Return Trip

26/27x2 122016

The last day of our resort stay, we had elected for the late checkout, which included lunch. We hung out till the 1400 boat was to take us back to the ferry terminal. We settled our bill, and sat down for lunch. after eating the main portion of the lunch, and while our dessert was being prepared, one of the staff approached us apologizing for having forgotten to include an item on our bill.

They claimed that we had to pay for the lunch. We said we didnt have any documentation telling us that and we thusly refused to pay. At this point we were pretty disappointed with the Telunas Resort.

http://www.telunasresorts.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g1778353-d7155295-Reviews-Telunas_Resorts_Telunas_Private_Island-Sugi_Island_Riau_Archipelago_Riau_Islands_Prov.html

We were staying in the Private Island portion, because it wasnt the Family Friendly portion.

According to the website we were supposed to be getting 2 course lunches and 3 course dinners every day.

As seen on the website, they cater to couples and young families.

No where on the website does it state late checkout incurs an extra fee.

The website does not accurately portray our experience.

The entire thing was no where near the romantic/private getaway the website would lead you to believe it is. So we were pretty upset before they tried to tack on the extra lunch. That was the thing that turned it from a disappointment to outright discontent.

Anyways, the long boat got us to the ferry terminal, we got on a ferry that got is to Singapore.

Customs in Singapore took well over an hour and a half.

We hopped a cab to the airport, got through security fantastically easily (there was no security at the front, you can get into the airport with a boarding pass and an ID, no metal detectors no wands, just walk right in, the real security happens immediately prior to getting on the plane). Inside security we hung out in one of the lounges for a little while prior to our 6 hour flight to Shanghai.

Did i mention the flight was scheduled for 2300? This was the start of a very long day, if you are keeping track we left our resort at 1400, got on a plane at 2300 and showed up in Shanghai at 0400.

The airport was barely open, we got through customs there quick, and waited at ticketing as there was no one from American to issue us a ticket. After a few hours of waiting I spoke to another One World partner, and he recommended we print our own passes from the business center to get through security.

Thats exactly what we did, and then proceeded to hang out in lounges until our flight at 1820. Which was a solid 12.5 hours.

we landed in Dallas at 1720 the same day. as in we left in the evening of the 27th and landed an hour earlier, on the 27th.

Then cleared US customs, got our plane to Chicago, got picked up by a friend and our dog (Sicily was in the airport, she certainly wasnt allowed, but no one stopped her), and went home.

With all the timezone changes, our travel started on Monday, and went through Tuesday, and then went through most of Tuesday again. Totalling about 41 hours of travel time.

Glad to be home.