Tag Archives: flights

Flights and arrivals

The channel at the Royal Sea AquariumWell, we’re on the move again. Pam and I left Vancouver on Friday, and flew to Chicago. It was on an Airbus, a great plane, that’d I take over just about any Boeing. The seats are wider, there is more leg room, and the flight crew was really terrific. The flight was uneventful, but landing in Chicago we discovered rain and fog had delayed our connecting flight to New Jersey’s Newark Airport.

Chicago’s airport, at least the United terminal, is a tired worn out old boat. There are simply not enough seats for people waiting for their flights, and the place look really drab. However, we each got a great salad from a restaurant called Mediterranean Tampenade. Nice fresh food, terrific fresh crab, tasty chicken salad – really nice food. Could be the best airport food we’ve ever had.

The delay in Chicago wasn’t a big deal, but we got stuck in a little Boeing plane, with narrow seats, no legroom and because the flight was jammed, no place to put our carry on but under our seat. Luckily it’s a short flight, and we managed to make it quite quickly, in well under two hours.

Cool birdNewark is a nicer airport, roomy with comfortable seats, but it does not have free wifi, and no way will I pay eight bucks for the couple of hours we were there. Our flight into Bonaire was delayed for over an hour. Then we boarded the plane, and two people who had checked baggage did not board the plane, so there was a further delay waiting for their luggage to be removed. We left one hour and forty five minutes late, arriving in Bonaire just 20 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave for Curacao. Which meant we’d miss it, since we had to pick up our baggage and go through security again! sigh…

So while I tried to find our baggage, Pam went to the DAE checkin and got them to hold the plane until we came. They told us we had to come now, or miss it – so we left our luggage in Bonaire, but DAE told us they’d send it on to Curacao. So here I am in Curacao without luggage again!

We tried a new way to get a rental car – a process complicated by the fact they aren’t allowed on the airport grounds to disperse cars or pick up clients. It went surprisingly well, and we saved over 100 bucks for the rental. It’s a nice enough car, complete with all insurances. Our luggage showed up at 11:30 am, so we were able to grab it from the airport. Ah well… the joys of travel!

While walking back from parking our car at the Royal Sea Aquarium, we saw a smaller spotted eagle ray, right from the bridge! Have only seen one of those before, and that really briefly with Mike.

Group of fishSo even though we were pretty tired we went and got our suits on and jumped in! We just puddled around, enjoying being back in the ocean, with all our scaly friends. First day pictures are rather poor, so not much to show you. I will say though that the breakwater has really developed! Just tons of interesting things to see and lots of coral growth. It’s definitely looking good!

Various types of CoralI’ve included a brief movie of the eagle ray – give it a few seconds and he approaches very closely to where we’re standing. We didn’t see him when we got into the water, but one of the staff here said that the ray has become a resident here, so we’re hoping to catch him in the water on another swim.

Oh – our room is pretty terrific – it’s on the third floor and looks right out over the dolphin pool! We’ll have a picture or two of that over the next few days I’m sure!

(I’m posting this and heading to bed – so if the movie is not there – patience, as I was going to bed, it said there was 10 more minutes to go…)

 

Flights and arrivals

The channel at the Royal Sea AquariumWell, we’re on the move again. Pam and I left Vancouver on Friday, and flew to Chicago. It was on an Airbus, a great plane, that’d I take over just about any Boeing. The seats are wider, there is more leg room, and the flight crew was really terrific. The flight was uneventful, but landing in Chicago we discovered rain and fog had delayed our connecting flight to New Jersey’s Newark Airport.

Chicago’s airport, at least the United terminal, is a tired worn out old boat. There are simply not enough seats for people waiting for their flights, and the place look really drab. However, we each got a great salad from a restaurant called Mediterranean Tampenade. Nice fresh food, terrific fresh crab, tasty chicken salad – really nice food. Could be the best airport food we’ve ever had.

The delay in Chicago wasn’t a big deal, but we got stuck in a little Boeing plane, with narrow seats, no legroom and because the flight was jammed, no place to put our carry on but under our seat. Luckily it’s a short flight, and we managed to make it quite quickly, in well under two hours.

Cool birdNewark is a nicer airport, roomy with comfortable seats, but it does not have free wifi, and no way will I pay eight bucks for the couple of hours we were there. Our flight into Bonaire was delayed for over an hour. Then we boarded the plane, and two people who had checked baggage did not board the plane, so there was a further delay waiting for their luggage to be removed. We left one hour and forty five minutes late, arriving in Bonaire just 20 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave for Curacao. Which meant we’d miss it, since we had to pick up our baggage and go through security again! sigh…

So while I tried to find our baggage, Pam went to the DAE checkin and got them to hold the plane until we came. They told us we had to come now, or miss it – so we left our luggage in Bonaire, but DAE told us they’d send it on to Curacao. So here I am in Curacao without luggage again!

