SarahInPA

Hi all!  We are looking at transportation from Orlando airport to a hotel near the port Canaveral.  Trying to find out best option

We have a 4 year old and do not plan to bring her car seat, so we will either need a shuttle or rental car and rent a seat. 

We'd like to come in the day before we depart and spend an evening in a hotel. 

We will also need transport back to the airport on our last day from the port. 

Hit me with your recommendations for transport (cat rental or shuttle) and hotels, preferably with a pool

Thanks! 

Any annual sales that come up regularly I should watch out for? Looking to book by March and just wondering if there is something great coming up, I dont want to miss! Would be booking for 3 people (1 child)

Thanks!

If I book a cruise with RCC today, and I see a better price in the future, do they honor that new price? I recall getting a reduced price a few years ago (2012) but it appeared from their Best Price Guarantee policy the price change will only be honored if the lower prices is advertised within 48 hours of booking? Can someone please clarify this for me so I know if and when I should watch out.

Thanks!

My Hubby and I are looking to book a cruise with our 2 1/2 year old daughter (shes not quite 2 yet, so we know there is a lot of change coming in the next year!) My in laws have discussed coming with us, but nothing is final yet. We are looking at Royal Caribbean Oasis

Hubby and I have been on 5 cruises together and I have been on 7 total so we are not unaware of the process, but this would be the first time with a little one! We have also been on the Oasis (2015) and the Allure (2011) so we are semi familiar with this ship.

I HOPE to potty train her between now and November 2018 (she turns 2 in April) Shes already showing some signs of readiness!! Yay!! and I know and Understand the no swim diaper rules!

Looking for tips, ideas, thoughts, and information on cruising with a toddler! She is extremely independant and loves to RUN!!! Whats the deal with the "nursery" option for parents and kids, has anyone done these activities?

Also, we would like to stay with RCC but would consider Carnival if there is something spectacular for kids on their ships. So i'm open to suggestions!

Also, Hubby and I enjoy spending time with her, and have never had a babysitter for her! I am a stay at home mom so we really are not looking to put her in a daycare type setting while cruising, we enjoy the family activities, and with the possibility of the In Laws joining us, we may get a dinner alone!

I Live in PA and was a social worker, I have taken people directly to the office of records and had a birth certificate given to them on the spot. You may have to wait a little in line, but it was a lot less painful than i expected. I think its about $13 or so. Id be safe rather than sorry.

which booking are you on? we are on Oasis 3/7, now i need to check our reservations. We saild Allure in 2011, and all of our reservations changed prior to getting on the ship, and it was because a company (Pentair) had booked most of the ship as their customer appriciation vacation, and many shows were designated for the Pentair only. At times, various parts of the ship were closed to the general public also, it was very frustrating, but didnt take away from our experience. Maybe this is whats happening for your trip??

I had C&A points added to my account from past cruises in 2004 and 2005, I recevied 1 point for my 7 night cruise, and 3 points for my 10 night cruise. I was told that the point accumulation process changed, and that was all they could give me for past dated cruises. I just took what they gave me and moved on, it was nice to give me credit for something that happened so lon gin the past.

TARUN!!!! He was a bartender in the Champagne Bar on our Med Cruise in Sept 2013. He was Amazing!!! I'm sure hes on a different ship by now, does anyone know which ship he is on?????? We also had him on the Allure in 2011 :)

Also, our excursions were about 100-115 per person. We spent about $1000 in excursions/transportation, but of course, its about what you want to see and do. There are reasonable excursions you can do.

IMO - go MED! My husband and I went Med in Sept 2013, to kick off our baby making, so we could do the trip before children. and it was the BEST trip we ever took! thats a great price, and about what we paid, give or take. We went Rome, Sicily, Athens, Crete, Kushadasi, back to Rome. We may never have the chance to take a trip like that again. We were onthe Navigator, before its dry dock, and we had such little time on the ship, it was no big deal to be on a smaller ship. For us, it was about the ports. We are also from PA, and the weather in Europe was perfect at that time of the year. Warm to be at the pool, but cool to walk all the cities and see the sights. We also booked transportation through RCC, as well as all the excursions through RCC. This was our first time doing that, because we were on very unfamiliar territory, it was a great choice for us, and we were satisfied with the excursions.

