A place where everyone loves Ron.

[Bindibuys]

Well this answers my question as to why you would not be in Cairns during October .
Coming along for this ride as well.

 

[love_the_life]

Silversea again drron?

 

[drron]

It is indeed the Silver Explorer again. By the end of the cruise it will be 198 nights on Silverseas,136 of them due to the Explorer.

But on with the show.Sunday arrived.A beautiful sunny day.Up early.Our limo was booked for 0700 but arrived at 0630.We were not quite ready arrived at BNE a little before 0800.Next experienced service BNE style. Had a couple of letters to post.We were dropped at the Eastern end of the arrivals level. Asked the fellow at the first door where the post box was-level 2.Now we had to go down to level 1 to get it stamped that we were indeed taking our new luggage out of the country .Asked the TRS fellow-Level 4.Back to checkin. Asked the fellow checking your right to enter the premium lane-level 2.So I go down to level 2.No where to be seen.ask the info-level 4.So checkin first.lovely agent so at the end ask her.She is definite-walk outside turn right and it is near the other end.And there it was no more than 3 metres from where we first asked but hidden from the east by a pole.:evil:

Then down to security.They now have a body scanner so we go to that lane.Only 2 people in front of usAfter 7 minutes with only 1 of the 2 in front completed mrsdrron goes to the ordinary lane.I wait-you stand behind a divider until the fellow calls you through.You then leave your possessions before the scanner on the operator side of the Xray.When you are cleared they put your things through. Mrsdrron has been waiting a few minutes for me.
So finally off to the Flounge-or the poor imitation that is the BNE version. Soon after we arrive Wayne Swan walks in and sits at the next set of chairs so I am looking straight at him.A few minutes later a woman sits next to him.A little while later she says-"I think I know you."He sees the broad grin on my face and answers-"I'm sure you do."
Mrsdrron then notices Gary Migehan walk in,look around and walk out.Ends up he and his family are in the row in front of us on QF 61.We walk to the gate when the boarding soon message comes up.But a fair wait as the 3 QF flights are all late.Ours the best with just a 20 minute delay.Of the other 6 flights only 1 behind time-VA to POM.Before leaving the lounge I looked at Expert flyer-it had us on a non refurbed plane the day before and we were in Row 2-I initially selected this and a week out reselect it with the QF map still showing non refurbed.Expert Flyer still showed non refurbed but we now had boarding passes for Row 6 so obviously a late sub with a refurbed bird.

As is often the case we were first on.Again unusual as no one was lined up before boarding was announced.Soon seated with my jacket taken and a glass of champagne in hand.Seemed like a very good crew.Just before push back one of the crew walks up to Gary Migehan and says-"we've just had a phone call from Neil Perry.He apologises for the food."

QF 61. BNE-NRT. ETD-1100. Push back-1112. Take off-1122. Seats-6E,F
ETA-1930, Land-1909. At gate-1919.

Flight next.

 

[RooFlyer]

OK. I googled Gary Migehan.

 

[drron]

So first the menu-

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No wine list-they just told you what was available.We both had the Cape Mentelle SB with the drinks service.I changed to the St.Hugos Cab Sav with the meal.The other wines were a Grove Estate Shiraz-had a taste but stuck with the St.Hugos-and a Hill-Smith Chardy.I also had a sticky with dessert that was how it was offered and as I was by then watching a movie I forgot to ask what it was.

I had the smoked salmon a d then the bowl of Japanese beef curry.I forgot to get the small plates but a smoked salmon with potato salad,an asparagus soup + 1 other.The salmon was nice and I really liked the Japanese curry.So much different to the version in the JAL lounges and well and truly preferred by me.The Rhubarb crumble tart was very light on the crumble but very nice.

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Before the meal you are served a garden salad.With all dstill don't accept some mixed leaves as a salad and definitely not a garden salad-it needs at least some raw onion to so qualify.

