Orlando und Sint Maarten (SXM)

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paarlman

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10.07.2009
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Hallo zusammen,

nachdem sich hier ein schöner Thread zu SXM entwickelt hat, habe ich beschlossen, meinen Trip vom Sommer 2015 hier auch zu posten (der steht auf meinem privaten nichtkommerziellen Blog); wenn auch auf English. Ich hoffe, er findet trotzdem Gefallen......


time for a trip
Yeah, it's really time for a trip.... I wanted to go to Easter Island in March but had to cancel at the very last minute. To make up, I planned a trip to Cape Town in June, which I also had to cancel very last minute. I've now taken advantage of a trip to the UK that I have to take for my studies. I am planning to attend and to present at a postgraduate research students conference at my Uni in Cheltenham. After that, I am taking a few days off in order to (hopefully) tick a box or two on my 'bucket list'. No, I don't really have such a list - but I have taken the opportunity to do a couple of things that I have wanted to do for a long time.

But first things first... I am now at Zurich airport, bound for Birmingham. My Helvetic Fokker 100 has just arrived (I think) for the flight to Birmingham. From there, it will be back to Zurich, on to Frankfurt, Orlando, Charlotte, Sint Maarten, Saba, and back the same route but to Geneva instead of Zurich. Sounds confusing? It is! Here's the routing on a map (thanks to gcmap.com)

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15'311 miles to fly - the long-hauls are booked in Business thanks to my miles, the shorthauls are cheap revenue tickets. Thanks to my gold status with both Star Alliance and One World, I should be able to access lounges and have decent seats on all segments.

So, what are the highlights I am hoping to experience on this trip.....?
- Well, first of all I am planning to present a conceptual paper and get some feedback at the student conference. Plus, I am meeting my supervisor for some input and guidance on my PhD project.
- But after that, I am planning to visit SXM. Not only is Sint Maarten the only place where France and the Netherlands share a border, but wikipedia will tell you why geeks go there.
- Then, I plan to fly over to Saba briefly. Why Saba? Well, again as per wikipedia, "the airport has the shortest commercial runway in the world, only 396 meters". That is going to be an experience to land and to take off there.
- Thanks to a nice lay-over in Orlando, I am hoping to visit Universal Studios Orlando, where a Simpsons themed area has been opened.

That is a lot to pack into a single week and I am looking forward to the experiences to come. First of all, it is getting to Cheltenham via Birmingham. Swiss Air Lines (operated by Helvetic) have promised to take me there in a Fokker 100 plane. And there's a couple of them coming in to Zurich airport right now.

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I've pre-selected an exit-row aisle seat, so that should be a comfortable and short ride. The Swiss Senator / Star Gold Lounge offers cheap white wine and free Wifi, so I can wait in comfort and post this report.

In Transit
The flight to Birmingham on Sunday evening was uneventful. The exit row was comfortable, and that was about it. Maybe it was my perception only, but the cabin crew seemed both dis-interested and incompetent at the same time. At least when it comes to customer service. No big issues, but I wasn't given the feeling of being welcome at all; it was more a robotic distribution of drinks and sandwiches that took place before the flight attendants went back to hide in the galley. Combine that with a rather old and quite run-down airplane and you get an experience that is so not swiss..... Once arrived in Birmingham I waited for my luggage (altough I appreciate 'hand-luggage-only' travelling, it is sometimes a comfortable luxury to just check the trolley and not schlepp it through the airport), I caught a train to Cheltenham and checked into my hotel, the Strozzi Palace. Can't say anything bad about that place! I got a good last-minute deal and am happy I stayed there.

The conference at my Uni was interesting, my presentation successful and the meetings insightful. So coming over to Cheltenham was the right thing to do. I met my supervisor twice and that discussions helped me re-gain clarity and direction in my thinking. To some extend, I was a bit 'lost' in the research and needed guidance. The German saying of "not seeing the forest because of all the trees" would certainly fit. From another perspective, the discussions also gave me clarity on what I would still have to do - so there are difficult and discouraging moments as well. My supervisory meetings have the tendency to be extremely intense, and the ones I had this week were no different.

