Return of the Rescuer - Security and surprise - Travel day - 2.7.19

[Rescuer]

Travel day - 2.7.19

Index is here.

Up what felt far too early at 3am after having been up organising stuff far too late the night before.

We were picked up at 4am and off to the airport. No traffic so we were there in plenty time and the queue at the BA desks was ok. I had to get my Gatwick boarding pass printed at the airport as I’d been able to check in online but not print this out. I was chosen for extra security again. They say it’s random but that’s 2 flights in a row now. At least this time I knew what it was when I couldn’t print my boarding pass which saved me stressing like last time.

Security was painless and coffee was calling so Costa it was for a latte and a sausage roll. Didn’t think I was that hungry but it hit the spot nicely!

We boarded on time but the flight was about 25 minutes late actually taking off.

As always no flight connections but Gatwick security is always very efficient.

I had pre ordered some skincare stuff from world of duty free so picked that up and were hoping to go for a slice of pizza at Jamie Oliver’s deli but they were only serving breakfast like everywhere else. We settled on a couple of meal deals to share. Ds wanted sushi and ds wanted a sandwich. All fine but again not very exciting.

I checked the app for the gate and my seat was showing as a different number, what looked like a premium economy row number.

We headed for the gate and I asked what the correct seat was. They told us that our original seat numbers were still correct but may change when they scanned us in for boarding.

So we boarded as group 5 and our seat numbers were changed to 3 in premium economy.

My extra security check was painless and ds was utterly hyper when we got on the plane to see his seat.

The conversation went something like this... ooh they have bigger teles, ooh they have foot rests, ooh they have bottle holders, ooh they bring you water, ooh you get a better blanket, ooh you get a menu... you get the idea! We have warned him not to get too used to this though.

I have no idea the reason we were upgraded, it’s never happened before but it’s a nice way to start the holiday and the space is noticeably better!

Not sure it will ever happen again.

Due to the upgrade Lunch was better than the normal offerings. I really liked the pesto salad, the other 2 were not great fans.

Sad but what excited me most was that you got a hot roll!

Dh and I had the chicken curry, which was nice and ds had the steak which he liked but it was tricky to cut with the small knife and the fact it was on a tray.

The dessert was really light and nice and the cheese and biscuits went very well with my wine.

As a result we ate a load less snacks than normal.

Ds didn’t sleep at all, he was way to excited with the big screen that he could even play angry birds on. He watched Guardians of the Galaxy, the kid who would be king and the lego movie 2.

I watched Bohemian Rhapsody and instant family and shed a tear at both. Dh was across the aisle and watched life of phi and spent the rest of his time snoozing and listening to music.

Later they came round with a magnum and then hot pizza which was actually quite nice.

The flight overall was great and the upgrade was definitely a bonus. The staff were so lovely.

As we were near the front we were off the plane quite quickly. The immigration hall was fairly quiet and I predicted 20 minutes and it was 22 minutes till we were standing at the line waiting to be seen. The cases were waiting for us so we were out fairly quickly and headed to the pick up location, messaged exactly where we were and were picked up 5 minutes later.

We arranged our pick up through a Facebook group that I’m a member of and the guy who runs it does driving. As much as I’m happy to use uber I prefer to have something set for when arrive and we’ve used town cars in the past which have been great but are pretty pricey. It was great. The guy was really friendly and is definitely use him again.

Our first 3 nights were at the Rosen Plaza. We’ve stayed there 3 times before and has always ticked all the boxes for what we want from an offsite hotel. I messaged them a couple of weeks before and asked for a high floor.

We checked in and were allocated a room on the 11th floor but unfortunately when we opened the door housekeeping hadn’t got to it yet so we were allocated another room on the 11th floor.

The rooms are nice, we’ve got a slightly different view and I do prefer the view from the 14th floor but it’s still good.

