It was 5.30am when the alarm blasted out in the grey dawn light outside our bedroom window. But I did not, as usual, drag my feet getting out of bed. Today we were setting off an another fabulous holiday, flying to Miami, Florida and staying overnight, before joining Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth tomorrow afternoon.
I showered, shampooed and blow-dried my hair before dressing in white jeans, a t-shirt, denim jacket and shandals. After finishing packing and securing our suitcases, we brought them downstairs, along with our carry-on rucksacks, and left the house around seven o’clock to drive to Newcastle Airport.
On the way, the roads were busier than we expected for the time of day, and there was a lot of starting and stopping along the A1. It took us about 40 minutes to drive to the airport, and we made our way around to the long-stay car park and found a space, before locking the car and trundling our suitcases along and into the terminal building.
Newcastle Airport was very busy indeed, the busiest we had seen it for a long time. It should have been no surprise really, on the run-up to Easter Weekend. Whole families stood in queues at the check-in desks, ready for their Tui, Easyjet or Jet2 flights.
We found the British Airways desk and joined the relatively short queue. We had allowed plenty of time today, because we could not check our bags all the way to Miami due to the fact that our Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow was not on the same booking at the BA flight, which we had booked ourselves independently. It meant that, on arrival in Heathrow, we would have to collect our luggage in Terminal 5, then take the train to Terminal 3 and re-check in at the Virgin Atlantic desk.
We then made our way to security. Usually, at Newcastle, this is fairly quick and straightforward, but the queues were massive. It was not helped by the fact that hardly any of the x-ray scanning machines were open and staff at the airport were thin on the ground. You would have thought that they would have had extra staff and extra machines operating during a peak holiday weekend season. But no – the queue moved as slowly as possible, even stopping for several minutes at a time as there was inevitably someone who was trying to carry things onto the aircraft that were not permitted, or the scanner was unable to identify an object in their bags.
To cap it all, the one working scanner decided to pack up, so the queue grew even longer as they moved everyone over to another scanner, which then took more precious minutes to warm up. Several people in the queue were starting to get restless as the time ticked over closer to their flight boarding times. As we neared the front of our queue, a belligerent couple pushed their way to the front, complaining that their Easyjet flight to Bristol was “taking off in 15 minutes” and they were going to miss it.
Eventually, finally, we were through the queue and out the other side. It was 8.40am, and the departure board told us that they would have gate information at 08:55, in 15 minutes’ time. We therefore decided to go into Bar 11 and have a cold pint of Guinness each, while watching the aircraft taking off and landing through the large, floor-to-ceiling windows. 🙂
We took our seats at a high table and stool; we could see our aeroplane parked on the tarmac, cases and supplies being loaded onto it. We also spotted other aircraft; a Jet2, a RyanAir and an Aer Lingus. It certainly was busy today. We could also see a much smaller aircraft which we couldn’t identify, so I used the zoom on my phone camera to take a photo so we could read what it said on the side. It was a Kuwaiti Air Force aeroplane, and we wondered if the current goings-on in the Middle East had anything to do with it being there.
A few minutes later, we saw the Easyjet flight for Bristol slowly taxiing its way to the runway, and taking to the air shortly afterwards. We wondered if the bolshy couple we’d seen earlier had made their flight. 🙂
Once we’d finished our Guinness, we took another look at the departures board, which was now telling us to proceed to gate C3, which we did. As we arrived, the boarding started, so we joined the queue, walked along the airbridge, and soon we were sitting in our port-side seats with a window from which I could see the aircraft wing.
We took off on time, roaring along the runway and gaining height, from which we could look down at the houses and the roads and the River Tyne meandering below us. Soon we emerged above the clouds into a brilliant blue sky. Once we reached our cruising height of 27,000 feet, the captain switched off the seatbelt signs and we looked out of the window at the white cumulus clouds below us, looking as if they were made of fluffy cotton wool. 🙂
Presently the cabin crew staff came around with a breakfast flapjack for each of us, accompanied by a 250ml bottle of water.
The flight to LHR takes about an hour and 10 minutes, and soon we heard the words “cabin crew prepare to landing” as we fastened our seat belts once again and looked out of the window with interest. It was around 10.50am when we landed and reached the arrivals gate, and waited for the doors to open before we could de-plane.
