December 3 - 10, 2016
PLEASE NOTE: This review has nothing to do with Maraloha Travel. This cruise was for the purpose of the Reunion Cruise Group that I do every year in dedication and heavy advocacy for Travel Agents. It is also for purposes of giving insight to cruising and my personal experiences. Call your travel agent for more information about experiencing your first or future cruise.
Hampton Inn Miami-Coconut Grove/Coral Gables (About 15 minutes from Port Of Miami)
When getting ready for a cruise, you tend to cram in for last minute stuff to make sure you don't forget anything. Of course, both JC and I are running extremely late getting to the hotel and its almost 6PM. Since we knew it was going to be very late getting to the hotel, we decided to stay a little later to have dinner with the parents and then finally head out on the road to Miami. Both of us were extremely tired and now, having waited this long to get to the hotel (unlike last year), we had to make it. Our cruise was the next day!
Last year, JC and I stayed at the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, Miami, FL (About 30 minutes from Port of Miami). We were extremely disappointed with the accommodations, service, etc. as I am sure you gathered from reading the blog last year. So this time, I wanted to get a hotel that offered the Park, Stay & Go Package where we would be able to stay one night before the cruise, leave our car for the duration of our cruise, free shuttle to the port, free breakfast, and free Wi-Fi, close to the pier. This hotel was perfect, reasonably priced, and conveniently located close to the pier.
We finally arrived at the hotel at around 1AM, with a bathroom break hear and there along the way. Check in was a breeze, however, there were no parking spots in their garage or outside. I had to park on the street and then move the car at 7AM to the garage to have it stored there for our entire length of the cruise. In addition, the front desk clerk had no idea what time the shuttles were to the pier but guessed it to be on at 12PM and the next at 12:30PM. So, we decided to try and get some sleep so that we can at least be a little coherent for the fun times on board the ship tomorrow.
I woke up at 7AM and moved the car into the garage and got a little breakfast for myself and JC. Wouldn't you know it, the front desk clerk was wrong! The shuttle leaves two times to the pier, at 11AM and 12PM. Of course, we missed the first one. So we made arrangements for Uber to pick us up at 11:15AM. Now, to save a little money on Uber, if you have never used them before, go on Groupon and sign up. The first 3 times you use Uber, you get $8.00 off each one. Not bad! I only paid $2.92 (of course tip was $3.00) for the 15 minute ride from the Hotel to the pier. WOW!! SCORE!!
Please feel free to comment as I would love to hear from you.
Tune in for day one of the 5th Annual NCL Reunion cruise on Norwegian Escape!
#dedicatedtravelagent, #WeExist, #cruises, #vacation, #fun, #NCLEscape, #Reunioncruises
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