Things in the Sky

I’ll talk about my experiences at the American Association of Airport Executives Conference later this week, but first I just wanted to provide a review of my flights. 

I was originally booked on a roundtrip ticket on Southwest, but I ended up having to cancel the first leg. In order to meet Gary Kelly, I needed to be at his hotel lobby by 9, and since the first Southwest flight arrived at 8:25, that wasn’t going to work. So, I booked the 6am US Airways Express flight. It was a bit pricey because I had to book it last week, but hey, it’s not every day that one gets the chance to meet a Fortune 500 CEO. 

So, I got up around 3:15, and a bit before 4 my dad and I set off to the airport. Funnily enough, he had a one-day trip was well, though he was headed to Chicago. 

Getting to the airport was really easy, the only issue was that the ticket machine for one of the parking garages was broken (of course, the garage that we had a coupon for). But, everything else went very quickly, first because I had no bags to check, and second, security had only a very short line. I was past security by quarter to five. Nice. 

Even though I had only flown out of PVD a couple of weeks ago, I still like walking the terminal. It was just great seeing the ramp as the sun was rising. One thing I found interesting is that Southwest was parking two of its RONs where American used to be. 

Anyway, you know you’re flying out of PVD when Dunkin’ Donuts has about 30 people waiting for it to open at 5, and I was one of them since I didn’t eat at home. I really can’t wait for the second Dunkin’ to open. 

I didn’t have much more time to explore as boarding time for my flight was 5:30. 

US Airways Express Flight #3655 (Operated by Air Wisconsin)
June 15, 2009
Depart Providence (PVD):  6:03 AM
Arrive Philadelphia (PHL):  7:00 AM
Duration:  0:57
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ-200 (N401AW)
Seat: 11F 

Ah…PVD-PHL. How I remember flying this route on a 757. Times have changed. Now I’m just excited that the first flight is getting upgraded from a CRJ to an E-190. 

But wow – I had to think the last time I was on a regional jet, and it was back in 1998 on a Fokker 28 between YYZ and BOS. Memories.

Boarding began promptly around 5:30. As one might expect, it went pretty quickly considering it was a CRJ. I have to say, I didn’t find the aircraft as cramped as I expected. If I was an inch taller I’d have to crouch walking down the aisle, though. Luckily, the seat next to me was empty, so I was able to put my bag in front of that seat, allowing me to stretch out. The legroom wasn’t too shabby at all, I think.

View from my seat.

The legroom was good! I even felt comfortable in the CRJ. Yes. I said it. Maybe it’s much worse on longer flights, but it was fine for this.

I will say, though, that this particular aircraft looked really tired inside, and needed some work done. The flight attendant was only able to do a limited beverage service because the coffee maker was broken.

(Taken during the flight.)

We pushed back a few minutes before our scheduled departure time of six. Since runway 5 was the active that enabled us to be first in line for takeoff. I have to say that this takeoff was just beautiful. It was overcast, but the clouds were very low so soon after takeoff we broke through them and the sun is shining. Personally, this is one of my most favorite moments in flying.

Other than that, the flight was pretty normal. The flight attendant did the aforementioned drink service, and I finalized my questions for Gary. 

Soon we began our descent…

…and landed on runway 9R. I was hoping to land on the 27 end because it has a nice view of the terminal…but oh well. Then we taxied over to Terminal F, which is solely meant for regional flights. We parked at the gate around 7:05, which was a wee bit early.

After deplaning, I headed to the Terminal E SEPTA station, as Terminal F doesn’t have one. The train just makes a lot of sense. There are trains leaving every 30 minutes, and the ride downtown only takes about a half hour. My roundtrip ticket cost only $14. The train was also very convenient for me as Market East Station is connected to the convention center.

The train arrived a bit after eight, and I wasn’t meeting Gary until 9 so I headed into the convention center to pick up my badge, and then walked to the Marriott lobby where I was going to interview Gary. (I’ll have the interview soon.) 

Then, I walked the show floor a bit, and eventually headed up to the ballroom to see Gary’s speech (once again, more on that later). I was able to meet up with the director of my airport (PVD) before the speech, and it was great to see him again. He’s really done a fantastic job since he’s come here. For example, he’s made great progress on the runway expansion.

Anyway, after the speech I met up with fellow aviation blogger Jonathan Heckman (who works in the city) and we went to lunch in Reading Terminal Market, and I got this delicious pastrami sandwich.

Yum!

With Jon. 

