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Destination Trip Reports North America

September 2015: Curacao Trip Report

After visiting Aruba during September 2014 (exactly a year ago), we finally made our way to one of the other islands of the Netherlands Antilles – Curacao. Curacao has the same dry, desert climate as Aruba but is a larger island. Similar to Aruba, it is outside the hurricane belt in the Caribbean and therefore a good place to visit throughout the year. Our Itinerary: Flight: Ontario – Phoenix – Miami – Curacao on US Airways/American Airlines 4 Nights at Hilton Curacao Flight: Curacao – Miami on American Airlines and then Fort Lauderdale – Los Angeles on Southwest Airlines Day 1: After a red-eye …

Destination Trip Reports North America

July 2015: Cancun Trip Report with Day Trip to Mayan Ruins in Tulum

Me and Karen have been wanting to go to Cancun for a long time. I had read about its white, sandy beaches for the longest time and finally decided to make it over there during the 2015 Independence day long weekend. Day 1: We flew the Delta red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Cancun and arrived at the Cancun International Airport early morning. I had booked a round-trip airport transfer through Canada Transfers (one of the highest rated airport transfer company in the Cancun Tripadvisor forum). A representative of Canada Transfers was waiting for us when we cleared immigration and …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: The Westin Resort & Spa, Cancun

The Westin Resort & Spa, Cancun Boulevard Kukulcan KM 20, Cancun, Quintana Roo, 77500, Mexico The Westin Resort & Spa, Cancun is a Category 3 SPG property located at the lower end of the Zona Hotelara (Hotel Zone) in Cancun. The hotel is only 12 km from the airport and the first hotel one would come across when arriving at the hotel zone from the airport. A free night at the hotel costs 7,000 SPG points. We arrived at the hotel early in the morning as we were flying in red-eye from Los Angeles. The hotel front desk agent was very …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Four Points Sheraton Portland East

Four Points by Sheraton Portland East 1919 NE 181st Avenue Portland,Oregon 97230 Four Points by Sheraton Portland East is a Category 2 SPG property located about 10 miles away from Portland International Airport (and also 10 miles away from Portland downtown), less than half way between the airport and the various water-fall attractions on the Columbia River Gorge. A free night at the hotel costs only 4,000 SPG points. Check-in was quick. I requested the front desk agent for a late checkout on last day because our flight back to Los Angeles was departing in the early evening. She mentioned …

Destination Trip Reports North America

May 2015: Portland Trip Report

We spent the Memorial Day weekend over in Portland. We flew in early Saturday morning and were back home late Monday night. Me and Karen had been to Portland before in May 2013 and loved the natural surroundings as well as the large number of waterfalls in the area. This time we wanted to show my parents the area. Day 1:  We arrived late afternoon at Portland airport and picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel in east Portland. After checking in and freshening up we decided to visit the Portland Saturday Market. We had some trouble finding …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: Caribe Hilton, San Juan

Caribe Hilton 1 San Geronimo St, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico The Caribe Hilton is a Category 6 Hilton property located by the Condado Lagoon area of San Juan. The hotel is located about 15 minutes from the international airport (Luiz Munoz Marin Airport) and costs approximately $22 one way by cab (luggage charges extra). Since we were staying in San Juan for just a night after returning from our 7 Night Carnival Cruise, I had booked only 1 room (2 Double Bed Room) for the 4 of us for 50,000 points. Check-in was quick. Karen has Hilton HHonors Gold status and since the booking …

Cruises Destination Trip Reports

May 2015 – Trip Report (in pictures) of dining on-board Carnival Liberty

During our 7 Night Caribbean cruise aboard Carnival Liberty, we got to sample different types and flavors of food that we don’t get to experience in our day-to-day lives. From exotic items like frog legs and ox tongue to regular fare such as grilled salmon and flat bread, it was a feast lasting a week. So before any delay, let’s start our food porn aboard Carnival Liberty. Night #1: Night #2: Night #3: Night #4: Night #5: Night #6: Night # 7:

Cruises Destination Trip Reports

May 2015: Port of Call – St. Maarten: Visiting Maho Beach and Mullet Bay

The last port of call for the Caribbean Cruise was the island of St. Maarten. The island holds the record of the smallest island governed by 2 countries (Netherlands and France). The cruise ship docks in the dutch side of the island, close to Philipsburg, St. Maarten. Karen and my parents decided to go shopping at this port so I went out on my own. After disembarking, I made my way to the ferry terminal by the cruise port and bought a day pass for $7 which allows unlimited trips by the ferry. The ferry trip from the cruise terminal to …

Cruises Destination Trip Reports

May 2015: Port of Call – St. Kitts: Visiting South Friars Beach

Before the cruise while researching about St. Kitts, I found out from Tripadvisor forums that most previous cruise goers were recommending either Cockleshell Beach or South Friars Beach. Since Cockleshell Beach is much further south compared to South Friars and there did not seem to be that much quality of beach difference based on reviews we chose the latter. After disembarking from the ship and walking through the duty free area of the terminal at Port Zante we started negotiating fares from the terminal to the South Friars Beach. Finally we found a cab driver who would drive us for …

Cruises Destination Trip Reports

May 2015: Port of Call – St. Lucia : Visiting Rodney Bay and Reduit Beach

St. Lucia is one of the two port of calls (the other being St. Kitts) in the 7-Day Caribbean Cruise itinary that does not have spectacular beaches compared to what people expect when they think of the Caribbean. After researching online at various websites, I had decided that we were going to go to Reduit Beach at Rodney Bay which is located in the northern part of the St. Lucia island. After disembarking from the ship, we walked through the duty free shopping area and outside the Cruise terminal. There were a lot of cabs outside the terminal but their …

Cruises Destination Trip Reports

May 2015: Port of Call – Barbados : Visiting Carlisle Bay

We disembarked from the ship around 9 AM and made our way through the duty-free shopping area in the cruise terminal. Outside the cruise terminal there were a large number of cabs and vans waiting on passengers. We decided on a beach day in Barbados and after researching online about various beaches in Barbados, I had settled on Carlisle Bay. This beach is very close to the Cruise terminal and there are two options to get there. * 5$/person one-way by cab * 2$/person one-way by bus/van to town and then walk to the beach (about 10 minutes walk) Since there were …

Cruises Destination Trip Reports

May 2015: Port of Call – St. Thomas : Visiting Trunk Bay, St. John

Our first port of call for the 7 day Southern Caribbean Cruise out of Puerto Rico was St. Thomas, USVI. There are a few very beautiful beaches in St. Thomas, namely Magens Bay and Coki Beach. However, I had read about the Trunk Bay (located in Virgin Islands National Park) in the neighboring island of St. John, USVI which has been listed among top 10 Caribbean beaches, and so I wanted to visit this one during our stop in St. Thomas. Even though Carnival Cruises offers shore excursions for trips to St. John, I did enough research to figure out that it was …

Trip Summary

May 2015: My Parents’ USA Trip – From Puerto Rico to Portland: Introduction

My parents are visiting us again in May and will be staying with us for just over a month. Since my parents really loved the 5 day Caribbean Cruise we took in 2012, I went ahead and booked a 7 day Southern Caribbean Cruise with Carnival. Also, for the Memorial Day long-weekend, I wanted to take them on a trip to Portland, which we loved during our long weekend trip in 2013. Here is a list of the upcoming Trip Reports and Hotel Reviews for the trips in May 2015: Hotel Review: Days Inn Jamaica – JFK Airport Puerto Rico Trip …

Destination Trip Reports North America

February 2015: Whale Watching Trip Report in Point Loma, San Diego

We had been thinking of going for a whale watching trip for a while. An opportunity presented itself when Karen’s niece wanted this for her 18th birthday present. After doing a lot of research on the internet, Karen finally chose the H&M Landing company based out of Point Loma, San Diego. We arrived at the pier on a sunday afternooon and after exchanging our internet purchase receipt with a ticket we arrived at the boat. Our boat captain was Scott McDaniels who also does multi-day sport-fishing trips down the coast of Mexico. He is a very good captain and it made …

