MITSUGIRLY'S birthday cruise on the JADE review/pictorialDay
Day 9: Going home
DAY 8...GETTING OFF AND GETTING HOME
I set our alarm for 8am, but I'm pretty sure I was up before then and hungry. It was execution day and I wanted my last big meal before they kicked me off.
I headed outside to check out the weather.
We were docked already.
There were people out fishing beside the ship.
I went over to the other side to confirm we were in the right place. Yep, back where we started from.
I think the crew was already getting a head start on the cleaning. They had to make the Jade presentable for the next weeks guest. One thing that NCL does...constantly clean!
We headed to breakfast at the buffet for our last meal. We took our time. We were not in any hurry to get off this beautiful ship. We had late flights (3:30pm). Since we are Platinum, we get the VIP walk off whenever we would like. So, I was going to take advantage of that.
They started calling self assist walk offs at 7am until 8:30am.
Then came the yellow (us), green and blue at 8:30am.
8:45 gray or navachez??? (That's what it sounded like)
8:52 purple
9:00 light blue
Ok...I guess they have passed up our color a long time ago. We might as well go ahead and head off.
BUT WAIT, hubby had to use the restroom. Actually I did too. He spent most of the day yesterday in the restroom and complaining of stomach pains that were real sharp. He would stop in the middle of walking and hold his stomach. By the end of last night, I had a case of the "poops"...like several times over and over. Not good.
We used the restroom and headed down stairs. Wait, we need to go again. Yikes!! We were almost afraid to step foot off the ship in fear of not being next to a restroom.
Since I had the drivers card that dropped us off from the hotel to the port, I knew I could call her and she'd be on her way. I told her we would not be in a hurry and would probably call around 10am.
We walked off and it was so simple. Not really too much of a line and it kept moving. Our poor little brightly colored luggage stood out like a sore thumb and it was the only yellow luggage left. LOL Hey, I said we weren't in a hurry.
We walked out of the terminal and called Janet at 9:25am. She said she was on her way with another couple dropping them off at the port and she'd be there in about 20 minutes. She showed up in...20 minutes exactly!
We were happy to see her and it was a nice ride to the aiport.
I looked out the window and seen this person sitting with a sign. Now normally I think people have a "Homeless, need money, Will work for food" and so on. This was a little different and I had to get a picture.
(No he's not headless...I did this to protect his identity and out of respect).
"Any day I make SUBWAY was a good day!"
Now can someone explain this to me? I have no idea what it means. Could this be Jared??? It's only 10am and my mind is already on food.
(Also, notice the little dog in the pink tutu).
Ok, I just found my laundry slip and here is what it says:
Enjoy laundry service any day during this sailing, another benefit exclusively for Latitudes Rewards Platinum members.
Please be sure to write your full name, stateroom number and Latitudes Rewards status on your laundry slip. then simply have your laundry bag ready or hand in your laundry bag by noon on the date you'd like to receive service, and we'll take care of the rest.
THAT IS IT!! It does not state ANYWHERE on there that you have to give them 48 hours to do the laundry or that 2 days (which happens to be when we actually turned it in and last time I check 48 hours DOES = 2 days) prior to getting off the ship is the latest you have. :confused:
We made it to the airport and knew we had about 5 hours to spare before our plane was to take off.
Well that's cute...now move along because I need to go to the restroom...and so did the hubby.
I did not think I could get off the toilet this time. I'm sure I was sweating like crazy and I had Sakari by my side patting me on the back, giving me kisses and telling me it's going to be ok. "Why are you pooping so much mommy?" Ohhhhhhh!!!! I think I'm having a baby I don't know about. Crap (literally)...what the heck is going on with me??? My stomach hurt so bad I couldn't stand it. I swear I'm having Sakari a baby sibling at the moment.
I headed out of the restroom and looked at the ceiling. Yea, that's about what my stomach looks like inside. A twisted red mess!
We sat inside. We used the restroom. We sat outside. We used the restroom. We got to the point where we could barely sit. I felt like I had ate some spicy Mexican food loaded with jalapeños and hot sauce. My arse was on fire! I started to panic. I didn't know how we were going to make it on the plane. I have heard (read) the horror stories of people complaining about people on the plane using the restroom and it smelled so bad...being in a confined area on the plane is not good. I was seriously worried and sweating bullets at this moment. Would we even be able to catch our plane? Or would we be stuck in the restrooms when it was time to board? I really didn't know at this point. I was scared.
When it was finally time to check our luggage in, we went to the area for Southwest and found this...
Self assist. Where are the humans that know what they're doing? Give me humans. I don't want to press 1 for English. Just give me some service please. I'm in pain. Excruciating pain. Don't make me endure more.
