Since the goal was to have everyone on board by 3:00 PM for a 4:00 PM departure, we decided to head back to the queue at 2:30. The line was significantly shorter, extending just past the exterior of Terminal 2. We could see a couple heading for the line coming from the opposite direction. They were further away. They must have just arrived at the terminal and dropped off their checked luggage. Far more daring than we are arriving 15 minutes ahead of the suggested "be on the boat" time. But they had a greater distance to reach the back of the line than we did so we wouldn't be "last in line" for long. (Fact is neither were they.)
He was average height, brown hair, jeans and a striped polo shirt. No distinguishing marks. I couldn't pick him out in a lineup. She was a different story. She had on bright blue tights, boots, an assortment of necklaces and scarves, a floppy straw hat over her long dark hair, over-sized sunglasses and a winter coat. They took their place in the queue behind us and she promptly threw her coat on the sidewalk and plopped down on it. She expected to be there far longer than I did. She was also expecting worse weather, or she'd come from a cold climate. (Turned out they were from Texas, so I guess the winter coat was just about being prepared.)
The line was moving, so she picked up her coat grabbed her carry-on luggage and moved forward with the line. They hadn't been behind us long when she asked us if this was our first cruise. "No, it's something we try to do every year." Turns out it was their first cruise. "You're going to love it. It's great! Everything is right there. No worries about driving or getting lost. You don't get groped by TSA agents. It's really good value for money." Then we found out that they were on their honeymoon.
Great plan for a honeymoon. Then she told us that she had some wine in her checked baggage. She asked us if that would be "okay". "You used to be allowed to take a bottle on, but I'm not sure if that's still the case." Turns out it was a gift from her favorite uncle, who advised her to cellar it for 20 years but she didn't want to wait. But it crossed my mind that when you have questions about what you can and can't take on board, your best bet is to check the web site for the cruise line or the air line or what ever line you're traveling. But she seemed convinced that the worst that could happen was that they might take her bottles of wine away. She didn't seem upset. Why wouldn't she be upset? No matter what it was, if it was a gift from my favorite uncle, I'd be unhappy if someone took it away. (I was unhappy that they took some of my curry sauce away at the airport and it wasn't even a gift.)
We made idle chit-chat with them, mostly about things you can do on a cruise when she disclosed that she'd packed her passport in her checked baggage. She asked me if that would be "okay". Good grief!! No! It won't be okay. It will be a major pain in the patootie, or worse. You brought a winter coat "just in case" but you don't have your passport?? But I sure didn't want to rain on her parade so I told her the story of the first flight I booked after Mark and I got married and how I'd booked it in the name of Elliott even though that wasn't the name on my passport. Of course I'd realized my error a week or two before the flight and called the airline to figure out what to do. I had to present my marriage certificate along with my passport when we went through security. Not a big deal.
The porters were reminding everyone to make sure they had not packed their passports and boarding documentation before taking the bags. She said no one mentioned that. I suppose it's possible that one person out of 3200 didn't get asked. If I were her husband I would be concerned that I'd just married an idiot. But I said nothing. We've all made stupid mistakes, and most of us have made stupid mistakes that were costly. Mark assured her that Royal Caribbean would be doing everything humanly possible to sort it out. After all, if they weren't on board, they wouldn't be spending any money, which is not in the cruise lines best economic interest.
After we passed the first turn in the security line, I noticed that they were no longer behind us. Mark said that he'd heard her explaining the situation to the woman minding the gate and they'd been pulled out of the line to resolve the problem.
The next time we saw them they were sitting at the back of the roped-off security area. We had completed all the checks and had been issued our boarding cards. It was nearly 4:00 PM. I asked them how it was going. She said they told her they'd have to find and pull her bag, but it had been nearly an hour and she didn't think anyone was actually looking for it. We smiled, offered a bit of encouragement and told them we'd see them on board.
We never saw them again. The romantic in me would like to think they boarded and spent the entire week on their private balcony. But that probably isn't what happened.
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