We tried a new way to get a rental car – a process complicated by the fact they aren’t allowed on the airport grounds to disperse cars or pick up clients. It went surprisingly well, and we saved over 100 bucks for the rental. It’s a nice enough car, complete with all insurances. Our luggage showed up at 11:30 am, so we were able to grab it from the airport. Ah well… the joys of travel!

While walking back from parking our car at the Royal Sea Aquarium, we saw a smaller spotted eagle ray, right from the bridge! Have only seen one of those before, and that really briefly with Mike.

Group of fishSo even though we were pretty tired we went and got our suits on and jumped in! We just puddled around, enjoying being back in the ocean, with all our scaly friends. First day pictures are rather poor, so not much to show you. I will say though that the breakwater has really developed! Just tons of interesting things to see and lots of coral growth. It’s definitely looking good!

Various types of CoralI’ve included a brief movie of the eagle ray – give it a few seconds and he approaches very closely to where we’re standing. We didn’t see him when we got into the water, but one of the staff here said that the ray has become a resident here, so we’re hoping to catch him in the water on another swim.

Oh – our room is pretty terrific – it’s on the third floor and looks right out over the dolphin pool! We’ll have a picture or two of that over the next few days I’m sure!

(I’m posting this and heading to bed – so if the movie is not there – patience, as I was going to bed, it said there was 10 more minutes to go…)

 

Flights and arrivals

The channel at the Royal Sea AquariumWell, we’re on the move again. Pam and I left Vancouver on Friday, and flew to Chicago. It was on an Airbus, a great plane, that’d I take over just about any Boeing. The seats are wider, there is more leg room, and the flight crew was really terrific. The flight was uneventful, but landing in Chicago we discovered rain and fog had delayed our connecting flight to New Jersey’s Newark Airport.

Chicago’s airport, at least the United terminal, is a tired worn out old boat. There are simply not enough seats for people waiting for their flights, and the place look really drab. However, we each got a great salad from a restaurant called Mediterranean Tampenade. Nice fresh food, terrific fresh crab, tasty chicken salad – really nice food. Could be the best airport food we’ve ever had.

The delay in Chicago wasn’t a big deal, but we got stuck in a little Boeing plane, with narrow seats, no legroom and because the flight was jammed, no place to put our carry on but under our seat. Luckily it’s a short flight, and we managed to make it quite quickly, in well under two hours.

Cool bird Newark is a nicer airport, roomy with comfortable seats, but it does not have free wifi, and no way will I pay eight bucks for the couple of hours we were there. Our flight into Bonaire was delayed for over an hour. Then we boarded the plane, and two people who had checked baggage did not board the plane, so there was a further delay waiting for their luggage to be removed. We left one hour and forty five minutes late, arriving in Bonaire just 20 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave for Curacao. Which meant we’d miss it, since we had to pick up our baggage and go through security again! sigh…

So while I tried to find our baggage, Pam went to the DAE checkin and got them to hold the plane until we came. They told us we had to come now, or miss it – so we left our luggage in Bonaire, but DAE told us they’d send it on to Curacao. So here I am in Curacao without luggage again!

We tried a new way to get a rental car – a process complicated by the fact they aren’t allowed on the airport grounds to disperse cars or pick up clients. It went surprisingly well, and we saved over 100 bucks for the rental. It’s a nice enough car, complete with all insurances. Our luggage showed up at 11:30 am, so we were able to grab it from the airport. Ah well… the joys of travel!

While walking back from parking our car at the Royal Sea Aquarium, we saw a smaller spotted eagle ray, right from the bridge! Have only seen one of those before, and that really briefly with Mike.

Group of fishSo even though we were pretty tired we went and got our suits on and jumped in! We just puddled around, enjoying being back in the ocean, with all our scaly friends. First day pictures are rather poor, so not much to show you. I will say though that the breakwater has really developed! Just tons of interesting things to see and lots of coral growth. It’s definitely looking good!

Various types of CoralI’ve included a brief movie of the eagle ray – give it a few seconds and he approaches very closely to where we’re standing. We didn’t see him when we got into the water, but one of the staff here said that the ray has become a resident here, so we’re hoping to catch him in the water on another swim.

Oh – our room is pretty terrific – it’s on the third floor and looks right out over the dolphin pool! We’ll have a picture or two of that over the next few days I’m sure!

(I’m posting this and heading to bed – so if the movie is not there – patience, as I was going to bed, it said there was 10 more minutes to go…)

 

Flights and arrivals

The channel at the Royal Sea AquariumWell, we’re on the move again. Pam and I left Vancouver on Friday, and flew to Chicago. It was on an Airbus, a great plane, that’d I take over just about any Boeing. The seats are wider, there is more leg room, and the flight crew was really terrific. The flight was uneventful, but landing in Chicago we discovered rain and fog had delayed our connecting flight to New Jersey’s Newark Airport.

