This Blog would not be complete without a final instalment, so here goes:
After leaving Portugal, we had six sea days, during which we crossed the Atlantic on our way back to Fort Lauderdale. On the second day out, the sea was fairly rough and a few people were sea sick. Thank God I wasn’t one of them. As soon as I began to feel a bit queasy, I took a pill for motion sickness and that did the trick. Unfortunately it was impossible to dance during this time, but I had a computer project going so I put that time to good use. Most of the other activities on board continued as usual though for those who were able to take part.
Re: my computer project. Some of the ladies gave the dance hosts gifts of some kind or other to show their appreciation for the many lovely dances they gave us and I also wanted to do something special and different for them as well as for the couple that gave us the dancing classes. I decided to get a small computer memory stick for each of them, and to put on it a personalized slide show. Since I had taken a lot of pictures, I had a lot of material to work with. We had learned in the computer workshop how to do this, so I figured there would be no problem. Ha Ha Ha. There are always problems when I do a project on the computer. Fortunately our Computer Instructor had times set aside for us to go and get “Techspert Advice”. I had to go twice before everything clicked, but the results were fantastic and the dance hosts and the dance instructors seemed to appreciate the thought and effort that went into their gift.
If it hadn’t been for this project, I would have had a lot of time to read and relax, those last 6 days. I had hoped to play some more ping pong but didn’t get around to it. Then there was also packing to do. It’s a good thing I had resolved not to go crazy buying souvenirs, because as it was, I had a lot of stuff to pack and I had also brought way too much baggage from home to start with. I wish I had learned the art of packing lightly like Jim and Mary do. They had the same number of bags for the two of them as I did for myself.
Every time we had a formal night, the Cruise Line left a gift on our bed. One of them was a large, sturdy, green duffle bag and I put it to good use. If I hadn’t had that, my 2 other suitcases might have been overweight. Since I was travelling first class using my air miles, I was allowed three check in bags weighing seventy pounds each. I certainly didn’t have that much weight, but it was good to be able to divide my treasures into three bags instead of two. Also I didn’t have to use the zipper feature on my suitcases which give you two inches more space.
The final night of the cruise was bitter sweet. Everyone was saying their good byes and promising to keep in touch. My official last dance was to the song “Time to Say Good Bye”, but at the end of the evening the band played another lovely song that was too good to waste so I ended up having two last dances.
The departure from the ship was very well organized. We were given tickets to put onto our luggage which were colour coded and numbered according to our travel plans and we were informed as to the time our number and colour would be called in the morning. All luggage except our carry on had to be in the hall outside the cabin door before midnight the night before. I’m glad I wasn’t one of the porters. There were thousands of bags and parcels to be carried out.
My time slot was for 8:15 - 8:30 a.m., because that was the time the bus would be there to take some of us to the Miami Airport. As we left the ship someone directed us to the location of the bags with our colour and number and once we had identified them, we were able to take them to the bus. I hired a porter. No way I was going to try to handle 3 bags, a carry on and a computer case by myself.
There was a lot of traffic on the way to Miami, but we reached there within an hour. I flew from Miami because that was where I could get a first class flight home using my air miles and unfortunately this meant spending a night in Miami at the Airport Hotel. Of course my room wasn’t ready for occupancy when I arrived, but at noon I was able to get one. The airport is fairly isolated, not near anyplace within walking distance, but it is huge and there are a lot of shops to brows through so this is how I spent my afternoon. It was a 15 – 20 minute brisk walk from one end to the other and the Air Canada Terminal was at the opposite end to the hotel. I wandered down there to see where I would have to go in the morning. My flight out was for 7:50 a.m.
The woman at the hotel desk gave me false information. She told me that I had to be at the terminal 3 hours before the flight, so in the morning I was there before 5 a.m., an hour ahead of time. The day before when I walked down to the Air Canada Terminal, there was no one there, because there were no flights going out or coming in, so I couldn’t inquire. I tried to phone but only got an answering machine with pre recorded information. Needless to say I was first in line.
Travelling first class is great. they put a priority sticker on your suitcases and when you arrive at your destination, your suitcases are among the first to be unloaded. I had a very good flight from Miami to Toronto, arriving there at 11:00 a.m. Before 12:30 I was on the airport bus on the way home.
When I arrived home, I was greeted by the lovely sight of all my daffodils in full bloom. I had wondered if they would wait for me and they had. Then when I entered the house there were my 2 kitty cats waiting for me. Spike didn’t recognize me and made strange, but Dora came right away, allowed me to pick her up and she stayed on my lap about 15 minutes, purring away. what a welcome ! ! ! Spike made up for his behaviour by sleeping on my bed that night.
I must admit that I am suffering “withdrawal symptoms”. The trip was so wonderful and I’d become accustomed to being spoiled and pampered. I also miss the friends I made. Luckily I have good friends and family here to help me over that hump. Also I’ve been very busy getting my Income Tax Documents prepared as well as unpacking, doing laundry, opening and looking after the mail which accumulated during the past 4 months, so I don’t have time to think about what was and isn’t any longer.
This World Cruise was the “Trip of a Lifetime.” I’m so glad I was able to have this experience and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is able to do it.
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment