SEMI LIVE REVIEW- Millenium 21st Feb

[anniedave]

Lucky I got the rest of my packing done yesterday ! Im a residential care home manager, and unfortunately 2 other managers I work with have tested positive for covid so I am trying to do their jobs as well as mine...plus 2 of my staff at one of the homes I manage ( one of whom is my daughter who lives with us) have also tested positive so I am also trying to rewrite rotas and keep me & Dave covid free.🤞. Its going to be a busy & tense few days !!! 

[anniedave]

2 more days at work 😁. Anyone else wake up in the middle of night & remember things they have forgotten to pack?  🤣🤣

[anniedave]

Just getting ready for my last day at work . Read the news reports about the threatened storm in the UK and advice not to travel tomorrow so hope this doesn't affect out flights on Friday! 

Received an email last night from BA asking me to log onto an app called Verifly - they want proof of negative test to check in for flight but not testing until we get to the airport so guessing we can't precheck in  ?? 

[anniedave]

Update!!! After discovering this I realised it meant ...getting to airport ... having test .... waiting  up to 45 mins for result ... checking in .... checking bags in ....security etc ... I decided it would all be too rushed & stressful- serves me right for thinking I was being clever / saving money by just booking the one test for flights / cruise . New plan - after spending 2 hours trying to find a test time/place that fitted in around our other plans tomorrow

( Dave getting some sleep after his night shift , me having nails & waxing done in the morning, driving to airport hotel tomorrow afternoon) . I managed to book us an antigen test tomorrow afternoon at somewhere on the way to the hotel - another £60 - but at least it will give me peace of mind we are negative before going to the airport & will make check in much smoother. The airport test tomorrow morning won't be wasted as we can still use that for boarding the ship on Monday . And it means as soon as we have had our test Sat morning we can check bags in,  go through security & relax in the airport lounge with a glass of something nice. ( yes 6am alcohol is acceptable if you are in an airport lounge waiting to go on holiday ... if its a mimosa / bucks fizz then it can def be counted as a breakfast drink !!)

[SonuvaBeach]

23 minutes ago, anniedave said:

yes 6am alcohol is acceptable if you are in an airport lounge waiting to go on holiday ... if its a mimosa / bucks fizz then it can def be counted as a breakfast drink !!)

AGREED!

[RickT]

Following as I am on the Millie in March.  Looking forward to again being on a ship after 2 years of Covid!

 

Curious to find out how many passengers are on board (we’re hoping for less than 75% capacity). Also looking to find out about the entertainment (shows, bands and musicians).

 

Enjoy your cruise and stay safe!

 

Lastly, while mimosas are a good breakfast drink we Canadians highly recommend The Caesar.  Similar to a Bloody Mary but much better IMHO.

Edited February 17, 2022 by RickT

[anniedave]

14 minutes ago, RickT said:

 

 

Lastly, while mimosas are a good breakfast drink we Canadians highly recommend The Caesar.  Similar to a Bloody Mary but much better IMHO.

Just googled to see what it was!! Don't really do vodka...or hot sauce 🤣...but sounds like something Dave might like to try ...I will suggest it 🙂

[anniedave]

And we are on our way ....🙂

Holiday nails done this morning - as we are 'abandoing ' our 20 year old daughter for 3 weeks 🤣🤣. It was nice to have some quality time with a mani & pedi 

Next stop was a covid test ( phew all clear) and now after a treacherous drive through storm eunice debris ( pics are 2 roads out of our village )  and just checked into the Thistle hotel at Heathrow - relaxing before dinner & prob a glass or 2 of wine 😁....fingers crossed storm Eunice doesn't affect our flights tomorrow 

[Kristal Blade]

Nails look fab.

Well done on getting through Eunice. She blew down our fence! 
 

Enjoy your holiday and hope the flight is smooth.

[Provence55always]

Delighted to hear you are on your way…..I was a bit worried about you due to storm!! Storm blew tiles from my daughter’s house in Harrogate. Have a fantastic cruise/holiday we are due to be on the Millennium in Alaska in May fingers crossed third time lucky 🍀 

[anniedave]

Had a nice 2 course dinner dinner included in our pre flight hotel/parking deal.

We shared some chicken wings and a chicken parfitt with toast & onion jam , then Dave had the ribeye & I had a steak & ale pie . We were both too full for dessert. 

