NCL Escape August 6-14, 2016: Fabulous Faces at Sea The 2016 Craniofacial Cruise

[SmithAlien]

I just got back from my cruise on Norwegian Escape, August 6-14, Miami-St.Maarten-St. Thomas-Tortola-Nassau-Miami.

 

Here's my cruise review just published by CruiseCritic:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=543290&et_cid=2764671&et_rid=187945660&et_referrer=Boards

 

Now here is my detailed, photo-intensive trip report on my cruise that I hosted, called Fabulous Faces at Sea Craniofacial Cruise. Since there is a limit of 6 images per post, I will have to spread this out over a number of posts.

 

Enjoy my cruise report!

 

FABULOUS FACES AT SEA: THE 2016 CRANIOFACIAL CRUISE

 

CRUISE LINE: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)

 

SHIP: Norwegian Escape

 

DATES: Saturday 6 August--Sunday 14 August, 2016

 

ITINERARY: Day 1, Miami; Day 2, at sea; Day 3, at sea; Day 4, St. Maarten; Day 5, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Day 6, Tortola, British Virgin Islands; Day 7, at sea; Day 8, Nassau, Bahamas; Day 9, Miami

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

Last summer (2015), I came up with the idea to host a craniofacial anomalies theme cruise (I knew a family who were periodically hosting a group cruise for Apert syndrome families on Disney Cruise Line). Initially, I planned for it to be a group cruise for those people and families with Treacher Collins syndrome (as I have Treacher Collins syndrome myself). Treacher Collins syndrome is a genetic condition wherein the craniofacial bones and tissues fail to develop, leading to underdeveloped or absent ears, eye sockets, cheekbones, and jaws, as well as cleft palate, requiring many reconstructive surgeries and hearing aids, speech therapy, and often, tracheotomy (to breathe). I first threw the idea up on Facebook that summer, and quite a few of my friends (with TCS and other conditions) were interested. A travel agent, in Denver (where I was soon to move), connected with me via Facebook and expressed her willingness to help me plan this (since she had her own granddaughter with TCS as well).

 

After I moved to Denver that summer (from Calgary), I met with my new travel agent friend. She helped me start planning this cruise. She looked at the various cruise lines (Disney, Royal Caribbean, HAL, Celebrity, NCL, and others) and compared their ships, routes, amenities that our group might need (people with craniofacial anomalies need accommodations for their challenges), etc. We decided on Norwegian Cruise Line and their new ship, Escape, that was launching that October. She found an itinerary and pricing that would be the best value for our group (an 8-night eastern Caribbean itinerary) for early August 2016. Norwegian, in her opinion, would provide the best service and accommodations for our group and would be best able to provide emergency services if needed. Another friend of mine (the CEO of a foundation on whose board I had just been elected to be a board member) jumped on board, and provided advice to better organize and promote the cruise, including marketing it to a wider audience than just TCS. The travel agent told me about NCL's new accommodation for solo travellers, the Studio cabins for solo occupancy. With her help, I booked my Studio cabin on the NCL Escape for the August 6-14, 2016, eastern Caribbean itinerary. She and I launched a Facebook event page to promote it as the "Fabulous Faces at Sea: The 2016 Craniofacial Cruise".

 

Time went by, and we ended up booking 7 cabins (including myself, the travel agent, her granddaughter with TCS and her parents, and some more of their extended family and friends). Perhaps, due to the short time (a year) in advance of the cruise, more families or people had not had the time to plan or save up for the cruise. We decided to go ahead anyway with our small intimate group, with plans to offer the cruise again in future years with perhaps a biannual interval in between cruises to enable more people to plan and save. We decided that future cruises may focus more on adults with craniofacial conditions, rather than on families (which are already well served by the Children's Craniofacial Association annual family retreats).

 

In the spring of 2016, I finally paid the balance of my cruise reservation and booked flights. Since most of our group were in Denver, we decided to fly together on one flight and booked ourselves on the UA nonstop DEN-FLL roundtrip. We would fly to FLL the day before the cruise, stay together in a hotel there, then transfer to the Port of Miami the next day to board NCL Escape.

