Rota March 2010 - final

Author Message   Jim Elsnau Member Username: Jimmyda_saint Post Number: 10 Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 88.2.196.205 Posted on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - 01:14 am:    Earl & all, yes, as soon as I get home and clear the cobwebs from my head, I'll post a trip report on the Portugal adventure. "adeus" till then- Jim   Earl Senior Member Username: Myramstein Post Number: 695 Registered: 11-2007 Posted From: 173.107.233.222 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 10:31 pm:    Jim, Can you provide more info on your Portugal trip? Where stayed at, transportation etc. Thanks   PR Senior Member Username: Pretzlaff Post Number: 1584 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 67.190.52.82 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 10:16 pm:    Jim-- How did you get back on Rota NS without an ID card? The Spanish guards there are quite strict.   Bill Ward Senior Member Username: Dualrated2 Post Number: 681 Registered: 08-2003 Posted From: 62.50.196.5 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 07:52 pm:    The PC's at the terminal are now in the room that used to have the slot machines.   Jim Elsnau Member Username: Jimmyda_saint Post Number: 9 Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 88.2.196.205 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 07:47 pm:    The new Internet cafe at Rota Pax terminal is a great addition; I'm sitting there right now--I could swear it wasn't here when I arrived on the PatEx from NAS Norfolk 13 days ago (the two worse-for-wear terminals in the lobby were still in place, though neither worked). Just finished an 11-day jaunt through Portugal, for which Rota is an ideal jumping-off point. Three and a half days in Lisbon, then Porto--Braga--Coimbra and Conimbriga--wound up with a day and a half on the beach at Faro in the Algarve. Only stain on the trip was the pickpocket at Rossio Station in Lisbon (briefly described in another thread), on whose account I spent all morning getting a replacement ID instead of showing for an earlier roll call. And now it's just me and the loadmaster on the late bird to McGuire. Hope one of these days to cross paths with some of you folks in or near Rota! Jim   Earl Senior Member Username: Myramstein Post Number: 692 Registered: 11-2007 Posted From: 108.99.109.153 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 04:33 pm:    Neil, Great trip report. Glad you got out, and back, without delays. Talk about luck! Hopefully, I will catch up to you and Tony at Rota one of these days. Granada is a MUST! The Suray Hotel there is very nice. Nicer than the Marcarena HOtel in Seville (Sevilla). When I stayed at the Marcarena, never heard any noise from the other rooms. I will be back next month and will post trip report on here. When is your next trip?   neil littlefield Member Username: Littleneil Post Number: 26 Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 65.35.196.192 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 02:50 pm:    To be clear I called my Federal Credit Union before I left and alerted them to foreign travel. It worked fine at Spanish resturants, stores and the NEX ATM, but not at the Spanish Bank ATM. I called the credit union (MacDill AFB (now Grow Financial) with Skype and was told that Spain was one of three countries their card did not work at ATM's, thank you very much. Something about Visa contracts, or whatever. We paid $60 for a suite at the gateway, very nice with bath and kitchenette between a living room and the bedroom. It had two flat screen TV's. Regular rooms were less, I think $50? My wife reminds me that one service member was seen using their PC in the lobby, complaining that his room did not have wi-fi. Our room never lost signal strength. The pax terminal claimed they had recently installed wi-fi throughout. I got almost no signal waiting in the terminal and certainly not enough to connect to the internet.   Irwin Rovner Advanced Member Username: Irovner Post Number: 389 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 66.32.9.7 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 02:26 pm:    Neil, Just curious about your credit cards. Did you call their customer service number to alert them to your foreign travel? After I had a card refused in a foreign country two years ago, I call before every trip and have had no problem as a result. I had one card company call me to ask if a 15 cent charge from France was legit. It wasn't, but was a pfishing test to see if a number chosen at random would process through. If it does, they load it heavily with false charges. Needless to say, credit card security flagged it because it was weird. My visa card actually has programmed its call in option: "Press 5 if you wish to report upcoming foreign travel"   Phil Doubleman Senior Member Username: Phil Post Number: 1506 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 68.35.26.65 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 02:16 pm:    Wow... great report Neil. It seems as if there has been a lot of changes since October. 1. The terminal has an Internet cafe w/four PC's? In October, there were 2 PC's in a corner. 2. Wifi in the rooms at the INN? In October, Wifi only in the lobby, Olive Pit and it's hallway. 3. Euros only in the lobby of the Spanish bank? In October, there was a drive up ATM where you could get Euros with a debit card. It even showed the rate of exchange. 4. $60.00 at the Gateway INN? Wow, In October, it was considerably less. Again, thanks for the great report and updates.   