Saturday, December 22, 2012

Once More...


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, our accommodations booked by Silversea.

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.


 Where Bananas Come From
Dole banana boat entering Port Everglades

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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