Freebythesea

Thank you. One more sleep and we leave for FLL. So very exciting

I have a little bit of a different take. We both work, have limited cash and time so when we book a cruise we cushion it with a day on both ends, why? If we are going to pay so much in airline fees, we might as well take advantage of exploring the port city that we embark from. We do Airbnb so lodging is cheap (and we can prepare our own meals). We rent a car, which gives us the freedom to move around the city and find all the affordable/cheap things to do. Yes, the cruise is the "destination" but the journey starts the second we lock up our house behind us.

Thank you. We don't sail until Sunday so we were planning on hitting the beach on our way down to Miami. We are staying in N. Beach Miami but think maybe a stop to either Lauderdale or Hollywood beach might be nice (we will be flying all night so a nap on the beach may be just what the dr. ordered)

On Saturday a.m. we will arrive in FLL, rent a car and then head south to Miami. We have never been there and are really excited to get to explore while we drive down. I am wondering about tolls. Can someone please share any info regarding this? I am wondering how much they are, do they take cash, and how does one handle paying for them if they don't take cash (we have them here in Seattle-which we always take alternate routes-and they are cashless).

Thank you

I second this absolutely...and if you want a great ice cream cone go down the highway to Dairy Belle...both of these are places we visit when ever given the opportunity.

I don't like ice cream, I LOVE IT;). Can't wait to check it out

Thank you everyone. I love BREAKFAST :p so these are awesome suggestions

You might post this on the Fathom board. There are several people that did the P2P on their own (don't know if the went to the beach). They may be helpful

We arrive in FLL on Saturday a.m. around 7 after an all night flight. We will be picking up a rental car and heading down to North Beach in Miami for a cruise the following day. Any recommendations for a breakfast place between FLL and N. Beach? Something that the locals love to go to. Funky, cool and inexpensive are just fine but also something that might be unique to the area (we are from Seattle). We are both gluten free so a bakery wouldn't work too well but good coffee is a must ;). Thank you in advance.

We are leaving for our 4th cruise in 6 days :eek:. I am on these boards 3-4 times a day. I am wondering what I going to do with all my time when we get back:(. Due to all the world challenges at the moment I am spending very little time on Facebook!. This has become a big part of my daily community. I guess we will just have to book another cruise sooner then later just for my mental health :)

Hi

 

Right now we are not able to travel because my wife is not well. We sure are hoping she gets better so we can go again.

 

In the meantime I come back for the reason I always have. I try to understand when things change and if I can help someone that has a question, it is payback for all the help I found here.

 

It is a great website and it is the contributors that make it that way.

Wishing you and your wife well so that even if she is recovering, she is recovering on a cruise ship. Good for the soul!

Here is a link of that excursion through Fathom. I would also check with Holland to see if they have an age limit on the excursion. I think that Fathom's is 8

Thanks for the clarification. There are some good restaurants in Surfside, near Indian Creek CC:

 

Specchio Cafe

Cafe Ragazze

Flannigans (very casual seafood bar and grill)

The Greek Place

 

There are also some restaurants in the Bal Harbour Shops (very upscale and expensive) as well as some of the hotels along the beach, with poolside/beach dining.

 

Just a bit south of Indian Creek CC are a number of Brazilian restaurants, such as Varanda's Brasil Cafe and Little Brazil Miami.

 

As far as the beach, Haulover is not my favorite (there is also a nude beach on the north part too!), but the beach behind the St. Regis hotel and One Bal Harbour are very nice. There is also public access beaches around 85th Street.

We arrive in FLL on Saturday a.m. around 7 after an all night flight. We will be picking up a rental car and heading down to North Beach in Miami for a cruise the following day. Any recommendations for a breakfast place between FLL and N. Beach? Something that the locals love to go to. Funky, cool and inexpensive are just fine but also something that might be unique to the area (we are from Seattle). We are both gluten free so a bakery wouldn't work too well but good coffee is a must ;). Thank you in advance.

Almost all the sites and attractions are south in the South Beach, Downtown Miami, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables area. North Beach is fairly local other than the hotels on the beach. What are you looking to do? The beach is the beach, so that is an easy suggestion. Does not really matter where you are, the beaches are all the same, other than what is next to the beach. The beaches on North Beach will be less crowded usually.

 

Are you looking for places to eat grab a drink? The reason there is info on places more south is because that is the center of the city where all the activity is.[/QUO

I would love a recommendation of some out of the way places in the N. Beach area for both food and exploration. We will get to to S. Beach and the Everglades on the day the we disembark. And yes the beach is the beach but if you know of one that is especially good to swim, walk and relax, that would be helpful (in N. Beach)

I grew up in the North Miami/North Miami Beach (NMB) area. You mention both North Miami and North Miami Beach. The city of North Miami Beach is NOT on the barrier island of Miami Beach, but rather inland 2 miles. Do you mean you have an AirBnB in North Beach, which is part of Miami Beach? Where exactly are you staying?

