I live in a rural area of Pennsylvania! When we plan any type of vacation requiring air transportation, we have to consider the extra time and cost involved to get to an airport.
We have a small airport, a half hour away, and it takes you to one of two airports, either Pittsburgh or Baltimore. There we can connect with other airlines for our trips. If more than one person is traveling, it is usually more economical to drive. Driving the distance to either airport is usually about 3 hours time.
So for the Royal Caribbean Cruise to the Grand Cayman and Mexico, we drove to Pittsburgh.
We left at 1 PM and once we got into the vicinity of the airport, we stopped for dinner at Applebee’s. Everyone in the family likes that restaurant and it was convenient.
Parking
Then we parked at our favorite parking location in Pittsburg, AirMarino Airport Parking.
AirMarino offers complete valet parking services at a low daily/weekly rate. It is our favorite because they provide:
- FREE On-Demand Shuttle Service
- “Trunk to Terminal” Luggage Assistance
- Safe and Secure 24/7 Lot
- Pre-cooled/Pre-warmed Vehicle Upon Return
- FREE Start-Up Assistance (Battery Jump)
- Courteous, Efficient, Experienced Drivers
It is great to come back from your trip and the snow is already cleared from your car, it is started and warmed up. You just transfer your luggage and go. We love it.
So they shuttled us to the airport and we checked our luggage and then since we went through security….very quickly since we had TSA Precheck.
We found our way to the gate and then relaxed as we waited.
My son and his girlfriend checked their social media as we waited.
Airline of Choice
Finally, it was time to get on the plane. We flew Southwest for multiple reasons. The most important being able to take two suitcases at no extra charge. When going on a cruise you sometimes need a second bag and why pay extra to take a suitcase with you.
Southwest also has convenient flight times and their service is wonderful.
Once we got on the plane we relaxed for our 2-hour flight.
Another thing we like about Southwest Airlines is being able to pick your seat when you board. Your ticket is issued with a boarding number. You board the plane in that order, but then you can pick whatever seat is empty that you wish.
We were able to sit as couples and be near each other.
An additional positive for Southwest is the fact they still serve a free juice, water, or soda, and a small snack. Their latest snack is Plane Crackers. They are tiny crackers shaped like an airplane.
When we arrived in Tampa and retrieved our luggage we called for a hotel shuttle. It was after 11 till we were at the hotel and planning to leave around 10 AM the next day for the ship, so we called it a night.
We were all looking forward to getting to the ship and starting our adventure.
Other Cruise Posts
Some other posts you might enjoy about our cruise:
Our Brilliance of the Seas Cruise – January 2019
Boarding the Ship – Cruise Day 1
Grab our Car Packing List
Subscribe to get our latest content by email.
One thought on “Before the Cruise!”