 

Just a week before the cruise, my foundation's board CEO offered to pay for my mother (age 91) to come on the cruise with me and my group. I was so thrilled to have her come along, so we agreed and booked Mom into an adjoining Studio cabin with a connecting door to mine. Mom would fly down from Fort Wayne, IN (FWA), where she lives, and meet up with our group in FLL. Mom was booked on an AA FWA-CLT-FLL routing arriving at nearly the same time as our group's UA DEN-FLL the same day. Mom and I were both thrilled.

 

NEXT POST: PRE-CRUISE HOTEL STAY, FORT LAUDERDALE

Edited August 17, 2016 by SmithAlien

[SmithAlien]

FRIDAY AUGUST 5: FORT LAUDERDALE, PRE-CRUISE HOTEL

The big day came. I awoke at 4am and was picked up at my Aurora, CO, apartment by my travel agent and her husband and we drove to DEN to catch our 8:13am UA flight DEN-FLL nonstop. The others in my group were checking their bags, but I managed to pack two small vintage soft leather Samsonite bags (one hand bag, one shoulder bag) for our 10-day-long trip which were small enough to put in the overhead or under the seat, so I had no need to check a bag (and avoided the bag fees). At DEN, we met up with the other members of our party--including the darling little 4-year old granddaughter with Treacher Collins syndrome, her parents, and another family they knew. It was an uneventful 4-hour flight from DEN-FLL, and we arrived at FLL at 2:13pm local. Whilst the others claimed their luggage at FLL T1 (I had carried my luggage on, not checked), I left my bags with them and went over to T3 to await my mother's arrival on the AA FWA-CLT-FLL. Mom's flight was delayed about an hour out of CLT; I texted my travel agent to inform her of the delay, so she stayed behind and sent the others on to the hotel. She came over to T3 to wait with me for my mother's delayed arrival. Mom finally arrived (with wheelchair assistance from the gate, as she is elderly and uses a walker), I claimed her suitcase from bag claim, and we all caught a taxi to our pre-cruise hotel.

 

Our pre-cruise hotel was the Sea Club Resort beachfront hotel in Fort Lauderdale, a unique Mid-Century Modern hotel amongst the chain hotels along the beach. We met up there, spent some time on the beach and had dinner at the Deck restaurant (a patio restaurant built onto the hotel). Mom went to bed, and I joined up with some of the guys and walked up and down the street along the beach and had drinks at one place. Mom got to meet everyone that evening, and we fellowshipped and shared stories.

 

Photo of me and my mother:

 

 

My travel agent (arranger and co-leader of our group) and her husband:

 

 

Her granddaughter (Emma) with Treacher Collins syndrome with her parents:

 

 

More of their family:

 

 

Lobby of the Sea Club Resort hotel, exemplifying Mid-Century Modern architectural style:

 

 

 

With great anticipation of our embarkation the next morning, we went to bed.

 

NEXT POST: EMBARKATION IN MIAMI

[Love.II.Cruise]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. We are taking this cruise next year. :D

[zteamtwo]

Sounds like a great group.

[SmithAlien]

SATURDAY AUGUST 6: EMBARKATION AT PORT OF MIAMI

 

The big day for our cruise dawned. We all got up (after sleeping in a bit). Since Mom had had her Aspercreme confiscated at FWA before her departure, I got her some (in a 3-oz tube) from the nearby CVS so she could still have her back relief. We gathered in the lobby and checked out, and waited for our transfer bus to PortMiami (the travel agent had booked it for our group in advance for transfer to and from the ship). It eventually came and picked us up and all our luggage. The bus drove us from Fort Lauderdale straight down to Miami, then through the tunnel underwater to the cruise ship terminals at PortMiami. During that ride, Mom and I caught up on what was happening with each other.

