theMeebs

On 11/28/2021 at 10:33 AM, blueslily said:

Anyone used Bernard Tours since the cruise restart?

Interested in an answer to this as well.

Bid the amount you feel is worth paying for a nicer room. Keep in mind the new room will also be a 'guarantee' and can be ANY room of that category.

Also keep in mind how else that money could be used. Would you have more fun using it for specialty dining or drinks? What about nicer shore excursions or getting souveniers? I personlly like to book inside or OV initially and then get a cheap upgrade as its FAR cheaper than booking a balcony/mini-suite initially.

I'm on the jade on 2/16/18 and I paid $200/pp to go from oceanview 'sail away' to minisuite just a couple days ago. Another person on the roll call got upgraded about 3 days before me and paid $275.

1) Get trip insurance

2) Fly in the day before especially in winter from the north.

Also when buying trip insurance, look at how long the flight needs to be delayed etc before they will cover. When shopping for policies I recall seeing 6 hours or so as the minimum, flying out last minute is insanely risky.

Generally once a cruise is over 7 days in length.. the amount of families/kids drops off VERY quickly and the average age of the cruises increases since a lot of younger people aren't able to take more than a week off work/school.

I sailed out of Bayonne, NJ early May last year.. it was chilly the first night, after your first sea day/2nd night it should be a LOT better. And those days aren't "lost" by any means! the food, entertainment, enjoyment of the cruise ship is still 100% there, the only thing you don't get to do is spend time outside dressed like its summer and expect to stay warm :)

It depends on the port.

Some ports have VERY highly recommended private excursion companies, in those cases it is fairly safe and easy to find your own.

If the excursion is a long ways away (Lamani Ruins in Belize City for example... 2 hours each way).. its typically a bit safer to go with the ship.

I've flown into FLL and cruised out of Miami 4 times before.. here is what I did each time:

-take a "Go shuttle" from FLL to miami (was like $21pp)

- stay in a hotel in miami (2 times on miami beach and 2 times on the 'mainland' close to the cruise terminal)

- take a taxi to the port the day of (if uber is available in MIA, it might be cheaper)

Drinking shirt... I love it...

 

Dont forget your travel docs.

Don't forget the worst day cruising is still WAY better than working.

Eh.. I can imagine getting really sick, or missing the ship would be FAR worse than having to go to work.

I've used go-airport shuttle a couple times from FLL to Miami.

The price is reasonable, I was able to book online, and their pickup stand is right outside the "ground transportation" exit of the airport. Vehicles were relatively new and much nicer than a taxi. typical wait at airport was 5-15 minutes.

We are cruising out of Cape Liberty in September of 2015. Our plan is to rent a car in our home town and drop off at the port or near the port. Can anyone tell me the name of car rental companies that do this? Also, what car rental companies will pick up at port to rent a car to go home when we return?

 

Thanks for your help,

Kathy

PLEASE make sure you find out what the quoted cost will be for the rental car before you fully decide on this plan.

Car rental agencies sometimes charge HUGE amounts of money for long distance 1 way rentals (possibly hundreds of dollars each way).

Could you provide more details? What date is your cruise? How many days? Are you coming from the Harrisburg area? Which route are you coming in on - nj turnpike, I78 or I80?

 

The Newark area can be hectic, but chances are that your will have to drive through it to get to the port. Folks have been very happy with the park/sleep at the Ramada. The parking is gated and the hotel operates 7x24 with folks coming and going at all hours. It is relatively isolated on the north side of the airport with no easy access by random folks.

Cruise is may 6-16.

Google shows either 78 or 76/95 as viable options from Harrisburg to Newark or Bayonne.

Is there much difference in the traffic/hassle of either of those routes? Before I was assuming 78 is better due to it not being a toll road.. but not dealing with traffic or crazy drivers can be worth its weight in tolls.

My wife and I will be cruising out of Cape Liberty in just under a month (driving out from Ohio). We currently have the Ramada in Newark booked through Trinity Reservations.

I've been doing some additional research.. and I'm starting to have second thoughts regarding the Newark area in regards to driving and parking there.

Is that hotel decent to drive to coming in from the west.. or is that area really hectic/sketchy?