The movie I watched was Bessie with Queen Latifah.I do like her movies.This was a little disjointed but I did enjoy it.After an attempt at sleep I listened to some music.First the 1972 collection.Some great songs then.Next Queen as I do enjoy listening to Freddie Mercury.Then the Beatles Rubber Soul album-anat01 had reminded me of this as it was my favourite album during my down years.Finished off with Icehouse.Congrats to QF with their music selection.

Next the seat.Some of the reviews had made me a little nervous especially travelling as a couple.We had no worries and enjoyed the middle pair.Would have been better if you could lower the divider as with other similar seats.When I lay down the seat was long enough,wide enough and the foot well could fit my size 12s.However to sleep the seat is hard-but I had not set up the mattress.Although the footwell fitted my size 12s it was impossible to move them when I rolled over.Would have been better if the soft foot rest was half as thick.
The controls were perfect for me-easy to reach in the fully recumbent position.Loved the Screen for watching movies.The stowage space was enough for me.The table was a little disappointing and not ideal for working on.Ok for writing up my TR notes!
But it certainly is a big improvement on what it replaced and I placed it above the CX new regional J and US A340 version.A couple of minor adjustments and it would have scored a very good from me.

The snack before landing was a real disappointment for mrsdrron-2 dishes were spicy and the broad bean falafel was inedible.I though had the Sichuan stir fry which was delicious-

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I can report that Gary followed my lead and had exactly the same meals as I.He did though wash them down with beer or sake.

A couple of shots showing the foot well with the size of the footrest.As I said if this was half the thickness I would have enjoyed it.

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In summary this was one of those flights where to me QF just got it right.I wish it happened more often.If it did I would prefer to fly QF.

Next arrival and our stay at Hilton Narita.

 

[drron]

We came in to the satellite terminal so a fair walk since they took out the trainFortunately short lines at Immigration but I picked a rarity-an inefficient Japanese officer so mrsdrron got through before me.She was among the first to the baggage carousel arriving just as our bags were heading for the exit-the first 2 in the line.So I got to meet mrsdrron at the Customs line.So we were at the Hilton bus stop within 30 mins but had to wait 20 minutes for it.It is the same stop as always,26.but the Hilton name is no longer on the stop.As well the driver kept urging everyone to hurry and get on so by the time it left there was not a spare seat and bags in the aisle.It was very stuffy.
Easy checkin and given a larger room on the 10th floor facing the airport.Although only gold we have had at least 20 stays here.t was a full house.

Initially it was hard to get off to sleep due to aircraft noise and the people above us re enacting a scene from their Africa trip-an elephant stampede.Finally got off to sleep.Although we missed the sunset I did wake in time for sunrise-

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And looking out our window-

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Then a soak in a nice warm bath before brekkie-you do get the whole breakfast here.Just a basic breakfast though.Then it was time to catch the 8am shuttle back to the airport.Outside the Hilton was a picture that says a lot about Japan-

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The taxi driver is not going to have the smell of cigarettes in his car.rriving at the airport it was the first time someone hasn't entered the bus to do a passport check as well as no explosives check for the bus.
A quick checkin and very soon going through the premium security-no one else going through so it was easy though as usual I had to be wanded.Straight to the main JAL Flounge.Massages have gone as has the champagne bar which is now a sushi bar but very busy.Only Monopole champagne.We had a coffee and I just a selection of Japanese pickles.Feeling we will get adequate food on board.

As usual off to gate about 10 minutes before boarding time.Huge lines for premium boarding but we are the first to head for F.Another very good crew.Quite friendly for a JAL crew and indeed during the flight we had several conversations with them.Jacket taken immediately and first glass of champagne arrives soon after.

JL 10. NRT-ORD. ETD-1100. Push back-1107. Take off-1142. Seats 2 D,G. B773.
ETA-0905. Land-0830. At gate-0842.

Flight next.

 

[drron]

So first to the seat.This is 2D.For the obligatory foot shot I couldn't fit the feet in!

