of small/medium boats were all decked out in holiday lights - some very elaborate - and they kept sailing/motoring back and forth near the dock area downtown.

There were street vendors, and it was quite a celebration.

 

We were in full holiday spirit before we even got on the ship :)

 

GeezerCouple

[DMH15]

OMG! You mean after all these years they shoulda called it "The Love Ship"??? Oh no!