NerdDad

I’m so sorry for going AWOL! We had a little bit of internet slowness on the ship, then we were having a ton of fun, and then I had to fly immediately from vacation to a work trip... so just getting home now. Will go through photos and update!

Heading out of Miami now! After some clouds this morning, it’s turned into a very pretty evening! We had a reservation at Chops for lunch today that was delicious. Probably our best Chops visit yet. (No food photos, sorry.) We checked out Riptide which was very fun and going to try the aqua coaster probably tomorrow. It was closed for some sort of maintenance but is now up and running. After a boring muster drill, we are now hanging out in the Suite lounge before dinner. Dad continues to be amazed at the suite life. I’m officially a snob but I think I’m turning him too. ? Overall, our fellow passengers seem to skew 40+ generally. Some kids but relatively few. I was curious myself because it abuts MLK day. ? Off to Jamie’s for dinner tonight for Steve’s birthday! ?

We arrived at Terminal A at 9:45 AM and went straight to the Suite Lounge. We waiting most for the elevator and now have been sitting in the suite lounge waiting. Bags dropped to relaxing was about 7 minutes. They have coffee, tea, lemonade, and sodas available to drink. Moved into a little alcove around the corner from the last time we were here. Looks like some folks just started boarding (maybe back to back folks?) so we should be on shortly. Everyone is very excited over here on a breezy, cloudy morning in Miami. ?

I assume it’s a mix of it being relatively quite this Sunday, having some status with Hyatt, and a bunch of luck. Either way, we’re all extremely thankful. ?

Well, I certainly can’t complain about the hotel situation. We go on the plane and Dad was very excited still. Kept tapping my brother on the shoulder and looking and smiling at us. The cake wasn’t quite on the plane... but it was at the Hyatt Regency. I shot an email to Hyatt telling them about Steve’s birthday and they went above and beyond. We showed up and instead of getting our two small rooms, we got this... And not only this but a cake and some craft beers too! Steve was over the moon and we had SO much fun watching the football game and enjoying our beers. It was so great! Thanks again to the team at Hyatt Regency for going above and beyond. It was such a great start to our vacation! This morning we’re getting ready and heading to the ship a little early this morning so we can get onto the suites. ? Today is Steve’s actual birthday too! So far so good!

Once a marine, always a marine.

And we’re off! Successfully made it up to Boston Logan without any trouble. Dad was very surprised about the limo and remarked, “wow, so this is how you do it.” My brother and I laughed. After a relatively simple 1.5 hour drive and a few glasses of champagne, we were checked in with Delta and hanging out in the Delta lounge up here. Our flight leaves in about an hour so we got here a little early but nothing to complain too much about. Dad is enjoying getting his phone charged and having a cup of coffee... or two. “It’s all free?!” We’ll, if you fly way too many miles with them it is. ? Dad has figured out that we’re in First Class and asked what they’re serving for dinner. Club Sandwich or a Salad. He is unimpressed. This is going to be a trip to remember to say the least! Will report in once we get to Miami and the Hyatt. ?

Thanks @Matt! I guess I’ll just cross my fingers that it aggressively gets less windy by January 15th. Rather be safe though, obviously, than sorry!

Two days to go! Sitting in a coffee shop while one of my little dudes attends a birthday party. Catching up on last minute concerns/flights as weather looks to be sweeping across the United States but so far things look OK for us. We got a little bit of luck from Universal Orlando! Rooms seem to be opening up so we’re going to be staying at Royal Pacific the entire stay instead of doing the final night at Aventura. While we were a little bit excited to try the new hotel, we loathed the idea of packing our bags on the 12th night of our trip if we could avoid it. We’ll give Aventura a try another time and keep our bags in our rooms. ? For my job, I travel a ton and have earned miles and points for days in the last year (flew 125,000 miles last year). I don’t regularly travel for work so when I do I tend to send kind, get-what-you-get emails to the brands I’m loyal to and see if they can do anything special for my family as we travel. I’ve had a TON of success with this and I probably do it once every two years. (I stayed about 65 nights in Hyatt last year after switching loyalties from Marriott brands at the suggestion of my boss.) I’m not going to share too much in case it falls through but it looks like the Hyatt Regency Miami is going to be coming through a big surprise for my family. ? Will be very excited to share with you all assuming all works out! My father, who isn’t the most computer literate gentleman, texted me last night because “something is wrong with my room number”. Turns out, he’s figured out (albeit indirectly) that we upgraded him to a suite. To avoid him giving our travel agent or Royal a hard time, we let him in on the surprise a little early. ? He is very excited albeit it I think slightly in shock and unsure how to respond. Just a lot of “oh wow, thank you’s”. Going to be a big week for him! Tomorrow, we’ll be driving up to Boston to fly direct to Miami arriving later tomorrow evening. Very excited we’re so close and only a tiny bit of packing to go...

Watching this closely as we’re boarding Navigator on Monday. Less worried about rough seas, more worried about missing CocoCay (but fingers crossed and good vibes for all). ?

We still haven’t heard from the concierge so I shot an email to the Navigator’s email address and hope I don’t come off annoying. Just want to figure out specialty dining reservations so we can plan around them. Anyone else experience no email before the cruise? I haven’t had trouble before. ?

Ha! I went to Boston University! My first time at Hooked but excited for some seafood.

Have a great cruise! Glad it all worked out after all the charterizing. ? Excited to read along!

Standard two queens. Didn’t have a ton of options for the full stay seemingly.

@SweetPea would love your suggestions! I didn’t know you could make requests (we do most family trips to Disney).