A Great Beginning

As I am writing this, I have just finished dinner onboard BA216.  The trip to the airport took about three hours because we stopped for lunch.  I arrived about 2 pm and the ticket counter opened up at 2:30.  My suitcases all came in at least 1.5 kilograms under the limit so I was pleased.  Took less than five minutes to get through security.  It was my first time in one of the full body scanners but I passed as did my carryon and 7 pound handbag!

I had two nice surprises in the airport.  First of all, one of the ladies that will be making the Southampton to Fort Lauderdale segment of the cruise found me in the airport.  We knew we would be in the airport at the same time but I was amazed she actually found me.  We had a very nice chat about the joys of retirement, cruising and some of our mutual friends from Cruise Critic.

My second nice surprise came at the gate.  As my boarding pass was being checked, the attendant crossed out my seat and wrote in a new one.  Turned out I had been upgraded to Business Class.  This is the second time this has happened to me on British Airways and it is a nice bonus!  The seats fully recline and there is a foot rest,  I can stretch my legs and not even touch the seat in front of me.  Their are so many buttons that I told the flight attendant I needed a User's Manual.  Sure enough, they had one.

Right now everyone around me is peacefully snoring and I, of course, am wide awake!

There are about four more hours until we land.

Smooth sailing until next time!