mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Yawn. It's 0330 and I didn't need my alarm to wake me up for my 0720 flight to Fort Lauderdale this morning. I'm always gunning to go when a cruise is pending. Might as well burn off some energy with my first stab at live-blogging a trip. Basics Ship: AllureSailing: 9/29 7 night Eastern CaribbeanCabin: L2 Crown Loft (1722) View from the backyard. That isn't a sunrise. It's city lights. Jaymac Radio, Traveler, Srp431 and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Following! Have a safe flight and a great cruise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Timing feels really good on this trip. It's always a crap shoot during hurricane season. Hurricane Lorenzo took a nice early turn North, and Tropical Storm Karen has been meandering around like a drunk while dissipating the last two days. Weather on my flight route today SFO-IAH-FLL all looks decent. Yay! If you're a weather nerd, or just like keeping tabs on the Atlantic before an upcoming cruise, you can burn a lot of hours while pretending to be busy at work at: https://www.reddit.com/r/TropicalWeather/ and https://tropicaltidbits.com/ PRebecca 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Man I love early AM flights. Quick 15 minute ride to SFO. Security Pre-Check line was literally 30 seconds. I'm now camped out at the Centurion Lounge in terminal 3 (opened at 0500) and there is a massive crowd of 3 whole people to contend with. I see 'em cooking breakfast in the kitchen, so I'm 100% sure I'm not going to perish from hunger. Too early for the bar? Food's ready! Their timing is impeccable. Fruity selection: Spinach & bell pepper scramble. Chicken apple sausages. Steel cut oatmeal. Mushroom frittata. French toast. Vegetarian farro dish I eyed suspiciously, but it was actually really tasty: monctonguy, KristiZ and Lovetocruise2002 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 2 hours ago, JLMoran said: Following! Have a safe flight and a great cruise! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 17 minutes ago, mk-ultra said: Too early for the bar? You're on vacation It's 5 O-clock somewhere rjac, PRebecca, mk-ultra and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Not sure with whom the Centurion Lounge is aligned, but that breakfast looks a far sight better than what they offer me in the AA Admirals Club ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 12 minutes ago, JLMoran said: You're on vacation It's 5 O-clock somewhere Twist my arm then. JLMoran, Pookie, almondmilktea and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellcee Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 35 minutes ago, mk-ultra said: Too early for the bar? Nope. Vacation rules over everyday rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Flight is on time. Won at gate roulette. Gate changed from 90 (ass end of nowhere) to gate 61 (stumbling distance from a variety of places that serve alcohol). Next up: IAH (Houston) layover. If there's an airport I hate with a burning passion, it's IAH. 80% chance of it being a cluster-f*ck. I'll be brave and wear my big boy pants. WAAAYTOOO, Lovetocruise2002, DJsMrs and 1 other 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Oof. This flight has a bad gate lice infection. JLMoran and almondmilktea 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 1 minute ago, mk-ultra said: Oof. This flight has a bad gate lice infection. Say what ?? Oh.....you mean the ones that hang out 3” from the boarding lane believing that if they’re the first ones on that they will win the lottery ? PRebecca, AshleyDillo, almondmilktea and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephenkurucz Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Following! Going on Allure Feb 2020 with @kuruczpa and our S/Os. kuruczpa and Cruisegirl1976 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondmilktea Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said: Not sure with whom the Centurion Lounge is aligned, but that breakfast looks a far sight better than what they offer me in the AA Admirals Club ! https://thecenturionlounge.com/ Centurion lounges are offered by Amex for Platinum and Centurion cardholders. @mk-ultra the breakfast options look ! I was there at 5am in August for a 6am flight, but most of the hot food wasn't ready until after 5:30am. Have a awesome trip! Looks like you've had a great start so far WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poleman88 Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Following you, have a great cruise. Going on Allure Oct.20!