PS, we're still working on that baby making stuff, so we booked a trip on Oasis for March :D

When we booked Europe, it was a very big trip for us and we choose by the ports, not the ship. We've been on the Allure and it is a fantastic ship, so much to do and so much time spent on the ship. so if it were me choosing, i'd choose ports over ship.

We've been to some of those, just keep in mind, Istanbul could get canceled due to the civil unrest in Turkey, that would be a last minute decision for the cruise, but always something to keep in mind. We went to Kushadasi (Ephesus) and LOVED it! We were alos in Rome, Sicily, Athens, and Crete. It was very port intensive, but thats why we were going on that specific trip. The week prior to ours RCC canceled the Athens stop because of problems in Greece, but it was all fine by our turn.

All of those stops sound great, We loved all of our stops, and would do it again if we could afford the trip over to Rome again, that was our biggest expense!

Also, we went in September, and the weather was perfect, nice breeze, warm/hot in the sun, but sometimes a light jacket was needed, perfect fall weather for us!

We've done Grand Cayman twice and both times we rented Mopeds and rode the island, went to Hell and grabbed lunch, and stopped at which ever beach we wanted too. WE also stopped at the dolphin/turtle thing. THe island is so small, you can ride the whole time in a few hours. If you arnt into motorcycles, you could rent a jeep the same way and enjoy your own time. PS we always felt safe riding around the island.

We were on Navigator in Sept 2013 before the Refurb, on a Mediteranian Cruise. We had great service, but most importantly, we had the bartender Tarun. He is from India ( I think) and was absolutly the best bartender we have ever had! We also had him on Allure in 2011! If anyone knows which ship he is on, I would book another cruise just to be on his ship again!

No sure how to find the information, but we were on the Allure in 2011 and there was a convention for the company Pentair (swimming pool filters and pumps, ect). Which I thought would be interesting, as I was in the swimming pool business, but they had special show times, and dining times, and closed portions of the ship at certain times for the convention. All of our reservations for shows and dining were changed without notice. It was a small inconvience to us and I would personally consider another week if I was able too make that change again.

We always bring 2 bottles onboard, we've asked our cabin steward for a wine opener and he provided one for us quickly, we now use that as our "travel" opener. I bought a nice 2 bottle wine carrier at bed bath and beyond a few years ago, and so its easy to carry the bottles onboard, just like a purse, and if my husband and I trade off on carrying it, its not too bad until we can get in our room. We must fly to the ports, so we usually pick up wine at the port or near the hotel before boarding.

from what I understand you ALWAYS stay on SHIPS TIME, which is the time from the original port, FLL. We are on Oasis in March, and were on Allure a few years back, And all cruises Ive been too, we stay on ships time, but you could verify with RCC by calling.

Enjoy, and welcome to the world of cruising!!!

my husband and I love cruising, we are 33 and 29 (ill be 30 soon enough) :( and we love to sail in that week after thanksgiving. We went on a Western Caribbean that week a few years ago and the weather was perfect! Your moving out of hurricaine season, so there is little worry about that.

But we ALWAYS fly in the day before because we come from Pittsburgh, and we worry about delays and such.

Being a couple with no kids, we now choose My Time Dining, with this option you can reserve your tables ahead of time, or on the first day of the cruise, or you can show up and eat when you want during certain times, and take the risk of sitting with dfferent people or just by yourselves. We've had to wait 5 -10 minutes sometimes but that wasnt a big deal for us. We dont find much enjoyment having the same waiter and staff throughout the cruise, but some people prefer that. Also, we enjoy meeting new people and then having a few evenings to ourselves. We did sit with another couple one time and although they were very nice (twice our age) they were from Denmark and there was a small language barrier, and they TALKED all through dinner, some nights it wasnt very fun at all.. but again, everyone has different interets :)

As for excusrions, the boards on CC are great for information and such, you can wait until the evening before the port on the ship to book, but they could fill up. They will put you on a waiting list, and each time that has happened to us, we've been accomodated the morning of the excursion. You can also pick and pay for them ahead of time, which is nice also.

My husband and I met a bartender on the Allure in 2011 (caribbean), had 1 drink and moved onto another bar. We were on the Navigator in 2013 in Europe and my husband recognized the bartender, so we got to talking, and it was him! (my husband has this weird facial recoginition thing)

Well, it worked in our favor because he was very generous with our drinks that week :) i wish we would have traded contact info, id love to know what ship he was on now!!