My last post...

....yes, I've decided to take a little plunge and move this little snarky world out on her own to her own domain. So please continue to keep up with me at:

www.insnarkville.com

I was able to import all the juicy goodness that is here over onto my new blog -- so please feel free to forget this place even existed ;) (read: a redirect will be going in soon)

Good bye fair Blogger -- I think Snarkville is ready for the world!

There's No Place Like Home

Dorothy was so right. However, no amount of clicking my heels together got me home on time yesterday. There was an hour delay in Atlanta (raise your hand if you are shocked). We arrived in the "A" terminal, were told to go to "E" terminal. We grabbed lunch and tried to keep occupied for the 3 hour lay-over. Then, I got this feeling that the gate was going to be changed on us. Prince checked -- and YUP, it was. Back to "T" terminal. Shoot me.
Let me paint a picture. I checked everything I could. We carried with us, 3 backpacks (Duke's is on wheels) and a car seat. And still we were loaded down like pack mules. You might think we carried on too much stuff -- but NO -- there was NOTHING we carried on that we didn't use -- NOTHING.
We got to the T gate and found out the plane was delayed by 30 minutes -- but they were still unloading the inbound plane at 2:45pm (we were scheduled to pushback at 3pm). Ok, on the plane, get settled -- Duke took his nap. We look up to see an entire high school heading our way. There was a band/drill team from St. Louis heading to Honolulu, HI. There were at least 5 rows all the way across the wide body plane with no one over 17. URGH. While I'll admit they were better than I expected -- that's not saying much. I was pooped when we arrived. The upside was that those kids weren't fighting me at the bag claim when I got my bags -- FWIW, the fastest I've gotten bags in my life.
Home. For like 40 seconds. I had a meeting to run off (I was 45 minutes late -- but everyone kept telling me "why are you even here" -- dedication, folks, dedication --- or insanity, maybe.)

In other news, I have tons to do -- but right this second I'm waiting for the washing machine to finish so I can shower. Then off to do real work -- yippie.

For Niki: I am waiting for a photo of the costumes and I will NOT announce what we were until I've got that photo. Trust me, it will blow you away.

For Sue: Yes, I'll be there tonight!

I need more coffee. Lots more after this whirlwind. Next trip -- end of June to Seattle and Canada.

Less than 24 hours left in Florida

Yes, I'm counting the hours. Not that I don't just love all this hot, humid, fun-packed vacation spot you have down here (I don't), but I miss home. I'm not sleeping well because I miss my cats sleeping on my feet or my head whichever. I miss my routine. I miss -- well, I miss pretty much everything. I did get a much needed little break, but I was done with this and ready for home about 4 days ago and all else has seemed overkill.
However, all that said, I feel I just MUST update you on the experiences.
On Freedom of the Seas:
When last we spoke of this ship I was sorely disappointed. Well, it did improve a bit. The service for the second dinner was better, but I have to say that I think that Royal Caribbean had scaled back service to the point that it was really lacking. Many agents commented on how hard it was on them to serve 1500 passenagers and wondered how they would handle 4,000. I wasn't as concerned really. Knowing that this ship is going to be in the Caribbean, the ports of call will help off-load much of the passenager load throughout the day. And with a few things that weren't open on my cruise, like room service, reservations for the alternative dining locales, and the children's program; I think that will help spread the folks out a bit. Also, keep in mind the bars were very very busy due to the free drinks on board too.
The sad note is that Royal Caribbean really fell down on the job when it came to thanking us for being there. Most lines leave thank you gifts or notes in your cabin on the last night. No such gift. This was a little shocking -- but as you can tell the Queen took it in stride ----she coolly walked up to guest services and demanded the special book she should have been given.
Club Med:
The food was bad. No, not really. I doubt I lost any weight while there -- and most of my disappointment comes from my lack of love for a buffet. I should note that I was a bit wrong about the service, there were a few places on the property that served its guests -- I just never had an evening free enough to enjoy them.
However, for every bad thing I have to say about the food, I have 100 good things to say about the kids' program. Oh, my. Duke went swimming twice a day the days he was there. they have a pool just for the little ones, with a slide. He had so much fun he didn't want to leave the first day we picked him up. While it isn't educational or at all like pre-school, he ran around and played and ate with other kids. Plus the staff was really nice.
This shinning moment doesn't overshadow my 12 hours without hot water, for which I didn't get even a "We're sorry." or my overall disappointment with the experience. I did speak to many other folks who said this was not typical of the Club Med's in the islands, so this is not how I should judge them on the whole. However, it was pretty apparent from someone who had never done the all-inclusive before that I'd do tons of research before going to another one.
The Convention:
As much as I wasn't in love with the location (nor was anyone else really), the convention was tons of fun. I'm coming home with loads of new ideas and things to try. We have spent four days filling a calendar with ideas just to try to space them out a bit. So, there should be much excitement from me for at least a few weeks to come. It did totally re-charge my batteries -- which was the whole point right?
Special sidenote: the prince and I won the costume contest on Saturday night. And Duke is now a proud owner of a portable DVD player.

