HELP from all the postive people

[dosi]

BEACHLOVER--- I did want to add that perhaps for your next cruise you will consider booking your own air and hotel....that way you can find the perfect place for you and your family. I always use Priceline, always get a great hotel with a great rate and haven't seen a roach yet!!! At least not in Florida, however I hear they call them Palmetto bugs down there, but in my mind a roach by any other name is still a roach. :D

[Cruisin' Chick]

After some of those hurricanes, one vacation website posted letters from some of their customers about their experiences onboard. Most said the cruiselines went out of their way to make the best of the situation (some had free phone calls/internet use so passengers can rebook travel back home; any days tacked onto the cruise because of the weather was gratis, etc.). Only a few complaints. The ships will cruise away from the storm so if there's a hurricane, you may end up at different ports than planned.

 

The closest we've come is having a tropical storm chase us from Jamaica back to Miami. Hours after we boarded our flight, the storm was upgraded to Hurricane Gordon.

 

You may want to google your hotel and see if you can find reviews (also expedia, tripadvisor, etc.). If the view is pervasive that it's a rundown hotel, maybe try to book another one. You don't have to book your hotel through Princess -- even if you're getting a price break, it might be worth spending a little extra for peace of mind.

 

And then if it's just for one night... When we had gotten to a hotel in Seattle, my hubby wanted to change after hearing arguing going on in one room as we walked by. As well as other factors. We stayed there both nights but during the day we drove around and found a hotel to stay at after our cruise (and the rate had dropped too for the second hotel!).

 

Anyway, I bet your family will be thanking you after enjoying their cruise.

[Smiles3usa]

Sorry, but I have to agree with Relevart here. It's not a matter of being "positive" or "negative" it's more about being realistic. Folks who take a vacation--any vacation--and expect to miserable, generally are. Those who expect to have a great time, make the best of it--whether the vacation is great or not. I know for me, if I was convinced that EVERYTHING I was planning was doomed, and it would never work out--based on past experience or on opinions of folks that I trusted--I would NEVER take that vacation. Only you can decide what is right for you...and all the positive fibes in the world (from folks you do not know) can change that. But I am curious, why in the world would you WANT to take a vacation to a place that you knew was horrible, and that you would have a horrible time? I am REALLY trying to understand that perspective.

[BEACHLOVER101]

When I reserved the cruise I felt great about it, But I did get on the boards and ask about the hotel and the weather, that's when I begin to worry. I can laugh when things go wrong and did so on my last cruise when we could not get a chair because of rude people who lay out towels and never show up, put up with people pushing and shoving to be first in line (we just laughed and moved out of there way) I can laugh at a lot of things but bugs:eek: So no I won't cancel my trip I'll cross my fingers and roll with what happens. I was just looking for some positive cruise stories to make me feel better. Thanks for all those that did.:D

[BEACHLOVER101]

Never said I was going to a horrible place My 1st and only cruise was to St Thomas and it was great. I was just worried about the weather but most people have made me feel alot better. As for the hotel I just never dreamed a Marriott would be dirty or have bugs, but you know what it may not be. I do not expect to be miserable, I just had somethings I was worried about and thought by talking them out on the board it would make me feel better.

[marly]

BEACHLOVER101: When are you going on Caribbean Princess? We're on the Sept. 10 cruise.

Marly

[whale-watcher]

Two people on the same cruise (or in the same hotel) can have very different opinions. We were a bit nervous before our last cruise on the Dawn Princess because of some recent negative reviews, but ended having a fantastic time -- we could hardly believe that they were talking about the same ship. I would be willing to bet that for almost every negative opinion you read, you can also find a positive posting to balance it out.

[kryos]

Beachlover101...since you've heard so many negatives, you will have a great time! Expecting the worst and getting the best. There is NO such thing as a bad cruise. You will have room stewards making up your room (2x/day!!), waiters bringing you food and drinks, and happy people surrounding you. Enjoy and let us know how it was!!!!:D

Just remember ... the percentage of people on these boards who have a bad cruise experience and then post about it are very, very small in number. There are probably 1000 people who enjoy a great cruise experience for every one who actually has a ton of complaints and comes on this, or other boards, to post about it. Don't let a few bad reviews turn you off to your cruise experience before you even get on the boat.

 

My philosophy with cruising ... and any other type of vacation for that matter ... has been to go with an open mind. Accept that everything isn't going to be perfect ... and when something fails to meet your expectations, then simply contact the appropriate parties on board to get it rectified in a polite and civil manner. Roll with the punches and rise above those little irritations that could affect any vacation experience. Keep a good attitude and a determination to have a great vacation, and believe me ... you will.

 

I was on the "voyage of the dam ship" last August/September. The hurricanes kept us out to sea for an extra 2-1/2 days and we lost several ports and ended up having something like five days straight at sea. Fortunately, I was on a b2b anyway, so my air arrangements weren't affected, but boy were there some upset people onboard. They were complaining that they had to spend an extra 2-1/2 days on a luxury HAL cruise, were not being charged auto tips for those extra days, were not being charged a dime for all the extra food they ate, all the special entertainment options that the cruise staff quickly put together ... and more importantly, were given some onboard credits and a major discount if they wanted to just stay onboard for the following week's shortened cruise.

