And then with a click of our heels we were home, because there’s no place like home.
Except we weren’t and it would take much more effort than that.
We set the alarm for 6am and were in breakfast for 7am. Our large bags had been taken away overnight and we hoped to be reunited with them once we had disembarked.
Our allotted slot for getting off the ship was Pink 3 which should have been about 8.20am. We were called though just after 8am and left our cabin for the final time. After meeting T&G we headed off the ship to a massive area where we were reunited with our cases which were in a Pink 3 designated row.
We wandered outside to meet our taxi some 45 minutes earlier than I had booked it for to allow for contingency in any problems getting off the ship. It was a different firm taking us back to the airport as the original one had cancelled the return leg for unbeknown reasons. Something else for me to sort when we get home. The replacement one told us to wait in the ride share pick up area and arrived exactly on time and with that we were whisked back to Seattle airport.
Check in opened after a 20-minute wait. We were offered the chance to be offloaded to the next flight for $800 each and a room in the Hilton for the night. If we had been on our own, we would have taken it without too much thinking, but T&G needed to get back home to Michael. We were not prepared to even consider them travelling without us so quickly declined the offer.
The queue for normal security was huge but as Karen & I had TSA clearance we went through that separate line quickly and then waited 25 minutes for T&G to re-join us.
We headed to the Amex Centurion Lounge – it was closed. So, we found a table out with all the common people and fetched some food and drinks which we had to pay for – did they not know who we were?
On this leg Karen & I had splashed the air miles and booked Club World to have a flatbed for the long flight home. We were also looking forward to the Club World service.
What a disappointment that turned into. No bubbles when we boarded. Then despite being in row 15, they ran out of food choices and could offer both of us ‘Curry’ as a main meal. Neither of us wanted that. I felt embarrassed for the crew who were doing their best. It was not their fault that not enough choices had been loaded for our cabin. For my meal I ended up having just 3 prawns as a starter followed by 3 pieces of cheese as my dessert as that was the only thing left. We were not offered a hot drink. The crew encouraged me to make a complaint when we got home not that I needed any encouragement to do so.
The only highlight was that I was the film ‘Wonka’ which far surpassed my expectations.
I got some sleep on the nice flatbed but could feel that I was going down with something. As the flight progressed my nose started running like a tap again which was most annoying.
I looked forward at least to being served a hot breakfast. That was soon dashed when they had run out of feed again. The crew whispered to me that I was lucky as in their opinion it not only looked like but also melt like vomit. My breakfast was a single cup of tea. At least my detox after the cruise had started early. I couldn’t have a second cup of tea as they ran out of milk.
Now I know the flights had been free for us but other people around had many a few thousand pounds for their seats. It really was not good enough but there was no point getting annoyed with the crew. It wasn’t until we met up with T&G who were in Economy that we found they had had a full service. Why hadn’t the crew brought us something from one of the other cabins?
We were off the plane quickly and with no queue at passport control we headed to collect our bags which took a while arriving.
After this we met with Sunny’s brother-in-law who brought our car back to us.
The drive home was a bit of a blur as I was trying to keep awake fighting both the jet lag and whatever bug was raging through my body. I knew I was now running a temperature as well.
At home I got the bags in and virtually collapsed onto the sofa before crawling upstairs onto the bed for the afternoon. I didn’t check my phone or anything and was out to the world. If I had done then I would have picked up the messages about my sister Lynda who had been taken to hospital after suffering many seizures. When Karen woke me to tell me I was very upset but in no fit state myself to get myself to hospital to see her or provide any support.
The following morning after a fitful sleep, Karen also now felt very poorly and just remarked that she felt as she did when she had had Covid. I found some old tests and she tested positive. Now I have never tested positive so was blasé as she suggested I take one as well. I stared at my own positive test for ages not quite believing it but realised it explained how rough I was feeling. My only hope is that we only recently had another Covid jab that we would both get over it quickly.
Then I realised that it meant I couldn’t get up to the hospital to see Lynda and that made me feel even worse.
To be continued.
