Just Back from the Wonder...GREAT Cruise, Awful Flight!!!

[inkkognito]

Hubby and I returned home from the Wonder yesterday...or I should probably say "today," since it was after 2:30 a.m.
The cruise itself was spectacular. They shot off fireworks on the 4th, shortly after we left Nassau, choreographed to "The Star-Spangled Banner." It was a great display, including some of the shaped fireworks (there were stars and Mickey heads).
As an added bonus, when hubby and I returned to our stateroom after dinner, we caught a fireworks display from one of the resorts. We were in 5650, which is all the way aft, so it was a perfect position to watch. It appeared to be from the Sandals resort.
There was also a red, white and blue balloon drop in the atrium after "Till We Meet Again." The kids all had a blast stomping and popping those balloons!
We LOVED the new Palo menu...my new favorite is the eggplant carpaccio appetizer, and hubby loves the pistachio dessert (I must admit that it is delicious, but it couldn't tempt me away from the souffle). The filet special is now permanently on the menu. The only sad thing was that the sea bass is gone, due to being an endangered species. But overall the changes are very positive. We will be posting it soon.
The downside is that I got a sinus infection on Sat., and we had booked a late flight home on Sun. so we could bum around the Orlando area first. Our flight left at 8 p.m., and we almost made it to Chicago, but the storms prevented us from landing so we tried a different approach from Peoria. Before we could land, Midway was shut down, so we circled for a while until it was announced that we'd be landing in Rockford to refuel. I didn't even know they had an airport there with runways large enough for a stretch 757! We refueled and sat around for quite a while until we finally got clearance to return to Midway. We made it, but just when we were almost down, the landing was aborted due to a sudden tailwind! Back up, and then FINALLY down again. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that the infection caused massive ear pain every time we took off and landed, and that was two takeoffs and three landings for one flight!! Ouch!
When we got home at 2:30 a.m., we discovered that our building had been struck by lightning, knocking out the phone lines and destroying a t.v., several cordless phones, computer modem, and other assorted appliances. Thankfully the pets were all fine.
I am home sick today (I slept till 3 p.m.), and Tony took a vacation day to take care of the lightning mess.
What a way to end the trip! But the cruise was well worth it. Full details will be in my trip report, and Tony will be posting the Palo menu and new navs.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[AnnMorin]

I am glad that you are all safe and sound.. (except for lack of sleep) that must have been exausting,, between the storms and the infection... !!!

 

[Jeanny]

Hey Barb & Tony~
Welcome home (finally)... sorry to hear about the landing(s), and the lightning. Hopefuly, it can't get much worse. I hope you're feeling better soon.

Jeanny

 

[floridaminnie]

Barb I feel with you flying with a sinus infection. I did that this past Saturday and I ended up at the Dr's office today. I did a number on my left ear. Hope everything goes well with the house and you feel better!

 

[Michelle]

YIKES, Barb, what an awful way to end your trip! I'm glad that you had a FABULOUS time, though, and look forward to reading your trip report.

I had heard they were going to do those amazing fireworks on the ship...how cool you got to see them.

Hope you're feeling better soon!

 

[LAMPSKIES]

Hey Barb welcome back to Chicago......check out the ata fares.... they just e-mailed me the specials. 174.00 round trip for our Nov. 29 Eastern. That's as inexpensive as I have ever seen it. Looking foreward to your trip report.

 

[Mjasp]

Barb...Hope you are feeling better, I was wondering where you were. Haven't seen you posting in awhile. Sorry to hear about the lightening, thats scary.
Glad you had a great cruise though.

Joanna

 

[Pugdog007]

We had a lightening incident at our home a few months back. Make sure you contact your ins co before buying or repairing anything. Ours required us to get "lightening affidevits" for everything. And check every appliance and outlet! What a pain... I feel for you

 

[nicki dahling]

I hope you feel better soon Barb. Sorry to hear about the plane ride. I had a ear infection once while on a flight and after landing in Germany ( we were stationed there ) I couldn't hear out of one ear for about a week. That was the worst pain ever ( besides labor pain ). Can't wait to hear about the great cruise though.
Cyndi ( AKANickidahling )

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Welcome home! Can't wait for the report!

BTW, do you recall any of the new vegetarian offerings at Palo?