After the conference, I caught the train up to Birmingham, typing the minutes of the meetings up on the train and in the lounge. And then, after catching up on some work, it was time for the 'leisure' part of my trip, I felt. The lounge (Swiss uses the 'aspire' lounge) is average at best. I didn't find any real food, but the Wifi is free and beer is cold and that helps.

I flew back to Zurich again with swiss operated by Helvetic. This time, my impressions from the inbound flight were confirmed. One flight attendant (interestingly the one making the announcements) spoke neither fluent German nor English. Well..... I got into Zurich, picked up my luggage and checked into the Radisson Blu for a short night. I love the Radisson for its location right inside the airport. As a shareholder and gold member I usually get an upgrade into their business class, but not so tonight. The hotel restaurant serves excellent steaks, but unfortunately they come with a swiss price tag, too. So I opted for a late-evening small steak tartare.

Getting to the land of Mickey Mouse: Zurich-Orlando

Since I had a rather long layover in Frankfurt, I decided to check in my trolley at Zurich airport. The flight to Frankfurt was quiet and uneventful, operated by Lufthansa on a pretty old and somewhat run-down Boeing 737 „Karlsruhe“ (Lufthansa names their planes after cities or regions, which I find a nice way to relate tot he country). It was not that the plane was dirty or anything, but the interior (carpets, seats, etc) was somewhat worn off and showed that it had been around for a while. You wonder how they want to achieve 5-star status.

For me, Frankfurt airport is a nice place for a layover, there’s plenty to do and to see, and the food and beverage outlets are interesting. I ended up having an early sushi lunch which was enjoyable. My flight to Orlando was operated with a Boeing 747-400 „Saarland“. Even though Lufthansa promotes their new business class, when flying on that type of plane, the chances of getting the new configurations are relatively low. But then again, the ‚old’ business class is not bad at all. A last-minute gate change resulted in me arriving at the gate just before boarding was about to begin. The flight was not booked to capacity and, once on board, I managed to get a seat row of my own, thus having an empty seat besides me. That allowed me to sit by the window and not have another passenger sitting next to me – perfect!

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The flight departed almost on time and the service was friendly, professional, and at a very high level. The hardware has seen better times and so the inflight entertainment system at times took a long time to load. The seat does convert to a bed, however to one that is not flat but at an angle. Despite all the complaints about the old business class and not having rolled out the new one throughout the fleet yet I must say that I still find the old layout very comfortable and perfectly fine for a daylight flight. I even slept for a couple of hours, so it cannot be that bad really....

The food and beverages served on board were at a very high level, too. Having done some research on airline catering operations, I am aware of the constraints involved in inflight food service operations. The menu was aspargus-themed; something which I like. Well, you could claim that late June is a bit late for aspargus – but then again it is a German speciality and I like for Lufthansa to give that bit of ‚local touch’. Aspargus salad followed by aspargus with a veal fillet and sauce hollandaise. My only complaint would be for the veal fillet to be rather dry – but then again considering the fact that this is an airline meal, nothing to worry about really.

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The famous German comedian Loriot once said that the human being is the only being on earth that can enjoy a hot meal at 10'000 meters altitude. The lunch service was completed by a selection of cheese and some port wine and I fell asleep over a movie.

I woke up somewhere above New Foundland, some three hours out of Orlando. Reading and watching some TV, time passed by quickly. A small dinner was served before landing which consisted of aspargus soup and a César salad.

En route, I managed to spot New York City (Can you spot Manhattan on the picture) and Cape Canaveral with its long runway for the space shuttles.

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We landed in Orlando slightly ahead of schedule and I was the first passenger to get off the plane. Immigration was quick, there was no queue and no-one ahead of me. I collected my luggage and took the little train to the main terminal building.
The Hyatt Hotel is integrated into the main terminal building with some rooms facing the uge atrium and others facing the runway. Also, should you forget what country you are in - no problem!

