A Look At What Is Happening Today:
Picked Up At Home ✔ Checked Into An Airport Hotel ✔ Dinner ✔
As we mentioned, our first day of this adventure is somewhat different from the start of past trips. In recent years, we have been picked up at home rather early in the wee hours of the morning for a drive to our home airport to catch the first of two flights that would take us to Miami. Anne Marie has also been concerned that at such an early hour of the morning that the driver might fall asleep.
This time around we decided to do this in a little more leisurely manner.
Late morning, we were picked up at our home for a drive to the airport that we normally would connect with for our second of two flights on our way to Miami. This gave us more time to check over the house before we closed it up, and just turned out to be a very nice way to begin the start of this adventure.
Since we shipped most of our luggage, we took with us two large bags, (one has many liquid items that we could not ship and the other one has items for our pre-cruise stay in Miami), plus we each had our carry on luggage, along with a personal item.
Our driver drove us in an Executive SUV which easily accommodated the two of usand our luggage.
The only minor hiccup was due to a major traffic backup, the driver arrived to our house about ninety minutes later than the original scheduled pickup time. Ulysses, the dispatcher from the car service not only notified us well ahead of time, but gave us several updates. We told him we were not in any rush. Our driver, George, was driving all the way from the area that we would be driving back to after he picked us up.
This transfer along with all other transfers was arranged with Crystal Cruises by Gerri, our Senior Travel Specialist, and her assistant, Ashley. The transfers took into account the input we provided as to desired pickup times, as well as the number of bags to accompany us on each transfer.
Once settled in the vehicle,we enjoyed a very nice drive from our home over to the airport and we brought lunch with us. George made excellent time and we actually arrived in 2 hours and thirty minutes, about thirty minutes earlier than expected. George is originally from Chicago and like Keith enjoys sports so we spoke quite awhile about Baseball, Basketball and Football Teams. We all agreed that there is way too much money in sports, but we'll save that for another discussion. All in all, it made the time pass very quickly.
We arrived to the hotel around 2:15 PM. The hotel is located on the airport grounds, and connects directly to one of several airport terminals. We stayed here a few years ago on our return back home as it was too late to connect for a final flight home. Although around eight years old, the hotel was recently renovated and the rooms are very well appointed. Check in was a breeze and the staff was very warm, friendly and helpful.
Before dinner we took a walk around the terminal from the in the non-secure area. We didn't do this but they have a nice feature at this hotel. You can get a security pass from the concierge which allows you to enter the secured area of the airport should you want to have dinner at the airport or visit the shops. They do give you a much more vigorous pat down, so we were told by the hotel staff and consistent to what we read on the Hotels' web site so we decided to pass on that.
We had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. The service was just fabulous from the moment we were seated. Our server was Lynne, who was fantastic.
The menus were quite unique as they were lit when opened so you could easily read them. Now, that is a great concept and would just come in very handy in those restaurants where most of the lighting comes from candles on the each table.
We each began our meal with a nice salad. It featured several different leafy salad items and was very well presented.
For those of you who have followed our Blogs, you know that we normally enjoy seafood, but knowing that we will have quite a bit of seafood in Florida and on the ship we went with chicken instead.
The chicken was organic and it came in two different sizes. We chose the smaller size which was a half-chicken. It was accompanies with carrots, broccoli and a starch. It was all very tasty and the chicken was quite moist and it also made for a nice presentation. We each had one roll and that it was whole wheat with a nut in the middle and also very tasty.
When we finished, Lynn asked us if we would like dessert and we passed on that. We are sure they would have been terrific though.
When we returned to the room, we worked on our blog, read and caught up with the news.
Tomorrow morning, we will walk from the hotel over to the airport terminal for check-in and then make our way to the boarding gate.
Yes, today was what precisely we had planned. A leisurely day to get this adventure started.
This time around we decided to do this in a little more leisurely manner.
