monicajay

We fly into TPA' date=' but want to spend a few days in Clearwater before our cruise. Some of the Clearwater hotels seem to have vehicle-for-hire services to get you to/from the airports, but nothing to the port. Renting a car doesn't work for us because a short cab ride means uninstalling car seats from the rental and reinstalling in the cab :(

I haven't been able to find any limo or similar services serving the area on BBB. There must be something reputable...[/quote']

 

 

Once you select the hotel you would like to stay at in Clearwater, call the hotel's direct number and speak to the concierge (or reception if they don't have one) and see what they can arrange for you.

 

My daughter had a phobia about taxis when she was a child but had no problem with a regular car or limo as long as there was no light on the top or grill/glass inside so I always made arrangements with the hotel. On many occasions they arranged rides that were the same price or less than a regular taxi would have cost.

Ok, thanks...You've put my mind at ease now. I will keep looking for that great deal but I probably will book in the summer like you've suggested....Thanks again.

Southwest will release schedule on May 24th for flights through Jan. 6th

Managed to hunt down and find Egon during my short week on board the Poesia. I introduced myself and he seemed surprised that I had heard all about him on the internet. It was the day before visiting Cozumel and he explained that he would be hunting down the doctor again.

What a courageous adventure he has taken on. I just hope the staff are being extra nice to him as we found lots of staff not very helpful at all.

I will be boarding the Poesia a week from tomorrow and will most certainly be trying to locate Egon and say hello. As nobody has posted a picture, I guess I am to look for the old dude on a scooter who plays piano with a band-aid on his nose.....

Any additional suggestions would be appreciated.

Being a fellow Canadian, I will most certainly track Egon down if he is back on the ship when we cruise on the 27 of Feb.

Does he have another thread? Or, is this the only one where people get news of him?

I also got slapped with a toll for route 874 using a Budget Rental. Mine was only for $16.00 BUT the problem was I didn't go on route 874. In fact, I rented in FLL and headed north up to Jensen Beach. I spend hours on the phone with both the Florida Toll Authority and Budget Customer Service but neither wanted to help be and each referred my back to the other.

I'm sure I spent more that $16.00 in long distance charges (as I was often kept on hold for long periods and was calling from Canada) but I refused to pay for something I didn't do.

After much discussion it turns out Budget did not give me the car that was on my contract. So someone else had my car and drove through route 874. Do you think at this point they would cancel the charge? No.

I finally had it reversed by my credit card company. Two things saved me. One, I had taken a time and date stamped photo of my car when I returned it that included the license plate and showed it was different from what was on the contract. The other was I had stopped and bought some groceries on my credit card in Jensen less than 30 minutes after supposedly going on the toll road and that would have been physically impossible.

I sent a letter to Budget Customer Service after with all relevant documents including the photo and never heard back from them. Makes you wonder.

Thanks so much for all of your advice. Knowing tuxes and formal gowns are not required may make us rethink our decision to skip... Especially with steak and lobster a probable menu choice.

I am glad i asked. I know very little about cruises and am happy to have found this helpful forum! I'll keep reading.

Thanks again everyone!

Brenda.

It is possible to dress up enough to fit in but still be comfortable and not really 'formal'. Despite not liking getting dressed up at home, my family loves this night on a cruise. We always go and have a family portrait done too, there is no 'sitting' charge and we usually have a few taken and buy one for $20.00

It is great fun to people watch and see those that really do get dressed up fancy.

As others have mentioned the food is usually better that night and on some ships the waiters do a show for you! Wouldn't miss it for anything.

Thank you. We are thinking of booking in March of 10 as well. It's so hard to decide because the reviews of this line are all over the place!

 

Did your balcony open to the ones on either side?

Balcony divider that opens is about half of the whole divider. It is the part closest to the railing so although it does provide access from one balcony to the other, it does not make one big balcony if you wanted to 'join up' with you neighbors. Ours was broken at first and used to swing so I was very conscience of it till we got it fixed.

Also, we only had 2 chairs (unlike the photo) till we asked our steward for an extra one, it took no time and he reappeared with an extra chair.

Stayed at the Newport in an Oceanfront about 3 years ago. We were a bit disappointed by the room (just looked a bit tired) but the view made up for it. The pool area was great for our kids and overall we enjoyed it and had a good stay.

Walking to the pier is very possible in New York not like Fort Lauderdale where the port is huge. We drove and parked at the pier. Got there so early (no traffic heading into Manhattan) that after we parked we walked all over the city before heading back to the pier for our cruise. Of course we didn't have luggage while walking as we had left it in the car but I would have no problems walking with my luggage. We always travel light.

Good luck!

