KWong 347 Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 On 1/7/2020 at 10:32 PM, NerdDad said: The party will be the two of us (older brother and younger brother). My brother is turning 30 on this cruise and on embarkation day! When our Dad heard about our cruise plans, he decided he had to attend as well. We haven't done a vacation together as a group since we were 12 years old.Ā Ā Sounds like fun! We typically do a generational trip in the summer - at this point it's 14 of us: My parents, my two brothers, our spouses and kids (2 kids each). This year we're doing Symphony and I'll probably blog about that, like I'm doing with Indy right now. I like the shirts! I'm actually thinking of getting some shirts done up for the cruise. Maybe some baseball or soccer style shirseys with numbers and all that. Guess I"ve got some time to figure out a design. Anyway, looking forward to seeing how things go! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sweety 1,398 Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 55 minutes ago, NerdDad said: Ha! I went to Boston University! My first time at Hooked but excited for some seafood.Ā I did too. NerdDad 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WAAAYTOOO 10,972 Posted January 9 Report Share Posted January 9 1 hour ago, Sweety said: We are celebrating Hooked on our anniversary. I went to school in Boston and looking forward to eating there. Is there a lot of food? I don't recall there being a lot of food.Ā I certainly didn't leave hungry.Ā I guess it depends on what you order. Sweety 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 10 Author Report Share Posted January 10 We still havenāt heard from the concierge so I shot an email to the Navigatorās email address and hope I donāt come off annoying. Just want to figure out specialty dining reservations so we can plan around them.Ā Ā Anyone else experience no email before the cruise? I havenāt had trouble before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
emsff02 1,545 Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 11 minutes ago, NerdDad said: We still havenāt heard from the concierge so I shot an email to the Navigatorās email address and hope I donāt come off annoying. Just want to figure out specialty dining reservations so we can plan around them.Ā Ā Anyone else experience no email before the cruise? I havenāt had trouble before. We got ours about a week out. I think you are well within the window of where you should be reaching out and not worrying if you are coming across as annoying. NerdDad 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WAAAYTOOO 10,972 Posted January 10 Report Share Posted January 10 29 minutes ago, emsff02 said: We got ours about a week out. I think you are well within the window of where you should be reaching out and not worrying if you are coming across as annoying. Agreed. Ā The Concierge email has been coming 5 days before sailing for us. Ā Itās time to give āem a little kick in the backside and get āemĀ movinā. Ā NerdDad 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 11 Author Report Share Posted January 11 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 weāre 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. Weāll 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 donāt regularly travel for work so when I do I tend to send kind, get-what-you-get emails to the brands Iām loyal to and see if they can do anything special for my family as we travel. Iāve 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.) Iām 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 isnāt the most computer literate gentleman, texted me last night because āsomething is wrong with my room numberā. Turns out, heās 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 isĀ very excitedĀ albeit it I think slightly in shock and unsure how to respond. Just a lot of āoh wow, thank youāsā. Going to be a big week for him! Tomorrow, weāll be driving up to Boston to fly direct to Miami arriving later tomorrow evening. Very excited weāre so close and only a tiny bit of packing to go... Ogilthorpe, WAAAYTOOO, Lovetocruise2002 and 4 others 5 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 And weāre off! Successfully made it up to Boston Logan without any trouble. Dad was very surprised about the limo and remarked, āwow, so this is how you do it.ā 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 aĀ littleĀ early but nothing to complain too much about. Dad is enjoying getting his phone charged and having a cup of coffee... or two. āItās all free?!ā Weāll, if you fly way too many miles with them it is. Dad has figured out that weāre in First Class and asked what theyāre 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. Dan Curtis, Lovetocruise2002, Guy Gadwa and 7 others 8 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WAAAYTOOO 10,972 Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 You dadās a Marine ? Ā That is awesome. Ā Tell him āSemper Fiā from Dan and me. Ā NerdDad and teddy 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 Just now, WAAAYTOOO said: You dadās a Marine ? Ā That is awesome. Ā Tell him āSemper Fiā from Dan and me. Ā Once a marine, always a marine. teddy and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lovetocruise2002 10,292 Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 @NerdDadĀ can I just tell you right now how much this blog makes me smile.Ā I read about your description of your Dad, and it makes me think of mine.Ā My parents are simple in the sense that they are inside cabin people all the time.Ā They have taken more cruises than we have, always insides.Ā We're treating them to Star Class at the end of this year and I imagine that this is pretty much going to be their reaction too.Ā I am loving this! Guy Gadwa, Dan Curtis, ellcee and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 Well, I certainly canāt 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 wasnāt quite on the plane... but itĀ wasĀ at the Hyatt Regency. I shot an email to Hyatt telling them about Steveās 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 weāre getting ready and heading to the ship a little early this morning so we can get onto the suites. Today is Steveās actual birthday too! So far so good! Guy Gadwa, KathyC, JLMoran and 9 others 10 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sweety 1,398 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 16 hours ago, NerdDad said: Once a marine, always a marine. My Uncle 32 years with the Marines. teddy and NerdDad 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
teddy 492 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 17 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: You dadās a Marine ? Ā That is awesome. Ā Tell him āSemper Fiā from Dan and me. Ā From me, too. NerdDad 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lovetocruise2002 10,292 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Wow!Ā That is quite the upgrade in rooms!! NerdDad and KWong 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 4 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Wow!Ā That is quite the upgrade in rooms!! I assume itās a mix of it being relatively quite this Sunday,Ā having some status with Hyatt, and a bunch of luck. Either way, weāre all extremely thankful. WAAAYTOOO and Lovetocruise2002 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
emsff02 1,545 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 This has been fun to read. Those upgrades are nice, and itās great to be able to give them to people who deserve them. Happy Cruise day! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PRebecca 331 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Very much enjoying this! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 We arrived at Terminal AĀ 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.Ā 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. š³ Lovetocruise2002, Ogilthorpe, JLMoran and 9 others 10 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guy Gadwa 127 Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Following!!!Ā Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NerdDad 96 Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 Heading out of Miami now! After some clouds this morning, itās turned into a very pretty evening! Ā 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. Iām officially a snob but I think Iām turning him too. Ā 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 Jamieās for dinner tonight for Steveās birthday! GlassSlipper, Matt, JLMoran and 8 others 11 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KWong 347 Posted January 14 Report Share Posted January 14 On 1/12/2020 at 1:39 PM, NerdDad said: Dad has figured out that weāre in First Class and asked what theyāre serving for dinner. Club Sandwich or a Salad. He is unimpressed. As he should be. But that's $10 you don't have to spend on food, so there's that. Ā On 1/12/2020 at 2:48 PM, NerdDad said: Once a marine, always a marine. Please thank him for his service for me. 15 hours ago, NerdDad said: Overall, our fellow passengers seem to skew 40+ generally. Some kids but relatively few. I was curious myself because it abuts MLK day. I guess this doesn't surprise me as much as it does you. I think it's a little too deep into the start of the school semester for people to justify taking time off, unless they've got real little ones. Then again, I went on a Disney Cruise one October and that was overrun with kids. Go figure. Ā Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NCBookworm 0 Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 Such a sweet thing you're doing for your Dad!Ā I appreciate his service!Ā I'm looking forward to hearing all about your cruise! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SweetPea 463 Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 I hope ghosting us means you're all having a great time!Ā Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JVPIII 20 Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 4 hours ago, SweetPea said: I hope ghosting us means you're all having a great time!Ā I do hope he comes back to finish. I was really enjoying his writingĀ SweetPea and DDaley 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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