My other 2 options (that I've thought of) are the following:

1. Drive up from Harrisburg the day of the cruise - park at port (ship leaves bayonne at 7pm)

2. Stay in another hotel in a calmer part of NJ- park at port.

Any suggestions or advice?

in spite of what you read here, there really are no "Cruise no nos."

yes there is... being late back to the ship at port! Ships do NOT wait for people (unless you are on an excursion booked through the cruise line and the excursion is running late)

I'm re-posting the directions with cleaner formatting for myself and others, as something like this would likely need to be read on the fly by a passenger.

Thank you very much for posting them. It appears a bit more complicated than google maps shows!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

When you come through the toll plaza there are lots of choices and you have to make a quick decision as to where you are going.

For a first timer there's not time to stop and try to spot the correct little sign and I'm not sure the names of all the streets are clearly marked.

GPS is notoriously bad in this area.

- After you pay your toll you go straight across the toll plaza and get on a 2 lane ramp that goes up and curves left. This is hard to miss.

- On the ramp you stay on the right and make the first right, stay to the right and make another right.

- You will come to the light at route 440 where you will make a left, stay left, and make a left at the first light onto Goldsborough Drive.

- Route 440 is a four lane divided highway. You can only turn left at a traffic light - going south the first light is now at Goldsborough Drive.

- The left turn into the port used to be at Port Terminal Blvd (and it still is coming the other way), but they shut down that turn fairly recently and made Goldsborough Drive the main port access road coming from the north.

- Goldsborough Drive will merge with Port Terminal Blvd. You will be able to see the ship and you just follow the crowd about 2 miles out to the ship.

Are there any recommended routes to take to get to the port when driving in from the west, or is it as easy as taking i-78 to sr 440?

awesome. Thanks!

Hi there,

NCL has this.. and it has pretty neat information like wind speed.. GPS coordinates.. a map of where the ship is.. distance from the last port and to the next port etc.

Does RCCL have anything similar?

Thanks!

For me it's difficult to compare cruise line pricing and values since I've only cruised with NCL. My upcoming cruise with RCL will give me a better idea I hope.

But just for kicks I went to NCL and went through the booking process for a 7 night Western on the Epic. Mid-ship Balcony was $2093 (including taxes and fees) with a $200 OBC.

RCL 6 night Western on the Allure, same dates, similar room, $1835 (including taxes and fees) with a $200 OBC.

So although different cruise lines with many similarities, NCL was lower with no BOGOHO. I think RCL inflates the price of the first person and then gives half off second. To me this current sale is not a sale at all, just an advertising gimmick, IMHO.

That's exactly what it is. Its like department store pricing. Charge $50 MSRP for a $25 dollar shirt, and then blast "50% off!!!" everywhere.

These sales and promotions are just marketing gimmicks. At the end of the day that bottom line price is what matters, at least they show that immediately after 'picking' a stateroom.

Depends WHEN! If it's summer, either will work....if it's winter, you want the Caribbean. The Bahamas are in the Atlantic and get our cold fronts.....it would be awful to pay for a cruise and be cold!

This is so true. On my first cruise.. in march of 2009.. the night we left miami I was wearing a hoodie because it was very windy and in the 50s. I have some friends that went to the bahamas that same week.. had weather in the 60s. my cruise went down to roatan/belize/cozumel and it was beautiful after getting south of cuba.

I've always found that while a bigger/nicer room is REALLY appealing when booking the trip, once actually on the ship, it doesn't make a huge difference. With both options you mentioned, you'll have a private balcony to enjoy the fresh air and the view.

Some questions you should ask yourself in regards to the type of room to get:

- how much does it matter to you to be able to have your own private place verses relaxing in a lounge or any other public area?

- Would you rather spend more money on a room, or more money on the cruise itself (excursions, food, drinks etc). the hundreds of dollars in price difference between different levels of stateroom would pay for a LOT of those activities.

- have you discussed the options with your son and husband? the difference in ports of call can make a big difference as to how enjoyale the trip is.. again this depends on what they enjoy doing (laying on a beach vs hiking vs shopping vs diving/snorkling etc). different ports have a different array of options available.

I think you made a great choice to consider cruising. It provides a wonderful opportunity to do what you want and to see many places with very low effort involved.