Cruise to Bahamas

[il26382]

We are thinking of taking a cruise late July to Bahamas. We are first time cruisers and will be going with our son (21), and his girlfriend. We are right now looking at flying to Orlanda and porting out of Port Canavarel. We have been told that we could take a bus from the airport to the port. Has anybody done this and how hard is it (to make connections)????? Is this a city owned bus, a bus owned by the cruiseline or a private fleet? This will be the first vacation in about 8 years. We will be going on Soverign of the Seas. Any thoughts on this boat? We have some friends who have been on this boat and enjoyed it. Would appreciate any input anyone can give me about this cruise! Thanks!:D

[cruiseout]

We are thinking of taking a cruise late July to Bahamas. We are first time cruisers and will be going with our son (21), and his girlfriend. We are right now looking at flying to Orlanda and porting out of Port Canavarel. We have been told that we could take a bus from the airport to the port. Has anybody done this and how hard is it (to make connections)????? Is this a city owned bus, a bus owned by the cruiseline or a private fleet? This will be the first vacation in about 8 years. We will be going on Soverign of the Seas. Any thoughts on this boat? We have some friends who have been on this boat and enjoyed it. Would appreciate any input anyone can give me about this cruise! Thanks!:D

 

We went on that cruise just before christmas. You can check the link in my signature. There is a small review and some pictures from our trip.

[heydn62]

tons of info for you in this post on the East Coast Departure forum:

 

http://64.49.199.36/showthread.php?t=436720

[49holding]

Just cruised on the Sovereign and after extensive research came up with 4 options for the 2 of us

 

!) rental car about $50 each way use car rental codes found in the prev highlighted post

2) CBS shuttle which will run you about (each way)$75 plus tip for 4 people( can get 10% off if you mention the cruise critic board

3) private limo which the chepaest is sunriseflorida transportation which is $140 RT plus the added 20% gratuity for a total of $168. cheapest limo price period.

4) cruiseline transfer not sure of the price but its probably $$$$

 

We chose the private limo..sunriseflorida and we were very pleased. Some of the shuttles have a bus and you wait for the bus to fill up before you leave the port and depending on your flights arrival into MCO you might have a wait for the shuttle

 

As far as the ship.....we liked the SOS, had never been on that class before and would sail it again..The SOS was in great shape , the only knock I can think of besides the small cabins ( we were lucky and got a great deal on their superior O/V cabin..a whopping 157 sq feet compared to the usual 120 sz feet), was that we thought the food quality was a little less that our previous RCL cruises. But it was no biggie

[Jondras]

BF and I did this same cruise on Sov in Feb last year. We had a pre and post hotel stay and did the cruiseline transfer at $50pp RT. However, I have to say I wasn't all that pleased with the bus/shuttle. (The ship was great and we had a lot of fun!) The bus was late picking us up, we ended up having to sit through mulitple other pickups, including the airport TWICE. Total trip time from Orlando was 2.5 hours. While we did get to the ship before it sailed, we were some of the last folks on (which I personally hate) and we had to endure the bus driver's commentary, jokes, and kid humor all the way there and somehow got the same guy on the way back. Return trip wasn't as bad, but a bit long. I would have much preferred the solitude and quiet of a private transfer via car or limo and been able to choose my arrival time to be more in line with my personal preferences. The bus is chartered from a private company so is not owned by RCCL, is just under contract.

[crusinmama06]

Don't take the cruiseline's bus. For $75 pp times the 4 of you, that would be more money then just hiring a Private Towncar Service (that's what we do) for $200 roundtrip. We use Florida Towncar Service.

 

You can also get shuttle service (Arts Shuttle or Mears) for less than paying the cruiseline prices.

 

The buses are just a mess, you have to wait till they fill up. To me it just not a great way to start off a vacation.

 

Sovereign was our first 2 cruises and we loved her. Was trying to decide if we should do her before she leaves in Oct...but decided that we couldn't squeeze into a Sup Ocean View.

 

Have a great first cruise!