What To Do Before You Leave for Vacation

Top 10 Things to Do Before You Leave on a Trip

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  I have recently read an article which discussed the top things someone should do before leaving home for a trip. You have your hotel, flights, transportation all lined up. Now what? To make a trip even more stress free, write these things down and check them off before your next vacation.
  
  1. Contact the kennel or house sitter
  2. Take care of stop orders or advance payments
  3. Plan the first day of your trip before you leave
  4. If driving, map out the drive to your very first location
  5. Pack your cell phone earpiece
  6. Make a withdrawal from your own ATM to help manage cash flow
  7. Do a web search for any of your hobbies at your destination
  8. Understand all public transit available at your vacation spot (i.e. subways, trains, buses etc) and map them out
  9. Check the local entertainment listings where you will be staying
  10. Check and know what the weather will be like.
  
  I have to give an example of how #10 can be critical. Being a northern California native, I always knew that you need to be prepared for a variety of weather changes when visiting the San Francisco Bay Area. The weather across the bay from downtown San Francisco can be different then if you were actually in the city limits of San Francisco. The sun can be shining in Oakland and foggy and drizzly in San Francisco with a drastic temperature difference. Anyone who has been to that area before knows you need to be prepared for the worst because 55 degrees in San Francisco can feel like freezing somewhere else. Well...I was attending a SF Giants Baseball game which was also a night game. It is not uncommon to see fans wearing stocking caps and heavy coats at a Giants game in June (back when they played at Candlestick Park). Pregame this particular night had sunshine and decent temps. I had noticed not far from me a couple of people who were wearing shorts and t-shirts. Now this would seem like normal apparel for a Summer game anywhere else in the Country. And since it was sunny and warm at the time, these 2 people probably thought this was normal for good old Candlestick Park right on the edge of the San Francisco Bay.
  
  But I also noticed is that these 2 did not have any other type of blanket or coat or anything to be prepared for what was inevitably going to happen which was the rolling in of fog and the severe drop in temperature. Those of us with experience knew what was coming. Someone who had done some homework would know to never go to a night game at Candlestick Park without a coat, gloves or stocking cap in the Summer.
  
  Most of us sitting near this couple noticed early on that their shirts were a dead giveaway that they were not from around the area and simply just 2 tourists looking to take in a local sporting event. Their lack of preparation and advance planning made for one of the longest nights I am sure they ever had in the middle of Summer. It was not too long before hoards of people were offering extra blankets or coats to try to warm these people up. I still get a chuckle thinking back on that today.
  
  So the moral is...take some time before you leave home to be better prepared which can make a trip even that much more enjoyable.
  
  Top 10 items taken from a story in the independent traveler and written by Ed Hewitt.

Freedom of the Seas December 2008 Part 2

Sorry for the delay in getting this second part written and published. I just want to take a few minutes to describe the ports of call as well as discuss the entertainment on board the Freedom of the Seas.

We visited the following ports of call:

1) San Juan Puerto Rico
2) St Thomas
3) St Marteen

I won't say much about San Juan due to how little time we had to spend in port. San Juan is loaded with historical sites and we would have loved to have had a chance to experience the culture of this beautiful place, but our cruise was delayed because of high winds and we were several hours late getting into San Juan. We barely had time to get off and take a few pictures.

So we then headed for St Thomas. St Thomas is beautiful and lush and really it is hard to put its scenery into words. We spent the day at the Ritz Carlton Resort and Spa. We both had spa treatments that we out of this world. This resort is worth a visit just to see its grounds. All I can say is...breathtaking. We ate lunch seaside at the resort before heading back to the pier. This should be a tip for anyone reading this You can do your own excursion with just a little planning and it can be some of most enjoyable times of your cruise. I had researched spas for both St Thomas and St Marteen and we made our choice based on reviews and spa treatment options.

After St Thomas...we headed to St Marteen. This is another eye-popping island and a place I hope to go back to for a land-only vacation. The shopping is famous in St Marteen and we spent some time visiting the shops and just enjoying the architecture of the Dutch side of the island. You have to ride a water taxis from where your ship docks to where the main parts of the island are. Most on our cruise headed for the famous beaches found in St Thomas...but we make it a point to relax back on the ship while others are on shore.

