CHICAGOPAUL LIVE BLOG!!!!!! December 13th, 2019 - SILHOUETTE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN

[chicagopaul]

4 hours ago, janbear said:

We will be on the Silhouette with you and are excited for everything about this itinerary! You got a great deal on the sky suite.

 

The martini bar is our favourite place on the ship so I am sure we will run into you! 

 

Cheers! 

 

Janess & Michael 

 

Janess & Michael - Be sure to stop by and say hello! We will definitely be at the Martini Bar!

[chicagopaul]

Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments! Well, it is 8:45pm here in Chicago and we are all packed and ready to go. The only few things left to pack are a couple bathroom items we will be using in the morning so need to leave those out.

 

This time around we are checking 1 bag each, so a total of 2 bags. Then of course a couple of carry on bags. Usually we have a 3rd checked bag but did much better this time. Still had enough room for extra shoes (those are in the rolling carry on) and my tux.

 

Our flight tomorrow is at 6am! So with that being said we are crawling into bed. I'm sipping on some night time tea and hopefully we can get a decent amount of sleep before our alarms go off at roughly 2:50am. I'll update my Instagram story in the morning and photos and updates will start as we head to the airport.

 

As stressful as travel can sometimes being, we're always trying to hurry to our destination, I really try my best to make the travel component (uBer to the airport, checking in, going through security, the flight, etc.) as much a part of the vacation as anything else. Taking you through it always helps! So thank you for following along!

[ryansmousehouse]

Hooray..another of your trip reports.... Really want to do this itinerary next year... Will be on Sillourette in May, so this is perfect timing for us 😃

[nikel]

Yaay...another one of your trip reports.  Love reading them, they are always so informative.

Look forward to meeting you in April.

[Purplsmurf]

We go to Aruba every year for our land vacay in January/Feb and still did this itinerary twice and loved it! Have a fabulous time!

[zenathon]

We will be following you on the next sailing for the Holiday Cruise..cant wait to hear all the good info!! 🙂

 

 

[chicagopaul]

Good Morning everyone! We are currently sitting at our gate with roughly 50 minutes before boarding. We ordered an Uber and headed down to our lobby around 3:50am. For an Uber we ordered a black car and the cost was $72 from our place by Navy Pier in Chicago to ORD. 
 

Travel time to ORD was around 22 minutes. 
 

We used priority bag check-in and there was no line. There was no line at security pre check. They had to quickly reacted Edward likely because of his belt and that was it. From drop off through security, the total time was probably 7 to 8 minutes total. 
 

So far we are off to a good start. As much as I hate these early flights because of having to get up so early, it does have its benefits! 
 

 

 

[vickykay]

Looking forward to another great review.  Have a wonderful time!

[Mr. Boston]

Have a great time guys.  Looking forward to following along again.  Love the ABC’s and can’t wait to explore, courtesy of you! 🏝

[Bretty]

9 hours ago, chicagopaul said:

As stressful as travel can sometimes being, we're always trying to hurry to our destination, I really try my best to make the travel component (uBer to the airport, checking in, going through security, the flight, etc.) as much a part of the vacation as anything else. Taking you through it always helps! So thank you for following along!

 

I'm with you on that. As soon as I finish work then I'm on vacation, I start to unwind quite quickly, and the excitement of the prep (although I start packing about 2 weeks before, bits and pieces here and there), the journey to the airport if we're flying, a nice hotel since we always have to travel to the hotel the day before we fly. All of it is part of the vacation and builds the excitement. Since we would have to fly to most places from London, we've been known to build in a stopover to see a play or musical before we fly to really start things off.

 

I hope you have a fabulous time guys.

[ipeeinthepool]

Looking forward to following your cruise.  Thanks for bringing us along.  Have a great cruise.

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your newest adventure.  Have a great time!

[Josie201]

We always enjoy your reviews Paul.  We were on Silhouette a couple of weeks ago over Thanksgiving also to the ABCs and GC.  I found things a bit disorganized in terms of dining reservations, or proper stocking/restocking of bars (eg no Evian water anywhere until about day eight)  and there were many large families on board, including many kids in diapers in the pool/hot tubs despite repeated attempts by staff to keep them out.   I will look forward to your observations   Enjoy!  

[sound_guy0918]

I saw this post and thought "how can someone be reviewing the cruise we haven't left for yet...?"  

 

See you on board soon, @chicagopaul.  

[h20cruzer]

You have probably landed in Miami by now. Glad to have your review to read while I am cruising. Tell Edward hello for me. Seem to remember you stopping at Lowe’s for drinks when you had a late departure back to Chicago.

Norma

[awhfy]

Flying from Colorado Springs we never get a nonstop flight (anywhere!) so we always take the earliest flight possible. I’ve discovered first class is much easier on your body (maybe not your liver 🙄). Baileys in coffee at 6 am is quite palatable. Being retired our kids say we’re always on vacation (they’d be right). Melody

[silkismom]

Just got off the Reflection on Mon. Looking forward to your cruise to pass the time until we get on Azamara Pursuit to Antarctica in Jan. So nice to see ORD w/o hundreds of people. IAH is also awful now, especially with the "Barbie" jets from COS to larger ones. 

