March 23, 2024
Normally, I’d dig right in with the first day of our cruise, but we had such an ordeal on our travel day that it is worth a post – if for no other reason than I need to vent.
This spring break, we opted for a cruise to the Caribbean & Bahamas. I was so thrilled to get out of the cold… especially as we’d gotten a few inches of snow just days before leaving. I was not so thrilled with the travel annoyances that bookended our trip, and I really wish someone would figure out teleportation already.
Our flight left from Chicago around 3pm on Saturday. The plan was to arrive in Miami by 7:30, grab dinner, and get some sleep. We flew United, and I was happy that we were on an older 737 as those don’t seem to be missing any screws. My seat charger did not work, but that was ok. What was NOT ok was the LOOOOONG time we sat on the tarmac after landing, and the hour or so we waited to get our bags. MIA and United apparently did not realize that it’s spring break, and the gates were all backed up. They sort of blamed the 3” of rain earlier in the day, but I think it was just a major clusterfuck of poor air traffic management.
At one point (because regulations), they offered tiny bottles of water. Later, (again, because they were legally obligated), they gave everyone a small(er than American regularly offers) package of Biscoff cookies. They told everyone that there was only one per person or there wouldn’t be enough for every passenger. This was after 8pm. Babies were screaming. Everyone was frustrated, tired, and hungry.
After three hours, they would have been required by law to let us out of the plane right there on the tarmac, but at the 2:45 mark, we finally got to a gate. Conspiracy theorists are welcome to marvel at the coincidence of timing. Since we were in the cheap seats, it took a while to deplane, but finally we were free.
Once we got to baggage claim, we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Apparently, the baggage handlers had all gone home and there was no one to unload our luggage. After around an HOUR, we finally got our bags and found the shuttle to the hotel. We grabbed a quick dinner around 11:30pm. When I broke my nearly three-month dry spell and got a glass of wine with the burger Hubs and I split (we were so exhausted that we had little appetite), I went for the 9oz pour. Yeah, that hit pretty quickly. Oops. Cue racing heart around 4am.
Exhausted but fed, Hubs, TG, and I finally went to our hotel room and got to bed some time after midnight. We woke up, excited to grab some hotel breakfast (with more waiting), and get to the cruise port.
Here is a gratuitous cup of coffee photo from the next morning – because it’s the only photo I took at the hotel and coffee is life.