Amazing views of the runway & T5 - sorry meant to take a pic on the way out but think the 2 large glasses of Pinot may have addled my memory 🤣🤣. 9.00pm & we are tucked up in bed ready for a 4.45am alarm 😲🙈!!!

[If only]

Really enjoying your review, we will also be joining you on Feb 21.  We had this booked over a year ago then did not pay final payment due to Covid rules getting back into Canada but they are changing on Feb 28 so rebooked cruise yesterday & been rushing around trying to pack. The ship is great we were on it in Nov & they have done a fabulous update. Look forward to your review. Hope to see you onboard.

[anniedave]

We both said we couldn't remember the bed being that uncomfortable at the Thistle when we stayed last time - we did have very little  sleep so we're already awake when my alarm went at 4.45.

We got up and played  ' let's juggle the luggage ' whilst waiting for the taxi we had pre booked the night before . 2 large cases, an extra case which was filled with my toiletries ( lots of allergies means I have to take my toiletries etc with me) and some things my cousin had asked me to take  over for her. Plus our main hand luggage bag each & then a small backpack for dave & handbag for me . Well we were going to be away for 3 weeks & I don't really do travelling light.
Earlier - at 3am !! I had completed everything on the veriFLY but it wouldn't let me check in online so we had to do it once we got to the airport. However already having everything on the verifly app def speeded things up. We then found the Express  testing area - just behind check in - turn left- and it took about 15 mins for us both to be tested.  I would say that as we had already done our flight test and this one was for the cruise it was fine. But if we were using it to  check in for the flight you then have to wait up to 40 mins for the result before you can use it to check in ...and there really wasn't much room to wait/test with big suitcases.

So that went smoothly ...as did security checks ..and we reached the golden sanctum of duty free ...T5 def doesn't have as much choice as T3 and Dave & I couldn't  get the aftershave / perfume we wanted....had to make do with something else...first world problems. By the time we had finished shopping our results had come through to my phone....yay 🥳🥳 negative ...and just like Cinderella & the ball...we would be going on the cruise 🙂

[anniedave]

Then we went to the Aspire lounge...BIG disappointment.  Dave & I love using the clubroom but there isn't one at Heathrow. Last time we flew from T3 & the Aspire lounge wasn't great but was okay. The Aspire lounge in T5 was def a let down - loud , busy , very little food or drink choices and our hot breakfast came just luke warm ...we won't be using again .

We were called to the gate and there was a small delay - but due to the storm yesterday we were expecting much worst ...so just an hour wasn't too bad. We have never flown premium economy before so have nothing to compare it with . But we were happy with what we got -
Water or juice on boarding
Pretzels & drinks - quite happy to give me both a Coke & a prosecco 🙂
Lunch - choice of chicken pie or veg pasta, salad, roll, choc cake , bottle water, coffee.-

Snack - caesar salad sandwich , kit kat & coffee.

Apart from the alcohol everything else came with proper glasses/ proper crockery .
We got a nice amenities kit in a little bag to keep and we had a pillow , small duvet & noise cancelling headphones. The extra leg room was good too. For £200 each on a long haul we said it was worth it. We don't think we don't know that we would pay much more than that to upgrade or bother for a short haul flight though. We did love the deep storage bins next to my window seat- so useful

[anniedave]

ADMIN HELP - I did send an email a couple of days ago asking if the 'pre cruise planning ' bit could be removed from my thread title- but not had a response & it's still there. Any suggestions ? 

[anniedave]

Suitcase horror !!
So we made up some time & arrived safely . Did the usual-  security , baggage claim...met my cousin & her husband who had kindly come to collect us ..drove an hour in the traffic back to theirs with all our luggage including our 2 identical distinctive cases ....can you guess whats coming? Opened the cases to get out the sausage rolls ...as you do ( the very nice fresh sausage rolls I had bought the previous day for my cousin - apparently can't get them in the US?) and one case had the sausage rolls in ...one didn't. Daves sleep deprived  brain asked why someone would take the sausage rolls...my equally sleep deprived but slightly more observant brain realised that not only did one of the cases not have the sausage rolls it also did not have any of our belongings !!!.

