We woke up tied to the pier in Dover. Disembarkation day. I don’t have the best luck on debarkation day…
The last time the boys and I had a disembarkation day was in NYC in April as the end of our spring break Caribbean Cruise. That fateful morning in April, E-Koog had been sick all night and Mrs. Koog was getting ready to head to the front desk to see if we could get off early so as to not spread norovirus among our co-travelers. The 5am conversation went like this:
Mrs. Koog: “Koog, where are my pants?”
Me (still in a sleep coma): “I don’t understand”
Mrs. Koog: “I don’t have my pants. Where are my pants?”
Me: “I don’t understand”
Mrs. Koog (frantically searching drawers, closet, under beds and in backpacks): “I. DO. NOT. HAVE. PANTS. WHERE. ARE. MY. PANTS?”
Me: “You don’t have pants?”
Mrs. Koog (annoyed and amused) “Correct, I do not have pants.”
So, as to not duplicate this conversation as we prepared to disembark this cruise, I have emergency pants for all of us hidden in my backpack. I like to be prepared. I also don’t want to exit the ship in a foreign country wearing knee socks, hiking boots, a Wales football jersey and a used spa robe gifted to me by the staff. Only my lovely Mrs. Koog could pull off that walk with grace and style!
Today, the three of us had all the elements of our outfits and got dressed. As per the disembarkation directions, we were all packed and out of our stateroom by 7:20, a full 40 minutes before the 8am deadline. Unbelievably, as we were walking to the spot to wait until our disembarkation number (12) was called, our number was actually announced. Perfect! We made our way to the 3rd deck, through the terminal, through the non-existent customs review and to the holding pen for our transfer bus to Victoria Coach Station in Central London. It was there we would meet up with Mrs. Koog to finish our vacation.
Keeping consistent with the drama of boarding tour buses, this last one was the most ridiculous. A Carnival employee told the boys and I and the others in the holding area to follow her as our coach was coming into the port and she was taking us to the parking bay to board. We followed and stood at the front of the line. Until a woman, in her late 50’s early 60’s dressed head to toe in various shades of purple wearing a tee-shirt saying “Blessed by God, Spoiled by Husband”. Here we go again...
She was part of a party of 5 traveling together. 2 women and 3 men. The guys, perfectly mannered and polite. The women. Whoa. The woman dressed as Barney and her friend, dressed head to toe in gold, including gold knock-off crocs with gem decorations in the toe holes, pushed the boys out of the way, threw their luggage at the driver to put under the bus and ran onto the bus first to claim their seats.
Whatever. I’m not going to fight to be first; we are all going to the same place. But, I was more than a touch annoyed for pushing my kids out of their way. The boys politely handed their bags to the driver and boarded the bus. They chose the second row of seats on the right side of the bus. The purple dinosaur and her solid gold friend, after inspecting every row of the bus, were running up the center aisle as I was climbing the stairs to get seated. Obviously, I was choosing the seat across the aisle from my kids.
This dressed-in-Forever-21-purple-nutcase-woman THREW her backpack at the seat as I was sitting down. What. The. Actual. F?
Purple: “No, we sit here. We are a party of 5. Sorry, not sorry!”
Me (shocked and fuming): “Um, my kids are sitting there. I’m sitting here close to them.”
Purple: “No, I said you move back. My brother-in-law sits here.”
Me (boiling but quietly calm, the worst combination): “There are 5 of you. There are 4 seats in your row. Your brother-in-law can sit beside me by the window. I’m not leaving my kids.”
Purple gave an annoyed sigh that someone would not cater to her needs but realized she was not going to win so she just turned around and threw herself into her seat. Her solid gold friend said she didn’t want to sit next to these “rude kids“ but threw herself into the seat next to her purple friend. I was kind of flattered that she called me a kid. Seriously, I don’t think my kids even looked up, let alone spoke to her so I’m not sure what she was talking about when she said ”rude kids.” In the most perfect karmic retribution Purple, Gold, their husbands and brother-in-law were told to move out of the front row as there were handicapped passengers needing those seats. At this point, all the pairs of seats were taken so all 5 of them found single seats around the bus. Lucky for me, I had a seat by myself. Thanks, Karma!
The bus ride was uneventful. I put on my noise canceling headphones and listened to my favorite podcast “Adventures in North Wales” and fell asleep because I still feel horrible. The boys had their faces in their tablets and headphones over their ears for nearly the entire journey. Every once in a while, B-Koog would reach across the aisle and rub my arm. Just checking to see how I was doing. Sweet kid.
Finally, we are in Central London and very close to the Victoria Coach Station. Boys and I got our stuff back into our bags and enjoyed the very brief tour of the city our driver gave us as we arrived into the garage. We were very excited to see Mrs. Koog! Honestly, I was both excited to see my lovely wife, but also relieved that I was in the company of another adult! She jumped in to help with bags and organization. I think she could tell by my gray face and dark eye circles I was really sick.
