BoozinCroozin

Welcome to Miami. Its Spring Break and going to be slammed.

A long time ago when I was in my 20s and single, South Beach was just getting very big. I would head that way. However, the night before the cruise, I want a good night sleep to enjoy the ship and cruise. I do remember being out until 5AM and up at 9AM to start the next day. Body doesn't recover that way anymore.

There is not too much near the airport. You have to go east towards downtown or west more towards Doral. A good local restaurant (even though they sold several years ago) is Flannigan's. Not too far from you and maybe $10 uber each way.

Our FLL flight got moved to 11AM from POM. We have FTTF, will do self assist, and Uber/Lyft. This will only work if the cruise disembarks on time. Any hiccup there and we don't make the flight. We would have standby on their later flights. Since only 1 of us needs to be back that day, we will prioritize who goes if we don't make. Many have said they have done and an equal number have said not to. Unfortunately, we can't move our flight because of the cost increase.

With 26 people I would try to find a shuttle service. Otherwise you are looking at 6-8 Ubers. I don't know of any shuttle services there.

Brightline would be good if it is traveling at your times, but nothing shows for my date. Uber/Lyft may seem expensive, but the hassles is not worth going to Tri Rail. Your route looks like this vs straight to hotel: Get Luggage > Go to bus for Tri Rail > Load luggage and wait for others > wait for Tri Rail > Go to MIA > Lug luggage to pickup location at MIA > Wait for ride from MIA to hotel in Brickell since there is no shuttle. You are adding about an hour+ and all of the hassle for the cost of about $15-$20 more. I think you are better off contacting a shuttle service like SAS, pay the $75 vs the ~$60 you would spend to go to MIA.

People with balconies on my cruise in June are getting upgrade offers like crazy. They are giving upgrades to higher decks and nicer views to get more money. Giving the less desired cabins to the GTY category. Gives the people that paid a little more an opportunity to pay more for a better location maybe. This is my guess.

It looks like just an inexpensive motel by MIA. Rooms open to the exterior vs interior. For one night, I can handle most accommodations. I wouldn't want to be there for a vacation. Looks like they have free breakfast and a bar right there, that helps. Have a drink, take a sleep, shower, and then head to the port. Depending on how many are going, may be cheaper to Uber than the shuttle. Personally, even with 2 people, I would prefer $30 Uber over a shared shuttle for $20.

FTTF gets to check-in at 16-days? I never heard that before, but makes sense. I just checked my Planner and it says 14-days with FTTF. Arrival time really doesn't matter for D/P/Suites and FTTF. They get sent right to the priority line, at least from the ports I have been to.

First, it is not likely to fit through a regular cabin door. You would need an accessible room. With 4 people, it will be extremely crowded. As for leaving them in the hall, Carnival should 100% be policing this issue. It is a safety issue. Fire, smoke, water, etc coming onboard, a scooter would be an impediment. I am surprised they don't police this, force the people in the cabin to keep it there or have it moved to storage where they can get it at the end of the cruise.

I get you. I am in at $8 with 8,000 shares. We really need to see them taking this debt down by $4B a year. It will be without profit and that is baked in the price. As they see the debt going down along with interest payments, they price will start to climb. But you have to look at the 10-year picture. I'll be more than happy to take the 4x over 10 years as the debt gets back to about $10-$12B in that time. They will also restructure as interest rates go down over time. But, they have to start paying $1B each quarter to that debt wall.

Dividends will not return for the next 10 years. The debt has to get below $10B and probably closer to $5B before it takes on dividends. The stock price will also need to be back above $50. They keep saying massive bookings and full ships, but that $34B debt keeps going up and up.

I can only speak for myself on snorkeling gear. I am so glad I purchased my own through a local dive shop. I bought and returned 4 sets from Amazon. First, all of the fins killed my feet. They felt great on for a few minutes but after 10 minutes, they started hurt the arch or nerves in my feet. It would take 30-45 minutes to stand up again. After the failed attempts, went to the dive shop. Yes, they were about 50% more, but much better quality. Got to test out the fins and mask there. Everything was great. First time really using the fins, same problem with my feet. Go back, they say I should go with a boot fin. What a massive difference. No pain at all and so much better. Best part is mask, snorkel, fins, and boots were only $125. Yes, it is ~$75 more than an Amazon bundle, it will also last 30 years. The only downside is bulk. Our snorkel gear requires a second suitcase.

Thank you. We rented the car through Celestino as well. Playa Piskado is our first stop of the day. Once that gets a little busy head over towards Grote Knip. There is another place near there as well with cliffs to jump in from. Celestino maps out all the best places to see in his GPS. We plan to do the northern part until about 2PM. Then head back to port to shop around.

We stayed there for our first cruise. It has a nice pre-cruise vibe, happy hour, and fun. The hotel itself is just ok though. We had a 1BR suite which was indoors. The bed was alright, but the sofabed was rock hard. If we were going out of PC again, we probably would not stay here.

Like I said, I am not getting in a tub in a rented place. They can say they clean it and sanitize it. But all the nastiness that happens in it, no thanks. Now, if they had samples tested and posted of before and after bacterial testing, maybe. I just don't think they would ever want that information public.

I think there are tons of dining options, even with allergies. I think you have to go to insane extremes not to find something kids can have. I am still the most picky eater I know and there is more than enough options on a ship to eat. I know late night is pretty much pizza until like 7AM or room service.

What locations to snorkel in Curacao?

This is good to know. We have an early flight from FLL. We couldn't do anything about that part. If we get off at this time or even an hour later, we should still be good.

Not really. Your ONLY option to do so on Carnival is to go the Guest Services. I should not have to do that to adjust tips that I am paying. I should be able to do that on the Hub App. No reason to have to go to Guest Services for it.

This is not the same thing in the remotest level. When I walk in the door of a restaurant, I am not greeted with a bill for $45 when my family shows up. On top of that, when given a receipt for the meal, there is still a TIP line on it. Carnival and the cruise industry have this so FUBAR'd it is unbelievable. Either charge the daily tip rate in the service fees and 18% on Cheers with no tip line on any receipt ****OR**** Do not charge any daily fees and let me pay the tips as I please. The tipping jar needs to end. If you don't want to hear about it, end it. It is as simple as that. Add it to the cruise fare and be done with it. Tell the customers that there is no tipping permitted at all onboard. Crew members are to refuse all tips.

Parking assumes you are driving your car. We have a Plan B to drive overnight if our Friday flight is canceled. Arriving a day early is 100% dependent on your vehicle reliability and how far you have to drive in. For us, it is a 13-hour drive. We would wind up driving about 9 hours on Friday, crash at a hotel near Vero Beach/Fort Pierce. Then make the rest of the drive the next morning after about a 5-hour nap and shower.

We land on a Friday around 2:15PM. We figure to have bags about 2:45PM. Uber/Lyft and out right before rush hour to get to our downtown Miami hotel. I would dread if our flight lands at 4PM - 6PM. If it is delayed, probably just have dinner at the airport and wait for traffic to die down before heading to downtown Miami on a Friday night.

We are doing the same. Depending on who you rent with, they provide sightseeing locations on GPS. Our plans are rather simple. We are heading to Playa Piskado to see the turtle, then to Grote Knip for nice beach and cliff jumping. A bit of lunch somewhere and maybe a few other things on the way back to the port. Then explore the port area for trinkets to take home.

I would never get in a hotel or rented room jacuzzi tub. They are so disgusting. If I had enough time to sanitize properly, maybe. However, that requires great ventilation and time. Both of which are not available on a typical sailing.