What is it about getting to a cruise ship? Two of the three cruises we’ve taken resulted in a long, stressful journey. We learned not to fly the day of the cruise as we did in 2017 (https://lifeexperiences.paulishing.com/2017/01/catching-cruise-ship.html), so for 2024 we decided to be doubly safe and leave the house two days before, stay the night in Indianapolis the night before our direct flight and stay the night in Fort Lauderdale the night before the cruise. Well, thank God we did because it was quite an adventure. Let’s start with the drive on Friday.
We left around 3:00 pm for the Fairfield Inn & Suites at the Indianapolis Airport, a little over two-hour drive. It was blowing snow in Ohio but the roads were clear enough and we made it to the Love’s Travel Stop at Exit 149 in Indiana in the typical one hour. After getting back on I-70 westbound things took a major turn for the worse. The snow in Indiana was much heavier and the roads started turning very slick. In an instant, I saw at least a dozen cars that had slid off both sides of the highway and I began to slow down. I was following a semi-tractor-trailer and the driver hit the brakes hard. I slammed down on my brakes and pumped them once before I remembered they were anti-lock brakes then pushed the brake pedal to the floor. With the semi now stopped all I could do was hope and pray I would do the same before hitting its backend, not that I would have hit it all that hard, but I figured at least a few thousand dollars of damages hard. The chattering brakes stopped our Infiniti G37x with just a couple of feet to spare. First crisis averted.
We followed that semi as it miraculously weaved its way through the accident scene and back to the open road. A few dozen miles later, as the roads continued to worsen, we sought another route and Waze directed us to get off at an exit, head north about one-quarter mile and turn west on a County Road. When we found that road there wasn’t a car on it, it was unplowed, and we smartly decided that being stuck on I-70 was a vastly better option than by ourselves on an unknown road. We turned around and got back on I-70 westbound. Several miles later the traffic began to slow down even more and shortly it was at a dead stop. We sat there waiting to restart our journey and tried to determine what was going on. We couldn’t find anything on the Internet to explain the situation but it had to be either a bad multi-car pileup or they simply had to close the road to plow and salt it. It was frustrating to watch I-70 eastbound rolling right along while we were stuck. After two hours I began an Internet search to find out how much gas a car uses when idling and turned up an estimate of one-half gallon per hour. Thankfully I had filled the car up before we left even though it didn’t need it for the two-hundred-mile round trip. I calculated we had until 4:00 am before we ran out of gas if we let it idle the entire time, which we obviously would not have done in favor of running the heater until it was very warm inside and turning the engine off until we started getting too chilled. I also called the hotel to tell them we would be late and possibly very late but not give up our room. Unfortunately, I reached a complete idiot who could not comprehend our situation.
After two and one-half hours we were elated when traffic started moving again. After a couple of miles, it was obvious that they had shut down the highway to clear it. We continued our drive to the hotel at about 40-45 miles per hour, but other than a few slicker spots than others, made it safely to the hotel. We had planned on a nice dinner near the hotel, but everything was closed down. Fortunately, we packed a couple of submarine sandwiches that we planned to have on the plane Saturday, but that became our Friday night dinner. After six and one-half hours the second crisis was behind us.
We had a 12:10 pm departure time for our Southwest flight to Fort Lauderdale and since we now needed food we decided to get to the airport early. The deal with the hotel included leaving our car there for five dollars per night and we rode their complimentary shuttle to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 10:00 am, ate McDonald’s McMuffins for lunch then sat at the gate awaiting the boarding call. We were among the last people to board the plane because I didn’t understand Southwest’s odd boarding process and figured we would be in separate middle seats for the two-hour trip. We were totally surprised to find two aisle seats across from each other near the back of the plane and snatched those up. The flight attendant went through the usual seat belt, air mask, leave the smoke detectors alone routine and we pulled away from the gate on time. The third crisis began as we pulled back to the gate with the pilot informing us that there was a maintenance issue that had to be resolved. Everyone deplaned and we sat at the gate waiting for more information. And waited. And waited some more.
After a three-hour delay, the airline is required to provide you compensation so we grabbed our $100 vouchers for a future flight. At 3:30 pm they announced they had a different plane for us, much to everyone’s relief. We boarded at 4:15 pm and this time we found seats together as the plane was not nearly as full. After a half-hour wait the pilot informed us that all the banging noises we were hearing were because this plane was originally headed to Orlando and they had to transfer all that baggage to their new plane and get our luggage on board. Oh great! Now we have to worry that Southwest will screw that up and we’ll get to Florida and our four bags will not be there. The last thing you want the night before a week-long cruise is scrambling to buy enough dress clothes, shirts, shorts, bathing suits, toiletries, and suitcases to make it seven days. The fourth crisis had begun before the third one was over.
We finally lifted off at 5:05 pm, five hours late, but better late than never. The flight attendant announces everyone gets a free drink and everyone cheers. The flight is pretty smooth but they never turn off the fasten seatbelt sign, so everyone just ignores that and goes anyway. We land at 7:34 pm and the third crisis is over. We headed to baggage claim and started getting nervous when our bags were not showing up. Finally, they announced our bags would be coming up at a different carousel. After a few more minutes, our first bag appeared. Then the second, the third, and finally the fourth. The fourth, and thankfully last, crisis was averted.
We grab the first cab we encounter and race to the AC Hotel Fort Lauderdale Airport to meet up with the four couples we’re cruising with. We arrive at about 8:30 pm and while we’re at the registration desk, our dear friend Grace meets us with shots of whiskey. Bless her heart.
The only bump in the road Sunday was the weather. It’s always fun to watch the ship leave port and the land fades away while standing on the deck with a cocktail in hand. Rainy weather prevented that enjoyment, so we had to move the celebration to our favorite, the Martini Bar!
But at least we made it.
