KWong Posted January 9, 2020 Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 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. 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 comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted January 9, 2020 Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 55 minutes ago, NerdDad said: Ha! I went to Boston University! My first time at Hooked but excited for some seafood. I did too. NerdDad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted January 9, 2020 Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 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. I certainly didn't leave hungry. I guess it depends on what you order. Sweety 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2020 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregD Posted January 10, 2020 Report Share Posted January 10, 2020 11 minutes ago, NerdDad said: 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. 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 comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted January 10, 2020 Report Share Posted January 10, 2020 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. The Concierge email has been coming 5 days before sailing for us. It’s time to give ‘em a little kick in the backside and get ‘em movin’. NerdDad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2020 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... WAAAYTOOO, Lovetocruise2002, ellcee and 4 others 5 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 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. monctonguy, Lovetocruise2002, Ogilthorpe and 7 others 8 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 You dad’s a Marine ? That is awesome. Tell him “Semper Fi” from Dan and me. NerdDad and teddy 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 Just now, WAAAYTOOO said: You dad’s a Marine ? That is awesome. Tell him “Semper Fi” from Dan and me. Once a marine, always a marine. WAAAYTOOO and teddy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 @NerdDad can I just tell you right now how much this blog makes me smile. I read about your description of your Dad, and it makes me think of mine. My parents are simple in the sense that they are inside cabin people all the time. They have taken more cruises than we have, always insides. 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. I am loving this! Dan Curtis, Ogilthorpe, Mike P and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 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! MaryS, Lovetocruise2002, Guy Gadwa and 9 others 10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweety Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 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 comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 17 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said: You dad’s a Marine ? That is awesome. Tell him “Semper Fi” from Dan and me. From me, too. NerdDad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 Wow! That is quite the upgrade in rooms!! NerdDad and KWong 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 4 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Wow! That is quite the upgrade in rooms!! 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. WAAAYTOOO and Lovetocruise2002 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregD Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 This has been fun to read. Those upgrades are nice, and it’s great to be able to give them to people who deserve them. Happy Cruise day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRebecca Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 Very much enjoying this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 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. ? WAAAYTOOO, Guy Gadwa, ellcee and 9 others 10 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Gadwa Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 Following!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NerdDad Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 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! JLMoran, Matt, GregD and 8 others 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWong Posted January 14, 2020 Report Share Posted January 14, 2020 On 1/12/2020 at 1:39 PM, NerdDad said: 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. As he should be. But that's $10 you don't have to spend on food, so there's that. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCBookworm Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Such a sweet thing you're doing for your Dad! I appreciate his service! I'm looking forward to hearing all about your cruise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetPea Posted January 24, 2020 Report Share Posted January 24, 2020 I hope ghosting us means you're all having a great time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JVPIII Posted January 24, 2020 Report Share Posted January 24, 2020 4 hours ago, SweetPea said: I hope ghosting us means you're all having a great time! I do hope he comes back to finish. I was really enjoying his writing DDaley and SweetPea 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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