LoveBoat Express

[OrlEngr]

Is anyone familar with the "Loveboat Express" ... A motorcoach servicing Florida to get passengers to and from the boat.

 

Anyone know cost or have a good or bad experience with it?

[srphnx]

Yes, they are basically transfers and just another thing the cruise line does for you with pros (convienence) and cons (cost and delay). Not a bad deal if you are unsure how to do it on your own.

[sue d. miller]

I used it from Ft Myers 3 years ago. The cost now is $45 a person. Very smooth. Picked us up at McDonalds, and made another stop in Naples and right over Rt. 75, Right to the pier. Porters met us at the bus, and took our luggage right from there. When we got off, the bus was there waiting for us. Take a sweater though. The air conditioning was cold!! :)

[Ethel5]

We always take the Love Boat Express (Cruise Connection) from Tampa to FLL or MIA. They're reliable and it's nicer to let someone else do the driving as we count the Alligators on Alligator Alley. The cost is now $45.00 RT from Tampa but at times there have been specials and we got them as low as $10.00 RT. We get picked up at McDonald's on RT60 at 7:00am and are usually on the ship by noon. The driver makes several stops to pick up passengers and then a breakfast stop. We are usually on the ship by noon. The other good thing is that we don't have to worry about how much booze we bring back-there's plenty of room!!!:D

 

The bus can be chilly, but I tuen off the overhead thingy and I'm OK. The driver usually shows a movie on the way down and back. Overall a good experience.

[CruiseFever]

As noted above the "Love Boat Express" aka "Cruise Connection" is an effective Southern Florida passenger gathering service that picks us up in several locations then busses us to various Florida cruise terminals.

 

My first experience with them was while waiting for our Golden Princess cruise at 10AM at Port Everglades.

 

Out of nowhere came one, then another, then another huge charter bus full of happy cruise passengers who beat the crowds and arrived at the terminal in time to be some of the first on board...all probably 300 of them!

 

I was impressed with the manner in which they were delivered to the pier and talked with one of their clearly marked representatives about the service.

 

At the time it was $35 (I see above that the price has gone up) and they told me basically the same as has been mentioned above. I liked that when disembarking passengers got off the ship they were given a bright orange sticker to identify themselves as Cruise Connection passengers and were directed to the busses to head home.

 

Talking to some Florida residents on both our Golden and Caribbean Princess cruises recently who used the service they rated it tops and THE most cost effective and easiest method of getting to and from the pier for them.

[AllmanJoy]

I used Cruise Connections back in 99 enroute from Palm Coast to our RCI cruise out of Miami. There was only 3 of us from our pick-up point at Cracker Barrel in Palm Coast (6am), so we rode in a plush conversion Van all the way to the Ft. Pierce (to meet up with the main bus on the turnpike). The van as well as the bus played movies to pass the time away. The scenery on the way down was interesting--Hurricane Floyd had just completed it sweep up the east coast of Florida earlier that week. They transferred our luggage to the bus and continued on to Miami. We stopped in almost every city down the east coast to pick-up more passengers. By the time we arrived in Miami, it was 12:30 pm---you guessed it, the lines into the cruise terminal were a mile long or so it seemed. It was after 2pm before we boarded the ship :eek: .

 

So, here it is 2004 and we are now cruising on our First Princess ship on October 13th :D . We were given the option of using the "Love Boat Express" for a fee of $45.00. I figured, we leave on a Wednesday for a 10 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, perhaps it wont be as crowded. There was a thread on cc several weeks ago and it listed a website to "Cruise Connections". I decided to check it out. According to there website, they only make 3 stops on our "route"---our stop being the last stop. So, I decided to call and confirm this information. According to their explanation, we are indeed the last stop and our estimated time of arrival to Port Everglades is 10:30-11am. So, I'm giving it another try. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather leave the driving to someone else--dont have to pay parking fees, gas, etc. From what I can tell, it looks as if they may have revamped their routes for picking up passengers and the service may have improved. So, I am all about giving it another try--after all, it's been 5 years, I'm sure things have changed. Other than the time of arrival, the trip to and from the port was great.

 

When we return from our trip in October, I'll let you know how it goes this time around.;)

[CruiseFever]

I used Cruise Connections back in 99 enroute from Palm Coast to our RCI cruise out of Miami. There was only 3 of us from our pick-up point at Cracker Barrel in Palm Coast (6am), so we rode in a plush conversion Van all the way to the Ft. Pierce (to meet up with the main bus on the turnpike). The van as well as the bus played movies to pass the time away. The scenery on the way down was interesting--Hurricane Floyd had just completed it sweep up the east coast of Florida earlier that week. They transferred our luggage to the bus and continued on to Miami. We stopped in almost every city down the east coast to pick-up more passengers. By the time we arrived in Miami, it was 12:30 pm---you guessed it, the lines into the cruise terminal were a mile long or so it seemed. It was after 2pm before we boarded the ship :eek: .

