After a restness night we finally gave up trying to sleep. Today’s the day we fly to San Juan for our Celebrity Summit cruise!
I had bought a Groupon a couple of months back for airport transportation and made reservations. The car service texted shortly after 5 am that he’d be arriving at approximately 5:35 am. He was on time and our trip to the airport was uneventful.
We used the self-tag machines for American Airlines and there was no line to drop them off at the counter. Earlier in the week we had completed our Global Entry interviews and had our new known traveler numbers entered in our reservations.
It was so great to get the TSA pre-check for all our flights. Today the pre-check line had one or two people in front and we were quickly through the security checkpoint with 90 minutes before takeoff.
We had economy plus seats in the Airbus 321 plane. For many years AA flew MD80s from SD to Dallas and I’m glad to have a plane with more amenities. Every seat had a power port and seatback entertainment. Seat.
We pushed back early and were on our way. American has added snacks for economy class and it was biscoff cookies for this early morning flight.
We arrived in Dallas about 15 minutes early and since we were in row 10 were off pretty quickly. We stopped at the food court near our gate and ate at the Salt Lick BBQ. I had the pulled pork sandwich and Steve had brisket sandwich. The meat was pretty good old although the bread wasn’t anything special.
When we finished and got to our gate boarding had started for first class and within 2-3 minutes they called group 1.
The plane was the same type and had the same amenities. This time we were in row 14 and didn’t have the extra leg room. Every seat was taken. In fact,they were offering $700 vouchers,hotel and meals to volunteers to give up two seats and take the flight the next morning. We pulled back a few minutes early and settled in for the LONG. 4.5 hour flight to San Juan.
The flight attendants took their sweet time doing the meal and beverage service. 90 minutes in the flight they started service and could get a drink. Our free snack was mini pretzels. The sandwiches this month were pastrami on rye or quinoa wrap. Not anything we’d eat which is why we made sure to get something in our quick layover in Dallas.
We landed in San Juan about 15 minutes early at 7:15 pm. The luggage was already being unloaded on the carousel when we got to baggage claim. After 5-10 minutes we found our bags and joined the relatively short taxi line.
Our fee to the Holiday Inn Express Condado was $21 plus tip.
It probably took 15 minutes to get to the hotel.
At check-in we were given bottles of water, the pool code, wifi password, and restaurant recommendations along with our room keys. We had room 704 which is a corner room on the top floor. It was dark so we didn’t know we’d had ocean views the next morning.
The room had everything we needed although it was on the small size. Although updated the bathroom was definitely too small where you are pressed against the sink cabinet when sitting on the toilet. It has been remodeled.
After dropping our bags we headed to Orozco’s restaurant on the front desk recommendation. It was a short 10 minute walk to the restaurant.
It is simple in decor but big on flavor! Steve had fried shrimp and I had the grouper with creole sauce.
We both had salad and white rice with beans for our sides. The meal was kicked off with delicious garlic bread.
We hit the hay quickly once back at the hotel. It was after 10 pm and we’d had a very long day.
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