“I'm up…I'm up!’
No THUNK, No KNOCK, just
Chucky’s alarm - room service wouldn’t answer at 1AM – which is when he finally
finished the last NOWAT post and e-mail alert.
And completing today’s frenetric
version of the dance of the tiny bathroom they were off to the Windjammer for
breakfast with the rest of TE6, only to find S&E missing. They showed up later, having been on their
power walk before breakfast.
The rest of the day was a
seriously lazy one with more sun worshiping on the pool deck, then lunch in the
Windjammer, followed by some casino play.
6PM found them all
partaking of the last night of Claudia’s mixilogical expertise and dazzling
personality, making sure that she was well rewarded for her cruise long
courtesies.
While on that subject…
“What subject was
that Chucky?”
That of “Rewarding The
Staff”.
Those that have cruised
are aware of the cruise line’s penchant for whacking you with a ridiculous
“Daily Gratuity’ – per person or coaxing
you into “Pre-Paid Gratuities added to your onboard account, claiming that it
will be spread amongst all ships personnel.
Uhhh… according to some
“in the Know” sources, not completely.
Soooo, in the spirit of making sure that those who are REALLY deserving, Get “IT”, as soon as we board, we have the Auto Gratuity taken off our account, opting instead, to hand cash directly to our “Special” people, often during and of course at the conclusion of the cruise.
Now, L&D & Chucky being "In Da Biz" you know it's going to be significantly more than what the "Auto Grat" would add up to but this way we are sure that IT gets to where WE want it to go.
And...They appreciate the cash more and can elect to, or not to, report it for tax purposes in their country of residence.
This includes the Cabin
Stewards, Maitre d’, Waiters and other conspicuously deserving staff.
Where were we???
Oh yeah at Happy Hour.
Now about the Happy Hour Snacks – or lack thereof.
“Seriously RCCL?” Even just peanuts or
pretzels, either in single serving or just a reasonable offering in a “rock
glass”. Ya don’t have to have them laying around the bar, just served to the
group at hand.
This goes along with Chucky’s
other pet peeve of: Nickel ‘n’ Dime-ing with charges at various outlets such as
the Starbucks counter, or the mini-Desert station, Spa, Solarium cafe etc. You’re
paying enough for the cruise. The food and non-alcoholic beverage comes from
the same kitchen or storage - whatevah - as the rest of the food on the ship… And don’t’ EVEN get him started with the
extra charge for “Specialty Dining”…
OK, HE’ll stop now, ‘cause
it ain’t gonna change. Just more added profit centers for the cruise lines.
Dinner was pretty much the
same as the previous night, again minus Anwar, which pretty much confirmed that
he tested POSITIVE. Which raised some
concern amongst TE6, but hey… it is what it is.
We had hopped to “take Care of Him” as well but, oh we'll. Of course Stefan, of the excellent “Wrist
Twist” Wine Pour WAS “Well” taken care of
So, with Anwar in
quarantine, we of course had C/G again
doing his little Cheshire Cat Dance of over the top service, [he Really WAS
trying for redemption] and Mustafa hovering just off stage as well.
The Chef must have also
gotten the message as everything was perfect, even the Crème Brule’!
Casino time was eliminated
for the night as final Packing was in order - bags had to be in the hall by
10PM.
The night before,
De-Barking luggage tags had been left in the cabin and of course, Chucky gets #42
- the last group off. This is a
non-issue since we’re not flying anywhere, Greg will pick up us when we call so THEY can sleep in. There will be NO Morning THUNK.
Morning came with a THUNK
anyway, Ooopppss, it was the Tempelshifs calling to say “Adios,
Till the following Friday”.
[Following Friday?!?]
Oh… HE did he forget to
mention that?
Wellll you'll just have to
finish this Post and wait for the appropriate ***ALERT*** for more on that
minor detail.
Back to Getting’ Off Da
Boat.
Since THEY were in the last group scheduled for 10:30-11:00AM and could leave their carry off stuff in the cabin, they had time for a trip to the Windjammer, a light nosh and back to the cabin by 10:30.
They then headed to deck
5 expecting to walk right off... only to run into a looooonnnng line to the
exit.
W.T.F.!!!
For some reason, this was going
to prove to be the most disorganized process yet. They would let 6 people go - and halt the
line. Then 6 more and stop. This went on
for an hour. From the exit on the ship to halfway down the gang way, then on
the 2nd floor of the terminal.
Now 8 at a time, until we finally reached the escalator down, only to
find… another line to get into… still yet another line for Customs, Immigration
and passport control.
Finally through passport control,
it was now time to find the LUGGAGE.
Oh Boy.
You would think that with
the bags in the hall by 10PM last night, docking at 6AM and being in the 10:30am
group, [it was now 12noon] the bags would be lined up waiting.
Uhhh… NO.
They were still being
loaded onto the conveyor belt and of course - those already off loaded were not
in group order – 26 was with 38 which also had 16’s, etc., etc., etc.
So Chucky starts down the
line checking every group, finally marching back to the start, where the 15’s
were supposed to start the sort. Just
then, Chucky spots our LUGGAGE just being thrown on the conveyor belt.
Racing to intercept them before
they make the bend back into the bowls of "who knows where", he is now dodging little
old ladies, motorized and manually operated wheel chairs, baggage porters and their carts,
two small children and one oversized “support” animal of undetermined origin. Grabbing the bags he wheels back to Dragon
Chic who is now openly laughing at his high-jinx.
With Da BAGS finally in
tow, it was off to find Greg who had been waiting for 1½ hours by #11 pickup
slot outside the terminal, Waaayyyy down
there.
Why was he waiting 1½ hours
– Waaayyyy down there?
Because Dragon Lady had
called and told him we were getting off at 10:30 – expecting to walk right off,
grab Da BAGS and get in the car – and he didn’t want to be late.
Oh Wait… you think this is
the end…
Silly you!
The final Episode of this
little tale is yet to come, so hang in there… you're not gonna believe what that
last little note will reveal.
Or maybe you will, it just depends on how well you can predict what our traveling wackos can get into.
Sooo, ‘till then, standby Dear Hearts and Innocent Bystanders, for the last ***NOWAT ALERT*** for this, the latest in the ongoing saga and Travel Adventures of:
& The Ever-Lovely,
Standing by!
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