HO-HO-HO..We`ll put the RUM in Pa-Rum-Pum-Pum-Pum! 16 holiday nights at SF & RPR. A Nov/Dec 2023 Trip Report

[schumigirl]

Nice to see you recovered and starting the TR!

That Twilight check in sounds great!! You got me thinking about future travels I wonder if other airports do it...will have to investigate for the next time I'm going to stay at an airport adjacent hotel!!

I could totally have made a meal of those lounge snacks!! Looks fantastic!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

Hope everyone feels better soon and you are able to enjoy the holiday season without the sniffles!

Thanks, we`re both much better now, I`m still coughing but it`s better than the shivers and chills!

Virgin did Twilight check in before Covid then it stopped, I`m sure other airlines did it too, but they started it back up in May after we travelled and yes, it is handy.

When we have flown from Heathrow we stay at the Sofitel, that is a beautiful hotel and if we were flying BA it was just a walk down a corridor too, saves any issues worrying about getting to terminals with traffic.

We did make a meal out of those for sure, little nibbly things work for us

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Well you settled right in and had a lovely evening! The lounge did seem to do a nice spread, a shame it wasn’t all good but that might be expecting too much

It is so hard to sleep the night before a big trip, but you did get everything set so you could relax.

We just renewed our APs yesterday, so I’ll be looking for more great tips

 

[SCDizFan]

Yay! Love your trip reports!

There is something so romantic about train stations and airports!

We had a great time in Disney the beginning of the month. Loved seeing the park decorated for the holidays.

We are 2 1/2 weeks out from London and Edinburgh. Looking forward to all of the good food. Can't wait for the rest of your report!

 

[schumigirl]

Well you settled right in and had a lovely evening! The lounge did seem to do a nice spread, a shame it wasn’t all good but that might be expecting too much

It is so hard to sleep the night before a big trip, but you did get everything set so you could relax.

We just renewed our APs yesterday, so I’ll be looking for more great tips

I think they do a nice little set of offerings for most people, I`m not a fan of mozarella sticks in general so they were never going to appeal to me anyway and it is branded as canapes not a meal so we never set our hopes too high, but it was nice.

Yes, that extra cocktail was my plan to help me sleep

Glad you renewed your AP`s Maria......get those trips planned!!

 

[schumigirl]

Yay! Love your trip reports!

There is something so romantic about train stations and airports!

We had a great time in Disney the beginning of the month. Loved seeing the park decorated for the holidays.

We are 2 1/2 weeks out from London and Edinburgh. Looking forward to all of the good food. Can't wait for the rest of your report!

Lordy, your trip is just around the corner!!!! I do hope you get some decent weather and get to see parts of our country that are just beautiful, weather can make or break a trip to the UK.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your Disney trip, yes, they decorate those parks beautifully. I haven`t actually seen anyone`s Disney pictures this year so far, but one of my goddaughters is there right now and they had three days at Disney, so I look forward to seeing her pictures, although they are complaining of the cold right now!!! My friends (her parents) head out in a few days but it should warm up by then....I hope!!

I agree!!!! Train stations and airports evoke all sorts of images for me....of course I could watch too many romantic movies but I love them!! All those people, each with their own reason for being there, every type of humanity you can imagine all there for a purpose whether it be happy, sad, or just mundane work travel, it fascinates me and I love people watching.

You must be beyond excited with your trip being so close!!!!

 

[schumigirl]

TRAVEL DAY

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 17TH
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Well, we did sleep, surprisingly, till around 3am when I got up for the bathroom, I had made sure I drank plenty of water after each drink so yes, I was never going to sleep all the way through the night, but after a glance at the ever lively airport out of the window, I got back to sleep and we slept solidly till just before the alarms went off at 6am.

I quite liked this getting to sleep a little later instead of being at the terminal for 6am. We took our turn in the shower and I made the mistake of using a small bottle of body lotion on my hair instead of conditioner no glasses in the shower!!! So, start again, but doesn`t take us long to get ready and we head down to the lounge for a cuppa.

Last time we had a breakfast in this lounge they had some lovely offerings from continental meats, cheeses, fruits, smoked salmon and an assortment of breads and pastries as well as the usual cereal options, this time is was a little more underwhelming to say the least....we had been told it was disappointing so we knew we would eat at the airport.

I have to say the Marriott we stayed in last trip in May do a much better breakfast option.

Pastries were not very fresh, I didn`t take a picture of the fruit offered as it was the saddest looking fruit I have ever seen. I know there have been several complaints as the Lounge is advertised with breakfast included, for us it`s not an issue, but I guess if you turned up expecting a nice breakfast you`d be very disappointed.

We did however make a cup of tea with the teabags and machine, we sat for 10 minutes or so then headed back to our room to pick up our hand luggage and head down to the terminal.

We checked the room in case we left anything behind, then popped the keys into the drop box before heading down the skywalk to T2.

I always forget how exciting this is, knowing we have a 9 hour flight ahead of us, good job we love flying, and then all our days in front of us, although as I`m wearing a dress and sandals and this skywalk is freezing, my excitement is curtailed for now until I hit the warmth of the terminal.

They are doing a massive amount of renovations and alterations to Manchester and it is changing massively from what it used to be, but it`s still a very busy airport and we walk past the old check in desks, then the bright shiny new check in area and head straight for security.

