It's taken me a week but I think I can finally start to process the craziness of our 20th Wedding Anniversary adventure.
We had been planning this trip for a couple years. Both Jack and I agreed we wanted to celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary on a cruise. We chose the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas, which is larger than any other ship we have been on. There are larger out there, but we like the itinerary and looked forward to seeing new islands.
We were schedule to leave on Saturday morning, January 7th and fly direct to Fort Lauderdale. We usually fly in the day before but we found a flight and decided to save some money.
Around noon I sent Jack a text and asked if he had checked us in for our flight the next morning. He hadn't. He immediately did and we were assigned C54 and C55. Oh My Goodness! Those are terrible numbers! We honestly didn't know the numbers went that high.
Now remember, about that same time there was a shooting in the Fort Lauderdale airport that killed five people and injured many. The airport was shut down.
Our flight wasn't supposed to leave until the next morning so we thought we were ok. At approximately 8:30 p.m. Friday we found out our flight was cancelled and the airport would remain closed until noon on Saturday. Our flight was scheduled to arrive at 11:40 a.m. I called Southwest Airlines and was put in the "que" and was told if I didn't want to wait on the line they would call me back in approximately 54 minutes. Ok, good deal, I did whatever I needed to do and hung up. We waited. We held onto hope that maybe they'd just delay our flight a bit and we'd be fine. Jack called Royal Caribbean and our travel agent, neither of which were fruitful. We don't typically get trip insurance so our options were limited. And our travel agency was closed with no emergency number. So, we waited and started to fret a bit. It was a roller coaster of emotions. Are we gonna go? Can we go? What are we gonna do if we can't? I hadn't finished packing yet because I always wait til the last minute. (I had everything on a list in my mind and I knew what I wanted to take so it was NOT a big deal.) I got a call back from Southwest at about the right time, I don't remember exactly. I was surprised to find I had to wait on hold another 20 minutes or so. The guy I talked to could not have been more kind and understanding. Unfortunately, the only reciprocating airport was West Palm Beach and their flights were already booked solid. "What about Orlando?", I asked. "There are flights but you'll have to pay the difference." and then we'd have to rent a car and we didn't like that option. Finally, I decided to just cancel the return flight and we were able to get all our money back. (Well, as of yesterday we haven't gotten the money from the flight back yet, but we will. It's been approved.)
SO, then the search for flights sent us on an already dizzying ride of emotions. We'd find a flight that met our needs, we'd click into it only to find it was unavailable. This happened no less than a dozen times. The excitement of finding the flight... yes, this WILL work. Yes, it's crazy expensive but let's do it. By this time it was after 10:00 p.m. Our overall mood was somber. I wasn't ready to give up. I gave it one more try... I found a flight on American Airlines that left around 7:00 a.m. We could fly through Charlotte (which was in the middle of a snow storm) or Atlanta (ice storm). Neither were good options in my mind. I chose Charlotte, NC. I was not ready to give up on this trip. Still remembering that we'd already been down this road with dozens of other flights only to be shut out at the last click of the mouse. And did I mention we were paying a crazy high price for these tickets? Ouch! Price gouging is real, folks! I clicked the button and could almost hear angels singing. We were leaving in about 6 hours! AND I STILL NEEDED TO FINISH PACKING!
Bags were packed and waiting in the hallway and I closed my eyes just after midnight. The alarms were set for 4:15 a.m. Yes, multiple alarms. We did not want to chance oversleeping.
I was up, showered, dressed, and ready in record time. Our first Uber arrived just after 5:00 a.m. It was pitch black out and this guy was wearing a Fedora. I sat in the backseat with a couple of our bags while Jack sat in front. Front where I sat, all I could see were all the lights glowing on his dashboard. The brightest of which were Check Engine and Low Fuel. In my head I was thinking, we're ahead of schedule, if you need to stop and get gas that's totally fine with me...
but the words never came out of my mouth. Little did I know Jack was watching fuel efficiency indicator which gave an accurate miles to empty number and it was clear we wouldn't have any trouble making it to the airport. Fedora guy delivered us safely to the airport. The check in was abuzz with travelers. We got our boarding passes from the kiosk and got in the LONG line waiting to check their bags. It went quickly. Then on to the line of people waiting to get into our assigned gate. It was definitely a day of hurry up and wait BUT we were oh so thankful to be on our way.
We arrived into Charlotte without an problems. There were snow plows visible on alternate runways. We had a short layover... nervous that maybe we'd end up stuck there... for days.
