Spin to Win for American Airlines

Here is a link to a quick little "sweepstakes" for American Airlines. 

As part of their “New American” campaign, American Airlines is hosting a Spin-to-Win game on Facebook with a grand prize of 100,000 miles. It took me 3 spins to match 3 suitcases and now I am eligible for the 100,100 mile contest. 

Doubtful that anything will come of it, but it's worth a try right? A girl can wish :)

Southwest Deals Now

There is a Southwest sale going on where the flights are priced based on the distance of the flight at either $49, $89, $119, or $149 each way. These cheaper rates begin in April and the months after.  I found several good deals out of Vegas for $49 one-way to most cities in CA, AZ, and UT. Look up your own city to find a deal! You must book by this Thursday for travel from April 3 – June 8.

Click Here to see the Southwest Deals!

Priority Club Point Breaks Hotel List

       The new list for Priority Club PointBreaks Hotels  for 5,000 points per award night was posted today for stays through January 31st, 2013. These are capacity controlled awards so it is smart to book a stay ASAP as hotels can book up and are pulled off PointBreaks Award list at anytime.  PointBreaks are award nights at selected hotels for 5,000 points. This is one of the best values in hotel loyalty program awards. 

        A Pointbreaks hotel is such a value that this redemption is one of the few where buying points might make sense if you don’t already have enough, assuming that one of the listed hotels works for you.  Using points plus cash to accumulate points, it will cost $35 out-of-pocket for the 5,000 points you need for a free night.  I think most anyone would be happy to pay $35 for these hotels.

Check it out! Priority Club PointBreaks Hotel List

Norwegian Epic Cruise Getaway

Norwegian Cruise Line Review of the EPIC

Just returned from a  week long Caribbean cruise aboard the NCL EPIC. As a 153,000 ton Mega-ship, this is one huge vessel. My husband and I have both cruised several times and were a little uncertain of getting on a ship with 4,200 other passengers but also excited about the amount of entertainment and restaurant options. With our 5–year-old son and Paul’s parents in-tow, we headed to Miami.

Embarkation – We arrived around noon with hopes of hoping on the ship quickly. Our luggage was handled very quickly and easily. Checking-in was also a quick, painless process. After being sent upstairs to the “holding area”, you were assigned a group card. They called the groups quite quickly even though we were a bit irritated at being Group 9 which seemed like it would be quite a wait. Within 15 minutes we were on board. Without keycards in hand, we were in our rooms within minutes.

Someone was a big fan of the towel animals!

Staterooms – We had a Balcony Stateroom (14037). This was a fully covered balcony with 2 chairs with recline ability and a small table. The balcony door is a reasonably heavy sliding door which will stay open on its own. It has good locking capabilities for kids if safety is a concern. The room is configured quite nicely with plenty of storage options. Our room has even less storage than most as it had a connecting door with another room, and with 3 of us, we still had plenty of storage for clothing and shoes. The bed was quite comfortable and I thought the quality of the linens was fabulous. We didn’t use the pull-out couch/bed to sit on very much. It was more of a “table” for our stuff. It is a tight room in terms of walking around one another, etc. but we managed just fine.

        Many discussion forums complain/complement the bathroom set-up on this ship. Yes, the shower and toilet are separated and “out in the open” in the front of the cabin upon entering. There is a curtain that can be drawn to gain privacy from the rest of the cabin, however if you had a guest entering the room, they would likely need to wait to enter if someone was in either. We had no complaints about the shower. It was roomy and modern with soap and shampoo dispensers inside. The towels are in a bit of an awkward spot to grab if you are already in the shower, so I do suggest that you grab one before getting in!

        The toilet is where I can see some issues. The “door” to the toilet is frosted plastic, sliding door. It is almost purposeless in terms of privacy and as a sound barrier. It almost has no purpose! I agree that it would have been nice to have had an actual door and enclosed space, but I do believe it would have been a bit claustrophobic! So, I don’t know. It was not a bother to me and my family, but if you were travelling with someone that you were not so close with, I can see that the lack of privacy would be an issue so be warned!

A view from our balcony to theirs!

        My in-laws were in a Balcony Stateroom on the 8^th floor (8027). Be forewarned about these cabins. Although they do offer a good deal in terms of price, this one did overlook the edge of a lifeboat and received considerable splash and salt water buildup. The balcony itself is much larger than those on higher floors, but they found that it was often wet and on rainy days, offered little to no overhead protection. Their “glass” balcony was typically so filthy that they could not enjoy looking through it from the room. In addition, many of these rooms are located directly over the BLISS Nightclub which plays music until 3am. They struggled to sleep many nights due to the music.  

Dining Rooms:

There are 2 main dining rooms, The Manhattan Room and Taste. Both dining rooms serve the same menus every night of the week. The Manhattan Room is a bit fancier, however, our experience was that the musical entertainment was extremely LOUD and overall, very bad. We found ourselves much happier with the Taste Dining room. The food was overall, decent in the dining rooms. Nothing horrible, but nothing to get too excited about. It is simply a nice dining experience. Check your in room TV for the specialties each night as the regular menu will be the same for all evenings onboard.

