New cruisers can anyone help?

Hi Everyone. Have added a short cruise to end of our family Disney holiday later this year (RC Majesty of Seas 4 nights)and would like some advice please and if anyone could help answer a few questions.....

1) At the end of our Disney hol we will be boarding Majesty of Seas at Miami. We will drop car off at the airport, do we get a taxi to port or do the car hire places provide transport?

2) We will have a lot of luggage with us - 2 cases, 2 large holdalls, handluggage and a couple of booster seats... will this all fit in our cabin? Are there trolleys to help get all luggage on the ship?

3) I am looking at purchasing the ultimate drinks package for me and beer and wine for hubby. Am I able to share the odd cocktail or soft drink with him. Do I need to purchase soft drinks package for both children... they usually only drink water or cordial type drinks.....

4) Don't want to get taxis or go on any excusions, just want to relax.. We are on the Bahamas cruise, is there anywhere within walking distance from the ship we could visit for couple of hours with the children?

Thanks in advance, any other helpful tips would be appreciated :)

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

1. You can take a taxi from the airport to the port. For more info on other options, check the Florida section in the Home ports area.

2. Your luggage will have to fit in your cabin. We always put our empty suitcases under the bed, nesting them if necessary. When you arrive at the port there will be porters who will take your large pieces and have them delivered to your cabin. Be sure you have luggage tags attached. You can also put tags on the booster seats if you don't want to carry them.

3. Packages are for an individual, so cannot be shared. Water is free in your cabin and all the dining venues so no need to buy a package for the kids.

4. Haven't been to the Bahamas

You can also put tags on the booster seats if you don't want to carry them.

 

3. Water is free in your cabin and all the dining venues so no need to buy a package for the kids.

Rather than take up precious cabin space with the booster seats, ask your cabin steward to please store them for you until the end of the cruise.

Water from the tap is free, the bottled water is not free.

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

Check with the car rental company to see if they have a free shuttle to the port- or one you must pay for. Otherwise take a cab.

The shuttle or cab will drop you off by the porters who will take your luggage. It will then be delivered to your cabin. Make sure everything has your luggage tag on them. Put suitcases under your bed when empty. Do you have to bring booster seats? Cabs & buses in most ports don't even have seat belts so there's no way to secure any type of seats. You might be able to store them in your closets.

Depending on the ship, everyone over 21 in the cabin may have to buy a drink package. The package is only for the person who bought it. You cannot get two drinks at the same time.

There are packages for just wine and you get so many bottles, not individual glasses of wine.

When I bought a wine package I did not know tips weren't included. So, 15% of the package cost was added to the cost of the package.

There is a soda package too but I don't know how many sodas a day you'd have to get to make it worth while. You get a glass of soda, not a can. A sticker is put on your sing 'n sail card for this.

You can always get water and ice, coffee, hot or ice tea and, after breakfast, lemonade for free in the buffet, 24 hours a day. But each person can carry a 12 pack of soda on board.

You can also buy a bucket of beer- that is, I think (we don't drink beer), 5 bottles in a bucket of ice. Our cruise buddy took what he didn't drink back to his cabin and put them in his fridge.

Just remember everything you get from the bar including soda will have 15% added to the cost.

I assume you are going to Nassau & Freeport. In Nassau there is just shopping unless you take a or a cab to the beach.

In Freeport the only thing at the port are the stores/shops built only because ships come to the port. There is nothing else there. If you want to go into town or the beach it is a $5 cab ride for each. The beach is on the right in town, shops on left. There are tours that might interest you so check those out.

Hi Everyone. Have added a short cruise to end of our family Disney holiday later this year (RC Majesty of Seas 4 nights)and would like some advice please and if anyone could help answer a few questions.....

 

1) At the end of our Disney hol we will be boarding Majesty of Seas at Miami. We will drop car off at the airport, do we get a taxi to port or do the car hire places provide transport?

 

2) We will have a lot of luggage with us - 2 cases, 2 large holdalls, handluggage and a couple of booster seats... will this all fit in our cabin? Are there trolleys to help get all luggage on the ship?

 

3) I am looking at purchasing the ultimate drinks package for me and beer and wine for hubby. Am I able to share the odd cocktail or soft drink with him. Do I need to purchase soft drinks package for both children... they usually only drink water or cordial type drinks.....

 

4) Don't want to get taxis or go on any excusions, just want to relax.. We are on the Bahamas cruise, is there anywhere within walking distance from the ship we could visit for couple of hours with the children?

