Travel Ordeal of Flights To Cruises

Above, cruise ship departure from Miami cruise terminal. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last summer, a friend and I booked a flight out of Albuquerque to Miami to take a cruise to the Bahamas.

We booked a flight that arrived in Miami in the wee hours of the morning of our cruise departure date. We had no problems getting to Miami, but the flight was a long one as we had to catch a transfer flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Miami.

Getting to the cruise terminal from the Miami airport was a different matter. We pre-paid for a shuttle service, but that never arrived. We called them several times and got no response. Ultimately, we took Uber to the terminal.

TheStreet posted an article on the pitfalls of airline flights to reach a cruise departure port. 

They start with:

Sometimes, even when you think you’re playing it safe with your travel plans, what can go wrong does go wrong.

Even if you’re an experienced cruiser with plenty of smooth sailings under your belt, your streak of good luck can easily be broken by circumstances outside of your control.

If you’re flying to your cruise departure port, your chances of a flight delay impacting your arrival at the port are pretty significant. On average, more than 20% of flights experience some kind of delay, according to U.S. Bureau of Transportation statistics.

Booking a flight that arrives on the same day as your cruise is risky and generally not recommended due to the unpredictability of air travel. Most expert cruisers recommend always flying in the day before your cruise departure. But sometimes, even that isn’t enough.

Frankly, flying is no longer enjoyable for me. Too many flight problems have cropped up over recent years. I am now avoiding airlines and just going to travel with my motorhome. At least I have more control traveling that way.

To read more, go here. 

The Most Affordable U.S. Airlines

Above, Delta Airlines came in at number 10 as an affordable airline. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This year, I took six flights on U.S. airlines. 

The first was a round-trip to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to attend G-FEST. The flights were non-stop flights. The second was a round-trip, which included two connecting flights, to Miami for the cruise last month to the Bahamas, bringing the total of six. The Chicago flights were with American Airlines and the Miami flights were with Delta Airlines.

According to a study by AirAdvisor, those airlines are far from the cheapest. American came in at number 8 and Delta came in at number 10.

The average cost for each round-trip was $400.

One may ask, What are the most affordable (and most expensive) U.S. airlines?

Travel + Leisure has posted an article answering just that question.

They begin it with:

Frontier Airlines is the cheapest carrier in the United States, despite its history of upselling customers for things like bags and seat selection.

The ranking is courtesy of a new study from airline compensation company AirAdvisor shared with Travel + Leisure, which looked at total passenger revenue per seat mile for the top 10 airlines in the U.S. When it comes to Frontier, the airline was more than $0.01 per mile cheaper than the next cheapest airline, fellow low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines.

“Frontier Airlines is often referred to as an ultra-low-cost carrier, and this certainly rings true based on our research,” AirAdvisor wrote in the study. “US airlines don’t get any cheaper than this as a whole.”

 To read more, go here.

Getting To The Cruise Terminal From Miami Airport

Above, my first look at the Norwegian Sky at the terminal in Miami. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When Mitch Geriminsky and I went to Miami, Florida to take a cruise to the Bahamas earlier this month, we arrived at Miami Airport around 5:30 AM.

After getting our luggage, we went to the meeting place to catch our shuttle to the Norwegian Cruise Line terminal (about 10 miles away) that we paid $25.00 each in advance. There was nobody there when we got to the location, so we called and left a message. We waited a bit and I called the number and left a message. We again waited. 

We waited a while for someone to show up or get a return call, but nobody came or called.

I decided to get a ride through Uber to the Norwegian Cruise Line terminal. Within a short period of time (about 20 minutes), the Uber driver arrived and took us to the terminal.

The cost for the ride (not including tip) was $23.00. We never did hear back from the shuttle service. (Note: this was with a third-party company and not affiliated with Norwegian Cruise Line.)

