Get Me Out of Here!

The only thing worse than getting on a ship is getting off. People who opted to have their bags checked in by the porters when they arrived often choose to manage them on their own when they leave. Because it's difficult to haul baggage up and down stairs, the elevators are stuffed to overflowing and you will probably have to wait a long time to get one.

But I wasn't worried. Getting on with wheelchair assistance was a breeze. I thought getting off would be just as easy. The people who wanted wheelchair assistance were instructed to wait in the show lounge. It looked promising. After 30 minutes or so of waiting, some wheelchairs were brought in and we were instructed to raise our hand when our tag number was called. This was all well and good until my tag number group was called and there weren't enough wheelchairs to go around. I don't know how long those other people waited, but I waited patiently for about 10 minutes. (Keep in mind that I'd already waited 30 minutes for the process to begin and another 30 minutes waiting for my tag number to be called.) Then I told Mark that I did not intend to be the last person off the boat. I assured him that we could do this and we gathered up our belongings and headed out. My knee may slow me down, but it doesn't stop me. (Okay, there are some activities that it stops me - but this wasn't one of them.)

By that time our bag had been delivered to the baggage claim area and we headed for customs. The twenty minute wait wasn't really any longer than you'd wait in the airport. (Unlike the airport where they constantly change who should be in the line, the cruise terminal lines are clearly marked for people who have passports, non-US passports, and birth certificates. Unless you can't read English, there is no excuse for being in the wrong line.) Based on my last few trips through airport customs, this was significantly faster.

Then we discovered that we had to pay Texas state tax on the "duty free" items we bought. Clearly the Texas state legislature has no concept of "duty free". I'm really not sure what is going on there because I've bought duty free at airports and on airplanes and did not have to pay tax when I landed. Perhaps that has changed - it's been years since I made a duty free purchase on a flight. But it wasn't much and since we had waited so long to disembark, there was no longer a line at that window.

Once we were outside, I waited under cover until Mark could get the car. (It was parked blocks away and he had to fight the traffic and the people who couldn't read English.) I assume they couldn't read English because only people who couldn't read English would park where "No Parking" was clearly marked. Signs in Chinese might be helpful.

I could ramble on for a bit about the mom with the two little boys who wanted her to leave all their stuff and take them to the bathroom. (I volunteered to watch it for her.) Then there was the man who thought that the sound of his daughter squealing was something everyone wanted to hear. (Not!) Or the people who just couldn't manage to get their stuff in their vehicle and move out of the way. But I won't ramble any more. When it was finally our turn, we loaded up and headed out.

While it was raining (which seems to be the rule rather than the exception these days) it wasn't torrential, and we managed to get home well before dinner.