To be continued...

Freedom of the Seas December 2008

Sometimes it is hard to put into words or it is hard to describe some of the wonderful and beautiful things you see during your travels. Such is the case with with our recent trip. Our latest journey took us on a 7 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean with stops in San Juan PR, St. Thomas and St Maarten.

The ship of choice was Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas (FOS). The FOS is considered a mega class ship (over 130,000 gross tons). It is longer than the Eiffel Tower. It is BIG!! That originally was a concern when we booked the trip. Would it be too big? Since it can hold over 4000 passengers, would it feel extremely crowded? Would we spend our time walking aimlessly just trying to find our dinner table?

None of those original concerns were concerns anymore once we boarded the ship. We embarked on Sunday December the 14th. The embarkation process took a little over an hour and that was due to the ship undergoing a "deep cleaning" after the previous cruise pulled into port earlier that day. Some passengers from the previous cruise had shown signs of the Norovirus which dictated a thorough cleaning of the ship between sailings so we were not upset about the short embarkation delay. We were on board shortly after 1:00PM and we headed straight for the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. My wife was thrilled to see that Royal Caribbean has the same french fry recipe for all of their sailings and ships. She loves their fries. Since the most of the staterooms were still being cleaned and not open for passengers, the restaurant was crowded which meant that passengers were being allowed to seat themselves in Chop's and Portofino's (more on them later).

After lunch we headed out to explore the ship. I can't say enough about the aesthetics of the ship. It is a beautiful vessel. We went to check out our seating assignment in main dining room which is broken down into 3 sections; Galileo's, Issac's and Leonardo's. We were on the second level which was Issac's. Elegant is the word I would use to describe the overall decor and feel of the dining areas.

We then headed out to walk down one of Royal Caribbean's most unique feature on their larger vessels, the Royal Promenade. For the lack of a better description, this is a mall down the center of the ship lined with shops and restaurants. It is designed to have the feel of a small street in Europe where you can sit outside of a cafe and watch the day and the crowds go by. Besides the shops, there are several eating and drinking venues set up along the Promenade; The Promenade Cafe for desserts and coffee, Sorrento's for Pizza and other Italian favorites, Vintages for a glass of fine wine and The Bull and the Bear which is an English styled pub. What I like about this area of the ship is that it offers a great place to hang out on the ship if there happens to be any bad weather during your cruise. Can't say enough good things about the Promenade. The Promenade was also a venue for parades and live music during the cruise and one of our favorites was a show called "Dancin' in the Streets" which was a 70's themed show which brought back some great memories.

We have no complaints about any of the public areas of the ship (except for the spa) and I will post a link at the end of the review where you can go to see pictures and judge how beautiful the ship is for yourself. The spa was our only disappointment. Our previous cruise on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas had set our expectation for what we thought we would see on this newer, larger Royal Caribbean ship. The spa on the Radiance was far and above better than the one of the FOS. The spa this time was really just a bunch of treatment rooms. There was not really a relaxation area or a sauna and steam area like we were accustomed to. The only steam and sauna room was down in the male and female locker areas next to the fitness area which really removes it from being associated with the spa upstairs. I was beginning to think that nice spa areas on ships might be a thing of the past until we pulled up next to Celebrity's newest ship, The Solstice, while we were in San Juan. We looked across and could see their spa area through these huge floor to ceiling windows and it far surpassed what we had on the FOS. I hope Royal Caribbean has improved this area on the newest ship which is scheduled to sail in just a few more months.

Other areas that will interest a lot of potential passengers are the ice skating rink on board called Studio B, the only wave simulator at sea called Flowrider and the 43 ft rock climbing wall which I am proud to say I tried and conquered.

Now onto the stateroom. We booked a PR category stateroom on deck 6. The PR category rooms are staterooms that are inside cabins, but overlook the Royal Promenade with a nice sized bay window. The room was a bit smaller than what we were hoping for and storage demanded some unpacking strategy. The space was a little cramped when we were both trying to get ready for dinner etc., but it wasn't too bad. We probably will not book another PR category room but I would not hesitate in recommending it to folks who like some view from their room but do not want to pay for an outside cabin.