Since this was a relatively early arrival we decided on something a little bit more ambitious than Millers and decided on Bahama Breeze. Is it just me that misses Johnny Rockets for burgers and milkshakes on arrival night.

We stopped off at the Tommy Hilfiger clearance store on the way, this is a real hit or miss, last summer it was great and I got loads of good stuff but there was nothing decent tonight. I also love a wee wander around Charming Charlie, I very rarely buy anything but the ocd in me loves the way it’s laid out in colours.

While we were in there I reserved a table At Bahama Breeze for 15minutes later. We were already finding it really sticky and humid outside so even the 10 minute walk was a trial.

Dh had a couple of Angry Orchards and I had 2 coconut monitors ( I love these because they are light and have a nice amount of sweetness). Ds had a strawberry lemon beeeze which was refreshing but a little sweet. He was shattered and the sugar perked him up a little.

They had sent me a voucher for $10 off if you spent $40 on food. There are so many good things on the menu that we decided just to order some appetisers and a main salad to share. Doesn’t sound very exciting but it was!

We ordered the appetiser portion of coconut shrimp which was so good.

Also the lobster and shrimp quesadillas. Very nice

Chicken jibaritos. These were very nice. The buttermilk chicken was really good and the sauce was awesome.

Chicken and fruit salad with mixed greens. This has to be the best salad I’ve ever had. I’d quite like to replicate this at home. It had strawberries, oranges and pineapples.

All this was excellent for sharing and just the right amount.

I thought this was good value considering we had 4 alcoholic drinks and were all pretty satisfied when we left.

Tiredness was hitting though.

After dinner we stopped in at Walgreens to pick up some stuff. Sweets, water and doughnuts, the essentials. I did notice that they were not as cheap as they used to be. The always used to do a deal on M&Ms but not anymore.

The walk back down to the hotel was way more pleasant as the humidity was much less.

We went to bed exhausted after a very long day.

Day 2

[show_the_magic]

I liked Johnny Rockets too! What a great start with the premium upgrade!

[Floridaagogo]

Great start.omg I love charming Charlie’s but they don’t ship to the UK.dh waves me through the door and says “see you in an hour “ 😳

[Goldia]

Hurrah you've started! I love the excitement of ooh they have a foot rest... so cute. A lovely smooth travel day. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the report.

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by show_the_magic

I liked Johnny Rockets too! What a great start with the premium upgrade!

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Thanks. It's a real miss, we had been going there on trips 20 years ago. I wonder why it closed.

Originally Posted by Floridaagogo

Great start.omg I love charming Charlie’s but they don’t ship to the UK.dh waves me through the door and says “see you in an hour “ 😳

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Thanks. They always have really nice things, there was the most gorgeous dress but they did not have it in my size

Originally Posted by Goldia

Hurrah you've started! I love the excitement of ooh they have a foot rest... so cute. A lovely smooth travel day. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the report.

See more...

Thanks, its the little things
It was one of the best travel days, everything was smooth and it is the earliest we have ever gotten to our resort! Hope your travel goes as smoothly.

[GezzasGem]

What a fantastic bonus upgrade! Lovely start to your hols 😊

[eleele]

How lovely to have an unexpected upgrade. What a great travel day, those coconut shrimp look delicious!

[margyloveswdw]

Sounds like a nice easy travel day and BB looks lovely!

[Rescuer]

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

What a fantastic bonus upgrade! Lovely start to your hols 😊

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I know, totally unexpected so even better.

Originally Posted by eleele

How lovely to have an unexpected upgrade. What a great travel day, those coconut shrimp look delicious!

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Thanks, it was a lovely surprise. The coconut shrimp at Bahama Breeze are my favourite ones.

Originally Posted by margyloveswdw

Sounds like a nice easy travel day and BB looks lovely!

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Thanks, it makes such a difference when travel day goes super smoothly. I've seen Bahama Breeze get mixed reports but we have always enjoyed it.

[AJ86]

Amazing to get an upgrade, i have never been so lucky!