NEW LIVE - Marina, Feb 1 to Feb 8 - Not sldispatcher/David (Too bad - Ha!)

[Iamthesea]

Hoping someone can tell me how the Wifi / Internet on Marina is these days? Fast / slow speed? Is it stable / consistent?

 

Thank you in advance.:)

 

Rhohea

 

We had a pretty good WiFi connection. Of course, it was better during non-peak hours (early morning and late evening.) Probably the worse was late afternoon. We were able to Facetime our grandchildren a couple of times.

 

What really got me was that two days at port we had no service at all. It was obvious that the service was disabled in at two ports (can't remember which). After getting no service, we went to the Internet Cafe and asked the guy in charge. He said it was "down." We went on to get a hot chocolate in Barista's. Heading back through the Internet Cafe, I overheard the guy giving an access code to a crew member. :confused: As soon as we left those two ports, the signal was back on.

 

One other thing. While in port in Miami, I could not access my Verizon data plan. The ship's signal had already taken over on my iPad and cell phone. This was around 1:00 when we got to our stateroom. I had not yet signed up for the free WiFi with Oceania. Strange.

 

Do the top suites get priority disembarkation??

 

Yes, you can ask for any time you wish after the ship clears.

[What A Market]

Hi Iamthesea. Sorry our paths didn't cross on the cruise, and yes, that was me in Toscana on our last night of the cruise. That was certainly a long dinner, but mostly based on our own choosing.

 

Over the course of the evening we ended up drinking four different red wines. The first I brought from our room which came from the selection of wine I got with our suite. (Note: Some ok choices from the list you are given to order from, but nothing particularly awesome.) The second bottle was a leftover bottle from our dinner the previous evening in Polo. The third was a really good bottle of Brunello I ordered in Toscana. And the last red was something I shared with the couple sitting next to us. I think the wine steward thought I was a bit crazy at first, but he didn't mind the tip I gave him at the end of the evening. :)

 

The seating arrangements for couples in Toscana (as well as in the MDR) can bring you to really close proximity to the couple sharing a two-top next to you. I'm not always a fan of this seating arrangement, but our dinner in Toscana was an example of why, sometimes, it can be a great thing. Our "next door" neighbors were a great couple. The male half, like me, was a BIG fan of red wine. We ended up sharing the wines we were ordering, which is a great part to drinking interesting wines. Our three plus hour meal in Toscana was a highlight of the cruise, made more special by sharing wine and conversation with this couple.

 

We've had numerous moments like this on our various Oceania cruises, where we meet other couples and share a special moment or two. These moments are like ships "passing in the night," but they leave a lasting impression!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Iamthesea]

I know what you mean! We have become very good friends of a couple from Germany. We met them while having dinner about 8 years ago on a RCCL cruise. We have been to visit them 3 times Europe (once meeting in Rome and twice in Germany/Amsterdam.) They came over and spent a week with us in TN. We will see them again in May while in Rome. They plan to come to NYC in the near future, so DH and I took a refresher trip to NYC in the Fall, as we will be their personal guides when they come over. They are now in their late 30's and mid 40's. While DH and I are in our late 50's and mid 60's. :D

 

Wish we had been sitting next to you in Toscana. Although I cannot drink reds anymore, the company would have been nice.:) Sitting in a corner with our backs to the restaurant was not ideal and made the evening seem even longer. We could hear your party laughing, but the only time we saw you was going in and out that evening, plus an occasional quick scan of the room with the craning of my neck. :D

[What A Market]

A parting shot from Toscana. I love wafer this biscotti!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[RJB]

Hi Iamthesea. Sorry our paths didn't cross on the cruise, and yes, that was me in Toscana on our last night of the cruise. That was certainly a long dinner, but mostly based on our own choosing.

 

Over the course of the evening we ended up drinking four different red wines. The first I brought from our room which came from the selection of wine I got with our suite. (Note: Some ok choices from the list you are given to order from, but nothing particularly awesome.) The second bottle was a leftover bottle from our dinner the previous evening in Polo. The third was a really good bottle of Brunello I ordered in Toscana. And the last red was something I shared with the couple sitting next to us. I think the wine steward thought I was a bit crazy at first, but he didn't mind the tip I gave him at the end of the evening. :)

 

The seating arrangements for couples in Toscana (as well as in the MDR) can bring you to really close proximity to the couple sharing a two-top next to you. I'm not always a fan of this seating arrangement, but our dinner in Toscana was an example of why, sometimes, it can be a great thing. Our "next door" neighbors were a great couple. The male half, like me, was a BIG fan of red wine. We ended up sharing the wines we were ordering, which is a great part to drinking interesting wines. Our three plus hour meal in Toscana was a highlight of the cruise, made more special by sharing wine and conversation with this couple.