 

[Rock'n Robin]

Welcome home Barb! We had the Wonder all ready for you when we disembarked on the 3rd. We also flew home Sunday night--no problems from Orlando to Atlanta, but a lot of people in Atlanta waiting to go to Chicago who had been there for a few hours--and when we got to Dayton, people were waiting for a flight from Chicago that was 4 hours late!
The lightning looked pretty from the plane--until we had to drive home from the airport in it!
Robin M.

 

[woody64]

Welcome home to stormy Chicago. It has stormed at least once a day for the last 5 days. We are in Aurora and had a house in our subdivision get hit with lightning at 2:30 am.

Can't wait to see the new Palo menu.

woody64

 

[MrsG]

Welcome home! Sinus infections are awful, especially when you just want to get home and lie in bed.

Please let us know when Tony posts the new Palo menu and navigators. Thanks for all you do.

 

[moinab]

Glad you had a great cruise. Sorry about the aftermath, but it least it didn't happen BEFORE the cruise!

I was just saying to DH over the weekend that we should unplug everything before our cruise next week, in case of any severe storms. We will definitely do so, now!

 

[nu cruzer]

Barb, being in the western suburbs of Chicago myself, I've been hearing all the storm stories, mostly of downed trees. Nothing as bad as what you returned to. My advice, time to take another trip!

Keep the trip reports coming, they're great!

 

[Tracie Wallace]

Hi Barb:
Welcome back! I just got back from Chicago on Sunday. I got to experience your summer storms. I attended a wedding at Knapp Lake (I think that's the spelling) in Indiana where a summer storm had us hanging onto the outside canopies so they wouldn't fly away. We all got totally soaked, the wedding decorations were all over the place, and we actually set up the tables on their sides to act as a barrier to the wind. And people there call Californians crazy for having earthquakes!

Once we got back to Chicago, another storm hit. We had no electricity and no air conditioning - but lots of heat and humidity.
When we took off from O'Hare, we rocked and rolled in the plane until I thought the wings were going to fall off. And then I heard 2 more storms hit Chicago that day dropping golf ball-sized hail.

Please - no hurricanes when I go on my cruise!!!!!

 

[inkkognito]

I'm looking at it this way...after that flight, we're statistically due for a good one next time!
I spent most of yesterday in bed, so the infection was beaten down enough to allow me to drag my carcass into work today. I'm going to work on my trip report tonight...I have quite a bit of it done already (at least in longhand) because I worked on it in the airport and on the plane until turbulence and panic made writing impossible!
The trip was well worth the white-knuckle flying. When we were in Rockford, I told hubby I wasn't getting on another flight in the near future. Now, I'm already counting the days until our Labor Day trip.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Tracie Wallace]

Hi Barb:
Funny you should say that. While in air I was actually contemplating cancelling the cruise because I knew I didn't want to get on another plane in the near future. My last few flights have been HORRIBLE. Now it doesn't seem quite so bad. I just wish ... "Scotty, Beam me up!". However, even Dr. McCoy didn't like that.

 

[Cruise]

My DH is stuck at O'Hare as I type. The United agent so helpfully told us that if he could actually make it to Chicago, he would definitely make his connecting flight to San Francisco. However, since so many flights were canceled and delayed, he's still sitting there waiting for a plane to arrive that was due in 3 hours ago so he can make a connection.

This is the second time in 6 months that he's been stuck overnight in Chicago... doesn't seem worth the trouble of making connections through there anymore....

 

[inkkognito]

Yikes, Cruise...I hope your poor hubby made it out of Chicago!!
They showed O'Hare on television on Monday morning, and the crowd was unbelievable. I felt so sorry for those people...as bad as it was to divert and be delayed, I know we were very lucky compared to those poor souls. I felt bad for the people on our flight who had connections, too, and for the poor guy who was a third shift worker. He was on his cell phone with his boss explaining that he was stuck in Rockford at the time he was supposed to be showing up for work. Oh well, if the boss didn't believe him, there were over 200 people to vouch for him!
Midway didn't seem to be as bad as O'Hare overall, although the luggage claim was even more disorganized than usual. Bags from multiple flights were showing up in multiple locations.
Actually, I think that hubby and I have uncanny luck with flights. This is our second significant weather delay, but both times it occurred on the flight home rather than on the way to the ship.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com