Day-18 (Nov 6) Arrival in Florida - Cruise is Over :-(

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It appears the final 4 blog sessions got "stuck" somehow in their system, so theyall 4 are being published again - please forgive if this is a duplicate notice for you.



Today we have landed in the “new world” but Columbus was probably more enthusiastic when he got here than we were (well he didn't actually get to Florida). The ship arrived in Port Everglades about 6:00 AM. It was a couple of hours before we were cleared to start debarking, so everyone had time to go for a final breakfast at the buffet. Since it was so much earlier than usual, David really wasn’t very hungry and only ate one plate full of food.

Getting off the ship was delayed about 45 minutes later than scheduled, but we had plenty of time in our plan to be able to collect our luggage in the terminal, go through US customer (nobody stamped our passports), find our bus, and get to the airport. The larger suitcases were slightly over the 50 pound limits, but nobody got charged for excess weight (no comment about how much additional weight we were bringing back on our bodies).

Surprisingly, the temperature in Florida was the coldest we experienced the whole trip. It wasn't uncomfortable (jackets weren't really required but some people wore them). But it speaks valumes about the wonderful weather we had throughout the trip.

The flight to Chicago left on time, but to our surprise it was continuing on to St Louis. However our tickets were for a different connection (4 hours later) and it would have cost $50 each to change flight at the last minute, so we just stuck with the plan. It did give us plenty of time for a lunch in O’Hare Airport, but now we are back in the land where you have to actually pay for the food - bummer!

The connection on to St Louis was successful. It turns out that our luggage actually came on the earlier flight and was waiting for us when we arrived. Valerie & Tessa came to the airport to pick up Janet & David. Katie & Christy came to pick up Kathy & Jim. So we all completed our wonderful vacation without any issues - except having to go back to the real life next week. Even being retired doesn't compare to being on this vacation.

We hope that everyone has enjoyed reading about our vacation. The final 4 episodes got "stuck" in the blog tool so they had to be republished the nest day - hope this doesn't cause any confusion. Janet & David have another trip planned for next Spring, so it will not be too long before they start planning another adventure (watch for another blog notice next May). Kathy & Jim do not have one planned right now, but they certainly enjoyed the trip and intend to do another cruise sometime in the future.

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