# 16
 .  .  .   and beyond    

"Denied"

It was almost 4 months before there was a registered letter announcement left on our door.  Our claim was denied.  It was a form letter with a signature stamp.  Gotta love how that works.  They destroy your property and act as if they have done nothing wrong. You are treated like nothing more than a minor annoyance. This has really tainted our view of travelling through the states.  If it can be avoided, it will be from now on.  I mean really ~

This was when we finalized our plans to take a trip down east using Canadian roads, That meant no flights, no delays, no stopover, no airport check points, just driving through our home land.  Mike has been to the east a couple of times with my cousin, a truck driver, so it was nothing new to him.  I had not yet been to the east coast, so for me it was exciting and we have a cousin in Fredericton, so that was another nice incentive.  We decided to stay a few nights in Moncton and, using that as a base camp, we'd do day trips to Nova Scotia, to P.E.I.,   .  .  .  it would be great fun.

Mike moved to Canada when he was just 5 years old, so it meant something to him to make that pilgrimage to where he first entered this country.  Pier 21 at Halifax was on our list of Must Do's along with a couple of other well known points of interest. Cabot Trail, Bay of Fundy, bridge to P.E.I., Pierce Rock.  We would be going at the end of July, first week of August, so hopefully into good weather and fine seafood dining.

# 15  

   .  .  .  and beyond

Drama  

My ongoing communication with a representative of TSA has me thinking optimistic thoughts.  The woman on the other end of the 1-800 number provided by a clerk in Syracuse, sounds sympathetic to my story and sends me forms to fill out to start a claim. The only thing I want them to be responsible for is our camera.  It's wasn't new, but it was our digital camera.  She sounds supportive and I decide to proceed.

When I said forms to fill out, I really meant plenty of forms.  I think there were 8 or 9 pages of information I had to scan and e-mail.  I had to make copies of our boarding passes, our tickets, our itinerary,  .  .  .  there was such a list of details needed, that I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to fulfill their requirements.  I did.  The information was received, and my pictures of the damage were added to the claim.  It would take several weeks for processing.   She wasn't kidding.  I did a follow up e-mail after about 8 weeks, and she said it was still under review.  Red tape galore.

# 14

  .  .  .  and beyond  

Back Home

Our flight from Newark to Syracuse was lumpy and bumpy and not very comfortable at all.  Sitting right at the back of the plane, we felt every quiver, bump and bit of turbulence.  We got back to Syracuse some time after 11 p.m. and collected our bags.  Right away I felt the weird drag of my larger bag.  The wheel housing was broken off.  You've got to be kidding me.   This is ridiculous!

We stopped to examine our luggage and when we opened the one with the liqueur, I felt sick.  The plastic bag had been sliced open by a sharp object and everything was sticky.  The T.S.A. (Transportation Safety Authority) had opened the bottle of Sheridan.  I didn't mind that so much as the fact that they had NOT opened the screw cap, but had instead forced the whole top section off the double bottle, and it hadn't been put back on tightly.  There was a sticky mess all over our luggage, over Mike's suit and over our digital camera.  I was just lucky that most of our clothes were in plastic zipper packing bags, so the mess was localized.

It's amazing how far a couple of ounces of sticky syrup can  spread all over everything.  This pic shows the way the bag was sliced open and how the little dots of liqueur had spread out. Next to it is the other bottle that wasn't touched, thank goodness,  I was not impressed with how TSA had handled this.  I understand they have a job to do, but do they have to cause damage while performing their duties?  Because it was so late, there was no one to complain to, not that it would do any good.

The airline said they weren't responsible for the broken wheels on the suitcase either, so that meant we were S O L  (hope you know what that means, lol)  Unfortunately we had a pretty rotten end to a really nice vacation, but the drama wasn't over, not by a long shot!

#13   .  .  .   and beyond   .  .  .

Heading Home  

I'm not one to be superstitious, but I find it odd that our journey home should be #13 .  .  . the dreaded unlucky #13 . . .  maybe there's a reason that day 8 of our cruise would end up being page #13 in this blog.  Very curious, indeed!

Getting off the ship was actually easier than getting on and we found our luggage and the shuttle service without too much ado. The trip back to Orlando was thankfully uneventful, but it brought us back to the airport several hours before our flight.  There really isn't that much to do in an airport for that long, but we managed to find a place to get a snack and a coffee.  We were so early that they wouldn't let us check our luggage yet, so we hauled them around with us for another hour.