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I got a nice room with a balcony and airfield view – perfect! My flight to Orlando touched down around 17h15 and before 18h00 I was in my hotel room; very smooth. I went for quick dinner in one oft he airport restaurants and was in bed not too late. Thanks to jet lag, getting up at 04h00 the next morning was no problem at all.....


next stop: Sint Maarten

In retrospect, the routing is a somewhat odd one.... leaving Orlando towards the north in order to be flying south soon again, almost passing Orlando on the way. But since this trip is about flying and since money is limited, I opted for the routing that best fit my schedule and budget.

I had checked in online the night before for my US Airways (now American Airlines operated by US) flights to Charlotte and from there to Sint Maarten. Being a (matched) Air Berlin Gold member, I was able to pre-select premium seats at the exit or the bulkhead. Online check-in also offered me an upgrade on the segment Orlando-Charlotte, but 125$ seemed a bit steep for a bit more of an hour. I wasn’t offered an upgrade for the longer segment from Charlotte to Sint Maarten (where it may have been interesting).

After getting up at 04h00, I checked out of the Hyatt and left my trolley there – for the one night on the island I won’t need that much. Interestingly, my backback seems to contain more technology (Laptop, ipad, iphone and all sorts of chargers) than clothing. I was briefly tempted to leave the laptop at the hotel as well, but then again I also wanted to do some writing en route. It was before 05h00 that I had my boarding pass and made my way to security. Incredible the amount of passengers flying from Orlando that early in the morning! Security was very busy, but thanks to the gold status I could skip parts of the queue. I had quick breakfast (not much was open in the airside area) and boarded the flight to Charlotte. It was operated by a brand new A321 and I made myself comfortable in the exit row. We got into Charlotte in time and by the time I had made my way to the gate, my flight to Sint Maarten was ready for boarding. This time, it was an A319, not as new as the other plane. The bulkhead seat I had pre-selected gave me some extra legroom. The flight lasted some 3.5 hours and featured in-flight internet for most of its duration. Only quite some time after we had left the continent and made our way through the caribbean sea, the connection stopped. But it was good to catch up with the news and do some writing.

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We landed in Sint Maarten and de-boarded on an apron position. After a short bus ride to the terminal building, I was the first at immigration and, thanks to not having checked any lugagge, on my way to the hotel in no time. Sint Maarten is the only place in the world where the Netherlands and France share a border. Even though it is part of Europe, the immigration procedure included stamping my passport. Well, I won't complain about that! My hotel is a 20 minutes walk from the terminal building at the end of the runway with a nice view on the famous Maho beach. I was a few minutes late to experience an Air France A340 landing, but the picture shows the proximity of the runway to the beach.

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Once I had checked into the hotel, I made my way back to the beach and to do some shopping. I urgently needed a hat and some sunscreen (and soon new sunglasses as well).

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As I passed Maho beach, a few planes came in – what a spectacular experience to have them fly low over your head just before they touch down.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/feature=player_embedded[/video]


I also experienced a few planes taking off – and this is why I needed new sunglasses. The blast from the jet engines was so strong it blew them away; never to be found again. I would never have imagined that this would be that strong! Later that afternoon I caught the Air France A340 taking off. Being very close behind the plane jet jet blast literally almost blew me away! Watch the guys on the right holding on to the fence....

[video]https://www.youtube.com/feature=player_embedded[/video]

What an exciting experience that was! I am now sitting at the bar with a ‚presidente’ beer from the Dominican Republic, typing these notes and looking forward to my flight to Saba island and back tomorrow morning.


A trip to Saba island

I got up around 5 in the morning. Thanks to the continued jet lag, that was no problem at all.

The evening on Sint Maarten was relaxed, I had some quick dinner and watched another few airplanes go in and out. Especially interesting was an Insel Air flight bound for Curacao. The pilots 'parked' the aircraft right at the end of the runway and ran the engines to what seemed to be full power. The people at the fence had to really hold on tight, even the water by the beach was blown in waves by the blast from the jets. It was the last jet departure of the day and clearly, it felt as if the pilots had fun playing the game..... They released the brakes and the plane started to accelerate and took off soon thereafter.

I left my backpack at the hotel and made my way to the airport; I was booked to a flight from Sint Maarten to Saba at 8h20. Since the Winair website didn't allow for a direct return on the same plane, I would have to wait about an hour on the island and then fly back. A small bus took us to the airplane, a small aircraft with two propeller engines.