Some folks think it`s silly, but we always buy the Fast Trak for security despite the lines being nowhere near what they used to be when flying came back after covid, but although there may not be lines this side, once you get through the back, there is a benefit to having it and we do get through a lot faster.

This time again, I had to go through the scanner for a secondary check, Tom was ok this time, but it is stressful with everyone going through and trying to make sure you have everything in the trays that need to be clear and usually the Officers are trying to keep things moving, so it is a loud and busy area that is always nice to get through.

This was nice, knowing we didn`t have almost 4 hours in front of us to pass before the flight. We meandered around the duty free area which mostly is not any cheaper than outside prices, but it`s nice to get a spray of some perfumes and generally wander, but as we`d only had tea so far, we were getting a little hungry and wanted to have the first of seemingly many meals today.

In May, our flight didn`t leave till mid afternoon and we had chosen to eat in the Apiary, we had enjoyed it so went back here for breakfast, difference was it was really busy this morning as expected, this time of day everything is mobbed.

We had thought of maybe booking the Lounge but to be honest because we didn`t need to be at the airport so early, we didn`t really have the time to enjoy it and there are plenty of places to choose from for food.

We only waited a few minutes to be seated and had one on the right of this picture away from the bar which suited us as it was so loud inside.










The menu is quite nice, plenty of choices but all we really wanted was some tea and a bacon roll, so Tom went up to the bar to order and they said it would be a 7 minute wait for food.

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I don`t know what constituted the bun to be artisan.....but it was very nice, I opted for simply bacon and Tom went for bacon with sausage, they were both hot and well cooked. Sometimes bacon if it`s been pre cooked can be dry, but this was nice.

We finished up, made a bathroom stop and headed down to where we knew the plane was leaving from, many folks wait for the Gate announcement, but we knew it was in the new area and it`s about a five minute walk so we had a head start on the crowds that converge when they announce the gate.

This new area is very nice and I love the way they now load the plane in groups, this was to try and avoid the mass surge forward as soon as they announce boarding. They load the folks that need extra time or help first, then Upper, Premium and then everyone else in groups.

Last time we had exit row seats we were last on the plane, so expected the same today, however on our boarding cards given to us we were boarding group 2 which was with Premium, so we were ok with that, moreso for getting space for the bags in the overhead lockers as we had no seats in front of us, they had to go up.

It looked a beautiful but very cold day outside and as they started boarding they asked if there was anyone who couldn`t climb stairs....weird. Then I noticed the plane wasn`t attached to a gangway, so we had to go down about 8 flights of stairs, go outside and it was freezing....really freezing and I had a summery dress on with bare legs....not fun, then we climbed the stairs to the plane. I was annoyed I didn`t have the camera handy as we walked right out to the plane, that would have been a picture I`d have liked.

Everyone as grumbling I have to say and we have no idea why the plane was sitting away from the bridgeway.....maybe cheaper????? But, we were happy when we got on the plane it was toasty warm.

Cabin Crew as always with VA are amazing, we had a lovely young lady called Lauren who was standing at the door we were sitting beside and I realised that`s why we were loaded early, the door we were sitting at wasn`t being used......

I didn`t get the picture of our seats, this is not my picture but it`s the door on the other side of the plane, but it shows how much leg room you have with these seats. You do have the bulkhead, so as I was at the window and have shorter legs than Tom, it didn`t affect me at all, they are very good seats though.

I will say though, it has been so long since we sat our very ample butts into economy seats....they are neat!!! They are fine, no issues with them, but my goodness...I will just say, I was glad we weren`t going to be sitting in them on the way home after 16 nights of Florida eating!!!! I do prefer Premium seats.







(Google pic)





We were due to take off at 10.25, and we did take off at 10.40am, which wasn`t too bad at all and the take off is still one of our favourite things about flying. I sound like a broken record here, but.....I still miss that engine roar of the Jumbo Jet with the four engines.....four engines is so much better than 2!!! But, this plane will get us there I know that, I just miss everything about the 747, it was such an iconic plane when it was launched and showed the way flying should be going. Now we seem to going backwards with everything going eco friendly and it all seems so cursory, for me it`s all about money and they can get more of ours!! I digress though......

Flying is fun for us, we look forward to this as part of our trip and we soon settle down and look forward to the flight.

Once we start to level out the CC come around with drinks and I opt for a red wine and Tom has a beer, the snack is a little corn thingy which is not nice, but I get a picture anyway.

The TV`s and food trays are in the armrests which is maybe why these seats are that little bit neater as they are sturdy and don`t lift up, but it is the type of seat we prefer with the screens in front of us as opposed to being in the seat in front of you...feels much more spacious somehow, especially with the legroom in front of us.

Due to not many movies being made recently, there were very few movies I wanted to watch, some I had already seen and there were a million foreign language movies and seemingly trillions of super hero action movies which are not my thing, so I knew Tom would be fine, I struggled however finding something I wanted to watch.

I tried a Jane Fonda/Lily Tomlin movie, which I just remembered I need to Google the ending as I got very bored with it and tried something else, but in between I do like to watch the Skymap which gives all sorts of data as to flight times, height, speed and so on and I do like to see the countdown on how long we have to go....not for everyone apparently, but, I love it.

