Welcome to the Chronicles of
~ the Second Noordam Adventure ~ the 15th Anniversary Cruise ~
12/06/2008 - 12/17/2008
12/20 - Orlando, Florida
8:18am - Getting Ready for Departure
Good morning all! Well, all good things must eventually come to an end, and this trip was definitely one majorly good thing! So, without further ado is the final morning view of this wonderful trip:
Today is pretty much going to be a carbon copy of yesterday - in other words gorgeous! Luckily, the same cannot be said for back home. It looks like we will slip into town between those two snow storms. I still don't know how bad yesterday's was near us, but I am sure it will be okay. Currently, our flight out is on time (not that I expected them to say anything else at this hour). Since the flight is at 6pm, we will still have a few hours in which to enjoy paradise, and I plan to enjoy every moment available to me!
So, it is off to find the 9am Pina Colada Cart, and start this day off right! I have no idea what we'll end up doing, but I will let you know when I write the next entry in the blog! Hope you are all warm, safe and happy! I'll have a drink for you (best way to fly, right?). See you at the next installment!
5:17pm - Orlando International Airport
Okay, so maybe I sometimes speak too soon. Maybe I am just a tad bit optomistic (stop laughing). Maybe I jinxed myself. I don't know what happened, but things are not nearly the way they seemed they would be this morning.......
So, we ate breakfast, called the bellboy to get the luggage, got the car out of hock, and checked out of the hotel. So far so good.
Then we went to the Outlet Mall, an outdoor market of "outlet" stores (with an indoor parking garage). Now, I have to tell you, I really dislike outlet stores. It is such a gimmick. I remember living in Virginia, and having a set of outlet shops. They were great. Tons of seconds, end of run items, and stuff from last year that they sold for a fraction (a pretty small fraction, too, I might add) of the retail price. Then the trend caught on, and now the outlet stores look identical to the retail stores, except that everything is supposed to be on sale all the time. Not that things in this economy aren't on sale pretty much all the time in the retail stores! Annoying. But I digress.
So we shopped. I would tell you what we got and what stores we went into, but some of the stuff are Christmas presents, and the recipients might be reading the blog. Or I could just be teasing some family and friends. But suffice it to say, we shopped. Not too much, but we did a little damage.
Then we went for a drive, and got to see International Drive. That place has changed quite a bit over the years since I was stationed in Orlando back in '83. And the convention center they have now - that thing is HUGE! But places like Wet 'n Wild are still there, and there are still more hotels, restaurants, and tee shirt shops than you can shake a stick at.
By now, it was afternoon, and so we decide to mosey on over to the airport, turn in the car, and get the luggage checked in. Since we are leaving from Orlando International, we figure getting there early is a good thing, and that during the extra time we can shop some more (tons of stores), and have a nice dinner (Macaroni Grill and a whole food court of stuff available). We got the car checked in okay (had to go to the desk to get a rebate on the GPS system they gave us that didn't work right). Then things started going downhill.
While checking in the luggage, the computer told us that our 6pm flight had been delayed until 9:30pm. Bummer! It was now 2pm, and if we had known this, we would have spent the day at Animal Kingdom - I love that place! Oh well, what are you going to do, right?
So we head on over to the Macaroni Grill and have a nice lunch. We kill about an hour there, and then we head toward the gate. We get thru security (I didn't even get intensified!), and take the shuttle train to the gates. At the gate terminal, I found the Delta's Gold Crown room, or something like that. Its for their frequent flyers and VIP guests. It has comfy chairs and internet access, and some other perks, I think. They often will sell you a day access, and since we had 6 hours, I figure this is a better place to spend it than on the gate chairs!
They ask me for our boarding passes (they won't sell access to just anyone!), and say, "Hey, we just got a call about your flight. They just cancelled it - weather in Hartford." Now personally, I think that is a line, since it is generally pretty tough to predict that an airport is going to be closed 9 hours before you get there - especially when there is no storm in the area. So, they book us on a flight tomorrow morning at 10:45am. Its basically the same flight we were booked on (they even gave us the same seats!). They tell us to go to the baggage office, and pick up our luggage, and to call the number on a slip of paper to get help with hotel arrangements.