Later, I walked the show floor a bit more, and then it was time for a session on airline-airport relationships, which was very interesting to say the least. I was shocked by a couple of things said by the representative from United, but I’ll leave that for another day.

By then it was time to snag a train, which was very easy.

I got to PHL pretty quick and I was really impressed when I walked in. PHL’s recently opened the D/E connector, which is great. Before, E was kind of exiled (one would have to go through security again), which is annoying for Southwest considering it operates out of both terminals. The new security checkpoint is excellent, and there’s some nice new retail as well. Terminal E is currently being expanded as well, but I don’t know who’s going to be using that extra space. (Might Southwest just move everything to E? I’ll have to ask.)

You can see the new connector in the background.

Terminal E expansion.

Anyway, I saw that college students are supposed to get free Wi-Fi. Awesome! Too bad AT&T didn’t send enough coupons. So, I decided to walk the airport. I went from E all the way to A-West, though I only explored terminals D & A-West. The latter is very nicely put together. 

Unfortunately, during said walk, the weather deteriorated. When I saw that all the displays above the US Airways gates on the ramp said “ramp closed,” and saw lightning, I figured things were taking a bad turn. Hooray, ground stop!

I had burned enough time so I walked back towards my gate, but bumped into someone from Southwest who I met earlier during the conference, and we had a really great chat. Unfortunately, I had to head to my gate so we couldn’t talk too long. 

Southwest Airlines Flight #629
June 15, 2009
Depart Philadelphia (PHL): 9:16 PM
Arrive Providence (PVD):  9:54 PM
Duration: 0:38
Aircraft: Boeing 737-700 (N785SW)
Seat: 17F

The gate agent kept us informed about the arrival of our flight, and had us line up early. When that 737 came in, Southwest moved fast. Based on my photo timestamps, the plane pulled into the gate around 7:55 (our original departure time), and we were pushed back and taxiing around 8:15. Impressive.

Unfortunately, there was a line for takeoff, and we waited about 40 minutes. At least I had someone nice to talk to. We started chatting while waiting to board, and scored a row with an empty middle in “secret first class.” At one point he actually lived about 5 minutes from where I live today. Small world!

Eventually, we were off.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful. My seatmate ordered some wine and the flight attendant didn’t charge, so I’m assuming they were comping drinks due to the delay, which is a nice gesture. 

Soon enough we were on approach to runway 5, and we landed around 9:54. Considering our scheduled arrival was 9:25, that isn’t too bad.

After that, I waited for my dad’s flight from Midway to arrive, and we headed home. Luckily, the parking garage accepted the coupon for a free day that was for the garage with the broken machine. Woo! 

Overall, a great day. I’ll have more posts about the conference itself soon.

Yes, it did take me eight prior installments to get to the main part of the cruise. But, here’s a quick rundown of the ports of call. There were only three port days, with three sea days. I do love the seas days, but I was kind of disappointed that Royal played around with the itinerary and put two of the seas days right in front. Anyway…

St. Maarten

I’ve already blogged about my visit to Maho Beach here. As plane geeks know, there really isn’t anything more important than visiting Maho.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

I was happy to be visiting San Juan again because last year it poured and was basically a waisted stop. Unfortunately, the ship was only in port for six hours, from 8 to 2. In addition, many places aren’t open that early. Anyway, I really enjoyed just walking around the city a bit and then doing some shopping.

One cool thing about San Juan is that the ship docks right near Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport. Here’s a picture I took as we were leaving.

Labadee, Haiti

This is Royal Caribbean’s private destination on Haiti, which I just find beautiful. This was my third time there, and the past two times have just been beach days, and I was happy to be doing an actual excursion. My dad and I ended up doing the kayaking tour. We actually did alright because it is aimed toward beginners. But it was very nice to paddle around to some areas that you can walk over to, and the tour guide was really informative. The only annoying thing is that your last stop is a beautiful secluded beach. Unfortunately, there are some very overbearing vendors.

The only other negative of this day was that tendering was very slow. I almost missed my excursion. Luckily, a dock is under construction and will be open later this year.

I feel that I would be remiss if I didn’t mention CruiseCritic in my review. This website is the perfect resources for cruisers both new to this style of vacationed and those who are veterans. The website’s forums are incredibly active, and I especially enjoy the “Roll Call” forum. Here, cruisers start thread for their sailing and hope to meet fellow cruisers. If more than 25 register, then Royal Caribbean will put on a Meet & Mingle. Invitations were distributed Saturday night.

