The LAFFNVEGAS LIVE From the Celebrity Solstice

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good Evening from the Hyatt Pierr 66, in the tower on the 13th floor :eek: over looking a birds eye view of pier 18 ;)

Well I apologize for taking so long. I know I said I would be reporting from from our Southwest flight that would have Wifi But of course they ended up having an Air Craft swap so no plane with WiFi, then there we ended up sitting out on the runway for what felt like an hour but was probably only 30 minutes before we took off but we were almost an hour late before we got in the air. Not sure what the problem was. But the Captain said we were on a new aircraft that could go higher and faster so we should still get into FLL on time. Wrong!!! about the time we got to the Florida Coast we encountered thunderstorms and we had to go the long way around the storms to get into FLL. We ended up getting in a little after 6. Fortunately our luggage all arrived as well. Always a good thing at the start of a cruise when the luggage makes it there when you do ;)

By the time we got to Hyatt Pier 66 it was close to 7, we dropped off our luggage and was thrilled with our room and view and headed down to eat. We enjoyed a great meal at Grille 66. Tom had a Filet that he loved and I had a great Macadamia Nut Crusted Chilean Sea Bass, of course we had to top it off with a little wine.

 

We are now relaxing in the room. Hyatt does have free WiFi but it is not overly fast, almost feels like the speed on a ship :eek:

 

With this great view of pier18 I am thinking I will get up early so we can see the ships come in tomorrow morning and take lots of pictures.

 

While the weather is probably real nice and not rainy for Floridians, for us it feels so humid. We are use to 10% or less humidity and I am not sure what it is but it feels like a sauna outside:o This is probably the most humid I remember it being in FLL.

Well, I think I will sign off for tonight and will post a bit in the morning.

Signing off from the 13th Floor of Hyatt Pier 66 Over Looking Port Everglades :)

[kelmac]

HI Lisa,

 

Exciting stuff! You are the model for everything Cruise Critic and a huge asset over on the HAL boards. I hope we haven't over hyped Celebrity and their Solstice class of ships?

Pier 18 is a special place, as we have boarded many, many Celebrity ships from that location.

Looking forward to your perspective and I truly hope the two of you have the best of luck on one of my favorite ships!!

 

I will check in with the webcam early tomorrow!

 

http://mortgagemobile.com/Ft_Lauderdale_Florida_Web_Cam.html

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[innlady1]

Lisa:

 

I will becoming over to these Boards to see how things are going. You might say I was a "HAL spy" from the HAL Boards.

 

Himself

 

LOL...same here! Lisa, hope you have a fabulous cruise...I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on the Solstice. We saw her in port in February (someplace or other) and she's stunning! Have a fabulous cruise...since I usually am only on the HAL boards, I hope I can find this thread again!

[Himself]

You and Tom have a great cruise even if it is on a Celebrity ship. Glad you got in the Tower of Pier 66. I stayed there last October previous to my Sunfarer Crusie on the Zuiderdam.

[krosmon]

Looking forward to your posts. Hope I can get them when I am in Vegas next week. I've never been on Celebrity so it will be interesting to see what your opinion of the ship is.

 

Have a fabulous time and post lots of pictures.

 

Take care,

 

Kathleen

[krewzin]

Good Evening from the Hyatt Pierr 66, in the tower on the 13th floor :eek: over looking a birds eye view of pier 18 ;)

 

 

 

We love Hyatt Pier 66, and have utilized our Gold Passport points for the last couple stays to pay for our rooms. Alas....we have depleted our account to a mere 4,000 points and now (gasp!) must pay for our room with cash.:D

 

We checked the rates through Hyatt (tower room) and they were $279/nt. We found a deal through a cruise website that allows you to book your cruise with TA's giving competing bids.....they discount hotels as well (I was not aware they offered this), although not through the same 'bidding system.'

 

They simply discount the room....in this case a tower room was $219....with the only caveat being you must pay-in-full upon booking (if you cancel 2 days prior to your stay you still get a full refund).