 

We arrived at Terminals B and C at PortMiami, which are used by Norwegian Cruise Line. Towering over the terminals was the megaship Norwegian Escape, our home for the next 8 nights.Our private transfer bus driver helped us unload our baggage. We proceeded through security. I breezed through, but my mother had her bag hand-searched. Once we got into the check-in hall, I requested wheelchair assistance for Mom, and the man in charge of that looked up her cabin number on a list. We were directed to a seating area for people waiting for wheelchairs, and after a little while, the man brought Mom a wheelchair. He escorted us to a check-in position on the opposite end of the hall. We checked in with our cruise documents, passports, credit cards (to link to our shipboard cards called Freestyle Cards), etc. Pushing Mom's wheelchair, our escort took us to a lift that took us up to the Jetway-style gangway which had glass walls (unlike most airport Jetways) through which we could see the ship.

 

Once aboard, Mom and I put our stuff in our Studio cabins (10525 and 10527, respectively), unpacked, went to eat lunch in the Garden Cafe buffet on deck 16 aft, and went upstairs to the adults-only SpiceH2O deck on 17 aft, where we found deck chairs astern to watch our departure from PortMiami.

 

Behind us were two Carnival ships--Glory and Sensation. Those two ships departed before us. Behind them was a third ship, which we could not identify. We departed Miami around 6pm, under mostly cloudy skies, sailing straight ahead (our bow was pointed outward, so we did not have to turn around in the turning basin). We sailed out past seaside neighbourhoods of large houses and towering blocks of flats (very expensive looking condos), into the clearer, bluer waters of the Caribbean (and into the mythical Bermuda Triangle).

 

My mother, sitting on the Spice H2O deck as our ship prepared for departure from Miami:

 

 

Alongside in Miami prior to departure:

 

 

Carnival Glory and Carnival Sensation, behind us at the adjoining terminal, departed before us:

 

 

 

We left Miami behind:

 

 

 

Later that evening, we joined up with our whole group to have our first dinner together in the Savor main dining room (there are three-Savor and Taste on deck 6 aft, and Manhattan Room on 7 aft).

 

NEXT POST: DAYS AT SEA, SUNDAY & MONDAY AUGUST 7 & 8

[SmithAlien]

SUNDAY AND MONDAY, AUGUST 7 & 8, DAYS AT SEA

 

The first two days after departure day were days at sea, so Mom and I and our group had plenty to do aboard ship.

 

On Sunday August 7 (the first full day at sea), as previously planned and agreed, Mom and I presented a seminar to our group in the Pacific Room, one of the meeting rooms on deck 6 forward near the library and atrium. It was a Q&A session, where the group had the opportunity to ask either of us questions. They asked me various questions about how I have lived and dealt with Treacher Collins syndrome and its attendant challenges (medical, social, etc) and what I have done with my life, in terms of my research career (I am a research doctor in craniofacial embryology) and my personal life (piano and violin playing, artwork, etc). Mom fielded questions about what it was like to raise me (and my other 11 siblings) with challenges.

 

A photo of our group asking me and Mom questions at the Q&A seminar in the Pacific Meeting Room:

 

 

While the ship was either at sea or in port, Mom and I found Spice H2O, the adult-only open air area on deck 17 aft to be our favourite place to relax and watch the sea go by or soak in the hot tub. At night, Spice H2O turned into a nightclub.

 

 

 

Nightlife at Spice H2O with some of my group at the Spice bar, including a photo of a tiny hitchhiker--a grasshopper that was resting under the canopy of the bar:

 

 

 

 

Every night, after Mom had gone to bed (retiring early due to her age), I would go out on the Spice H2O deck for evening and late night dancing and meeting new friends (especially some lovely ladies), who got to know me. Later on, we would go down to the Skyline Club on deck 7 aft next to the casino.

 

NEXT POST: MY EXPLORATION OF NORWEGIAN ESCAPE

Edited August 17, 2016 by SmithAlien

[SmithAlien]

EXPLORING ESCAPE: UPPER DECKS

 

During our days at sea, I took the opportunity to explore the ship inside and out.

