Putts, Balls and Snow Falls - Day 1, Planes Trains and Automobiles

[Wobbles]

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The alarm was supposed to go off at 0615 which would give us 45 minutes before check-in opened, should be enough time to shower and pack up the room and get over the road to check in.

Except, I was awake and ready to get going at 0545, so I did... and let his lordship sleep in until 0615 as planned He had a nice lazy start and I got everything re packed and sorted and checked the passports for the 10th time - that hour.

Check in and Bag Drop
As planned we got Bag Drop just after 7am, I think it was 0703 judging by photos. We had completed Verifly and there was only group in the Club World ahead of us and they opened up another counter for us and we were through and on our way to security very quickly.

Safety Check In - I would give them 2 out of 5, it was the same scrum as usual and probably only 30 - 40% had masks on. They had three queues, Verifly-Non Verifly and Club World, the Verifly was the longest queue and we had to show evidence of our jabs and test at both the Passport check before entering the queue and then again at the check-in desk. There were no hand sanitizers around which we could see

As we were travelling business class we had fast track security, which was busy but quick. They have lots of markers on the floor which helped with some social distancing. We got through in about 15 minutes.

Safety Security - I would give them 3 out of 5 for keeping the queue moving within limitations - there was lots of hand sanitizers

The Lounge
BA is using the Club Aspire Lounges at Gatwick North and it was empty. When we arrived at about 0730, there were 3 other people in there.

They had limited hot food (sausages, hash browns and beans) but plenty of cold food (fruit, yogurt, cereals and pastries) and plenty of drinks. We didn't go for alcohol, but had plenty of OJ, Milk and Water as well as Hot Chocolate and Coffee.

To be honest the view was less than inspiring but it was quiet.

They were very quick at clearing up around us (about 5 members of staff on duty) and kept the food turning over and topped up.

Safety Aspire Lounge - I would give them 5 out of 5 for a lot of staff and quick action to keep things clean. They didn't have their own toilets open but used the toilets in the closed lounge opposite. The big safety aspect for us was that it was empty and away from the crowds

The Flight
The Gate opened at the time the boarding started so by the time we got to the gate we were ready to board. We were seen to our seats and my crutches discretely disappeared (only to appear magically every time I needed the loo). when we were seated we were handed a drink and a hygiene pack to re-clean any areas we wanted to... Before we knew it, we were finally in the air...

Onto part 2

[Wobbles]

The flight was so smooth, we watched a couple of films each (and I caught up on some BBC series I'd missed). I was in a side seat and felt contained and safe. Mr W was in the seat next to me and didn't mind being on the aisle as most people stayed in their seats

We amused ourselves with the Household Monkeys and the elves - who have been helping us document our holiday for family and friends. All our Elves and Monkeys are named after places in Florida (Tampa and Tally the elves, Tally is short for Tallehassee) and StAugustine (aka Cheeky) and Orlando the Monkeys. These little fellas will be appearing in many photos.

The food was awesome for plane food, the curry was on a par with Wetherspoons but the desserts were lovely and we were kept well hydrated and feed. Mr W recommends the Brewdog Jet Stream.

BA have upped their game with food and although the Club Kitchen wasn't fully staffed, if you wanted a snack or a drink the staff brought it out to you and they did a chocolate run at about the 5 hrs mark.

We came into land on time and we were among the first to disembark.

Safety Flight - I would give them 3 out of 5 The flight was clean and we had extra handwipes. Plates were collected quickly and the toilets were cleaned during the flights but again the real feeling of safety came from being in Business Class and the extra space.

One thing I will add is that I felt well when we disembarked, I usually feel ill with suffering from Lupus due to the recycled air but I think the mask helped filter the air even more. We went through about 4 disposals masks each during the flight and had a sealable "plague bag" to dispose of the dirty masks.

Onto Part 3

[Wobbles]

We have never flown into Tampa before and found it a nice sized airport.

From the plane, we went though immigration and customs in one stop. They didn't check fingerprints or iris shots nor took a copy of our customs form or details of our jabs etc. Baggage collection was just behind the security guards and our bags were through in the first lot.

Within 30 minutes of touching down we were on the monorail to the terminus, about the same size and length as the one at MCO. Then we had to walk through the terminus to catch the train to the hire car pick up, which took us back passed the plane. The train stops at the car park and then the hire car centre.

When you come off the train at the hire car centre, you are faced with the hire car desks, as we had skip the desk, we went straight to the carpark and were the second party there. We had a free upgrade to a compact SUV and whilst loading the car, we had a chat to the staff who were very pleased that the Brits are back and they were saying the airport feels more alive.

Safety Airport - I would give them 4 out of 5, the airport was very clean and one way systems were in place where needed.

On to the Villa
The I4 and I275 were both behaving themselves, it didn't get busy until the US27 junction, which meant we crawled to the next junction for Champions Gate (we give it out of 5 for the how busy it was).

We stopped at Publix to get to the food we needed for breakfasts, snacks and food and drinks for supper. It came to $113.96 which came a real shock (previously it has come to about $80 for the same sort of stuff), but when I started to break it down. $50 was for all the alcohol we had in the villa, which worked out at about a bottle or pint a night so when you take that out, it didn't work out that expensive.

Apart from that our observations are (1) they hadn't moved anything (Tesco's - please take note) and (2) there is a real move from plastic to paper bags, they don't put everything in a single bag anymore.

Safety Publix - I would give them 4 out of 5, very clean and well kept, and probably 60% wore masks

We got to the villa, unpacked and showered... we will managed to get from touchdown in Tampa to unlocking the villa (via Publix) in just under 2 hours... Almost a record for us. But it did mean we had 5 hrs until our self-imposed bedtime of 10pm...

Spends Breakdown
Big Shop in Publix - 113.96
Day Total - 113.96
Running Total - 113.96
Daily Average - 113.96

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[mick]

A good travel day your seat looked nice and cosy

Joan

[P&S]

Sounds like a fab travel day I just love Publix always get our first dinner from there

[lfc_sarah]

Great travel day! 😊

How does Public compare to Walmart? I've never been.

[twogoto]

Loving your report, can’t wait to see what you get up to 🙂 dreaming of publix subs lately!

[Wobbles]

Originally Posted by lfc_sarah

Great travel day! 😊

How does Public compare to Walmart? I've never been.

See more...

We prefer it as they tend to be smaller and lighter. But both the Walmarts on the 535 and at the top of Old Lake Wilson Road were cleaner and brighter than 2 years ago.

Price wise you are looking at Sainsbury to Asda, so Publix is slightly more expensive

[Goldia]

Great travel day, really good timing from landing to getting to your villa while fitting in a shopping trip too.

In the airport lounge was it a buffet? In the BA lounge at Heathrow in October we ordered from an app, so I'm curious to see if they've gone back to the self service buffet.

[bambikate]

Great travel day! Good to hear Tampa was a nice experience. Only flown in there once but we liked it and we are flying in this year again (hopefully!)