December 18 to 20, 2012:
Kona to Ft. Lauderdale -- Travel Time or Welcome to “Cloud Cuckoo
Land”
Departing Kona eastbound for the mainland is almost
always a sleep-depriving redeye, and this trip to Ft. Lauderdale was no
exception. After the usual make-work
activities of the TSA, and milling around for two hours in the Kona Airport, we
boarded the American Airlines Boeing 757 with about 300 other hapless victims
at about 9:30pm. Fortunately, Silversea
had provided us first class tickets, so we were a little less hapless than the
other victims.
The four and one-half hour flight to Los Angeles was
uneventful, which was fortunate considering that if the AA Boeing had been a
person, it would be residing at the local senior citizens’ home. US airlines and their serious commitment to
fly aircraft that are older than the cabin crews is a worrying feature of air
travel these days, especially when there was no member of our cabin crew less
than 40. Troubling, very troubling!
We arrived on time at 5:30am and settled down for a two-hour
wait for our onward flight to Miami. The
two-hour wait gradually turned into a four-hour wait as good old American
Airlines could not find a big enough hammer to repair the scheduled aircraft
(which was “in the hanger”). But, we did
get a lesson in the airline’s version of Chinese water torture
-- the drip-by-drip approach to
announcing delays! Every 15 minutes,
there would be another announcement extending the delay, and as a final coup de grace – the gate change,
which induces the mad rush of 300
victims through the terminal! You have
to really admire the intellect that designed a travel system which has been
optimized to increase stress for all concerned.
At 10:30am, we finally left LAX bound for Miami. Again, the flight was thankfully uneventful
for the same reasons as before.
“American Airlines, the rest home for old aircraft,” should be AA’s motto. It would be difficult to work into a
logo. We arrived in Miami about an hour
and a half late and were pleasantly surprised to be met by a Silversea greeter
and driver. After about 45
minutes, the luggage was discovered and put on the carousel; all was well, and
we were off on a one-hour ride on Florida’s infamous I-95 to Ft. Lauderdale and
the Hyatt Pier 66 Hotel,
Where Bananas Come From
Dole banana boat entering Port Everglades
The Hyatt Pier 66 is located about 15 minutes from Port
Everglades, where the Silver Whisper and numerous other cruise ships -- some
larger than small towns -- embark and disembark passengers. Pier 66 and several other close-by hotels are
the port’s equivalent of airport hotels around LAX or MIA. What this implies, without regard to
branding, is that as a guest, you are dealing with Motel 66 on steroids. We passed on dinner, except for some Oreo
cookies J had gotten his hands on, showered, and went to bed.
The next morning, we went down to the public areas for
breakfast (chit in hand) and found ourselves facing a queue that would have
done any assisted-living facility in the US proud. We are not keen on queues, but a queue
consisting of senior citizens is a whole new level of unpleasantness. (Think
about being attacked by a walker or a therapeutic cane.) But, 30 minutes of queue later, we were shown
to a table and fed the standard hotel breakfast buffet. We lived.
Checking out at about 12:00pm, we milled around the lobby meeting and
greeting friends from earlier cruises while hoping that our luggage got on the
correct tour bus for the Silver Whisper and not the Silver Spirit (another
Silversea ship simultaneously embarking passengers), or some other cruise
ship. Lots of checking, and more
checking.
M/V Silver Spirit
Where the luggage could have gone, but didn't!
Port Everglades and the Intercoastal Waterway
The Hyatt Motel 66 is located just to the right of the bridge.
Finally, at about 1:15pm, we boarded a tour bus and were
driven to one of the Port Everglades cruise ship terminals, where we were
screened by the TSA. Typical TSA instruction:
“No, you cannot take your walker through
the metal detector!” And, after a final
passport check, tickets were collected; ship id/key cards issued, and we were
herded up the gang plank and boarded the ship.
On board the ship, we were imaged for security and escorted to our
stateroom, which (much to our amazement) was full of suitcases that we had
shipped FedEx on December 10.
E immediately attacked the cases, and the unpacking
began. E is a furious packer and
unpacker and nothing else can be done until everything is in its proper place
in the suite. J mainly muddles about
trying to help but largely getting in the way.
At 4:00pm, when boat drill was announced, we donned our life vests and
paddled out into the hot Florida sun to be told about abandoning ship. By this time, most of the unpacking was
completed.
Abandon ship drill on a cruise ship is an exercise in
futility. There is no way bunches of 20-something
hotel and entertainment staff are going to save themselves, let alone 300-plus,
“me first” seniors. So, the abandon ship
drill is really a convincing demonstration that this is an abandon-hope drill,
clearly illustrating that if anything seriously goes wrong, your best bet is to
try prayer!
About 5:00pm, we got under way. After crossing the Intercoastal Waterway, we entered
the Atlantic Ocean and turned south along the Florida coast. For about an hour after sunset, night lights
of the greater Miami area provided a colorful background. They were a very impressive display of high
rise buildings for the next big hurricane to deal with.
E (having finished unpacking) and J (finished setting up
the computer and fooling with other electronics, namely, the electronic frame of Cooper
pictures) went down to dinner. It
is nice not to have to go far for food, but it also requires moderation, not
one of J’s strong areas. Only two courses and no dessert later, we
returned to our suite and went to bed as the Silver Whisper sailed almost due
south bound for the Caribbean.
Goodbye Miami!
Miami at Sunset before the lights go on.
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