We got breakfast at the hotel which was complimentary due to Gold status from the American Express Hilton Ascend credit card. It was a the same everyday, but was a good mix of both British and American options with both hot and cold options. Our first activity of the day was the changing of the guard at […]
Category: Trip Reports
London – Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and HMS Belfast
After checking in and settling in, we walked to Waterloo station to purchase 7 day underground passes. We did this in order to have access to the 2-for-1 offers from National Rail. The website for the program is here: 2-for-1 London. You need to buy these tickets from a train station, not an underground station to […]
Hilton London Bankside
Our hotel for the five days in London was the Hilton London Bankside. We booked it using Hilton Honor Points with a fifth night free. We were greeted by the doorman in a tophat who quickly whisked our bags away. Despite our early arrival, we were informed our room was ready and our bags were […]
British Airways B747 Club World – Chicago to London
After a short delay boarding, we were onboard and walked up the steps to the upper deck. This was especially exciting for me as I have always wanted to sit on the upper deck on the Boeing 747. Sure it is just another seat on the plane, but there is something special about having to […]
American Airlines Flagship Lounge Chicago O’Hare
We parked the car at our favorite parking garage at the Loews Hotel and then took the shuttle over to Chicago O’Hare’s T5 to check in. British Airways has the Terraces Lounge in T5 which we visited when we flew on Cathay Pacific on our trip to Southeast Asia. The lounge was dark, cramped, and […]
Introduction – Western Europe Trip
At the beginning of February, we took a trip to London, Paris, and Amsterdam. We were not even sure we would be able to squeeze this in with a baby on the way and job obligations. We originally planned a British Isles cruise in May, but this was just a few weeks after the due […]
Hyatt Lodge at McDonald’s Campus
Our flight arrived quite late so we decided to stay in Chicago and do some shopping the morning after before returning home. We stayed at the Hyatt Lodge at McDonald’s campus using a free night from the Chase World of Hyatt card. The paid rates for this hotel, especially on the weekends, are quite reasonable. The hotel […]
Celebrity Summit – Disembarkation
Our flight was not until 2pm, so we took it easy in the morning and did not have to rush to get off the ship. For our final meal onboard, we decided to go to Blu to finish on a high note. I had the delicious eggs benedict again and Sam had an omelette. We […]
St Kitts – Island Tour with Thenford Grey
We had another somewhat early tour so we ate at the buffet for breakfast. We had been on St. Kitts earlier in the year but we went directly to Nevis from the airport. So for this trip, we decided to see what St Kitts was like. We got off and easily found our tour which […]
Antigua – Kayaking with Antigua Paddles
Our excursion today was early so we headed to the buffet for breakfast. There also was a somewhat hidden announcement that there would be free transfers to the San Juan airport, but this went out in the daily schedule in the evening and you only had until 11 the next day to reserve. We had […]