MAGICFOR2
Condimentessa
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2005
Sunday Morning I woke up to the sounds of the engiines thrusting backwards as we turned, I think. It was still dark. I watched through the sheers on the window as the captain parked the boat. I watched the debarking video on the TV, and Jim woke up about dawn. We had that, "darn it, vacation's over!" feeling. My handsome room service guy went out and got my coffee - he said the line was really long this time!
We got dressed and headed down to breakfast. We happened to be seated at the same table as our day in Grand Cayman, with 2 couples who we had sat with that day also. It was fun to check back with them and see how their GC day had been. Leaving the ship was way more relaxed on this cruise.
On the Disney cruise, we were given a time we HAD to leave - I guess we were using DCL transportation, so that was alot of it. There was a mad rush to stand on the stairway to the dungeon. In this dungeon were shelves that corresponded to the character on your deboarding card or something like that. It looked so crazy confusing that we gratefully accepted the services of a Porter and he got us through customs, checked us in for our flight and kissed us good-bye at the bus. J/K
Today, We had a de-boarding number left in our cabin the night before. We enjoyed our breakfast, and once they called your number, you were "free to leave" the ship. We got in a line we thought was for US citizens. Turns out they were saying, "non-US citizens!" I only noticed because the passports around me didn't look right. I asked a CM, who sent us to another line with no waiting!
We walked off the gangplank, not the dungeon. In the terminal, the luggage area was kind of like at an airport. The luggage was going around on a carousel. We flagged down a porter, and he got our luggage for us and then we got in another long line to leave the building. He got scolded by the TSA agent because he jumped us into a line that was either VIP or handicapped, not sure
but everyone started following us and she lost control. She warned him that she would give him a ticket if he did it again
Okay, here's where it gets hairy. We head out to transportation, telling our porter that we are on the extended stay program and are on a shuttle. He wasn't aware of it, and had to ask about 3 RCCL representatives before he brought us to a bus. He told us to wait there and we tipped him. A girl comes over with a clipboard - checks the roster - Nope. We are not on "the list." She doesn't listen to what it is we're trying to do, just writes our names on the list. Okay, NOW we're on the list, so we can board the bus. At this point we have no idea where we are actually going.
When the bus was full and all the chickens were in the laps, we started driving around downtown Miami. We stopped at about 3 hotels, and then we drove out a ways toward the beach. We made it to the Hilton. I asked the driver if they also went to Fort Lauderdale, or if we were on the wrong shuttle. I was informed this was the last stop, we would have to ask guest services inside the hotel.
Remember, when we booked this little excursion, our CM didn't speak English, and we asked if we could go to FLL? Remember how hard it was for us to get an answer?
So we get inside, we are herded to a room to place our luggage. We come out and I ask the bellman who is hailing cabs about the shuttle to FLL. "Ma'am, there is no shuttle to FLL. You're in Miami. Your only option is either to take the next shuttle to the Miami airport, then get on the RCCL shuttle to FLL from there, but it will cost $35 each, since you don't have a voucher and they might have left already. My best advice is to relax here and take a cab to FLL, which will cost you about $85." I have consolidated all of his answers to all of my questions here, but you get the gist.
So, we headed in to the beautiful lobby and I called RCCL. I was on hold for a long time, then the agent put me back on hold while she called the ship. They verified that I had paid for the shuttle service, but it was to MIAMI and there was nothing they could do for us. They were really sorry for my inconvenience.
At this point, we decided to just make the most of our time, enjoy the fact that we could relax, and take the cab. We would have spent the $75 to have a nice place to spend the day, anyway. The cab ride was the only extra expense, really.
I was a little chilly inside, so we found some chairs out by the pool and laid down to take a nap. We went for a little walk out the back dock, which bordered on a canal area. There were manatees there, I heard one "snorting" behind me in the bushes, but I could never see it. It was a nice place to relax. We bought a sandwich to share from the snack bar for $18, along with cokes from the bar for $4 each.
Our flight was at 8pm, so around 4pm, we hailed a cab and got our own luggage out there. The ride was $82 before tip- there was a chart on the window that had a mandatory limit on the ride to just a mile before the airport to be $55. That extra mile cost us an extra $27. He dropped us off at the wrong terminal, because he didn't know where Spirit Airlines was. We didn't give a really generous tip - just weren't feeling it at the moment.
We walked about a half mile to the right terminal, and waited for the desk agent to come to work again. (Spirit Airlines, what can I say?) After we checked in, we headed upstairs and had probably the best meal of our whole trip! In a burger bar! LOL!(B.J.'s I think) I had a steak sandwich, and Jim had a spicy turkey sandwich with plantain chips and a couple of glasses of a really good Cab. We watched a football game - I believe it was Auburn - we were following the other teams who were competing with our Ducks for the championship.
We had a nice flight - 2 of us in the exit row- we could stretch out and sleep. I think we slept most of the way to Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, we waited 20 minutes for what turned out to be the WRONG LaQuinta shuttle. I should have just offered him a tip to take us, but I was so tired, and he was rude, so he dumped our bags out and I had to go back in the terminal - I couldn't get back to baggage claim, and then I remembered I had a CELL PHONE!
we were so tired, we just weren't functioning. Should have just called a cab. At this point, it was 1am PT, which would be 4am in the time zone we were used to.
We got to the LaQuinta, which was a little old, but had a nice courtyard and we met some DVC owners in the breakfast room the next day!
We got to the LV airport in plenty of time, and had a nice flight to Reno on SW. I love SW. Our 5 hr drive home was uneventful, and we picked up our little dog at the vets. The weather was actually warm and sunny - 50's - we were happy not to be coming home to a Fall snowstorm.
