Next Cruise Booked
June 29, 2009
Well, we have done it. As discussed in a previous post, we have been planning our next cruise. Now, we have gone and booked the cruise. Its going to be another transatlantic cruise. This time, from Rome, Italy to Ft Lauderdale, FL.
It may seem odd to do a transatlantic for a second year in a row, but we absolutely loved the one last year. This one will be completely different – except for the sea days which are our favorite days anyway! The cruise will again be on Celebrity Cruises. This time on the Solstice. Its once of Celebrity’s new ships and at almost 2800 passengers, a bit bigger than we normally cruise on. And Celebrity is going to be starting a combination of traditional dining and anytime dining. So, we will get to try out a few new things regarding Celebrity.
Also, we are going to add 4 days before the cruise in Rome for site seeing. I have been to Rome maybe 6 or 8 times on business travel and really like the city. I look forward to showing Suzanne (who has been there once) and the kids the town. Then, we will be visiting different ports of call than last year before making the crossing. Its going to be a great cruise.
Actually, the planning has just started – lots more to do. We have already booked our flights to Rome using frequent flier miles so that helps defray the costs. We will even stop over for 1 night in Dallas on the way to Rome to sort of have a quick, early family Thanksgiving with Suzanne’s family.
We still need a place to stay in Rome. We are evaluating apartments and hotels in the city to stay. I have a variety of points that could be used to pay for the hotel. Or perhaps I can put the points to better use for ship board credit on the cruise. We have requested info on about 8 apts that are for rent for the four days. We are evaluating location and amenities compared to hotels which might not be quite as nicely located. We will probably book our accommodations in the next week or two.
We also need to book our return air from Ft Lauderdale. Suzanne wants to return on the same day the boat docks, but the date is already sold out of frequent flier tickets. So, if I want to use miles, we need to come back the day after the cruise which I kind of like anyways, but Suzanne has a show to do the weekend following our return so wants to get back. There are some first class tickets available on the day the cruise ends, but I am a bit short on miles for four first class tickets. I have a couple business trips which might put me over the top. Or perhaps we can use the rewards points that we were thinking about for the hotel or shipboard credit. Again, probably will finalize return trip plans in the next week or two.
More on the next cruise as it develops.
Back From Trip
June 27, 2009
If you follow me on twitter, then you know I was recently on a business trip to the Cleveland area. Most of my trips are pretty uneventful, which is good. This one was a bit different though all ended well.
The trip started fine, except for the 6:00 am departure on Thursday. No problems with the layover/transfer in Chicago either before heading to Cleveland. Even got to Cleveland just fine. However, having dinner in the hotel (near the airport) about 5:30 things got interesting. Some sever weather descended on the area. It had been a nice calm day but the winds starting whipping and ominous clouds rolled in. I guess you would call it a severe thunderstorm. The hotel has a couple of patios with tables, chairs and umbrellas on them. Well, they did before the storm anyways! The storm tossed them about pretty good.
During the course of the next 30 minutes, the power went on and off in the hotel about 8 times. The airport lost power for almost an hour they said the next day as I was leaving. The worst part about the storm was that the power cycling fried their internet service. So, I was stuck in the hotel room all night without access to the net. Oh my!
The next day was fine, I conducted my business in the AM and went to the airport for my flight home. That’s where some more fun occurred. Our equipment arrived at the gate and they were preparing to board us when the co-pilot came in after inspecting the plane. It was kind of odd, but he was looking for the previous pilot (who he knew). Clearly he had found something with the plane but seemed odd that he wanted the previous pilot.
After finding him, they went back out and inspected the plan. Then they announced a delay for a maintenance issue. Of course, they didn’t tell us what it was but it was a bit odd a few minutes later to see the maintenance guys arrive 15 minutes later and climb atop the jet (a regional jet). One guy climbed onto the engine cowling and even crawled inside and was inspecting the fans and equipment. After 10 minutes he got up and with a towel wiped off the engine cowling. He did a quick inspection of the other engine and then disappeared. 10 minutes later they boarded us and we left.
Now, I still don’t know what they did or were looking for but I was wondering if the previous flight had ingested a bird or something. Wiping down the cowling seemed a bit odd as if there was something on it which is why they inspected the inside of the engine. Some folks weren’t too happy with seeing the engine inspected and then us going on our merry way without any words.
Me? Just glad to see the cockpit crew doing their pre-flights, noticing something odd and having it checked out. The delay put us about an hour behind schedule, but was no worries for me since I had a 3 hour layover in Chicago. I even got upgraded to first class for the final leg to Tucson. We were ready to leave on time for that flight too, but ended up having to wait 20 minutes at the gate for some International luggage to make its way through Customs to our plane.
So a bit more ‘exciting’ trip than normal, but all ended up well.
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