la neige au Sahara
Dec. 23rd, 2008 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcWe had a great holiday. We flew down to Florida on 05 December and stayed the night in a wee gay hotel in Lauderdale. The owner "upgraded" us to a suite--but with our cruise-heavy suitcases that meant heaving 25kg bags up 3 flights of stairs. And then back down less than 12 hours later. We enjoyed breakfast poolside that morning as they got ready to short a pr0n movie. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
querrelle heard a couple of the performers grousing about not being allowed to eat. No it wasn't a bear filum, clearly. We checked out, hit Walgreens for sunscreen and wine, and headed to Port Everglades to board the ship.
If you take a cruise folks, don't queue up for early boarding--it's madness. Plan on arriving a couple of hours after boarding begins and you can probably stroll directly on--the buffet will still be there. We got there around 13h30 and did precisely that. Kudos to Holland America for their online advance check-in system, which made it all even easier. We dropped our carry-ons in our cabin and then grabbed lunch before exploring the MS Statendam. We didn't depart until nearly 18h30 due to a passenger falling and injuring themself enough to merit removal from the ship--which meant finding and removing their luggage.
The Statendam holds just under 1300 passengers--much less than many other lines. As a result you can get to know the crew very well and the public spaces are more busy than overcrowded. Over the next 2 weeks our meals in the dining room were 90% excellent; meals in the buffet were too, but the average obese Merkun fuckwit (not representative of my friends list, but hey I calls 'em as I see 'em) and their bad manners got up my nose all too often. Especially when they treated the staff like slaves. What tells me they then didn't tip them either...
We visited a lot of islands for a 14 day cruise. Here's a brief synopsis:
On Sunday morning we flew Miami-Seattle, apparently one of the last Alaska Air flights to land. After dithering by the gate agent our flight was cancelled at 16h15. We never got our bags but I managed to score us a hotel room nearby and our pal Ed got us reservations on a bus home Monday evening. On Monday morning we enjoyed a robust complimentary breakfast, then went to the airport--only to learn that we would not be getting any bags. So we went to the bus station at the terminal and managed to get on a bus 7 hours earlier. We were home in time for dinner. I later called Alaska Air to arrange our bags being delivered to YVR and cleared through customs for us.
I am at work and all is well. But we're getting more snow tonight and tomorrow and our office will be closed as a result. Working from home on Xmas Eve? Ça marche pour moi!
querrelle heard a couple of the performers grousing about not being allowed to eat. No it wasn't a bear filum, clearly. We checked out, hit Walgreens for sunscreen and wine, and headed to Port Everglades to board the ship.If you take a cruise folks, don't queue up for early boarding--it's madness. Plan on arriving a couple of hours after boarding begins and you can probably stroll directly on--the buffet will still be there. We got there around 13h30 and did precisely that. Kudos to Holland America for their online advance check-in system, which made it all even easier. We dropped our carry-ons in our cabin and then grabbed lunch before exploring the MS Statendam. We didn't depart until nearly 18h30 due to a passenger falling and injuring themself enough to merit removal from the ship--which meant finding and removing their luggage.
The Statendam holds just under 1300 passengers--much less than many other lines. As a result you can get to know the crew very well and the public spaces are more busy than overcrowded. Over the next 2 weeks our meals in the dining room were 90% excellent; meals in the buffet were too, but the average obese Merkun fuckwit (not representative of my friends list, but hey I calls 'em as I see 'em) and their bad manners got up my nose all too often. Especially when they treated the staff like slaves. What tells me they then didn't tip them either...
We visited a lot of islands for a 14 day cruise. Here's a brief synopsis:
| Island | pluses | minuses | Notes |
| Half Moon Cay | HAL owns it; gorgeous | Not really Bahamas | Bike tour was fun |
| St Thomas | Good snorkelling | US Customs bullshit | if you don't shop, avoid Charlotte Amalie |
| Antigua | Not Jamaica | Not well cared for; not warm people | Waited on bus that never departed for 40 minutes |
| St Lucia | Hot springs, mountains, people | - | Drive in volcano and private hot spring spa both excellent value. Hire a taxi yourself |
| Barbados | Clean, safe, beautiful | Riding a scooter on a highway in shorts and a tshirt | Would come back. Bodysurfing! British food in supermarkets! |
| Trinidad | - | Everything | Filthy, noisy, hot, coarse...really the low point of the journey |
| Isla de Margarita | Nice beaches | Huge distances from port to anything but the local beach | bring lots of US$ and get great deals on brand name merchandise |
| Curacao | Lovely old town | Dead rat in residential part of town | 12 hours in port here would've been better spent in Aruba. Otherwise charming place |
| Aruba | DePaul Island | not enough time | Would also come back here. Lovely beaches, great snorkelling, DePaul has waterslides!!! |
| Grand Turk | Stunning snorkelling | Huge amount of damage still from Ike | Will come back here to scuba dive. Lovely people. Can walk out to incredible coral |
On Sunday morning we flew Miami-Seattle, apparently one of the last Alaska Air flights to land. After dithering by the gate agent our flight was cancelled at 16h15. We never got our bags but I managed to score us a hotel room nearby and our pal Ed got us reservations on a bus home Monday evening. On Monday morning we enjoyed a robust complimentary breakfast, then went to the airport--only to learn that we would not be getting any bags. So we went to the bus station at the terminal and managed to get on a bus 7 hours earlier. We were home in time for dinner. I later called Alaska Air to arrange our bags being delivered to YVR and cleared through customs for us.
I am at work and all is well. But we're getting more snow tonight and tomorrow and our office will be closed as a result. Working from home on Xmas Eve? Ça marche pour moi!
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-23 08:42 pm (UTC)Will you be posting any photos to share? :-)
Do the airlines do anything to compensate / reimburse for cancelled flights / hotels / re-bookings, etc, or do you have to rely on your Travel Insurance for all that?
*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2008-12-23 09:18 pm (UTC)Didn't take many. :)
For a weather delay, nope. All out of pocket. :(
Oh travel insurance! Forgot about that!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-24 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-24 08:08 pm (UTC)