Specialty Restaurants:

Le Bistro – The French Restaurant was the star of our dining experience. The $20 p/p cover fee was reasonable considering the quality of food. The escargot was amazing (my father-in-law ordered 2 plates). My husband also had escargot, mussels, French onion soup, and the lamb. All was excellent! I had a puff pastry mushroom, vegetable Napoleon that was really unusual and great. Finishing the meal off with chocolate fondue was great. We really enjoyed the service, taste, and intimacy of this restaurant the best of all of the specialty ones.

Cagney’s Steakhouse- The reviews on this place were high so we had high expectations. None of which were met. From the server who dumped our entire bottle of Hundred Acre wine, sediment included, into the decanter, to the cold sides that were served, a less than memorable lobster bisque, and to the less than flavorful meats we ordered, we were really underwhelmed. The baked potatoes were smaller than the palm of my hand. The desserts were flavorless and bad. We complained and got a little of our $25pp cover charge back. But wow….it was not impressive. We wished we had gone back to the French restaurant instead.

Moderno- The Brazilian Steakhouse was fair. Lots of decent cuts of meat being served tableside. The salad bar was fair and the bread was not a table favorite. The experience was overall decent.

The Noodle Bar/Sushi – My husband did not have good things to say about these restaurants. Overall, not very good.

Garden Buffet – Open throughout the day with all kinds of food options. Overall, most items were fairly good and tasty here. We often saw some of the same items on the buffet that were being offered in the main dining rooms. They really had anything you could imagine from Indian curry dishes, to made-to-order pasta, hamburgers, and specialty dishes.  Coffee, water, milk, tea, and juice (in the AM) were your only free drink offerings. There is an outdoor buffet offering some specialty burgers not served inside as well as some basic food items.

Room Service Lover

Room Service- It is a limited menu in comparison to other cruise lines. My son was a fan of the grilled cheese and having cookies and brownies delivered to his room. It was typically a 45 minute wait. 

Things To Do:

Kids Water Area - The kids splash area was a hit with my 5 year-old. They have a “real” mini water slide which I am sure he went down 200 times! Lots of fun things to do for this age group here. I was usually lucky enough to score a lounge chair and pull it right over to where he was playing and get some sun while he splashed!

Water Slides-  My husband went down one and said it was a rough ride and that the seams where the tube was connected were rough. It made sense why no one was really going down them much! They had one ride that you went down with an inner tube that seemed very popular.

Recess Kids Club- I really cannot say enough good things about our experience here. We registered on the first day and got a program listing of all of the themed activities while onboard. Most sessions were about 2 hours with an hour of freestyle play. You cannot just leave your child in here all day FYI.  The kids really seemed happy and kept busy as this was very hands on and not just a daycare with kids running wild. The supervisors were all so great and called us when our son was “missing us” one day. My son did have a bathroom accident one evening and the staff was able to contact us in our restaurant. They handled everything so beautifully. My son rarely wanted to leave when I picked him up and was always really excited to tell me all of the things that they did. One of the cutest things was Pirate night when they were all dressed in pirate garb and marched around the ship on a treasure hunt. He loved it.  It was a great experience overall.

Casino- We didn’t spend time here personally but our in-laws played the slots a bit. The casino is located in a main thoroughfare and you really have to walk through it to get places. It is slightly smoky, but not all that bad.

Little man and his dance partner

Entertainment- We didn’t really do the shows and such. My son and I did see Blue Man Group one evening and had fun with that. Thankfully it was a free show and I would not have wanted to pay for it. Otherwise, we never did any of the other shows.

The White Hot Family Dance Party out by the pool was a hit with my son who decided to put on his own show with a cute little girl on the dance floor. 

Outdoor Space- There are several small pools which were very crowded on sea days and somewhat empty on port days. There is a sport court, climbing wall, trampoline bounce, and spider climbing area. There is not a way to walk a “full lap” around the boat, which we really missed.

Ports-

St Maartin- We took a water taxi over to a main shopping stretch and rented some beach chairs right right by this area. Chair rent for about $15 for 2. The beach was nice, however the water was a bit rough. We had some issues finding a decent restaurant in the area.  

St Thomas – My son and I took a taxi to Magen’s Bay. This ride, in an open-air bus, is not for everyone! Hairpin turns, heights, and scary driving might be too much for some people. It was $8 each way with a $4 entrance fee to the beach. Magen’s Bay was nice overall. But we had yucky weather that day which kind of took away from the fun of the day a bit. There is a small store, and tiny restaurant/bar on this beach.

  Nassau – The weather was cold, cloudy, and rainy. We took a cab over to Paradise Island, the location of Atlantis. I wasn’t all that impressed with the hotel itself. The charges to see any part of the resort are ridiculous so we passed on that. I ended up walking through 2 towers to find a public beach access. Unfortunately, the beach was ridden with people trying to sell stuff to you from every angle and extremely rough waters. I didn’t stay long and headed back to the ship! 

Service On Board – Overall, the service was good. Our room was always made up in a timely fashion. Many of the dining people knew my sons name by the second night. He was a big hit. Most dining/service workers were from the Philippines. These people work SEVEN days a week and do not get a day off. They work different schedules each day where they might get 3-5 hours off here and there. I am continually amazed at hearing their stories…the women who have left their babies at home while they work their 9 month contracts on board. They have to pay for their internet access which makes me even sadder that they do not have free access to at the very least, email their families without time concerns. I don’t know how they do it.