 

We've had numerous moments like this on our various Oceania cruises, where we meet other couples and share a special moment or two. These moments are like ships "passing in the night," but they leave a lasting impression!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

WE met a couple from Charleston about 12 years ago on an Australia cruise and have been fast friends ever since. Probably have done at least 10 cruises together and they have been here and we there. Got lucky. :):):)

[What A Market]

A parting shot from Toscana. I love wafer this biscotti!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Sorry for typo. That should read "wafer THIN biscotti "

[YoHoHo]

Sorry for typo. That should read "wafer THIN biscotti "

Was that typo just an excuse for 'seconds' :)

[What A Market]

I wish I could have seconds now!

 

Here are some photos of Terminal J. Make sure to use the exact address For Terminal J if using Uber or Lyft to or from the port. Our driver drove around a bit because I only put in "Port of Miami Terminal J" for the address in the app.

[What A Market]

Ok, using the attachment feature in Cruise Critic is no fun. Attaching photos in TapaTalk much, much easier.

 

By the way, address for Terminal J is 1080 Caribbean Way.

 

Here are the photos

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[What A Market]

Here's a photo from inside the Terminal. We hit a good "seam" when our Lyft driver dropped us off -- almost no people out front dropping off their bags with the porters. In fact, we didn't need to wait at all for a porter to grab our bags. We always tip the porters. I don't want to say they are necessarily expecting a tip, but......

 

There was also no line at the point just inside the doors to the Terminal for the first security check. These folks want to see your booking confirm or your "Blue Book" from Oceania. Some people thought they only needed to show a passport. Nope! Then up the escalators to the airport style bag and person screening. Again, almost no line.

 

Then around a corner for filling out healthcare screening form and we hit the crowds.

 

The photo is taken from the check-in counter looking back at the line. The time is 11:45AM. I guess because this is a seven day cruise, no one wants to waste any time getting onboard. Ha!

 

 

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[marienbad]

Here's a photo from inside the Terminal. We hit a good "seam" when our Lyft driver dropped us off -- almost no people out front dropping off their bags with the porters. In fact, we didn't need to wait at all for a porter to grab our bags. We always tip the porters. I don't want to say they are necessarily expecting a tip, but......

 

There was also no line at the point just inside the doors to the Terminal for the first security check. These folks want to see your booking confirm or your "Blue Book" from Oceania. Some people thought they only needed to show a passport. Nope! Then up the escalators to the airport style bag and person screening. Again, almost no line.

 

Then around a corner for filling out healthcare screening form and we hit the crowds.

 

The photo is taken from the check-in counter looking back at the line. The time is 11:45AM. I guess because this is a seven day cruise, no one wants to waste any time getting onboard. Ha!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

What is an acceptable "booking confirm"?

Is there a special Penthouse line?

Thanks.

[Iamthesea]

Yes, there is a PH line. We left our hotel in Ft. Lauderdale at 11:00, picked up Vicki and DH from another hotel and were at the port by around noon. We had no lines anywhere.

 

A parting shot from Toscana. I love wafer this biscotti!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

:D

I was so full when that basket was brought out. I ate 1.5 pieces anyway. Wanted to take the rest back to the cabin for a snack on the way home.

[blambition]

As Sallie said in the comment above we arrived at the port somewhere close to noon and it was a breeze to board the ship!

As far as disembarkation my husband and I decided to risk it and try to get on an earlier flight out of Fort Lauderdale, rather than leaving at 6 PM that evening. He went to the desk and asked for luggage tags to allow us to get off the ship with the very first passengers. I honestly think we were amongst the first four people to get off the ship. It was a breeze to go through customs and be outside waiting to get an Uber car. The biggest mixup was trying to get our car. We were waiting and waiting for the car and it did not arrive, although the app kept saying it was going to be there in two minutes. After 10 minutes of this one pulled up and we thought it was ours, and he said he was, so all our luggage with loaded. As we were about to pull away a lady knocked on the window and said that we were in her Uber car. Graciously she allowed us to use the car as she was only going to a Walmart. Thankful for that little stroke of luck as we were at Fort Lauderdale airport before 9 AM. We had no problems getting on the flight back to Denver that left at 11AM! Very relieved as it was much nicer than having to sit around an airport all day waiting for an evening flight.

