The start of our first transatlantic cruise has arrived! For the next 27 nights we will be aboard the Holland America Oosterdam, first crossing the Atlantic Ocean, then cruising the Mediterranean Sea, followed by two nights on land in Venice. It should be an epic vacation!
Rusty in Virginia
To get started we had a day of very complex movements necessitated by the fact that we are leaving from Fort Lauderdale and are returning to Miami. And that day was preceded by an exhausting trip by rented car – without Jett – to Virginia and back, to leave Rusty in the care of Jett’s sons. We considered boarding him in a kennel and even left him for a 6-hour evaluation at the kennel to see how he got along with other dogs (he was fine), but decided that we would be more comfortable with him being in the care of trusted family. The cost of the trip was equivalent to the cost of the boarding.
After 2 days in the care of his surrogate family it appears that he has forgotten all about us and may refuse to come with us when we retrieve him in 6 weeks. Ungrateful mutt!
The prelude to the cruise began on Wednesday March 28 when I left for Virginia. Two grueling days on the road, followed by some wonderful family time and a day with the grandchildren, Patrick and Zachary. I took them to a movie (A Wrinkle in Time – not recommended) and jacked them up with lots of sugar snacks. Then I took them to the local laser tag establishment to work off the sugar. I haven’t played cops-and-robbers (or army) like that since I was 10, but did okay. Still, 13-year-old Patrick outscored me in both games (and killed me several times when we were on opposing teams). I did better competing with Zachary.
I guess I still have “it” – so long as my competition is in the second grade.
Patrick
Zachary
I got back to Naples on Sunday, spent Sunday night finishing taxes for my son, then on Monday mailed off the tax forms, returned the rental car, packed, said goodbye to friends in the RV park (most will have gone north by the time we return), buttoned up the RV and departed for the Red Carpet Inn in Fort Lauderdale, the idea being to avoid the stress of a 2-hour trip (and fear of a breakdown) on the day of embarkation.
I picked the hotel primarily because it was close to the Ft Lauderdale airport, where we would get our prepaid transfer to the ship, and because the parking lot looked big enough to accommodate my behemoth truck. As for comfort, as long as it had a bed without bedbugs I would have been happy.
Red Carpet Inn
It turned out to be better than expected. The room was huge and clean, the bed was very comfortable, the TV and cable service were excellent and an attached restaurant, The Reef was quite good. I had the blackened shrimp which were very spicy, but tasty, and a draft Sam Adams Cold Snap beer – a very nice combination.
I slept fitfully, not because of the spicy shrimp, but in anticipation of the very complex morning ahead of me. The details kept dancing around in my head. I probably got no more than 5 hours of true sleep, but it was enough. Jett slept better – and without the TV, which is unusual for her.
This is what the morning entailed:
- Get take-out breakfast for both of us (the excellent $5.99 breakfast special – two scrambled eggs, bacon and two pancakes with butter and syrup, plus coffee) and consume it in the room.
- Do the usual morning ablutions and pack.
- Load the truck.
- Drive to the Ft Lauderdale airport and drop Jett and the luggage at Terminal 2. When we left I was planning on going to Terminal 1, but Jett, reading the fine print on the boarding pass, discovered that it was Terminal 2. Her comment: “do you even read this stuff?” Well, no. But I am glad she does.
- Drive the truck to Miami and leave it, as prearranged, at the Crowne Plaza hotel near the Miami airport. This will be convenient when we fly back into Miami at the end of the trip – a free shuttle to the hotel, jump into the truck and drive home.
- Take a taxi to the Miami Tri-Rail station to catch the 10:20 train. This was close. I didn’t get the truck parked until 10:00 am, so I had only 20 minutes to get to the train. Fortunately my taxi drive drove like a maniac and I got to the station – about 2.5 miles away, but through heavy traffic – in 12 minutes.
- Take the Tri-Rail to the Ft Lauderdale airport station.
- Take the shuttle bus to Terminal 2. I got back to Jett at 11:25 – less than 2.5 hours after leaving her.
- Take the luggage inside and find the Holland America booth. It was very close – just inside the terminal.
- Take a bus to the ship. This, arguably, was the most difficult part of the morning as our seats were near a family with 4 out-of-control children. Taking children on a transatlantic voyage? Surprising.
It was a complex and stressful morning, but everything went off like clockwork. Still, I felt like I needed a vacation.
And I will be getting a good one.