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You can of course notice the upper body.The seat controls were good.The touch screen IFE controller I found frustrating to use.Probably not au fait with the technology along with big fingers + a lack of clarity in the English instructions-several steps left out.Lots of little storage spaces and your carry on can go under the footrest.The table is that piece under the screen,you just pull it back.Decent size.

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Looks like and is a big comfy armchair.

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And converts into a real bed.Quite comfortable-

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Now on boarding it was the champagne.

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I had to have 2 glasses of each before deciding I liked the Salon.Unusual white wine list apart from the Bourgogne.

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Unfortunately mrsdrron doesn't like Chardies even a well credentialed French one.The Japanese white was from the Koshu grape.Described as sweet but actually just really fruity not so much sweet but again not to mrsdrron's taste.

Next-the rest of the wine list.

 

[drron]

There were 2 Austrian whites.The first was quite unusual and neither of us really appreciated it.The Reisling though was good and became mrsdrron's wine for meals.It was no problem tasting all the wines before making a selection.

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Now to the reds.Both French reds were typical easy drinking wines of good quality.

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I preferred the Bordeaux.For the reds there were 2 made by Japanese winemakers.This one was an interesting wine and if I come across it in the USA may well try it again.There was also this NZ pinot noir that I would have loved to try but unfortunately only loaded on European flights-

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The sakes.Loved the Isojiman which was used for toasts at the G8 leaders meeting in Hokkaido-

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They also had a bottled "Blue"tea.I found out I am not a tea connoisseur.It was just cold black tea-

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Next-the menus.

 

[drron]

JAL hasn't made QF's mistake of having catering by just one person.There are 4 at present on this First Class menu.
Here are the Japanese and western options for the main meal-

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We both chose the Japanese set but starting with the caviar.Those pics next.

 

[drron]

Sorry in advance some of the food shots are blurry.I am sticking to my story that this is due to turbulence and has absolutely nothing to do with the amount of alcohol consumed.
First the caviar.We both enjoyed this.I felt the salmon tartare turned out to be a good match to the caviar.With the Japanese appetisers I enjoyed the crabmeat,mushrooms and saury(basically sardine).

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I enjoyed the clear soup but the scallop part was disappointing.I was looking forward to the lobster and abalone but it was boring and bland but I enjoyed the egg custard with chestnut.

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The star was the suikiyaki dish.One of the best dishes I have had in the air.The beef was melt in your mouth delicious.The mushrooms were great.The elements had obviously been cooked in a suikiyaki broth but taken out.There were some other veggies and tofu under the meat and mushrooms-

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The dessets were a little of a let down.Nothing wrong but no wow.

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As I said before I found the entertainment system not easy to use so I just listened to music and read a book I had on my computer.Then tried to sleep but not really tired so only a light sleep.The PJs are very good and comfortable.
Next-brekkie.

 

[drron]

Breakfast was different.There were 2 set selections-

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I would have liked the Japanese selection but I was the 8th(out of 8) asked so it was not available.They also had an A la Carte selection.Again not your usual breakfast fare.But to be fair it was supper time in Tokyo.

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Unfortunately the first part of the A La Carte section was too blurry.I had selected from that a foie gras flan and salmon + salmon roe on rice.

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The flan was bland but I loved the salmon.Would have been better if the fish was raw.
After brekkie it was not long until touchdown so I just watched the flight path.Shame that they don't have the cameras-or that I couldn't find them,.
Arrival into ORD was the best we have ever had in LOTFAP.Plane stopped moving at 0842 and we were on the kerbside waiting for the hotel shuttle at 0858.Unfortunately the hotel neglected to change their website that the shuttle now only stopped at the new Bus and Shuttle centre so after an hour we caught a cab to the Aloft,Rosemont.
That next.

