Pre-Cruise Hotel Stay in Miami

SpringHill Suites 

Miami Airport East/Medical Center

Another key ingredient to attaining that stress-free cruise vacation, during winter months especially, is finding a hotel either near the airport or pier for a pre-cruise one-night or longer stay.   On our Carnival Conquest cruise we opted for a Saturday night stay at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott near the airport.   Note that there are two different locations, so be sure to know which one you've booked.

Arriving at MIA, Miami's bustling airport, we retrieved our luggage and looked for signs which guided us to hotel shuttles.   To be on the safe side, we gave the hotel a call to find out if they were on their way to pick up passengers and found out that they would be there in about 10 minutes.  We told them we were located near the Copa / Delta terminal and they told us to watch for a green van.

Recall that we mentioned two different locations.   The first van that showed up was for their South location and when the driver asked which location we wanted, a quick email check confirmed that wasn't the van for us.

Shortly after that, our van arrived and the driver loaded our luggage and off we went.  It was a short ride to the hotel and after checking in, we went up to our room and dropped off our luggage.   The hotel has a restaurant / bar in the lobby so we decided to stay in for dinner.  We picked two different meals and shared them:   flat-bread pizza and Cuban sandwich.  

For those that don't want to stay in for dinner, the hotel does offer a shuttle to Bayside Marketplace which is near the pier.  We've eaten and shopped there on many other trips and would recommend it to anyone that still has energy to venture out after their flights.   If you don't want to be tied to the shuttle's time schedule, you could get there by cab or Miami Metrorail.

Click for Mini-Series Articles / Images

We inquired about transportation to the pier, and found out that the hotel provided shuttle service for $8 per person.   We selected the 11 AM shuttle and went up to our room to relax.

In the morning we had a full complimentary breakfast and then inquired about an earlier shuttle to the pier.   They were able to accommodate us.  In our next article, you'll find out why that became a wise move.

The Winter Escape Begins

Why Did It 

Have to Snow?

How to Avoid Stress of Winter Travel

You've booked your winter escape cruise months ago and the departure week has finally arrived.  Checking the weather forecast, you see that dreaded four letter word: SNOW !

This is the start of our mini-series Cruise Review of our 7 night voyage on Carnival Conquest.   Besides the obvious review of the ship, amenities, ports, food, etc., we'll also share our experiences and provide you with some advice and tips which hopefully will be useful in your future travel plans.

The Goal - Stress Free Vacation

Your daily life is filled with stress, so you want to get away from that when you head off on your vacation.  As we mentioned, that is the goal, and perhaps a lofty one at that, but let's see how one can cope with winter travels.

Winter Air Travel & Tips

• Expect the unexpected
• You are not in control
• The airlines aren't in control either
• Mother Nature is in charge
• Add extra time and insure your trip  
• Leave early in the day
• Non-stop flights preferred
• Monitor the situation and adjust plans if needed

Our Experience

We've already mentioned some key facts and tips, but let's take a closer look at our planning and how things played out.

We live in the Midwest (Chicago area), which typically has cold / snowy weather in February.   Our cruise departed Miami on Sunday, February 2nd, so the first ingredient to attempt a stress-free trip was to leave at least one day before the cruise.   We booked flights from O'Hare Saturday morning which would arrive late that afternoon.   Since we used frequent flyer miles to pay for our flights, we had connecting flights, which added another dimension to the stress level, but we were willing to accept that risk.

The National Weather Service predicted the snow storm would start Friday night and gradually get heavier with one of the peaks around mid-morning Saturday.   We could expect anywhere from 6 - 9 inches of snow when the storm ended around 6 PM Saturday.

Our flights were on United Airlines, which has its main hub at O'Hare.  That means there should be plenty of flights, some of which should get out.   Since our flight was scheduled to leave around 10 AM, we considered changing to an earlier departure. UAL had announced waivers of fees which would allow re-booking to avoid the storm without the usual heavy fees.  