Disembarkation- We had lime bag tags, but walked off of the ship with the Green group simply because we were tired of waiting. Our bags were waiting in the facility and we were off the ship without any issue. If we had been smart, we would have exited the ship earlier to avoid the mass groups waiting all over the holding areas!

Travel Tips for the EPIC-

*Power Strip- There are only 2 plugs in the room and we surely needed more power sources for our electronics.

*Bar Soap/Conditioner- If you don’t like the pre-loaded body wash in the shower, bring your own bar soap. There is no conditioner FYI.

*Don’t loose your NCL provided beach towels. It will cost you $25.00!

*If you have kids, the kids club has themed events like Underwater, Hollywood, Spies, Pirates, and a Pajama Party. My son happened to have some cute clothes that matched a few themes which made it even cuter when he arrived!

*Research your ports a bit on Cruisecritic.com for good travel advise. The shore excursions are so expensive and you can visit most anywhere for half the price or less just by being a bit saavy.

*Pack a bathrobe if the bathroom layout is an issue and your have privacy concerns

Overall Experience- In general, it was a positive week. The ship, lacked some traditional cruising elements that we missed in comparison to Holland America. We wouldn’t say this was a bad experience in any way as we had a lovely time. However, the “mega” ship option might be lacking on the attention to detail in regards to the dining and ship configuration overall. 

Our Canadian Tour

Hello Canada!

      The terrific 3, (soon to be the fabulous 4) with a new family member joining the Goecke clan in May, we boarded a Southwest flight to Seattle where we in turn drive several hours to our first destination, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Paul had struggled in deciding on where to stay and finally settled on the Westin Whistler, due to the Triple Starwood Points promotion.

Hotel-

       The Whistler Westin is located on the southeast corner of Whistler Village which is quite obviously, “the place to be” in Whistler. Surrounded by numerous restaurants, shops, and more importantly, easy access to the gondola, it is a nicely located hotel. Don’t be fooled that it is “ski-in-ski-out”. The pictures on the internet are deceiving  You easily have a 5-8 minutes walk from releasing your skis to walking in the doors of the hotel after walking across a drop-off parking lot of dirty slush. From a location standpoint for happy ski-in-ski-out skiers, we would probably have preferred to have stayed at the Fairmont which overlooks the Blackcomb ski base and seems to be a slightly easier access area.

      We had a one-bedroom suite which consisted of a small, but reasonable appointed kitchen, dining table, and small living room area with a pull-out couch and fireplace. There was a small separate bedroom and a nicely-sized bath. We were slightly disappointed with this “4-star” property. The room was rather cramped overall and a little worn. We requested a room with a better view after our first night and did get moved to a room with a slightly better mountain view. My husband enjoys opening the door to the balcony for the “crisp air”, which is highly annoying to my always freezing self.

      One of the perks at this Starwood property is the option to opt out of housekeeping and receive 500 points per night. We are happy to grab our own new towels from the pool/spa area as needed or grab them off a nearby housekeeping cart! Speaking of the pool, there is an indoor and outdoor hot tub and a pool where you can swim from indoors to the snowy outdoors. An added perk as a mom of a young one who thinks he can swim perfectly, was a wall of life vests which allowed me to watch him swim all over safely!

      The lobby is fine….large fireplace and lots of comfy chairs but not a "traditional" ski lodge lobby that my husband would have preferred to see I'm sure. There is really nothing in the lobby other than the valet so it doesn’t really have any draw although it is beautiful. In the hotel itself, there are 2 restaurants, Both of which are fairly overpriced. One of the downfalls of this hotel is that there isn’t any type of coffee shop or quick food area. There is a below-average Sushi restaurant that I would not return to in the access hallway heading towards the ski rental area.

Nearby Restaurants-

The Lift- A quick coffee shop just a few steps outside of the hotel as you walk to the ski area. They have a small but reasonable selection of food and coffee. The ham and cheese croissants were my favorite.

El Furniture Warehouse- Ok, let’s talk money….Everything in Whistler is expensive. So when I saw signs saying that their ENTIRE menu was $4.95 per entrée, I would floored. Connor had a sub-par grilled cheese with fries and Paul and I split a Works Burger. For $4.95 the burger was a deal. However, be cautious of your drink orders as most soft drinks, etc are $3.00 or more which can come as a surprise. But with their varied menu, it is definitely somewhere I would return.

Longhorn Saloon- Viewable from the Whistler ski base, this is a sports bar with basic pub food. We split a Thai wrap which was steaming hot and quite good.

Pasta Lupino - What a fantastic find! This little "pasta shop" looks decieving on the outside, but wow will you be glad that you went in. Some people had recommended it to us and the reviews are great. We both had some of the best homemade pasta that we have ever had. The locals were coming by in droves and purchasing fresh pasta to take home and cook. Wish we could stop back in here! Highly recommended!

