Z'Loth

The French West Indies, which includes the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Saint Martin, and Saint Barthélemy, require a actual passport book. Neither a US passport card nor a birth certificate would work here due to French immigration laws.

If anything, I would recommend two CC gathers on sea days at the beginning and end of the cruise.

Having disembarked from the Celebrity Equinox this past Thursday, I was in group 4 which departed the ship at around 8:00 AM even though the announced departure time was 8:10 AM. I was able to get to the airport shortly after 9 AM, and easily made my 11:35 AM flight (although it was postponed to 11:52 AM). The FLL airport is very close to the close terminal.

Having just cruised on the Celebrity Equinox and disembarked on Thursday, January 18th, this is my experience with using the Celebrity transfer to catch a scheduled 11:35 AM flight to DFW. I was assigned Group 4 which got off the ship at 8:10 AM, but the actual departure time was more around 7:55-8:00 AM. Including the time to travel through the terminal, pick up my suitcase, transfer my toiletries bag to my suitcase, go through customs, walk to the bus, wait to board the bus, board the bus, and then travel to the airport, the arrival time at the airport was 9:05 AM. The cost of the transfer was $18.95. The good part is that FLL is extremely close to the cruise port. The bad part is that, in terminal 3, there wasn't any place outside of a restaurant to set up a laptop to do some work.

Hey there! Did we run into each other on the cruise? One thing that I should note that the Celebrity Equinox was undergoing their annual Coast Guard inspection, so a email was issued reminding up to stick with the assigned time. There were four times available to me: 1:00-1:30, 1:30-2:00, 2:00-2:30, and 2:30-3:00. As the bus left the hotel I stayed at at 10:30 AM, Noon, and 1:30 PM, I selected the noon bus departure and the 1:00 check-in slot. The hotel had no issues with people hanging around the hotel until the bus pick-up, as checkin wasn't until 3:00 PM.

One other thing that I noticed was that the laundry service was not as expected. I had bagged out some underwear and shirts to be washed and put it out on Friday morning. The paperwork for laundry service said standard service would be next day by 9 AM, while a 50% surcharge applied to same day service. However, my room attendant said that it would be back by Sunday which is two days.

See this US State Department page on passport books vs cards. A United States passport book is valid for international land, sea, and air travel. The United States also has available a credit-card sized passport card that fits in your wallet and allows for land or sea travel between United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and "Caribbean countries" which can be interpreted as including French West Indies, which includes the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Saint Martin, and Saint Barthélemy. Under French immigration law, you have to carry your passport book when visiting Martinique. Why is this important? A passport book for United States Citizens costs $130 per adult while a passport card costs only $30 per adult. (Passport books and cards are slightly cheaper for children under 16, but are valid for only five years verses ten for adults.) There are some "frugal" cruisers who find any way to avoid paying for a passport, and may even try to cruise with the cheaper passport card. From what I have observed, the cruise lines use the guideline of their most restrictive port-of-call, and for this cruise, it's Martinique which requires a passport book. Being the detail-oriented person that I am (usually), stating "passport" is a bit vague while "passport book" is very specific.

Unfortunately, there were several items that needed my attention from my home including some emergency ordering of items from Amazon. Thus the WiFi. Having said that, it was part of my cruise package. I would not pay for WiFi on a ship or plane, and if my workplace wanted me to be connected, they have to pay for it. Per French immigration policy, you are required to carry your passport while in "France". It was explicitly stated in the daily cruise newsletter, and printed as part of my expedition ticket. This was the only time during the cruise that my passport didn't live in my room's safe, but in my bag which was close to me.

Having gotten off the Celebrity Equinox after a cruise that ran from January 8th to January 18th, I can confirm that there are some challenges when using the basic WiFi package. While streaming media (audio/video) and using WiFi calling/texting on your mobile phone were already expected to be not available, plus the speed limitation put into place, there is also active blocking of content on sites. One of those sites happens to be Cruise Critic which became more and more unusable as cached content expired and could not be reloaded especially with the JavaScript used to run the web forums. It's annoying but to be expected.