 

Exterior photos (Margaritaville, waterslides, ropes course, pool decks and bars, sun decks, etc):

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT POST: WATERFRONT PROMENADE, DECK 8

[SmithAlien]

EXPLORING ESCAPE: WATERFRONT PROMENADE, DECK 8

 

The Waterfront, a promenade around deck 8, comprises the outdoor patios of many of the ship's specialty restaurants and bars:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT POST: EXPLORING ESCAPE, INTERIOR

[SmithAlien]

EXPLORING ESCAPE: INTERIOR

 

Later on, I explored the interior spaces of NCL Escape. I was amazed at what building materials were present in abundance all over the ship--stone floors, marble, brick walls, tile, glass tile, etc.

 

Atrium (deck 6, 7, 8 midships) with a winding glass staircase that glowed in different colours and a towering glass chandelier that also changed colours; some of the restaurants and clubs, as well as the casino and various shops and wine cellar bar, all surround the atrium:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT POST: EXPLORING ESCAPE: MORE INTERIOR SHOTS

[SmithAlien]

EXPLORING ESCAPE: MORE INTERIOR SHOTS

 

Other interior rooms and spaces I explored include the bars, clubs, shops, and casino.

 

Tobacco Road bar, deck 8:

 

 

Shops, deck 8 (jewelry, watches, photo, gift shop, clothes, you name it, there was a shop for it):

 

 

 

 

Skyline Club (deck 7 aft, next to casino): A favourite place of mine to meet new friends and dance each night (along with Spice H2O):

 

 

Casino, deck 7:

 

 

NEXT POST: EXPLORING ESCAPE: O'SHEEHAN'S IRISH PUB

Edited August 17, 2016 by SmithAlien

[SmithAlien]

O'SHEEHAN'S NEIGHBORHOOD BAR & GRILL: IRISH PUB AT SEA

 

There is even an Irish pub, on deck 7, overlooking the forward atrium! O'Sheehan's Bar and Grill was a favourite place of mine to eat alone late at night. It appealed to my Irish ancestry. On several evenings, I ate here alone, and enjoyed bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, and their prime rib special (twice). Did I mention I am Irish by ancestry (1st generation Irish-American), and I once lived in London, UK, for 3 years? Besides the bar and restaurant, O'Sheehan's also comprises a gaming area with a mini-bowling alley, arcade games, billiards tables, and even darts games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT POST: EXPLORING ESCAPE, MORE INTERIOR SHOTS

[SmithAlien]

EXPLORING ESCAPE: MORE INTERIOR SHOTS

 

Forward on deck 6 (overlooked by O'Sheehan's on deck 7), is the forward atrium, where performances happen daily and nightly. There is a grand piano down there, which I was so itching to play (I am a classical, jazz, etc. pianist, by the way). The atrium also provides a bar and bakery, and when Mom and I needed a place to relax indoors and read and listen to piano music, we sat in the sofas and chairs there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running lengthwise down deck 6 from the forward atrium to the midships atrium is an art gallery, displaying various artworks (representing many genres, old and new) that are offered for sale at the daily art auction. I am an artist, so I was able to appreciate the variety in genres of art. Mom and I attended one of the art auctions. Mom won a bottle of Champagne and a free artwork in the raffle there, and we both went home with plenty of free art prints.

 

 

NEXT POST: FURTHER INTERIOR EXPLORATION OF ESCAPE

[SmithAlien]

FURTHER INTERIOR EXPLORATION OF ESCAPE

 

Here are some of the restaurants aboard ship:

 

Le Bistro, in the deck 6 midships atrium, is the gourmet French specialty restaurant. I booked a table there for me and Mom for the last night of the cruise as a mother-son date (more on that at the end of this report):

 

 

Teppanyaki is the Japanese specialty restaurant next to Le Bistro:

 

 

Savor is one of the main dining rooms where our whole group ate together:

 

 

We also ate together one other night in the other main dining room, called Taste:

 

 

The Escape Theater is located on deck 7 forward (and this is where Mom and I had our muster station for the lifeboats).