We stopped at a bakery in Belgravia for a quick breakfast as the boys and I didn’t eat before we got off the ship. It was nice to be a foursome again. Exchanging stories from our respective adventures and just chatting was nice. It was only 10 days, but we are thinking this was the longest she’d been away from the little Koogs ever. They clearly missed Mrs. Koog, as did I.
The plan was to take the tube from Victoria Station to Hampstead where our last flat was located. Except, we could not seem to find the lift to take us and our bags to the Tube. We walked back and forth. And then back and again. And then again. I was far too sick for this backing and forthing and was fever sweating like I was the day in Dublin. We opted to get a black cab to limit my misery.
Our taxi dropped us in front of our flat. I could not be happier. Mrs. Koog had briefly mentioned there were some steps. I was not prepared for 6 FLIGHTS of steps. The flat was a maisonette, French for one room on each floor separated by 4,000 steps! We followed Mrs. Koog’s suggestion and left all of our bags in the room on the first level.
This trip has been fantastic, but sleep has eluded me since our last night in the Murder Pod, 10 days ago. After making the 6 flights of steps to our bedroom, I was so happy to find a comfortable bed and the master bath! Obviously, I plopped down on the bed and just enjoyed a brief respite of quiet and stillness for my aching body.
Since I was still super sick, I needed to do yet another COVID test. As a frequent host to COVID, testing was all too familiar as is the usual 15 minute wait for results. This time was quite different. I was getting my toiletries ready for a shower to wash off the cruise ship germs and sweat, I got the most immediate result I’ve ever had in my COVID testing history. In like 5 seconds, I was COVID positive. Unfortunately, I was not surprised.
At this point, B-Koog‘s health was also failing fast. He tested and in 5 seconds flat was positive. Yikes! E-Koog tested and was miraculously negative. Obviously, with 2 down, we were hunkering down for much needed rest, relaxation, food and family time.
Mrs. Koog and I sat in the family room of our flat and exchanged the gifts we got each other on our adventures. I traversed the 4 flights of steps and took a much needed nap. Mrs. Koog and E-Koog went to the local Tesco for some dinner and breakfast food while B-Koog and I slept the day away.
And so that’s how we spent the remainder of the day and the night. I did get up to eat, shower again (just felt good on my aching body) and load up on Night Nurse, the best name for night time cold medicine and Ibuprofen.
Hoping for a healthier tomorrow, for our final full day of this holiday.
The last time the boys and I had a disembarkation day was in NYC in April as the end of our spring break Caribbean Cruise. That fateful morning in April, E-Koog had been sick all night and Mrs. Koog was getting ready to head to the front desk to see if we could get off early so as to not spread norovirus among our co-travelers. The 5am conversation went like this:
Mrs. Koog: “Koog, where are my pants?”
Me (still in a sleep coma): “I don’t understand”
Mrs. Koog: “I don’t have my pants. Where are my pants?”
Me: “I don’t understand”
Mrs. Koog (frantically searching drawers, closet, under beds and in backpacks): “I. DO. NOT. HAVE. PANTS. WHERE. ARE. MY. PANTS?”
Me: “You don’t have pants?”
Mrs. Koog (annoyed and amused) “Correct, I do not have pants.”
So, as to not duplicate this conversation as we prepared to disembark this cruise, I have emergency pants for all of us hidden in my backpack. I like to be prepared. I also don’t want to exit the ship in a foreign country wearing knee socks, hiking boots, a Wales football jersey and a used spa robe gifted to me by the staff. Only my lovely Mrs. Koog could pull off that walk with grace and style!
Today, the three of us had all the elements of our outfits and got dressed. As per the disembarkation directions, we were all packed and out of our stateroom by 7:20, a full 40 minutes before the 8am deadline. Unbelievably, as we were walking to the spot to wait until our disembarkation number (12) was called, our number was actually announced. Perfect! We made our way to the 3rd deck, through the terminal, through the non-existent customs review and to the holding pen for our transfer bus to Victoria Coach Station in Central London. It was there we would meet up with Mrs. Koog to finish our vacation.
Keeping consistent with the drama of boarding tour buses, this last one was the most ridiculous. A Carnival employee told the boys and I and the others in the holding area to follow her as our coach was coming into the port and she was taking us to the parking bay to board. We followed and stood at the front of the line. Until a woman, in her late 50’s early 60’s dressed head to toe in various shades of purple wearing a tee-shirt saying “Blessed by God, Spoiled by Husband”. Here we go again...
She was part of a party of 5 traveling together. 2 women and 3 men. The guys, perfectly mannered and polite. The women. Whoa. The woman dressed as Barney and her friend, dressed head to toe in gold, including gold knock-off crocs with gem decorations in the toe holes, pushed the boys out of the way, threw their luggage at the driver to put under the bus and ran onto the bus first to claim their seats.