We decided against changing because we looked at the origin of our flight and when it was scheduled to land in Chicago.   It was coming from San Francisco overnight and would be on the ground around 6 AM if on time.   Even if it were late, we had a four hour cushion before our departure time.

Another factor in not changing flights was the type of aircraft for our flight as well as the earlier ones.  Our plane was a Boeing 757 which has a large capacity while the earlier flights had much smaller Airbus A320 aircraft.   The final deciding factor was that our flight's destination was Houston International another one of UAL's hubs.   With all these factors, we figured that the airline would do everything possible to get our plane off the ground.

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Fortunately, our thinking paid off.  We did get out on time - with about a 45 minute delay, after we pushed back from the gate, while the plane was de-iced (as you can see in the image above).   We had just enough time in Houston to get from our gate to the next one before they began boarding. 

In our next installment, we'll talk about our hotel stay in Miami.

Cruise Review Carnival Conquest Exotic Eastern Caribbean

Carnival Conquest 

7 NT Exotic Eastern Caribbean

Cruise Review

It was snowing on Saturday February 1st as we left our house for O'Hare International Airport with crossed fingers, toes, and any other part of our body that could be crossed.  The snow had begun late the previous evening and had been pretty steady.   Checking our flight status, it still said we were scheduled for an ontime departure.

As you can see from the image above, we did get out of town and to Miami where we spent the night before our cruise.   This is something we recommend to our clients - leave a day early to allow for the unexpected (like the 6 - 9 inches of forecast snow in our case).

We've been cruising for over 30 years and have been to many exotic destinations.   These ports were on our recent repeat list with the exception of Grand Turk.   We'd even been on Carnival Conquest previously as well, but we wanted to experience the Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades and quite frankly escape from our winter weather while having some new stories to share with our readers.

Bookmark this post to follow the entire story from start to finish.  This will be our anchor posting with a dynamic index to articles, images, and other resources.   We loved this cruise, so that should give you an idea of what will follow in the next posts.

	Port	Blog Posts	Photo Albums
0	Pre-Cruise Miami	The Winter Escape Begins Pre-Cruise Hotel Stay in Miami	Journey to Miami SpringHill Suites Miami Airport East
1	Miami, Florida	Carnival Conquest Embarkation Day Embarkation Lunch Guy's Burger Joint BlueIguana Cantina Fresh Mex Lunch Embarkation Favorites - Spa Bottomless Bubbles & Cheers The Point Steakhouse Embarkation Day Super Sunday on Carnival Conquest After the Game Embarkation Day Calling All Youth to Assemble for Fun	Guy's Burger Joint BlueIguana Cantina  The Point Steakhouse    "Big Game" at Sea   Tahiti Casino
2	Nassau, Bahamas	Carnival Conquest Day 2 Breakfast Greetings from Nassau ET Phone Home Good-bye Nassau Hello Evening	Nassau Bahamas Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort & Casino Nassau Bahamas - Carnival Conquest (22 photos)
3	At Sea	Relaxing on Carnival Conquest	Carnival Conquest - Main Pool
4	St. Thomas, USVI	Explore Under the Sea in St. Thomas	Coral World
5	San Juan, Puerto Rico	Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour San Juan	Bacardi Rum Distillery Tour
6	Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos	Exclusive Grand Turk Experience	Grand Turk Margaitaville Grand Turk
7	At Sea
8	Miami, Florida

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Wishing You a Prosperous Chinese New Year

January 31st marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year celebration which actually runs for 15 days.  This is the year of the Horse.  The horse is part of a 12-year-cycle of animals that make up the Chinese zodiac.

 Chinese New Year 2014 Gallery

People born in the year of the horse have ingenious communicating techniques, are clever, kind to others, and like to join in a venture career. Although they sometimes talk too much, they are cheerful, perceptive, talented, earthy but stubborn.

