03 Apr

Day 1 – The Eternal Day of Travel

The day was finally here!  When you book a cruise like 15 months before you go, it’s painful!  And of course, in that amount of time I was so worried that something would come up that would make us have to cancel!  But it was finally here!

We left our house at 8 am and drove to a friend’s who lives near the airport in Denver.  She was keeping our car while we were gone and we were so thankful!

We got to the airport way way early!

Here we are!

And here is my amazing suitcase! Kelly has this in pink and I loved it! I knew I would be adding some great stickers on this trip! 

While we were waiting, we heard we were delayed. Wuh oh! We were meeting Erin in Chicago and only had a 50 minute layover!

We weren’t on the same itinerary so technically they could make one of us leave without the other. And let me just say, if I got on a plane to Europe without my niece and left her in Chicago, my sister-in-law would murder me.

Mur. Der.

I texted Erin and told her to start crying if they told her she had to get on a plane without us.

I heard someone behind me say they had United rebook them on another backup flight to Europe in case we didn’t make it and I decided that was a good idea. I walked down there and she booked us a backup flight as well as linked us all together in case one of us made it and the other didn’t!

They couldn’t get three seats together on the second flight, but they could do 2 and 1! Thank you, United!

We didn’t leave too late, so we were going to make it! But then we heard Erin wasn’t. Oops.

We boarded and I bought Wi-Fi onboard. And thank goodness I did, because Disney Cruise Line decided to announce all of the upcoming changes to the Wonder while I was in the air! Considering they announced two new ships while I was under anesthesia, I’m beginning to think they have it out for me.

We landed in Chicago with about 20 minutes before our flight which was only 5 gates away! But Erin was delayed even further! Oh well, we checked in for the later flight and went and got some lunch! Pizza!

A little while later, Erin came up the stairs! We sent this to her mom for proof of life!

We had about an hour before that flight left. Then suddenly we had 3 hours. And then 4 hours. Wuh oh.

The excitement of leaving started to wear off…

I debated changing flights a few times, but I couldn’t decide. Who was to say another airline wouldn’t have the same problem? And what if we switched and ours made it out!

After the four-hour delay was finally announced, I got in line at the customer service center. She found me a flight on Delta and said she could switch us. Then she realized they were delayed too! Shoot! But it had more promise at that point so I said, go ahead. I was the only person in line when I got in it. While she was switching us, I turned around and saw what had happened behind me. Holy, line!

I turned back around and said, “Oh no, what just happened?!” She looked at the line and said, “Oh my goodness, I don’t know!” I said, “Well let’s find out before I get out of line!”

She checked her computer and said our United flight was finally going to make it out! Ack!! Change us back!!! So she did! Phew.

She said we would have to check in again at the gate. We had about 30 minutes before we were supposed to take off. I went and grabbed the girls and we went down to the gate. We checked in and they asked why we weren’t sitting together. I told them we lost our three seats together after the first flight. She said she’d get us three together. Yay!

I was starting to realize we had a real problem with the transfer company picking us up in London. We were now going to be about 3 hours late and they would only wait 1 ½. I emailed them with no response. Shoot, how could I call London? I know! Skype! I downloaded the Skype app and bought a $10 credit. I called and told them I’d be late and I had a new flight number, and they said it was no problem.

Now I worried about my parents. They were shuttling with us and were already in the air. I messaged them and hoped they would find Wi-Fi to check their phones when they landed. We’re on!

What the what? Our new seats were in Economy Plus! Yay!

Stephen, who was flying in the next day, may have been a little bitter that the 5 foot two-ish women had extra leg room.

So much snap chatting was happening:

The guy in front of me immediately put his seat back. Before we left!! And never put it up! And no flight attendants told him to! Seriously, dude?

Oh well, I did have extra legroom!

We ended up leaving at almost 10 pm. We kind of hoped we may sleep better because we were leaving when it was actually close to our bedtime. They turned on the lights and served dinner at 11:30 pm. So, no sleeping then!

We didn’t have a great movie collection, but I watched Cloverfield before I tried to go to sleep.

I despise sleeping on redeyes. And to make matters worse, something was wrong with my overhead light. It kept randomly coming on! Once every 20 minutes or so it would just pop on and aggravate me and everyone around me. So annoying!

They turned the lights back on about an hour before we landed to serve us breakfast. I ended up getting about 3 hours of interrupted sleep. It was better than nothing I suppose!

The First Ever British Isles Cruise with Disney Cruise Line!

Day 1 – The Eternal Day of Travel 
Day 2 – Staying Awake in London! 
Day 3 – Back to Harry Potter World
Day 4 – Boarding Day
Day 5 – First Sea Day!
Day 6 – Newcastle! 
Day 7 – Invergordon and the Search for the Loch Ness Monster 
Day 8 – Kirkwall 
Day 9 – Sea Day Part Two 
Day 10 – Edinburgh (A City to Which We Must Return)
Day 11 – Liverpool!
Day 12 – Dublin 
Day 13 – Sea Day Part Three 
Day 14 – Sobering Day in Normandy 
Day 15 – Last Day – Guernsey