First time cruiser questions...

[praise4him]

Hi all,

We are sailing on the Caribbean Princess on Sept 11th (just a few days away) God willing and I have some questions. It may seem trivial questions but I am an organized person to the point of excess. It looks like Ivan isn't going to make landfall until Sunday or Monday so we should be able to board and get out of there!

Ok...When you arrive at the airport by taxi, how do you know which gate to go to? Does it say on the tickets? Also how do you know who to hand your bags to? Do they have identification? Do we tip them $1 per bag or $2?

We are not doing a credit card for our ship credit account...we are doing either cash or travelers checks. Does anyone know what they will require? We are pastors so we don't drink or gamble. Do they take that into consideration? We are also traveling with our 2 kids so do they charge them the same amount as far as deposit?

Does anyone have the website to the Everglades port so we could keep an eye on the status there also?

I guess I will start with those questions and I really appreciate your help!

Blessings,

Jennifer

[Krazy Kruizers]

Once you are in the taxi, just tell the driver that you are going to the Caribbean Princess - all the cab drivers know the piers and which ship is where.

Do have ready you rcruise documents, passports, or driver's licenses (photo ID's) for everyone as you will first go through a security check-point before your actually get to the pier.

Once you get to the pier there will be lots of stevedores (will have their name tags on) who will take your luggage and see that it gets onto the ship (after being x-rayed in the terminal). Since we have 4 suitcases between 2 of us, we tip the stevedore $5.

Haven't sailed on Princess in years, so I do not know their procedures for on-board accounts.

The website I had for Ft Lauderdale doesn't show everything like it used to - mostly shows cargo ships and their arrivals.

[faithpath]

Praise4Him~Hope you have a wonderful cruise. We will be on Caribbean Princess on 9/25/04, so take good care of her.

 

This will be my first cruise with Princess, and my Mom's first cruise ever. She hasn't been on a vacation in a very long time, so I am so excited for her.

 

I am not sure how Princess works their sail and sign card. But Carnival ship would let you put cash or Traveler's checks in place of credit card. Then they would refund you the amount you didn't use.

 

We usually tipped the porters 2.00 per bag. Be sure to take extra one's and five's, as it seems like you are always tipping.

 

Have fun~take care~stay safe...

 

God Bless....

~Kathi~

 

[cwc]

Dear Jennifer,

1. Airport gate: go inside the terminal and you will see TV with airline gate info on them. If you are checking in luggage, the ticket counter will tell you which gate and where to go. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time. The security scan take a long time these days.

2. 1$ per bag is sufficient unless you have really heavy bags (like over 30lbs)

3. Yes, all the bags need to have nametags on them (security reason). If your bag doesn’t come with one, the airline will have paper one you can fill out at the counter when you check your bags in. HOWEVER, don’t put on the cruise tag until you are at the cruise terminal. The tag cruise line provides will tare into pieces by the baggage handler in the airport.

4. Cash and travelers checks don’t require anything to deposit into your cruise account.

5. What do you mean by taking into consideration if you don’t drink or gamble? I don’t think they will close up the casino or bar because your family is on board!?

6. What do you mean by deposit for the kids? You mean cruise account? You as their parents can arrange their charge account on their card to be turn off, so you do not need to put money in them.

 

One more thing, please do not bring your own kids life vest to the ship, the cabin maid will bring a kid size one when you get into your cabin. The life vest will take up too much space in your luggage and you will regret of bringing them at the end of the cruise.

 

Have fun!

Cindy

[spongerob]

Just to add one more thing: Go to the purser's desk as soon as you are on board and put a spending limit on your childrens' cruise cards, or have the cards inactivated for shipboard expenses. This will spare you the potential grief of finding unwanted charges made to those accounts. Sometimes kids get out of control in the arcade, and sometimes their cards are "borrowed" by others to buy things. Placing a limit on the cards eliminates one potential worry.

[faithpath]

Jennifer~just a few extra tips I have found on these boards about luggage when flying, that I thought you would find interesting.

 

Put duplicate airline tags on each piece of luggage, in case one tears off.