Chicago’s airport, at least the United terminal, is a tired worn out old boat. There are simply not enough seats for people waiting for their flights, and the place look really drab. However, we each got a great salad from a restaurant called Mediterranean Tampenade. Nice fresh food, terrific fresh crab, tasty chicken salad – really nice food. Could be the best airport food we’ve ever had.

The delay in Chicago wasn’t a big deal, but we got stuck in a little Boeing plane, with narrow seats, no legroom and because the flight was jammed, no place to put our carry on but under our seat. Luckily it’s a short flight, and we managed to make it quite quickly, in well under two hours.

Cool birdNewark is a nicer airport, roomy with comfortable seats, but it does not have free wifi, and no way will I pay eight bucks for the couple of hours we were there. Our flight into Bonaire was delayed for over an hour. Then we boarded the plane, and two people who had checked baggage did not board the plane, so there was a further delay waiting for their luggage to be removed. We left one hour and forty five minutes late, arriving in Bonaire just 20 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave for Curacao. Which meant we’d miss it, since we had to pick up our baggage and go through security again! sigh…

So while I tried to find our baggage, Pam went to the DAE checkin and got them to hold the plane until we came. They told us we had to come now, or miss it – so we left our luggage in Bonaire, but DAE told us they’d send it on to Curacao. So here I am in Curacao without luggage again!

We tried a new way to get a rental car – a process complicated by the fact they aren’t allowed on the airport grounds to disperse cars or pick up clients. It went surprisingly well, and we saved over 100 bucks for the rental. It’s a nice enough car, complete with all insurances. Our luggage showed up at 11:30 am, so we were able to grab it from the airport. Ah well… the joys of travel!

While walking back from parking our car at the Royal Sea Aquarium, we saw a smaller spotted eagle ray, right from the bridge! Have only seen one of those before, and that really briefly with Mike.

Group of fishSo even though we were pretty tired we went and got our suits on and jumped in! We just puddled around, enjoying being back in the ocean, with all our scaly friends. First day pictures are rather poor, so not much to show you. I will say though that the breakwater has really developed! Just tons of interesting things to see and lots of coral growth. It’s definitely looking good!

Various types of CoralI’ve included a brief movie of the eagle ray – give it a few seconds and he approaches very closely to where we’re standing. We didn’t see him when we got into the water, but one of the staff here said that the ray has become a resident here, so we’re hoping to catch him in the water on another swim.

Oh – our room is pretty terrific – it’s on the third floor and looks right out over the dolphin pool! We’ll have a picture or two of that over the next few days I’m sure!

(I’m posting this and heading to bed – so if the movie is not there – patience, as I was going to bed, it said there was 10 more minutes to go…)

 

Flights and arrivals

The channel at the Royal Sea AquariumWell, we’re on the move again. Pam and I left Vancouver on Friday, and flew to Chicago. It was on an Airbus, a great plane, that’d I take over just about any Boeing. The seats are wider, there is more leg room, and the flight crew was really terrific. The flight was uneventful, but landing in Chicago we discovered rain and fog had delayed our connecting flight to New Jersey’s Newark Airport.

Chicago’s airport, at least the United terminal, is a tired worn out old boat. There are simply not enough seats for people waiting for their flights, and the place look really drab. However, we each got a great salad from a restaurant called Mediterranean Tampenade. Nice fresh food, terrific fresh crab, tasty chicken salad – really nice food. Could be the best airport food we’ve ever had.

The delay in Chicago wasn’t a big deal, but we got stuck in a little Boeing plane, with narrow seats, no legroom and because the flight was jammed, no place to put our carry on but under our seat. Luckily it’s a short flight, and we managed to make it quite quickly, in well under two hours.

Cool birdNewark is a nicer airport, roomy with comfortable seats, but it does not have free wifi, and no way will I pay eight bucks for the couple of hours we were there. Our flight into Bonaire was delayed for over an hour. Then we boarded the plane, and two people who had checked baggage did not board the plane, so there was a further delay waiting for their luggage to be removed. We left one hour and forty five minutes late, arriving in Bonaire just 20 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave for Curacao. Which meant we’d miss it, since we had to pick up our baggage and go through security again! sigh…

So while I tried to find our baggage, Pam went to the DAE checkin and got them to hold the plane until we came. They told us we had to come now, or miss it – so we left our luggage in Bonaire, but DAE told us they’d send it on to Curacao. So here I am in Curacao without luggage again!

We tried a new way to get a rental car – a process complicated by the fact they aren’t allowed on the airport grounds to disperse cars or pick up clients. It went surprisingly well, and we saved over 100 bucks for the rental. It’s a nice enough car, complete with all insurances. Our luggage showed up at 11:30 am, so we were able to grab it from the airport. Ah well… the joys of travel!

