4th Time Lucky Day 2 We’re Home

[karalma]

8.12.21

We had a good sleep, waking at 7.00 and giving enough time to get ready at a leisurely pace. Alix wasn’t quite ready at our agreed time of 8.30 but she wasn’t much longer. As we weren’t familiar with Gatwick we had to look around for the BA desk and were surprised to find it with quite a long queue. Once at the desk the verifly check was easy. Alix was not happy when she realised her bag was already heavy and she would have little space to bring anything home. I don’t know why she hadn’t weighed it as we had but apparently that was Darren’s fault.

Next up was the dreaded security. I don’t worry about this as I used to but even after all these years I never seem to know what to do. At one point the immigration officer shouted that we needed to listen. I think this could have been directed at me. Alix was stopped at the metal detectors but she always is so we don’t worry about this now. At the other side Darren’s tray was through followed quickly by our electronics. And then Alix and I waited and waited and waited some more. Everybody else was walking away and we were starting to worry. Eventually Alix's bag came through. We then saw the tray Alix and I shared on the other side of the barrier so we knew it was going to be searched. Still we waited and still there was no sign of my bag. Eventually an immigration officer came across to our tray and I went with him while Alix waited for my bag. I expected the tray to be searched as others were being but he just took me round the other side and put the tray through the x ray again. I told him I was missing a bag and he reassured me they would find it. The tray came back through fine so still no idea why it hadn’t the first time but I wasn’t about to ask. At this point Alix came over to say she had my bag so I told the officer and thanked him. There was hardly anything in my bag so still no idea why it was held up but it was very stressful. Maybe the officer at the start thought I looked flustered, which I was.

This now only left us 45 minutes to visit the No 1 lounge instead of the relaxing couple of hours we were hoping for. It was still enough time for a nice breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, beans and potatoes and Darren added sausage. Alix and I could have requested vegetarian sausage but we didn’t want to wait for it to be cooked. The pastry selection was disappointing with mini pain au chocolat and mini chocolate muffins but Alix had brought a tub to add a couple for the plane. Would we fly from Gatwick again? Darren and I definitely would as it was straight forward and good to relax on the train instead of driving. Alix didn’t like the longer journey but I’m sure she would be happy to if the price was right.

At 10.30 boarding was opening so we left the lounge planning to call for sandwiches in case Alix and I didn’t like the vegetarian meals we had ordered but we didn’t pass anywhere on our way to the gate. There wasn’t a large queue and we were soon through the checks, even though I was pulled for an additional security screening. I had expected this as it wouldn’t let me save my boarding pass when we checked in, but it was quick and easy. Our seats weren’t the best, being a couple of rows behind the baby stations and we did miss the bubble on Virgin's 747s. Our cabin was about 70% full and the cabin at the back was around 30%. We familiarised ourselves with the entertainment and all agreed the screens were much better than Virgin's. Lunch was vegetarian lasagne and fruit for Alix and I which was surprisingly nice. Darren was offered chicken or the vegetarian lasagne so he chose the chicken but wasn’t keen as it came with couscous. He also received a small pot of chocolate, which we shared. We amused ourselves in the usual way with reading, music and movies and before we knew it tea wasn’t being offered. Alix and I received some type of chickpea concoction and an oat bar. The oat bar was ok but we didn’t enjoy the chickpeas. Darren was offered a choice of sandwiches, turkey and cheese or cheese and onion and he chose the cheese and onion which he said was delicious. He also received a mini crunchie bar which he swiftly passed to me. I couldn’t understand why Alix and I couldn’t have been offered the cheese and onion sandwich as it is vegetarian. And apparently BA don’t think vegetarians like chocolate. We may cancel our vegetarian meals on the way back as we think we would have preferred the non vegetarian options as there was a vegetarian choice within these. It was lovely to see sunshine as we came into land, which was 15 minutes early.





Landing was a bit bumpy but we were soon off the plane, being close to the front. They wouldn’t allow anybody to leave their seats until their group was called to disembark which was a much better system than the usual free for all. Would we fly with BA again? Yes, if we were flying from London again we had no real preference between Virgin and BA.

This was our first time flying into Tampa and the airport was much quieter than Orlando. The immigration queue wasn’t long and moving swiftly until they decided to stop the visitor queue and allow all the US passport people through first. Our immigration officer was very friendly asking where we lived and worked. We were very surprised that he was aware of our small corner of the world but he had worked on his ancestry and had discovered relatives that lived close to us.

Next up was a delay we weren’t expecting. In the last few years, at Orlando International Airport and with Alamo, car pick up has been easy and quick. So we weren’t expecting the delays we used to have years ago. This year we had got a better deal with Avis but it looked like so had everyone else as this had the longest queue, which got longer after we joined it so we were once again pleased to be at the front of the plane. At the garage we had been allocated a car so there was no choice which pleased me but not Darren. We had been told we had an upgrade and Darren was happy to see a large Toyota TRD off road SUV. Fortunately Darren has learned to drive buses since we were last here so he had no worries driving this.

As soon as we were on the road we hit traffic on the 525 and it was at this point that we agreed we would not fly into Tampa again. But actually, once we were on the I4, the Xmas songs were playing and we were seeing familiar sights it wasn’t too bad. As this is our 3rd visit to Nirvana Villa at West Haven we had no dramas finding it and I think if the price was right again we would probably fly into Tampa again.

We were hoping for some Xmas decs on our villa but were sadly disappointed. However we were greeted by Santa and a Xmas tree once inside so we were happy with that.





After a quick look around we left to buy a few things at Publix, which of course, descended into a trolley full of things. Oh well, saves us coming back tomorrow. By the time we got back and had a snack I was ready for bed at 10.00.

[mick]

Good travel day

Joan

[Goldia]

After the stressful bag check at security at least the rest of the day went smoothly.

[katebush95]

Great travel day report 👍

[Florida1972]

Great start 👍😊