Time never stops , nor it slows down for anyone. some days just happen , when you wake up and see yourself chasing against it !! trying hard to make ends meet , make it a simple seamless planning leading to a beautiful journey.
On Thursday July 2 ,How we 6 wished it to be one such day , where everything falls in places and we are on our way to the cruise,from LA to mexico , booked a month earlier .but time plays its own game.. so here it goes how it ALL happened.
The cruise: The carnival imagination was a dream trip we 6 had planned since 1 month . after i have joined back office , i hardly get any time to relax, and i had this perfect vacation plan in my mind wherein i would just hang out in the deck all the time ..with the mojito in my hand and lazying around , spending quality time with Td and having fun with dear friends !!
The Day July 2nd:
Me and Td were ready by 7.30 in the morning and we all had to reach LA by 5PM max in order to catch the Cruise , heading to Ensenada, mexico.we had planned for picking up the the rented car from San Jose airport and drive till LA and then board cruise. All was set ,
tickets :Done
passport:Done
food: Done
water : Done
shopping: done 😉
But Time !!?? unfortunately Not done..
Because of some unfortunate events the earlier night one of the other couple were not able to make it in time and we were almost 3 hrs late . Finally we were able to start by 10.30 PM.
Time : Around 11.15
We already had started and were near San Jose ,
Td: “check in map how much time it will take to reach Long beach from Sunnyvale”
Me: “It says maximum 6 hrs and 42 mins!!”
Td: “We cannot make it to the cruise”
Other friends : Seriously !! 😦
I was in the front seat of the car along with td , when i heard this i looked back .. everyone was dissapointed . i could see everyone was disheartened, and for me My first cruise dream was about to be shattered..After some moments of reflect …
Td: “only one way is there !! lets take a flight , please some one check the flights”
I was thinking “What is this happening !! this cannot be happening with us!. “
everyone was looking at each other for a possible explanation of the whole situation .we had to decide quick if at all we were deciding to take Flight To LA.with mutual consent ,all of us decided to book the tickets!! as there was no other way to catch the cruise.
Time 11.20
One of the friend checked in his mobile and there was no flight from San Jose to LA
Friend 1: “wait!! there is one flight at 1pm from SFO to LA!! “
Friend 2: “Td can u make it to SFO airport by 12 !!!??”
Td: “First lets book the tickets , i think i can make it!! we have 1 hr in our hands. Hopefully we will reach the airport by 12 “
The dormant engineer minds of all of us started to take over us and it followed a series of actions .we all worked together and started to look for ways around this situation we were pushed on to.
We managed to book the tickets by 11.45
Time 12.06
Friend 3 : Can we make it ?
me: “Time is running short !! checking closes within 30 mins of the flight!! i am afraid we cant make it!! “
everyone was silent and a sense of helplessness hanging in the air.. one months planning of the trip was all going to disappear within few minutes , every one tensed and sad.we finally managed to reach the airport , but had to park the car in long term parking .. and as it was a long weekend every parking space was full!! we were rushed to a parking Lot D by the officials in the long term parking .
Time 12:17
With throbbing hearts and sweaty hands we rushed to the Shuttle that would drop us in the airport.
Time 12.19
Friend3 : to the shuttle driver: ” Man please can you drop us there faster ?? we are running late “
Driver: ” When is your flight ?”
Friend3: “1pM 😦 “
Driver : “oh Man !!”
But i must say the driver really helped us , he drove fast across the shuttle stops , only stopping for few seconds st every other Shuttle stops.
Time 12:24
6 people running in the airport to catch their dream of first cruise!! with thumping hearts and with bags ofcourse :p
The lady attendant at Delta: “Maam when is your flight ? “
Friend 4 and me : “1 pm !!!! please help us”
Lady attendant : “We have to do group checking as online checking is closed”
lady attendant to the boarding crew : “These people have a flight to catch at 1pm , can you help with the boarding pass !!”
Boarding crew: ” You guys are lucky to make it here , 6 more minutes and the window for boarding would have closed!! “
ALL of us: “Please help us to get the boarding passes!! “
Boarding crew: ” 3 more minutes !!!! ” ( he was telling this to the lady attendant printing our boarding passes).The lady was doing her best . after few minutes she gazed at us …
me thinking : “we missed the cruise !! ” 😦 the look in the eyes of the lady attendant said it all !! My dream of mojito in hand and wind in my hair was slowly slipping through my fingers .
Time 12:45
6 people , drenched in sweat and filled with anxiety ,But with a subtle happiness in their eyes.. guess what !!
We made it to the flight !! 😀 (The lady who did our boarding pass was in fact looking at us , at our helplessness and my panic stricken mind had read it all wrong .)Finally we boarded the flight that took us from SFO to LA in 1hr 30 mins. It was like one moment we were driving fast in one of the busiest weekend of the year and another moment we are flying high through the clouds to reach to our destination. That day even God would have been puzzled with the coincidences and chances we took and best part is our lucks worked !! (though it never much works for me in earlier situations :p )
Journey was not finished yet . we had to book a cab from LA to Long beach where the cruise would start.
Time 5:03
a group of 6 people happily posing in-front of the Cruise Ship !! , the carnival of imagination ,, which would take all of us to experience their ultimate dream of cruising in Atlantic to reach the magical land of Ensenada.
Now when i think of it i cannot decide which of it made this journey this memorable .The chase against time to catch the flight to LA or the ultimate experience of living over the water for 3 days !! what ever may be it .. it was one hell of experience.
3 days of ultimate pleasure, with loads of awesome food and some unlucky attempts in casinos made it a perfect relaxing cruising experience.
P.S : Sadly I didn’t had any Mojito! , but a cup of coffee surely made up for it.
namrataTanmay
yehzindegi 