Home again....

Sunday – Monday    

Ft Lauderdale/Halifax

LAND HO!!

I woke around 6am when the ship docked. Our cabin is right in the front (bow) of the ship, directly under the bridge. We even had a small balcony in front of our room, accessible through a door at the end of the hallway. Technically we are in a handicapped accessible room, and were warned that we would be moved if they needed it for someone in a wheelchair, but they didn't. The room was at the end of the hall, so was long and narrow, but had a big bathroom with no raised areas, so that was lovely.

 

 

There is a lot of motion in the front, but once again, I astonished myself by not getting seasick, and found the motion to be very soothing.  It was, however, LOUD!  A couple of times I woke in the middle of the night, thinking we had just hit something. It sounded like a giant sledgehammer hitting the hull. Turns out that it is the sound when we hit waves, side on. Pretty intense, and we did have a couple of rough nights. But I didn't mind it at all. Amazing.

We decided to join Leslie and Davie for a sit down breakfast in the dining room instead of the buffet. We did need to vacate our cabins and bring our carryon luggage with us, and afterward, we just sat in the Promenade and waited to debark. Debarkation was smooth – off the ship, collect the bags, and go through customs. The buses were ready to take us to the airport, so we were there in lots of time. Too much time – the WestJet counters weren't even open when we arrived, so we stood in a loooong line. Cathie had no luck in changing her flight (she was routed through Quebec City, whereas we were flying direct to Toronto. The irony is that she lives in Toronto, and we just needed to change planes there for Halifax. Silly really – we arrived in her home city hours before she did because of that.) The flights were smooth, and I loved the WestJet infamous humour.  Funniest safety talk EVER!

Arrived in Halifax (around 11pm), and were hungry. Oddly enough, all the restaurants, coffee shops, etc. were closed in the airport, even though flights were still landing. And the airport hotel shuttle driver was miserable! Cranky and irritable. He was so bad we lodged a complaint at the hotel. We also discovered no room service, a closed restaurant, and an out-of-service vending machine. Wahhhhhh!!!!  Leslie went to the front desk and somehow persuaded them to part with some breakfast supplies, so we feasted on yogurt, granola bars and orange juice. It worked. 

We crashed soon after and slept until around 7am. Checked out, loaded the car, and headed home. It was a sunny day, and we made good time, getting home mid-afternoon. I had a quick snuggly reunion with the cats (who then decided to give me the cold shoulder for about half an hour), unpacked (with the cats' help), threw on some laundry, ordered a pizza, and just reacquainted myself with my house and my cats.

I loved my trip, and I love to travel, but, ohhhhh, it is lovely to be home again.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

Saint Augustine