We got up at 4:00 AM (7:00 AM Ohio time), in part, because I was anxious that we were going to miss our flight. The ship arrived in port at 6:00 AM and had to clear Customs before anyone could disembark. The cruise staff had warned Customs might not clear the ship before eight or after. Our flight was shortly after 10:00AM and I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to get off the ship and go to the airport and through security in time. I wanted to make sure that we were first in line for everything. I had paid for “Priority Access” and that paid off. We got everything together and we were at the assembly area for Priority Access passengers by 6:00 AM. Priority Access passengers would be allowed to leave the ship before others. But we were allowed to leave the ship by 6:30.
We took our luggage and scooters to the area where the cruise line had arranged for an airport shuttle. I explained to the terminal security person that we were supposed to get on the shuttle, but, first, we had to return our scooters. She said that we could just park them, and they would be picked up later. She said that’s what everyone does. We called and left the scooter rental company a message telling them that we had dropped off the scooters. We got on the bus and were on the road to the airport before 7:00 AM. I was ecstatic. We were not going to miss our flight.
In fact, we were so ahead of schedule that we did some waiting at the airport. We had originally been booked on American Airlines for a return flight even though the trip was booked through Alaska Airlines. I had tried to check-in the night before but was not allowed. I got a message that said our reservation was not eligible for online check-in. It looks like Alaska moved our reservation and that was why it was not eligible for online check-in. When we arrived, we encountered an outdoor Alaska check-in agent right where we got off the bus and were able to check-in promptly and get electronic boarding passes. That was better than I feared based on my online experience the day before. We walked a long distance in the Seattle airport to get to our gate and I was getting very tired and sore in the knees. I can’t walk that long distance at a brisk pace carrying luggage without getting short of breath and joint pain. But we found our gate, sat down, and had a snack and settled in to wait for our flight to board.
A robo wheelchair
The airline asked for volunteers to check their overhead bags because the flight was full. It was free and privileged us to board the airplane sooner, so we agreed to do that. We all have aisle seats as we had requested. Unfortunately, Jane got the short end again because a 300 pounder was in the middle seat next to her. He insinuated that he was hoping that she would switch with him. She did not:) the flight home was relatively uneventful, and it was about an hour shorter than the flight to Seattle from home because of the tailwind heading east. There was no Wi-Fi, and so I was forced to read on my Kindle app, but the reading was boring. We had only had about four hours sleep the night before, and I thought that I would be sleepy, and I was. But I couldn’t sleep on the plane.
Bag swells at altitude
When we got to Cleveland, we had to walk to the baggage return and wait. I was getting pretty short of breath again, and Jane got me a transport chair. Our bags appeared promptly, and we walked to the shuttle area to be returned to the parking lot. While we were on the cruise, I had a panic attack because I couldn’t remember where I had put the ticket to allow us to get to and leave our parking spot. I found a ticket which was the one the shuttle driver had given us when he picked us up and which was the ticket we were to use to get back on the shuttle. I relaxed when I found that, but I didn’t think about the fact that I didn’t find one of those tickets you get when you check into a paid parking lot that lets the attendant, or the attendant machine, know when you arrived to park your car. Another panic attack. We all searched my bags thoroughly and couldn’t find a ticket, so I just decided to go to the gate and see what happened. The mechanical attendant asked for a code or to swipe the credit card we used to get into the lot. None of us remembered which credit card was used, but I tried my usual and got an error message. The attendant arrived and swiped my card and it worked. Hooray! We were on our way home. Stopped at Five Guys for a delicious (compared to cruise food) cheeseburger and fries, headed home, and chilled.