Wanderfully

I would just do yourselves a favor and call the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Ask for their pricing on airport shuttle and Port Everglades shuttle. And then whatever they say, book a room there! The basic classic room is perfectly fine. You will have as much fun there as your cruise itself. The location is perfect, the bar is great, the pool on the New River is wonderful as is the riverside walk. It also has a water taxi stop so you can take the taxi on a tour around Fort Lauderdale waters. We have stayed there on every one of our cruises.

Interesting question Indykid. What other cruise lines have changed to Medallion type service instead of key cards? I realize of course they all have apps. But how many switched away from key cards and which lines?

Well, from the length of time I've been a member of CruiseCritic and the small number of posts, I'm sure most can tell I use this site for information gathering not for interaction. But to clarify for those of you that asked specifically, I could care less about being tracked and have no pacemaker ( although I may have one by my next cruise lol) I don't like the Medallion system because I'm saddened and disappointed that the Marketing Dept hoodwinked the executives at Princess into thinking this was a good idea. I'm deeply saddened that Princess and its employees ( IT, Guest Services, Call Centers and TAs have spent countless hours, and many many dollars on the Medallion itself and the Medallion app ( now Princess app because Marketing surely wants to distance itself from the word Medallion) trying to fix all the problems that have so frustrated and yes, angered, even the loyalist among us. And all that time and money could have been spent on better pay for the crew, and enhancements to the Princess product. Goodness knows how much more has to be spent in the future trying to burnish the Princess name. In the 8 cruises before now, I never had trouble finding anyone on the ship in my party. And if I did, it was probably fun. We discussed our day in the morning and made dates and never looked at phones. (3:50 at Club Fusion for Bingo.. 2:30 at the Terrace bar after Trivia) The technology that allows the crew to see our name I feel is condescending. What used to be a fun interaction, a smile directed at a crew member with our drink request, a smile returned and some banter is now reduced to a crew member having to add an extra layer of servitude. ( smile and greet the customer by name, memorize what they like so they don't even have to talk you, your customer needs to feel special because ....because? I don't know why,,,are we all that needy?) ........Maybe we just need to talk and interact with people a bit more and we'd all feel happy and special. You may think I'm a luddite, preachy, old fashioned, this is the wave of the future and you may be right.....but I'll tell you, I hope its working for you because that is not what I'm reading on these boards or anywhere else in life. And at my age, I've learned that keeping it simple, not wasting time trying to keep frustration at bay and keeping things people to people on a even level as much as you can makes me a lot happier These are just my feelings, not right or wrong. I love Princess and not using the Medallion is a way I can withdraw support from what I feel was a damaging decision.

Actually, never mind! I just saw a similar question posed last Thursday at 7:23 with an answer from EM who said that you can ask for a key card if you want one. Thank you for such a clear response also SXC22.

Thank you sable. Just to clarify, you asked for and received a key card and did not have to get a Medallion.

Is it still possible to take my paperwork and passport, show up at the port at 1pm and get a key card and start my relaxing vacation on Princess? My last cruise was in 2018 and I have nothing I need to reserve and have no packages of any kind. Since I've only cruised with Princess 8 times, I'm not loyal enough for anything so not concerned about tiers or colors.

We have booked a cruise to the eastern Caribbean on NCL next year and would love suggestions on your favorite Caribbean restaurants. We watch our cruise pennies and find we can save money, help the island economies and perhaps score a seaside table in a port in mid afternoon. We don't plan to do it in every port but with the price of one Speciality dinner on the ship, ( if you're not in the Haven or a suite ) we can enjoy 2 lovely full lunches in port and eat a light supper on the ship. We had a wonderful lunch on Bonaire off a side street in a pretty, shaded courtyard. Always wished I could remember the name of the place. Do you favorites you'd share for a delicious Caribbean meal?

Thank you all for your help! MoulinVert, thank you also for describing what to look for in documents. I'll check the ID. Me site. We're using a new TA as ours retired and last time, for a Princess cruise, we just took the DD214 to the TA. Olden times lol.

Great! Thank you

Under Norwegian, it says military discount for veterans up to 10%. Can anyone verify if you normally receive the full 10% off your cruise fare? I do understand it may not apply to port fees and taxes, but am trying to decide between HAL and Norwegian and $300 off the fare is substantial and may be deciding factor. Thanks for any insight