SOMEWHAT LIVE!! — MS Koningsdam — Southern Caribbean Seafarer

[kazu]

So glad MissG succeeded in getting the Neptune Suite 😄 

 

You'll love it Divine MissJ.

 

Your spot looks very inviting and very lovely.

 

Hoping the snow stays away until you get the heck out of Dodge.

 

safe travels!

[*Miss G*]

 DAY TWO - BUF TO FLL

 

After a really bad sleep (despite my bed-of-cloud) we are up early and head down to the lobby for our ride to the airport.  Our “ride” is a black Cadillac Escalade complete with breakfast-to-go.  This place has thought of everything. 

 

Love Buffalo Airport.  We have a quick and painless check-in and pass through Security.  There is a giant line at the Tim Hortons and no line at The Coffee Beanery.  The trash can enjoyed the one and only coffee I bought at The Beanery and I need coffee for the patience to wait in line so I do without.  I take out my phone to take a pic of our airplane in the snow.  Surprise!  My phone has crashed again and it is dead.  I knew I should have purchased a new one the last time I was home.  Why don’t I ever listen to myself?

[Divine Miss J]

DAY TWO - BUFFALO TO FORT LAUDERDALE

 

It's six a.m. Miss G is sleeping so peacefully all wrapped up in her little cocoon of duvet and pillows that I hate to wake her up. But we have to leave for the airport in an hour. I can't find the socks I took off the night before. It's a total mystery but maybe I put them into the big case I'm not using till we get on board.

 

The Reikhart has done us up a takeaway breffus though it's too bad there was no spoon for the yoghurt.

 

Our flight to JFK has been delayed by about 20 minutes whilst the plane is being de-iced. I don't understand why it wasn't done before we were all seated, waiting for take off. We originally had less than an hour before our connecting flight's scheduled departure once we arrived in New York so it's cutting it all really fine. 

 

We arrive into terminal 4. Our next flight goes from gate 51, terminal 2. We have approximately 33 minutes to make it and start moving. Fast. We follow directions to a little old man who tells us to board the second bus sitting at the curb. We do. And wait. Ever conscious of the time ticking away, Miss G explains the situation to the driver who said it only takes five minutes to get to the terminal.

 

A family of four joins us. We sit. And wait. A take charge kind of gal whose luggage indicates she's cabin crew jumps on and tells the driver to leave. We arrive at terminal 2 with 18 minutes to spare only to find gates are numbered from 60-70. Ms Cabin Crew is immediately on the case. She pulls over the nearest ground crew who tells us there is no gate 51 at terminal 2. When the details are pulled up, we're at gate 61, one away from where we are currently standing. Boarding has commenced and, after I quickly dash to the ladies, we're on board. Fingers crossed our luggage makes it too.

 

We're not particularly lucky with our surrounding companions. Miss G tells off the child behind her a few times for kicking the back of her chair. The mother is totally oblivious. She's also one of those people who yank back the headrest of the seat in front (ie me) when she wants to get up. The woman must have a bladder the size of a walnut as it happens three times within a three hour flight. And when the man in front slides back his seat, the tell tale goat-like odour of the unwashed comes wafting in my direction. Most unpleasant. I take another mint to calm my digestion.

 

Due to the storm that's battering Virginia and the Carolinas, the flight is somewhat rough in parts. As our flight circles around Fort Lauderdale, to our dismay, we overhear Kicking Kid mention something about going on the cruise. We momentarily freeze in horror. Then Granny said something about their ship leaving at 4pm. Good luck with that, it's now 2:20pm and you still have to disembark and collect your luggage. Speaking of which, ours showed up quite quickly and we were out of there into 28C degree weather. That's a difference of 37 degrees in Celsius from this morning, or up 54 degrees if you count in Fahrenheit.

 

Nothing terribly exciting to report for the rest of the day as I imagine Miss G will discuss the room situation. Think I dozed off about 7pm (midnight my time), woke about 2 hours later. After ascertaining Miss G had also succumbed, turned off the lights and television then crawled into bed.