As everyone disembarked the aircraft, we followed the crowds along, heading for the Baggage Collection point. We were pleased it was an internal flight so we didn’t have to go through passport control and customs.
We didn’t have too long to wait for our suitcases, then it was just a case of finding the way to the train that would take us to the other airport terminals. When we arrived, the platform was fairly empty, which told us we had just missed a train.
Fifteen minutes or so later, we spotted the headlight of an incoming train as it slowly manoeuvred into the station. We boarded and, as it was only one stop along, Trevor just stood with the cases while I took the empty seat next to him.
On arrival at Terminal 3, we found the Virgin Atlantic check-in desks but discovered that they were the self-checkin ones; you have to scan your passport before answering some questions by tapping the appropriate answers on the screen and then printing and attaching your own luggage labels. Then we printed off our boarding passes before making our way to bag drop, where our suitcases were weighed before being sent along the conveyor on their merry way to our aircraft.
The whole thing had been fairly straightforward and painless – now we just had security to get through before our time was our own. We hoped it would not take as long as it had at Newcastle! 🙂
In fact, security was a breeze, and soon we were through and looking for the bars and restaurants, as it was after 12.00 noon now and we were ready for something to eat and drink after our 5.20am start.
Many of the popular bars and restaurants had large queues outside them, and the airport seating areas were fairly crowded. We eventually found a place that had a vacant table for two, but when we saw the prices on the menu we weren’t surprised!
We ordered a “Ploughman’s Sharing Board” which consisted of fresh crusty bread, ham, cheese, pâté, fig chutney and celery. We washed it down with a pint of Guinness for Trevor and an Aperol Spritz for me. Fourteen quid for an Aperol Spritz!! It wasn’t even a good one – they’d been too heavy-handed with the soda water!
Altogether, for a lunchtime ‘snack’, it came to over 42 quid. Compare this to the “two for £20.00” lunchtime menu in a pub that we had visited recently at home, where I enjoyed a generous plate full of Hunter’s Chicken, and you can see that Heathrow Airport prices are an absolute rip-off!
Afterwards, we went to see if the queues had gone down outside any of the other bars but, if anything, they had increased. We therefore went into WHSmith, where they were selling those little 187ml bottles of wine, “buy 4 for the price of 3”. So we did. 🙂
Finding a general seat outside to sit at, where we could see the departure board, we each drank a bottle of the wine while I read, played games on my phone, watched the airport crowds and looked at the over-priced shops, just generally whiling away the time until the departure board announced that all those for flight VS117 to Miami had to proceed to the departure gate.
Our aircraft was an Airbus 333 and we found ourselves in row 47, literally just outside the doors to the toilets! We had the two left-most seats of the middle section, with a pleasant couple sitting beside us on the right-most seats. It transpired that they too were going on the Queen Elizabeth, and they told us it was their first time with Cunard.
