Our first Transatlantic… Boston to Barcelona to Miami updated 2/19/2016 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Our first Transatlantic… Boston to Barcelona to Miami updated 2/19/2016
Hello everyone. We have been back since October 1st but it’s taken this long to accept reality as life goes on here at home. We had a wonderful two weeks but I can’t say that things went as smoothly as I had hoped. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First a small introduction:
Daniel…my dear hubs worked so hard during the year to make this vacation happen. He’s a huge fan of cruising Disney and I can tell you this by the fact that this was our 2nd year in a row without a visit to the “World”. This was Disney cruise number 7 and I’m pretty sure his goal is Platinum.
Linda (me)…Also a fan of Disney cruises, I have been on no other lines so I can’t compare. I have the fun of making all the plans while dear Dan looks on and nods his approval. Between you and me I really don’t mind at all.
A little visual...Last years formal photo
As the title says this was our first Transatlantic. First time ever leaving from a port outside of the country. First ever flight to Europe. First time in a foreign country. Many firsts here. I did a lot of research and with some help from my dear friend Kris I managed to book flights, hotels, tours and even a restaurant. Dan and I met Kris and her husband Larry on our 2013 Eastern Caribbean Fantasy cruise. We had such a great time that it was only a matter of time before we planned on cruising together again. So I wasn’t alone in the planning but I have learned a lot.
On the afternoon of our 6:30 pm town car pickup on September 16th, I had to bring my mom to the nursing home that she would call home for the next two weeks. I had her packed and ready to go and we arrived a little after 2 pm. When we entered she was immediately surrounded by the nurses and aides that knew her from her previous stays. Some even requested her on their schedules which I thought was really nice of them. After 45 minutes or so she was settled, papers were signed and we said goodbye.
On the way back we stopped at Papa Geno’s for lobster rolls as I knew when we returned they would be a thing of the past until next summer. We were packed and ready to go and spent our last few moments playing with our ferret babies and Muffy our cat. I knew that Muffy would give us the, you left me attitude when we returned but I wasn’t sure our little fuzz babies would even remember us after two weeks. So needless to say as much as I was excited for our trip to begin I was already missing our babies especially the three little bears. Two little ones sleep while the third looks on
We put them all to bed with hugs and kisses and that’s when Dan went to get his shoes. They went missing. It would seem that our ferret babies had other things in mind. Ferrets love to hide things and Dan’s new sneakers were a perfect temptation. Around 20 minutes before our ride was to arrive the search ended, finally finding them under the bed in different areas. Crisis averted. Lol. The beginning of a hidey hole under our bed …pardon my dust
Our driver was on time right to the minute and before I knew it we were on the road and headed for Logan Airport. Our British Airways flight wasn’t until 10:30 pm. This was different for us because we usually couldn’t really sleep before an early 4:30 or 5 am pickup. We tried to sleep in finally getting up around 9am but our flight was 6 ½ hours and this would also be our first experience with jet lag.
We easily checked our bags and went through security. Now we only had a little less than three hours before our flight. We decided to grab a bite at Earl or Sandwich. I got in line and made our order also grabbing a couple bottles of Coke Zero. Dan found a table for us and I laid out our late dinner. I opened my Coke and bam…spray everywhere. All over me and my nice clean top. To make matters worse when I leaned into my sandwich I didn’t realize the paper had some mayonnaise on it so I got that on myself also. What else was going to happen? A little Disney Fix…Lol Jerk Chicken sandwich…not bad
I wish I could say those three hours whizzed by but it was nothing even close. Finally our flight was called and we wearily boarded. Now we only checked one large suitcase and had two carry-ons and one backpack. Dan managed to get one bag in the overheard bin but the second was a no go. These bins were so tiny not at all like Southwest. The flight attendant was very nice and found a place for my bag in another section of the plane. I admit I was a little nervous as I had my DSLR and other things that I just didn’t want to check.
This was called a sleep flight and on our seats were a pillow, blanket and headphones along with a disposable toothbrush and a teeny tube of toothpaste. In the headrest in front of us was a lovely TV screen with all kinds of wonderful movies to watch. Dan picked something right away but alas my headphones were broken so I had to grab someone who finally remembered I needed new ones. By this time Dan was halfway through his first movie. My luck.
I finally settled back and tried to watch Pitch Perfect 2, the optimal word here was tried. The row in front of us seated 2 small children and a dad. The smallest one was literally in a car seat strapped to the wall in front of him. They had all the legroom possible. The kids were quiet but the dad? OMG…the dad. He was up and down and when he was seated he was rocking forward and back. Which meant I was trying to see a movie that was bouncing like crazy before my eyes. I was so glad when we received a drink and a snack but the dad kept on rockin! I lowered my tray to enjoy my soda and snack, imagine my surprise when the thing would not lay flat. No matter how I tried it remained in a semi upright position which meant I had to hold on to anything that sat on my tray. I was beginning to sense a pattern here.
With my snack a faded memory and PP2 coming to an end I realized that dinner was being served. Dan had some sort of pasta that he said was really good while I had the chicken with an Asian flair that was also quite tasty. This was served with a little salad, a roll with butter, a glass of wine, some crackers and cheese and a very yummy dessert. We were both quite full and I frustrated to return to my bouncing movie screen. I was on movie number two Disney’s live action Cinderella while Dan was on number 3. All during these past 3 hours or so I kept seeing the same lady going back and forth. I must have seen her at least a dozen times by now. When the movie ended I chose to get some sleep. Dad was still jumping all over the place but I was too tired to really care. Just as my eyelids got heavy and I snuggled against Dan’s shoulder I was awakened by a very loud thud!
Next…Open your eyes Martin…Stay with us Martin!!!! Are you kidding me?
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Last edited by duck addict; 02-20-2016 at 01:07 PM..
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