[chicagopaul]

We have arrived safely in Miami! The flight left on time and was uneventful. Only some slight turbulence going through a system about 40 minutes outside of Miami. Service was prompt and friendly on the flight. I watched the news the entire time, ordered a breakfast sandwich and a screw driver which became a double. The drinks are free in Main Cabin Extra on American so just had to pay for the sandwich. Since Edward got one it was a total of $17.50 for two. 
 

we landed about 20 minutes ahead of schedule and our bags were even some of the first to come out! We made our way outside and instead of a taxi, since I’ve had awful taxi experiences both in Miami and FLL we ordered an Uber. I noticed they have Uber Premier. I researched the available vehicles and driver requirements and found them to be similar to our Uber Black. I ordered one and roughly 7 minutes later our driver arrived without any confusion. The vehicle is a black GMC Yukon. Total cost to the Loews Hotel is $50 and pennies. UberX would have been around $30. 
 

leaving baggage claim it was very easy to get to the designated spot for ride share. You simply walk past the taxi pickup and past the regular pickup to ride share. You’re crossing two little streets. There are big numbers by each section so when you order the Uber it will prompt you to input what door you’re by. 
 

the rain has stopped in Miami but the clouds still look a bit ominous. The forecast is calling for a bit more rain but this evening should be nice. Fingers crossed our room is ready so we can rest a bit before lunch. Otherwise we will grab a coffee and hope we don’t get caught in the rain. All I care about is I’m finally in warm weather! 

[BridgeMates]

Welcome Back!  We are on the Silhouette in early March with the exact same itinerary.  As always, looking forward to your review.

Have a great trip.  🎈

 

 

[jcpc]

Paul,

Looking forward to following along.  Your blogs always make me feel like I'm on the ship with you!!  Wishing you and Edward a wonderful cruise.  

Janice

 

[megfla]

My wife and I were up in your neck of the woods earlier this week visiting her sister in Northwestern hospital.  After the 22 degree high temp on Tuesday, it was nice getting off the plane in Tampa!  We did enjoy the Christmas market in Daley Plaza, walking the Magnificent Mile decked out for the holidays and a great dinner at the new Carson Ribs location during our short trip.

 

Look forward to following along as we prepare for our 1/3/20 sailing on the Reflection!

[dani negreanu]

Eagerly following. Thank you. Have a smashing cruise😁

[chicagopaul]

2 hours ago, megfla said:

My wife and I were up in your neck of the woods earlier this week visiting her sister in Northwestern hospital.  After the 22 degree high temp on Tuesday, it was nice getting off the plane in Tampa!  We did enjoy the Christmas market in Daley Plaza, walking the Magnificent Mile decked out for the holidays and a great dinner at the new Carson Ribs location during our short trip.

 

Look forward to following along as we prepare for our 1/3/20 sailing on the Reflection!

 

Glad you enjoyed Chicago. I hope her sister is doing well. We live in the building directly across from Carson's Ribs that is connected to the park. Hope you had fun and thanks for following along!

[wendyam76]

Have a wonderful cruise - so love your blogs!

Wendy

[chicagopaul]

So right now it is just after 5pm here in Miami. I just finished about an hour or so worth of working and getting caught up on some e-mails. Now let me get caught up with all of you.

 

We arrived at the hotel via our Uber. It was raining at the time. When we got into the hotel there was a long line to check in, but it was moving relatively quick. It seemed like a lot of people were checking out and trying to get bills printed. I think there was a conference that a lot of people were leaving from and they needed to get their bills for their expense statements. Also I heard the Loews was switching over their reservation systems which was causing some issues.

 

Thankfully our room was ready right away. We were placed in the "2nd" tower here, which is the older Art Deco tower. Not my personal favorite, but I'll review this more later once our stay here is complete.

 

We went back to the room, took a little nap, and then went out to do a little shopping. We hit Banana Republic, shopped around a bit on Lincoln, stopped to get a cigar lighter so I don't have to keep borrowing one at Sunset Bar if we want a cigar....oh the tough life right? Having to borrow a lighter haha.

 

We then grabbed a drink at the Loews bar during happy hour. Their happy hour runs from 3 to 6pm. It includes $6 beer, $7 wine, and $8 cocktails and bar bites. We both had a glass of wine and some hummus. The bill, with automatic 20% gratuity and taxes came out to $28. Not bad for a nice afternoon snack and drink. While we were sitting at the bar I received an Instagram message from a friend I used to work with but who has lived in England (that is where he is from) for the past 8 years. It turns out his sister was staying at the Loews and was by the pool bar. He sent her my picture and she found me! It was great to chat with her about him and how his life is going and how the family is. What a small world! But it was definitely the highlight of my day.

 

We are now back in the room watching the news. Soon we will jump in the shower, get ready for the evening. We will likely have a martini at the lobby bar and then head out to dinner. What is for dinner? No idea yet! We will figure it out and keep you posted.

 

Oh, on a quick note I'm happy to say that the rain here stopped around 1pm and the sun came out. The evening is looking quite perfect. Thanks again for following along!