Mongolie Grill - (Reviewed by my husband Paul) it is nothing more than a typical strip mall Mongolian BBQ, which please understand I love with all my heart. I could eat Mongolian everyday if my family would let me. Instead of charging by the bowl like every other Mongolian BBQ I have ever been to they charge by the KG. The price is roughly 18.00 per pound and adds up to about 35.00-40.00 for 1 bowl of stir fry. Throw in an overpriced drink, crazy tax , and tips and you are over 50.00 per person. I also noticed when they weighed my food the cook added a porcelain ramekin to the scale. I'm not sure if their scale was off and they were adjusting for it or if I was simply ripped off. I would assume a restaurant that charges by the weight would have their scale perfect. They also have different sized bowls and I did not see the cook adjust the scale for the bowl size so I'm assuming the metal bowl we were charged for. Basically myself, my wife, and my 5 year old son left very hungry and with a 100 bill. Do yourself a favor and skip this Mongolian BBQ, go get a good steak

Skiing with Kids-

      We dropped some serious cash for our 5-year-old to step into Whistler Kids Ski School for 2 days. The whole registration process was a bit unorganized, much like the drop-off/pick-up procedure. Our first instructor was very dry and somewhat rude. The kids ski area is two-thirds of the way up the mountain and accessible only by gondola. As a pregnant mama who is not skiing, this was disappointing for a variety of reasons. #1. You could not go up to see your child ski or view the area without a regular ski pass OR you could purchase a “sightseeing pass” for $51 for a ONE-TIME gondola ride up the mountain. Are you kidding me? The kids ski area is fenced off and is “Parent Free”, so even if you do go up there, you are quickly ushered away.

       Later that day, Paul and I found that the other ski base area by the Fairmont had it’s own ski school, in PERFECT view for anyone to see where I could even sit in the lodge and watch. In addition, for $25.00, Paul could purchase a ski pass and ski the Magic Chair Lift for beginners and spend some time working with C (who skis free under the age of 6). This area was much less crowded and if you drive up to the Excalibur Lift, you can take your child on a simple Magic Carpet and very innocent hill over and over for free. Over by the Fairmont is what appears to be a much better, and more viewable ski school for Whistler Kids. Wish we had known about this one as it was much less crowded and had easy watching for moms and dads!

       Overall, Whistler was great. Although we are still very partial to our second home, Park City, Utah, we feel happy about our visit to Whistler. We got plenty of snow, saw and learned some new things, and made some nice memories!

Mickey Mouse, Mama, and C

My son C and I took off for 5-days in Disney World in October.

       Going against my husband's hotel/mile loving self, I wanted to stay on-property, meaning no points for us. However, we did use Hotels.com and used the 5-night stay to help us advance toward the "stay 10 nights get one free" deal that they offer. I secured what I felt was a good rate for their newest resort, the Art of Animation Resort. I found a nightly rate of $99 per night which I was comfortable with.

       The Art of Animation Resort is considered a value resort with the cheapest area being The Little Mermaid section. Truth be told, this area is quite a hike from the main building where the food hall is. We were in building 8 and it took us approximately 10 minutes to walk to the dining hall. The buses were in the same area so you can plan on a good hike. For us, it wasn't an issue as we were saving money, staying in a beautiful, magical resort, and being able to use the easy Disney bus service was simply worth it for me.

    The resort itself is perfectly themed for young kids...and young at heart parents! It is divided into 4 themed areas, Lion King, Finding Nemo, Cars, and Little Mermaid. The first three areas are all family suites, providing 2 beds and more living space, at double or triple the cost of the Little Mermaid value "hotel rooms". The Cars area is one of the best picture taking areas in the resort. You will find every character and the backgrounds that Disney has created are perfect. There is a small, typically underpopulated pool over there with Cozy Cones surrounding it.



The Finding Nemo pool is the main attraction. The pool is huge and provided us lots of fun during our stay. We really appreciated the life vests for young kids that could be borrowed.

Lion King "Walk Through" Area

The Lion King area had the least fun atmosphere as there really wasn't much to do in it's interior. It is basically a connection area from the Nemo area to Little Mermaid.

       The Little Mermaid pool area was well-themed, with Ursula, Ariel, and King Triton towering over the area at the entrance of each building. The room was perfectly clean and had my little man thrilled upon entering it. Let's face it, we were not going to be in our room much anyways, so I wasn't in need of a fancy suite. But it was really fun to allow my little boy to be completely surrounded in the Disney theme from every angle. It wasn't the best points deal or hotel program for our family, but for my heart and head, seeing the smile on my son's face made it worth it for sure.

   






       The room had a large Queen bed, precious table with sea shell chairs, a dresser with small fridge, simple sink area, with a separate bath and toilet. Every inch of the room continued the Little Mermaid "Under the Sea" theme. It was very "unisex"...not to worry for the boys.
 It was very cool :)

         We took advantage of Disney's Magical Express bus transfer to and from the airport. It was easy and worked great for us. The luggage transfer took forever and our bags did not arrive in our room until well past midnight even though we arrived at 7pm. I think next time, I would go ahead and simply hand carry my own bags. The basic bus transfers to and from the park were great. We did run into a few evenings where the lines for our buses were insanely long, however they were pretty good about getting multiple buses over to our location. A quick tip, if the line is short from the park to the Pop Century Resort, take it! It is just across a small bridge from the Art of Animation! Wish I had thought of this earlier in our stay!