After giving up on Jane Fonda, they started serving food and goodness knows what this would be like today. We had a choice of chicken or pasta, so we both opted for the chicken casserole which was maybe edible, and I did miss real cutlery. We did get wine and water with the meal which helped.

The smaller dish is some kind of salad?

Weirdly it did taste not too bad, better than it looked for sure, but the chocolate orange dessert was yukky. Even Tom who loves a chocolate orange thought it was awful.

We have snacks in hand luggage if we needed them.

After the food, we visited the bathroom and then came back to settle down, I saw the lady behind me had completely reclined her seat, so I told her I`d recline a little so she wasn`t crowded, but she said to recline fully as she planed to sleep till we landed now.....well, ok then. It`s a contentious subject when it comes to recline and usually on a day flight, most folks don`t, however if the person behind reclines, then it`s for you to do so.

So, I covered myself in the blanket, put on some socks as my feet get cold on flights, eye mask and neck pillow in position and I was out for the count. Not the comfiest of sleeps but I slept all the same and woke up as we were approaching Canada

I had barely woken up when they came round with the drinks service again.....well, I might get back to sleep if I had one more.....it didn`t work!!

This is probably the part of the flight where it does feel long.....when you hit the Eastern seaboard, time does slow down, so I started watching the much maligned newest Indiana Jones movie....it wasn`t the best movie I`ve ever watched, but not the worst, I`m glad I watched it though.

Afternoon tea soon appeared, now in Premium this is always really nice and you get it set out nicely, however this box looked absolutely fine and to be honest, I was more looking forward to having some tea to drink.

I think it`s more to pass the time that looking forward to the food seems like fun, it`s certainly not that we have a love of airline food or even that hungry, but it is a time passer.

The last hour of the flight was bumpy, very unusual for us coming into Orlando, so the seatbelt sign was on earlier than usual, glad we went to the bathroom as soon as we`d finished afternoon tea.

The final stages of the flight is probably one of our favourite times, the excitement is there despite us now feeling a little tired, but something zings you to life the closer we get to landing and see those bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds......

Then the pilot announced we were 20 minutes to landing, it was going to be a bumpy landing and we were coming into very heavy rain!!!!

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And it wasn`t a bad landing in the end, but we literally didn`t see the runway or airport till we landed as the cloud was so heavy and it was indeed raining, this was a first for us landing in Florida to rain like this.

But, we had landed....and 10 minutes early at 3pm local time which isn`t too bad at all with a flight time of 9hrs 20 minutes. Now, we just couldn`t wait to get going and get our trip started!!!

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[MadHatterBrooke]

Woo-hoo! Looking forward to living vicariously through your trip report. I'm sorry you and Tom both were not feeling well when you got home, but glad you are better now.

 

[schumigirl]

Woo-hoo! Looking forward to living vicariously through your trip report. I'm sorry you and Tom both were not feeling well when you got home, but glad you are better now.

Thanks so much Brooke......we`re both much better now, good meds, sleep and wine are the secret to any recovery!!!

Glad to see you`re still reading along, good to see you

 

[Jules76126]

along Jules76126

It`s good to have you along for this one, glad you can join in this one.

How lovely you enjoy the UK....I`d swap you anyday lol....no, there are some beautiful places in the UK, very weather dependant though!! Have you been to many places over here?

I know I sometimes feel ashamed when I chat to many Americans and Canadians in Florida who will recall all the places they`ve visited over here and some I have never once set foot in......lol.....

You`d love what they`ve done with Potter, it truly is an amazing sight to see, even non Potter fans think it`s terrific.

Hope you enjoy this one and it is good to have you along

We actually lived in London for year to attend a masters program. It was the year of the Olympics and the diamond jubilee so it was quite the experience. We have been to Oxford, Canterbury, Salisbury, Exeter, Brighton, Leeds, Chester, and Edinburgh. We really want to do a two week trip in Scotland and travel all around. My husband is a big whiskey fan. But we need to wait till our two year old gets a little bigger.

It was funny when we lived in London, people asked all the time if we had been to Las Vegas or California (we live outside Boston so not close to us at all). And we were like no. So I understand the not traveling where you live us.

Virgin is also our favorite airline to fly. They are so friendly. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[DisGhost]

My son also likes watching the flight map. He usually is doing something on his tablet during the flight, but keeps the map on and checks it periodically. Ever since he was a kid, he likes maps. I think he only decided that I was a great mother when I managed to find a half-remembered old atlas from the attic when he was 3 lol

 

[schumigirl]

We actually lived in London for year to attend a masters program. It was the year of the Olympics and the diamond jubilee so it was quite the experience. We have been to Oxford, Canterbury, Salisbury, Exeter, Brighton, Leeds, Chester, and Edinburgh. We really want to do a two week trip in Scotland and travel all around. My husband is a big whiskey fan. But we need to wait till our two year old gets a little bigger.

It was funny when we lived in London, people asked all the time if we had been to Las Vegas or California (we live outside Boston so not close to us at all). And we were like no. So I understand the not traveling where you live us.

Virgin is also our favorite airline to fly. They are so friendly. Looking forward to reading more.

That was a good year to be in the UK! We watched the opening ceremony in the now defunct NBA restaurant in Citywalk as we were in Florida in July that year and watching it on the huge screens made us wish we were in London for it, it looked amazing.

