Traveling with the Jones

I traveled with my 12-year-old niece Justina to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for her first cruise on one of the world’s largest cruise ships, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.

Never wanting to miss the ship due to a flight delay, we flew into Fort Lauderdale the afternoon/evening before our departure.

We stayed overnight at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina hotel located near the 3,000-mile Intracoastal Waterway that runs from New Jersey to Texas.

Take a look inside our room, number 506 on the fifth floor of the Ft. Lauderdale Marina Hilton hotel.

Room 506 features two comfortable queen-size beds.

Justina was excited to have four pillows all to herself.

There’s a full picture window with a door to the private balcony. It’s getting too dark for a view, but we know we will enjoy the view in the morning.

The most important thing about a hotel (to the 12-year-old) is a good pool.  This one is attractive, but it’s too late for us to swim.

We walk to dinner and to the nearby Walgreens for a little last-minute pre-cruise shopping.

Back in room 506, we admire the decor in the bathroom.

While you can’t see it in this photo, Justina’s favorite feature is the rain shower that’s built into the ceiling of the shower.

Meanwhile, I’m excited about the high-speed internet and comfortable desk as I worked to finish some last-minute work.

The next morning, we enjoy the view of the drawbridge in action from our balcony.

The 12-year-old takes our breakfast coupons to the lobby to retrieve the complimentary continental breakfast for Hilton Honors Diamond members.

When she returns with coffee and one of the best croissants of my life (complete with a small jar of strawberry jam), I realized that this trip is going to be an amazing learning adventure for both of us.

Justina finishes her cinnamon roll on the balcony.

The cruise ships are visible in the distance.

We can’t wait to check out and board the Oasis of the Seas.

Our bottom line impressions of the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina Hotel:    

• The hotel is ideally located for a pre or post cruise stay. It’s less than 15 minutes and a $15 cab fare from the Ft. Lauderdale airport, and it is only about a 5-minute ride to the cruise ship port.
• The rooms are spacious and comfortable.
• While compact, the bathroom in room 506 features a relaxing shower than “rains” from the ceiling.
• The Antea Lobby Bar offers morning breakfast with great coffee and fabulous croissants and other baked goods.
• This hotel offered an attractive rate.

Have you stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina hotel? What is your preferred pre-cruise hotel? Please share in comments below. 

You may also want to take a quick look inside these other hotels”; 

• A Peek Inside the Prague Marriott Hotel
• A Peek Inside the Four Seasons Hotel-Denver
• A Peek inside the Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel – San Francisco
• A Peek Inside the Hilton New York Fashion District Hotel
• A Peek Inside Chicago’s Palmer House Hilton Hotel

Cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas? Check out these related posts:

• Traveling With a 12-Year-Old: Driving, Flying and Trying New Foods
• 20 Interesting Facts About Haiti
• Photo Friday: Inside the Oasis of the Sea

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Today I traveled with Justina, my 12-year-old niece, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for her first cruise on one of the world’s largest cruise ships, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.

It’s an adventure of firsts for both of us.

I’m used to traveling with Mr. Jones, who can’t make this cruise due to work commitments.

Traveling with a child is a new experience for me, as is sailing on a cruise ship with more than 6,000 passengers.

For Justina, this trip includes a number of firsts: her first view of an ocean, her first cruise, and her first trip outside of the United States.

Her adventure began with a 4-hour drive from Iowa with her dad to the Kansas City airport. He gave me her original birth certificate and the all-important letter with notarized signatures from Justina’s mother and him giving me permission to act as her guardian while I take her on this trip to Florida, followed by an international cruise to the Western Caribbean.

We checked our bags at the Southwest counter and headed for the security line. Luckily, being 12, Justina was able to go through the TSA Pre-Check line with me, meaning that we didn’t have to take off our shoes, or get out our liquids or computers. Since we sailed through security, and our flight was delayed, we had ample time to snap a couple of pre-flight selfies.

As an A-List Preferred member of Southwest Airlines Rapid Reward program, I receive the highest priority in the A-List boarding process. I also paid for the Early Bird upgrade for Justina.

I really didn’t need to do that, since I could not sit in my preferred emergency exit row seats with a 12-year-old.

Luckily, Justina fits comfortably in the center seat. We snapped a quick photo on the flight as we got ready for take off to Fort Lauderdale.

After arrival in Fort Lauderdale, we headed to the baggage claim to collect our bags. Since our flight was completely full, and since most of us seemed to be heading to a cruise, there were many bags. 30 minutes later, we finally got our bags, two of the last five to come out on the luggage belt. We were happy to see them.

We headed to the cab line, and got a taxi to our hotel, the Fort Lauderdale Marina Hilton. It was a quick $15 taxi ride, including tip.

The Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina hotel has a great pool, which was a priority for Justina. Since we arrived late and it was getting dark, however, food was our priority.

On the flight to Florida I learned that Justina has a number of “I don’t eat that” foods including seafood.

I still take her to a local seafood place, saying that she might want to try seafood when she’s by the ocean. We walked to the Southport Raw Bar, known for fresh oysters, fish and clams.

While Justina orders a cheeseburger and corn on the cob, I convinced her to try some of my fried seafood basket.

She tries the clam strips first, after I say they taste “kind of like French fries.”  Surprised, she actually likes them. She also tried the shrimp (okay), and the scallops (weird texture.)

Justina loves the corn on the cob.

She also loves the cheeseburger, with lettuce and onion, but no tomato.

The highlight of the meal, however, for both of us, was the freshly made key lime pie. We devoured the slice that we shared.

As we walked back to the hotel, we made a brief stop at Walgreen’s for some key supplies: a charging cord for Justina’s Kindle, plus two bottles of wine for me to take on the ship.