The Year of the Wood Horse

 

In Chinese culture, the Horse is a symbol of nobility, class, speed and perseverance. The Year of Wooden Horse, which deals with fire, wood and energy follows the Year of the Water Snake.  Wood is related to tree or green. Therefore, 2014 is also called Year of Green Horse.

In looking through our images, we found this wooden horse which you can pose with on the Allure of the Seas.

2014 Chinese Astrology of Year of the Green Horse

Explorer OTS Undergoes Deap Clean

Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas

Current Sailing Cut Short

Norovirus Outbreak

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line has terminated the current 10-night voyage of the Explorer of the Seas two days early to allow the ship to undergo a "barrrier" cleaning at its homeport of Cape Liberty.  This follows several previous attempts to clean the ship in hopes of stopping the spreading of Norovirus, a gastrointestinal illness, that start affecting passengers and crew last week.  More than 500 people became ill.

Cruise Ships & Norovirus ...
Tis the Season

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that can infect anyone. You can get it from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes your stomach or intestines or both to get inflamed. This leads you to have stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and to throw up. 

Despite what the news media may lead you to believe, this isn't just a cruise ship issue.  We encourage you to read this entire article and refer to the links to be well informed.

CDC Featured Podcast

Dr. Aron Hall discusses six tips to help prevent the spread of norovirus. Listen To This Podcast (4:09)

Travel Pulse published a very informative article: 

Attention Media: Norovirus Isn't Just On Cruise Ships

Who is to Blame

The first inclination when you hear about an outbreak would be to blame the cruise line. Clearly, they have let you down - you expected a healthy cruise, and you got sick.  .

The cruise line is responsible - right?

The cruise line IS responsible  for cleaning the ship and providing the facilities for passengers and crew to maintain proper hygiene onboard the ship.   They do that - you'll notice signs posted in all the rest rooms and crew members pointing out sanitation machines, such as the one in the picture above posted outside the restaurant entrance.  

But, ladies and gentleman - I suspect that YOU share some BLAME.   Did you stop to wash your hands after using the bathroom?   Did you sanitize your hands every time you entered a restaurant onboard the ship.   Did you do so all but one time?   That one time would be enough to kick off this sort of outbreak.

On two recent cruises onboard Disney Dream and Carnival Sensation, we noticed the sanitizing materials and signs.  We also noticed many passengers disregarding the signs and avoiding the sanitizing of their hands before entering the restaurant.

Working together, the cruise lines and passengers could Prevent Norovirus!

USEFUL LINKS ABOUT NOROVIRUS

Facts About Noroviruses on Cruise Ships  -  gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses can be prevented

Wash hands often. Wash hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers and before eating or preparing food.  Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer along with hand washing.

Norovirus outbreaks, when they occur on a cruise ship, always make the news.  The truth is these outbreaks can occur anywhere there are groups of people in a small area such as nursing homes, restaurants, catered events, hotels, and cruise ships.

Vessel Sanitation Program - prevention and control of spread of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses on cruise ships

Passengers to be Compensated

All Explorer of the Seas passengers will receive a 50 percent refund of their cruise fare, as well as an additional 50 percent future cruise credit. Passengers who were confined to their cabins by the illness also will receive a credit of one future cruise day for each day of confinement.

Royal Caribbean also will reimburse airline change fees and accommodations for passengers whose travel home was impacted by the ship's early return to port.

O'Sheehan's Pub Perfect for Big Game

Where Will You Watch The Big Game Next Sunday?

Home?  Bar?
Friend's House?
Cruise Ship?

Norwegian Cruise Line introduced O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill on Norwegian Epic, about three years ago, and also included it on the new Breakaway-class ships as well.

Coming Soon to Entire Fleet

This central point gathering spot has become so successful that the line will be expanding the option fleet-wide.