      We had 4-Day Park Hopper passes for our stay. We managed to hit all 4 parks in one day easily. It was 2 weeks before Halloween when we were there and the crowds were thicker than I expected, but manageable. We did get in for a soft opening of the new Fantasy Land, gaining access to Gaston's Pub, and the new Little Mermaid ride. We really enjoyed the parks and had a blast.

      We bought tickets to the Crystal Palance Character Lunch with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet. It was something that I would likely pass on in the future. The buffet food was lackluster and we had to wait forever to see all of the characters. However, our server was great about making sure we got photos with all of the characters before we left. Note to parents thinking about it, save your money and stand in line for the characters your kids HAVE to see.

      We also had tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on a Thursday evening. They run this event several times before Halloween in both WDW and Disneyland. The tickets were under $70 and were completely worth it.....So worth it that when the "real" Halloween day rolled around, my son had little to no interest in going Trick-or-Treating! Disney allows access to the park at 4pm for those with tickets to the event. We decided to make that a pool morning for us, and then took off to the park in our costume!

        From the amazingly special Halloween parades, to the decor, to the candy stations throughout the park, it could not have been a better experience. I can only hope to do this again with my little boy and future daughter when she is old enough. We left the park with a huge bag of great candy and memories that I will cherish forever.

        I can honestly say that the 5-days I spent with my little boy in WDW were some of the best days of my life. He will only be 5 for a short time and to see this fantasy world through his eyes and by his side was immeasurable. I think I too became a little girl for a short time, enjoying the same sights and sounds that my family shared with me as I grew up. Our world is full of too much tragedy, too much immediate media, and things that must be done right away. Our trip was an escape into a cartoon world that although not "real", was a beautiful movie to escape into. Don't let your child's lives pass without taking some time to do this.

                                             Hotels.com - Orlando Hotel Deals - Click Here!

Honolulu Holiday with Hyatt

Ok  this is going to be a very detailed review as when I was shopping hotels, I would have loved a review that was in depth, so here it goes. 

My husband found a insanely priced flight via Hawaiian Airlines to Honolulu during a random week in March. My son and I were available and ready for travel so we happily accepted the idea of a short Hawaii stay! Using my Hyatt Diamond Status, we booked the Hyatt Regency Honolulu.

Beach Rebuilding

Diamond Tier Perks: As a Diamond tier Member I got to check off a few in-room deliveries. I chose a bottle of chardonnay and a goat cheese and fig tart. It showed up late in the afternoon and was lovely. I didn’t drink the wine right away, but had to repeatedly ask housekeeping to keep it on ice. At the time, I didn't realize I could opt out for points instead as they didn't offer it. Beginner status mistake....however, I did REALLY enjoy the food!

The Bad Parts: The beach was getting a facelift at the time. The first morning, bulldozers were directly on the breakwall beach area right in front of the hotel. The noise on the 38th floor was very loud…so I can only imagine what it was like on a lower floor. On the 38th floor, the traffic on the street is constant. You will not fall asleep listening to the lull of the ocean…you will typically hear the hum of people, cars, trucks, and a background of some waves. It will not be a quiet beach sound by any stretch of the imagination. So just prepare for that. Considering I had not had a beach vacation in forever, I was still happy! By mid-day the construction had moved down a block or so…but there is a barge out in the ocean with a “pipeline” visable in the water to refurbish the sand on the beach. I am glad that they work so hard to keep the beaches, so I can’t complain….but it was a little bit of a let down to look off my balcony and see a ton of that going on. Too bad for the immediate travelers but good for the beach and hotel long term! It did not ruin my trip. As a detail, I did a room change mid-trip and moved to the 30th floor,direct ocean front, and the noise did not seem as bad. 

View from our Balcony

Regency Club: Breakfast is the main deal at the RC. 4 juices, an excellent coffee machine with lattes and specialty coffees, and a handful of soft drinks in a fridge. A very limited cereal selection, more so for adults. Usually there is something fun for kids, but not here. There was a McMuffin style sandwich available one day, a quiche the next, some kind of egg dish the next…. Daily offers are hard boiled eggs, scones, muffins, bagels, and toast, some cheeses and fruit. They give you some 50% off buffet tickets for SHORE Restaurant, but I can’t imagine going and paying for breakfast when you can fill up reasonably here. But honestly, after a few days of the exact same offerings, the buffet begins to look more appealing. You have to walk through the buffet to get to the Club and I often wanted to snag a few pancakes from there and take them into the club. Lol. 

The mid-afternoon time slot had some really awkward food choices….several cooked, but room temp or cold vegetables with odd flavors, 2 cheeses, crackers, and usually one entrée item ranging from Garlic Chicken (C+), Italian Meatballs (C-) . There was always this tasteless offering a room-temperature, slimy vegetables out. It was just weird. Now I will say, I was in a minority here as an American. Most of the clients in this hotel were Asian and I believe the foods, rightly so, were moreso for their tastes. The last food round of the day at the RC was the dessert time. Foods ranged from a bland macadamia nut pies to a similarly contructed guava cake and an apple cobbler on different nights. There were not any other offerings. During the “off” hours they leave out apples, bananas, and oranges as well as 3 glass containers of chocolate chip cookies and 2 other “bar” cookies. Sadly, these containers were 1/3 full of crumbs (I kid you not) They looked like they had not emptied them in months. My feeling about the RC overall was average. The actual space is beautiful and convenient. The workers were nice, but none of them ever said much of anything to me or my son except for an occasional hello, although they definately seemed to speak in depth to the other guests...not a huge deal, just an observance. Overall, it is worth it. But it would be nice to change it up a little bit here and there!

