July 2019: Keys, Cruise & Kong

[stupet11]

Back a few days now, to Florida weather, without the air con :-(

Into:

We just took our daughter this year and we able to go a inside term time as she finished her last year /GCSE's at school early July, and the boys were left to guard the house (and a good job they did too - 1 chip in the hot tub - the edible kind - otherwise nothing burned, broken or smashed, suggesting they ate takeaways, slept and gamed!).

Flights:

We got direct flights LHR to MIA with Pullinger for £360 each and added on a car for £500 to make it a fly drive and just pay deposit. Pullinger were very good at proving all info, Delta flights were Virgin Economy with luggage and seats included. All went smoothly - arrived early, back an hour late due to storm at MIA. IFE choice was wide but nothing particularly exciting - was hoping for End Game - disappointed with Marvel - watched older films. Food was passable. Reclining selfish doofus in front got his coffee and decided to reline on me as I got mine meaning the stewardess split on my leg. Think they should have a rule that seats have to be upright when food is being handed out / consumed. I asked for this every time after before excepting anything - and the stewardess got him to do it.

Car Hire:
Did Alamo skip the queue - very smooth, limited choice of cars. Could only just fit our 3 large soft cases in boot of full size Nissan - no way would have done with hard cases. Only alternative I was offered was a pickup! Diving - only stupid driving other than what we get over here was from tourists. Well we decided they were tourists and made same errors we did ;-) Alamo took the car back without trying to charge me fraudulently for anything, so nice change from Avis there.

Miami:
We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn opposite Dolphin Mall. We flew through immigration, with the usual red X on my daughters entry, and were at hotel by 4pm US time, giving us time to explore the mall and make good use of the food hall. Hotel cost £90, no breakfast, but was more about location and was very comfortable. We shot off to the Keys next morning via Dennys - really gives me the arrival feeling.

The Keys:
We drove to John Pennekamp State Park first. We wanted to take a boat to a reef for some snorkelling. I didn't pre-book in case we didn't make the time, being first morning, and in case wether was bad. Of course weather was fine and even getting there early all trips were fully booked! We had fun snorkelling at Canon beach and walking around the park.
We stayed 2 nights at the Holiay Inn, Marathon - about halfway up down the Keys. Really nice hotel, breakfast included - standard fair, lovely pool and next to a fab restaurant - Sparkys. I paid £75 for this hotel, using some IHG points. Our second day we spend the morning at Bahia Honda State Park. This time the weather was a bit iffy so the morning boat trips were cancelled, so more snorkelling off the beach. We then headed to Key West - nice drive, and we walked from Malory Square to Southern most point, seeing the lighthouse and Hemmingways House, getting the free bus back - which does a loop.
I'm not sure we'd go that far in again - maybe just stay at Key Largo - the road, although scenic, can be quite slow, and I think we'd be able to do what we want without going so far south. But glad we did it.

The Cruise:
Our first cruise! We booked Royal Caribbean Paradise Day 3 night cruise from Miami, taking Nassau and Coco Cay. Paring and boring was really easy. Although they wanted to see a copy of my Esta - which was in my case I had already checked in. I just flashed the email confirmation I had for it and that did the trick! The boat, Navigator of the Seas, was really lovely - obviously i have nothing compare to - but would happily cruise on this ship again. The food really filled us for the whole holiday - we are such amateurs, we realised this when the American family sitting with us at dinner declared that as this was their holiday, instead of 3 deserts they would have 4! I appreciate the effort they put into making me look slim. Coco Cay really was a Perfect Day. Wonderful island - best snorkelling of the holiday, decent food and pool drinks etc. Highly recommend a visit. Nassau we just did a quick lap of downtown as we had decided to use this day enjoying the boat. I think there is a beach quite near we'd like dot have done. We didn't pay for any extras on the cruise, and didn't feel we needed them (part from the wifi which we bought with free on board credit we got on booking). Cost was £1100 for three of us.

Rosen Inn Pointe Orlando £300 6 nights / Hard Rock £380 1 night:
Next 7 days were on I-Drive with 1 night at HRH to get express passes. and where we did:
Volcano Bay - really enjoyable day here, with excellent suing system. We did and afternoon at Universal to make the most of paying $26 for parking. The fast last river surpasses Roa Rapids at Aquatics.
US/IOA - loved Kong - did it 3 times. Girls loved Harids ride, getting to park first thing enabled them to do it without waiting. We struggled to do any rides without the express passes, making it not good value paying for parking when staying offsite.
Seaworld / Aquatica - both parks were very busy and long lines - Aquatic we only did Roa Rapids and wave pool - even the lame lazy river had a massive queue.The bonus was when we first went I said I think I have three paring and they gave me a free parking receipt good for both parks. I hadn't paid for that so worth a try!
Discovery Cove - about our 5th visit - fab time, more / different fish in Grand Reef, and watched the shark's being fed. Agree food doesn't seem as good, but it perfectly fine - enough choice still, got usually drinks despite changed to packages.
Disney - we did the Villains After Hours Event - as I ad a $250 dollar Disney voucher - was exceptional value. Interestingly on around 7pm arriving the car park attendant said my credit card was declined but I could park for free - was a bit worried, but no issue with my card before or after. Although I may have neglected to mention this to certain shoppers in the party until the next day. Before the event started we struggled to get on any rides due to queue times - luckily we had fast passed Space Moutain, Laughter Show and Buzz. We did the People Mover while wks were on, and then things eased and we did a further 9 rides, inc all headliners. 7DMT was 30 mins wait all night though. Free ice cream and pop corn was nice - but really only so much of that we could eat (again, amateurs!). We took several 3 drinks for the journey home. Parking, tramming, mono rail to park is such a pain though - I can't imagine doing Disney offsite for 2 weeks - painful.

Vero Beach:
Our 7th hotel of the 2 weeks, was at the Holiday Inn in Vero next to the outlets, as much cheaper than the beach one - £80 inc breakfast. We visited the beach - the sea was so refreshing - fun in the waves on an uncrowded beach. The outlets are ok at Vero -similar to Premium, but less of. The hotel was next to a Crakerbarrell and a Shake and Stake.

Next year:
What to do……several ideas in mind…most not involving any children, but I think they have other ideas…usually have something booked by now! After all the driving, really fancy a Disney onsite stay…

[Cutiepie]

Sounds like a great trip

[stupet11]

Yes, was great thanks - only 2 weeks but seemed like 3 separate holidays!

[Cutiepie]

Originally Posted by stupet11

Yes, was great thanks - only 2 weeks but seemed like 3 separate holidays!

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We like splitting our holiday like that too

[Pumba75]

Just seen this. Great overview.

Anything booked yet?!

[stupet11]

Nothing booked...this is getting scary! Although guess we usually go in August, so maybe sort in September.

Favourite is a Carnival cruise in May, and 4 nights in Naples...or I do really fancy a no driving Disney on site holiday... or...