Tony Cabrera Senior Member Username: Tonyc Post Number: 1502 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 64.237.202.16 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 02:08 pm:    Neil, Thanks for sharing your experiences in Spain. Great report. Well written; short, sweet, and to the point! Rota NAS is a great base and I think you've described it as it is. Agree with you; Vic & Connie, as well as Earl, are great people, always willing to help other other Spats. I think that's what we Spats should do with others. Again, thanks and happy travels!   Roger Johnson Advanced Member Username: Rwjohn6 Post Number: 288 Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 205.188.116.208 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 12:51 pm:    Neil nice trip report covered all the bases. Roger in Fl   neil littlefield Member Username: Littleneil Post Number: 25 Registered: 09-2009 Posted From: 65.35.196.192 Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010 - 12:16 pm:    My wife Melanie and I left Tampa at 5PM 2/26 and drove straight through to Charleston. We spent what was left of the night near the base in a hotel (no government quarters were available) and reported to the terminal at 6:15 AM Sat – for a 6:40 AM show time. Our plan was to try Charleston and if that failed, drive up to Norfolk and try to catch the March 2nd Pat Express. At the terminal we were told there were only 3 seats available – the C-17 was heavy. An active duty officer and his wife were already there waiting in addition to another cat 6 couple who showed up after us. All 6 of us got on. They weighed us (literally) and extra weight allowance was granted. We launched around 10AM – arriving in Rota at midnight. We stayed in country 14 days putting nearly 1000 miles on a small rental car in the 11 days we had it. We drove to Cadiz 2 or 3 times, Arcos, Seville, Gibraltar, Ronda and down town Rota several times. We used the public bus sytem to get around Seville which was dead easy and cheap. Parking in Cadiz and Rota was difficult but not impossible. We stayed overnight at Seville (Trype Marcarena) and at Ronda (The Paradore). Hotel parking was pricey at the hotels (20-25 E). In total we spent 2 nights on the road, 3 nights at the Lodge and 9 nights at the Inn. A flight back to Charleston came up Sunday and we got it easily. There were 70 seats available on the C-17 including three or four pallets of airline seats. I think 7 of us got on. 7 ˝ hours to Bangor for gas, 2 ˝ hours down to Charleston getting in around noon. We loaded up the car and headed down to Tampa arriving around 8 PM to a house sitter, two happy dogs and a cat that didn’t care. A special thanks to my two veteran space A friends (Earl and Vic and Connie) for their advice and counsel getting us ready for the trip. I hope to meet them both one day in our future travels. General Observations: 1. When you arrive at the terminal call a cab if it’s dark, The Navy lodge and/or the Gateway Inn will be hard to find on foot for first timers. 2. If possible check on and plan for local holidays. We ran into several, even one at Gibraltar, and found many stores closed. 3. From the Gateway Inn or Navy Lodge you can walk to the Rota Gate in about 20 minutes, and pretty much anywhere else in town in another 45 minutes or so. 4. Getting your daily pass renewed every day at the gate is a painful but a necessary evil – worse yet if you have a rental car. 5. There are not many dining choices on base. A couple of pizza places that deliver, a Subway at the NEX, the Spanish Clubs (long walk), the bowling alley at night and the terminal (open 24 hrs). 6. The NEX shoppette is large and well stocked. Beer and wine are more expensive than in the US. 7. Retirees are allowed in the main exchange on the first of the month to (only) purchase Euros. 8. The Gateway Inn is superior to the Navy lodge in price ($75 vs. $60), amenities (wi-fi in most rooms the lobby and the Olive Pit, free news papers and free laundry) plus a small club (The Olive Pit) which is not open on weekends. 9. You can not buy Euros at the Navy Credit Union. However you can at the Spanish Bank on base (inside). Check your debit /credit cards in advance to see if they will work at the Spanish Bank ATM. My federal credit union Visa card did not, my wife’s Bank America card did. My Visa debit card worked fine to charge things. 10. We rented a small car ($216/week) at the terminal (NEX) and drove in nearly 800 miles including the last day of our stay to get us and our stuff to the terminal when we left – leaving the key in a drop box just before we launched in the middle of the night. 11. Getting our passports stamped in Rota turned out to be a hassle taking 5 full days due to the weekend, a holiday, the right official not being there (open 9A to 1P) and so on. It didn’t seem to be a big deal that it took that long. 12. If you plan to rent a car, a GPS is a must. We had a Garmin 275 which worked very well. If it’s new, learn how to use it before you depart on your trip. 13. We ate dinner one night at the much talked about “Baileys” in Rota which we thought was good but not great. 14. If you bring a wireless PC, Skype is a must. 15. There are 4 wireless PC’s in the Rota Terminal Internet Café. 16. If it applies, senior discounts are often offered at sites and attractions. 17. Read up on how you might recoop taxes (VAT) paid on certain items when you leave spain. I don’t know the details but it is possible. 18. Use Paco’s Travel Agency for assistance if needed.