Hollywood, Florida/Holiday Inn-Ft. Lauderdale airport

February 2016,  Sunday, 1-night, 2 Queen beds Jr. suite 427

view of the pool from our table outside the restaurant

Arrival and platinum perks

We arrived at the Holiday Inn Ft. Lauderdale Airport in the morning, as we had just returned from a cruise, and did not have anywhere else to go after getting off the ship. I did not expect our room to be ready at 8:30 a.m., although I did expect better service than we received.

The agent at the front desk provided mediocre service when we arrived. He did not acknowledge my status, he did not say anything about what type of room I was waiting for, and he did not tell me when to expect the room to be ready. He said he would let me know when our room was ready. He did not request my telephone number. I knew my cell phone number was listed in my IHG profile, so I assumed he would call when our room was ready. This was not a problem for us in the beginning. We checked our luggage, and then went to the pool area. A few hours later (around 11:00 a.m.), I returned to the front desk, after I observed other guests checking in. The same employee merely told me it would be sometime after noon when I asked how long he thought it would be. A few hours after this, my husband went to the front desk. He happened to get the other employee working at the front desk, who then called someone after he checked the computer. This second employee then called us just before 2:00 p.m. to say that our room was ready. He, also, did not provide any hotel or guestroom information when he gave us the keys.

When I checked out the next morning, I told the front desk agent that no one had asked me which on-property Platinum perk I wanted when we checked in. I casually mentioned that it had been kind of busy the day before. He apologized, and said that is no excuse. He said he would take care of it, and the 500 bonus points posted to my account within 24 hours. I would probably have a different perception of this hotel, if this employee had been working the day we checked in.

I redeemed a free night certificate for a guestroom with two queen beds on the executive level for this stay. We did not receive a guestroom on the executive level, and I am not sure what room type we actually received, or if it was an upgrade--since no one told me anything! Read on for further information about the guestroom.

Carnival Splendor Ports of Call - Eastern Caribbean

February 2016

Following is information about our ports of call while aboard the Carnival Splendor. This was a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami. We stopped at four ports: Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; St. Thomas, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.

In addition to this blog post, you can find more photos and information in the Facebook ports of call album for the Carnival Splendor.

approaching Amber Cove - photo taken from the 
secret balcony (as my husband calls it) at the front of the ship

Amber Cove, Dominican Republic 

Amber Cove -
view from our balcony cabin 7434

Amber Cove is a new port that just opened October 2015. This was our first port of call scheduled for 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. My husband and I went on a safari type tour when we were in Puerto Plata a few years ago, which was fabulous. I have not been on the Carnival Outback excursion, although I imagine it is similar. I highly recommend this type of excursion, if this is your first visit to the area. The vehicle we rode in on our tour was similar to the one in the Carnival photos, and the description of the day sounds similar, as well. Most of the reviews posted on the Carnival website for this excursion have five stars.

view of Amber Cove from deck 12

We arrived before 8:00 a.m., and I do not know exactly what time guests started disembarking. We were walking on the jogging track on deck 12, and did not hear any announcements about disembarking. One of the first photos I took with guests walking up the pier was at 8:02 a.m. Some of the guests were already to the building at the start of the pier, so we must have been cleared before 8:00 a.m. It is a bit of a walk along the pier, and locals on bicycles pulled a rickshaw for passengers who did not want to walk.

Carnival Splendor Cruise ~ 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise from Miami, Florida

February 2016

1st sunset at sea

This was the second time we have sailed on the Carnival Splendor. The first time was November 2009 out of Long Beach, California before I started this blog. We had stateroom 6447 in 2009 and 7434 this cruise. I could not fit all of the photos I have of the Splendor and cabins in this blog post. Please visit the Splendor Facebook album for more photos and information.

Pre-cruise

We booked a dinner reservation at Pinnacle Steakhouse for the first evening of our cruise, and received a confirmation email before the cruise. When we did this on the Carnival Sunshine, we never received an email confirmation, and I was not able to check on the reservation until after we boarded. It would be nice if this information would show under Carnival booking information, like shore excursions.

Arrival and check-in ~ Port of Miami

The last time we departed from Miami on the Carnival Breeze, our departure experience had been superb, so we decided to arrive at the port around the same time, 11:30 a.m. Things started out well; we quickly passed through security and got our key cards. Even though we had tied our son's account to ours, his room key was not with ours. Our travel agent had specifically called Carnival about this a few days before our cruise, and she told us we would be all set to board together. It only took the representative a few moments to get him his card, and then we sat down in the VIP waiting room to wait.

There was one restroom in the waiting room, which I did not recall from our last cruise out of Miami. Beverages and danishes were available. It was over an hour later when VIP boarding started. The seats in the VIP room were full before this, and several guests were standing along the wall. When the Carnival reps came to lead us to the entrance, we had to walk from the VIP room across the general waiting area to enter through the boarding gate on the opposite side of the room. It was not easy for guests to follow the person in front of him or her because the area was crowded, and guests in the outside waiting area cut in between boarding guests. I kept as close to the guest in front of me as I could without stepping on his heels, and people still cut in front of me! Apparently, I do not look very gruff. We then had to follow the non-boarding guests who were pulling their luggage (there was no room to go around them) until they veered off, and then we had to relocate our line in the distance.

photo taken of guests in cruise port after we went up escalator to board

Boarding had been smoother on our last cruise out of Miami, because we started boarding before noon, and we had boarded through the entrance by the VIP lounge. All-in-all, I do not have any serious complaints, and we were on board shortly after 1:00 p.m. The only guests that boarded before VIP guests were guests attending a wedding on board.