 

Thanks in advance, any other helpful tips would be appreciated :)

Go to Bayside with the kids- it's a shopping center outside on the water very close to the port in Miami..there are 2 floors of stores, restaurants, enough to keep all busy for a couple of hours...Majesty cabins are VERY small..keep that in mind..if a larger cabin upgrade is available, consider taking it- you must ask for this at the check -in, OR see if you can upgrade NOW...what kind of cabin do you have now?

Big Al

If you are traveling to Disney, then a cruise, I assume the cruise is leaving from Port Canaveral. Its about an hour from the Orlando airport. Taxi might not be the best idea. One idea would be to keep the rental car and pay to park it at the lot. Otherwise, you would need to book a shuttle from the airport to the port.

If you are traveling to Disney, then a cruise, I assume the cruise is leaving from Port Canaveral. Its about an hour from the Orlando airport. Taxi might not be the best idea. One idea would be to keep the rental car and pay to park it at the lot. Otherwise, you would need to book a shuttle from the airport to the port.

Majesty of the Seas sails from Miami. EM

Each child would need to drink the equivalent of 3+ cans of soda per day to make the package "pay"... The package gives you "fountain" soda. If you don't have a package, but want a soda, you will buy a can...for $2.80 or thereabouts. Tip is included in the price of ANY drink you buy.

Water, tea (iced or hot), coffee, lemonade or flavored water, milk and juice at breakfast is included in your fare.

Most car rental companies will shuttle you back to port. You could always drop everyone, then return the car, if you don't think your luggage will fit in the shuttle.

Have fun and enjoy your Cruise.

You don't say how you're getting to Miami from Orlando. That information will help. It's about a 4 hour drive.

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Thanks to everyone for the replies and tips.....

As it's the end of our holiday we would ideally just like to live out of one suitcase for the cruise. Would the porters store our other suitcases and bags elsewhere for the trip??

Am looking at the ultimate/premium drinks package @ $55. RC website states 'price includes server gratuities' whereas I've read on threads on here that service charge is added onto the package?

I believe there is also a $12 pp gratuities added on to account at end too?

Kids wouldn't drink soda so I'm sure they would be ok with water and cordial style drinks if they are already included

The itinery doesn't include freeport, it stops at Nassau, Coco Cay and Key West so would be interested what is within walking distance from the ship at these ports....

Thanks again ....:)

You don't say how you're getting to Miami from Orlando. That information will help. It's about a 4 hour drive.

 

 

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We have a car for our Disney holiday, will drive from Orlando to Miami then leave it at the airport.....

Adding a cruise on sounds like a great idea to me! Now if I could just swing the first part of a land vacation!

To answer a few of your questions yes there will be a $12pp gratuity added to your sail & sign (on ship bill) everyday. It sounds like you have 4 people (since you said multiple booster seats) so you have to remember that isn't just for the adults, it is also for the kids. You can actually chose to pay this before hand, and might have already if you picked a non-set dining option where you can go to the dining room and eat whenever you want during specific hours.

For the drinks package there is 15% added on right when you buy it. So if it says $55 per day on the website, it is about $63.25 per day. After that though you won't pay anything else unless you chose to tip extra.

Coco Cay will probably be your best stop if you aren't looking to spend extra. It is a private island stop which is basically just a big beach day! Things like lunch will be included, but drinks and such will be extra but covered by any package you buy.

The porters will not store your extra suitcases. Since you are dropping the car off at Miami airport, they have luggage storage at a cost though. Info on it can be found at http://www.miami-airport.com/baggage_storage.asp and would probably be your best option if you are willing to pay for it. [url=http://www.miami-airport.com/baggage_storage.asp][/url]

Adding a cruise on sounds like a great idea to me! Now if I could just swing the first part of a land vacation!

 

To answer a few of your questions yes there will be a $12pp gratuity added to your sail & sign (on ship bill) everyday. It sounds like you have 4 people (since you said multiple booster seats) so you have to remember that isn't just for the adults, it is also for the kids. You can actually chose to pay this before hand, and might have already if you picked a non-set dining option where you can go to the dining room and eat whenever you want during specific hours.

 

For the drinks package there is 15% added on right when you buy it. So if it says $55 per day on the website, it is about $63.25 per day. After that though you won't pay anything else unless you chose to tip extra.

 

Coco Cay will probably be your best stop if you aren't looking to spend extra. It is a private island stop which is basically just a big beach day! Things like lunch will be included, but drinks and such will be extra but covered by any package you buy.