We have family in several of the places you`ve visited, Oxford is gorgeous but I do love Salisbury, Chester and Edinburgh of course!

I know the UK is tiny compared the USA, I think you could fit us in Texas or something like that, but I do think some people who have never been imagine it`s a lot smaller than it is. And I have had several people tell me they`re coming to visit the UK....oh and London too lol.....always makes me smile.

Virgin are outstanding! We have flown other airlines to the States, Thomas Cook were surprisingly wonderful too, but British Airways were a big disappointment, not that they were awful....just not as good as VA, but they got us there, so there`s that!

More coming up soon.....

 

[schumigirl]

My son also likes watching the flight map. He usually is doing something on his tablet during the flight, but keeps the map on and checks it periodically. Ever since he was a kid, he likes maps. I think he only decided that I was a great mother when I managed to find a half-remembered old atlas from the attic when he was 3 lol

lol.....it`s funny what makes us great mum`s at times.....

I`m glad to hear he enjoys that too, it is quite fascinating. VA used to do a better map where they had points of interest in there too such as where Titanic rests and several other intersting points of history or just places. I miss that.

I do wonder today how many kids have never seen a proper Atlas, I know a couple of my godchildrens children had no idea what a road map book was.....lol.....a bit like showing them an old album or CD`s for the first time.......they had no clue!!! Our friends and us felt like Methuselah on those occasions!!!

 

[keishashadow]

when middle daughter who never listens, tried to drink a water from the mini-fridge.

Lol it got to the point I threatened my boys if they drank a Fiji water from the room, I’d deduct it from their birthday present allowance.

vegas even worse, they have sensors in the minibar fridges. If you even touch a bottle as to root around in there, you often get charged for it. Don’t ask how I know

We have seen one or two trees this trip and yes Boathouse was nice, but we had an odd waiter!

Oh, you are being quite the diplomat there lol

Everyone told us it was “freezing“ this morning

we giggle seeing so many wearing down ski sort of jackets when it dips below 50 degrees there.

I meant a different type of implant, looked me up and down and asked if I was sure I needed implants......that made us laugh so hard, from then on I always said dental implant

Nwahaha

Yahoo! I', first for once, instead of last!
Can't wait for your wonderful trip reports, Carole

I guess we are bookends this go around

To be honest I mainly stuck to the proscuitto which was very nice,

It does look quite appetizing.

Yep, I`m sure I was born in the wrong country!!!

Born to be a lizard.......

You need this on an embroidered pillow

They are doing a massive amount of renovations and alterations to Manchester and it is changing massively from what it used to be, but it`s still a very busy airport and we walk past the old check in desks, then the bright shiny new check in area and head straight for security.

It’s looks very futuristic & clean!

I do wonder today how many kids have never seen a proper Atlas, I know a couple of my godchildrens children had no idea what a road map book was

So true, some atlas editions were so beautifully bound and printed on great paper stock, works of art in their own right.

 

[KathyM2]

I made the mistake of using a small bottle of body lotion on my hair instead of conditioner no glasses in the shower!!!

That's the worst. I don't understand why they make the print so small!!

but we knew it was in the new area and it`s about a five minute walk so we had a head start on the crowds that converge when they announce the gate.

This is annoying the way some airports do this - ie: don't tell you what gate until right before. You then have no idea how far you have to walk. Ugh. Glad you knew where you were going!

 

[schumigirl]

It was pretty miserable when looking out the window, very different to our usual landings, but we were down and it was going to brighten up somewhat.

We stood up and like everyone else waited to be let off and we all chatted to the lovely CC member Lauren who sat opposite us for take off and landing, she, like all CC are always so lovely and chatty, she was asking our plans and I mentioned Strong Water being our first stop tonight, she had never heard of it, so we told her all about it, she did like the sound of it as she was a rum fan!!

A few minutes later we were on the way off the plane and down to immigration, always the nicest walk and we seem to get a new burst of energy at this point of the day.

Usually we turn left instead of right as we have Global Entry and head to the machines for a face scan then over to where CC pass through and a chat with an officer, but the sign had changed and it was no longer where we went. We wandered over to an employee to ask and yes, it had indeed been moved to the central area where there were several machines for us to us.

When we first got GE in 2018 you had to fill in a whole load of details, hand print, passport and facial recognition, that slowly dwindled to just a passport....now, you don`t even need that, a glance at the camera and you`re sent to the first officer who we expected to have to show our passport to and answer a few questions. Usually they ask if we`re bringing anything in and our answer is always British chocolate, cookies, candy and Scottish rum....that always raises some interest. But, today as we approached him, he simply stated Carole and Thomas....welcome back!! Thank you!!

This has to be the easiest entrance anywhere, and so fast.

Our baggage had already started going round on the carousel and it was only a few moments before we saw our cases, Tom hauled them off and we headed up the escalator to go on the mini train to the main terminal, always a nice thing to do....going this way anyway!

I glanced at the Christmas tree which is always so nice to see, but we just wanted to get down and get the car and Visitor Toll Pass sorted, this shouldn`t take long and again Alamo is fairly quiet and we get our papers sorted with no hard sell on upgrades or different types of insurance that we don`t need, we get our pre ordered Visitor Toll Pass and head over to the garage to see what car we would end up with.

