The day we leave the ship. Bye bye Marella Dream.
We only had hand luggage but of course we were dressed ready to meet the cold at Gatwick and I think this was the hottest day! We had breakfast and chatted for a long while to a really nice couple, had endless coffees and then finally it was 11 am, time to board the coach to Tenerife south airport. On the way to the coach we had to collect our cases from the terminal. We did that, they decided to send the first coach on its way and we were the first on the second coach. We sat there for over half an hour waiting for the others. Finally a rep came out and said a case had exploded in the terminal building! Having waited 40 minutes later than our departure time, our coach driver started the engine and we left. No one checked who was on the coach and the rep had just disappeared. We drove out of the port, two sets of traffic lights and then the driver had a phone call. Four people had been left behind and yes, you guessed it we had to turn back and collect them! There were people on the coach whose flights were due before ours, so they were panicking. I hope they flew off OK.
I can now say what an awful airport this is, it was chaotic and again no reps to tell us anything! We went through security and Mal was called back three times because of the contents of his rucksack and we still don’t know why. The last time he just emptied the entire contents out into the tray! The lady just kept shouting in Spanish for him to go back and try again! Then it was crowded we couldn’t get a seat when we finally made it to the “lounge”. It came up on the board our plane was delayed! The reason for the delay ….the air traffic controllers in France were on strike but we weren’t told any of this until we had been sitting on the plane for an hour! Yes that long. I then noticed that all the cases were being taken off the plane!
Meanwhile I was texting Rhys, possibly his busiest night of the year and he had put himself out to collect us from Gatwick, when he could be getting a lot of taxi fares!
We asked the stewards what was happening and they said they didn’t know! We told him to look out the window. Suffice to say another hour later, they admitted the baggage handler had messed up and then of course we had to make a diversion because we couldn’t fly over France. I think Mal and I agreed 2019 we will be holidaying in the UK!!
Rhys of course was waiting for us. Unbeknown to us it was his second Gatwick pick up of the day, in between his school runs and as soon as we were back he was straight out to Whitstable!! We collected my car and Ellie from his house and arrived home much later than expected, having left our cabin at 8am! Not a good end to the holiday. We were both so tired.
Thought for the Day – “Patience is a virtue, and I’m learning patience. It’s a tough lesson.” ~ Elon Musk