 

The porters will not store your extra suitcases. Since you are dropping the car off at Miami airport, they have luggage storage at a cost though. Info on it can be found at http://www.miami-airport.com/baggage_storage.asp and would probably be your best option if you are willing to pay for it.

Thanks we are really looking forward to it. Re the dining, I think we are booked in for the early sitting.... is that just for the main dining room? Can we just visit the other places eg Windjammer at any time?

So after all our gratuities are paid ie the $12 per day (which would be $48 a day for us!) and then the gratuities included with drinks packages.... there would be no more to pay?! ( Seems a lot of tips to me :D)

Re the luggage situation, surely people must go on their cruise with many suitcases following a holiday......thanks for the link but could we not squeeze them into our room..? We have an ocean view state room ( I don't think these are any bigger than interior room.....)

We have a car for our Disney holiday, will drive from Orlando to Miami then leave it at the airport.....

I'm sorry. You did say you were driving.

We rented from Dollar and they had a free shuttle to port. The rental location was in downtown, not at the airport. It was much closer to the port, but slightly complicated to find.

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I'm sorry. You did say you were driving.

 

We rented from Dollar and they had a free shuttle to port. The rental location was in downtown, not at the airport. It was much closer to the port, but slightly complicated to find.

 

 

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That's ok :o Think we will be booking with Alamo......

The $12 per day is automatic and is for the tip for your room steward and your dining room waiter. (They more than earn these tips as they are only paid $85 a MONTH- not day or week! And they work 7 days a week, more than 8 hours a day, for 6-8 months straight and always with a smile!) All beverages have 15% automatically added to each bill for drinks. You will see it on the bill you sign. These tips are separate from each other.

You can go to the buffet or PAY to go to another restaurant at any time but you should let your waiter know if you won't be at your table. You will be sitting at the same table with the same passengers, same wait staff every night. If you ask the waiter to bring the kids milk, he will every night without being asked. Then he won't be waiting for you to get there before taking dining orders and getting the dinners.

You will love Coco cay. It is a great beach day. In Key West you can get on a trolley to drive you around and you are not allowed to feed the roosters walking around!

The $12 per day is automatic and is for the tip for your room steward and your dining room waiter. (They more than earn these tips as they are only paid $85 a MONTH- not day or week! And they work 7 days a week, more than 8 hours a day, for 6-8 months straight and always with a smile!) All beverages have 15% automatically added to each bill for drinks. You will see it on the bill you sign. These tips are separate from each other.

You can go to the buffet or PAY to go to another restaurant at any time but you should let your waiter know if you won't be at your table. You will be sitting at the same table with the same passengers, same wait staff every night. If you ask the waiter to bring the kids milk, he will every night without being asked. Then he won't be waiting for you to get there before taking dining orders and getting the dinners.

 

You will love Coco cay. It is a great beach day. In Key West you can get on a trolley to drive you around and you are not allowed to feed the roosters walking around!

I take it if we preorder the drinks package we don't have tips added as well at the bar for each drink?

Hi Everyone. Have added a short cruise to end of our family Disney holiday later this year (RC Majesty of Seas 4 nights)and would like some advice please and if anyone could help answer a few questions.....

 

1) At the end of our Disney hol we will be boarding Majesty of Seas at Miami. We will drop car off at the airport, do we get a taxi to port or do the car hire places provide transport?

 

2) We will have a lot of luggage with us - 2 cases, 2 large holdalls, handluggage and a couple of booster seats... will this all fit in our cabin? Are there trolleys to help get all luggage on the ship?

 

3) I am looking at purchasing the ultimate drinks package for me and beer and wine for hubby. Am I able to share the odd cocktail or soft drink with him. Do I need to purchase soft drinks package for both children... they usually only drink water or cordial type drinks.....

 

4) Don't want to get taxis or go on any excusions, just want to relax.. We are on the Bahamas cruise, is there anywhere within walking distance from the ship we could visit for couple of hours with the children?

 

Thanks in advance, any other helpful tips would be appreciated :)

As someone suggested, you may want to check with the rental car agency you'll using about transportation to the port. They might even have an office that's closer to the port. You said you might use Alamo, which we had a bad experience with but back in 2001 on our last time in Miami (besides not giving us the right rate -- my hubby decided not to argue with them when returning the car but if I was with him, I would have; not having the car we'd reserved; having a really bad shuttle situation, etc.).

If you're taking all that luggage, but don't feel you'll need it all for the cruise, have you looked into a luggage shipping service? I'm not sure how that works, but might be worth looking into. One other option you might consider is taking less clothing and setting aside a trip to a laundromat before your cruise (unfortunately RC ships don't have a self-service laundry room).