[kazu]

Holy Cow, Divine Miss J,

 

You are NOT lucky on flights.  Let's hope your luck turns around big time on the cruise 😄

 

Somehow I suspect it will 😉 

[1964IceCreamLady]

Following!  We will be on the K right after you.   Can’t wait to hear post-dry dock changes.

 

congrats on Neptune!  Very jealous.  We are 5  in a Family Room.  I’d love an upgrade to 2 rooms- even Insides!  😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

You certainly do have terrible flights and passengers.

[*Miss G*]

Welcome to the thread IceCreamLady!    We will definitely report on any changes!

 

DAY TWO - SATURDAY - FORT LAUDERDALE

 

We are in Florida!  This makes a really nice change from the snow.  We get a very nice taxi driver who doesn’t try to gouge us for the ride to the Renaissance Cruise Port Hotel.  Jack, the valet, takes our bags and asks if we are going on a cruise tomorrow. We tell him Monday but there were people on our flight who are boarding today.  Jack had a soul-satisfying “Holy cow are they crazy?!” reaction.  He said he has seen many guests arrive at the hotel who have been denied boarding because they were late to the ship.  They weren’t even able to get to the terminal; they were denied right at Security.  With the ship still sitting at the dock.  I have no idea if the people behind us made it.  If they didn’t it’s a lesson well learned, I guess.

 

Yesterday I made a point of texting the Renaissance Cruise Port Hotel to ensure we had two queens and not a king room.  They texted back that we do indeed.  All is well.  Until check in.  We open the door to our room and.... behold yon king bed!!  No thanks.  Back downstairs we go.  Levi, the not-very-good front desk clerk, pretends to be shocked that we didn’t want a king bed.  And he is sorry but they are fully booked and there are no queens available, let alone another room.  Are you kidding me?!  I don’t budge.  My school teachers didn’t consistently write “Won’t do as she’s told” on my report cards for no reason.  I am going to get that queen room.  Levi books us into someone else’s room.

 

Back upstairs we go.  Yay!  Two queen beds.  Sans duvets in the duvet covers.  I find that mildly irritating but I am in Florida and we have two queen beds so I’ll just file it in the I’ll-never-stay-here-again section of my brain.

[*Miss G*]

The room across the hall has duvets in their duvet covers:

 

[*Miss G*]

Here is what we get.  I decide we don’t need housekeeping today.  I can make my own duvet-less bed.

 

[kazu]

4 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Here is what we get.  I decide we don’t need housekeeping today.  I can make my own duvet-less bed.

 

 

I'd be tempted to phone down and tell them you are "sans duvet" and ask for them 😉

 

Is that a staircase in the other room????

[VMax1700]

D-Miss J should have held on to the blankets on the flight over!

[VMax1700]

Just now, kazu said:

Is that a staircase in the other room????

 

i think it's perspective and that they are drinking cups in plastic bags sitting on the housekeeping trolley between two rooms!  But I have been known to be wrong! 

[*Miss G*]

DAY THREE - SUNDAY - FORT LAUDERDALE

 

We have caught up on our sleep and are out the door early.  Einstein Brothers have a good Nova Lox bagel so that’s where we head.  We got there at a good time because the place was jammed by the time we finished.  I pop into Starbucks on the way back.  I didn’t think it would be appropriate to pop in there first but apparently other customers don’t think like me because I see them sitting eating their Einstein’s with their Starbucks.  Lesson learned.

 

This morning I discovered a few more things I had forgotten to pack so it’s back to Walgreens across the street.  I knew it was going to rain this afternoon so made special mention that it would be wise to go now.

 

Wrong again!  Here is a picture of the clouds coming in.  You know what happens next.

 

[*Miss G*]

5 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I'd be tempted to phone down and tell them you are "sans duvet" and ask for them 😉

 

Is that a staircase in the other room????