Now let's discuss dining. As I mentioned, our main dining seat assignment was in Issac's Dining Room which the second floor of the 3 floor main dining room. We had excellent table mates from North Carolina. Their company each night made the cruise and our dinners extra special. The food every night was well prepared and the service was fantastic. The food and service was by far better than the Disney Cruise we had taken the year prior.

We also made arrangements to dine in one of Royal Caribbean's specialty restaurants, Chops Grille. Chops is known for their steaks and they did not disappoint. I had the 16 oz T-Bone and it was fantastic. You could cut it with a butter knife. My wife had the small fillet and it too was wonderful and tender. The specialty restaurants require an additional $25 per person and I can say it was well worth it when you consider that the cost covers any appetizer, main course and also a dessert. The same meal would cost near $100 at most good steak restaurants back on land.

The other, less expensive specialty restaurant on board is Johnny Rockets. Johnny Rockets is known in the U.S. for their great hamburgers and fun atmosphere. The cost extra cost is a low $3.50 per person which also covers appetizers, a burger or sandwich choice and also dessert. It was kind of surreal to be on board a huge ship in the middle of the Atlantic and be sitting in a Johnny Rockets eatery listening and watching the staff sing and dance to the Bee Gee's Staying Alive.

I forgot to mention that the Royal Promenade also offers another very popular eatery, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. It was a popular spot along with the Royal Promenade Cafe which we frequented often.

To view photos of the ship and the cruise...click on this link.

I am going to continue my review in part 2 where I will discuss the entertainment as well as the ports of call.

Walt Disney World Vacation 2008 Part 2

Finally I have a chance to sit down and finish my trip review of our latest Walt Disney World adventure. I wanted to finish up the review by discussing the dining portion of our trip. Dining is a big part of anyone's Disney vacation. We were fortunate to be able to go on this trip when Disney was offering the Basic Dining Plan free if you booked a package during as long as your travel dates met certain criteria. The dining plan gets you the following:

1 Table Service credit per person per number of nights of your stay
1 Counter Service credit per person per number of nights of your stay
1 Snack credit per person per number of nights of your stay

These credits can be used all at any time during your stay, but they cannot carry over past the dates of your trip. In other words...use them or lose them. Naturally since it was a free offer, we think the dining plan was worth it. Ha! But I also think it is worth it as an added paid option for others who travel to Walt Disney World at other times of the year when the free plan is not offered. A table service meal credit can be used at all participating Disney Resort and Parks restaurant where you would be seated for a meal. For example...Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot is a table service option. The Yak and Yeti in Disney's Animal Kingdom is a table service option. A counter service credit can be used at most quick service restaurants through the Walt Disney Resort. Quick service denotes those restaurants where you look at menu with fewer selections, walk up and order and pay and then go and pick up your meal and find any available seating. For example...Pizza Planet in Disney's Hollywood Studios is a quick service restaurant. A snack credit can be used to purchase a bottle of water, a cookie, a ice cream bar etc at some of the snack kiosks and even inside some of the counter service restaurants.

With that said...here is how we used our credits. We had 6 credits each since we stayed 6 nights. We made advanced reservations at the following table service restaurants:

Tutto Italia-Epcot
Yak and Yeti-Disney's Animal Kingdom
The Hollywood Brown Derby-Disney's Hollywood Studios
Hollywood and Vine-Disney's Hollywood Studios
Boma's-Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

We ate counter service meals in Epcot, The Magic Kingdom and back at our resort. Most of our counter service meals were used for breakfast at our resort. Snacks were mostly used for bottles of water within the parks.

The key to proper utilization of the dining plan is planning! Since most table service restaurants, those which are popular for various reasons, fill up as much as 6 months in advance of a given date. If someone were to purchase the plan and then wait too long to make their advance dining reservations, they could run a risk of not having any available table service options and therefore not be able to use all of their credits before the end of their trip. That would be a waste of money. So you must be able to sit down and plan out your meals well in advance if you plan on successfully using the dining plan.

To be continued...

