harryhornet
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2002
- Messages
- 49
Well at last I've found a bit of time to start our trip report. I hope I dont bore you all too much.
Partners in crime - Me (Allan), DW (Carole) and DS (Oliver 12).
2 weeks at Vistana Resort followed by a week in St Pete Beach at the Sirata Beach.
This was our first trip to America and months of planning had gone into it - much of it thanks to these boards.
As some of you may remember we were moved from the Radisson at Clearwater by Virgin Holidays for our last week a few days before we left due to the renovation work going on there. We only knew we were going to the Sirata Beach on Friday afternoon when Virgin confirmed that we would have a suite with a gulf view. We were told that the accommodation voucher could be picked up at the airport.
Sunday 3 August.....
No trains from Nottingham were going direct to London over the weekend, so we had to travel via Grantham and go to Kings Cross. No problems and the trains were amazingly more or less on time. Its incredible how much free tea and coffee you can drink in a 90 minute journey!
Got a taxi outside the station and 5 minutes later passed by the front of the same station. Nearly £20 later we arrived at Victoria and caught the Gatwick Express. Again the train was on time.
Arrived at the airport just after twilight check in had started. Carole had not been convinced this would be a good idea but I managed to have the last word on this occasion (theres a first time for everything).
Decided to check in at the Hilton and then come back later for dinner at one of the restaurants at the airport.
Room was ok 3 beds nice and clean. Rang for more pillows and they arrived pretty quickly.
Had dinner at Frankie and Bennys not bad, although I cant remember what we had.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
Monday 4 August ..
Up early for breakfast pretty good spread at the hotel for £7.50 (Special half-price offer having booked through Holiday Extras).
Got to the airport at about 0930, found the Virgin Holidays desk and asked if they had a new accommodation voucher for me. Much to my relief they had, and with Carole asking me if I had checked it was ok (remember that) we made our way to the departure lounge. A quick bit of retail therapy from the duty free and the credit card was starting to bend already
Our plane was Barbarella and we boarded and took off after a lengthy wait on the tarmac.
We were finally on our way and all was well with the world.
The flight went well and we landed at Orlando in sunshine at around 15:30.
Immigration was pretty painless, I had felt sure they would find a reason for not letting us in but we had no problems and on we went to get our bags.
Again this didnt take long and we made our way to find Alamo. At this point I saw the first Virgin Holiday Rep holding a Dollar sign. Once she realised we had booked our car independently, she turned on her heels and disappeared. Hmm, not very impressed.
Found the Alamo desk and was quickly persuaded to part with more insurance money (I was not convinced I needed it, but just to be on the safe side I decided to take it).
Then came the difficult bit. A long line of cars to choose from. God I wish I could make a decision. Finally settled on one we liked the look of and piled the cases into the boot and on the back seat (who said everything in America is bigger?). Started the engine, drove about 25 yards and noticed the oil light was still on
Parked up and found another car. Pulled the cases out and one of the handles broke. I was not amused. I only bought them a couple of months ago because I thought my old ones may not stand up to the stress of another holiday.
Finally got onto the road. No longer any sunshine, but a violent thunderstorm was raging. I have never seen rain that hard. We could not see the end of the car, let alone any road signs, so I pulled over to wait it out.
Eventually arrived at Vistana Resort.
We were allocated room 249 in the Falls area. We were then told to pick up a welcome pack from the other desk.
A chap called Kevin greeted us and told us if there was anything we needed or any problems to call him and he would sort things out. He wanted to get us to go to the timeshare presentation, but we told him we were not particularly interested in ownership but would let him know if we wanted to attend the presentation once we had settled in.
The appartment was huge, but so dark, and the smell?
. By this time though, alll we wanted to do was get our heads down. I rang the reception and explained the situation. They agreed to see if another room was available and I would call them in the morning.
I also couldn't get any water out of the bathroom taps or shower. Now my excuse is that I was very tired, but where I come from, you turn the taps to get water. Here, it seems, you pull them
Opened my case and there was another strange smell. Carole had at the last minute put a bottle of hair oil of some description into my case. It had shattered, and although it had been in a plastic bag, the contents had soaked into my only pair of trousers, a couple of new t-shirts and the lining of the case. And no, it wasn't the one with the broken handle.