 

I had to look back to see!  VMax is correct.  They are coffee cups.

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

DAY THREE - SUNDAY - FORT LAUDERDALE

 

We have caught up on our sleep and are out the door early.  Einstein Brothers have a good Nova Lox bagel so that’s where we head.  We got there at a good time because the place was jammed by the time we finished.  I pop into Starbucks on the way back.  I didn’t think it would be appropriate to pop in there first but apparently other customers don’t think like me because I see them sitting eating their Einstein’s with their Starbucks.  Lesson learned.

 

This morning I discovered a few more things I had forgotten to pack so it’s back to Walgreens across the street.  I knew it was going to rain this afternoon so made special mention that it would be wise to go now.

 

Wrong again!  Here is a picture of the clouds coming in.  You know what happens next.

 

 

Oh crap.  Yes, I am sure you got drenched 😞 

[kazu]

5 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

 

i think it's perspective and that they are drinking cups in plastic bags sitting on the housekeeping trolley between two rooms!  But I have been known to be wrong! 

 

1 minute ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I had to look back to see!  VMax is correct.  They are coffee cups.

 

Well colour me foolish 😉. 

 

I never even thought of that!  Thanks and sorry for the question.

[*Miss G*]

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Oh crap.  Yes, I am sure you got drenched 😞 

 

We looked like drowned rats.  The guy we met in the lobby laughed his head off.  The weather report said rain in the afternoon.  Apparently the afternoon starts in the morning here in Fort Lauderdale.

 

J has gone to get her broken nails fixed and I am about to walk down to the Harbor Shops.  I will take my raincoat this time.

[dfish]

50 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

 

Well colour me foolish 😉. 

 

I never even thought of that!  Thanks and sorry for the question.

You've got company.  At first glance they looked like stairs to me as well.

[kazu]

1 minute ago, dfish said:

You've got company.  At first glance they looked like stairs to me as well.

 

Good to know I wasn't alone 😉 

[Despegue]

4 hours ago, Divine Miss J said:

DAY TWO - BUFFALO TO FORT LAUDERDALE

 

It's six a.m. Miss G is sleeping so peacefully all wrapped up in her little cocoon of duvet and pillows that I hate to wake her up. But we have to leave for the airport in an hour. I can't find the socks I took off the night before. It's a total mystery but maybe I put them into the big case I'm not using till we get on board.

 

The Reikhart has done us up a takeaway breffus though it's too bad there was no spoon for the yoghurt.

 

Our flight to JFK has been delayed by about 20 minutes whilst the plane is being de-iced. I don't understand why it wasn't done before we were all seated, waiting for take off. We originally had less than an hour before our connecting flight's scheduled departure once we arrived in New York so it's cutting it all really fine. 

 

We arrive into terminal 4. Our next flight goes from gate 51, terminal 2. We have approximately 33 minutes to make it and start moving. Fast. We follow directions to a little old man who tells us to board the second bus sitting at the curb. We do. And wait. Ever conscious of the time ticking away, Miss G explains the situation to the driver who said it only takes five minutes to get to the terminal.

 

A family of four joins us. We sit. And wait. A take charge kind of gal whose luggage indicates she's cabin crew jumps on and tells the driver to leave. We arrive at terminal 2 with 18 minutes to spare only to find gates are numbered from 60-70. Ms Cabin Crew is immediately on the case. She pulls over the nearest ground crew who tells us there is no gate 51 at terminal 2. When the details are pulled up, we're at gate 61, one away from where we are currently standing. Boarding has commenced and, after I quickly dash to the ladies, we're on board. Fingers crossed our luggage makes it too.

