This morning I woke up much earlier than needed. I eventually woke up at 6:00 AM so I could get breakfast before leaving the ship (and finish packing). The crew had already closed the steel door over the balcony door because the fuel ship was going to be alongside to refill the ship with LNG.
I ate breakfast in Cucina del Capitano again. There were not very many people in the restaurant at 6:30 AM. I ordered the vanilla French toast as well as the ingredients to make a breakfast bagel (toasted bagel, butter, scrambled eggs and bacon).
wine inside Cucina del Capitano
I walked around the ship just a little before hanging out in my room until my suitcase number was called. I was supposed to be out of my cabin by 8:30 AM and the luggage tag (7) was called well before then.
The LNG transfer ship was alongside fueling the ship.
I had to see how the sofa changed into a bed
I made multiple attempts to call the ATC tower to tell them I was going to be operating my drone, but they never answered the phone. In fact I believe they hung up on me.
I left the cabin at 8:26 AM and got in the line to walk off the ship. Since they use tablets to scan the barcode and to look at our pictures it was a quick process.
There was another line to get through immigration, the process was similar to getting on the ship with a facial recognition system. I didn’t need my passport and was through to get my suitcase very quickly.
queue to the facial recognition system luggage area
We all just walked through customs with no real check for items purchased while on the trip. I only spent about $50, so I was well under my $800 allowance.
I walked across the street to where a hotel was so I could fly my drone. I confirmed with the unfriendly people at the port that it was not their property, so they had no jurisdiction over me while I was not on their property. I have the FAA airspace authorization and therefore I have permission to fly over their property. I got some nice photos and videos. It was interesting to see a small open area on the bow for the crew.
I walked back to the cruise terminal to find the bus back to the airport. Luckily I booked the transfers through GoPort (Canaveral) because the line at the Carnival bus was very long. Both queues were outside and it was hot and humid. I’m surprised they haven’t thought about waiting areas in air conditioning for the new cruise terminals in Florida…
Eventually I got on the bus and arrived to the airport in plenty of time. I rearranged my suitcases to even the weight (plus I had my camera bag inside one bag and needed to take it out to carry it on).
The line at Southwest was very long, but it moved very quickly. It only took a few minutes to get checked in and drop my bags.
scary long, but fast
I ate a small lunch at McDonalds before going through airport security. I’ve gotten used to grazing every couple of hours. You never need to worry about finding food on the cruise ship.
I went through the TSA checkpoint easily and then took the tram or shuttle to my gate and waited until my flight was ready to board. I took advantage of the Wi-Fi to upload my Ropes course video to YouTube.
train to the gate
I managed to get an aisle seat. It wasn’t in the exit row, but still comfortable enough.
I got a bag of pretzels and a coke on the flight.
After landing at Hobby airport I got the shuttle to my car and then drove to Galveston to record videos of the new Royal Caribbean cruise terminal construction that literally started the day I left for the cruise.