That's enough for now - I'll depress you even more later
Partners in crime - Me (Allan), DW (Carole) and DS (Oliver 12).
2 weeks at Vistana Resort followed by a week in St Pete Beach at the Sirata Beach.
This was our first trip to America and months of planning had gone into it - much of it thanks to these boards.
As some of you may remember we were moved from the Radisson at Clearwater by Virgin Holidays for our last week a few days before we left due to the renovation work going on there. We only knew we were going to the Sirata Beach on Friday afternoon when Virgin confirmed that we would have a suite with a gulf view. We were told that the accommodation voucher could be picked up at the airport.
Sunday 3 August.....
No trains from Nottingham were going direct to London over the weekend, so we had to travel via Grantham and go to Kings Cross. No problems and the trains were amazingly more or less on time. Its incredible how much free tea and coffee you can drink in a 90 minute journey!
Got a taxi outside the station and 5 minutes later passed by the front of the same station. Nearly £20 later we arrived at Victoria and caught the Gatwick Express. Again the train was on time.
Arrived at the airport just after twilight check in had started. Carole had not been convinced this would be a good idea but I managed to have the last word on this occasion (theres a first time for everything).
Decided to check in at the Hilton and then come back later for dinner at one of the restaurants at the airport.
Room was ok 3 beds nice and clean. Rang for more pillows and they arrived pretty quickly.
Had dinner at Frankie and Bennys not bad, although I cant remember what we had.
Back to the hotel and to bed.
Monday 4 August ..
Up early for breakfast pretty good spread at the hotel for £7.50 (Special half-price offer having booked through Holiday Extras).
Got to the airport at about 0930, found the Virgin Holidays desk and asked if they had a new accommodation voucher for me. Much to my relief they had, and with Carole asking me if I had checked it was ok (remember that) we made our way to the departure lounge. A quick bit of retail therapy from the duty free and the credit card was starting to bend already
Our plane was Barbarella and we boarded and took off after a lengthy wait on the tarmac.
We were finally on our way and all was well with the world.
The flight went well and we landed at Orlando in sunshine at around 15:30.
Immigration was pretty painless, I had felt sure they would find a reason for not letting us in but we had no problems and on we went to get our bags.
Again this didnt take long and we made our way to find Alamo. At this point I saw the first Virgin Holiday Rep holding a Dollar sign. Once she realised we had booked our car independently, she turned on her heels and disappeared. Hmm, not very impressed.
Found the Alamo desk and was quickly persuaded to part with more insurance money (I was not convinced I needed it, but just to be on the safe side I decided to take it).
Then came the difficult bit. A long line of cars to choose from. God I wish I could make a decision. Finally settled on one we liked the look of and piled the cases into the boot and on the back seat (who said everything in America is bigger?). Started the engine, drove about 25 yards and noticed the oil light was still on
Parked up and found another car. Pulled the cases out and one of the handles broke.
I was not amused. I only bought them a couple of months ago because I thought my old ones may not stand up to the stress of another holiday.Finally got onto the road. No longer any sunshine, but a violent thunderstorm was raging. I have never seen rain that hard. We could not see the end of the car, let alone any road signs, so I pulled over to wait it out.
Eventually arrived at Vistana Resort.
We were allocated room 249 in the Falls area. We were then told to pick up a welcome pack from the other desk.
A chap called Kevin greeted us and told us if there was anything we needed or any problems to call him and he would sort things out. He wanted to get us to go to the timeshare presentation, but we told him we were not particularly interested in ownership but would let him know if we wanted to attend the presentation once we had settled in.
The appartment was huge, but so dark, and the smell?
. By this time though, alll we wanted to do was get our heads down. I rang the reception and explained the situation. They agreed to see if another room was available and I would call them in the morning.I also couldn't get any water out of the bathroom taps or shower. Now my excuse is that I was very tired, but where I come from, you turn the taps to get water. Here, it seems, you pull them
Opened my case and there was another strange smell. Carole had at the last minute put a bottle of hair oil of some description into my case. It had shattered, and although it had been in a plastic bag, the contents had soaked into my only pair of trousers, a couple of new t-shirts and the lining of the case. And no, it wasn't the one with the broken handle.
That's enough for now - I'll depress you even more later