There were shops and boutiques lining the promenade deck of the ship and we had purchased two bottles of Sheridan liqueur.  The double bottle design poured dark coffee flavoured liqueur and a light cream concoction at the same time.  It's a neat looking bottle and the taste wasn't bad either.

To protect them from damage I packed each bottle in a re usable plastic zipper bag stuffed in the middle of the checked luggage.  Everyone knows you can't bring bottles of liquids on the plane unless they are in duty free sealed packages, so I thought they were safe and sound in the plastic bags, in the luggage, surrounded by our clothes and shoes.


Our flight had a layover at Newark N.J. and we finally had the call to board our tiny plane.  It was an Embraer jet that had two seats on one side and one on the other.  Regular carry on wouldn't fit in the tiny over head bins located on the double seat side only, so everything had to go in cargo.  Our seats were right across the very back of the cabin and our backs were continually pummeled as the airport workers threw luggage into the back of our seats.  After a long day of travel, this is NOT a good thing to go through.  I can't imagine it was very good for the luggage either!

 #12

 .  .  .  and beyond
  At sea

This was our second full day at sea, which meant the trip was soon coming to an end.  It also meant the second formal dinner night and another day of trying to find a vacant lounger away from the kids and the smoking.   One of the most pleasant spots on the ship had been locked for the last couple of days. There was a great protected area with coloured glass on the bottom of the wall and open ribs on the top.  It was right near the front of the ship.  As a matter of fact there were two similar places, one on each side of the hull. The gym was at the very front on this deck and these two corridor areas were access points.  They had seating, foot rests and solid glass doors that provided a quiet, relaxing place to read or rest or just sit and chat with friends.  Wish they were still available.

Today we attended a pasta making class that included lunch in one of the little restaurants on board and a tour of the galley.  Now you're talking.  We love to see the "behind the scenes" stuff so this is right up our alley.  The pasta class was okay, (I mean, really?  We're Italian , well 3 out of 4 of us were born there! ) The tour of the ships food prep area was really cool.  I've never seen so much stainless steel in one place.

       

                                   

This is our last evening on board, and in the theater that night the stage featured the captain and staff smiling and waving a big farewell.  We even managed to slow down our busy dining room staff for a quick pic.

Thank you Freedom of the Seas.  This has been a great cruise but we probably won't go on another ship this big again.  I can't imagine how it would feel on the Oasis with even more people on board. Too many bodies, a lot of activity, tons of small kids and not enough lounge chairs to go around. Tomorrow morning we have to leave and head back to Orlando and our flight back to Syracuse.  It's going to be a long, lethargic, late drive home.

# 11

   .  .  .    and beyond


  Cozumel, Mexico

This island is mostly a tourist town along the coast, with hardly any development through the interior. One of the more interesting features of Cozumel is the Mayan ruins.  We rented a car with our friends and travelling companions, so the cost was minimal.  It took us a couple of tries to find the right road to the ruins, but eventually we figured it out.  I'm so glad the car had air conditioning as it was super hot that day and I tend to make enough heat all by myself.

Our sister ship, Navigator of the Seas, ended up right beside us.  Interesting view when you're walking between the two behemoths.

That night the sunset was so beautiful, I just had to take pictures from our dining room table.  We watched as the sun sank into the horizon.  Just fabulous.  Yup, we like cruising in the Caribbean.

Tonight our cabin steward was totally out of control.  I couldn't stop laughing when we came back from dinner to find someone feeling "flushed" in our bathroom.   This has been so much fun.

# 10

  .  .  .  and beyond

Grand Cayman Island

This was our first time visiting Grand Cayman Island.  What a gorgeous place!  There are tons of pics on line, so my idea is to post something a bit different . . . something that is uniquely my picture.

This port couldn't accommodate our large vessel, so we had to load into smaller boats and take the short 3 minute ride to the pier.  This pirate ship was on display along the path of our tender.

One of the beautiful fixtures in our dining room on board Freedom of the Seas.  They really know how to do it right.  Tonight is the first formal night, so we came back to the ship a bit early so we could shower and get all dolled up for the theater and dinner.