Sigh. We used these terminals to check in Sakari. Then the hubby...then...I had to use the restroom. Screw this. Off I went, doubled over, wondering if it's too late to find a change of clothes from our luggage before checking it in.
I made it back and went back to the self-serve check-in. Machine after machine wouldn't work. They would tell us to move on to another. Some of them would print our boarding passes, others wouldn't and we had to have the person at counter that took our luggage print them. They really need to work on this process.
Sakari was "starving" and starting to get cranky about it. We had seen a BBQ place right by the doors. Honestly, the thought of putting something like that in my already tore-up stomach just wasn't appealing to me.
We walked down to one end of the building...nothing.
We walked down to the other end of the building...nothing.
Are you serious? This is the ONLY place to eat here? The one thing I did find, after-the-fact, was the HUMANS that were checking in Southwest people at the end of the terminal. Ugh! I guess the idea is to place to self check-in as you walk in the door so that you will use that first. If not, you'd have to walk down to the regular counter at the end of the terminal. Ya gotta work for it!
We ask a lady about other food options. She said the BBQ place was the only place. Sigh. Back to the other end of the terminal we went...only stopping once on the way to use the restroom...while Sakari had puppy dog tears in her eyes because she was wilting away from starvation and I had dog tears in my eyes because I was starting to feel dehydrated at this point.
We made it to the BBQ place: Pappas Bar BQ
Even though my stomach was killing me and I couldn't stand the rumbling of my stomach turning, I still felt hungry.
The hubby had a pulled pork baked potato
I had a pulled pork-HOLD the bbq, and fries
Sakari wanted mac & cheese and cole slaw, but also had some of my sandwich.
A couple more trips to the restroom and it was hard to walk at this point. TMI but I couldn't even wipe either. It was a dot dot dot dab dab dab. OMG...seriously. This was getting worse by the minute.
We checked in and headed on the people mover escalator. The quicker we got there the better we'd be and honestly, the least amount of walking and moving my legs, the better off I was.
Poor Sakari's face was peeling now. But her belly was full.
When it was time to start boarding the plane...I bet you all can guess where my hubby was? Stuck in the restroom. My heart was beating fast, I was sweating again, I was determined to get on that plane! Sakari was starting to whine because she was afraid daddy was going to get left behind. I assured her if he didn't come out before we got on, we would save him a seat and he would be fine. Right as we walked up to hand them our boarding pass...the hubby ran up behind me. Whew...that was close.
We had a "delay-over" in Georgia...ha! NOT! The first restroom after getting off the plane, the hubby went in. I told him the gate number and told him we were heading that way and I would text him when they started boarding. (You see, we only had 45 minutes I think it was before our plane was to take off. They always board about 30 minutes before take off. NOT GOOD!).
We headed all the way down to the end (from gate 24??) and then had to turn right and head all the way down to the end (maybe gate 4???). I seriously thought I was going to make it. I really did. But not, my stomach failed me. Into the restroom I darted and texted the hubby to let him know where I was and just how far the terminal was. I told him "Run Forest Run".
I was coming out of the restroom doubled up as he was coming down the hall quickly. They were already lined up and getting on. We jumped in line and on we went. I told him...We are getting the VERY last seat on the plane right beside the restroom...and we did.
We took off and the sky was beautiful. I sat in the aisle seat, so pictures were hard to get and I wasn't really putting much effort into it. But this sky was the most amazing thing I had ever seen from up there.
Have you ever seen anything like this? It was amazing!
The plane was still ascending and I told the hubby...I have to go. I have to go now. I unbuckled my seat belt and as I got ready to get up, the steward said "No!" and pointed down. I told him, there's no "no" and if I didn't go to the restroom right now, there was going to be a pretty big mess to clean up. He actually rolled his eyes at me and turned around.
I got up and headed in...where I didn't think I would be able to get up. I crossed my fingers that there wasn't anyone waiting in line outside the door after some time passed. Thank goodness there wasn't.
I tried to sleep the rest of the way to take my mind off of it. I found that the more still I was, the better I felt.
We got closer to home and I could see the city lights. I was so happy to see the lights if I had the strength, I would have jumped up and down.
YES! We are within minutes of landing! I couldn't wait.
We landed, headed to the restroom and then down to get our luggage. Caught the shuttle when we felt that our stomachs could settle long enough to make it to my car. Drove home with only the hubby saying he had to go, but was going to hold it.
I arrived to a birthday cake, 2 cards and flowers from my youngest son at home.
Thanked him and headed to the restroom.
I would spend the next week attached to the restroom. Thank you NCL for the parting Norovirus gift. I appreciate it. :p
I hope you enjoyed the review and until next time...