The Meet & Mingle went incredibly well! It was so great to finally meet all of the people that I had been chatting with for months online. Royal always puts out a nice spread, and usually raffles off some logo items. Many of us participated in a gift exchange where items from our hometowns were raffled off, and that was pretty cool.

Meanwhile, BoardingArea history was made at this event, as fellow blogger Marshall Jackson and I were able to meet in person!

Generations will remember this historical moment for years to come.

After the Meet & Mingle it was time for the “Cabin Crawl,” where members of our group signed up to take a look at the various types of cabins onboard. The highlight of this was probably the Owner’s Suite. There was a very nice couple in our group that has cruised over 80 times, and they booked  a balcony stateroom, but were upgraded. Apparently, Royal treats its super-loyal customers very well.

Overall, a great day. Really, CruiseCritic rocks. It’s great to get on the ship and already know people!

As I mentioned earlier, this was my second voyage on Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas. Last time, I was in a Grand Suite (GS), and this time it was a Junior Suite (JS), so I decided it would be worthwhile to compare the two.

There is definitely a noticeable size difference, as the Grand is about 70 square feet bigger than the Junior. This extra space did make a very nice layout. My sofa bed and my parents’ bed were facing each other with a curtain going accross the room. This worked out great. My parents could draw the curtain when they wanted to sleep, and I could walk in later at night and not disturb them as much, especially because the bathroom was on my side. In the junior, the two beds are parallel and the curtain doesn’t go out that far.

Junior:

Grand:

As you can see, the GS does have a very different style of furniture. The furniture in the JS is very similar to that in any other cabin.

Interestingly, the balcony for the Junior (101 square feet) is bigger than the one on the Grand (89 square feet). The balcony in the JS isn’t as wide as the one in the GS (just because the cabin is narrower), but apparently it is a bit deeper.

The bathroom in the GS, with its two sinks and Viking mosaic (I’ve had the same face stare at me on the Mariner, Navigator, and Liberty – I do hope I have a picture somewhere in my backups) is very spacious, but the one in the JS is nice as well. The one in the latter is noticeably smaller, but it still has a tub.

Junior:

Grand:

In the storage department, the JS wins by a wide margin. As you can see, the cabin comes with a great walk-in closet.

Meanwhile, you can see the closet space behind the bar in the GS in this photo:

Don’t get me wrong, the GS had plenty of storage space, I just greatly preferred having a walk-in closet with shelves. It was also large enough to double as a changing room.

Many of the differences between the two cabins have a lot more to do than the physical rooms. GS and above receive very nice perks, such as access to the concierge lounge (and the concierge can be much more helpful and powerful than guest relations at some points), reserved seating at shows, and priority tendering.

Both of these cabins are quite nice, but obviously I do like the GS better due to a nicer layout and access to suite perks. The only major perk for the JS is the walk-in closet. The most important factor, however, is price. On this last cruise, I think the difference between the GS and JS was over $2,000, which I think is a bit pricey. But I have seen other itineraries when its a lot less, and in that case I would go for the nicer suite.

I decided that doing a day-by-day write-up of my cruise would a) take up lots of posts and b) be a bit hard in some areas. So I’ll be working on one long review that will be posted next week. But, today I wanted to share what Cranky Flier calls “airplane porn.” One of the ports of call was St. Maarten, which obviously means that a visit to Maho Beach is necessary. For those who don’t know, it’s right at the edge of St. Maarten’s major international airport. Obviously, this provides some great views of landings, and if you’re adventurous enough, an opportunity to experience some jet blast first hand (there was actually a group of people hanging on to the fence for awhile).

This was my second time at Maho, and it just doesn’t get old. Some things have changed in the past year, though. The famous Sunset Beach Bar was damaged during the last hurricane season, and also changed owners. It is now the Sunset Bar & Grill. Personally, I don’t care what it’s called as long as I can watch planes. One of the very nice changes, though, is the placement of speakers around the bar that are hooked up to a radio scanner. It is great to hear the radio chatter, but it’s also a good way to know when to get the camera ready!

Overall, it was a great day. Most of the pilots wove back to me and my fellow spotters. A few members of our CruiseCritic group stopped by for awhile, so that was nice as well. And, I did get my recommended dose of jet blast from a US Airways 757. All I can say is wow. As you’ll see in the video below of the Insel Air MD-80 taking off, the jetblast blows a lot of sand (and even the water) around.

Anyway, enjoy!

Videos:

Photos:

Emergency drill.

The famous surfboard. Screwed up with the codeshares though.

A Winair flight waits as another departs.

Three LIATs all lined up.

What a great day! Every plane dork needs to go to SXM at least once!