 

What is there to complain about? Even airline flights weren't gonna be a problem since the flights were all cancelled out of Fort Lauderdale anyway, so there wouldn't be any charge for those people to rearrange new flights.

 

I wound up getting not just an onboard credit, but also a nice future cruise discount since the second week was technically shortened. Keep in mind, I still got my 14 days onboard since I was on a b2b ... so this was a real bonus. We got some really unique onboard tours ... to areas that would normally be off limits on any ordinary cruise (i.e., the brig, the coffin storage room, food storage, liquor stores ... all those places you never get to visit normally). We had special "up close and personal" encounters with the entertainers, a special talk by the cruise director about shipboard life ... really unique experiences. Then, for the icing on the cake, when we finally did dock in Fort Lauderdale for the turnaround day and the start of the 4.5 day cruise, only about 650 people bothered to get on the boat. The others had all cancelled. This ship, the Zuiderdam, holds over 2000! That second cruise was almost like sailing on a private yacht! There were actually more crew onboard than passengers! What a unique and wonderful cruise!

 

So, the point of all this is that I just rolled with the punches, enjoyed all those sea days, and had an absolute blast on both of my cruises. I kept a positive attitude and thus had a great time.

 

You can too.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Ziggy7]

Who said there were roaches in the Marriot North, if you look at their website they look like a really nice hotel! :)

 

 

http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/FLLCC

 

 

.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Rita, you sound like you would be a great travelling companion!:)

[GrandReady]

I just looked up your hotel at tripadvisor.com and there were 6 reviews. Out of the 6 only one of them was less than good. In my book 5 out of 6 isn't all that shabby.

[SissasMomE]

It sounds like my cruise is falling apart. My pre cruise hotel may be dirty and have roaches, the weather inthe caribbean in september is terrible, my cabin is on the Rriviera so I may hear chairs moving and people running. I picked the date for the cruise (only time that worked with out waiting untill 2006) so my family may just hate me when we get back. Can someone out there make me feel better? Thanks:(

 

 

Well, after all the press Florida and the Carribean got this August and September, I don't have anyhting ... polite ... to say to you about booking a cruise during September ;) BUT ... as for the Riverier deck ... our cabin was located on the Riviera deck on the Caribbean Princess last month and we loved it! As for the hotel, surely you can change it. Don't know if you're leaving out of FL or not, but it's not "season" here during that time (you know, hurricanes) so it's easy enough to change hotels.

[Genessa]

Thanks Bowlerbus and Liner you make me feel a little better. Genessa I'm only in the hotel one night but hate to start out on a bad note. This will only be my 2nd cruise but it will be my kids 1st so I won't it to be nice don't know when I can afford to take them again.

 

when my kids were young we started out camping, so the first hotel they went to, they were thrilled to have a bathroom and a television and air conditioning and then got accustomed to nicer and nicer hotels. When they started complaining that we brought them to a four star rather than a five star hotel, we stopped bringing them with us.

If it is clean, but not the most wonderful place, well, it will set them up to enjoy the cruise that much more.

 

Seriously, if the hotel is substandard in cleanliness when you get there, go directly to the front desk and tell them.

 

Did you book the hotel separately or through Princess? I've found that going through Princess is seldom cheap, but the accomodations are always impeccably clean.

I'm assuming you read a review somewhere that the hotel was filthy? You could always try contacting the manager now and expressing your concerns about the cleanliness. A letter to the upper offices will lead to someone investigating.

[Genessa]

Never said I was going to a horrible place My 1st and only cruise was to St Thomas and it was great. I was just worried about the weather but most people have made me feel alot better. As for the hotel I just never dreamed a Marriott would be dirty or have bugs, but you know what it may not be. I do not expect to be miserable, I just had somethings I was worried about and thought by talking them out on the board it would make me feel better.

 

when I read in your later post that it was the Marriott North, my first thought was WWWHHHHAT!

 

My dh, his parents, and two dear friends will be there next week for one night!

TRUST ME! If the hotel is NOT clean when we get there, rest assured people will hear the six of us yelling!

 

As for the roaches, they were probably palmetto bugs, which are really worse than roaches, 'cos they're big FLYING roaches, and I skeeve roaches.

However, while I have usually seen them in many exterior areas of mid to southern Florida, I am praying I don't see them in my room.

 

I will report back when we return on the state of the rooms and (fingers crossed) lack of roaches.

[kadiebug12]

Hotel: This is FL, there isn't a hotel here that hasn't had a roach sighting (or what we Floridian's actually call Palmetto Bugs) so that's no indication that the hotel is bad.

 

Cruise: I know many would disagree with me, but how can you have a bad time on a cruise? I mean, really. If the weather's bad, you go to the covered pool, play bingo, eat, there are tons of things to do. You're on vacation to have a good time, right? As long as you have a positive attitude and don't set your expectation of having a good time on good weather, you'll have a great time no matter what.