No luck yet for 2.5* in Fort Lauderdale. Need the night of March 8th. Bid to $86.00 so far and no luck. Will try again higher once lock-out is over.

Congrats to all who did get it.

Aren't these boards great?

I might have sounded snarky but I also have a helpful side.

The Holiday Inn Express Sanford is only a couple of miles from the airport and offers a free shuttle.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hotel/SNRFL/transportation

Have them sleep here and go the next day to pick up a rental car from one of the companies the other poster mentioned, where they can return it at Canaviral.

The problem is that they arrive so late, the car places are closed.

Are you sure? I have arrived very late at many airports in my life and have always found one of the rental counters open.

This is how they make their money. Why would they close when there is a flight coming in?

Check directly with the airport authority. They can also give you info on closest local hotels and tell you if there is one car company that stays open.

You are a TA, shouldn't you check ground arrangements before finalizing flights? I worked for 10 years as a TA and that was a given.

To the OP,

Ask the cruiseline directly what is above, below and beside each cabin. They can tell you. We were under the photostudio last year, although it was public space it was very quiet. Make sure you are not it a connecting cabin, like hotel rooms you can often hear what is going on next door. Also, make sure you are not beside or too close to the service closets for the room stewards. This can be noisy.

Personally, if money is not the object, I'd go for the balcony.

The video is from a tour different than Gus' tour? Thanks.

Actually the video link that I posted is from Gus' tour and it is from the day I was there. That is how I am sure. I recognize my husband, my kids and myself. I am one of the people swimming in the water who has trouble getting out. Gus has since built a ladder at this dock. He sent me a picture because I made him promise he would build it.

$7 p/p for the taxi ? Does this mean that for 2 adults and 2 teens it will be $28.00 each way for a 10 min. taxi ride? $56.00 total for the return trip?

Seems steep? can anyone confirm?

I never thought of any part of this trip as "hokey". Maybe you should do a search and see what others have thought of this excursion. Most of the reviews have been very good.

Wendy the wonderer,

Send Gus an e-mail, he usually gets back to you in a day or two.

gustavo@turcios.com

If you take this tour you will feel like you saw some of the "real" Guatemala.

The port we went to was Santo Tomas de Castilla. We were travelling on the NCL Sun in early March. We did not enounter any bugs but it was during the day. I was prepared with Off 28% deet but did not use it.

I am not sure about the port you are going to. Contact Gus directly, he is the one with the bright orange vest in the video (very useful for keeping track of the guide) and he will let you know if he has anything out of that port. If not, I'm sure he will refer you to someone else as he has many contacts in Guatemala.

Gus is a special person in that he sinceerly is trying to help the people of his country. He is a huge supporter of the schools and education.

Hope I have answered your questions.

I have posted before about how much my family enjoyed our tour with Gus but I thought I should share this video link I found on "youtube". It gives you a good idea of what to expect on the tour.

There is a part two; listed as Livingston tour, it will be listed on the right.

That is me getting out of the water by the dock. Since then Gus built a ladder on the end of the dock and he painted my name on it. I was hot and the water looked so refreshing I just jumped in. It was hard to get out so I made Gus promise to build a ladder. He e-mailed me a picture when it was complete so I know it is there.

Visiting the school was amazing.

Chickpea,

Glad you had a great trip "without Gus" however I notice that

I speak fluent Spanish, but our driver still spoke English to us, I think in order to practice

I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving in a taxi unless I was sure the driver spoke good English. This is why we choose the trip with Gus. Also, I enjoyed travelling in an open boat rather than in a car.

We choose to use Captain Bryon because the trip was on a Catamaran sailboat. We figured it would give us more bang for the buck. Of course you have to like to sail also. We used the motor between the 3 snorkeling spots but all the way out and most of the way back we were sailing. Just a note, some ++ sized people had a hard time getting back on the boat.

We were about 20 on the boat and we all had a good laugh when we saw the packed boats from the cruise-lines.

Check it out

http://www.cayman.org/captainbryan/

We choose to use Captain Bryon because the trip was on a Catameran sailboat. We figured it would give us more bang for the buck. Of course you have to like to sail also. We used the motor between the 3 snorkeling spots but all the way out and most of the way back we were sailing. Just a note, some ++ sized people had a hard time getting back on the boat.

We were about 20 on the boat and we all had a good laugh when we saw the packed boats from the cruise-lines.

Check it out

http://www.cayman.org/captainbryan/

They shore excursions for Santo Tomas are now posted (with all the other ncl excursions based on the new Sun's new schedule. I will most likely opt for the Beach Resort but can't understand why the time is 5 hours and has you returning to the ship for 2h30pm when the ship sails at 6 pm.

If anyone understands this, please post.

Thanks,

Monica