Walt Disney World Vacation Review 2008 part 1

This post will give a detailed review of our latest trip to Walt Disney World. The dates of our trip were August 24th through the 30th. We arrived late Sunday night in Orlando (approx. 10:00PM). We headed straight for Disney's Magical Express desk where we were once again greeted warmly and promptly directed to the line where we could board our Disney Bus to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort.

Here is a tip...if you book a late flight, don't assume that will mean less of a crowd on Magical Express. Because we were later in the evening, the buses were waiting much longer than usual to make sure they had as many guests on board as they could get since they run less frequently that late at night. We waited on the bus almost 45 minutes while they allowed more passengers to check in at the desk and get on board.

We then were on our way and arrived at the resort very close to 11:45PM. The crowd at check in was very light due to our late arrival and since most other passengers on the bus were headed for other resorts. In about 15 minutes we were checked in and waiting outside for the resort internal bus to take us to our assigned building. We were in "Aruba" which seemed about half way between the Custom House (where you check in) and Port Royale (where you go to eat and shop).

We got in the room at about 12:30AM and were very pleased with the size and decor of the room. Our room was a "Garden View" which really means you have some flora outside your window that pretty much blocks your view to anything else.


Here is another tip...when arriving this late to the resort, plan on packing your bath necessities and your next day's clothes in your carry-on bag so you will have what you need to get you through until the next afternoon. Then call the front desk when you arrive to your room and tell them to hold your bags until the next morning. If you don't, you will have to stay up until the bell service delivers them to your room which, in our case, was not until roughly 1:30AM. We were exhausted by the time they arrived and wished we had planned better for such things.

We had an early character breakfast reservation at Disney's Hollywood Studios which also meant we got little sleep before our first day in the parks, but it always seems like adrenaline kicks in when you get to a park and it manages to carry you through the day. We awoke at 6:15AM ready to get to our bus stop to catch one of the less frequent buses (so we thought). We understood that the buses ran only every 30 to 45 minutes if it was more than an hour before the parks were scheduled to open. Our reservation was for 8:00AM at Hollywood and Vine so we figured we better be at the bus stop to catch a bus that might be there around 7:15 or 7:30 in case another did not come until closer to 8:00AM. Well...we got at the stop around 6:50AM and the bus pulled up right at the moment for Disney's Hollywood Studios so we jumped on and a whopping 10 minutes later there we were right outside the gate of the park at an ever so early 7:00AM...a FULL HOUR before our breakfast reservation. Lesson learned! :)

Hollywood and Vine is a great place to eat breakfast in the park. It was a full breakfast buffet with an abundance of choices including some healthier fare. There were also characters from the Little Einsteins and JoJo's Circus present which seemed to be a hit among the children.

After breakfast...we headed out to get in the line forming for the official opening of the park. The good thing about having an early morning breakfast reservation in the park is that you do get to bypass the lines forming outside in the turnstiles and you end up about half way up in the crowd that is waiting or the rope to drop.

Tip: If you are visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios in the next few months, plan on heading to their newest attraction, Toy Story Mania, first. It seems to now be more popular than the Tower of Terror or even Rock N Roller Coaster.

The crowds were pretty good considering the time we traveled was also during Disney's free dining plan offer which is available to resort guests during a certain time of the year (usually the end of August until late September) and at select resorts. For those not familiar with the dining plan, here is how it works. You get 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal and 1 snack per person, per night of your stay. We were staying 6 nights so we got 6 each. This dining plan works well if you plan on eating a lot of food. If you usually have a dessert item for lunch and dinner, then the plan will save you money overall. If you don't...I am not sure it is a benefit. It demands that you plan your meals well in advance of your trip. If you do not use your meal credits by the end of your stay...you lose them. We had to make advance reservations at 5 table service restaurants (The Hollywood Brown Derby is a signature restaurant so it required 2). If you wait until you arrive, the chances of getting into some of Disney's more popular sit down restaurants is pretty slim. We made our reservations about 90 days before our trip.

What has changed recently with the plan is that you no longer get an appetizer with your table service meals, only one non-alcoholic beverage, one entree and one dessert. Also tips are no longer included in the plan so make sure you tip each server accordingly.

I will post more about the meals and the other aspects of our trip in part 2...

Stay Tuned...Disney 2008!

