Days 43-45: Final Sea Days and Return Trip Home
After Portugal, all we had left were 2 sea days and the return trip home. Sounds like it was pretty boring. Or was it?
The first sea day was all about relaxing. Well, I did do a Zumba class in the morning, and we managed to get in a couple of quizzes that day, one of which we won! (My contributing answer was the one that put us over the top: What country in Africa has the largest economy? See below.)
The second sea day was packing day, and I’m so glad I brought the suitcase scale as both Lynda and I cut it very close on the weight for both our checked bags. Even with the two bottles of wine and all the other stuff I had bought on the trip, I managed to make weight. Lynda, with the extra bag she bought, did too. Using up or getting rid of all the toiletries and extras I had brought helped with the replacement weight and space. If it was almost empty or I wasn't going to be using it for a long time to come, it went in the trash. I had planned for this, and I'm glad my theory worked in practice!
Coming down for lunch that day, I noticed a bunch of people gathered around one of the rear deck windows. “What’s going on?” One of the passengers had had a stroke, and a helicopter was coming to pick her up. All passengers had to clear decks, so I didn’t get to actually witness the evacuation, but I guess they didn’t land on the ship, but instead lowered down a gurney and hoisted her up. I hope she’s okay. Only one more day left in the cruise too. After seeing this, what happened with Lauren, and a myriad of other mishaps on this trip and others, I'm more than convinced that trip insurance is a smart investment, especially on a trip longer than a week.
Throughout the day we said goodbye to many of our new friends, exchanging e-mail addresses and phone numbers. After 45 days, we had met a good number of our fellow passengers (the English speaking ones anyway) and I'm happy to say this wasn't an aspect of the trip I had planned on. We got to know so many interesting people from all over the world. Sometimes just remembering everyone's name was our biggest challenge. To help us remember, we would quiz each other at the end of the day about who we had lunch with and what was So-and-So's wife’s name? So thanks for the memories to Lauren, Bob, Sharmain, Tom, Sandy, Trevor, Sandra, Tony, Josh, Lo (do you know we called you two J-Lo?), Sharon, Dave, Brian, Linda, Glen, Mick, and so many more.
Interestingly, we found out that for a number of people this 45 days was only the first leg in a much longer adventure. Many were going to be 60, 90, and even 120 days away from home. Living the good life, I guess!
Our disembarkation day arrived and we had a pretty tight schedule, but we were confident it was not going to be a problem. The ship was scheduled to arrive in Tilbury at 9:00 am and we had a 2:10 pm flight out of Heathrow. We had ordered a car to pick us up at 10:00 am to take us directly from the ship to the airport which would be about a 1-1/2 hour drive. We even got an early disembarkation from the ship so we’d be the first group off. Even with the ½ hour to 1 hour it takes for the ship to dock and clear customs, we would still have enough time to make the 2 hour international flight check-in. No dawdling, but we’d make it.
Ha! Remember what I said way back in the very beginning in Singapore? "Things just don’t always go the way you think they will."
First, our 2:10 flight got moved to 1:40. Ok, we’re still good. It’s tight, but we’re good.
Next, our ship takes part in a search and rescue that morning! There was someone in the water, the captain stopped the ship, a lifeboat was put down into the water, and “we” rescued them. A helicopter came and lifted them to the hospital. So cool! Happy we saved a life, but now we’re now an hour behind schedule. Yikes!
We finally made it up the Thames River to Tilbury and to our final docking. After waiting in line for what seemed like forever for the ship to clear customs, we were finally released and allowed to go ashore. Because we had an early disembarkation, we had to transport our own bags off the ship. I'm sure it was hilarious watching me try to get my 3 roller bags and 2 carry-ons down the steep slope of the gangway! I'm just glad that there is no video evidence. Luckily, a nice crew member finally took pity on me and helped me out.
We got through customs fairly quickly, and went out to meet our driver 40 minutes late. And...couldn’t find him. After a couple of phone calls, and 10 excruciating minutes, he showed up and got us all loaded up. He checked google maps for the quickest route and we were on our way. We were going to be a little late for the 2 hour check-in, but we would make our flight.
Until traffic came to a complete stand-still that is. As in not moving. In fact, we were so stopped, a man in the car behind us was able to get out of his car and walk up to let us know we had a flat tire! Are you kidding me??? (I'm really not making this stuff up!)
We pulled over and our driver assessed that it wasn’t a puncture and (thank God!) he had an electric tire pump in the trunk. He had to unload all of our luggage, but he was able to put some air in the tire and get us back on the road again. With about 10 miles to Heathrow, he got an indicator message that the tire was low again. Oh no! Luckily for us, he knew how late we were and he made the decision to power through without stopping in order to get us to the airport. Such a sweet man.
When we got to the airport, we went straight to the United counter hoping against hope that there would be a short line. By some miracle, the first thing that went right that day happened right there: there was absolutely no line. As in not even one person. This was very fortunate as the attendant told us we had made the check-in cutoff by 1 minute! We were also told to go DIRECTLY to the gate as boarding was about to begin.
Security wasn’t bad. We did have to remove all of our liquids and move them to a clear, plastic bag, but we managed that fairly quickly. Except that Lynda missed one little bottle so she got stuck having to go through a complete security screening and having all her stuff sent through the machine again. Seriously?
Finally! We were heading to the gate--which OF COURSE, is the VERY farthest one away and at least a 15 minute walk from security. Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem, but today…
Just as we rounded the corner for the last long stretch of gates, we heard the announcement, “Final boarding for United to LAX, doors are now closing.” We ran the final 200 yards, but we made it! The fact that I was then tagged for an additional security check didn’t even bother me. They knew we were there and they weren’t going to leave without us.
In the end, it all worked out. We made our flight and we made it home, completing the circle that would take us all the way around the world. We made new friends and we saw amazing places. We ate new food and made memories that will last a lifetime. And I was able to share all of these experiences with my sister. And that is the sweetest part of it all.
Quiz answer: Nigeria. (Thanks Jason!)
Back in Las Vegas again, completing the trip that took me all the way around the world.
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