 

[drron]

Our first time at an Aloft.It is the cheaper version of W hotels.We are not into funky though the atmosphere here is more cheap or utilitarian than funky.So the room-

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The plus side was that they had a room available at 1000.Now we actually came here for the view.So after a shower to freshen up we went and partook of that magnificent view-

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Plenty of upmarket outlets here.Mrsdrron was able to reacquaint herself with the goods of Mr.Armani so she was pleased.A certain Mr.Lindt also tempted us.
There are plenty of restaurants in this area which is a new development near ORD with hotels,restaurants,shops,offices and a Convention centre.It was more convenient to lunch at the outlets at the Italian restaurant-Villagio.A solid Italian.You get some garlic bread(pizza base) plus chopped tomato with balsamic at the start and at the end a glass of Limoncello each.Surprisingly at no extra cost.We both started with mussels-very nice.Mrsdrron then had the carpaccio and I the scallopini Portobello.

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A bottle of an Italian white completed our meal.Felt it reasonable value.
Then back to the hotel~ 1600 where our intention was to stay awake until about 2000.So we went straight to sleep instead waking at 1900.Back to sleep at midnight until the 0530 alarm went off.
Next-off to Orlando.The home of.........shopping!:shock:

 

[drron]

Here we gff on the 0630 shuttle to the ORD shuttle centre.Not a long walk to T4.Walked in at the general checkin area of AA so checked in there.:shock:
No worries there were no pax in line so made sense.We then got a trainee Aagent with supervisor so it did take a little while.Then to the priority security line.It looked like a trainee there as well-young woman sitting at screen with an older fellow looking over her shoulder.Very slow and then came to a complete stop.Fortunately a body scanner but then I got selected for explosives screening.
Fortunately our flight was leaving from Gate K18-right at the back door to the Flagship lounge.Mrsdrron had misplaced her WP card but we took a printout of her FF account on the day prior to leaving and so no problems.However with the security hold ups we only had 45 minutes there.But they did have fantastic bacon-thick cut,maple smoked English bacon.Way different from the incinerated stuff that is usually offered.

We went out the back door when the display said 5 minutes until boarding to find they were calling Group 3.On top of that they were doing old style QF boarding-everyone was boarding through the priority line as only one agent doing the boarding.:shock: Then on boarding a fellow is sitting in mrsdrron's seat.As soon as the FA heard me speaking to him she was beside me in a flash.Fortunately he moved to his seat straight away.Again fortunately the only F bin space left was above our seats.
Boarding was halted for a while as the FAs checked bin space.When it restarted there was a noticeable lack of larger carryons.That is until some dead heading crew got on last-they were told to take the vacant seats so the Captain got the last F seat,his bags put in the front locker.I have been reading on FT that AA has been cracking down on carryon size however apart from sizers seen at checkin and at the gate there was no evidence on this flight.

AA1027. ORD-MCO. ETD-0855. Push back-0855. Take off-0905. Seats 4A,B. B738.
ETA-1240. Landed-1220. At gate-1227.
Take off from ORD-

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Brekkie was served and was reasonable-

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Now this experience doesn't come close to that on JAL the day before or even that on QF J the day before that.However we paid well less than a QF J ticket BNE-MEL and mrsdrron gets all those nice SCs.So definitely value for money.

After deplaning it was off on the air shuttle to the main terminal.Bags took 30 minutes from deplaning.Once again they played from the QF book on priority baggage with ours well into the second half of the luggage.
Straight off to Avis Preferred but my name not on the board.Straight across to the agent,show my preferred card and about a minute later I am off to our car.Upgraded ? to a Ford Explorer.And off to the HGVC Tuscan Village.

That next.

 

[Masonic Phantom]

The cruise is an expedition cruise so going to a few places less travelled.We depart Nassau on 27/9 and head towards Cuba.First stop is Havana.But then the other places we visit are-
Maria La Gorde.
Punta Frances.
Cienfuegos and a day trip to Trinidad.
Santiago de Cuba.

Then on to Porto Antonio,Jamaica.
Providencia Island
Puerto Limon,Costa Rica
Bocas del Toro,Panama
The first voyage ends in Colon.Changeover day.

