Taking Grand Daughter to Ireland in October,

wckc · Guru

RE: Taking Grand Daughter to Ireland in October,

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Dan: biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin

murphy · Guru

Yes, and I'll sleep even better when THAT passport is safely tucked into the safe deposit box at the bank next to DW and mine. Back in early summer I put them there as there were some burglaries going on near by and since we are away from home long hours in the summer, I decided to put them there for "safe keeping". Paranoid? Maybe but I've learned to be more proactive lately! Esp since I have to deal with Murphy's law biggrin biggrin

Dan

wckc · Guru

ours live in the safe all the time...

Michele Erdvig · Host

Wonderful news that the passport it on its way...at last!

murphy · Guru

I will always wonder if the Senators intervention by phone call on Friday morning was the catalyst that produced results by Friday late afternoon, or if that would have happened anyway. Wasn't going to take any chances and used every resource that I was aware of to try to make it happen. Thanks to everyone on this forum for their suggestions and support!
Now the hard part: 22 days.....and counting biggrin

Dan

gsmith · Veteran Member

Great news indeed!

go easy on the counting.... I remember being a month out and all of the sudden we are half way through our trip.

-- Edited by gsmith on Saturday 6th of September 2014 01:59:20 PM

murphy · Guru

The passport actually arrived in the mail today! Amazing! biggrin

gsmith, it seemed to me that the time drags when waiting to go, and it flies by when you are there.

We are booked thru to SNN on BA. In checking sizes on primary carry on, our 21" roller bags should be fine for that flight as well as the connecting flight from LHR on Aer Lingus. However, the backpack/computer bags we want to use for our personal item appears to be the right size for BA but a little too big for Aer Lingus. We are inclined to take a chance on it!

London Heathrow is a little worry some for me. We have way plenty layover time on both in and outbound flights. However, Conn at Easytour car rental was not so reassuring. Has anyone gone thru LHR in the last year and how was it? We did LHR with 2 nights in London and then on to DUB in 2006 and no problems.

Also has anyone returned a car in late evening at Hertz SNN? Thinking about doing the 5:15 seating at the Med. Banquet at Bunratty castle then returning the car around 8-9 pm, since we are a short walk from our hotel to the terminal for a 9 am flight the next morning.
Dan

-- Edited by murphy on Saturday 6th of September 2014 11:34:57 PM

Judy · Guru

HALLELUJAH on the passport. biggrin

You will definitely want to drop off the car the night before your flight. Last time we stayed at the Park Inn there was a parking surcharge with a 20 minute limit for free parking.

We did an after hours car drop off at the lot and used a key drop box provided by the rental company. We had used Dooley, but I'm sure Hertz will have the same.

wckc · Guru

We're booked into the Park Inn for our final night, and plan on dropping the car Thursday evening as well. It only seems to make sense when you are right there at the terminal = and it will save time in the morning!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Finally the passport! What a relief. Generally, the car rental companies at SNN close in the late afternoon unless they have people arriving on late flights. Check with Hertz to see when they close. As mentioned, you may have to drop the key in the lock box if no one is there.

murphy · Guru

Time is winding down now with just a little over 2 weeks to go! Reserved 3 spots for the 5:15 medieval banquet for our last evening in Ireland. Held up doing that pending the passport Arrival! Also added the Kerry Museum at Tralee to our agenda. Will give us something to do before checking in to Ballyseede Castle.

i replaced the camera I lost in NI on our last trip. Got a point and shoot digital Fugifilm AX660. Wanted a AA battery model since DW has a Canon that takes AA, but they are few and far between. Seems they are all going to AAA batteries, so will break down and get a Vivitar P&S for the GD and take both kinds of batteries.

Next week I plan to contact all the lodgings to re-confirm our reservations. Need to contact our alternate credit card company and then all plastic providers fraud alert departments will have been notified.

Installed my UK card in my Garmin Nuvi GPS and also charged up my Ireland Cell Phone. Hope the SIM card is still active so we can top it up right away.

Pondering if we should get the myfi. Kieth and Wendy are using one now, I believe. Waiting to here how it works out for them! I think Hertz offers it with the car. Any advice on that one?

The countdown continues..... biggrin

Dan

-- Edited by murphy on Saturday 13th of September 2014 11:54:36 PM

tony2phones · Guru

Sorry Dan not up to reading through all the past and above... The Mifi.. check the price from Hertz and compare with the price of one from Tesco or ebay? (picked one up for 20 unlocked and use the Tesco sim).. If you are passing east Clare/Lough Derg give me a nod..

wckc · Guru

Dan -

The mifi has been a godsend. The Garmin, however had been driving us crazy. I've checked the settings twice, but it still wants to take us down those one Lane back roads. Last evening returning from Cork city it took us the back way. Once we saw the entrance to the Blarney Castle car park I turned it off. It was nearly 9 pm and way too dark for those roads. I easily saw the entrance to the n20, so we'd hopped on.

I'll be taking one more look at the settings before heading out today, but I also plan on charting the course using the OSI maps do we know when it is trying to lead us astray.

murphy · Guru

Keith & Wendy,

Which Garnin model do you have? We had a couple of similar back roads route experiences in NI with my Nuvi 1350 model A couple years ago. Still plan to get one more trip out of the 2-year old UK data card. We also plan to use the new OSI atlas at all times!