Before Covid we always upgraded to the Maserati Levante, fun car to drive and the upgrade was always, shall we say an absolute bargain, but that`s never available now and to be honest for this trip, we`re not too bothered what we get, so she tells us to choose an SUV from a specific row and we got a Ford Edge, and it wasn`t fancy nor particularly fast, but it was comfy and got us where we needed to go.

That drive out of the airport is another of our favourite things to do and we always comment how familiar it is and we drive without even thinking too much, except for the time they changed the road without telling us.....we managed to do a very swift turnaround and get back on the right road, but for the most part, it`s a quick and seamless drive home. It is lovely being back and driving on roads that are so familiar.

We have to remind ourselves to go to Sapphire though and not turn into RP first, habit usually.....and we do manage to pull into the Sapphire parking garage which is preferable to RP lot for us and with it being a Friday, it is very busy, but we get a decent space close to the elevators and we head down to check in.

Today we are met by two lovely people, Justin who we have met a few times before and Ashley who we are meeting for the first time, they welcome us back and we have a lovely chat with them, they have our room keys and that was such a lovely touch for which we thank them for before heading straight to our room and we know which one it is now, our favourite suite!!!

The Sapphire Suite is beautiful, it is spacious while at the same time, it`s incredibly cosy, we absolutely love this room with the large welcoming hallway area, ideal for storing suitcases too.

Tom`s bathroom.....well, he does shower in the main bathroom, but having two bathrooms is ideal even though it`s just the two of us. It`s as well stocked with towels and products as the main bathroom, so we`ll never run out of anything in here.

And again, we were gifted some lovely treats for our arrival it is incredibly thoughtful and they are very much appreciated, it is a delight to be made so welcome once again.

Right now, the water and cheese/fruit plate are very much enjoyed! The milk and cookies was also a little treat we would keep for later.

I have to be honest, on vacation I don`t even want to make myself a cup of tea or coffee, but we do enjoy having a fridge for keeping things cool, so this little kitchen area is perfect for us. We can have our wine, water and juices in the fridge and a little storage area for all our goodies.

More treats!!

We don`t keep that large ornate light on very often, it is bright and like most folks we prefer a cosier look for rooms and it does get cosy when we just have the little side lamp on in the room, when the drapes are pulled it really does feel very homely.

This is a comfy bed!!!

And.....my bathroom

It not only has the double sink and it`s own toilet, it also has a full size bathtub with shower over it and one large shower on it`s own, this is the one we use, I don`t think we`ve ever used the bath, but for a family it`s ideal having a choice.

I sent Marian a message to thank her so much for the lovely suite and the lovely treats that were waiting for us, they do look after folks so well.

We unpacked very quickly, it doesn`t take long as we have the clothes on hanger in the cases and everything else is put away just as fast, then the next thing I do is shower....it`s been a long day and you just feel grubby until you`ve had that first shower and change out of those clothes we flew in. Tom does the same once I`m out and we both feel much better for it especially as we`re heading to Strong Water soon. We keep in touch with Fernando when we`re not here so he knew we were coming back tonight and we couldn`t wait to see everyone.

Everyone that knows me knows I`m a Christmas tree fanatic and Sapphire has one of the nicest of all the hotels....that huge lobby calls for a tree as large though, it wouldn`t look right with anything less and it is beautiful, although I do think they could squeeze a few more lights in there....but that might just be me as we go overboard on lights on trees and decorations in general, but it`s once a year and we love it!!

I was very happy to see this properly tonight.

To the rear of the lobby on the right hand side is our favourite bar/restaurant in the whole world is Strong Water Tavern.....there really is nowhere like it for staff, food, atmosphere and of course cocktails. It genuinely can`t be beaten for all of the above and the manager Fernando has been there since it opened is simply one of the nicest men in the world who has a genuine love of what he does and it shows, he has compassion and concern for both guests and his team members too and I know they think the world of him also, you can feel the warmth of the place when you walk in.

There is a young man who you`ll speak to usually before you get a table or if you have booked, his name is Abdel and he really is a very lovely young man, we got to know a little more about him this trip, it`s always interesting getting to know folks, everyone has a story and they`re always good to hear. Fernando had told him we were coming in so we were taken to one of the bigger tables tonight which was fine by us, it wasn`t too busy either which was nice.

A few minutes after we were seated the man himself came over and it is always such an incredible pleasure to see him! He gives the best hugs too!! He asked what we were drinking and I of course had Carole`s Punch.....Tom cheated and got something else, but that`s ok, it was rather lovely too.

We had a good catch up with Fernando and everyone else who stopped by to say hello tonight, it truly is like one big happy family in here!

Because we were talking so much, we hadn`t got round to ordering anything yet, so we were sent over some Tequenos which are very delicate puff pastries with ham, cheese and a roasted pepper sauce which are lovely, so we nibbled on them as we looked over the menu....although we know it by heart, we still like to read it over. demi, who is just adorable said of course there was no rush, I did however want to order before our brains hit that wall, once that tiredness hit us, we were gone.

These really are lovely though, quite filling so I wish we hadn`t ordered 3 dishes!!! Although two of them are quite light so we were going to do them justice.