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Take-off was smooth and we reached our very low cruising altitude of 2'500 feet very soon. The flight duration was only 12 minutes, so it was probably the shortest commercial flight I had ever been one. What an extreme when compared to the 18 1/2 hours it took me to get from New York to Singapore on the Singapore Air flight in 2013.

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The reason I chose Saba island is a very simple one. With some 396 meters (as per wikipedia), it has the world's shortest commercial runway. Only two types of commercial aircraft (both propeller planes) can land there. And the landing was spectactular! Due to the geography of the island and the location of the runway, the approach is not a 'long final' but involves a right turn shortly before touch-down. But see for yourself.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/feature=player_embedded[/video]

After we landed, the pilot thanked the passengers and shook everybody's hand. I asked whether I could not do a direct return in the same plane with them instead of waiting about an hour for the next flight. He looked at me and asked "are you only here for the ride?" I nodded and then the ground staff and cockpit crew started discussing. So I had to go through the immigration process which involved stamping my passport twice in one go. One to enter Saba, and one to leave it again. So a buerocrat could claim that I was in Saba for about 3 seconds or so, the time between the two different stamps in my passport.

No notice was taken about my boarding pass being for the next flight. Once I had successfully passed the administrative task of entering and leaving the country at the same instance, I walked back to the aircraft. I already thought it was filled to capapcity, but there was one seat available in the first row, right behind the cockpit. And then something very, very unfortunate happened. The storage capacity of my iphone was full and I could not take any more video or picture before deleting something else. Hah; and I always thought the battery was the weakest point of an apple device.

Departing from Saba island is even more spectacular than getting there.... the pilot parked the aircraft at the very end of the runway (facing the see ahead of us) and ran up the engines. They were run up to an extend that I think I hadn't previously experienced. When the pilot released the breaks, the plane accelerated at a very high rate and started moving towards the sea. I don't know where I would have experienced such accelleration before - it felt a bit like taking off from an aircraft carrier. Just as the runway ended, we were airborne. So, really, instead of falling down into the sea at the end of the runway we were airborne and started to gain altitude instantly. Had I previously thought that landing on that short runway was exciting, starting from it was even more so!

We landed back in Sint Maarten and my next task was to change my flight back to Orlando. I was booked on the late flight at around 16h20 (would have got me into Orlando around midnight) and wanted to change that to a departure around 14h25, getting me into Orlando around 22h00. Again, I have booked a room at the Hyatt inside the terminal building for the night, but the thought of getting to sleep a bit early was tempting. The airline counter opened late and changing the reservation was more difficult than anticipated. Apparently there was something wrong with my ESTA approval to enter the U.S. (altough I had no issues entering the U.S. with same approval two days ago). It took about half an hour to work on this, but ultimately I got a seat on the earlier flight out of Sint Maarten to Charlotte as well as an earlier connection to Orlando. The (matched) Air Berlin gold status even saved me the 75$ change fee that normally would have applied.

As the agent was working on my reservation and check-in I felt like sitting on coals. A KLM Boeing 747 was scheduled to land and I didn't want to miss that one coming in. I did manage to experience it coming in, altough I didn't make it to the end of the runway. But you get the idea of how close it was as it landed.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/feature=player_embedded[/video]

I went on to my hotel room, collected my backpack and checked out. On the way back to the airport, I though I might as well have some lunch at a local cafe since I was early anyway. I had a decent burger and didn't really worry about airplanes any more. Just as I made my way to the airport after lunch, I saw that the KLM 747 was on its way to the runway for the trip back to Amsterdam. I went to stand on a little wall at the end of the runway and decided to experience this one with a bit of a distance from an angle (not right behind it). I wanted to make a decent video recording of a big one taking off (yes, I had meanwhile made some storage space available on the iphone by deleting stuff). What happened next (literally) blew me away. Even though I was quite a bit away and not directly behind the aircraft, I was blown off my little wall. What a blast! It feels like being sandblasted with all the hot air filled with sand particles shooting at you.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/feature=player_embedded[/video]

What an exciting day it was! I found my way back to the airport terminal, went through security and waited for boarding. Since the flight was very full and since I was one of the last ones to get a reservation on it, I had to take the window seat in the economy bulkhead. Even though I do prefer aisle seats I must say that I did enjoy the occassional look out of the window. Especially right after leaving Sint Maarten, we flew above a number of caribbean islands - quite a view!