Did you rent a mifi or purchase one? From whom? What was the outright cost/daily cost? Does it power up on cig lighter, or have batteries, or wall plug in capability? Is it usable at lodgings as well as in the auto? Thanks in advance for educating me on another hopefully useful electronic gadget! Will have 2 iPhone as well as 2 tablets along with us. Will need a 5-way splitter to the cig lighter to power everything up!

Sounds like you are having a grand time over there!

Dan

gsmith · Veteran Member

we bought our mifi from tesco for 50 euro then a 20 euro plan which gave us 15 gig of data for a 30 day period. It worked out great. We originally bought an unlocked mifi unit online but we couldn't get it to work so we bought the one from tesco. It took us a bit to get that one working because the person at tesco didn't know anything about it but I figured it out and had no problems with it after that. It worked just about everywhere. It came with a plug for the wall and could also be used in a usb port which our rental car had in it. We used it everyday and still have 10 gig available.
If you want I can send it to you and you'll just have to get a new plan when you arrive or I think you can even purchase it online. I'll look when I get home.

We brought our tomtom with us which I had uploaded the Ireland roads on and it worked fantastic. I think we spent under $60 for the maps and a GPS rental would have been 80 euros so we saved there.

Geno · Guru

Have used GPS in Ireland and found it real helpful getting through towns, but still always had a map and a human in the mix at all times. smile

Had we listened to the GPS without question somewhere outside of Cong, we might still be lost in County Mayo!!!

Geno

-- Edited by Geno on Monday 15th of September 2014 01:31:05 PM

gsmith · Veteran Member

we also had the osi atlas and Colleen had printed directions to everywhere so we were covered

Michele Erdvig · Host

Looks like the consensus is thumbs up on the MiFi and one sideways for the GPS.

murphy · Guru

Well for us, anyway, much fewer miscues using GPS than when we were using just maps! Both useful tools, but will never go without my GPS!
Dan

wckc · Guru

Dan -

Our Garmin is a Nuvi, but I don't remember off hand which model and it's out in the glove box. I made some setting modifications and it is being much more cooperative now - no more two way roads that are one car wide. We have tried following gps coordinates three times now, all taking is on wild goose chases.

We also have the newest version of the OSI map, and I prepared Google maps for each daytrip so we have each stop marked. The three working in tandem have been great.

Also great is the mifi. I borrowed our mifi from a friend. It is a "3" version. We have had great coverage - only a few spots without coverage. Our original top up was 25 euro for 7.5 GB. We went through that in just under a week, so we topped up today 35 euro for 20 GB. I have been using it constantly to look up the obscure sights on our list to verify that we are headed in the right direction. The only downside I see with the "3" unit is finding a "3" store. I haven't found many down in the Cork area, but did find the one in Killarney. A Tesco unit sounds like a good idea, and Tesco stores can be found most anywhere - except Kilkenny Town.

murphy · Guru

Keith & Wendy
Thanks for the info. Looks like we will be covering some of the same territory soon

Gsmith,
Might just take you up on the offer for the mifi. Will send you a pm

Dan

murphy · Guru

Time is drawing short now. Lots of last minute things to do. Just hope I don't forget any real important tasks or items to take. The mifi arrived in the mail yesterday thanks to an IrelandYes regular! Having issues topping it up. I think my credit card security layers might be the problem. Will try a debit card today and see if that works. GD's Mother got the Power of Attorney yesterday and that was the last biggie on the "to do" list. Hopefully the fire at Chicago airport doesn't affect our flight! Shouldn't, since we have a direct flight SEA to LHR. So glad we are not connecting thru Chicago! Since we have the mifi, I might be able to do some what of a running report from Ireland....in between working with GD on her journal and math packet (Papa needs to brush up on decimals!). Dan

tony2phones · Guru

Might be as simple as not having an Irish address on the card.. if you are struggling give me a message..

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dan, You are a pro at travel in Ireland now. I'm sure you have everything under control. Saw on the news last night that other radar stations around Chicago are taking up the slack. So I think you will be fine with your flight.

Excitement as you count down the days!

murphy · Guru

We made it! My 2 worst fears, getting down Interstate 5 from Olympia to SeaTac and navigating LHR were both a breeze. Plenty of time to spare on both accounts. Settled in at Bunratty Manor Hotel. Comfy. Walked to the castle for some photo ops and then across the street to the Creamery Bar for dinner. That 1st pint of Guiness sure tastes good! Mifi isn't working. Probably operator error. Will trouble shoot it at Tesco in Limmerick tomorrow. Also GPS won't load maps. Think the UK SD card might be compromised some how....

GD is sure a good traveler. Having a blast so far. Looks like a rainy forecast coming up. However we are prepared! Should start a new post and try to do a brief report from time to time if we can get the mifi working...and we have time. Dan

Judy · Guru

Happy for you Dan....safe travels. Keep us posted.

tony2phones · Guru

Might be easier to just get a new Sim and Topup at Coonagh Cross Tesco, make sure to phone Customer services (1749 from a Tesco phone cost 20cent which is on all new sim cards) and register the sim as a Data sim before using it in the mifi. Sorry we are promised a bit of bad weather over the weekend but better again next week.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dan, Glad you are all safe and sound in Ireland. Do start another thread for your report and we will eagerly await hearing about your progress. Glad to hear GD is enjoying her time and travels well. She will remember this trip for the rest of her life. Maybe you will even get a new Ireland addict started. wink