We thank them (Carol is so much nicer than I am - I was complaining that I could have been at Animal Kingdom all day! They say I still can go, but I know it closes at 6pm, and its 4pm now, so that is not possible!), and head off to baggage. Before we get to the tram, I am on the phone calling the Hyatt - which has a hotel in the middle of the airport - to see what I can arrange insofar as a room is concerned. Before the tram reaches the main terminal, I've got a concierge level room booked, and am now a member of the Hyatt club that they have.
We check into the hotel before we get the luggage (don't want to be schlepping that around while checking in), and find that our room is on the spa level - which also houses the gym and the pool - and that our room has a king size bed, lovely balcony, and a bathroom that has a tub and a shower (the tub, unfortunately is not jetted). The funny thing is that I checked in within 3 minutes (literally) of making the reservation - and the reservation was there! Yes, that doesn't always happen like that.
We go down to the baggage office to retrieve our luggage. Unfortunately, they are not ready for that - they had reticketed our luggage (or something like that) for the flight tomorrow, instead of figuring that we might like the clothes, drugs, and shower kits that they hold (yes, we would have survived easily without the meds if it came to that)! After 15 or 20 minutes of pounding on the computer, the guy tells us that the bags will be coming out in a few minutes on Carousel #32. We go out there, and discover that we are going to have our very own carousel for 3 pieces of luggage. It was hysterical when the lights and buzzers went off so we could get our 3 bags. And yes, that was all they sent out on them. A shame I didn't have the camera with me!
So, here we are, relaxing. Carol was out on the balcony for a short time reading her new book (they have a very nice mini Borders Bookstore here, too), but came in complaining that it was too noisy. I said "Planes?" and she just gave me dirty look. I was kind of expecting the buzzing of jets - she wasn't.
We did have a very nice sunset this evening. Here is today's evening view:
Now, there are many reasons that I started calling the Hyatt right away when we were told that the flight was cancelled. I am quite aware that I could have gotten a hotel that charged a heck of a lot less than this one with the help of the Delta people (and they would have been within a mile of the airport and had a shuttle), but they would not have been nearly so nice. But that wasn't the major reason. The major reason is that the hotel is here at the airport. Checkout typically isn't intil 11am, and this flight is at 10:45am (and I can get late check out if need be). Also, the reason cited for the cancellation is the weather. Yesterday, there was a major snowstorm back home in Mass. Tomorrow, they are bracing for another storm - a Nor'easter which typically is pretty nasty. If you look at the weather reports for back home, the storm is slated to get really nasty at about noon. When is my 10:45am flight going to arrive in Hartford? 1:24pm, so I not terribly hopeful that we are getting out of Dodge tomorrow, either. And if I am going to be stuck in a Greek tragedy like this, I want to be someplace quite comfortable, and where I don't have to leave the hotel until I am damn good and sure I am going home to sleep in my own bed!
I have a philosophy - If I am going to suffer, I want to suffer in style, being fed peeled grapes, and.... Anyway.
Hopefully, if they cancel the flight, I hope they do it really early. That way I can rent a car, and go see the animals at Animal Kingdom! The weather tomorrow is another carbon copy of today (although Monday is not looking as warm, so it might be a good day to get home!).
As Carol says, maybe we'll get to see the kids for Christmas!
I'll keep the blog going for as long as this trip lasts, so keep checking back in. Talk soon!
Now where is that Pina Colada cart......???
Til then....
Keep Smiling!!!
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Your Intrepid Servant, the Timethief Beachbum |
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All Images and Accounts of this Adventure are strictly the doings of the Author, and have Nothing to do with the Official Positions or Opinions of Timethief Photography, its affiliated divisions, or anyone associated with the company. If you have any issues with the accounts, how people or places are portrayed, or with any statements of fact, take it up with him! Of course, he'll probably be off on another adventure!
Copyright 2000-2008, Timethief Photography
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