We didn`t get to see Chef Carlos tonight as he was still away on a trip, and Maggie and Lenny were missing but we`d see them as I knew we`d visit this lovely place more than once or twice.

This really did feel like home.

The first dish to arrive was the Camarones, this is one of the original dishes on the menu and still stands as one of the best. The sauce is light and full of flavour and it needs that bread to mop up what`s left in the bowl, it is beautiful. We do ask for no extra cilantro, that`s why it looks more yellow than usual.

Tuna Tiradito.....honestly, this is one of the best dishes to be added to the menu, it is incredible and until he tried this one, Tom was never overly keen on raw tuna, but this completely converted him, very delicate dish with a little spice on the melon, but not overpowering in the least.

We share all the dishes, and this next one we chose always makes Fernando laugh when we order it now. Vegan Hotpot.

A few years back Chef Carlos did a special tasting menu for us and this dish was one of the plates that came out......I wasn`t sure when I originally read the description and explained to Fernando if anything said a dish was Vegan or vegetarian and we had tried it, we always had the same reaction!

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Yep, we`re a little closed minded on non meat dishes......but, no one`s perfect right

But, they had both assured us we would love it, especially as we liked quite spicy dishes, so we were intruiged to say the least and when they brought it out we were somewhat alarmed to see how green it was, but all natural ingredients that are the freshest quality and created by an amazing chef all turned it into one of our most favourite ever dishes from Chef Carlos!!

Some of our favourite nights in here have been when Chef takes the menu from us and tells us we don`t need them, he has dishes prepared for us and we are always impressed beyond belief with what he produces, every single time.

Being honest, it was too much food, but we did get through most of it, I think tiredness was beginning to hit to be fair and 2 cocktails might have helped too but the food is so good here, it`s hard to know what to choose each visit.

The Vegan Hotpot isn`t on the menu right now as they`ve added some more new items which are all beautiful, but if it`s something you might like, ask as they may have it, although apologies if they don`t. If you like healthy, flavoursome, filling and spicy dishes, this one is for you, meat eater or not, it is beautiful.

I think we caught up and said hello to almost everyone tonight and there is such a nice feeling of being here, it just feels like we`ve never left and saw them all last week, such friendship and warmth come from everyone in here.

Eventually I hit the wall.....we say our goodnights but we`ll be back in tomorrow night for drinks as we always have some little things we bring for everyone, but right now we just want to sleep, I think we left around 9.45 which is good for us as we like to try and stay up till 10pm if we can, our brain thinks it`s 3am right now, no wonder we`re tired!

One last pic tonight in front of the tree as there`s no one around.

The suite is very cosy when we come in, drapes are closed and low lighting everywhere, I was so glad we had showered earlier, a quick brush of the teeth, make up removed and I climbed into that wonderfully comfortable bed to discover Tom was already asleep. Again, I left the drapes open a little and I can see some of the buildings in the distance lit up with Christmas colours, it`s so very pretty.

It sounds so corny, but it felt so good to be home.

​

 

[schumigirl]

Lol it got to the point I threatened my boys if they drank a Fiji water from the room, I’d deduct it from their birthday present allowance.

vegas even worse, they have sensors in the minibar fridges. If you even touch a bottle as to root around in there, you often get charged for it. Don’t ask how I know

Oh, you are being quite the diplomat there lol

we giggle seeing so many wearing down ski sort of jackets when it dips below 50 degrees there.

Nwahaha

I guess we are bookends this go around

It does look quite appetizing.

You need this on an embroidered pillow

It’s looks very futuristic & clean!

So true, some atlas editions were so beautifully bound and printed on great paper stock, works of art in their own right.

lol....we were caught once like that on our first visit to Disneyland Paris....I pulled out a small bottle of wine to see what it was, saw it was French wine (naturally we were in France) put it back and when we checked out they tried to add about the equivalent of $20, bearing in mind it was 1992!!! We didn`t pay but they did send someone up to the room to check it was still there unopened......we must have looked dodgy

Yes, my brother was very tactful and thought about what he said carefully before he said it....lol......

I should patent that I`m a lizard....then no one could copy me

The airport is stunning in the new parts, when you see the older areas, my goodness you can really see it`s age. When it`s finished it will be world class for sure. People often ask why we don`t just go to Heathrow, not much difference between the two, but we much prefer Manchester, smaller and easier to navigate.

You`re correct with some Atlas editions being works of art, some of them really are. I wish I still had one my dad had in the 1960`s, hardback version, couldn`t have been easy for my mother to use, she self admittedly can`t read maps very well.....lol.....

 

[schumigirl]

That's the worst. I don't understand why they make the print so small!!

This is annoying the way some airports do this - ie: don't tell you what gate until right before. You then have no idea how far you have to walk. Ugh. Glad you knew where you were going!

I should have checked before I popped them in the shower, I assumed the white bottle was conditioner, then I discovered they don`t offer conditioner anymore just shampoo, shower gel and darn body lotion! That`ll teach me to not look first.

The silly thing is, when they give you the boarding card, it does actually state the gate, but folks always assume it`s going to change, but with the new terminal now it doesn`t. I did say I`d regret being a smart asp if we had to walk all the way back if it did change....serve me right then!!

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

*finally caught up*



That tree is stunning at Sapphire omg!