Late morning, we were picked up at our home for a drive to the airport that we normally would connect with for our second of two flights on our way to Miami. This gave us more time to check over the house before we closed it up, and just turned out to be a very nice way to begin the start of this adventure.
Since we shipped most of our luggage, we took with us two large bags, (one has many liquid items that we could not ship and the other one has items for our pre-cruise stay in Miami), plus we each had our carry on luggage, along with a personal item.
Our driver drove us in an Executive SUV which easily accommodated the two of usand our luggage.
The only minor hiccup was due to a major traffic backup, the driver arrived to our house about ninety minutes later than the original scheduled pickup time. Ulysses, the dispatcher from the car service not only notified us well ahead of time, but gave us several updates. We told him we were not in any rush. Our driver, George, was driving all the way from the area that we would be driving back to after he picked us up.
This transfer along with all other transfers was arranged with Crystal Cruises by Gerri, our Senior Travel Specialist, and her assistant, Ashley. The transfers took into account the input we provided as to desired pickup times, as well as the number of bags to accompany us on each transfer.
Once settled in the vehicle,we enjoyed a very nice drive from our home over to the airport and we brought lunch with us. George made excellent time and we actually arrived in 2 hours and thirty minutes, about thirty minutes earlier than expected. George is originally from Chicago and like Keith enjoys sports so we spoke quite awhile about Baseball, Basketball and Football Teams. We all agreed that there is way too much money in sports, but we'll save that for another discussion. All in all, it made the time pass very quickly.
We arrived to the hotel around 2:15 PM. The hotel is located on the airport grounds, and connects directly to one of several airport terminals. We stayed here a few years ago on our return back home as it was too late to connect for a final flight home. Although around eight years old, the hotel was recently renovated and the rooms are very well appointed. Check in was a breeze and the staff was very warm, friendly and helpful.
Before dinner we took a walk around the terminal from the in the non-secure area. We didn't do this but they have a nice feature at this hotel. You can get a security pass from the concierge which allows you to enter the secured area of the airport should you want to have dinner at the airport or visit the shops. They do give you a much more vigorous pat down, so we were told by the hotel staff and consistent to what we read on the Hotels' web site so we decided to pass on that.
We had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. The service was just fabulous from the moment we were seated. Our server was Lynne, who was fantastic.
The menus were quite unique as they were lit when opened so you could easily read them. Now, that is a great concept and would just come in very handy in those restaurants where most of the lighting comes from candles on the each table.
We each began our meal with a nice salad. It featured several different leafy salad items and was very well presented.
For those of you who have followed our Blogs, you know that we normally enjoy seafood, but knowing that we will have quite a bit of seafood in Florida and on the ship we went with chicken instead.
The chicken was organic and it came in two different sizes. We chose the smaller size which was a half-chicken. It was accompanies with carrots, broccoli and a starch. It was all very tasty and the chicken was quite moist and it also made for a nice presentation. We each had one roll and that it was whole wheat with a nut in the middle and also very tasty.
When we finished, Lynn asked us if we would like dessert and we passed on that. We are sure they would have been terrific though.
When we returned to the room, we worked on our blog, read and caught up with the news.
Tomorrow morning, we will walk from the hotel over to the airport terminal for check-in and then make our way to the boarding gate.
Yes, today was what precisely we had planned. A leisurely day to get this adventure started.
TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY............
"We can think of no better way to travel and to see the world than by cruise ship." - Keith and Anne Marie
Keith and Anne Marie
"We can think of no better way to travel and to see the world than by cruise ship." - Keith and Anne Marie
Keith and Anne Marie
I agree Anne Marie about money in sports unless you are a Red Sox fan and want to keep David Ortiz. Also listening or reading Keith's saga of all your winning teams one has to wonder how that was done? No complaints on my part. I live in a big market area as you both have done as well.
ReplyDeleteBest to you both, we start our trips the same way--much less stress..
Looking forward to more!