To my Secret Pal:
You are so pretty to send me a box. I know you said in a few days, but I can't wait to mug the mailman for it. I'll be home late Wednesday, but if it is there already, I'll have a photo up for all to see by Thursday.

On the final night of my trip, my father is cooking dinner. I shall eat and eat. Tomorrow we get up way too early for the birds, but head off west to return home. My bed awaits and I can't wait to crawl inside it.

Off the Ship and onto Club Med

Before you start thinking "WOW, she has the life. Cruising and Club Med all in one vacation." Let me paint for you a picture.

My day began at the crack of 7am. Get up; get dressed; get off the damn ship. Then drive two and a half hours north (in traffic) to Club Med. Now is it just me, or do we think Club Med is supposed to be a high end luxury resort? Let's put it this way -- I hope the Club Med in Florida is not an example of their offering. Let's review how my impression and reality are so NOT connected:

Impression:
Club Med rooms will be large and posh. There will be first class service in regards to the rooms -- like my bags will be brought inside my room; there will be turn-down service; the lights will work; and everything will be clean and comfortable.

Reality:
The room is basically clean. While it feels like it was rode hard and put up wet, it is actually clean. The room's best feature is the HUGE closet. Yup, the closet could be a nanny room in most European countries. I'm still not sure why, but it is huge. The furnishings went out of style while I was in high school -- and yes, I know I'm not marrying the bedspreads, but updated styles is one of the things that shows a resort cares to keep up. Thus far we have not been turned down, so I'm doubting this is happening. When we checked in our bags were dropped off in front of our room, not brought in at all. And there seems to be a master switch (or in our room two switches), that have to be in a certain position to make any of the lights work. URGH.

Impression:
Club Med, being a world class resort, would have world class food. There would be service that would include people coming to your table to bring you food. There would be choices that would include a few things not normally in my diet, but on the most part fabulous dishes. It would have been like a cruise ship on land.

Reality:
There is a buffet. Your Queen does NOT enjoy buffets. I find that food sits too long, it is often over cooked, and if I'm going out to eat -- I want to be served DAMN IT. Yes, I'm a snob -- but come to find out there are 300 other travel agents here who feel the EXACT same way.

So, Duke is living the high life at the Queen Mum's and I'm jealous. But tomorrow we have classes -- there's been more FREE stuff, thus far -- so I'm thrilled -- what? You can't tell? Go figure.

On to other brief news:
I have not been knitting. Perhaps this has something to do with my foul mood. However on Freedom of the Seas, we were running all over the ship (literally. We did the Ultimate Race -- sort of an Amazing Race on the ship. We ran from one end to the other MULTIPLE TIMES. Prince did the flowrider AND the rock climbing wall. I got to ice skate. We came in 4th of 16 teams. We are proud. My inner thighs HATE me from climbing 14 flights of stairs up and down). And frankly, I'm too hot to pick up my wool. I would rather not sweat all over my handwork. So, either we find A/C or I'll be knitting on the plane ride home.