Not sure about storage on RC ships, but on our last four Princess cruises, we've taken a couple of large plastic crates in addition to two large suitcases and most of the beds we've had were high enough off the ground that we can use the space underneath for storage. Back when we used a booster seat (when in Seattle for our Alaskan cruise), it was the type you can easily dissemble (we brought a large duffel bag with rope for carrying).

I always suggest cruisers read up on their cruise line and ship on the cruise line's website. I would guess the RC one has a FAQ section that may answer many of your questions. I did this even when our last cruise was on the same ship as the previous one two years before.

You can also use Google to help you research the ports (Google maps will let you know what's near the ports). Also guide books.

As other have said, generally drink packages are for one person's use -- I would guess RC's are the same. (The one exception would be if there's a punch card system.) Some lines require each adult in a stateroom to purchase the package just to make sure there isn't sharing.

The $12 per day is automatic and is for the tip for your room steward and your dining room waiter. (They more than earn these tips as they are only paid $85 a MONTH- not day or week! And they work 7 days a week, more than 8 hours a day, for 6-8 months straight and always with a smile!) All beverages have 15% automatically added to each bill for drinks. You will see it on the bill you sign. These tips are separate from each other.

You can go to the buffet or PAY to go to another restaurant at any time but you should let your waiter know if you won't be at your table. You will be sitting at the same table with the same passengers, same wait staff every night. If you ask the waiter to bring the kids milk, he will every night without being asked. Then he won't be waiting for you to get there before taking dining orders and getting the dinners.

 

You will love Coco cay. It is a great beach day. In Key West you can get on a trolley to drive you around and you are not allowed to feed the roosters walking around!

It is a lot of fun.

Thanks we are really looking forward to it. Re the dining, I think we are booked in for the early sitting.... is that just for the main dining room? Can we just visit the other places eg Windjammer at any time?

 

So after all our gratuities are paid ie the $12 per day (which would be $48 a day for us!) and then the gratuities included with drinks packages.... there would be no more to pay?! ( Seems a lot of tips to me :D)

 

Re the luggage situation, surely people must go on their cruise with many suitcases following a holiday......thanks for the link but could we not squeeze them into our room..? We have an ocean view state room ( I don't think these are any bigger than interior room.....)

Your luggage should easily fit into the stateroom, either under the bed, in the closet, or into the various cabinets. I would not incur additional expenses for what sounds like 2 larger suitcases, 2 smaller suitcases, 2 car seats, and some small articles. The staff will get the bags to and from your room. Just be sure to keep your essential items, and even some swimwear, with you since getting your luggage on the first day can take some time. Also check Royal Caribbean's list of prohibited items to insure your luggage complies.

As to the daily automatic tip, I just wanted to ensure you understand that it's $12 per day (per person). So not $48, but $192 for your party. The way it was discussed above, I wasn't sure if that was clear.

Your luggage should easily fit into the stateroom, either under the bed, in the closet, or into the various cabinets. I would not incur additional expenses for what sounds like 2 larger suitcases, 2 smaller suitcases, 2 car seats, and some small articles. The staff will get the bags to and from your room. Just be sure to keep your essential items, and even some swimwear, with you since getting your luggage on the first day can take some time. Also check Royal Caribbean's list of prohibited items to insure your luggage complies.

 

As to the daily automatic tip, I just wanted to ensure you understand that it's $12 per day (per person). So not $48, but $192 for your party. The way it was discussed above, I wasn't sure if that was clear.

Hi, yes thanks I'm aware it is $48 per day :) I take it there are no more expenses following this (apart from drinks package gratuities ) Re the baggage so could we keep a small bag with us containing essentials when we check in the luggage?

Hi, yes thanks I'm aware it is $48 per day :) I take it there are no more expenses following this (apart from drinks package gratuities ) Re the baggage so could we keep a small bag with us containing essentials when we check in the luggage?

That should be the only expense, except those you choose to incur onboard (cash tips, specialty dining, photo shop, spa treatments, fitnes classes, etc).

As to carry on's, yes. Think like you would when flying (but without the silly restrictions on liquids and such). The cary on items need to fit through an airport-style scanner and you will be carrying then from boarding until your room is available (approximately 1:00pm). I had recommended swim wear in case you family might enjoy a dip before the stateroom's were open -- it'll be a quiet time as most won't have their swimuits. You should certainly keep medications, documents, electronics, and valuables in carry-on.

Thanks 😃