Comment

Comment by smokie (ship12 Div 203) on June 6, 2012 at 7:03pm

Thanks Tatmom, I will call

Comment by tatmom4rc(Ship12, Div. 204) on June 5, 2012 at 9:44pm

smokie - I would take advantage of Sarge and his wealth of info - his site has his cell number.  Go ahead and call him and talk to him about driving or the shuttle from where you are staying -

Comment by smokie (ship12 Div 203) on June 5, 2012 at 7:20pm

Thanks A-MJ MOM and Beth for info about the graduation. It helps when you are coming from out of town . We are staying at the Residence Inn for 6/29 graduation. There are also many meet and greets but I heard that Sarge's is the best. We might have to go to the mall because my son said he lost weight. I can not wait to be able to communicate with him more at A school. Hope you got great pictures. We are still deciding if to drive or take shuttle. Be proud of those sailors. Congrats

Comment by tatmom4rc(Ship12, Div. 204) on June 5, 2012 at 2:50am

does any one know - or will the new sailors know - how much time they have when they get to A school to rest and adjust?  This may make a difference as to how you plan to spend your time with him/her

Comment by lemonelephant on June 2, 2012 at 11:54pm

A-MJ's Mom, post your review in the discussion above about places to stay so that it does not get lost for others who are looking for that info.  Thanks.

Comment by A-MJ's Mom Ship7/Div162 (2012) on June 2, 2012 at 7:22pm

We just attended PIR on 5/25/12. Stayed at the Residence Inn  - 2 BR suite with full refrig and kitchenette. $179 a night but a GREAT option if you have muliple family members who want separate rooms - there was a Queen bed in each BR and a pull out sofa in the LR. Free food and beer/wine on M-Th nights starting at 5:30. We ate a bite there before going to Sarge's so we can't comment on Sarge's food = didn't eat any of it! The RI food was stuffed peppers, pasta, chicken teriyaki, rice, salad, desserts and the aforementioned beverages in addition to soda's and water - great deal! We met other families with their div t-shirts on and got a chance to socialize before Sarge's.

Good info at Sarge's but the acoustics were hard to follow - we ended up in the back due to getting there just at 7PM. The most imp thing we learned from him was NOT to try to go into Chicago with our new sailor - it takes up to 2 hours to get back on a Fri night on a good week - and we were on Memorial Day w/e - we took his advice here!

Our sailor wanted to go to eat deep dish pizza - we got together with two other new sailor families and went to Giordano's = great idea! We decided to go to a branch in Gurnee and got the same food we would have in Chicago.

Then the boy wanted to go to the Gurnee mall and get a watch, cologne and an electric razor. We did this prior to joining some of his other division mates to watch a movie at the Gurnee mall theater. The theater didn't offer a military discount and I later saw on their website that they DO offer one, so ASK about it if you do this option.

We only had from about 11:30AM-8:15PM with our new sailor but we did all the above - as well as giving him a little time to relax in the hotel room with a laptop, cell phone and a private shower - heehee.

We then met the boy at O'Hare the next AM to give him his electronics and the civvie clothing, cologne, etc so he could take it on the flight. They cannot take ANYTHING back to their ship on Fri night after PIR. You either have to meet them at the airport or arrange to ship anything to their A-school location.

Overall, PIR w/e was GREAT! Wish we could have spent more time with him but we can now talk/text/email/skype almost daily - weird after the last two months! Enjoy, and please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I heard most of the hotels were "ok" except for a couple of parents who said the Ramada was a little yucky.

Comment by Proudmama! on May 30, 2012 at 11:29am

My son left 3 weeks ago today.  His PIR date is on 7/6/2012, I have not received a letter other than the form letter giving me his address and PIR date.  I would like to make some reservations for the hotel, air and rental.  Can anyone please provide any suggestions as far as when it's best to make the reservations and where to stay?

Comment by Teach on May 29, 2012 at 10:51pm

We stayed at the Ramada and I would not recommend it.

Comment by Beth - KC's mom on May 29, 2012 at 5:52pm

Once we got the letter with our PIR date (5-18-12), we were so excited to make travel plans but the options and research was a little overwhelming!  So here is what I came up with and how it worked out:

Air - flew Frontier from Ptld, OR to Milwaukee, WI.  Airport was cheaper, very convenient, non-crowded, rental cars are right in the airport garage making pick-up and drop-off quick and painless.

Car - Rented through Hotwire.com, Ford Focus for about $15/day through Enterprise,  Great gas mileage but then we're used to a Suburban :)

Lodging - Through Priceline.com, asked for a 3-star hotel for $50.00 a night and was accepted by Residence Inn!  Wonderful hotel, beautiful clean room, friendly staff, good breakfast, even a free light dinner M-Th nights, used to dealing with PIR families.

Meet and Greet - attended Sarge's meet and greet, good food and helpful information.

Shuttle - took a 7:00 shuttle arranged by hotel to PIR, $3/person each way, drops you right at the gate, seating was already a bit full at that time but we got good seats in the balcony which turned out ok since its easier to pick out your sailor from above.

Overall, it was great weekend.  I know you are all looking forward to your turn.  Definitely an experience you will never forget.  Hope this helps...

Comment by TysMom, Ship 07, DIV 163 on May 29, 2012 at 5:03pm

Bummer....I am staying at the Quality Inn... 

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