 

Good Luck and have a wonderful vacation!

[Ziggy7]

FYI on the hotel :)

A review from tripadvisor:

The rooms are large, and the beds are divine! I have stayed at several hotels in this area -- and THIS hotel is the one with the 'dream' pillows!!

There is a huge complex of shops and entertainment establishments right across the street that includes: Restaurants such as Hooters, Champs, Steak and Ale, Italian, Dunkin Donuts, Subs, Etc. A 16 screen movie theater, and more.

There is a drug store within 3/4 of a mile.

The concierge can assist you with ANY kind of need you may have.

The front desk is very efficient, courteous ...... and unusual for SO. FLA -- FRIENDLY! (And I am from Ft. Lauderdale, so I can truly say that we don't always have the friendliest staff in this area.)

Check in never takes more than a few moments and my room is always Clean and Fresh, stocked well with plenty of towels, lotion, shampoo, an iron and ironing board, etc. Also a very easy to use desk with slide out for computer use or as a seperate table. Very comfortable arm chair and ottoman complete the elegant but at home feel of the room. I recommend this hotel with Five Stars! You won't be disappointed.

[SLU Billikens]

I have not stayed at the Marriot but I have seen it. It doesn't look bad? I am sure it will be fine. If you are worried about it why not change hotels? Lots of good deals in FLL. If you have family with you the Embassy Suites was very good. Comp shuttle to boats as well.

 

I have sailed the Car. in late August. Had a great time. No bad time of year really down by the equator. Like you said, maybe the boat will be mostly empty.

 

Have a great time. I am going Baja'ing in October.

[BEACHLOVER101]

Thanks guys You have made me feel a lot better. I did get my whole package through Princess, this being only the 2nd cruise I'm not brave enough to make my own reservations. don't pick on me for being chicken, Ill get better just give me some time. It does sound like there are some places to eat around the hotel. Do you know if there is somewhere near by to rent a car for the day? We are being picked up at airport by Princess. Thanks again for everone's help.

[Colo Cruiser]

The Embassy looks good from the outside too but it gets a lot of bad reviews lately as well. The problem with all the hotels down there is that they are full all the time and why try and refurbish when the hotel is selling out. :)

[HahvadYaad]

Sailing in September?

 

You're screwed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.sloof lirpA

[LeeW]

Marly is right. Bugs and Florida go together. More insects in Florida than the rest of the US combined (according to an entomologist I worked with at UF). The locals call roaches palmetto bugs and ignore them. You should too (although it gets scary when the 3" ones fly at you). Lived for three years in Gainesville and never did get rid of them all.

 

Don't sweat the small stuff - a week on a cruise is more relaxing than a month off at home. Great food, lots of things to do, good people to meet, a staff that bends over backwards to make sure you enjoy itself - what can be better?

[northcalgal]

We cruised last Oct and had wonderful weather. Going again this Oct. I like the lower prices and less crowds. We never had more than 3 ships in port usually just 1 or 2 which is a plus . Ihave been reading of the recent cruises from Jan till now and it sounds like the weather has been worse than when we went. Also been reading of 6-9 ships in port too many for me. Have a great cuise:)

[kendon]

Last month I thought I stayed at the worst hotel the day before my cruise. As soon as I stepped on the Coral Princess........ what hotel? Don't fret over the room so much on the ship, you're not in it enough. I would change places with you in a second right now. You are going to have a GREAT time!

[SissasMomE]

Marly is right. Bugs and Florida go together. More insects in Florida than the rest of the US combined (according to an entomologist I worked with at UF). The locals call roaches palmetto bugs and ignore them. You should too (although it gets scary when the 3" ones fly at you). Lived for three years in Gainesville and never did get rid of them all.

 

I am a local and certainly do not "ignore the roaches" nor would I ever stay in a hotel that had them. If you had roaches in your home, which I am assuming since you "never did get rid of them all" then perhaps your cleaning skills were lacking. Can't say I know of anyone that has roaches in their home ... other than those that live in less than desirable areas.... or were just slobs. I have 10 different sets of family members who live here and tons of friends, all with their own homes, none of which has a roach problem.

[cruzinchris]

Thanks Spongrob you seem to be one of the most positive ones on this site. Do you know anything about the Marriott north. Changing cruises also changes price can't afford Hawaii.

 

Not Spongerob, but DH and I stayed at Marriott North in January prior to our cruise on the CB. We booked the hotel through Princess but are Marriott Rewards members, as well. We always stay at Marriott properties when traveling.

 

Marriott North is an older property but has recently been refurbished. The restaurant was nice, but breakfast service was a bit slow with a pre-cruise crowd. Nice pool and hottub. There are some shopping centers within walking distance.

 

This hotel does not provided shuttle service to the pier. Unless you plan to use Princess transportation, be sure to order a taxi or towncar the evening prior to sailing.

 

We will stay at the Marriott Courtyard near the airport/pier prior to our CB sailing on January 28, 2006. We will book this on our own and have earned enough points for a free stay. Shuttle service from airport to hotel to pier is provided.

Chris