NEXT: RECAP AND REVIEW, LESSONS LEARNED
We got dressed and headed down to breakfast. We happened to be seated at the same table as our day in Grand Cayman, with 2 couples who we had sat with that day also. It was fun to check back with them and see how their GC day had been. Leaving the ship was way more relaxed on this cruise.
On the Disney cruise, we were given a time we HAD to leave - I guess we were using DCL transportation, so that was alot of it. There was a mad rush to stand on the stairway to the dungeon. In this dungeon were shelves that corresponded to the character on your deboarding card or something like that. It looked so crazy confusing that we gratefully accepted the services of a Porter and he got us through customs, checked us in for our flight and kissed us good-bye at the bus. J/K
Today, We had a de-boarding number left in our cabin the night before. We enjoyed our breakfast, and once they called your number, you were "free to leave" the ship. We got in a line we thought was for US citizens. Turns out they were saying, "non-US citizens!" I only noticed because the passports around me didn't look right. I asked a CM, who sent us to another line with no waiting!
We walked off the gangplank, not the dungeon. In the terminal, the luggage area was kind of like at an airport. The luggage was going around on a carousel. We flagged down a porter, and he got our luggage for us and then we got in another long line to leave the building. He got scolded by the TSA agent because he jumped us into a line that was either VIP or handicapped, not sure
but everyone started following us and she lost control. She warned him that she would give him a ticket if he did it againOkay, here's where it gets hairy. We head out to transportation, telling our porter that we are on the extended stay program and are on a shuttle. He wasn't aware of it, and had to ask about 3 RCCL representatives before he brought us to a bus. He told us to wait there and we tipped him. A girl comes over with a clipboard - checks the roster - Nope. We are not on "the list."
She doesn't listen to what it is we're trying to do, just writes our names on the list. Okay, NOW we're on the list, so we can board the bus. At this point we have no idea where we are actually going.When the bus was full and all the chickens were in the laps, we started driving around downtown Miami. We stopped at about 3 hotels, and then we drove out a ways toward the beach. We made it to the Hilton. I asked the driver if they also went to Fort Lauderdale, or if we were on the wrong shuttle. I was informed this was the last stop, we would have to ask guest services inside the hotel.
Remember, when we booked this little excursion, our CM didn't speak English, and we asked if we could go to FLL? Remember how hard it was for us to get an answer?
So we get inside, we are herded to a room to place our luggage. We come out and I ask the bellman who is hailing cabs about the shuttle to FLL. "Ma'am, there is no shuttle to FLL. You're in Miami. Your only option is either to take the next shuttle to the Miami airport, then get on the RCCL shuttle to FLL from there, but it will cost $35 each, since you don't have a voucher and they might have left already. My best advice is to relax here and take a cab to FLL, which will cost you about $85." I have consolidated all of his answers to all of my questions here, but you get the gist.
So, we headed in to the beautiful lobby and I called RCCL. I was on hold for a long time, then the agent put me back on hold while she called the ship. They verified that I had paid for the shuttle service, but it was to MIAMI and there was nothing they could do for us. They were really sorry for my inconvenience.
At this point, we decided to just make the most of our time, enjoy the fact that we could relax, and take the cab. We would have spent the $75 to have a nice place to spend the day, anyway. The cab ride was the only extra expense, really.
I was a little chilly inside, so we found some chairs out by the pool and laid down to take a nap. We went for a little walk out the back dock, which bordered on a canal area. There were manatees there, I heard one "snorting" behind me in the bushes, but I could never see it. It was a nice place to relax. We bought a sandwich to share from the snack bar for $18, along with cokes from the bar for $4 each.
Our flight was at 8pm, so around 4pm, we hailed a cab and got our own luggage out there. The ride was $82 before tip- there was a chart on the window that had a mandatory limit on the ride to just a mile before the airport to be $55. That extra mile cost us an extra $27. He dropped us off at the wrong terminal, because he didn't know where Spirit Airlines was. We didn't give a really generous tip - just weren't feeling it at the moment.
We walked about a half mile to the right terminal, and waited for the desk agent to come to work again. (Spirit Airlines, what can I say?) After we checked in, we headed upstairs and had probably the best meal of our whole trip! In a burger bar! LOL!(B.J.'s I think) I had a steak sandwich, and Jim had a spicy turkey sandwich with plantain chips and a couple of glasses of a really good Cab. We watched a football game - I believe it was Auburn - we were following the other teams who were competing with our Ducks for the championship.
We had a nice flight - 2 of us in the exit row- we could stretch out and sleep. I think we slept most of the way to Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, we waited 20 minutes for what turned out to be the WRONG LaQuinta shuttle. I should have just offered him a tip to take us, but I was so tired, and he was rude, so he dumped our bags out and I had to go back in the terminal - I couldn't get back to baggage claim, and then I remembered I had a CELL PHONE!
we were so tired, we just weren't functioning. Should have just called a cab. At this point, it was 1am PT, which would be 4am in the time zone we were used to.We got to the LaQuinta, which was a little old, but had a nice courtyard and we met some DVC owners in the breakfast room the next day!
We got to the LV airport in plenty of time, and had a nice flight to Reno on SW. I love SW. Our 5 hr drive home was uneventful, and we picked up our little dog at the vets. The weather was actually warm and sunny - 50's - we were happy not to be coming home to a Fall snowstorm.
NEXT: RECAP AND REVIEW, LESSONS LEARNED
I kept thinking what a good story it would be for my DISbuds!
It was fun to re-live the trip as I wrote it. 
We may try other cruise lines if there are itineraries we want or some awesome specials, but I think DCL will always be first in our hearts. (I'll let you know after our April cruise)
