Day Two of Our Celebration and Travel

Today began with great excitement. We both were up early and ready for Jim, the driver, from Leisure Limo to pick us up. We had a terrific trip to the Tampa Airport. The plane to Atlanta took off , crew was funny-almost like a Southwest crew, and we arrived early.

Got to the Sky Lounge and enjoyed about an hour of peace and rest. Got to our gate and boarded the flight. All seemed to be going fine until the Captain came into the Business Class Cabin and said there was some sort of problem with the fuel  intake valve kept shutting down. It was controlled by a computer and the plane couldn’t be fueled. The tech people worked and worked but I guess we really do need fuel for the journey. As they came out of the cockpit each time they never smiled nor looked at the passengers so we knew something was NOT happening.

Then the air conditioning stopped working. It quickly got very hot onboard. The decision was made after about 1 ½ hours to have passengers deplane and wait in the gate area.  Almost immediately the crew with their luggage came off the plane- not a good sign! In a about 30 minutes they announced that we would fly on a plane that just arrived from Barcelona and they issued vouchers for dinner. Delta- always the soul of generosity- issued $10 vouchers.  We didn’t even go try to use them. As Leigh commented, “You could probably buy a coke and a package of chips for $10.”

We went to the new boarding gate and hopefully, after about another hour, we boarded the plane. The plane had not been serviced by the caterers and there was some sort of delay in the inspection of the plane required before it was flown back over the Atlantic.  Finally the Captain came around again. He tried and so did all the crew make this be as pleasant as possible. We sat, read, napped and prayed we’d get off to Rome.

Alas the Travel gods were not so kind. About 7:30 they announced that the crew had now worked the maximum number of hours the FAA will permit and we would wait for a new crew. Moments later they said the flight was cancelled and for all of us to go to rebooking and get hotel vouchers.  In keeping with the current trend toward polling about everything: in our family 45% would say air travel was great and 55% would say ( to quote Will Cheek) say air travel “sucks rotten eggs”. 

Not knowing what that entailed and being totally worn out, Jim and I asked for wheelchair assistance. What a good thing that was. The kind people got us quickly through that process without waiting in a long and very slow line.

Delta, once again being so generous, assigned us to the Marriott Gateway and gave us meal vouchers for dinner, breakfast, and lunch. The vouchers were for $6.00 each. Now what on earth could you eat for that?

The hotel lobby was lovely, the room was nice and we were thankful to at least know where we would sleep.  We ordered room service and ate dinner at about 10:15. We had burgers and wine and used the $12s in dinner vouchers. That leaves us owning $100.10 for dinner. What do families with children or folks with limited means do in times like this?

Our luggage stayed at the airport and Delta gave us little bags with amenities for our night. The note included said, “ We apologize for any inconvenience experienced. Please accept this amenity kit and know that we are doing everything to reach your destination as quickly and safely as possible. We appreciate your business and thank you for flying with us." The kit included a small toothbrush and toothpaste, a sort of hair brush, deodorant, razor and shaving cream, and a little white t-shirt for sleeping. 

Jim holds one of the lovely Delta Sleep Shirts

We would model the t-shirts but think it might frighten our friends and family, but here is how they looked.

The good news is that Bill, Michael, and Jack arrived right on time Saturday evening. Kate and Ethan’s plane was a direct flight and left on time so they should have gotten to Rome about 9:30 Sunday morning.  Kathryn, Will Christopher and Ella arrived in Rome about 10:00 and emailed from the hotel at about 11:00 Rome time. Leigh reports that as of this time on Sunday morning all the crowd had checked into the hotel.

Looks like we will be last to the party, but we’ll get there!