Pre-cruise travel

Traveling from 2 different cities, I and one of my BF's flew in from Memphis to the Melbourne airport (somewhat closer to the port than Orlando Int'l, but not a better deal transportation wise...more on that later), meeting my other BF flying into Orlando International from Chicago. After finding an economical rate of $109+tax online for a room, we opted to stay at the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Melbourne. Uhmm..don't think this was the best selection, as the room was decent, we had "bugs...ROACHES" that also occupied our space, prompting a room change and $20 discount, and then EVENTUALLY resulted in a free room as the 2nd room assigned also had critters. We do have them on video for those interested...

And not to be outdone, I recently brought one of those TSA combination locks and let's just say, I couldn't get into my luggage because 1) I either didn't set it right, or 2) the airport personnel used their "handy" code and somehow screwed it up for me. After a frustrating night of trying to get it open to no avail, I opted to have the LaQuinta maintenance man cut the lock off the next morning while trying to locate the source of our uninvited guests (Randy the roach and his pals). Read more