Concierge: I went down to talk to the Concierge regarding some discounts or activities for my 4 year old….He barely spoke to me and when I asked about if they had any coupons or where I might find a discount coupon for the aquarium  or zoo….He shrugged his shoulders and said “maybe some of the publications on the way there”. That was it. You are the concierge. Come on man…..be helpful. I don’t know why he was even behind the desk. I would have appreciated a little more help.

Front Desk: Lovely and kind to speak to....They were great. Even after receiving a poorly written email stating that I would not get an early check-in, I was greeted at 7:30AM and easily checked in to my room by 7:45 in the morning which was amazing! There are several parrots on-site which is rather neat. The hotel is set upon 2 stories of stores. Nothing exceptional to speak of...mostly Hawaiian odds and ends. There are ABC stores with everything you could possibly need on the 1st floor. 


Pool: Yes, it’s tiny. And if you have read these Hyatt Honolulu reviews, and people are correct. When the pool area is crowded, the pool looks so awkward. With it being on the third floor, I know they likely didn’t have a ton of building options, but it’s almost not worth it. The lounge chairs almost encroach on the pool too much and make it feel even smaller. My suggestion to the hotel is give the pool some breathing room. You have hundreds of chairs up there, take the row encircling the immediate pool away. It will make it not feel so tight. By 2pm, the pool is at capacity, so I recommend getting out there early for chairs. It is completely shaded until 1-2pm FYI so plan on spending the morning hours at he beach if you want sun.

I spent a few hours at the pool on 3 different days and was ignored by the staff the entire time. I was never offered a drink or any services. I later went to one of the umbrella tables immediately outside of the bar. I sat with my son for 15 minutes before I finally got the wait staff’s attention. The quesadilla was soggy and not something that I would ever order again. The drink was fair. Pool towel guys were always nice and kind to my son.

Rooms- I was first given a room on the 38th floor, with an ocean view and a view of Diamondhead volcano. This was a Regency Club level and there are amenities there that the standard rooms do not have. There was a nicer entryway, bathrobes, slippers, heated toilet seats with cleaning mechanisms, free bottled water, etc. The layout of the king room was huge and I was extremely comfortable. It took awhile to get my luggage and finally had to call downstairs to get it. 

Midway through my trip, I wanted to be able to get some sun on my balcony as my volcano-facing room never got any direct sunlight. I called down to the front desk to see if they had an oceanfront room available. They offered me what they would typically call a parlor room I believe with a queen size bed. Although it lacked some of the upgrades that my former room had, I was happy with the sunning abilities and frankly, it was fun to have a slightly different view. I could lay in my bed and look directly into the ocean without turning my head. 

Less than exciting Parlor room, but with an amazing view!

Lastly as I was leaving on my final night after check-out, I asked for a hospitality suite to freshen up in. They gave me keys to room 561, which was directly by the elevators. What people have written is true, stay away from rooms by the elevators, It was really loud. This was a VERY small city view room that overlooked the roof of the main hotel and had a view of the city if you want to call it that. All in all, I would say when in doubt, spring for the ocean view or at least a partial ocean view on something above the 15th floor. You won't be disappointed! 

General Area: It’s in the middle of a lot of action. I do think this is a fabulous hotel location for families and kids. The Zoo and Aquarium are easy walking distance as well as reasonable food choices. The Duke statue is literally right out the front of the hotel. It takes maybe a minute or two to get to the beach. It’s easy to get around from here and I was thrilled with the location.

Nearby Attractions: Being with my 4-year old son, we did lots of “kids” activities, listed below:
Aquarium-$9 for adults….I would pass on this one. You can walk through the whole thing in a matter of minutes. The employees were kind and passionate about their jobs, but there just isn’t enough there to draw people in. The poor seals looked miserable in their dingy water. This place is in bad shape. Skip it.

Honolulu Zoo- This was a pleasant surprise as I had read bad reviews. I actually enjoyed it…particularly the foliage and greenery! The animals were hit or miss…but there are lots of nice photo opps and some nice exhibits. Yes, I have been to much better zoos, but I did enjoy this.

 

Teddy Bear World-A kids museum with animatronic attractions. Kind of pricey as you could run through it in 10 minutes if you wanted….but it made my son happy.  There has to be a coupon for this place somewhere. 

There are several luau shows during the week taking place on the grassy area as well as numerous street performers, artists, etc up and down the main street as well as the Hawaiian Marketplace nearby. 

Other Restaurants We Visited:
Duke's - A Great lunch staple-Great calamari, great burgers. Good for families
Hula Grill -Just upstairs from Duke's-I recommend the Happy Hour as the burgers are nearly $4 cheaper. Great menu from 4:30-6.
Crepe Shop-just down the street from Hyatt-Had an amazing fruit crepe here. So Good!
Eggs N Things-Strange set up with ordering and whatnot and there is often a huge line. My son and I went for pancakes for dinner. We ordered the chocolate chip pancakes and one serving was easily enough for 2 people. The coconut syrup was unusual and amazing all at the same time.
Hawaiian Cookie Company-They are everywhere and although, not a restaurant, it's hard to go in there and not buy a box of cookies!