Airline Reviews EVA Airways Reviews

Airline Review: EVA Air – Business Class (Boeing 777-300ER Royal Laurel Class with True Flat Beds) : Taipei – Los Angeles (BR 16)

Flight:  EVA Air BR16 from Taipei to Los Angeles Duration: 12 hours Aircraft: B773(Boeing 777-300ER) Class: Business (Royal Laurel Class) Seat: 2D – 2G (2 Middle seats each with direct aisle access) Seat Specification: True Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 81.0 “. Seat width: 26 ” EVA Air operates 777-300ER for three daily flights out of Los Angeles, all with the Royal Laurel Class. The Royal Laurel Class differs from the Premium Laurel in that the former has flat bed seats compared to the Angled Flat seats in the latter. These seats are in reverse herringbone 1 x 2 x 1 configuration with direct aisle access …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

January 2015: 12 Hours in Taipei

After spending a month on our India – South East Asia trip, we started our journey back home from Bangkok. We had a long 12 hour layover in Taipei and I wanted to make a trip out of it. I had researched earlier that the Taiwan Tourism Bureau operates a free half-day tour out of Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) for passengers connecting through this airport. The morning tour covers the Sanxia and Suzhi Temple while the afternoon tour covers landmarks such as the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall and Taipei 101 (Tallest building in the world from 2004 – 2010 and currently the 6th …

Airline Reviews Reviews Thai Airways

Airline Review: Thai Airways – Business Class (Airbus 330-300 with Angled Flat Seats) : Bangkok – Taipei (TG 634)

Flight:  Thai Airways TG 634 from Bangkok to Taipei Duration: 3 hours 40 minutes Aircraft: A333(Airbus 330-300) Class: Business (Royal Silk) Seat: 12 J – 12 K (Right Aisle & Window) Seat Specification: Angled Flat Seats, Seat pitch: 58.0 “. Seat width: 20 ” Thai Airways operates an A333 on this Bangkok – Taipei route that continues onward to Incheon. There are 36 business class seats in 2 x 2 x 2 configuration. I have flown this configuration of Thai airways on this type of aircraft before and for different pictures of the Royal Silk cabin you can check out my other reviews below Thai Airways Flight 634 …

Hotel Reviews Marriott/SPG Reviews

Hotel Review: Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort

 Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort Karon Nui Alley, Karon, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83100, Thailand Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort is a SPG Category 4 property located about 24 miles from the Phuket International Airport. This hotel is the only hotel in Phuket with its own private beach which is inaccessible to non-guests. The hotel is near Karon Beach and only 5 minutes away from Patong Beach. A free night at this resort costs 10,000 SPG points or 5,000 SPG points + $75 per night with SPG Cash + Points rate. We booked 2 rooms for 1 night using the …

Hilton Hotel Reviews Reviews

Hotel Review: DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Phuket – Surin Beach

 Doubletree Resort by Hilton Hotel Phuket – Surin Beach 106/27 Moo3,Cherngtalay Surin Beach, Phuket, 83110, Thailand Doubletree Resort Phuket on Surin Beach is a Category 3 Hilton property located about 20 miles south of Phuket International Airport. The cab ride from the airport to this resort is around 700 THB. A free night at this resort costs 20,000 Hilton HHonors points. After a quick check-in we were offered the Doubletree signature cookie, welcome drink and cold towels. Our check-in agent informed us that we were upgraded from King room to King suite (pool facing). Since both me and Karen are …

Asia Destination Trip Reports

January 2015: Phuket Trip Report

 Day 1: We arrived at the Phuket International Airport very early in the morning. Before you fully exit the terminal building you see different taxi vendors with price listing. The prices for airport taxis in Phuket are outrageous compared to Bangkok. If you google “Phuket Airport Taxi Mafia” you will know what I mean. Anyways, after getting various quotes from 900 THB to 700 THB we finally settled on an operator offering the latter. For the first night we were staying at the Doubletree Resort on Surin Beach and the next night was in Le Meridien near Karon Beach. The …