I will start with the cruise. It was out first time on Celebrity, the ship was the Ascent, one of their newest ships. The ship was pleasant, clean and very well maintained. The food was good, there are four primary dining rooms to choose from, and we had anytime dining. We could go to any of those four for dinner and be seated. We were always able to get a table for two. The menus annoyingly changed little during a two week voyage. We booked the "Infinite Verandah" room. The room was spacious because the space normally dedicated to the outside space, is a part of the room, with a room-width roll down window at the end. I found that it made a poor verandah, when the window is open the entire space becomes open, if the weather was perfect this might be nice, but for this crossing it was too cool and wet to have the window open, others complain that when it is hot outside, the entire cabin is too warm. The theater was very nice. Beyond that the ship had a lot of space, but lacked comfortable spaces for long walks. It was not my favorite designs, I would book again, I would actually prefer some of the older designs.
There were six hotels involved. The Holiday Inn Express in Ft. Lauderdale was booked based on location, one turn away from the entrance to the Port. It was comfortable and served the purpose well. Our room had a view of a sewage treatment plant. I would go back there again. The hotel in Rome was on the Borgo Pia, an ancient street one block over from the wall that runs from the Vatican to the San Angelo. The location was amazing. The room was comfortable, though small. The shower had the best water pressure of the trip. I would go back, just for the location. The hotel Rio in Milan was weird. It was in a great location, just around the corner from the Cathedral. The room was dark, small, the bathroom was large with a tiny shower. I wouldn't go back. The room in Vienna, at Max by Steinberger was wonderful. The room was HUGE, large even by America standards. Because Eurovision was in Vienna I couldn't find a hotel in the city center where we wanted to be, this was three stops out on the underground, and two blocks from the station. The underground is comfortable and efficient and runs every few minutes. It was easily the best hotel of the trip. The only flaw, was a frosted glass window between massive shower and the beds, that lit up the room at night when the light in the bathroom was on. I would go back to that hotel. The Best Western Aramis Hotel in Paris is wedged into an older building. It is across the street from the St. Placide Metro station. The room was tiny, but comfortable. The elevator is micro-tiny. Lastly was the Novotel at Charles De Gaulle airport, this was our second time staying at this airport hotel, it is directly connected to the terminals at the airport, comfortable and quiet. An airport hotel the night before a morning flight eliminates a lot of stress.
The flight to Florida was on American Airlines, it was unremarkable. We had two flights in Austrian Airlines, one from Milan to Vienna, and then from Vienna to Paris. I have to say that the airport experience for both of these was wonderful. Check in and baggage check was quick and efficient. On both flights we were asked at baggage drop if we wanted to check our carry on bags at no charge, as the flight was full and they expected to run out of overhead space. This was so nice and boarding was much smoother. From Paris home was Delta Airlines, on frequent flyer miles. At check in we were directed the machines to print our baggage tags, both of us were having trouble making the machines work, I asked one of the staff for help, and she said, "oh come with me, both of you," and she took us over to the first class check in counter where the process was quickly accomplished by the very helpful staff people. We cleared immigration in Boston, using Global Entry in about two minutes - the man asked me what was in my red messenger bag, and was satisfied when I started rattling off the list, for Sweet Bear, he simply said "welcome home, you are good to go." The terminal in Boston is being rebuilt, I hope they solve the miles long walk from immigration to connecting domestic flights. It is literally a couple of miles of walking.
The train from Rome to Milan was booked online, comfortable and efficient. We took a local train from Paris to Chartres, it was expensive but comfortable.
Other little things. We are getting older and when traveling with baggage for a long trip, take a taxi to and from the airports. Yes it costs a little more, but it eliminates a lot of hassle. I packed lighter, with a much smaller carry-on bag this trip, and it worked just fine. The weather was cooler than expected, I washed out a light sweater a couple of times, and we had laundry done on the ship (pre-paid when Celebrity was having a sale.) At most we planned one highlight per day, sometimes we saw more, we had few unscheduled days. The pace was very comfortable. We have learned to not push it, and to say, "I am done and going back to the room for the day."
Well that is kind of the ramble, on the travel part of the trip. None of it was terrible, really only the one hotel that I would not go back to - and even it was in the perfect location.
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