 

This has been the best deal I've found for Pier 66, and I was wondering if you had booked directly through Hyatt, or found some other means?

 

Thanks!

[marelind]

Lisa, I'm so looking forward to hearing about your cruise on the Solstice with a comparison to the NCL Pearl and your suite experience. We are "suite hearts" for NCL, but would love to hear about how Celebrity compares.

[GmaPajama]

Bon Voyage, Lisa and Tom! As usual, I'll be hanging on every word. :)

[mac_tlc]

OK -- I'm in ---

 

We have been on the Solstice twice this year and I look forward to a comparison to HAL, which we have not yet tried.

 

Lisa/Tom -- have a great voyage.

 

mac_tlc

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good Morning from the 13th floor of the Hyatt Pier 66 at beautiful Port Everglades/Ft Lauderdale. I set the wake up call to be at 5:30am because I wanted to watch the show:D Yes I am one of those people that like to see my Ship Come in ;) Oddly I awoke at 5:15 ready to start watching, Tom continued to sleep and I went outside on the balcony. Today there are only two ships in Port Everglades the Solstice and the Emerald Princess. I watched them line up to come along with a Freighter of some sort. The Solstice came in first right close to 6:00am then followed by the Emerald. Tom did get up before the two ship came in and joined me out on the balcony.

 

It's a very nice morning, early we could see lots of stars in the sky now the sun is rising and that is pretty as well. I have taken lots of pictures but unfortunately forgot to bring my cable that will allow me to upload to my netbook so pictures will have to wait till I get home.

 

Tom has taken off to go over to a store similiar to 7-11 to get donuts and coffee. I had thought about going back to bed but doubt I will since it is already 7 am.

 

We slept well last night and I do really like the Hyatt.

 

To krewzin you asked how I booked our hotel and about what I paid. OK I must confess I got a killer of a deal. We normally get Hyatt Place from one of the bidding sites but since this is off season I thought I would check out Hyatt Pier 66. As you may have speculated I am in the Travel Biz and I have what is called an IATA card thru this I was able to book one of the Garden rooms for $63.75 then this past weekend received an email to upgrade to a Tower Room for just $20.00 more. You know kind of like those upgrades that the cruise lines offer. The bill was under the door this morning and was a total of just $99.35. So if I do say so myself "What a deal!!!!!" So far I am impressed with Hyatt Pier 66 and will most likely will stay here again. Although I already checked what the price will be for our Yum Yum Man 3 cruise in March and it was going to be over $300 per night (discounted price) so may not do it that time :o

 

Tom has returned with Donuts and coffee that is Dunkin Donuts. Although I cannot quite figure out why people think Dunkin Donuts coffee is so great. I think it may have been hyped up by Dunkin Donut advertising. Although the Boston Creme filled donut is pretty good;)

 

I mentioned that we are traveling with friends Kathy and Bob , well they only decided on joining us about 6 weeks ago and were not able to get on our SW flight so they arrived here a bit later last night and they are staying at the Renaissance which when I spoke to them last night they thought was a nice hotel as well. I know it is certainly close to the Main entrance to Port Everglades. This is our 5th time since December 2008 to sail out of Port Everglades and I can finally say I have my barrings straight and actually know where we are in relationship to Port Everglades/airport and hotels. Our very first ever cruise was in March 2002 on the RCI Monarch of the Seas and we were such Cruise Virgins at that time. I now laugh thinking back to those times, even our 2nd cruise was also out of here for the HAL Zuiderdam in April 2003. All I can say we have come a Long Way Baby to know and get the full cruise feel :)

 

Well I guess I will sign off for now and my next post will be on the Beautiful Celebrity Solstice this evening. I will go into detail my first impressions/feelings. Even after all the cruises we have done I kind of feel like a kid on Christmas morning :D

 

Signing off from 13th floor of Hyatt Pier 66.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

BTW, thanks for all the Bon Voyages:)

I honestly love doing these Live from reports and that is because of all of you. You will find my writing style and reporting is similiar to as if you are sitting down and talking with me and I hope that you can see everything thru my eyes.