And the way I scrolled knowing full well the camarones would be there even though a small part of me thought they wouldn’t be

 

[schumigirl]

*finally caught up*



That tree is stunning at Sapphire omg!


And the way I scrolled knowing full well the camarones would be there even though a small part of me thought they wouldn’t be

lol....we adore shrimp in any form!! And those are gorgeous.

Yes, that is our favourite tree from the hotels, it had to be impressive with that lobby. RP tree is lovely and it`s a brand new one they have this year for the first time in a while, it`s stunning too, but Sapphire just has the edge for me.

Glad you`re caught up...always good to see you

 

[schumigirl]

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18TH​

We slept reasonably well considering it was our first night, the one thing we dread is to wake up around 1.30am and be wide awake not able to get back to sleep, but we got up for the bathroom once around 3am, but did get back to sleep. But, once we were awake around 6ish, that was us up.....well, I was, Tom always sleeps or snoozes that little bit longer, his reasoning is, he might as well wait till I`ve had my shower although he seemed to forget we have two showers, but I didn`t mind him snoozing on a bit.

Once we were showered and dressed I checked my emails and checked how Kyle had done time wise for his run that morning, and he had done really well so we knew he`d be happy with that time.

Once we were both ready we set off for the walk to RP for breakfast, and on the way over we saw the first part of the revamp of the conference area, we knew it was going to be done but hadn`t seen any images since it had been done and it does look more corporate, not as South Pacific looking now but it is fresh and lighter. I wouldn`t have had the gold lighting, silver would look better with the blue and greys and I would have changed the old gold on the doors where the key entrances are......but.....no one asked me my opinion on that

I do like it generally though, and that fresh carpet smell is hard to beat..

The Club Lounge is one of our favourite places in the hotel, the staff are always amazing and take care of everyone so well, so welcoming to anyone walking through the doors and genuinely want to look after everyone. We have been lucky enough to meet some very lovely people over the years on our trips up here and this one would be no different there and even some Dis folks to meet for the first time!!

We know so many of the team from our previous trips, over the years we`ve got to know so many of them, some better than others of course, but we generally know them as our "American kids".

The newest supervisor is on this morning and she looks at us as we say good morning and I see her do a double take as we haven`t met her before, she takes a swift glance in the kitchen where our picture is up there with some previous team members.....I smile as I know she`s checking to see if it us.....she comes back to say hello and introduces herself then. I always take a second when someone says they`ve heard a lot about us.....it`s always said in a nice way at the hotel, but instinct always makes me want to ask.....have you heard good or bad things......lol....thankfully it`s never bad.

I liked this new young lady, she is very nice and has a good sense of humour which always takes you far in life and we then saw two familiar faces from our last trip and one new lady, it was so nice to see familiar and new faces up here.

Trish mentioned they got grape jelly in for me, usually I bought my own pack of it and kept it in the fridge, but wouldn`t need to do that this time, so I must have had toast with cream cheese and grape jelly....yup....a favourite of mine, I have no memory of what Tom had this morning.

A new addition to breakfast was fresh turkey slices, this was a lovely addition and replaced the rather unpopular salami which was fine, but we never touched it. Apparently some folks had no clue what it was, but everyone knows turkey and it was very popular.

Since Jen took over as Concierge Manager she really has made some lovely improvements to the lounge and has brought in some new lovely food options including jerk chicken and beef bulogi which are both beautiful and on two occasions this trip we did actually stay for dinner in the lounge rather than head out later that we usually do.

It felt so nice to be back.

Once we were finished breakfast we headed down to the lobby to say hello to a very good friend of ours, Samuel, told us he was working this morning and said we`d pop down and hopefully get a quiet time for him.

Whenever we speak to any member of staff, we always tell them if they need to go quickly to do something don`t hesitate, they`ll never offend us by running off if they have to, we don`t like to dominate their time, but usually we`re ok and lucky with quiet times.

We saw Tamara and Sophia on the Concierge desk downstairs, we got big hugs from them and they hadn`t realised we were over at Sapphire first so it was nice to see them too. Sophia went to get Samuel and he came out two seconds later and again, I was happy to see he was wearing a purple shirt in my honour......love him in it, really suits him!!! It is so good to see him, we miss him a lot when we aren`t here, emails are all well and good, but catching up in real time is always best.

We had a good old chin wag and caught up on what they had been getting up to and plans for Christmas and so on and it is just nice to see him again. We have a few we`ll catch up with over the trip who all work behind the scenes now, we have plenty of time now.

And we have to stop at the brand new RP Christmas Tree......and it looks beautiful and fits really well into the lobby area!! We had been told there was going to be a kind of small grotto built beside it soon then it would be decorated up so it looked very festive, I didn`t think we`d see it finished but one of the boys would send me a picture of the finished item.

I did notice the trees hadn`t been placed along the corridors of the ballroom/convention area when we walked through, I did hope they`d be up before we left.

We then headed back to Sapphire to get the car and went to Publix for some bits including sunscreen that we`d still need even at this time of year, then went to Wal-Mart for some other stuff before heading to ABC Wines along at LBV, one of our favourite stores!!!!

Non drinkers will switch off completely from this, but for us....it`s like Christmas morning .....they have so much more than we could ever get at home and in much larger bottle sizes too as well as variations in flavours of vodka`s and so on.