Meet the Simpsons
The flight from Sint Maarten to Charlotte was smooth and I found the window seat in the bulkhead to be not bad at all. We got into Charlotte almost half an hour before the scheduled arrival time but spent almost that long waiting for the gate to become available. Since this was an international arrival, I had to go through immigration and security before being able to continue on to the flight to Orlando. I had read this before and can confirm based on own experience now: Charlotte certainly is one of the friendliest airports to arrive internationally into the USA. After a quick trip to the lounge, I made my way to the gate and boarded the A321 to Orlando. The flight was almost booked to capacity.

My flight got into Orlando on time and at around 22h30 that night I arrived in my room at the Hyatt Hotel. This time, I had a room with a balcony facing the atrium and could see the queues building up at security.

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I took breakfast at the hotel and went to pick up my rental car. The plan for today was to go to Universal studios and visit the Simpsons-themed park area.

The rental car (pre-booked and pre-paid through a broker) came to some 29 Euros for the day, including unlimited mileage and all insurances. Parking at Universal alone was 17 Dollars, and the entry ticket amounted to some 108 Dollars. Wow! I got there reasonably early before the big crowds came in and managed to take a good look around the park and also ride on the Simpsons-themed ride. It is basically a simulated ride; but very well done. I continued to go around the park with its rides and attractions all based on themes from different movies. More and more visitors entered the park, towards noon it became really crowded. No surprise for a Saturday I guess.

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I left the park not too late and, on my way back to the airport, stopped at the Florida mall – one of the biggest shopping malls I had ever seen. The mall as well was incredibly busy. Once I got to the airport, I returned the car and had plenty of time to spend before the departure of my flight. It then turned out that the inbound flight was delayed and as such, the outbound would be as well. Initially it was communicated to be 15 minutes delayed, then another 15 minutes, and so on, and so on. Through the window I could see the technical crew work on an engine; but nothing was mentioned about technical issues. The delay was attributed to a thunderstorm that forced the airport to close down completely and thus delayed the unloading and loading processes.

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During online check-in, I had been able to select a seat in the upper deck of the Boeing 747-400 (the same type as on my flight to Orlando a few days before). Between the two flights, Lufthansa stopped selling first class on this route and now offered the upper deck (where the first class is located) to Business Class passengers. So I was incredibly lucky to get one of those seats, since they really are among the best seats, even for First Class. When Lufthansa introduced their new first class concept, the cabin in the 747-400 was reonvated and the capacity reduced from an initial 16 to 8 seats. These now offer a separate seat and a fixed bed for every passenger. I had once flown on this configuration before and find it to be among the best available, offering plenty of privacy and comfort. So, I basically got a first class seat with business class service. And since there is one flight attendant on duty for the 8 passengers in the upper deck, the service was of very high standard. Even the captain came through the cabin for a chat with every passenger prior to departure. I opted for a quick meal service, skipping the main course (which would have been fillet of beef), since I was aiming to maximize sleep.

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We left Orlando with about one and a half hours delay. Due to favorite conditions, some of that could be made up and we arrived in Frankfurt about half an hour behind schedule. Still, it was enough for me to miss my connecting flight to Geneva. I was then booked on the next flight to Geneva about an hour later. Once landed, I caught the train for the trip back home. And so the circle, once again, closes after an exciting, but tiring, week of flying around .....
 

paarlman

Erfahrenes Mitglied
10.07.2009
1.914
519
unweit LSTA
Leider habe ich es nicht geschafft, die Video - Sequenzen korrekt zu verlinken... wer Interesse hat, bekommt von mir per PN gerne den Link zu meinem privaten Reiseblog (auf dem die Videos korrekt verlinkt sind).