The second leg starts off with the transit of the Panama Canal.The focus then turns to nature
Darien Jungle.
Bahia Solano,Colombia
Utria National Park.
Gorgona Island.
Manta,Ecuador.
Isla de la Plata.
The cruise then ends at Guayaquil.

Really looking forward to this.Certainly many places less travelled plus another 5 new countries visited.

Just wondering Ron, will you be posting cruise on Cruise Critic ??

 

[drron]

Will definitely be posting on Cruise Critic but don't be surprised if the 2 reports are very similar.but then again it is the same trip.

So on to the Tuscan Village.This should suit those that like staying in apartments as well as those of us who are a bit OCD about collecting points.But I am staying on points-Hilton club not Hhonors.But I do get 250 Hhonors points for staying.
It is a proper apartment.First the block we are staying in.Like everything in the US done on a large scale.7 such blocks around a lake-

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And now the apartment-a 1 bedroom-

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And the gate into the factory outlets-key required-

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Next-our shopping extravaganza.

 

[patnlcc]

Enjoying following your blog, Ron. Keep taking us with you!

 

[drron]

As you are aware the first part of this trip is really about the shopping.Only fair as the next month is really much more my style and there really will be a lack of retail therapy for mrsdrron.
So after unpacking it was off to the Vineland Premium outlets-right next door.We both got reacquainted with Mr. Cole Haan.Mrsdrron was tempted in a few other places but wants to leave her powder dry for Dallas in a month's time.Then time for dinner.Got a bit disorientated and ended up turning the wrong way on to International Drive but ended up at a ribs place-the chain Smokey Bones.They have upped the ante since our last visit and we really enjoyed their offerings.

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Mrsdrron had the1/3rd of a rack of baby backs,I the same with pulled pork.Choice of sauces and a bottle of Monkey Bay SB to wash it all down.Good ole comfort food.
The next morning I was off to the Orlando International Premium outlets where I reintroduced myself to a Shark's outfits.It helped that I had put on one of Mr.Norman's shirts that morning.Toned it down with a new pink and purple golf outfit.Mrsdrron approved of a couple of Mr. Basler's outfits.Then off to the Millenia mall-needed our exercise with a bit of mall walking in air conditioned comfort.Really love service in the USA.Profferred our International 10% off card at Macy's only for the saleswoman to say I can do better than that for you and scanned a 15% off coupon.Made up for the Aussie Pesos fall as this was on top of the already 40% off.
One of the reasons for going to the Millennia mall was to have Lunner at P.F.Changs.Our favourite"Asian"chain in the US.Edamame,a couple of serves of their northern style ribs,pork tacos,lobster tacos and chicken lettuce cups.All from the appetisers section but enough to fill us.Finished off by going to the nearby Super Target to get some Star Wars card for our grandson.Finally back to our comfortable bed for a rest.

Thursday and the start today was the Florida Mall.Mrsdrron's favourite US Department store-Dillards-is here.Their sales are very good.When we get to Dallas I will be purchasing another couple of pairs of their Roundtree and York travel pants to keep me in style.Finally a stop at Walmart before today's lunner at Red Lobster.Another of our favourite places for comfort food.

To find where outlet centres are here is Mrsdrron's go to website-
Find Outlet Malls, Factory Stores and Sales at OutletBound.com

Next-off to Nassau.

 

[drron]

Ah the joys of travel.Today(Friday) we Were to travel MCO-MIA-NAS on AA.Originally booked with a 2.5 hour transit at MIA.That flight got cancelled and put on flight with 1 hour transit.Only other option was a 5 hour transit.As you suspect things conspired against us.Plane coming in from DFW was a "Magic"flight-Make a wish kids.So was late leaving DFW,took a long time to deplane.Then several pax boarding that took an age putting their bags in the bin,then rearranging them so stopping boarding for several minutes.Then a precious in the last row of F and 3rd last to board having a tanty as no bin space left.Then a fellow checked in didn't board so waited while they found his bag.So we left 55 minutes late.
Told by the purser they would hold the NAS flight as quite a few onboard making that connection.Well it left early.But at least when we arrived at the gate they were expecting us and had already rebooked us on Bahamasair at 2040.In Y.Mrsdrron is not amused.Now waiting for Bahamasair checkin to open.