 

Put on your cruise tags on your luggage before checking your luggage in at the airport. This will help the airlines to get your luggage to your ship on the outside chance your luggage gets lost. Princess sent us extra tags, so if these do get torn off through the airlines, I can just put the extra set on at the cruise terminal. If you do not have extra Princess tags, request them from the porter at the cruise terminal.

 

If you have an outside pocket on your luggage that will be empty and not locked, it might be a good idea to put your Princess info on a sheet of paper and place into that pocket, so airlines could get that info if needed.

 

On your return trip home...before checking luggage in with airlines...remove any cruise tags. This alerts luggage handlers (that are tempted to steal) that you might have something worth checking out, since you are returning from vacation.

 

Just thought you would like to know. There is some great info to be picked up on these boards.

 

Have fun and enjoy your cruise.

 

God Bless...

~Kathi~

[praise4him]

Thank you for all your replies and great help!

Yes we have passports, birth certificates, cruise documents and so on. But I keep checking to make sure. (obsessive I know)

What I meant as far as whether they would take the fact that we don't drink or gamble into consideration is that I wasn't sure if they wanted a minimum amount put on your account with the assumption that you would drink and gamble. does that make better sense? :)

 

That's a great idea to put a spending limit on the kids cards. We will do just that!

 

What I was wondering was if they let you take the life vests off the ship so if we went to a beach that they would have one? Does anyone know?

Thank you again for your great advice and help!

Blessings,

Jennifer

[spongerob]

No, you will not be allowed to take life vests from the ship. They are part of the ship's emergency equipment and must stay on board. You might want to go to a dive shop in town and pick up inflatable snorkel vests. They are a little bit pricey, but would pack very easily.

[imsulin]

Each passenger, regardless of age, will be required to deposit a certain amount of cash/Travellers' Checks, to cover "anticipated" expenses. It doesn't matter whether or not you drink or gamble. For a 7-night cruise, you can expect to be required to deposit about $200.00 per person. Just a ball-park figure, but it will be right around that amount. Soft drinks and bottled water are not included in your cruise, and you will be charged for them, as well as any shore excursions, pictures, or shipboard shop purchases. Cash is not used on the ship (except in the casino and for Bingo), so that is why each person needs to establish a "shipboard account". You might want to contact your travel agent for further clarification on how much each person is required to leave on deposit, and how you will get back any unspent money. Have a great cruise!

[CruiseSafely]

Before you make a decision regarding the life preservers for your children, you should probably understand the sizing criteria. Adult Size PFD's, Coast Guard and SOLAS approved are for passengers OVER 90 pounds. Child size PFD's are for passengers UNDER 90 pounds. The problem with this is that young children (under approx. 60 pounds) are TOO small to properly wear the child-sized preserver and run the risk of falling out of them.

 

While I understand it may be an annoyance to pack children's preservers, I STRONGLY encourage you to ensure that the ships preservers meet your needs BEFORE you have no other choice. There are no Coast Guard Approved Type I PFD's for infants and young children but there are some excellent preservers on the market for children. For young children, as a former Coast Guard inspector, I would recommend a preserver that supports the head in the water and includes a handle on the upper portion of the preserver for grasping the child.

 

Last, since the child preservers on board the ship are part of the required minimum safety equipment, you may run into resistance in using the preservers for anything other than an emergency situation.

 

Have a safe and wonderful cruise!:)

[Boo's Mom]

Praise4Him...... They will require the same deposit of cash/TC's...regardless of what you tell them about the drinking/gambling.

 

The last time we sailed out of Ft Lauderdale...on Princess...(Dec 03)...I specifically saw signs at the pier stating words similar to: "Baggage Handlers are on salary and do not require tips". This was the first time I ever saw this at a pier.

 

Have a great cruise. May your seas be calm! :)

[praise4him]

Thank you again for all your help. We fly out early tomorrow for our Saturday sailing. I think I will take at least one life jacket. We are not sure what our itinerary is at this point because of Ivan but it looks like we can get on the ship and the storm is due to hit On Monday. Should be an interesting vacation as we don't even know what itinerary it is!

Blessings and thanks!

Jennifer

[cruisinmamma]

Just another thought. When we cruise we go ahead and set our ship account up w/ a cc. On the last evening before disembarking we go to the pursers desk and pay cash for any expenses. We have sailed celebrity, RCI and carnival and this works on all three. Not sure about Princess.