Or Happy Birthday Bob Cruise. To start off this was a surprise cruise for my wife's (Barbara) cousins (Patty) husbands (Bob) 70th birthday. There were ten in all booked on this trip. Bob the guest of honor and his wife Patty - who suggested this cruise. Their life long friends Linda and Nelson from Tampa. Our friends Bob and Eileen from Michigan. And our group of four. Bob and Patty live in Florida just north of Tampa. Our group of four are all from North Jersey. With Patty picking out the trip to go on we planned this over nine months in advance. Where she asked us all to come on the trip and she would not tell Bob anyone else was going. Surprise building. My TA Deb took care of all the ship bookings for all of use and got us all great deals on the cabins. We had four sharing the suite. My wife Barbara and I with my sister in law Julie and their friend Carole. Bob and Eileen got a slightly smaller suite with a veranda and our Florida travelers opted for inside cabins. All on the same floor. Just a few doors down from us. Linda and Nelson were on the starboard side while Patty and Bob were on the Port side. The wife purchased us both oversize drag bags. The ones that are about three feet tall - two feet wide and just over a foot deep inside. You can also unzip them a bit to expand their size to get more into them. We had to carefully pack and weigh the large bags as they now have scales at all check in sites and will charge you for the excess over 50 pounds per bag. We did not have any problem being sure we were under weight on the way down to the boat. I also took a small drag bag which I packed with my running gear and a case of Guinness's Stout Pub cans. This came in handy for meeting people on the ship, the Guinness's Stout, and for taking home dirty clothes, using the smaller empty drag bag. I had a small carry on for my camera and some party items. With all four people we had only six bags to check.
I had booked everyone in our group onto Continental for the flight down and back. This was an Early morning flight out of Newark. I had pressed and packed everything that I was going to use for the cruise. Suits and Tux all fit easily into the bag. And the other cruise clothes were also packed on easily. This will give me some ideas on how and how much I can pack for our next trip in February.
Up early to the Airport - 3:30 AM or so to leave about 5 AM for Newark. We're all ready and off we go across town to Julie's house. Carole is to meet us there at 5 AM to leave for the airport. Her husband Jimmy is driving her. And she said she knew how to get to Julie's house. Not a problem as there is usually no traffic on the roads at this time. Well we get to Julie's and load the extra luggage into the Van. But no Carole yet. We go inside and wait. Did I tell you we have Carole's E ticket to get on the plane. So 5:15 comes and goes and we wait. At 5:20 we get to note writing to tell her to meet us at the Continental check in and the flight information. We are walking out the door at 5:25 AM to go... A car comes zooming around the corner and down the block. Better late than never. Lost in town. Carole did not ask for exact directions as she had been here only one time before and got off at the wrong exit. Her husband Jimmy ended up asking a policeman who directed them to the exact street was. "Dear Jimmy - They were going to leave without me." and Dear Jimmy "I remember the exit said Fair Lawn." We get her one suitcase and carry bag into the Van and off we go. Over to Route 80 to the turnpike. Wouldn't you know it they have closed the turnpike entrance to get on and we have to detour around. Did I tell you Carole is Blonde. So after the detour around we get to the Airport about 6:00 AM. There is not much of a line at the E ticket check in at the curb. Out we go and I line the luggage up for everyone. They check id's and ask about the bag weights. No problems here. Off we go into the screening process. Since 9-11 this has gotten a lot tighter. There are no lines here as in the past and we get through relatively quickly. They screen the carry on bags very closely. I have my Camera in one of the bags. I shoot 200 speed film and have not had a problem with it going through the machines yet. We have to walk to the other end of the Continental area as our gate is not close by. So I pick up most of the carry bags and off I go. The ladies behind. Well I go about 100 yards down and they are already 50 behind. Thank goodness I'm 6 foot plus and they can pick me out of a crowd. We get down to the gate area I get four seats close to the gate entrance. They start calling for the first class and business class people about forty minutes before the flight. A little early from what I remember. Well we are on the plane by 7:00 AM. And it's up, up and away. We bank to the left then its time to head the plane south. Great flight. Air is a bit stuffy. But no problems. I have booked the ladies into seats 17A, 17B, 17C. I have a window seat in 18A. So I am pinned in. I just get my complimentary OJ and morning muffin and read. We land in Orlando, a bit bumpy on the hit, about 5 minutes before schedule. We are at the terminal very quickly. It is about 10 AM as we get off the plane and start up to the tramway to get our luggage. Downstairs to the luggage go round. I pick up all the luggage off the belt and leave it to the ladies. We move all the luggage to the pick up arrivals area and sit down for our short wait. We are outside by about 10:20 or so. Dear Jimmy: "They made me move my own luggage." We call Linda on her cell phone. They are about 10 minutes away at this point. I had originally booked an Avis car to rent to take over to the pier. But Linda and Nelson suggested they pick us up in their van. No problem there - I go with their suggestion. The car rental would be about $50.00 for each way. While waiting. I walk over to the other side of the road at the arrival area we are waiting in. Down below this level there are busses galore for all the cruise lines and Disney. They are slowly loading in the carry bags and luggage. Linda and Nelson pull up at about 10:40 AM. We quickly load the luggage in. This is a close fit and we are sitting with some things in our laps for the ride over to the pier. The route has good markings from here as they specify what turns to take to get to the passenger ship terminal. The ride over is about 40 minutes as the speed limit on this road is 70. The other participants - Bob and Eileen had flown in from Michigan the day before. They were over in Disney and coming over by rental car. And knew about what time we would hit the ship. We had already found out that the long term parking for the ship was next to the pier. So after we had dropped all the luggage off to be checked in and the other carry bag - we dropped the car - all of 100 yards away - at the long term parking. The price was $70.00 for the week. Very convenient for all involved. It also looks like they are expanding the parking in a few other areas. Not bad for this close to the ship. You get a coupon for the car and drive in - park and lock. When Nelson and I walked back - there were Eileen and Bob from being dropped off by the Hertz shuttle service. Great timing.