Check back here in early September to find my review from our upcoming Walt Disney World trip. We leave on August 24 and return August 30. We will be staying on Disney property at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Our current itinerary plan is as follows:

Day 1--Disney's Hollywood Studios
Day 2--EPCOT
Day 3--Disney's Animal Kingdom
Day 4--The Magic Kingdom

I will make sure I have pictures available of the Caribbean Beach Resort such as room layout, pools and recreation options and the variety of eating options.

Meanwhile...also check out my brand new website: Operation Destination Travels

Branson and Silver Dollar City

This post will document our recent trip to Branson Missouri and 2 days at the amusement park...Silver Dollar City. We went on May 15th and 16th (Thursday and Friday). Make a note of the dates because it was a great time of the year to visit this sometimes very congested area. Branson is one of the main tourist spots in the State of Missouri and gets large bus loads of kids and other tour groups throughout the busier times of the year. We picked these dates because we knew kids would still be in school and the weather would already be fairly warm and pleasant.

Crowds were extremely light. Show lines were short, ride lines seemed even shorter. If you like to ride rides and hate having to stand in 1 to 2 hour lines, consider planning trips to amusement parks during this time of year.

Silver Dollar City is one of the most pristine and scenic amusement parks we have ever visited. Flowers and trees lined every walkway throughout the park. The shops are all themed in the time period of the old time settlers with somewhat of a "Hillbilly" look and feel (I mean that in a good way). It was one of the cleanest parks I have ever been to outside of Walt Disney World.

I cannot stress enough how this park is devoted to promoting a family atmosphere. Foul language of any sort or any obscene gestures will get those who use such escorted from the park. I have never seen such attention to maintaining a certain environment in all my life. It was refreshing.
A few years ago you would have never used the phrase "thrill ride" in conjunction with talking about Silver Dollar City. The two now go together. They have recently added several thrill rides including 2 top notch roller coasters; WildFire and Powder Keg. One drops and twists and turns through the Ozark hillside while the other launches you from 0 to 60mph in around 2 seconds and sends you on a blast over bumps and through turns. Other rides of note is the huge swinging ride called "Barn Swing" and another spinning ride call "Electro Spin." Needless to say my thrill quota was met for a while. For more details about this park and its offerings visit: www.silverdollarcity.com

One more mention goes out to Silver Dollar City. I have to tell you about the food. Now there is the standard amusement park food offerings; hamburgers, hot dogs, funnel cakes etc. Then there is the food that really raises the bar for amusement parks elsewhere. I had some of the best barbecue around right there inside the park. It was high quality at even a reasonable price. In fact, the food prices seemed lower and more in line with normal restaurant prices versus what you normally pay for eating inside of an amusement park. And if you have a sweet tooth, they have some of the best candy and chocolate makers and bakers right there inside the park as well. We were highly impressed with the food and snack offerings so go hungry and enjoy!

Now on to where we decided to stay for the one night on this trip. I made arrangements for us to stay at Marriott's Horizon Vacation Club Resort. If you have a large family and want a place to stay where you can bring your own food and even cook if you want, this is the place to stay. Unlike most cabin or condo offerings that are outside the town area, this resort is close to everything while also being off the main street that runs by all of the different show venues. The grounds were beautiful and the rooms well appointed. You can choose to stay in one of the studio style rooms that comes equipped with a kitchenette or you can book one of their 2 bedroom, 2 bath villas that comes with a full size kitchen, living room area and even a washer and dryer. I was very impressed with the accommodations and can recommend this resort without hesitation.

You cannot go to Branson without trying to get in a music show or 2 while you are there. The concierge at the Marriott made mention of a new show that just started this past March. It is a musical walk through time from the 50's all the way through the 90's. These 2 brothers, The Rankin Brothers, do some of the best impressions of certain musicians that I have ever seen. If you were to have closed your eyes while they were singing, you would have bet your life that Buddy Holly, Simon and Garfunkel and even Elvis was on stage singing and performing. The crowd was light due to their "newbie" status in Branson, but well worth the money and I would make it a point to try to hear them again the next time we make it to Branson.

If you are interested in taking a trip to Branson and need help planning any of these activities, don't hesitate in sending me an e-mail and I would be glad to help with any or all of your plans.