Our flight was on time. We got a shower in de-icer before making our way to the runway and taking off for West Palm.
We were sitting in an exit row.
This sign made me giggle because if Jack was the guy in the picture,
he would turn and put the door on my lap and say "here, hold this"
while he got out of the plane.
At this point I really started to get excited. And exhauled a deep sigh of relief.
We got to West Palm and retrieved our luggage. We called for an Uber and Sami picked us up in his Cadillac. Sami was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. He's been driving for Uber for 2 days. He's retired and his wife was driving him crazy. Sami had never been to Port Everglade before. He was friendly and the ride was uneventful until we got to the port. When you enter the port you're required to show them your licences/passports and tell them where you're headed. Sami was NOT excited about this part and wanted to just drop us off there but we persuaded him to take us onward.
Jack and I dropped off our bags. I don't remember if we were jumping up and down but I feel like if I wasn't, I was on the inside. WE DID IT! WE MADE IT! YAY!
We got all checked in and were maneuvering the maze when Jack and I were both blasted with alerts on our phone. Texts and phone calls indicating that the ship was delaying our departure until 9:00 p.m. Seriously!? You wait until 3:00 p.m. to make this decision? It would have been so nice to know. Our original departure was 4:00 p.m. We were in our room before the barrage of emails, texts and several phone calls ended. We sat out on our balcony and watched as flights landed at Fort Lauderdale airport. The runway was clearly visible to us.
We found out that there were many people on our cruise that got on without their luggage. For those that had arrived the morning before and got caught up in the madness, all luggage had been seized and wouldn't been released for another day or two. Those people would be getting their bags when we got to San Juan. When they were told to evacuate the airport it meant drop everything and go! We met a couple that had just gotten their bags and was outside when they heard gun shots. They were outside waiting for a cab and in an instant all cabs, car, and shuttles had vanished and they were told by a security guard to go back inside. He ushered them into the customs area. They left their bags and jumped over a counter. He didn't feel it was a secure enough spot so he put them in a locked closet. They were told to sit down and stay quiet. It was the couple, a woman they were traveling with along with two other ladies. After an hour he came back and told them they could stand intermittently but no talking. They were texting people from their respective homes getting information about what was going on outside. After about 5 hours they were released and somehow were able to take their baggage still sitting next to the counter in customs. There was no transportation but one of the ladies in the closet with them had a car in long term parking and she offered to take everyone wherever they needed to go. Their words of advice were, when you travel always wear a fanny pack with your id/passport and money. If they would have had to leave everything at least they would have had the most important stuff.
We settled in and thanked our lucky stars that we were safe and sound. It was the first time we'd cruised by ourselves in many years and we found our room was much larger than we remembered. Our bags were delivered and unpacked. We had many empty drawers and shelves. We need to remember we don't need this much room for just the two of us.
We made dinner reservations at one of the specialty restaurants that evening. On our way up to the Diamond Lounge we noticed the door to the Concierge Lounge was open. We had splurged for a Junior Suite and honestly didn't know if we were supposed to be in there or not but since the door was open we went in. We had been in the Concierge Lounge before - never legally mind you. When we traveled with our friends from Maryland they always had access and took us with them. So, we walked in, got ourselves a drink and snack and found a seat. We had been there a while and were enjoying our conversation with a lovely older couple from Florida. The room was filling up and Raul, the Concierge, came around introducing himself and checking Seapass cards. He was very warm and professional until he saw our cards and LOUDLY announced "GET OUT!" The couple we were talking to asked if we could stay as their guests and Raul said, "NO! THEY MUST GO!" We stood up and walked out. I think I was giggling, but I honestly don't remember. Raul, much like Michelle from Gilmore Girls, took his job very seriously. There so many ways he could have handled that and I didn't feel like it was the best way but... to each his own. In retelling it I always seem to give him a little "huh", hair flip and laugh.
We ate dinner at Chops Steakhouse. It was delicious! And put me into a food coma. I had a crab and shrimp cake for starters, followed by a New York strip steak, which I only able to eat a 1/4 of, followed by some delicious dessert I don't remember. Jack had a bacon appetizer, which was more like a pork steak, followed by filet mignon and scrumptious dessert.
Can you tell Jack was hungry?
(This was supposed to be sweet spicy bacon.)
We were exhausted and let the food comas take us swiftly into dreamland. No shows for us tonight.
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Part 2, to follow soon.
xo
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