Tainna in Ottawa

Introducing Hotwire!

Traveling, whether it's close to drive of far enough to fly, can be costly!

I love getting away, booking a hotel and sometimes renting a car, if driving to our destination is out of the question.

I used to pretty much research with Expedia it and rely on their results. I would do some minimal checking and comparing but not a full-scale research! ( I need to pack!)

A few months ago, I decided to treat Erik to a Montreal get-away! I checked on TripAdvisor for some reviews (You should definitely not read into everyone comments, some people are just picky and believe their are entitled to a royal treatment while paying peasant fares!) and while reading certain Montreal Hotel reviews, a commenter mentioned he saved BIG using Hotwire.

Intrigued, I visited their site.

Indeed, I found great prices for hotels! Some 25-50% off from the hotel's official site. Although the prices are in US funds (the dollar was doing good, so no biggie), there was a BIG catch!

You didn't know exactly WHICH hotel you were booking for.

Yup!

You can choose the location, the star rating and even view which amenities are available, but the name of the hotel is not available until AFTER you book with them.

Frightening? Yes.

Obviously, I was torn! I wanted the savings, but I needed to know with which hotel I was booking! I read their F.A.Q and found out why they could not tell us who we are booking with:

When brand-name hotels have unsold rooms, they use Hotwire to fill them, so you get them at prices lower than any other travel site, guaranteed. For us to bring you these great deals, we can't give you the hotel or street address until after you book. Once you book your room, we immediately confirm your reservation and show you the hotel's complete details, including its name and exact location.

Despite this, you can ballpark which hotels are possible. I knew that since I book a 3 and a half star hotel, in downtown Montreal, with a pool, spa, no hot tubs... It was clear to me that it was going to be Delta Centre-Ville! Which was exactly the hotel I wanted.

It was beautiful. We had the premium corner room. Non-smoking! It was PERFECT! If I head back to Montreal, I would definitely book there again.

Hotwire got me a ridiculously low price! I paid even less than what they were offering for a regular smoking room!

The only problem I have with Hotwire is that if I want to rebook with Delta Centre-ville, I would not risk it with Hot Wire, since I could end up in another hotel.

Furthermore, you cannot ask your a non-smoking room. You can end up in a less desirable room, so watch out!

My experience with them has been great, but I can imagine others being quite disappointed.

Cruising!

March 8th, I will be traveling to San Juan to embark on a 7 day southern Caribbean cruise!

This will be my second cruise and I am so excited to leave!

This year, we ( My BF and I) will be cruising with Princess. I am not going to lie, we were disappointed with Norwegian Cruise Line and we are hoping that Princess will offer a bit more luxury. If all fails, we will book Celebrity or maybe Royal Caribbean, next year!

We are staying in an obstructed overview, which should look like this:

That's not too bad, and since we booked an GUARANTEE Obstructed Ocean View, we got free upgrades! YAY!

We are flying with US Airways, and ugh, I really hate the fact that we are paying 15$ each for each FIRST checked bags ( I mean who doesn't travel with luggage!) but, hey, if WestJet was able to fly down to San Juan, then I would have booked my flight with them!

Here are the places where we will be stopping:

ITINERARY FOR THIS BOOKING

DATE DESTINATION ARRIVE DEPART Mar 08 SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 11:00PM Mar 09 AT SEA Mar 10 ARUBA 08:00AM 05:00PM Mar 11 BONAIRE, ARUBA 07:00AM 01:00PM Mar 12 GRENADA 12:00PM 07:00PM Mar 13 DOMINICA 07:00AM 04:00PM Mar 14 ST. THOMAS, U.S.V.I. 08:00AM 06:00PM Mar 15 SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO 06:00AM

We have not booked any shore excursions, since we usually tend to decide what we want to do once we are on the boat, but I am looking forward to snorkeling and bus tours!

I also wanted to promote this website for those who travel:
http://upl.codeq.info/

It's called the Universal Packing List and it's an awesome site for people who stress about what to bring and pack. I am so forgetful, that I tend to always have to buy a bunch of stuff on the boat or resort that I go, too! If you travel, bookmark that page!

Furthermore, I will be keeping all the information I will be getting on board! Yes, the princess patters, too! So come back in one and half week to view these items.

Oh, and of course, I will be adding all out pics!

Is any of you traveling anytime soon? Let me know!