Spring 2015 - Day 0: San Diego
Today was a major travel day. The ship leaves from San Diego this time so this morning I boarded a plane in the Orlando airport. It was challenging just getting into the airport because I had three bags to check. Actually two bags and one giant box. I am taking two art classes on the ship which require large pads of paper that wouldn't fit in my skinny duffles. The poor lady who checked us in, she was so patient. My mom was with me but she was flying to Connecticut on a separate flight and no one under stood why I was paying to check a third bag when there were two of us and we each get two free. "We're going to separate places," was said multiple times.
Then the lady tried to tag the box as going to Connecticut so that was a confusing mess. Then one of my duffles was over 50 pounds so we had to take stuff out of it. At least my other suitcase was significantly under so moving things around wasn't a problem. All of the people in line behind us must have been so upset. Oh well. It felt good to dump all of that luggage off and not have to carry it around any more. I definitely over packed, it's hard not to. The good news is that neither suitcase was completely full and I didn't pack very efficiently so hopefully that means there will be room to bring stuff back. I also brought with me a lot of stuff that I purchases last time, like my blanket, so I won't need to buy new things.
My flight to Austin was on time and normal but I was grateful to get off the plane because I had that airplane-y headache I get from smelling the free peanuts. Then I got the news that my flight to San Diego was delayed 2 hours because there was a weather delay in the city the plane was coming from, Baltimore. I got to sit in Austin airport for almost 4 hours. I would have been fine with it if I was able to buy pins. But they don't sell pins in the airport, so the stop didn't even benefit my collection. I spent my time eating, surfing the internet, reading magazines, and eating gummy worms. All good activities.
The second half of my journey was smooth enough. When I landed I had the challenge of managing both of my suitcases and the giant box of my art supplies all by myself. I paid four bucks for a cart, which was definitely worth it, and hauled them one by one on to it. They barely fit and I made a fool of myself next to the baggage claim belt trying to get these huge duffle bags onto this tiny cart. The box ended up balancing on the top of the duffles and I held on to it as I pushed the cart through the airport. Finding the taxi stand wss challenging. The signs were self explanatory until the arrows starting pointing diagonally upward. It turns out that I had to take a glass bridge over the road to get to the other side where the taxi stand was. It was a good thing there were elevators because I was not going to make it up the escalator with my over packed cart.
Once I had actually located the taxis acquiring one was fairly easy and I finally was on my way to the hotel. The drive to the hotel went right along the bay and floating right there was the MV Explorer! It was a little emotional seeing it for the first time since I last got off the ship, especially because I hadn't planned on seeing it so soon.
Once at the hotel a very nice bell man assisted with my bags so that I didnt have to make a fool out of myself there as well. When I was at the front desk checking in another hotel employee walked by my bellman and bags and just said, "semester at sea?" to the bell man. He looked so confused so I just yelled yes across the room. Apparently San Diego was swarming with us and everyone knew. I wasn't even surprised, that is how it always is. We get to a city and just completely invade it.
I got into my hotel room at 3:15. Which, with the time difference, was really 6:15. I was sleepy. So, while I should have gone out and explored I didn't feel like it so I just got comfy and laid in the giant hotel bed until Jessi got there.
Jessi was my roommate on my first voyage and she decided she needed to sail again as well! We made plans together in most of the countries and really wanted to be roommates again as well, but she applied late and didn't end up as the same cabin type as me.
I am really grateful for her sailing again. It makes the process a lot less nerve wracking when you have someone you know experienceing it with you. It's not that I don't have confidence in sailing again, because I do. But I have found that it is always more enjoyable to travel and experience something with someone you know and are comfortable with. I know that I will make friends and by the end will be comfortable just like last time but with her here I can be comfortable the entire time. I get to aviod that awkward period.
She was meeting me at the Hilton my dad booked for us in San Diego. She got there a little before 7pm. She freshened up and we caught up a little and then we ventured out to find dinner. The area of San Diego our hotel was in is called the Gaslamp District. It is an area filled with restaurants and clubs. We wandered until we found a sushi place to eat at. Sushi wasnt exactly what I had imaginied us eating but it was delicious. We shared edamame as an appetizer and then got California rolls and Philidelphia rolls for dinner. It was light but filling so we called it a successful decision.
After that we meandered through the streets until we made the decision to walk to the harbor and look at the ship. We got directions from the valet in front of our hotel and headed off… in the wrong direction. Well, not really the wrong direction, it just ended up being the long way. If we had gone right instead of left we would have headed directly for the ship, but instead we went left and once we hit the bay we had to walk all the way around it to get to the side the ship was on. It was a really pleasent walk, there was a boardwalk all the way around the bay so it was well lit and not sketchy at all. There were other people walking and running and there were shops and restaurants. We walked a really long way, it was a lot farther than we anticipated. According to the health app on my phone we walked over 5 miles. We didnt get back to our hotel until after 10pm.
We were exhausted. And seeing the ship for 5 minutes wasn't really worth the foot and knee pain we were experiencing from the spontaneous 5 mile walk. But at least it was a good reminder of how much we generally walk in port. We need to get out feet back up to that level of tolerance.
Sleep happened quickly. We had to catch the 8:15 shuttle and we needed to be there early to check in. We also needed to truck all of our luggage over there, which will definitely be interesting. Stupid art supplies making everything difficult.
Tomorrow the adventure begins!
Then the lady tried to tag the box as going to Connecticut so that was a confusing mess. Then one of my duffles was over 50 pounds so we had to take stuff out of it. At least my other suitcase was significantly under so moving things around wasn't a problem. All of the people in line behind us must have been so upset. Oh well. It felt good to dump all of that luggage off and not have to carry it around any more. I definitely over packed, it's hard not to. The good news is that neither suitcase was completely full and I didn't pack very efficiently so hopefully that means there will be room to bring stuff back. I also brought with me a lot of stuff that I purchases last time, like my blanket, so I won't need to buy new things.
My flight to Austin was on time and normal but I was grateful to get off the plane because I had that airplane-y headache I get from smelling the free peanuts. Then I got the news that my flight to San Diego was delayed 2 hours because there was a weather delay in the city the plane was coming from, Baltimore. I got to sit in Austin airport for almost 4 hours. I would have been fine with it if I was able to buy pins. But they don't sell pins in the airport, so the stop didn't even benefit my collection. I spent my time eating, surfing the internet, reading magazines, and eating gummy worms. All good activities.
The second half of my journey was smooth enough. When I landed I had the challenge of managing both of my suitcases and the giant box of my art supplies all by myself. I paid four bucks for a cart, which was definitely worth it, and hauled them one by one on to it. They barely fit and I made a fool of myself next to the baggage claim belt trying to get these huge duffle bags onto this tiny cart. The box ended up balancing on the top of the duffles and I held on to it as I pushed the cart through the airport. Finding the taxi stand wss challenging. The signs were self explanatory until the arrows starting pointing diagonally upward. It turns out that I had to take a glass bridge over the road to get to the other side where the taxi stand was. It was a good thing there were elevators because I was not going to make it up the escalator with my over packed cart.
Once I had actually located the taxis acquiring one was fairly easy and I finally was on my way to the hotel. The drive to the hotel went right along the bay and floating right there was the MV Explorer! It was a little emotional seeing it for the first time since I last got off the ship, especially because I hadn't planned on seeing it so soon.
Once at the hotel a very nice bell man assisted with my bags so that I didnt have to make a fool out of myself there as well. When I was at the front desk checking in another hotel employee walked by my bellman and bags and just said, "semester at sea?" to the bell man. He looked so confused so I just yelled yes across the room. Apparently San Diego was swarming with us and everyone knew. I wasn't even surprised, that is how it always is. We get to a city and just completely invade it.
I got into my hotel room at 3:15. Which, with the time difference, was really 6:15. I was sleepy. So, while I should have gone out and explored I didn't feel like it so I just got comfy and laid in the giant hotel bed until Jessi got there.
Jessi was my roommate on my first voyage and she decided she needed to sail again as well! We made plans together in most of the countries and really wanted to be roommates again as well, but she applied late and didn't end up as the same cabin type as me.
I am really grateful for her sailing again. It makes the process a lot less nerve wracking when you have someone you know experienceing it with you. It's not that I don't have confidence in sailing again, because I do. But I have found that it is always more enjoyable to travel and experience something with someone you know and are comfortable with. I know that I will make friends and by the end will be comfortable just like last time but with her here I can be comfortable the entire time. I get to aviod that awkward period.
She was meeting me at the Hilton my dad booked for us in San Diego. She got there a little before 7pm. She freshened up and we caught up a little and then we ventured out to find dinner. The area of San Diego our hotel was in is called the Gaslamp District. It is an area filled with restaurants and clubs. We wandered until we found a sushi place to eat at. Sushi wasnt exactly what I had imaginied us eating but it was delicious. We shared edamame as an appetizer and then got California rolls and Philidelphia rolls for dinner. It was light but filling so we called it a successful decision.
After that we meandered through the streets until we made the decision to walk to the harbor and look at the ship. We got directions from the valet in front of our hotel and headed off… in the wrong direction. Well, not really the wrong direction, it just ended up being the long way. If we had gone right instead of left we would have headed directly for the ship, but instead we went left and once we hit the bay we had to walk all the way around it to get to the side the ship was on. It was a really pleasent walk, there was a boardwalk all the way around the bay so it was well lit and not sketchy at all. There were other people walking and running and there were shops and restaurants. We walked a really long way, it was a lot farther than we anticipated. According to the health app on my phone we walked over 5 miles. We didnt get back to our hotel until after 10pm.
We were exhausted. And seeing the ship for 5 minutes wasn't really worth the foot and knee pain we were experiencing from the spontaneous 5 mile walk. But at least it was a good reminder of how much we generally walk in port. We need to get out feet back up to that level of tolerance.
Sleep happened quickly. We had to catch the 8:15 shuttle and we needed to be there early to check in. We also needed to truck all of our luggage over there, which will definitely be interesting. Stupid art supplies making everything difficult.
Tomorrow the adventure begins!