Back at the hotel, we are ready to crash, but are excited for tomorrow’s adventure: boarding the Oasis of the Sea cruise ship. Justina is thrilled with the comfortable beds and allocation of four pillows for each of us.

I asked Justina for her three top highlights of the day. She answered:

1) The plane flight;

2) The clam strips;

3) The key lime pie.

She also mentioned that she tried four new foods:

1) Clam strips – yum!

2) Fried shrimp – okay, better than the shrimp cocktail she tried once in Iowa.

3) Scallops – gross texture.

4) Key lime pie – delicious!

We are both excited for tomorrow.

Have you traveling with a 12-year-old that was not your child? How was the experience? 

Check out these posts from my last prior cruise was with Mr. Jones on the luxurious 450-passenger Seabourn Sojourn“;.

• Setting Sail from Singapore on the Seabourn Sojourn
• A Day by Day Look at Cruising 11-Days on the Seabourn Sojourn
• Thai Gastronomy at the Blue Elephant Cooking School in Phuket, Part 1
• Thai Gastronomy at the Blue Elephant Cooking School in Phuket, Part 2
• Thai Gastronomy at the Blue Elephant Cooking School in Phuket, Part 3
• Experiencing the Life and Lore of Colombo, Sri Lanka
• 7 Favorite “Naughty” Pleasures on the Seabourn Sojourn
• Exploring the Sights of Cochin, India
• Touring Goa, India by Taxi
• 11 Days of Menus from the Seabourn Sojourn World Cruise

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Since I will be making my first visit to Haiti, I wanted to learn a little more about the country before my arrival.

20 Interesting Facts About Haiti:

1. Haiti is one of two countries that share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Haiti makes up the western one-third of Hispaniola, while the Dominican Republic makes up the other two-thirds of the island.

2. On December 5th, 1492, navigator Christopher Columbus landed the Santa Maria at what is now called Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti. Although the island was inhabited by the Taino Indians, Columbus claimed the land for Spain. 

3. Colonists from Spain soon set up plantations and gold mines, with the natives as labor. With its gold and its ideal gateway location to the Caribbean, Hispaniola became a haven for buccaneers or pirates.

4. French buccaneers settled in the western part of the island of Hispaniola. Under the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick, Spain gave France the western third of Hispaniola, which is today’s Haiti. Spain continued control of the rest of the island, the Dominican Republic.

5. To develop coffee, cotton and sugar cane plantations, the French imported thousands of slaves from Africa.  By the late 1700s, African slaves outnumbered the French in Haiti by ten to one.

6. In 1791, ex-slave Toussaint L’Ouverture led nearly one-half million Haitian slaves in a revolt against Haiti’s French colonialists. Their eventual victory helped establish Haiti as the first black republic.

7. On January 1, 1804, Haiti gained its independence from France, and became the second oldest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, after the U.S. 

8. More than 70 different dictators ruled Haiti between 1804-1915. 

9. In 1915, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent Marines to Haiti to restore order. US troops occupied the Republic of Haiti between 1915 and 1934.

10. Most Haitians get around by public transportation, usually by Tap Tap, a brightly painted bus, school bus or truck that serves as a share taxi. When passengers want to get off the bus, they tap on the metal body — hence the “tap tap” name. These vehicles for hire follow fixed routes but they do not leave until filled with passengers, and riders can usually disembark at any point.

11. Haiti is 10,714 sq. miles in size, which is slightly smaller than the state of Maryland and roughly equal to the state of Vermont.

12. By land size, Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean, after number one Cuba and number two the Dominican Republic. 

13. The gourd plant has always been important to Haiti. The Haitian currency is called “gourdes”, and dates back to 1807 when President Christophe made gourds the base of the national currency. 

14. Author, statesmen, and former-slave Frederick Douglass (c. 1818-1895) was the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti from 1889 -1891. 

15. Haiti is the most mountainous nation in the Caribbean. Hayti is the Indian name for the country and means “land of the mountains.” Haiti’s mountain peaks reach over 8,000 feet.

16. During radical ex-priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s second term as Haitian president, the government established Voodoo as a state religion along with Catholicism.

17. According to the CIA World Factbook, voodoo was recognized as an official religion in Haiti in 2003, and many Haitians practice elements of voodoo in addition to another religion, most often Roman Catholicism. Carnival and New Year’s Day are the biggest holidays for most Haitians.

18. The official languages of Haiti include French and Haitian Creole. Canada is the only other independent nation in the Americas that has French as an official language.

19. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck 14 miles west of Haiti in January 2010, destroying most of the capital of Port-au-Prince. The estimated death toll ranges exceeded 300,000 people.

20. Tourism is one of the largest industries in Haiti, with nearly a million visitors arriving by cruise ship. Most cruisers call at Labadee, a private resort leased to Royal Caribbean International until 2050.  Labadee, located on the northern coast of Haiti, is named after Marquis de La Badie, a Frenchman who first settled the area in the 17th century. The spelling was changed to “Labadee” to make it easier for English-speakers to pronounce.

Books to check out to learn more about Haiti:

Haiti: The Tumultuous History – From Pearl of the Caribbean to Broken Nation

The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster

Haiti: A Coloring Book for Grown Ups

 Other “Fun Facts” posts that you might enjoy reading:

• 26 Fun Facts to Know About Hawaii
• Visiting Alaska? 22 Fun Facts You Might Want to Know
• 15 Fun Facts about Cornwall, England
• 21 Fun Facts About Mormugao, Goa, India
• 20 Fun Facts About Colombo, Sri Lanka
• 24 Fun Facts About Cochin “Kochi” India
• 18 Fun Facts About Phuket, Thailand

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