It wasn't our case. What were the chances of 2 people on the same flight having the same distinctive luggage. I went onto my  phone to try & call BA & realised I had had a missed call from them . BA had been trying to phone me to say someone was still at baggage claim with one of our cases & one of theirs. BA said it was our responsibility to take the case back. We asked if BA could bring our case & take the other case, but they said no,  we had to do it today or tomorrow. We were just about to go out to dinner so said we would do it the following morning, but then discovered the people whose case we had were due to board a cruise the following day. So my very kind cousins husband took Dave back to the airport to swap cases. If you are reading this and it was your case - We are very sorry, we will check before we leave the airport next time !!!

Meanwhile we headed to dinner - with the plan for them to meet us there. me , my
Cousin, her son & fiance headed to Bahama Breeze for dinner. We had a 40 minute wait for a table so the boys arrived just before we got seated. Dave was quite happy as the unexpected trip had given him the opportunity to go for a ride in my cousins husband's vintage Mustang 🙂.

Our verdict on Bahama Breeze - good food , terrible service...that was soooo slow . From arriving at 7.30 we left at 10pm. We just wanted a quick meal but it took ages to get a server to take our order...bring drinks ...bring appetisers...bring entrees ....bring the check.
I always like to try different things and really enjoyed my jerk chicken pineapple rice bowl - the bowl being a scooped out pineapple. Dave had ribs & fries and to start we shared some chips & dips & beef tacos for the table. I enjoyed my white Sangria.

After the meal we headed back to my cousins and I realised apart from our plane nap - due to lack of sleep the previous night ..I had been awake for 26 hrs. So went to bed & fell asleep straight away 😴

[RickT]

Your luggage story sounds similar to what happened to us, however we were the ones staring at a suitcase like ours but wasn’t. 
 

In our case the airline (Air Canada) was useless and wouldn’t contact the owner of the luggage that remained and instead told us to report our luggage as lost.  We were sailing the next day so decided we needed to do the work ourselves.  Luckily we were able to ovation the name/number and email address and after sending 2 emails and leaving 3 messages received a call back.   
 

Our luggage was now about 90 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale and it was too late fir them to drive back down that night.  They promised to be at our hotel no later than 8:00 AM.  Thankfully things worked out.  
 

That incident thought me:

-ensure your name, phone number and email address are on the outside (and inside) of your luggage 

-add a unique identifier (ribbon, sticker, strap) 

-triple check that the luggage I grab off the conveyor belt is in fact mine

[anniedave]

19 hours ago, RickT said:

That incident thought me:

-ensure your name, phone number and email address are on the outside (and inside) of your luggage 

-add a unique identifier (ribbon, sticker, strap) 

-triple check that the luggage I grab off the conveyor belt is in fact mine

Yes taught us the same thing ! 

[anniedave]

So refreshed after our sleep we headed out to Brunch at Bayside area in Miami . My cousins son took us to a place he had been recommended 'Bacon Bitches'Great food , great service and you get the pleasure of being called 'B###h' to everything as you order your breakfast. A fun place to go if you aren't easily offended . 

[anniedave]

After brunch we had a great boat trip to see the houses of the rich , and  famous- they are all here but can't remember which is which - Beckhams, J Lo, founder of Instagram, inventor of *****!, Al Capone, Jackie Chan, Shakira, P Diddy...and a few more 😲😎. There are lots of options at the Dock...my cousin booked ours company called Island cruises - very reasonably priced with a coupon from.Wowcher. 

[50scruiser]

10 minutes ago, anniedave said:

So refreshed after our sleep we headed out to Brunch at Bayside area in Miami . My cousins son took us to a place he had been recommended 'Bacon Bitches'Great food , great service and you get the pleasure of being called 'B###h' to everything as you order your breakfast. A fun place to go if you aren't easily offended . 

 

[50scruiser]

I've enjoyed reading your thread.  We're also on the roll call and on the cruise today.  Can't wait to get on the ship.  When we sailed on the Summit in November we had around 700 passengers - the ship never felt crowded.  I hope we get to meet on the cruise.

 

Donna

[clutchcurrier]

Enjoying your thread and all the pictures.  My DH and I don't sail until March, 2023 on the Emerald Princess, but I can live through your adventures and feel the warmth of Florida as I look out on the Michigan snow 😄.  Will be following along.  Have a great cruise.

[Kristal Blade]

They may be rich and famous, but who needs a dildo on their house? 10th picture from the start.

 

Have fun and keep posting!

[anniedave]

4 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

They may be rich and famous, but who needs a dildo on their house? 10th picture from the start.

 

Have fun and keep posting!

Q🤣🤣