Whatever. I’m not going to fight to be first; we are all going to the same place. But, I was more than a touch annoyed for pushing my kids out of their way. The boys politely handed their bags to the driver and boarded the bus. They chose the second row of seats on the right side of the bus. The purple dinosaur and her solid gold friend, after inspecting every row of the bus, were running up the center aisle as I was climbing the stairs to get seated. Obviously, I was choosing the seat across the aisle from my kids.
This dressed-in-Forever-21-purple-nutcase-woman THREW her backpack at the seat as I was sitting down. What. The. Actual. F?
Purple: “No, we sit here. We are a party of 5. Sorry, not sorry!”
Me (shocked and fuming): “Um, my kids are sitting there. I’m sitting here close to them.”
Purple: “No, I said you move back. My brother-in-law sits here.”
Me (boiling but quietly calm, the worst combination): “There are 5 of you. There are 4 seats in your row. Your brother-in-law can sit beside me by the window. I’m not leaving my kids.”
Purple gave an annoyed sigh that someone would not cater to her needs but realized she was not going to win so she just turned around and threw herself into her seat. Her solid gold friend said she didn’t want to sit next to these “rude kids“ but threw herself into the seat next to her purple friend. I was kind of flattered that she called me a kid. Seriously, I don’t think my kids even looked up, let alone spoke to her so I’m not sure what she was talking about when she said ”rude kids.” In the most perfect karmic retribution Purple, Gold, their husbands and brother-in-law were told to move out of the front row as there were handicapped passengers needing those seats. At this point, all the pairs of seats were taken so all 5 of them found single seats around the bus. Lucky for me, I had a seat by myself. Thanks, Karma!
The bus ride was uneventful. I put on my noise canceling headphones and listened to my favorite podcast “Adventures in North Wales” and fell asleep because I still feel horrible. The boys had their faces in their tablets and headphones over their ears for nearly the entire journey. Every once in a while, B-Koog would reach across the aisle and rub my arm. Just checking to see how I was doing. Sweet kid.
Finally, we are in Central London and very close to the Victoria Coach Station. Boys and I got our stuff back into our bags and enjoyed the very brief tour of the city our driver gave us as we arrived into the garage. We were very excited to see Mrs. Koog! Honestly, I was both excited to see my lovely wife, but also relieved that I was in the company of another adult! She jumped in to help with bags and organization. I think she could tell by my gray face and dark eye circles I was really sick.
We stopped at a bakery in Belgravia for a quick breakfast as the boys and I didn’t eat before we got off the ship. It was nice to be a foursome again. Exchanging stories from our respective adventures and just chatting was nice. It was only 10 days, but we are thinking this was the longest she’d been away from the little Koogs ever. They clearly missed Mrs. Koog, as did I.
The plan was to take the tube from Victoria Station to Hampstead where our last flat was located. Except, we could not seem to find the lift to take us and our bags to the Tube. We walked back and forth. And then back and again. And then again. I was far too sick for this backing and forthing and was fever sweating like I was the day in Dublin. We opted to get a black cab to limit my misery.
Our taxi dropped us in front of our flat. I could not be happier. Mrs. Koog had briefly mentioned there were some steps. I was not prepared for 6 FLIGHTS of steps. The flat was a maisonette, French for one room on each floor separated by 4,000 steps! We followed Mrs. Koog’s suggestion and left all of our bags in the room on the first level.
This trip has been fantastic, but sleep has eluded me since our last night in the Murder Pod, 10 days ago. After making the 6 flights of steps to our bedroom, I was so happy to find a comfortable bed and the master bath! Obviously, I plopped down on the bed and just enjoyed a brief respite of quiet and stillness for my aching body.
Since I was still super sick, I needed to do yet another COVID test. As a frequent host to COVID, testing was all too familiar as is the usual 15 minute wait for results. This time was quite different. I was getting my toiletries ready for a shower to wash off the cruise ship germs and sweat, I got the most immediate result I’ve ever had in my COVID testing history. In like 5 seconds, I was COVID positive. Unfortunately, I was not surprised.
At this point, B-Koog‘s health was also failing fast. He tested and in 5 seconds flat was positive. Yikes! E-Koog tested and was miraculously negative. Obviously, with 2 down, we were hunkering down for much needed rest, relaxation, food and family time.
Mrs. Koog and I sat in the family room of our flat and exchanged the gifts we got each other on our adventures. I traversed the 4 flights of steps and took a much needed nap. Mrs. Koog and E-Koog went to the local Tesco for some dinner and breakfast food while B-Koog and I slept the day away.
And so that’s how we spent the remainder of the day and the night. I did get up to eat, shower again (just felt good on my aching body) and load up on Night Nurse, the best name for night time cold medicine and Ibuprofen.
Hoping for a healthier tomorrow, for our final full day of this holiday.
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