You would think after all the cruises we have done the newness would wear off but each time I am about to cruise the excitment comes back. There is just something special about walking cross the gangway of a ship. If you are new to cruising I hope that this Live from just helps to build your enthusiasm or even if you are not new ;)

[Two@Sea]

WooHoo, Lisa! We're all set to go... !!! :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

Lisa, I'm sitting here at 8:45 a.m. and almost called you to wish you a Bon Voyage.:)

 

Re: uploading pictures, doesn't your netbook have the little thingie that takes your SD card or whatever you have? I have an Acer and it has it. It's on the right side toward the front ... has a little blank in it which you push and it pops out and you put yours in. Aside from us enjoying some pics, it's a good back up for you for your pics.

 

Hope all goes smoothly for your embarkation!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Heather, it was so good talking to you :)

OK folks the blonde in me was showing :D Of course I can take my memory card out and place in my net book :o What can I say ..... certain not going to say it was a Senior moment :eek:

OK I will try to upload a few photos, I see that my night ones did not turn out as great as I would have liked.

[Two@Sea]

Thanks, Heather! Now we get to enjoy photos too! ;)

[algorithmannie]

Great picture! We've never been able to stay in a room with a view like that! Pretty cool!

 

Thanks for reporting... can't wait to hear your opinions and comparisons!

 

Bon Voyage! Is there anything better than waking up the morning you're about to board when the whole trip is still ahead of you... :)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Here is another picture a bit later in the morning.

[ut vol]

Heather, it was so good talking to you :)

 

OK folks the blonde in me was showing :D Of course I can take my memory card out and place in my net book :o What can I say ..... certain not going to say it was a Senior moment :eek:

 

OK I will try to upload a few photos, I see that my night ones did not turn out as great as I would have liked.

 

 

Ok that did it i'm sorry Heather but to h**l with anticipation, Oct. 17 cant get here soon enough . Lisa great job looking forward to more, thanks in advance for all of your wonderful post. Have a wonderful glorious amazing cruise.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

One more picture before i finish getting ready to head to the ship.

This is a close up using my zoom and hopefully i can figure out which cabin is mine :D

[LSEA]

 

OK folks the blonde in me was showing :D Of course I can take my memory card out and place in my net book :o What can I say ..... certain not going to say it was a Senior moment :eek:

 

 

You're funny Lisa. I enjoy your sense of humor. Just one of the many things that keeps me reading your "Live From" threads. Thanks for taking the time to keep us all informed. Looking forward to hearing all about your week!

[land lover]

LISA,Found you! Found you!....thanks for the thread Link...didn't know were were a such Celebrity on the Hal boards...so sailing X will fit right in with you being a Luminary.

 

Enjoy,

[sadie8]

Lisa, We're sitting in the FLL airport waiting for our flight home. Just got off the Solstice this morning. Can't wait to relive our week through your live posts. I checked out the ship picture from this morning to see if I was standing on my balcony in my pajamas!! I know you don't want to think about the end of the cruise but debarkation was a breeze this morning - probably 30 minutes from leaving the ship to arriving at the airport. WOW

[venicecruiser]

Lisa -

 

Have a wonderful time! The S-class ships are fabbo!

 

Claudia

[szq5231]

Wow, so glad I found your thread this morning. Eagerly awaiting your next update.

 

Suzanne

[Two@Sea]

Lisa, We're sitting in the FLL airport waiting for our flight home. Just got off the Solstice this morning. Can't wait to relive our week through your live posts. I checked out the ship picture from this morning to see if I was standing on my balcony in my pajamas!! I know you don't want to think about the end of the cruise but debarkation was a breeze this morning - probably 30 minutes from leaving the ship to arriving at the airport. WOW

 

Hey, Sadie... nice nightie! :D