Fouremco

In both cases, there are docking facilities for more than one ship, and the distance to the excursion pick up point varies with your ship's location. The longest walk in Aruba would be approximately 300 yards, while in Curaçao it would be about 185 yds.

As the OP states "Probably will not use travel agent going forward", I don't think that money is the issue.

First of all, welcome to Cruise Critic and to the Canadian Cruisers board. Hopefully you'll find the answers to all of your questions. Queries on flight times out of FLL are frequent on most cruise line boards as well as the Florida Departures board. For the latter, head to https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/. Based on having read hundreds of such threads, I can say that 11:05am would generally be considered a safe time, and is one we would feel quite confident making. There are a lot of little factors that can save you time, such as self-disembarkation, having NEXUS, TSA PreCheck, etc.. There are many posters who state that they regularly make flights as early as 9:00am. Not something I'd try, but others do. A major question to ask yourself is what happens if you don't make the flight? What are your options for a flight back to Ontario later in the day or possibly the next day? There will probably be flights, but will there be available last minute seats? What's the size of your party? If travelling solo, your chances of snagging a seat might be ok, but not if you are a family of 4. Finally, what are your current alternatives to the 11:05am flight? We have a direct flight back to Ottawa in February that doesn't depart until 4:30pm, but there's a shore excursion offered by the cruise line that ends at the airport a couple of hours before the flight, giving us plenty of time for a relaxed check-in.

It's very unlikely that the TA, having done all of the work to book those cruises, will be willing to release the booking and lose the commission for each one. Unless there's been gross negligence on the part of the TA that you can prove to RCI, you are probably going to have to continue dealing with the TA until you have finished with the bookings. Of course, you could always cancel all of them and either book directly with RCI or a different TA. What has happened that has caused you to drop the current TA and to try and take control of the bookings? There may be other, less drastic, solutions.

This webpage might answer some of your questions: https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-74?language=en_US

Hmmm, you've got me wondering now. Are the scanners and other hardware the responsibility of the airport authority or CATSA to purchase and install?

I'd have your TA pursue the issue. That's part of the service that any good TA should provide.

The entire Verified Traveller program, with its multiple variations depending on your destination and departure airport, is a CATSA invention. We can't blame the US for excluding YVR, so maybe CATSA thinks that it is already doing such a wonderful job that they don't need to streamline the system there. 🙄

According to the CATSA website, the full range of perks are only available when flying out of YUL (T-1) and YYZ (T-1, T-3). https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/verified-travellers

RCI's cancellation policy is quite clear on the conditions under which a deposit refund will be made. There are many different reasons passengers choose to or need to cancel, some very sad, but the policy conditions must be met. This is one of the reasons that cruise lines and insurance companies sell travel insurance, to cover off these unforeseen circumstances.

Bring your baggies. Ice from a bar is your best bet.

There's no need to be concerned about ship cameras peeking in your cabin. Here's a typical camera angle (in this case taken from my balcony on the Nieuw Statendam) showing a range of balconies with no view of the cabins at all.

Yes, it's truly sad to see the number of people, particularly with the elderly, who fall prey to these scams. While there is a marked difference between the illegal scams we see on the evening news and the hustle operated by such companies as the NEXUS renewal website, they exploit a similar segment of society.

Ah, now I understand. I was well aware of the 3rd party websites selling visas and the like, but I didn't realize that they existed for NEXUS. For the fun of it, I googled "nexus renewal" and the very first link was to a site that will charge you a total of $175.99 USD! That's $50 for the actual renewal fee, plus the website's service charge of $125.99. Wow, the unmitigated gall of some people.

Lucky you. Our renewal acceptance letters were dated September 13, and we have yet to see our new cards. IIRC, as your renewal application has been approved, you can continue to use your old card while waiting for the arrival of your new one.

Could you elaborate? We have renewed our NEXUS membership twice, and we've never had to pay any "extra money", just the standard fee. As that set fee is in USD, currency exchange fluctuations might result in a different credit card charge when converted to CAD, but the USD fee has been consistent.

All of the ships I've sailed on, both HAL's and other lines', had locks on the balcony doors. I see no liability issues for HAL should someone be able to first break their way onto a balcony and then break their way into the cabin.

There are four broad categories of shore excursions. 1. Those booked with the cruise line 2. Those booked with excursion companies such as Shore Excursions Group and Viator 3. Those booked directly with local tour providers 4. DIY tours, varying from a simple walk around the port to renting a car to visit more distant locations I've listed these in reverse order to our actual practise. We almost never do 1 or 2, and most frequently do 4. While there are pros and cons with each approach, 4 offers the ability to design an outing that you can tailor to your specific interests. As I have both the time and interest in conducting extensive research, the planning process is part of the enjoyment of the excursions.

There are multiple factors involved in determining the ports to be visited and the order in which they are visited. For example, while Aruba and Curaçao can accommodate multiple cruise ships on a given day, Bonaire has a single berth, so the itinerary has to take into consideration port availability. As the ABC's are a popular destination, multiple cruise lines will be vying for spots, so it's not always possible to visit in your preferred order. Another factor is the itinerary prior to reaching the ABC's. For example, a cruise that works its way down the eastern Caribbean before swinging west would reach Bonaire first. If it's available, it would make more sense to stop there for day 1, then move on to Curaçao and Aruba for the following days. It reduces operating hours for the ship with a resulting saving in fuel costs. Of course, if Bonaire isn't available, for day 1, then the ship might well have to juggle the order.

You might want to check the listing provided by the Curaçao Port Authority: https://hms.curports.com/webx/dashb.ashx?db=curps.public&MENU_ID=WEBX-TB-PUBLIC-CRUISE While it only provides a 3-month window, making it too early to check for April or May of next year, you'll get a pretty good idea of which cruise lines regularly stay late, then check them for April and May. As many of the ships that visit Curaçao during the winter move to Europe or elsewhere in the Spring, you might be very limited if you stick with April and May. As an example, Celebrity has no ships staying beyond 8:00PM for those months, but does in February and March. They even have overnight stays in Curaçao, giving you ample time to discover Willemstad and the rest of the island. But... You may have to dig deep to find a cruise that not only stays late, but also does so on a Thursday night. We've visited Curaçao many times, and will be returning on an RCI cruise in January. We've stayed late, but never on a Thursday, so we've never experienced the Punda Vibes, but there is so much to see and do that I wouldn't expend a whole lot of energy trying to find the perfect cruise itinerary. As for late nights in Bonaire, they stay late if they are going on to Curaçao the following day, a short, leisurely sailing. But if Bonaire is the last of the ABC's on the itinerary, they'll sail in the late afternoon.

I wonder if they'll target the March break, Monday, March 11 to Friday, March 15.

Details can be found here: https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/news/2023/updates-to-westjet-s-baggage-and-pre-reserved-seat-fees0?i_cid=wj:wj-hp:banner1:brand:ancillary-update

If you mean an FCC for the cruise, that wasn't an option for her. As her Porter Airlines ticket is only a Basic Fare, she can't make any changes or cancel for a refund.

We have a family cruise in January, and one member has had to cancel. Her basic tickets are non-refundable, but I'm wondering if there is any benefit in not advising Porter that she is cancelling. Although the chances are slim, I'm thinking that if the outbound flight is cancelled at the last minute due to weather, mechanical issues or for some other reason, she might get a refund at that point. Any thoughts?

Not just Indian citizens, according to CTV. The entry visas are restricted to "persons of Indian origin," or spouses or children of such persons or of Indian citizens https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/india-resuming-some-visa-services-at-high-commission-consulates-in-canada-1.6616259