Spoiled for choice really and I had my eye on that huge bottle of Milagro Silver Tequila!!!

Ciroc and Absolute are two vodkas we use for mixing cocktails, so the amount of flavours here makes us very envious as we can order them online, but can`t just walk into a store and buy the different flavours you get over here. I also spied a large bottle of Belvedere which is one folks like to drink straight up over ice and nothing else....we were going to need that extra suitcase and plenty of bubble wrap!!!

We both love a Baileys, I love salted caramel anything, so when I saw this brand called Michaels, we had never heard of it, we thought we`d give it a try and pop a bottle in our fridge this afternoon, couldn`t be that bad could it.

We do drink soft drinks and tea too I will add and copious amounts of water in our daily life, but we do like a very well stocked range of alcohols, wines and usually whatever takes our fancy, so we were both mentally eyeing up so many things!!!

Aviation, The Botanist and Gin Mare are some of my favourites with gin, especially the Gin Mare, but it was the smaller bottle they had here, we`d wait and see if they had the larger bottle at MCO in Duty Free when we head home, but we had plenty of choices here for sure.

It was almost lunchtime by now and we had our first discussion of...where will we eat today......we never plan what we`ll do or where we`ll eat most days, but we both fancied Sloppy Joe`s down at Icon Park, so a quick 15 minute drive and we park up in the multi storey parking lot and head down for lunch.

It`s hot enough today, not the usual September temps but this is lovely even when it`s not the blisteringly hot temps that we`re used to when we visit.

Sloppy Joe`s is one of our favourite places down where the Orlando Eye is, there are a load of places to choose from but for us this one has it all menu wise and it`s usually very quiet at lunchtime so we do get seated immediately and there are only another two booths filled and a couple at the bar. I do wonder why it`s not busier sometimes as it is so good.

Tom orders a soft drink as he is driving and we are both the same, if one of us is driving we don`t even have one, one drinks and the other one drives if we go out just the two of us.....I will happily admit to usually being the non driver.....

My favourite cocktail right now, outside of Strong Water of course is a spicy margarita and decide to have a try of what they have to offer, he did know to ask how spicy I wanted it and I told him spicy with enthusiasm so I think he got that I did mean really spicy.

It was lovely.

I knew what I was going to order without even looking at the menu, the Sunset Key Tower salad that has shrimp, crab, avocado and some other little wonders and moulded almost into a Tian, it looks so pretty and is very tasty, I`d had it once or twice before and it is incredibly fresh.

Tom opted for Big Dave`s grilled Chicken Sandwich which came with some kind of cheese and bacon, he said it was very nice, chicken was cooked perfectly and not dry and we did share the fries which are nice here.

Today is a lazy day, we have no desire to rush around and do much of anything, so we sit a while and chat to the barman who was again new, they do seem to go through a lot of changing staff here but they are always lovely.

Outside it is lovely, the sun has quite a glare to it, but without the savage heat, so we do wander towards the eye but we don`t plan to go on it this visit, will keep that for September I think, but, it is nice to just wander around, it is filled with families and couples enjoying the day and sunshine.

We don`t stay too long as a lady we used to know several years back from Sapphire sent a txt to say she could meet us in the lobby for a coffee after all, we weren`t sure if she could make it and were delighted to hear we`d get a chance to say hello.

She now works for the competition and enjoys it, but I think she yearns to come back here...maybe one day. So we now head back home so we can meet her for an hour or so, she has taken the time for us so we`ll happily meet her when it suits her best.

We did have an hour with her then she set off to start her shift and said we hope to see her next September, she smiled though and was a little secretive, her fiancee is Australian, so I do wonder if she`s heading that way.......Mariella......

There was a lovely family sitting close to us and their kids were running around and playing, absolutely not bothering us in the slightest, but the dad kept moving them away and apologising if they were bothering us.....they honestly weren`t, they were just having fun and no doubt burning off a little energy, and they were so cute too. But it was nice to see the parents were concerned if their kids were annoying anyone else.

There`s nothing nicer than seeing kids having fun and running around, they were just a lovely family, before we left with Mariella one of the kids said to us we talked funny.....lol.....we have heard that before she was around 5 or 6 and I asked her where did she think we were from and she thought very hard for a minute and said China.......

Now, with our very mixed accents people sometimes get mixed up and ask if we`re from any of the UK countries and on occasion Australian and even once rather oddly someone asked if we were French......lol.....but China was a new one even for us. She was so cute though and her parents were laughing and asked her if she even knew what China was, she said no.....lol......gotta love kids and their honesty.

So, we said our goodbye`s to Mariella and got back to the suite, I got my ipad out while Tom popped out for some ice so we could try our little replica Bailey`s drink, and it was lovely! It`s not a brand we have in the UK so it`s always nice to try something different, not something I`d bother taking home with us as we do like Bailey`s, but nice to have in the fridge here.

We only had the one and popped the bottle back in the fridge for later and right about now we both wanted to sleep so badly, I could barely keep my eyes open and I think Tom had his eyes shut while watching some tv.....hmmm. But, it was well after 4pm now so we decided to stay awake and then we`d be tired later and sleep the full night away, we didn`t plan a late night so it sounded like a plan.

However, later tonight we would come to bitterly regret that decision to not go for a nap this afternoon