 

 

The Supper Club (a dine-in theatre) is located on deck 6 forward:

 

 

NEXT POST: OUR STUDIO CABINS

[SmithAlien]

OUR STUDIO CABINS ON ESCAPE

 

Our Cabins: Studio Staterooms for Solo Occupancy

 

Studio cabins (staterooms specially designed for solo travellers) are available on Norwegian's largest ships--Escape, Breakaway, Getaway, Epic, and Pride of America. These cabins are located in an access-controlled (keycard entry exclusively for those booked in Studios) area.

 

Mom and I had adjoining Studio cabins on deck 10 Forward (mine was 10527, and hers was 10525), and there was a connecting door between our two rooms. Each cabin consists of a double bed (not a twin), and a private loo and shower. The room is space-efficient but cozy.

 

Here is my Studio cabin:

 

 

 

Here's my mother in her adjoining Studio cabin, with towel animals:

 

 

 

Hallway in the Studios section of the ship, with "porthole" windows (one-way, so nobody can see into the rooms):

 

 

The Studio passengers also have their own exclusive lounge:

 

 

I HIGHLY recommend NCL for solo travellers, because of the Studio cabins specially designed for solos, the Studio Lounge, and the other ways NCL go out of their way to accommodate solo travellers. Other cruise lines are just beginning to figure out ways to accommodate solos in single-occupancy cabins.

 

NEXT POST: FIRST PORT OF CALL--ST. MAARTEN, AUGUST 9

[SmithAlien]

FIRST PORT OF CALL: ST. MAARTEN, TUESDAY AUGUST 9

 

We made our first port call, at St. Maarten, on Tuesday morning. Escape docked at the pier, and a water taxi would take passengers from there to the city of Philipsburg. My mother was too tired to attempt going ashore (and worried, correctly, that she would have a difficult time getting around on the island with her walker). I went ashore at the pier and took the $7 roundtrip water taxi from there to Philipsburg, where I just walked around the city and shot many photos (a select few of which are below). I had wanted to go over to Maho Beach, the beach where airplanes make extremely low approaches to the SXM runway, but that was too far away from Philipsburg. While hiking all over the city, I picked up another memory card for my old Canon EOS digital Rebel (300D) as well as a wine protector for my mother's bottle of Champagne so she could pack it in her suitcase to go home with her. I also visited the Star Wars art gallery in one building.

 

Escape docked at the Philipsburg, St. Maarten, pier:

 

 

The water taxi:

 

 

Selected photos of Philipsburg:

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT POST: SECOND PORT OF CALL: ST. THOMAS

[SmithAlien]

SECOND PORT OF CALL: ST. THOMAS, US VIRGIN ISLANDS, CORAL WORLD & COKI BEACH, WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10

 

At our second port of call, St. Thomas, USVI, on Wednesday, our group took our private shore excursion to Coral World (a water park with aquaria and marine animal enclosures) and Coki Beach.

 

After getting off the ship, we met up at the place where our tour bus would pick us up.

 

 

We got on this type of bus (which seems common in the Virgin Islands):

 

 

We drove up winding roads up and down hills for a half hour or so until we reached Coral World and Coki Beach (which are located together).

 

The observatory at Coral World; this structure reaches down under the water to provide undersea views:

 

 

Here I am, in the observatory, with my little buddy Emma with the same Treacher Collins syndrome:

 

 

Coki Beach is next to Coral World, and I took the opportunity to swim in the clearest, most beautiful waters I've ever been in:

 

 

The iguanas were so friendly, they came right up to us and begged for food:

 

 

NEXT POST: THIRD PORT OF CALL: TORTOLA

Edited August 17, 2016 by SmithAlien

[SmithAlien]

THIRD PORT OF CALL: TORTOLA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, THURSDAY AUGUST 11

 

On Thursday we made landfall at Tortola, British Virgin Islands. While Mom was able to go ashore with our group the previous day at St. Thomas for the Coral World excursion, she opted to stay aboard ship for this port of call. So I went ashore.