 

[UpInTheAir:)]

Is it just me or is this more a US type experience? I have not experienced significant coughulative delays (outside of major weather) outside of the US.. And yet all domestic US flights seem to have combinations of issues that they can't recover from..

 

[drron]

So back to the start of Friday.Slept in so a little late for the 1000 checkout.No worries and a slow drive to the airport.I think there was an attempted scan at the gas station.Went in to prepay cash and I could start filling but previous sale was still showing.Went back inside to a different person who apologised.Everything OK then.
Arriving at MCO there were long queues for AA but no one at the priority counters so that's where we went.Had to sort out how we were going to leave the Bahamas so took a little while.Fellow comes in to the agent next to me,flashes his EXP card and says he is flying to O R D.Agent says I cant see your name are you flying via somewhere else.He says M L B.Agent says we don't fly there what flight number?Fellow shows him his phone then comes clean-he missed his Federal flight from MLB just up the highway from MCO.Agent says no seats on today's ORD flights,checks and says if you go to United they have availability.

This time we get TSA precheck so no problems with security and again a body scanner.Treat ourselves to a Cinnabon-a favourite ever since our first trip to the USA.A long wait now at the gate.No lounge.Note that the departure is pushed back from 1450 to 1510.Assured by the gate agent that they would stick to this time.Now after having originally booked flight MCO-MIA cancelled we only had a 1 hour transit to our NAS flight.Checked online to see the next NAS flight (last for the day) was sold out.But first some pics at MCO.First 3 different liveries for AA-

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Now even though I have worked in NW Tassie over the last 8 years this was a first for me-

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So now the drama unfolded.The flight in from DFW was a "Magic" flight-several kids from the Make a Wisk organisation.So it left DFW late,took an age to deplane.Wasn't looking good.Boarding starts.A large African American family preboards.We are near the front of the others.Get onto the plane and stop.One of the preboarding ladies is taking the bags out of the bin and rearranges them.takes nearly 5 minutes.Towards the end held up by the last fellow into F having a tanty as there was no F bin space left.Finally a fellow who checked in has not boarded so an extra wait until the bag is found and unloaded.

AA 112. MCO-MIA. ETD-1450. Push back-1543. Take off-1554. B738. seats-4A,C.
ETA-1550. Land-1631. At gate-1642.

Now given conflicting infne FA tells us to go to the service desk acroos from our arrival gate-D17.The other says several pax are connecting to the NAS flight so it will probably be held.So tells us to rush to the gate-D60.Fortunately the train gets us there quickly and we arrive just before departure time-1648 and ETD 1650.However it has already departed.
Now though it is good to have AA status and be dealing with old AA agents rather than former US agents.They have already booked us on the 2040 Bahamasair flight apologising that the last AA flight was full-the truth.Just before we left the agent got a call probably from the service desk-At one stage she says those MCO pax have been booked on the 0955 flight tomorrow-that is a time for a NAS flight.So even though mrsdrron is not a happy camper I rate this as as good a service recovery as was possible.

AA then provided a cart to take us to the exit from E terminal-closest to G where Bahamasair go from.Had to wait until 1800 for checkin.Of course it is an all Y service and I got 4E-a middle seat.Then through security again with no precheck but we walked confidently into that line and were allowed through. and then to the gate-G6.G7 didn't look the best-

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Got a bit peckish.Not much in the G terminal.went to the Budweiser brewhouse-A pizza (from pizza hut next door),a beer and a wine-$US30-

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Not many sunset shots yet but did get to see it setting over MIA-

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Next-finally getting to Nassau.