This is almost a dry run for us as we are taking another cruise on Oceania out of Miami in April. We will be staying at the same hotel coming in day prior, and then 10 days later flying home again from Fort Lauderdale. The only real difference is that on the return our flight is at four in the afternoon and unfortunately there iare no earlier flights!

We are totally in love with cruising on Oceania! Very much looking forward to our next cruise on the regatta!

 

 

 

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[easyboy]

As far as disembarkation my husband and I decided to risk it and try to get on an earlier flight out of Fort Lauderdale, rather than leaving at 6 PM that evening. He went to the desk and asked for luggage tags to allow us to get off the ship with the very first passengers. I honestly think we were amongst the first four people to get off the ship. It was a breeze to go through customs and be outside waiting to get an Uber car. The biggest mixup was trying to get our car. We were waiting and waiting for the car and it did not arrive, although the app kept saying it was going to be there in two minutes. After 10 minutes of this one pulled up and we thought it was ours, and he said he was, so all our luggage with loaded. As we were about to pull away a lady knocked on the window and said that we were in her Uber car. Graciously she allowed us to use the car as she was only going to a Walmart. Thankful for that little stroke of luck as we were at Fort Lauderdale airport before 9 AM. We had no problems getting on the flight back to Denver that left at 11AM! Very relieved as it was much nicer than having to sit around an airport all day waiting for an evening flight.

We have a 10:50am flight in March out of Fort Lauderdale. Did you notice what time you were able to get off the ship that you made it to the airport at 9am? Your experience is taking away our worries.

[StanandJim]

We have a 10:50am flight in March out of Fort Lauderdale. Did you notice what time you were able to get off the ship that you made it to the airport at 9am? Your experience is taking away our worries.

Start worrying again. Your flight is insanely early.

Oceania wants everybody off of the ship as early as possible (after all, they have the next cruise to prepare for), but the thing with debarkation days is that nobody moves anywhere until Customs clears the ship.

Sure, if everything goes swimmingly you could be at the airport by nine (which is STILL cutting it close according to the Airlines); but you might also be stuck on the ship until after ten.

Change that flight.

[easyboy]

Start worrying again. Your flight is insanely early.

Oceania wants everybody off of the ship as early as possible (after all, they have the next cruise to prepare for), but the thing with debarkation days is that nobody moves anywhere until Customs clears the ship.

Sure, if everything goes swimmingly you could be at the airport by nine (which is STILL cutting it close according to the Airlines); but you might also be stuck on the ship until after ten.

Change that flight.

Thanks.

[robbie21]

Miami debarkation does not always go as well as some above have described. We have twice been delayed until after 9:30 AM. Problems with customs - no one leaves until all the non US passengers report in and are cleared. Also, have had baggage unloading delays and a medical emergency with a passenger collapsed on the gangway. Miami port is rather famous for delays often due to multiple ships arriving at about the same time. Do a general search on CC for more examples.

 

 

Miami Airport security can also be a problem on busy port days. We once spent 40 minutes in the TSA precheck (supposedly fast) line. Regular line was 1.5 hours. I imagine Fort Lauderdale is less crowded but with TSA you never know.

 

 

Your 10:50 flight is a huge gamble.

[easyboy]

Miami debarkation does not always go as well as some above have described. We have twice been delayed until after 9:30 AM. Problems with customs - no one leaves until all the non US passengers report in and are cleared. Also, have had baggage unloading delays and a medical emergency with a passenger collapsed on the gangway. Miami port is rather famous for delays often due to multiple ships arriving at about the same time. Do a general search on CC for more examples.

 

 

Miami Airport security can also be a problem on busy port days. We once spent 40 minutes in the TSA precheck (supposedly fast) line. Regular line was 1.5 hours. I imagine Fort Lauderdale is less crowded but with TSA you never know.

 

 

Your 10:50 flight is a huge gamble.

Thanks.

[Paulchili]

Your 10:50 flight is a huge gamble.

 

 

I agree.

Especially as if you miss your flight by arriving late (i.e. your fault) the airline is not obligated to accommodate you in any way whatsoever. They might, but they don't have to and you'd be on your own trying getting a last minute new ticket at an exorbitant price and out of money for your original ticket.

Not worth it, IMO.