All in all, it was a fabulous trip. My details above should not read as negative at all, I am only trying to be as descriptive as possible regarding some of the things that I wished I had known. I would stay again in a heartbeat! I just got back this morning and I am so missing my vacation already! As a new Hyatt Diamond Member, I was pleased with the overall service and the hotel amenities. Thank you Hyatt for giving my son and I a beautiful background to make wonderful vacation memories!

Vegas Show Run Down

So you are coming to Vegas and want to see a few shows? The listing of nightly options is daunting. I obviously have not been to every show in town, however below is a short list of "not-to-miss" shows and some that you should be sure to miss! 

O - Cirque Du Soliel - At Bellagio -  "O" is the only show in town that has truly "wowed" me. That was 7 years ago when I moved here and even now when I see it, I feel the same way. Yes, the tickets are pricey. But you will not walk away feeling like you have been "had". It is beautiful, athletic, and stunning. There are a few slow spots....but comparatively to anything else in town...It's amazing. Go see it!

Mystere - Cirque Du Soliel - Mirage Hotel - Mystere is a solid show that you will not regret spending money on. When friends/family come to town and I'm not sure if they will like Cirque shows or not, I always send them to Mystere or O first. Typically Mystere tickets are a bit cheaper so often people pick it. It's a great show....as good as it was ten years ago. Comparatively to LOVE, KA, or the others it has way more of a "Oh my god" factor that the other shows simply do no have honestly.  I highly suggest tickets for this show. Seated near or far you will enjoy it.

KA- Cirque Du Soliel - At MGM - The stage and technical stuff is amazing...from the audio to the sound...But the show itself had me so completely bored. There are very few "oh my god" moments like "O" has. My dad and I both were less than excited about it and the audience felt the same way. I looked back behind me and saw 10 people completely asleep. The audience was barely a third full.It is a technical amazement with no backbone to hold it up. It's too bad because with the amount of money they spent, I expected more...but it's very forgettable. On a more recent note, my husband saw it and loved it! 

LOVE - Cirque Du Soliel -  is miraculous from a audio stand point. It is truly amazing to witness the sound from every direction, including from your seat. The dynamics of the stage and overhead technology is beyond my imagination for sure, but that is where the amazement ended. Cirque is generally know for it's "oh my god" moments...and this show is empty on those. There are a few interesting feats, but nothing more exciting than what I have seen at Barnum and Bailey. it is kind of like watching a great Cirque show with all the artsy stuff but the headliner attractions didn't show up.  It's a decent show..If you love the Beatles, you'll love the show simply because it's them. The rest just needs a bit of work to get up to par with Ringo and friends.

Zumanity - Cirque Du Soliel - New York New York Hotel - This 18 and up show lives on the edge...and it is fabulous! Yes, there is some nudity and yes it is a big raunchy at times, but somehow Cirque still holds you in complete amazement. This show will make you laugh, shake your head, Hide your face a few times, and applaud loudly. It makes for a fantastic night of entertainment!


Dancing with the Stars Live - Tropicana - I was part of the audience for the VIP Preview Night before the show opened. It was the dancers first night in costumes. All things considered, the show ran quite well with a few small costume issues. The Las Vegas crew of dancers is spectacular. Their energy and enthusiasm is great. They are really working their tails off and it shows. Sadly, the shows weakness lies in the "celebrity" cast. Carson's jokes didn't all go over to well on the preview night and they continuous gay jokes got really old. Hopefully, they adjusted his jokes a bit since then. I'm sure there were huge nerves for all of the performers on this introductory evening and they have since let loose a bit more. But the celebrities nervousness was pretty obvious next to the professionally more comfortable LV cast. 
Regardless, I do truly think this is a hidden gem of a show even if you do not watch DWTS.

La Reve - Wynn Casino - This is a great show that sometimes sits in the shadow of Cirque Du Soliel's "O" as it also was water features, dancing, and diving. But I was pleasantly surprised. you cannot have a "bad" seat as the theatre is in the round. I found the entertainment to range enough to keep me interested and overall is was a great show!

David Copperfield - Occasional Short Term Performances at MGM - Keep your eyes peeled for when he is in residence at MGM. If you are looking for a pure magic show, you will enjoy this. It's artistic, funny, and will leave you shaking your head trying to figure it all out!

Blue Man Group - The Venetian - Their show was just recently updated. This show has been around for years and there is a reason. The show is weird, fun, and musical. It's rather hard to describe, but it's a good time!

Donny and Marie - at the Flamingo -  A Vegas "staple" with fun music, great dancing, and some surprises along the way! 

Other Mentionable Shows : Carrot Top at Luxor, Celine Dion at Caesars, Penn and Teller, PeepShow, and Legends

Just Another Travel Night

I found this post that I wrote about 3 years ago on a bad travel night.....Thought I would share.

Ahhhhh….Woe is me.


      Another weekend of travel nightmares and victories. Another half-polite question of “Would you like pretzels or Biscotti Cookies?” Another evening of a roughly accented man telling me how my precious, uncomfortable seat can be used as a floatation device for my ginormous self in the ocean. Another 4 hours with my sweaty seatmate who has reasonably decided to lift the armrest between us so that he too can share my overpriced seat.