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenna Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Have a great trip! We leave for Harmony tonight so will be excited to see what we missed out on with our choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 I never buy in-flight WiFi, but I’ve got some UAL credit to burn up, so here I am at FL350 trying it out. Speeds are laughable, and the 700ms latency tells me it's geosynchronous sats. I’m going to attempt to use my blazing .3Mb/s upload speed to post a photo. Not to worry. I’ve got 3.5 hours. JLMoran, spiralqueen and Skigoofy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 27, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 I don’t know who at United concocted this awful egg white breakfast sandwich thingy, but I’d like to hunt them down and make them eat six of them. If this wasn’t breakfast #2, I’d be feeling stabby. Lovetocruise2002 and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 The egg whites have a strange resemblance to insulating foam. Probably tastes about the same, too ! The fruit looks ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJsMrs Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 3 hours ago, mk-ultra said: Too early for the bar? 5:00 am - works for me! mk-ultra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondmilktea Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 35 minutes ago, mk-ultra said: I don’t know who at United concocted this awful egg white breakfast sandwich thingy, but I’d like to hunt them down and make them eat six of them. If this wasn’t breakfast #2, I’d be feeling stabby. Last time I ate a dish containing eggs on a United flight, I had food poisoning and was hugging the toilet for a week. Never again. Thankfully it was on the return flight. Smart move to stay away from that! ellcee and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisegirl1976 Posted September 27, 2019 Report Share Posted September 27, 2019 Have fun.. enjoy the Allure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2019 Happy to report: completely uneventful flight. Did the terminal E to terminal C hustle at IAH in about 15 minutes. IAH-FLL flight was held at the gate briefly so a passenger on a late connecting flight could make it. This is a recent United policy, and it's a good one. Pilots were able to make up the time en route by shoveling a little more money into the engines. Pilot Flying absolutely plastered it onto the runway on landing. Much shrieking. I thought it was funny; others not so much. I'm easily entertained. Lead flight attendant started his post-landing announcement with, "You may have noticed we've arrived in Fort Lauderdale..." High-five to him. Cockpit door remained shut during deplaning. Yeah, door of shame. Stand in the galley and take your ribbing, coward. Taxi ride to the W Hotel on the beach in Fort Lauderdale was, um, interesting. It was totally a breeze until we hit A1A for the last couple of miles. Construction has necked-down a segment from 2 lanes to 1, so we spent the last mile watching pedestrians outpace us. No skin off my nose. I got a better chance to ogle what I may want to explore on foot tomorrow. Note if you're taking a taxi from FLL airport to anything close to it: Flag drop at the airport is $13 minimum with an additional $3 fee for whatever. So, $16 to move 100 yards if that's how far you want to go. Once you've used $13 worth of mileage/time, the meter starts ticking up like normal. FLL to the W was ~$25 for the 6.5 mile trip. This particular W has a pretty stellar reputation for the property, service, rooms, location and food. I'm digging it so far. Super smooth check-in. Met by their "Welcome Manager" Brian while I was being checked in. Very nice comp room upgrade. This is one of those places that does Amex "Fine Hotels & Resorts" bookings perfectly. Late check-out. Free breakfasts. $100 credit to spend on-property (to which the W added a surprise additional $50). Amex is also running a bonus right know that will knock another $100 off of my bill for spending 2 nights. [I'm not trying to pimp Amex, but if you travel a lot -- that Plat card pays for itself many times over.] Ate at El Vez tonight, the Mexican restaurant in the W. Excellent service. Great Margaritas. The mahi mahi fish tacos though. Erm. No. I saw tons of excellent looking food on other tables. I think I just ordered a dud. Prices are surprisingly non-extortionate for a hotel restaurant. Plan for tomorrow: wake up at an ungodly hour and lament still being on West Coast time. I wake up at 0530 in CA. That's 0230 here. It's gonna be a loooooong morning. Once the sun is up it'll be a walk across the street to the beach, then a saunter south to the cool looking venues on A1A facing the beach in search of brekkies. ashonthesea, DDaley, Lovetocruise2002 and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mk-ultra Posted September 28, 2019 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2019 11 hours ago, almondmilktea said: @mk-ultra the breakfast options look ! I was there at 5am in August for a 6am flight, but most of the hot food wasn't ready until after 5:30am. Have a awesome trip! Looks like you've had a great start so far Doors open at 0500. The fruit, coffee and pastries were out right away, but the hot food matched your experience. Came out at 0530. It was really good. This lounge can be packed later in the day, and was starting to fill up when I left for my gate at 0620. It was blissfully empty this early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viga Posted September 28, 2019 Report Share Posted September 28, 2019 15 hours ago, mk-ultra said: Yawn. It's 0330 and I didn't need my alarm to wake me up for my 0720 flight to Fort Lauderdale this morning. I'm always gunning to go when a cruise is pending. Might as well burn off some energy with my first stab at live-blogging a trip. Basics Ship: AllureSailing: 9/29 7 night Eastern CaribbeanCabin: L2 Crown Loft (1722) View from the backyard. That isn't a sunrise. It's city lights. Hi we are in that same sailing see you on board!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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