Friday, April 01, 2005

Fifth Day of our Cruise

I couldn't believe it when the stinking alarm clock went off but it woke us up at 5:30 am just as planned. Had to get up early this morning #1 because departure time was 7:45 but #2 and most important, breakfast was being served at 6:30. Had to get that one last meal in before leaving her Majesty. Just as we were finishing breakfast, the announcement came that our deck was free to leave the boat. We scrambled to our room to grab our six...count 'em...SIX carry ons and sprinted to the luggage carrousel to get our big pieces of luggage. Wasn't but just a minute or two after walking up to the carrousel that Eliana's small check bag came around so I grabbed it and then the wait began. I didn't really check the time but it must have been a good 45 minutes before our 2 big pieces of luggage rolled around. From there we jumped right into a taxi and headed for Miami International Airport and the...oh...10 hour wait for our 8:05 pm flight to Charlotte. The first thing I find out upon arriving at the airport is that we can't check our luggage until 4 hours prior to our flight. Jim dandy. We have a mountain of luggage stacked on the cart and find our little piece of real estate to settle in. Once I got the laptop fired up and a Barney DVD going for the Empress, I spoke with a USAir representative at the ticket desk about the possibility of an earlier flight. He said all earlier flights were OVERbooked. It would be a total waste of money to have our names put on standby because #1 it would cost me $25 per person for a total of $75, #2 the money is non-refundable and #3 there is no guarantee. So we plopped down and began our wait. 2-1/2 hours later, much to my surprise, I discovered a hotel right smack in the middle of the airport. They have a "day" rate so I paid for a room and I am enjoying all the wireless internet my little laptop can handle while Carmi and Eliana cut some very serious zzzz's on a plush bed. Our flight still doesn't leave until 8:05 but we are very comfortable until 6:00 when we have to check out. {extended}
Posted by Doug on 04/01 at 06:15 PM
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