Norwegian’s Sun in the western Caribbean. Our ship left from the port in New Orleans. Our sailing was only the second sailing from NO's ports post Katrina. (Needless to say, the taxi drivers were so thankful the cruisers were back!) So we spent our day Saturday making our way to New Orleans. (Apologies in advance for boring any seasoned travelers who may be reading this.)We ended up getting to the airport a little too early, so we grabbed some lunch and spent some time watching the planes take off & land. Since Ron flies frequently, he has earned premium status with one of the airlines. What that meant to me was that we didn't have to stand in the super long lines at security and we got to board the plane first. That was certainly a nice benefit! When we went through security, the line was wrapped around the turnstiles at least 3 times. We walked right through and jumped to the front of the line. Funny, but we got the feeling not everyone thought we deserved to be able to do that. It was nice to be able to board the plane first, too. That enabled us to get all settled without holding up the line of people waiting to get in their seats (after cramming their gigundous bags into the overhead first).
Both kids were nervous once we got on the plane. I don't know if it made it better or worse that we sat at the gate for about 30 minutes after boarding. One of the engines wouldn't start (a "frequent problem with this plane") and we had to wait for the mechanics to fix it. In the meantime Tyler amuse
d everyone within earshot with his matter-of-fact observations about flying, the airplane, and life in general. We ended up leaving an hour late. Once the plane started flying down the runway, both kids broke into giggles. Although Danielle needed to hold Ron's hand, both kids seemed to enjoy themselves.Once we were in the air the kids enjoyed some snacks. They colored, watched a movie, looked out the window, and visited the bathroom. Tyler lamented the small target in the bathroom but performed admirably under pressure. He was totally amused by the swirling blue water when he pushed the flush button. Danielle said she had to go, took one look at the teeny tiny closet, and adamantly declared she did NOT need to go. I drug her back in and made her go, holding on to her very tightly the whole time so she could
be assured she wasn't going to go swirling down, too. She thought the flusher was pretty cool, too, and did just fine after that. I did get a little tired of Tyler asking “are we there yet?" and Danielle was a little worried about landing initially, but everything turned out just fine on that leg of our journey.
The second flight went very well, despite the fact the pilot mentioned the weather in New Orleans was a little rough but not to worry - we had enough extra fuel in case we needed a contingency plan! Danielle wasn't afraid, but her little pink pony was a little worried. Danielle talked to it, let it look out the window, and had me hold its foot when it was a little nervous. The sky was blue as we soared above the clouds from the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport to New Orleans. As we landed in New Orleans, though, it was difficult to see because the clouds we
re so dense. It had been stormy and was still wet and rainy. The descent from sunny, blue skies into cloudy, rainy skies was a nice reminder to me that the sun is always shining. We're just not always in the right position to see it.We finally made it to our hotel around 6pm local time. We were able to enjoy some more of Ron's frequent traveling perks at the hotel. It's nice to get pampered a little! Ron might be use to it, but I certainly am not. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant for lack of any place better. Then we
came back to the room, where the kids passed out in their beds (after a pillow fight). They were so well behaved. We really had a very nice time traveling together. 
Tomorrow...we board the cruise ship and get settled in for the coming week...
1 comment:
This "seasoned" traveler is enjoying the story. I've been waiting for this!
Post a Comment