Mardi Gras: Debarkation Day

By
Saint Greg

October 11, 2021

Good morning! Today is debarkation day so sadly I have to leave the ship. There are so many things to do and eat on this ship that I really think you need to be here for two weeks if you want to do everything.

My neighbors are well-trained now.

I’m going to tie up a couple of loose ends here before I leave my room. This is the channel guide for the TV. I believe it’s the same disappointing lineup I had on Panorama.

The only channel I ever watch is the Ocean View channel. That one has some cruising shows I watch at home on Saturday morning like Ocean Treks, The Voyager, and Vacation Creation. The nice thing here is they are back-to-back and commercial free.

I’m going to cycle through the ship cams as well.

They are calling self assist, which is people who are carrying off all of their luggage, by muster station.

The first call is at 7:06am for muster station A6.

Someone is coming.

It’s Carnival Conquest.

At 7:45 they call B6 and B7 for self assist.

7:55: F7 and luggage tags 1-3.

If you like this hair dryer you can purchase it for $40–Used.

8:10: B8, E6, E7 and luggage tags 1-8.

I have luggage tag 6 so I can get off of the ship now. I have an afternoon flight so I’m going to take my time.

It’s 8:30 so I’m heading out of the room. I stripped the bed to hopefully help the steward out.

8:30: C7, C8 and luggage tags 1-15.

Despite my YouTubeTV app not working for a couple days, HBO Max did work. I fell asleep watching Hard Knocks last night.

If you want Big Chicken on debarkation day you need to get it early. It’s closed but I see some dishes around indicating it was open.

8:45: D7 and luggage tags 1-25.

8:50: The captain announces they have begun refueling. No smoking anywhere. No use of electronic devices outside. Be prepared for that if you’re a smoker. They expect it to last until the ship sets sail. They said the same last week.

I’m going to have a couple cups of coffee before I leave.

9:00: All guests GET OUT!

I finished my coffee so I’m going to head out. There are still quite a few people chilling in the buffet. I’d say I saw 100.

9:30: The captain says get the heck off! Not in those words but basically that’s what he said.

If you are using your birth certificate you get in the left line. If you are using a passport you stay on the right side. Passport is definitely the longer line.

I just saw a lady with a passport in her hand walking down the birth certificate line so some people aren’t following directions.

Customs isn’t bad. It was Carnival workers with facial recognition software. I didn’t have to give my passport to anyone. I never had anyone walking by us with drug dogs or anything. I guess if the software said there was a problem they would send you to the real customs people which are over by the birth certificate line.

One lonely bag at luggage tag six.

To summarize my timeline: They called all guests at 9am. I waited until 9:30 to exit the ship. There was no line until I got halfway down the ramp in the port. I had my bag at 9:50 and was outside at 9:55.

They do have bathrooms out here.

I am looking for a ride to the airport. Lyft is $80 and Uber is $90. I saw this sign so I asked what they charge. It’s $30 for a shuttle and it’s on its way here now. I’m not in a hurry so I went ahead and bought that.

They sure didn’t make it sound like it was going to be a 30 minute wait. I do have three hours until my flight so I should be okay. One of these is mine I think.

Uber/Lyft are still 90/80 so waiting it out wouldn’t have helped the price.

They put us in the smaller van and really packed people in. It was worse than the collectivo station in Playa Del Carmen. I’m riding shotgun so I’m good.

My police escort arrived. There’s quite a line to get into the parking garage.

I found this picture on social media. It looks like there are some upset people who booked GoPort. Their shuttle broke down. I believe they had a new one in 30 minutes but some people ordered Uber/Lyft instead.

I made it to the airport in plenty of time.

There’s a girl in front of me with a hula hoop. I wonder if you have to check that or if it’s carry-on.

We’re standing in line for awhile. Finally the guy working it says “this is only international.” A bunch of people, myself included, were in the wrong line.

I figured I would print my tags.

I am gate 56.

At the bag drop line the lady in front of me got to the front, looked back at me and said “the rest of our party is behind you.” I was just shocked that she didn’t say “why don’t you go ahead of us so we can be with them.” She instead wanted me to let five people behind me go in front of me because I guess they’re more important than I am.

I was stunned. I didn’t say anything. They just walked around in front of me. I still got to go ahead of them because they weren’t prepared. They had to search through their bags for paperwork. I had mine ready so the lady called me up to the other side while they looked for theirs.

I’m through security. There was a slight delay when a suitcase got jammed in the machine.

And we have to take a train to the gates.

I was just in the worst airport bathroom ever. One urinal and two stalls. We are in one of those areas that branches out into four different areas so there are four of these bathrooms here. But I’m used to big airports having big bathrooms that can accommodate many people.

I’m at Ruby Tuesday for a burger and a beer. Tulane was beating #2 OU but OU just tied it up.

I have time for one more.

My flight is boarding and this game is over.

I stuck this in my pocket this morning at breakfast and forgot about it. I pulled it out at security. I’ll return when I go on Panorama in a few weeks.

As of last night the window seat was booked and the middle seat was empty. I was hoping it would remain that way but someone booked the middle seat. Who wants to book a middle seat by yourself?

I already charged my phone up but we do have USB available.

The flight attendant comes around for beverage service. I get a Diet Coke. It’s one of those where they give you the full can along with the cup and a cookie.

The other two in my row were both asleep so she didn’t offer them anything. As soon as I pop that can it wakes the one next to me up.

I pour my soda. She starts looking towards the front of the plane. I’m thinking “I hope she knows someone up there because I really don’t want to get up with all of this stuff right now.” Besides the bathroom is behind us, genius. Not way back in the back. Like our seat backs are up against it.

Surely she’s going allow me to finish this soda and throw the can away prior to making a bathroom move.

After a few of these looks up to the front she says something to me. I pull out my headphones which aren’t really playing anything to see what’s up. She needs to go to the bathroom.

So I pick up my cup of soda with my right hand, I pick up my can of soda with my left hand, I pick up my cookie between a couple of fingers. I push the tray table up with my elbow and lock it with my pinky. I stand up and maneuver around the armrest trying not to spill any soda. When she figures out where the bathroom is and goes in, I sit down and chug that soda.

I see the flight attendant coming up the aisle with the trash bag. I’m ready to just toss everything. Of course she can’t get to me before it’s time to let my neighbor back in the row so I carry it ten rows up and toss it before sitting back down.

I got my bag at carousel 25. I saw a guy there with a Mardi Gras tag on his backpack.

I parked at The Parking Spot this time because the shuttle service seems better than the places I’ve been parking. I went with south instead of north because it’s cheaper. I’m walking down to the courtesy van pickup and here comes the north shuttle.

No more than two minutes later here comes south!

Now in that two minutes I had to explain to this girl that each parking lot or hotel has its own courtesy van. She’s standing out here thinking there’s a purple shuttle owned by the airport that just takes everyone to their hotels. Crazy.