I then went to the Captains corner in the Pacifica Theater, where three of the senior officers answered questions about the inner workings of the ship, life on a cruise ship, etc. I was ready for some sun, and I spent about 90 minutes by the pool. I downed a Corona and two pain killers. Not a pill. It's a cocktail with dark rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, coconut syrup, and a dash of nutmeg. Hey when the beverage package costs $76 a day, you have to get your money's worth. And you can't do that on water, coke, coffee, and tea.
Lunch was only going to be in the solarium, I didn't want to eat in Windjammer, didn't want to eat in Minstrel either. It was s going to be one last roast beef sandwich with horseradish and mustard on the kummelweck roll.
2 pm marked an exciting event. The Love and Marriage in the Pacifica theater, for 18+. Couldn't wait for that one. The three couples who were selected had been married 1 month, 36 years, and 46 years, respectively. It was hysterical. The younger guy was a bit of an ass on stage, basically implying he had no annoying habits. Well I could see one right there. But he got a hot wife so... Anyway, the older two couples were great. The women had no filters at all. Just a great time.
I finished most of my packing and then played 90s music trivia and went 20 for 20. OK granted, I did not know the song Closing Time, but enough people around me said the name out loud where I was able to write it down! One last general trivia, and then dinner with a Mediterranean app plate, braised lamb, and an excellent peach berry trifle.
Music was what I wanted to hear on my final night. In Colony Club, I listened to some jazz, but then it was 45 minutes of Dixieland. The band was amazing, it was a 4 piece horn section, piano, banjo, bass, and drums. Man I could have listened to that all night, it definitely got my NOLA vibe going.
The Mardi Gras party in the Centrum was fun. The four piece band played great 50s and 60s music most of the week, but this time, they even did a great version of Free Bird with only one guitar! Hundreds of green and purple balloons fell from the ceiling as the part carried on for about an hour.
I listened to Nathan in King and Country play guitar for about another half hour. Thought about karaoke, but it was just too much. A little more classic guitar from Andres in a quiet Schooner Bar, and that was it for the night.
Departure day, oh my goodness. We grabbed a quick breakfast, and took our bags down to the 5th deck, where the gangway is located. We prepared to grab a cab, go right to the airport, and get the earliest flights to Charlotte that we could before going on to our respective destinations. However, the wonderful security team of RC had other ideas. We had to scan our pass cards to leave. I got through fine, but mom didn't. Apparently it was reflecting an unpaid credit card balance and they insisted she go down to Guest Services to clear it. The problem was she had a new card mailed to her and hadn't had a chance to activate it yet. Well there was no way she was going downstairs to resolve this and wait in line again to depart. We were put on the phone with one of the security big shots and they even tried to convince me to go down alone and pay the balance. No effing way.
After the guy on the phone hung up on my mother out of frustration, we just left. We got off with our luggage, did the whole passport scanning process, and began a walk down a long corridor to get to the taxi stand. But on the way, a guy holding a sign that said Airport $15 stopped us. It caught our attention. Next thing we know, for 15 bucks per person, we're sitting in a minivan with five others and on our way to MSY.
Check in and security were super easy to get through in New Orleans. We got to our gate about a half hour ahead of schedule. I had actually listed myself for a 10:57 flight, but we were there for the 9:44. Mom then asked me to get her a coffee at Starbucks. So I'm on line, and all of a sudden, out go the lights. I've been flying for 40 years, and this was the first time I was in an airport that experienced a power surge.
So we got to Charlotte, pulling into Gate C10. Mom was going to Phoenix at Gate C14 and I was going back to Raleigh, my gate was C12. So if we stood in the right place, we could monitor both standby list screens. Super strange situation. Despite the terminal being packed, we had a good feeling about my flight because with some weather issues in the south, flights were getting delayed and people were missing their connections in Charlotte. Plus, only 4 standby passengers were listed for my flight and I was #2. Not bad for a mid morning trip.
Phoenix did not look so good for Mom though. She was #10 on the list and after both jump seats had been assigned, 4 standbys had been given seats. Sure enough, I boarded my plane, and I was sitting in seat 31B on my flight when she texted me a picture of seat 35C. So we both made our flights.
I Ubered back to mom's house to get my car and on the way home, I stopped at Harris Teeter, because I was in the mood for my first pizza in 2 weeks. I guess my cruise diet was still in effect for the rest of the day. Home Run Inn with pepperoni.
