Welcome to the latest installments of Stan & Amy’s Ships & Dip blog. With it being less than a week since we disembarked from the Norwegian Jewel and the cruise still fresh in our minds we are finally getting to post our daily recaps. We will try to post a recap every couple of days or so as these post are more like short stories rather than blog posts and we can really ramble and get detailed or as some might say tiresome. Anyway, go grab yourself your favorite beverage and possibly a snack and take a seat in your favorite chair and enjoy.
We start our trip on 1/31 from Blakely where we were packed, ate breakfast (Dunkin Donuts), out the door and on the road by 8:00AM. We couldn’t wait to get out of the cold NEPA weather. The drive was uneventful which is exactly what we were hoping for on our first day of the trip. We found a parking spot in the economy parking lot that was near a pickup/dropoff shelter to wait for a shuttle to take us to the terminal. We were freezing as we were waiting in the cold because we left our heavy coats and boots in the car since we did not want to travel with the extra heavy clothes. After waiting about 10 minutes a shuttle came, after another 5 minutes we were at the terminal checking in for our 12:15 flight to Miami.
With the new US Airways luggage charges we have to pay $15 for each checked piece under 50
lbs and $65 per bag over 50 lbs. We were concerned as we have 2 bags to check and really wanted them to be under 50 lbs. They weighed the first bag which we figured was the lighter of the 2 and it weighed 38 lbs. So far so good. We held our breath for the 2nd bag and it came up 42 lbs. Yeah! No extra charges for us. Now we headed to the security checkpoint which is always a chaotic mess with removing our shoes, empting our pockets and having our carry-on bags x-rayed. We made it with no problems and we were now in the terminal waiting for our flight, US Airways flight #1651 to Miami. We were in the last zone to board and we grabbed our seats in row 8 seats E and F on the “driver” side of the plane. The seats were just in front of the wing and therefore I had a nice view, which I really like. As we were getting ourselves set in, we were talking to the others in our row and they were all going on the cruise too. There were even a few others on the plane as well going on the cruise. It really is a small world after all!
Before we knew it we were on the taxiway and ready for takeoff. We took off a little late at about 12:27. Since we had our laptop with us we watched a movie and then listened to some music on our Ipods.The plane landed at about 2:27 and by the time we got our luggage it was around 2:40. With our bags in hand we headed to the taxi stand to get a cab to take us to the Marriott Biscayne Bay hotel which was the host hotel for the cruise.
The ride was maybe 15 minutes and the hotel was really nice. We checked in with no problem and went up to the room on the 16th floor. We had a really nice view of the Port of Miami and we had a balcony where the door was unfortunately locked. As with all Sixthman cruises the host hotel holds a pre-cruise party and this year was no exception.
We do attend for a few minutes but usually do not hang around too long. Before the party we walked to the Bayside Shopping area that was about 8 blocks away. It is like strip mall on a boardwalk. It is pretty nice area with a lot of little stores and restaurants. We walked around for alittle bit and then decided to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a themed restaurant from the movie Forrest Gump. The food was really good but the place was really busy as the Miami Heat were playing the Dallas Mavericks and the arena is about a block away.
After eating we walked back to the hotel and stopped by the pre-cruise party. We grabbed a drink and walked around a bit. We did meet Steve from Sixthman who is our favorite blogger on the Sixthman blog. After hanging out for a little bit longer we decided that it was time to go to sleep and get ready for real start of the cruise.
Tomorrow we will be getting on the ship and seeing BNL for the first time since the last cruise.
Stay tuned!
lbs and $65 per bag over 50 lbs. We were concerned as we have 2 bags to check and really wanted them to be under 50 lbs. They weighed the first bag which we figured was the lighter of the 2 and it weighed 38 lbs. So far so good. We held our breath for the 2nd bag and it came up 42 lbs. Yeah! No extra charges for us. Now we headed to the security checkpoint which is always a chaotic mess with removing our shoes, empting our pockets and having our carry-on bags x-rayed. We made it with no problems and we were now in the terminal waiting for our flight, US Airways flight #1651 to Miami. We were in the last zone to board and we grabbed our seats in row 8 seats E and F on the “driver” side of the plane. The seats were just in front of the wing and therefore I had a nice view, which I really like. As we were getting ourselves set in, we were talking to the others in our row and they were all going on the cruise too. There were even a few others on the plane as well going on the cruise. It really is a small world after all!
Before we knew it we were on the taxiway and ready for takeoff. We took off a little late at about 12:27. Since we had our laptop with us we watched a movie and then listened to some music on our Ipods.The plane landed at about 2:27 and by the time we got our luggage it was around 2:40. With our bags in hand we headed to the taxi stand to get a cab to take us to the Marriott Biscayne Bay hotel which was the host hotel for the cruise.The ride was maybe 15 minutes and the hotel was really nice. We checked in with no problem and went up to the room on the 16th floor. We had a really nice view of the Port of Miami and we had a balcony where the door was unfortunately locked. As with all Sixthman cruises the host hotel holds a pre-cruise party and this year was no exception.
We do attend for a few minutes but usually do not hang around too long. Before the party we walked to the Bayside Shopping area that was about 8 blocks away. It is like strip mall on a boardwalk. It is pretty nice area with a lot of little stores and restaurants. We walked around for alittle bit and then decided to eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a themed restaurant from the movie Forrest Gump. The food was really good but the place was really busy as the Miami Heat were playing the Dallas Mavericks and the arena is about a block away.After eating we walked back to the hotel and stopped by the pre-cruise party. We grabbed a drink and walked around a bit. We did meet Steve from Sixthman who is our favorite blogger on the Sixthman blog. After hanging out for a little bit longer we decided that it was time to go to sleep and get ready for real start of the cruise.
Tomorrow we will be getting on the ship and seeing BNL for the first time since the last cruise.
Stay tuned!
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