While walking back from parking our car at the Royal Sea Aquarium, we saw a smaller spotted eagle ray, right from the bridge! Have only seen one of those before, and that really briefly with Mike.

Group of fishSo even though we were pretty tired we went and got our suits on and jumped in! We just puddled around, enjoying being back in the ocean, with all our scaly friends. First day pictures are rather poor, so not much to show you. I will say though that the breakwater has really developed! Just tons of interesting things to see and lots of coral growth. It’s definitely looking good!

Various types of CoralI’ve included a brief movie of the eagle ray – give it a few seconds and he approaches very closely to where we’re standing. We didn’t see him when we got into the water, but one of the staff here said that the ray has become a resident here, so we’re hoping to catch him in the water on another swim.

Oh – our room is pretty terrific – it’s on the third floor and looks right out over the dolphin pool! We’ll have a picture or two of that over the next few days I’m sure!

(I’m posting this and heading to bed – so if the movie is not there – patience, as I was going to bed, it said there was 10 more minutes to go…)

 

Saturday travel travails

We woke to the news that the east coast of the US, where the plane for our flight would originate from, was socked in with snow and that our flight would be delayed about an hour and a half, to 4:15. It quickly became apparent that the flight wasn’t going to be delayed just that short while when it never showed on the board, even by 4:00. The departure time changed to 5:30 (from a 1:30 original time) and that meant we would not make our connecting flight to Seattle.

We arrived in Chicago and made our way to the United counter to discover that the Seattle flight was indeed still delayed and was going to be leaving in just 30 minutes! Unfortunately, Maggie had their boarding passes canceled and new boarding passes issued for a Sunday morning flight. Our boarding passes were still good for the Saturday flight, but since we were traveling with Maggie and Tim, we tried to get on their flight. No go – the only flight available was 3:30 in the afternoon Sunday. So we decided to try to make the original Seattle flight we were scheduled for, so they hustled us through security and out to the gate.

As I’m sure you might guess, that Seattle bound flight was delayed the minute we arrived, and I’m writing this from the floor of a packed lobby of some very disgruntled travellers. They tell us the flight will leave at approximately midnight, so we’re hopeful we will get out.

The Chicago airport does not have free wifi, instead relying on Boingo Hotspots. They want the right to charge my credit card each month, and I’m not willing to let them do that. So this post, if it makes it online, will come from a Seattle location, when or maybe IF we arrive!

Ah the joys of winter travel. It turns out that the problem with our original flight from St. Martin to Chicago was not really due to the snow, but a mechanical problem with the plane. The part needed was something to do with the gears that didn’t pass inspection. The part was delayed due to the weather!

I tell you, people get so upset about these things. But you just have to roll with the punches. It’s not like United made all the snow! The customer service people are doing their best to re-route people, and yelling at them, or getting petulant doesn’t do a darn thing for anybody. They can’t open the airports that aren’t capable of taking passengers.

UPDATE: 3:45 AM – We made it to Seattle. No luggage. I have no coat – it was in my checked luggage. Hopefully it will arrive on the flight that Maggie and Tim are coming in on. Free Wifi in SeaTac Airport — we’re in our hotel room, it’s 4:30 am… Maggie and Tim arrive in about 7 hours, so we’re going to crash for a while.

Final notes

Max in the MorningWell we’re home. It took a little time but we’re home! The flight home was remarkable. We flew Continental from Aruba to Houston. And they served a meal! A hot meal! It’s been years and years and years since we’ve actually got a meal on a flight less than 6 hours – I was totally amazed. The food was pretty good too – hot chicken sandwich, kettle chips, an apple, and a chocolate bar. And the flight was amazing – great take off, smooth, smooth landing.

The flight from Houston to Seattle was also on Continental. After picking up one of our bags, we heard the dreaded, “Will customer Pamela Ormon please come to the Continental desk and speak to a representative.” They’d lost one of our bags, natch. Luckily we’d taken a Park n Fly in Seattle and were going to be staying overnight. They said they could fly it to Vancouver for us, but they promised us it would arrive on the 10:15 am Sunday flight, so we went and slept. It did arrive. So all is good.

We flew four different airlines this trip, and I’d give super high marks to Continental. Usually I book the cheapest fares I can, but I will take Continental if they fly where we’re going, even at higher prices. US Air was cheaper, but wound up being more expensive because they charged a hidden $30 per checked bag fee. Outrageous. We will NOT fly US Air EVER again. I do not like hidden charges.

We picked up Max from the dog sitter –  Max let me know he wasn’t happy to be left out of the vacation! But he forgave me when I gave him a duck jerky treat! LOL And it wasn’t raining when we got home, so that was nice too!

I miss the heat already.