Our seats were not really very good. From where we were sitting, we could not see any windows at all, reinforcing the impression that we were in a tin box. As the aircraft taxied to the runway, the captain came over the intercom to tell us that we were having to go the “long way around” to get into Miami, as today was the launch from Cape Canaveral of the lunar module Artemis II, and we certainly didn’t want to encounter them! This meant that instead of the usual 8½ – 9 hour flight time, we could expect to land around 9.00pm local time – a flight of over 10 hours’ duration. I suppose it should have felt like a short hop after our mammoth flight home from Tahiti in February, but it was just the thought of ten solid hours of flying, sitting in these uncomfortable, straight-backed seats. 🙁
Anyway… it was a long-haul flight. What more is there to say? Hearing a broad Geordie accent, we wondered who was on board from our own beloved North-East, and soon we identified the voice as belonging to a really friendly, canny little lass who was a member of the cabin crew. Just as we were about to ask her where she was from, she heard our accents first, and asked where we were from. “Durham” we replied (which is about 15 miles from Newcastle). She told us she was originally from Whitley Bay but was now living in Blyth, in Northumberland, which explained the broad accent. We started talking about football (everyone in the North-East talks about football!) and she confirmed she was a Newcastle supporter! When we gleefully informed her we were Mackems (Sunderland supporters) we couldn’t help ribbing her about our recent 2-1 win over our biggest rivals. Moreover, we laughed at the fact that she had to wear the Virgin Atlantic uniform of red and white! 😀
The time on the flight passed. We enjoyed a good main meal of chicken tikka masala washed down with white wine, and just spent the time as you do – exercising our feet and ankles, drinking plenty of water or orange juice, chatting with our neighbours, reading, looking at the sky map and counting down the long, long minutes. I was very tired after our early start, but was unable to sleep at all in our upright seats. While I never recline my seat out of courtesy to whoever is sitting behind me, the seats are usually at least shaped in such a way that you can put your head back and use a neck pillow, but these things were just ramrod straight, and had a head read that pushed your head forwards. Not great seats at all, and at times I leaned forward and placed my head on my crossed arms which were resting on my tray table. Still no sleep. 🙁
And so the hours continued to pass. When we had about an hour and a half to go, cabin crew came around once again with a cream tea for us, two small egg-and-cress sandwiches and a warm scone with strawberry jam and proper Rodda’s clotted cream. We chatted a bit more with the little Geordie lass and enjoyed our tea, and I asked her for an orange juice with a cheeky little vodka in it – a Screwdriver.
Afterwards, when all the stuff had been cleared from our tray tables, I leaned forwards once more and tried to sleep. I felt as if I was just dozing off when the aircraft light suddenly came on and the captain’s voice boomed out to tell us we would be landing at Miami International Airport at 8.50pm, slightly ahead of schedule, in about 40 minutes’ time. This news made us all perk up, as everyone on the plane came awake. We watched the sky map, noticing as the altimeter showed that the A333 was slowly descending, and soon the seatbelt light came on as we all took our seats and prepared for landing.
Eventually, we felt a slight bump as the big wheels touched down and the aircraft spend along the runway, slowly taxiing around to her gate. We had arrived! 🙂
Trevor and I were dreading the arrivals procedure into the States. We have been several times before and, because of the very thorough immigration process in the US, it usually takes us 2½ – 3 hours to get through. This would make it midnight before we arrived at our hotel, which would feel like 5.00am to us. 🙁
However, we were in for a very pleasant surprise. We were one of the first aircraft to land so the queues at passport control were not too large (most of the queue was behind us as other aircraft landed). A pleasant customs guy scanned our passports and checked our ESTA’s, then passed them back and said “enjoy your visit”. We stared at him… “don’t you want our fingerprints?” Trevor asked. “Not today, no” said the guy. We were surprised, but maybe they still had all our details “in the system” from our brief in-transit stop in Los Angeles a couple of months ago.
We therefore happily made our way to the luggage carousel, and it wasn’t too long before our two suitcases arrived. I had that slightly unsteady, disorientated feeling of still feeling as if I was on the aircraft, as if the ground underneath my feet was not solid.
Our cases didn’t take too long to arrive, and soon we were heading towards the exit, where we spotted a guy holding up a “Cunard” sign. He ticked our names off and pointed to some nearby seats and asked us to wait a short while; once he had eight people that was one mini-bus load to take us to the nearby Miami Airport Marriott Hotel.
Soon we were all on the mini-bus, for the final leg of our journey today. It was after 10.00pm (4.00am British time) and, while part of us longed for sleep, the other part of us was excited to be here, where our holiday would begin at last. 🙂
It only took a few minutes to get to the hotel, and Trevor and I were the first to check in. We were allocated room 206 on the second floor, and we thankfully made our way up there and dumped our cases and rucksacks in our spacious but plain room.
Then we hot-footed it down to the hotel bar. We each ordered a pint of Samuel Adams beer, and sat in a booth to drink it. It went down a treat and we contemplated ordering another, but it was 11.00pm now which, with the time difference, meant I had had nearly 24 hours without any sleep, or even being able to lie down. We decided just to go up to our room, and enjoy the other little bottle of wine we had bought in WHSmith at Heathrow.
However, once we got there and I saw my ‘jamas in the case, a huge wave of utter exhaustion came over me, and I just got undressed and crawled into bed, where I was asleep more or less immediately. It had been a long day.