     My life is in constant movement. Whether it is chasing C through the house to defeat his battle of succumbing to sleep or choreographing a number to appear on a stage…I know that I am pretty much in movement from morning till night. But lately, most of my movement, or LACK THEREOF has been related to an over-committed travel schedule.


     I have a hard time saying no. I over extend….Over commit….Overdo…at least when it comes to dance my husband says. But lately I have seen more airplane interiors than a flight attendant. So in thanks to my wonderous travels the last 2 weekends, I must say thank you Delta.


      Delta, I want to take a moment of my busy life to thank you. I have been blessed to fly your amazing airline 4 times in the last 2 weeks and to say it has been memorable is an understatement. Please allow me to share my quality Delta time with you.


       First off, thanks for buying Northwest Airlines. What a great decision. I really enjoyed the NWA/Delta flight that was 3 hours late for no given reason, delayed in the gate for another hour, and then had no air conditioning until we were in the air for over an hour (see sweaty man comment from above). After a mystery mechanical error that somehow “repaired itself” and the tug which moves the plane from the gate got stuck, it was bound to be an effortless flight. I really loved how the Northwest technician was heard banging a random piece of metal near the airplane tire to get the plane loose. Good call.


      Secondly, hats off to those attentive flight attendants. Once you finally served me a drink,I set my mostly full can of Diet Coke on my ever-so-dependable tray table. 15 minutes later I begin to realize that I am feeling very moist and warm only to look down and see the entire can of brown liquid has emptied itself into my seat after my sweet Exit Row tray table broke off one set of its hinges. With “sweaty man” snoring at my side, I quickly stand up and begin paddling the sugary sweet soda onto the floor. As I ring my “ever-ready to help” flight attendant call button, she comes to my rescue to see my soaked black yoga pants and irritated smirk. Does she offer a towel? A Sham-Wow? Or how about a DRY seat? No, no….even better, she asks me if she can get me another soda. Seriously? Did the neurons fire off on this one or what?


      As a side note…..Thankfully, I did get off that flight to have a 21 year-old idiot on the escalator tell me “It looks like you might have sat in something” to which I replied with a completely serious face “REALLY? (checking the extrordinarilly drippingly wet back of my pants) “Gee, I hadn’t noticed..Thanks man”.

Then I move onto the tram with my car keys in hand, really to get home and anxious to kill my next victim that so much as says anything to me when “Coach Obnoxious” opens his mouth. A overly-agrressive, Notre Dame jacket-wearing jerk warns me that my suitcase is unzipped. After exchanging unnecessary, meaningless jabber he learns that I am a choreographer. He slurs, “So you tell people what to do?”


“Yes, I suppose so”, perched with my keys ready to maim my next victim.

His eyebrows shoot up as he says, “I guess my ex-wife was a choreographer too because she was always telling me what to do”.

Wahhh Wahhhh Waaaaaahhhhhh…….. He’s lucky he made it off that tram without a swift kick to his nether-regions.


      Back to Delta…..Thankfully Delta, you have continued to entertain my life with super customer service. Special thanks to Habib who told me I could sleep in my car until the next flight….or Shaniqua who effortlessly told me to CANCEL my itinerary online so that she could re-book my flight and then tried to charge me $150 to re-book. Special thanks to her supervisor “Annie” who’s accent was so thick that I am pretty darn sure that was her secret agent name, who drop-kicked Shaniqua and set things straight.

Moreso, I am so glad that you provide electronic kiosks for boarding passing in Las Vegas that actually close after 12:30am. I was so glad to learn that last weekend as I attempted to quick-print my boarding pass as I ran to security. Who’d a thunk that those little silver machines “close”? Isn’t that the whole point to keep them open so that you don’t have to pay real people? Regardless, thanks for helping me miss my flight and kill an entire day of work where I had rehearsals planned. It was awesome.


      As I sit here tonight at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel….stranded at another airport…on another Sunday evening….I hold tight to my precious $7.00 food vouchers and look anxiously to my 2 flights home in the early dawn hours with you Delta. After an evening of watching your “Estimated departure time” tick further and further past my Atlanta connection time, I quickly saw my chances of holding my sweet C in my arms dwindling away. After many more phone calls to speak to Delta representative “Ishmael”, “Jackie”, and “Tom” I knew I had exhausted my efforts to see my home sweet home lights of Sin City and hung my head low as I pushed “5″ on the elevator en route to my humid and dusty smelling hotel room.

I am pleading with you Delta….Get me home safely and on time for once. That’s all I am asking because I am pretty sure I will not ever fly you again unless I am forced. I am a tried and true Southwest Airlines loyal flier and I strayed for the last 2 weekends for the “convenience” of flying more directly to my location. Yet again, I have learned that flying “close enough” to my locale and spending 2 quiet hours in a rental car where I am in control is my best bet to get to my finish line.


      As I pull back to germ-ridden comforter in this 14×14 box of a hotel room, I will attempt to sleep off this nightmare and awaken to a simple day with a girl on an airplane. But I warn you, don’t mess with me. One more delayed flight due to incompetence…one more flight attendant with a catty idea…and this Southern Bell WILL come unglued.

Good night sweet friends.