Later, during the cruise, I met a couple from Pennsylvania in the smoking area and we talked about getting to the terminal from the airport and, for them, the hotel. They said they took a taxi from the hotel to the terminal which cost around $90.00 (roughly $45.00 each instead of carload). They also were booked at a hotel in Miami that wasn't what they expected. They wanted a hotel reasonably close to the terminal and were assured that the hotel they were booked at was near the cruise terminal. It wasn't.

If one is planning to take a cruise that departs from Miami, a little word of cost-saving caution. Avoid taxi cabs and so-called pre-paid shuttle services. Both are rip-offs. 

It has been posted here and there that the flat rate for Uber and Lyft from the airport to the terminal is a flat rate of $27.00. We got the ride for $23.00. 

When our ship got back to Miami after the cruise, we again got a ride with Uber and the price was the same. Our flight was around 10:00 AM and we arrived in Miami around 7:00 AM.

My general impression of Miami (besides expensive taxi service) was that it looked rundown in comparison to Fort Lauderdale, from which we took a cruise to Key West and Havana five years ago. 

Miami and The Pool Area

Here is the first batch of photos from my Canon Rebel camera.

These are from the top deck pool area.

Above, the top deck with the Miami skyline in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the pool area. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the smoking area bar. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above and below, the top deck adult pool. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the stateroom. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Ernest Hemingway's Florida

Above, Sloppy Joe's Bar, Ernest Hemingway's favorite Key West watering hole. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

During our stop in Key West, Florida during our cruise to Cuba, I went to the Hemingway House to see where Ernest Hemingway lived in the late 1930s.

I also toured Key West aboard a trolley bus that meandered around the town. Some of the places we drove past, such as Sloppy Joe's, are Hemingway-related.

Above, Hemingway House in Key West. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

InsideHook has an article on some of the haunts in Florida Hemingway used to frequent.

They begin it with:

Sparse of prose and generous with Martinis, Ernest Hemingway was nothing if not a literary and lifestyle legend. The iconic writer’s alpha male appeal has paved the way for no shortage of stories about his exploits — some canonical, like the three-month safari that resulted in a lion as a trophy, and others anecdotal, like his claim that he liberated the Ritz bar in Paris from the Nazis, or that he contributed to the invention of the Bloody Mary.

Hemingway lived just shy of 62 years, and he crammed more than most into those six decades. After his military service, he embarked on four marriages and countless adventures, from Paris to Madrid, Havana to Key West. And there’s nowhere quite like Miami to live large in his image.

To read more, go here. 

De Blasio Makes Major Gaffe Quoting Che Guevara In Miami!

Above, an image of Che Guevara at Havana's Plaza de la Revolución with the offending quote. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There's about 20 Democrats running for their party's presidential nomination, but that may soon change if different candidates make horrific gaffes.

The New York Post reported:

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday he did not buy Mayor Bill de Blasio’s claim that he didn’t realize he was quoting a Marxist Cuban revolutionary. 

Rubio was incredulous that the presidential hopeful appropriated one of Che Guevara’s most famous lines as he urged largely immigrant workers at Miami International Airport to unionize in protest of poor conditions and wages. 

“De Blasio studied Latin American politics in college, was a very active supporter of the Sandinistas in #Nicaragua & even honeymooned in #Cuba in violation of U.S. law,” Rubio tweeted about the mayor’s history with the socialist nation. 

Rubio then added sarcastically: “But he had NO IDEA he was quoting Che Guevara today. It was all just an incredible coincidence.” 

De Blasio, fresh off a combative performance in Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, was attempting to give a dramatic speech when he uttered the Spanish phrase. 

“The eyes of the world are on this airport, the eyes of the world are on Miami-Dade,” de Blasio told the workers, before ending with, “Hasta la victoria, siempre.”

The mayor claimed he was clueless about the origin of the phrase after making the boneheaded comment.

Florida is the major home for Cubans who have fled the communist island.

Mayor de Blasio had to know about the offending quote, since it accompanies an image of Guevara at the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana. As Senator Rubio said, de Blasio honeymooned in Cuba. I don't buy his claim either.

To read more, go here.