 

 

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We are staying in North Beach near India Creek Country Club

We are 9 days away from our trip down to Fl. We don't cruise out until Sunday and have a lovely air bnb in N. Miami beach. We fly into FLL on Saturday at 7:30 am but can't get into the air bnb until 3 p.m. Lots of time to explore. We will be quite tired so we are hoping to get some beach time in after we pick up our rental car. What are some things we should do while we are in N. Miami? We love the outdoors and since we are from Seattle (web feet and all) this is our time to gather up some serious, natural, Vitamin D! There is lots of info on S Miami but not so much on N. so your input is valuable.

Thank you. We sail on the Fathom on Sunday and plan on getting to the port around noon.

This is our first time just doing carry-on only. That said, I LOVE my jewelry. I wear a different set of earrings and a different pendant every day. I will do so as well on my 7 day cruise (part of a 10 day vacation). My jewelry takes up very little room and I have a small pouch that it goes in. I do have to say that to simplify, I will be bringing only two silver chains-in case one breaks.

The Royal Caribbean sale ends tonight and I wanted to get an Alaska cruise booked for this August.

 

I booked one cruise this morning for early August for a Large Oceanview Room but I could not book a specific cabin number. They just told me it was a guaranteed Large Oceanview Room and that we would find out our cabin number once we arrived at the ship.

 

Since it is an Alaska cruise we really want to have a room on the port side of the ship as we are sailing Southbound from Seward so we can see the scenery from our cabin window.

 

I'm worried that with this booking that we will get a room on the starboard side instead and they don't take any sort of reqeusts.

 

Since we are flexible with our dates and I can cancel my previous reservation, I booked the same cruise for later in August. For this cruise I was able to book a cabin on the port side of the ship.

 

I will cancel one of these reservations but wanted to know any of your experiences with just having a guaranteed booking rather than a specific cabin number. Has anyone received their cabin number when they arrived to ship and then managed to have it changed? Any type of info or opinions would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

On our 1st cruise, 5 yrs ago on HAL, we booked and guaranteed inside cabin. About a month before our cruise I went to print out our paper work and lo and behold, there was a cabin number on our boarding pass. It turned out to be an unobstructed OV. Needless to say, we were happy. We have booked guaranteed OV 2x since. Both times we new ahead of time (both great rooms). An additional HAL cruise and a NCL cruise.

We will be on the Vista in April. Our flight going home after our cruise leaves at 7:20PM, so I would like to be at airport around 5:00PM. Any suggestions on what we can do in Miami during the day?? Hate to just sit in airport for that long!!

You would have plenty of time to rent a car and take an Everglades tour. We are there in a couple of weeks and we will be doing that (got a groupon for it) before we head up to FLL for the night.

Since people are advised to put valuables, medicine, and bathing suit (if they want to swim on the first day) in a carry-on, I suggest watch your step until the cabins are ready for the luggage.

On our first cruise (on Holland America) 6 yrs ago, we had someone else's luggage in our room (in addition to our own). That didn't get straightened out until close to dinner. Mistakes happen cause we're dealing with humans. We hope to ONLY bring on carry-on this time but if we didn't we would definitely keep the essentials with us. We are very careful to keep things out of other peoples way but we really can't control if other people are paying attention or not.:o

Youtube has some fun Amber Cove videos that show the hundreds of free loungers as well as some of the other free stuff (water slides included). There are also a couple of them that have a list of rentals and paid items (kayaks, zip line ect)

This. For real. The only people I've ever heard complaining about my special diet are passengers.

 

 

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The only people I have ever heard bemoan dietary restrictions are those that don't have them. Many of those people think of it as a fad because so many more people are on these restricted diet. What they don't know is that what has happened over the past several years are two things: Better diagnosis and worse food practices from the food manufacturing business. I miss ALL products that have gluten in them; pizza, bread, doughnuts ect........ What I don't miss is stomach distress, inflamed and painful joints and exhaustion (not to mention weight gain).

It's easy to judge others when you have no empathy for a situation

We are sailing on the Fathom Adonia in 3 weeks :D. When we booked the price for an OV was the same as the inside so when the TA asked me to hold on while she spoke with the company to book my room I did. When she came back she offered me (for the same price as the OV) an obstructed view balcony. We never have been able to swing a balcony so I took it. I have looked at the room on a plan (it is aft) and there is an angled beam in the corner from top to bottom. I don't think it will be too bad. Any opinions? Oh that balconies on this sailing are 600.00 more then what we paid for :eek:

I would contact Carnival and speak with a supervisor to get clear direction as to whether or not this will be acceptable as a valid picture ID. If you have one, I would use a passport instead.

I would definitely call Carnival and talk to a manager. Our political climate is changing rather quickly and I know that at this point I wouldn't leave the country without a passport-just to make sure I get back it :eek:

Good luck and have a most wonderful cruise

Electronics, valuables, and booze in carry on. Everything else is tossed into checked...

 

Please leave your WMD's at home.

Do you carry-on the booze on a plane?