cabin 7434 balcony

balcony cabin 7434

Balcony cabin 7434, category 8B

Miami, Florida - MIA / Residence Inn Miami Airport

February 2016, Weekend, 2-nights, King/queen 2-bedroom suite #3620

This was our second time staying in the Residence Inn Miami airport, and our third time staying at the Miami airport Marriott hotel complex. Previous reviews can found at the following links: Residence Inn February 2013, and Marriott February 2011.

view of kitchen in suite from living room

Arrival experience and shuttle ride

We had taken the Tri-rail from the Ft. Lauderdale airport, and we had hoped the hotel shuttle bus would pick us up at Miami Central Station. I called the Residence Inn before we arrived to ask if we could be picked up at the station, and the agent said we needed to go to the airport to get the shuttle bus. To get to the airport from the station, we needed to take the MIA mover, and then wait there for the hotel shuttle. The Residence Inn is less than 1½ miles from the train station, which would have been walkable for us without our luggage. The shuttle bus runs regularly between the airport and the hotel complex. All of the Miami airport hotel shuttles pick up passengers and drop them off at the departure level. There is not a designated pick up area in the airport. Passengers walk out to the curb to watch for the hotel shuttle bus needed, and then flag it down. We have been through this process many times at MIA, and it is always chaotic. Fortunately, we have never missed our bus! Not that we know of, anyway. We have waited more than 15 minutes sometimes, so it is possible we missed a shuttle before and did not know it.

When the shuttle bus arrives at the hotel complex, the bus stops at the Marriott first. I suggest disembarking then, if you do not have much luggage. We initially stayed on the bus when it arrived; however, after the driver had disappeared with no comment for over five minutes, we grabbed our luggage and got off. We walked to the Residence Inn behind the Marriott, and had just finished our initial check-in encounter when the shuttle bus arrived with the remaining guests.

I had considered staying at Element Miami Airport because it is less than ½ mile from the train station, and they had said they would pick us up at the station. The Element is a new hotel; however, the Residence Inn has better dining and pool options, we were going to be staying two nights, and we had received a room upgrade before our arrival.

Miami and Ft. Lauderdale Public Transportation Options

February 2016

This blog post contains information about several transportation options in southern Florida. We started our day with a beautiful sunrise, and view of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan as we departed Laguardia airport.

view from plane

view from plane

Fort Lauderdale airport (FLL) shuttle pickup for Dania Beach Tri-rail airport station

Since it can cost anywhere from $50 to over $100 for car service between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, we decided to take the Tri-rail from FLL to MIA for $3.75 each. The station is not accessible from the airport, so we needed to take a shuttle bus to the Dania Beach Station. The shuttle sign was straight ahead when we came down the escalator to baggage claim in terminal 2.

sign in terminal 2

Grand Rapids, Michigan - GRR / Crowne Plaza Grand Rapids - airport

February 2016, Weekday, 1-night, Club floor guestroom #436 - 2 beds

I have stayed in this Crowne Plaza almost a dozen times, and following are links to reviews of some previous stays: January 2014, December 2011, May 2011, and August 2010. This hotel is located by my home airport, and they have an airport shuttle every 20 minutes.

fruit infused water available in the lobby

Arrival and status perks

My status has always been Platinum when I stayed in this hotel, as I quite traveling for work before the new IHG level, Spire Elite, had been added. When I did not reserve a club floor guestroom, I always received an upgrade to the club floor, although the lounge was not always open. I received an upgrade to a suite in December 2011, when I specifically requested it. For this stay, I redeemed points for a club floor guestroom with two beds, because our son was traveling with us. I was not able to reserve a suite with points, so I requested a suite upgrade, as there is not much room for three people in the regular guestrooms.

Check-in time is 4:00 p.m., and we arrived about 3:45 p.m. The agent did not mention the upgrade request in my reservation, and I decided not to ask about it. Although I did not receive a room upgrade, I did receive the 600 Platinum member bonus points.

Muskegon, Michigan / The Shoreline Inn & Conference Center, an Ascend Collection hotel

January 2016, Weekend, 1 night, King club floor guestroom #908 and Whirlpool guestroom #812

Sunrise from bed in guestroom 812

Prior to this stay, we had visited a couple of other businesses located on the hotel grounds: Terrace Point Marina, and Lake House Waterfront Grille. This was our first stay in the Shoreline Inn. I was not familiar with Ascend Collection hotels before this, so I looked up Ascend Collection hotels before our stay, and found this description: Meet the Ascend Hotel Collection®, a network of historic, boutique and unique hotels that offer guests an authentic, local experience. Member hotels share a passion for delivering attentive service to guests seeking a more experiential, individualized travel experience that gives them a sense of local flavor.

Reservation/arrival experience

Since I am a light packer, I called the hotel before our stay to ask if bathrobes are provided in the guestrooms. The person I spoke with said that only the club guestrooms have bathrobes. He said we could request them if all the club rooms were not booked. He looked up our reservation, and then added this request to our reservation.

Check-in time is 4:00 p.m., and we arrived at the hotel between 3:00 and 3:30 p.m. We received an upgrade to the club floor, and then we paid a bit extra to upgrade to a room with a whirlpool tub and fireplace. Staff members were willing to work with us regarding our room choice; however, since we were not familiar with this hotel or the room offerings, it was difficult to know which type of room to request. Hopefully, the information I am providing here will help future travelers in making a guestroom selection.