From another perspective.... this is from a solo traveler who stayed in an Oceanview on Deck 3 and had his third cruise on Celebrity and second solo cruise. This is also the first cruise I've taken since September, 2018. There was a significant percentage of cruisers who came from the northern latitudes of the United States as well as Canada, and there was representation from both the UK and Australia as well. From my perspective, the embarkation process was quite speedy. While the line was a bit long, it also kept moving, with the longest "standing there" time was the showing of the passport and the taking of the photograph. The disembarkation process was the best of the five cruises I've taken. I was part of group 4 which had the early bus transfer to FLL airport. One of my big gripe areas had to do with the MDR scheduling. I had taken the early dining which was supposed to be at 6:00 PM each night. The printed schedule said 5:30 PM while the app said 5:00 PM each night. The correct time is 5:30 PM. On most nights, we were able to complete out meals and make the early evening show. Also, there was challenges with the solo/single traveler scheduling which was brought up with the activities director. The food in the MDR was excellent as well as the afternoon meals in the Oceanview Cafe. As for the basic WiFi.... ouch. While not being able to stream audio and video was to be expected, other functionality was limited as well. The JavaScript and some other content was apparently blocked for Cruise Critic, so once the cached content expired on the browser, Cruise Critic became unusuable until I used on-shore WiFi to refresh content. Other sites, because of the servers used, had broken graphics or were unreachable (blocked) through the basic WiFi. WiFi calling and texting through my mobile device were also blocked, but Google Voice voicemail packages got through. Of the five islands visited, four were associated with UK, and there was no need to carry your passport book or card with you. Martinique is part of France, and you were required to take your passport book with you. As far as I can determine, since January, 2020, passport cards can NOT be used for that port of call. On the activities ticket, all it said was "passport is required", and the additional clarifying word "book" needs to be added to this destination documentation. From the room perspective, my room attendant did a great job. However, my room as far as I can determine, did not have any USB ports nor did I locate any outlets near my bed. One of the room drawers starting coming apart during the cruise. One thing that I had noticed in the pool area when it was especially busy was that if your stuff was unattended for more than 30 minutes, they would remove it and put a card reminding you of the 30 minute time limit. Did I enjoy this cruise? Yes. One of the personal challenges was that some of the shipboard activities such as those related to the Spa, Casino, Effy, Health Seminar, Art Auction, or drinking were of no interest to me. Also, the movies on the cruise television were of no interest to me, so I relied on the movies that I had downloaded to my tablet prior to the cruise for movie viewing.

I disagree. There are some key words to remember on a cruise, among them "please", "thank you", "yes sir", and"no ma'am"among them. A little bit of patience helps too.

Here is my very subjective review of the Hilton Garden Inn Ft. Lauderdale Airport-Cruise Port. Your mileage will vary. Just some perspective... this is my first cruise since September, 2018, and a solo one at that. I prefer to arrive a day or so prior to the cruise to explore the area. I also prefer NOT to rent a car and instead utilize public transit. I also make it a point to avoid chain restaurants that I can easily visit at home, and especially target local restaurants. As a hotel for arriving the day before a cruise, it's decent. Besides a in-hotel restaurant, there is also a Panda Express, Burger King, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Starbucks, Outback Steakhouse, PDQ Chicken, and Chipotle. (The PDQ Chicken was drive-though only at the time of my visit). However, I walked fifteen minutes south at Oakwood Blvd and had a nice meal at the Moonlite Diner-not recommended for the embarkation day of the cruise as the meal was quite filling. The hotel does have a free airport shuttle, but you are advised to call after you collect your luggage. For $20, they offer transportation from the hotel to the cruise terminal on a charter bus. As a place to stay to explore the local area, this has shortcomings. Bus routes 6 and 16 run by the hotel, but on infrequent schedules, and often require transfers to other busses. I would have been better off finding another hotel closer to the downtown. During my stay from Friday, January 5th to Monday, January 8th, I experienced some challenges, including: After baggage collection, I called the hotel for the airport shuttle, and asked if I could be placed on hold "briefly". I sat on hold for 30 minutes before hanging up and calling again. The hot tub was more like a cold tub. Because of the cold weather on Sunday, January 7th, I didn't try the pool. My verdict: It's a nice hotel, but there are location challenges that would also apply to several other nearby hotels.