Speaking at a news conference onboard the line's newest ship, Norwegian Getaway, in Southampton, U.K., Kevin Sheehan said:

"O'Sheehan's has proved to be such a center point of the ship, for people to gather and socialize, that we have decided to put it on all the ships." 

Big Game Meet Big Screen

With it's two story big screen TV, it is the perfect spot on the ship to gather for the Big Game or any other broadcast entertainment throughout the cruise. No doubt it will be filled to over flowing this coming Sunday as the Broncos and Seahawks meet on the football turf to do battle.

Food and drink will be flowing as fans cheer on their favorite team.  After the game there's plenty of entertainment so no need to head off to another venue if you don't want to.  Of course, since this is centrally located on the ship, you can easily get around.

Comfort Food & Beverages

Select from a menu of comfort food options along with your favorite beverage for the perfect meal any time during your cruise.   Shown here was our selection of Fish 'n Chips and Chicken Pot Pie which were both very good.  The menu might change from time to time, so be sure to find your own favorites and let us know what you ate.

Entertainment

We've included images from both Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Breakaway here.   Common to both are billiards and bowling as well as various video arcade games.   There are tables spread around along with additional TV screens so that you can enjoy some entertainment and not miss the action of your favorite sports team.

The addition of O'Sheehan's Bar & Grill on the entire fleet will be a fantastic improvement.  In addition, the line plans to relocate Moderno Churrascaria,the popular Brazilian Steakhouse, adjacent to Cagney's, the lines popular steakhouse.

Two additional Breakaway Class ships – Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Bliss will be delivered in 2015 and 2017.  They will be similar to the already sailing ships, with some unique features. We will share details once they are unveiled in the months ahead, along with their home ports and itineraries.  Learn more about these new ships on our micro-site:

Click for Norwegian Breakaway

Click for Norwegian Getaway

Russian Federation Travel Alert

Courtesy Sochi 2014

SOCHI 2014 OLYMPICS

 Information for Travelers 

The U.S. Department of State updated a Travel Alert today for U.S. citizens planning to attend the 2014 Olympic Games in Russia that they should remain attentive regarding their personal security at all times.

Issued:              24 January 2014

Replaced:         10 January 2014

Expires:            24 March 2014

The alert replaces the previous one and provides updated information on reported threats against the Games.

Full information about the Olympic and Paralympic games for U.S. citizen visitors is available on the Sochi Fact Sheet and the Country Specific Information for the Russian Federation on their website, travel.state.gov.  The Department strongly recommends that all U.S. citizens residing or traveling abroad enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) in order to receive pertinent safety and security information.  

The alert covers several areas including the following:

MEDICAL CARE:  

• first large-scale event
• medical capacity is untested
• treatment differs substantially from Western standards
• recommend purchasing private medical evacuation and/or repatriation insurance

TERRORISM:

• attractive target for terrorist  
• U.S. Government monitoring threats
• bombings & hostage events have occurred
• no indication of a specific threat to U.S. institutions or citizens
• be aware of personal surroundings and follow good security practices

CRIME:

• remain alert regarding personal security at all times
• Criminal activity in Sochi is similar to other cities of comparable size
• avoid carrying large amounts of money or other valuables 

PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS:

• avoid large crowds in areas that lack enhanced security measures
• use caution if protests, demonstrations, or other public disturbances are taking place

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER (LGBT) ISSUES:

• LGBT travelers should review the State Department’s LGBT Travel Information page

LODGING:

• May be shortages of lodging
• Book well in advance

SOURCE:   Russian Federation Travel Alert Last Updated: January 24, 2014 U.S. Embassy Moscow Bolshoy Deviatinsky Pereulok No. 8 (Consular Section located at Novinskiy Bulvar 21) Moscow 121099, Russian Federation Telephone (7) (495) 728-5000 or (7) (495) 728-5577 Emergency Telephone (7) (495) 728-5000 Fax (7) (495) 728-5084 Email moscowwarden@state.gov U.S. Embassy Moscow