Almost Home

Friday - We were off the ship by 7:15 but needed to wait a bit for our luggage before going through customs. The ship arrived around 3:30am and the entire crew needed to go through immigration before any passengers could leave. We took a RC “excursion” to the Orlando airport and arrived hours before our flight. The Delta check-in process was confusing to me and TSA had some new requirements (no signage). 

Maybe it’s just the Orlando airport or I just don’t care for flying. 

We have two legs for this short-ish trip to San Antonio. We are routed through Atlanta. 

Later - At least the flight had free WiFi if you authenticate with the Delta app. And, since the flight was delayed, they provided free snacks and water in the waiting area before boarding. 

Even later - We are sitting on the taxiway at the Atlanta Airport as some subset of radios used by ATC weren’t functioning. So they shutdown the airport until there is either a fix or workaround. So much for our projected early arrival in San Antonio. 

Much later - After sitting on the taxiway, they finally went back to a gate and let us off the plane. We waited in line for the gate agent who put us on standby for the next flight. It was 8:35 then 10 the 11. Now it’s 11:56pm but it sounds like the FAA ground stop has been lifted. And, I heard a few flights take off hearing Atlanta.

Last Sea Day

Thursday - After breakfast, I went to one of the Enrichment Series called Brainstorming for One. It was very lightly attended and, I didn’t learn anything new. 

We spent the rest of the morning in the Viking Lounge on deck 14 talking with David and Marilyn, our randomly assigned dinner companions for this cruise. After lunch, I started packing as we need to have our suitcases out for pickup by 10pm. We have a ride to MCO booked for early tomorrow morning. 

I picked up a hot chai latte and we spent the afternoon lying around in the Solarium. It is “vacation” after all. The made an announcement that the ship will be docking at 4:30am and the entire crew needs to be run through immigration before any passengers can get off the ship. Our shuttle ticket says to be at the bus no later than 7:45am and the concierge said to allow 30 minutes to get off one go through customs. 

Only a Couple More Days

Wednesday - This was dropped off in our room this afternoon. My first thought was kind of premature. We haven’t made it to Florida yet. Isn’t the Bermuda Triangle around here somewhere? In fact, after leaving the dock, we circled clockwise around Bermuda so we went south through the triangle. 

Since we opted for one of the specialty restaurants last night, we were on deck for sunset. For most of this trip, sunset either was during our assigned dinner slot or it was overcast. 

Specialty dinner was fantastic. Sashimi, poké bowl, and tempura. Asian food has been missing for the last month. The attempt in the main dining room a couple of days ago doesn’t count.

There was another time change last night and we are now on EST. I think they do it a day early to allow people to adjust for disembarkation day, which is Friday. We need to get off early and catch a bus to the Orlando airport.

This morning, I just went up to the lounge on deck 14 to watch us approach a storm. The storm didn’t happen. We passed to the north. It was still a nice place to spend the morning with a cup of coffee. 

We’ve been skirting fog and rain for most of the day. I think the forecast for tomorrow is much more of the same.

Bermuda, BM

Tuesday - Today’s stop is Bermuda at the Royal Naval Dockyard across the bay from Hamilton, the capital. There is space for two ships and a Celebrity cruise ship was waiting right behind us.

It should be a beautiful day. After a leisurely breakfast, we got off the ship and wandered through the port area. 

The destination was Sea Glass Beach located about a mile from the cruise terminal. This view was along the walk just after leaving the port. 

The views of the ocean were wonderful along the walk. It was a very pleasant 73°F with a very light breeze. We did have to watch for traffic, one, because the drive on the opposite side of the street and the sidewalks were narrow. 

The sea glass was abundant along this small section of beach. Local law prohibits taking any glass from the beach. 

Near sea glass beach, there was this gate and it had the Bahamas flag, the British flag, and an American flag. I’m not sure why they had an American flag. 

We did a little shopping on the way back and noticed that the price of everything was through the roof. I purchased a locally made popsicle for $7.50. Seems a bit exorbitant to me. So we waited until we got back on the ship to have lunch.