 

We're not particularly lucky with our surrounding companions. Miss G tells off the child behind her a few times for kicking the back of her chair. The mother is totally oblivious. She's also one of those people who yank back the headrest of the seat in front (ie me) when she wants to get up. The woman must have a bladder the size of a walnut as it happens three times within a three hour flight. And when the man in front slides back his seat, the tell tale goat-like odour of the unwashed comes wafting in my direction. Most unpleasant. I take another mint to calm my digestion.

 

Due to the storm that's battering Virginia and the Carolinas, the flight is somewhat rough in parts. As our flight circles around Fort Lauderdale, to our dismay, we overhear Kicking Kid mention something about going on the cruise. We momentarily freeze in horror. Then Granny said something about their ship leaving at 4pm. Good luck with that, it's now 2:20pm and you still have to disembark and collect your luggage. Speaking of which, ours showed up quite quickly and we were out of there into 28C degree weather. That's a difference of 37 degrees in Celsius from this morning, or up 54 degrees if you count in Fahrenheit.

 

Nothing terribly exciting to report for the rest of the day as I imagine Miss G will discuss the room situation. Think I dozed off about 7pm (midnight my time), woke about 2 hours later. After ascertaining Miss G had also succumbed, turned off the lights and television then crawled into bed.

Hello,

 

regarding the de-icing, and you not understanding why this was not done earlier...

Ice is a killer in aviation, and pilots need to be absolutely sure that wings, tailplane and partly the fuselage must be completely free of any ice or snow.

when an aircraft is de-iced,  in most cases, the de-icing crew sprays a fluid on the surface of the plane and that will melt the ice first, followed by a second spray, mostly of a different type ( there are 4 types of different characteristics), that protects the aircraft from accumulting ice again. This protection however is limited in time, and that time varies according to the atmospherical conditions ( snow, freezing fog, rime,...), the severity of the condition ( example, moderate snow) and temperature.

Each type of fluid used has different protection times for all of these conditions.

as you no doubt have noticed, this is all  somewhat complicated, and making a mistake or taking this lightly will KILL all onboard. Simple as that.

your Captain and his/her Officers will have made the calculations and decisions to make sure you will fly safely to your destination.

Often, this means that the de-icing has to he done as close to take-off as possible. Nothing to be done about that unfortunately. 

In winter, ALWAYS Calculate double the time needed for connections compared to other saisons ( although summer thunderstorms also pose their particular issues).

 

I hope that this explains de-icing a bit, and why your Captain makes certain decisions. 

 

Have a great cruise ! 😀

[Dogstar]

4 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

We looked like drowned rats.  The guy we met in the lobby laughed his head off.  The weather report said rain in the afternoon.  Apparently the afternoon starts in the morning here in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Ugh. Sorry to hear of your unscheduled shower. Hopefully that's all the rain we'll all encounter on this adventure. 

 

Mrs. D & I are enroute to FLL through YYZ now. See you aboard tomorrow. 

[kazu]

1 minute ago, Dogstar said:

 

Ugh. Sorry to hear of your unscheduled shower. Hopefully that's all the rain we'll all encounter on this adventure. 

 

Mrs. D & I are enroute to FLL through YYZ now. See you aboard tomorrow. 

 

Safe travels 😄. Hope you avoid the storms that are plaguing some.

 

 

[Dogstar]

Just now, kazu said:

 

Safe travels 😄. Hope you avoid the storms that are plaguing some.

 

Thx. We'll find out soon enough ... just pulled out of the gate heading for the taxiway ... Florida here we come!. ✈️

[*Miss G*]

13 minutes ago, Dogstar said:

 

Thx. We'll find out soon enough ... just pulled out of the gate heading for the taxiway ... Florida here we come!. ✈️

 

You’re in the air now but safe travels anyway!  See you in FLL!

[Divine Miss J]

We were drenched to the skin and beyond. Six hours later, our sandals remain unwearable. We're hoping they dry in time for packing up tomorow; the weather seems to be less unpredictable now.

 

Dinner tonight has been at the local Thai / Sushi place, we're stuffed!

 

And thank you for your explanation, Despegue.