Norwegian Fjord Cruise Vacation - 06/13/24 (Flying into London before the cruise.)

 

As I've mentioned before, this would be my first trip overseas and I would experience a lot of unknowns. But first, I feel that I should mention that this trip is being taken as Mario for convenience, as I'm not sure of how foreign governments (especially the UK) will deal with a visitor presenting ID for one gender while presenting as the other.

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RQS and I had a 7:15 pm flight to London, and everything went smoothly with our luggage.  However, I did have a problem when going through the TSA scan process - the machine was producing a false positive in my groin area.  The agent wanted to go through his whole spiel that if I had any contraband that I could be subject to the law, while I simply wanted to give him permission to do what he needs to do.  Something that should have been quick and easy had me telling RQS to watch my bags while the fellow did his thing.  This could have escalated into something bad had not a cooler head prevailed.  But I digress.

We now had 2 1/2 hours to kill at the airport, and we had a hard time finding both something good to eat and somewhere we could sit down to eat our meal.  There were 100 people in line around the Mickey D's we passed, and we ended up walking halfway to another terminal where we could eat gyros and falafel.  This killed some time, and we walked back to the gate where we'd board our plane.  And this is where RQS's cane became a great advantage for us.

Last year, RQS's leg was injured by someone falling onto her leg on the debarkation day for our Bermuda cruise.  She occasionally carries that cane for support.  The cane often becomes an asset in airports, as she is considered handicapped and in need of assistance.  So, we were able to skip ahead of the line and get on the plane without hassles, with me having no problems finding cabin space for our carry-on luggage.  After 6 1/2 hours on the plane, the cane again became an asset, as we were escorted to the head of the customs and immigration lines and out of the controlled area of the airport before 8:00 am.

Neither of us knew where we were going, but we knew that someone from Princess Cruises would be waiting for us, so that we could be driven to our hotel.  Another couple joined us in the van that took us to the hotel, but I wish we could have driven off without them.  No, it's not because they were unpleasant.  Instead, it was because of how I ended up being seated - facing backwards.  It took 2 hours to reach the hotel, and in a warm car driving a long twisting streets it could have ended up being a disaster.  I was getting nauseous, and I was glad to get out of the van and into the air conditioned comfort of my hotel.

Sadly, we arrived around 10:00 am, and they couldn't tell us that rooms might be available earlier than the official check-in time of 3:00 pm.  So RQS and I retreated to some chairs in the lobby and rested for several hours until we could check in to the hotel.  Once in our rooms, we passed out until 6:00 pm.

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My niece had arranged to meet us for dinner, and we walked over to a nearby restaurant for Fish and Chips.  If there's one thing that the British can do well, it's Fish and Chips.  Yum!  We even had a chance to eat some Mushy Peas.  (They may not be my cup of tea, but they were pleasant enough that I finished the portion.)  All too soon, we had to go to the hotel.  We now knew where the Tower of London was, and we made plans to see it the next day.  If things worked out with my niece, she'd meet us afterward.  If not, we have ways to spend our time on our last day in this city.  (And yes, it's a city where one should spend an entire week there to do a visit justice and to have one wanting more.)

 

2023 Bermuda Cruise - Day 1 (Embarkation Day)

 

Sunday, November 19, 2023.

We considered ourselves lucky today, as RQS had found the handbag which contained all of her ID needed for the upcoming cruise. So it was our “normal” travel routine or rushing to get ready, and hiring a car to get us to where we had to go.

Around 8:00 am, we got showered and dressed and ready to travel. While RQS finished her breakfast, I went out to buy a pair of sunglasses and get some extra money for our trip. With our bags fully packed and ready to go, we called a cab, so that we could take the 10:37 train to Grand Central. The train ride was relaxing, and we caught a cab to the cruise terminal, which got us there by 12:15 pm. Cruise check-in was a little annoying, as the counter agent asked RQS for her passport, and didn’t accept her passport card - normally, the only ID required for closed loop cruises.

 

 

By 12:45 pm, we were on the ship and ready to deposit our bags in our room. One catch - the rooms weren’t all ready for passengers yet. Walking to the cabin, we noticed these signs hanging on the doors.  I hadn't seen anything like them since my December 2021 Christmas cruise during the pandemic restart. We cheated a little, and dropped our bags off in our cabin, then went to the buffet to have a leisurely lunch. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, we were tracking the location of our checked luggage, as our bags hadn’t yet made it to our cabin. Just before the ship left port, RQS’s bag made it to the cabin, leaving the location of my bag still a mystery. Luckily, the tracker reported that it was in the ship’s hold (based on a nautical location ID), and my bag was placed outside our cabin just before dinner time.

Since I have a Platinum loyalty status with NCL, I get two “free” specialty meals when I cruise. But I couldn’t reserve these meals until I was onboard the ship. However, we had booked our cabin with the “free at sea” promotion, and this gave us two specialty meals that we could book. So we proceeded to the Brazilian Churrascaria onboard, and had an “Atkins Diet” feast - all the meat we could eat, and we did just that.

After dinner, we decided to take it easy and go back to our room for the evening. Unfortunately, on the way back to the room, a woman fell on RQS, injuring RQS’s ankle. For the rest of the evening, the ankle hurt, and RQS wondered if she’d be able to walk around Bermuda when we arrived on Tuesday.


What a way to start a vacation!

Dumpsters and injuries

 

What would you do if you accidentally tossed your key chain into the dumpster?  That's the question I was forced to answer the other day as I was about to go out.  

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Imagine the following situation: 

It was a holiday weekend, and no help was available to me.  Getting in and out of the dumpster would be a problem, and I wasn't sure of how foul smelling the refuse deposited there would be.  I needed the keys to get back inside my apartment, and I was already running late to meet up with someone and go out to dinner.  What would you do?

Well, for a big T-Gal like me, I got to the front rim of the dumpster, applied all my weight, and tipped over a 800+ lb. dumpster.  It would be the only way for me to sort through the trash.  (Too bad that I didn't have a good way to upright the dumpster afterwards.  Thankfully, it was almost empty.)  In the process of tipping over the dumpster, I fell flat on my back and injured my tail bone.  Sitting would be very uncomfortable for the rest of the night.  

Eventually, I found my keys, and tried to find some people to get the dumpster upright again.  Sadly, I couldn't do this.  After the weekend, I will call my complex's super to see what could be done.  And if it costs the co-op money, I will reimburse the co-op for its expenses.

 

 

PS: I laid in bed all the next day to avoid aggravating my injury.  When I did have to bend or flex, my lower back reminded me that it was hurting and that I needed to take it easy. 

PPS: When I got home from work (following the long weekend), I noticed that the dumpster was uprighted.  I'll have to find out whether it cost the co-op any money to do this, and I'll reimburse the appropriate people.