Here is the NWS Tornado Warning from Saturday, January 6th of a tornado that hit the area just north of the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal where the Water Taxi run and the $10 million+ homes are located. Two news reports from YouTube... According to the NWS Public Information Statement, this was a EF-0 tornado with 80 MPH winds. I happen to be in the area earlier, but was on a public bus headed back to my hotel room and was outside the warning area.

I would also bring along a water bottle for use on the airline flight.

If I was staying in Miami again, I would stay at the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Miami Brickell Downtown. You can take the Metrorail Orange line from the MIA airport to the Brickell station, and that station also has the PeopleMover for visiting attractions.

Royal Carribean (RCL) or Celebrity Cruise lines? Those have the narrow tags. I actually print my tags so the front is the actual tag and the back contains my contact information and hotel information. Just flip the paper over in the plastic tag.

Per 506Sports, the following daytime games will be broadcast on FLL/Miami: CBS Early - Jacksonville @ Tennessee CBS Late - Chicago @ Green Bay Fox Early - Tampa Bay @ Carolina Fox Late - Dallas @ Washington Sunday Night - Buffalo @ Miami

Yes, yes, I know that FLL is a Dolphins town, but they are scheduled for SNF. In case the Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commandos or the Philly vs Giants game isn't broadcast on the Fox/CBS stations respectively, what are some good FLL places that carry the NFL Sunday Ticket?

Try this before the cruise... Place the phone in Airplane mode. Turn on WiFi Turn on Bluetooth. With the later versions of both the iOS and Android Operating systems, you may get prompted to remember the WiFi and Bluetooth. From that point onward, WiFi and Bluetooth should be enabled whenever you turn on Airplane mode. Obligatory reply stating that I use my phone during my cruise as an audiobook player, music player, video player, camera, video recorder, check in for my return flight near the end of my cruise, etc. Of course, since this my personal device, I make sure it remains personal by utilizing ear buds or headphones.

Maybe it's because I'm a member of the church of Chaos Theory and have accepted Minister Murphy and all of his laws. 😁 Either that, or that I believe that if you are prepared for something bad, it tends to avoid you. I do have hard hats and a stash of water under the sink in one of my bathrooms which is also designated a tornado shelter, plus an emergency kit. I said "travel insurance", not "trip interruption". I take non-cruiseline offered insurance (obtained at the time of booking through the travel agent) because of one critical part: the unlikely event that there is a emergency medical evacuation back to the United States which can easily cost six figures. Everyone else, whether it be lost luggage, trip interruption, or such, is gravy compared with that emergency medical evacuation. Global Entry and TSA PreCheck (not to mention CLEAR) are all nice-to-have options, but aren't required for travel. They just make checking into your flight and returning to the United States quicker as long as you are aware of the quirks between TSA PreCheck and Global Entry. Thank goodness passport processing times have finally returned to normal.

From my perspective, it's is amusing how some "frugal" (or should I say "cheap") people would be willing to subject themselves to immense difficulties just to save a few dollars whether it be to avoid getting a passport, taking a "red eye" flight on the same day as you board the ship instead of flying in the day before and taking a hotel room, or skipping travel insurance. This short-sightedness may work "most" of the time, but there is always that "one-time" when Murphy decides to show up and that "frugal" short-sightedness ends up costing you more... much more. Go ahead, laugh at me for not only having a passport, but also having Global Entry which includes TSA PreCheck that has ended up being barely used because it was obtained just before the travel world was turned upside-down. Who knows what opportunities may come up in the next few years? Like a good scout, I am prepared with my passport and my global entry card.

No, the original document is required. However, there is that document identifier which helps with generating a new passport "just in case".

It's a feature of the password manager I use, 1Password, and I'm sure other password managers do it as well. The document is stored in encrypted form in the cloud, and I only download it when I need it.