 

So, here it is 2004 and we are now cruising on our First Princess ship on October 13th :D . We were given the option of using the "Love Boat Express" for a fee of $45.00. I figured, we leave on a Wednesday for a 10 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, perhaps it wont be as crowded. There was a thread on cc several weeks ago and it listed a website to "Cruise Connections". I decided to check it out. According to there website, they only make 3 stops on our "route"---our stop being the last stop. So, I decided to call and confirm this information. According to their explanation, we are indeed the last stop and our estimated time of arrival to Port Everglades is 10:30-11am. So, I'm giving it another try. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather leave the driving to someone else--dont have to pay parking fees, gas, etc. From what I can tell, it looks as if they may have revamped their routes for picking up passengers and the service may have improved. So, I am all about giving it another try--after all, it's been 5 years, I'm sure things have changed. Other than the time of arrival, the trip to and from the port was great.

 

When we return from our trip in October, I'll let you know how it goes this time around.;)

 

Gina- could you bookmark this post so you can be our "reporter" then come right back here and let us know how it went? We need more info on this transportation option

[AllmanJoy]

Absolutely, I'd be happy to.

[Flacrusrs]

chris--what more info do you need to know? Perhaps I can answer.

[OrlEngr]

Thanks for the quick response ... I love this place. I found the website .... www.cruise-connection.com

 

 

The FAQ says 1 bag + 1 carry on per person.

We are going on a 10 day cruise and getting married on it ... That will NEVER work :D

 

Don't think that will work ... Did they enforce the limit?

[CruiseFever]

chris--what more info do you need to know? Perhaps I can answer.

 

Thanks, no more information right now.

 

I'm always interested in hearing from members who harvest information here AFTER they use it to see how accurate we were in helping them.

 

I want to be as accurate as possible

[Beach710]

We have used Cruise Connection several times including last year in May for a Cruise on the Grand Princess. Prior to this we would have sworn by this method of transportation but last year it was a nightmare!

On the way down, the driver was scary - I mean eating while driving, talking on his cell phone and almost running on the road. I was not sure we were going to make it. But we did and early too. So I might still have a positive feeling about Cruise Connections but ..

On the way back we had to wait at the port for the bus, then we stopped for lunch and had to wait a couple of hours because they had wanted to combine passengers on several buses. It was pretty frustrating to waste so much time so the bus company could save a few bucks. So I am not sure I would use them again.

[cusyl]

We use the bus anytime we are sailing from FLL or Miami. They have NEVER questioned the amount of luggage. We usually have 3 or 4 plus each have a carry on.

 

I suppose they would try to keep from overloading their drivers with baggage handling. We have never visited the site nor read the restriction rule, so I think they bend it. You might ask before you book it.

[hugger]

October will be our 4th year of using them. So far we've been pleased.

We haven't had a problem with taking more luggage yet. Hope we don't as I certainly over pack! We always have at least 2 carry on's plus 4 large suitcases.

In the past we have found that even with the stops we normally get there just as fast as if we'd driven ourselves. I wish they offered the option of going in a day early. However, at this time they don't.

I always thought to if there were some problem enroute they would make sure to get us to the port prior to the ship leaving. If we drove and had car problems we'd be on our own.

[AllmanJoy]

We used the Cruise Connection Bus for our 10-13-04 Cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale.

 

A van picked us up at 7am and drove us about 20 miles to meet with the main bus. Originally we would have been the last pick-up but, there were only 6 of us so, a little re-arranging of pick-ups was made.

 

When we met up with the bus, there were no passengers on the bus. The 6 of us transferred to the bus and began our journey to Port Everglades. I inquired if there would be any stops or additional passenger pick-ups. A stop for a break in Ft. Pierce would be made and then on passenger pick-up in West Palm Beach---for 2 additional passengers. Imagine that, 8 passengers for an entire bus.

 

The bus driver (Otto) and his assistant (Joe) were great. Very personable and professional. They conversed with us throughout the trip and helped to make the time pass. They also offered a movie for our viewing pleasure.

 

We live in North East Florida. The total cost--round trip for this bus service was $45.00 per person. I feel this expense is well worth it and will definately use them again.

 

The seats on the bus are a little on the small size, but that could just be an issue for me cause I'm a little on the "fluffy" side. Since our bus was not crowded, there was definately plenty of room.

 

As for our return trip home..........that is a story in itself (check out my post on "Anything Good about Sun Princess?" for the horror story). Problems with Princess prevented us from returning home via the Cruise Connections bus.

 

Any other questions, let me know.