 

As I was going ashore, on the other side of the pier from Escape was the RFA Wave Knight, a fleet oiler for what I assume was the Royal Navy:

 

 

I explored the city on Tortola, and here are a few select photos:

 

 

 

 

 

As I was returning to ship, I looked up and spotted my mother waving to me from a deck 6 window:

 

 

NEXT POST: DAY AT SEA, FRIDAY AUGUST 12

[SmithAlien]

DAY AT SEA: FRIDAY AUGUST 12

 

Friday was a day at sea, as Escape sailed from Tortola (the previous night) on to our final stop, Nassau, where we would dock the next morning.

 

Our group had a private ice cream social that afternoon (the ship provided us the Board Room and the ice cream for our gathering). Mom and I shared more of our experiences while fellowshipping with the rest of our group.

 

 

 

Me with my little buddy and her parents:

 

 

 

Mom and the rest of our group:

 

 

 

Later that afternoon, we socialized over drinks and lunch at the Margaritaville bar and grill on deck 17 aft.

 

NEXT POST: FINAL PORT OF CALL: NASSAU, BAHAMAS

Edited August 17, 2016 by SmithAlien

[SmithAlien]

FINAL PORT OF CALL: NASSAU, BAHAMAS, SATURDAY AUGUST 13

 

At midday on Saturday, we made our final port of call, Nassau, Bahamas. Mom and I had come here 15 years ago on our first cruise together--on Carnival Fascination's 3-night itinerary from Miami to Nassau roundtrip (when Fascination was on that route).

 

Mom and I decided to get off the ship together, since we remembered our previous visit here so long ago. As we walked slowly along the wharf towards downtown Nassau (Mom used her walker), we took in all the sights, and found the pier so much more crowded than we remembered from that first visit.

 

There were 5 other ships docked at Nassau's Prince George Wharf: Carnival Elation and Carnival Fantasy (both Fantasy-class sister ships to the aforementioned Fascination), Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas, Disney Dream, and Norwegian Sky. Our ship (Norwegian Escape) dwarfed all the others when we arrived. The pier was full, and accordingly crowded!

 

 

After fighting our way through the much denser crowds (than the last visit) and trying to figure out how to get around downtown, we got through the tourist area (where cruise ship passengers are funnelled through an entryway in a building and through a very crowded tourist-oriented market area), we happened upon Parliament Square downtown.

 

Mom and I sat down on a bench in Parliament Square, and next to us was a guy who started in on us asking us who we were going to vote for in our USA elections and he started speaking to us incoherently and demanding a "tip" for his "service" of "advising" us. He took our picture (with my Canon 300D DSLR camera, which he fortunately returned to me):

 

 

Mom had originally planned to sit there and relax whilst I explored the city on foot, but because of the insistent nature of the guy who accosted us, we quickly left. It was slow going for Mom with her walker on the rough streets of downtown, as we tried to find our way to the churches we had visited last time 15 years prior. We never made it that far, as Mom grew too tired to walk much further. So we returned to ship, and Mom decided to take a much needed long nap in her cabin. After returning Mom to her room, I went back ashore and did a more thorough expedition through downtown Nassau.

 

Here are some selected photos of my exploration of Nassau:

 

 

 

 

 

NEXT POST: LAST NIGHT OF CRUISE: MOTHER-SON DATE

Edited August 17, 2016 by SmithAlien

[Lorey2007]

What a wonderful review waiting for more.:)

[SmithAlien]

LAST NIGHT OF THE CRUISE: MOTHER-SON DATE

 

On this final night of the cruise, after we had left Nassau on our way back to Miami, I took Mom out for a "mother-son date" at Le Bistro, the French specialty restaurant (I had made a reservation a few days prior for tonight's dinner). This would be our special way of capping off our fabulous cruise vacation in which we had forged a closer bond as mother and son, with an exquisite dinner at this restaurant.

 

We dressed up a bit for tonight's "date". I had purchased a NCL logo polo shirt in the ship's gift shop Sandbar, and Mom had bought a black and white striped dress there.

 

We had the French onion soup as an appetizer, the ribeye steak for two (which was cut up for us at tableside) with vegetables and mushrooms was our entree, and our wine was a French cabernet sauvignon. Over this exquisite dinner, Mom and I just enjoyed talking and reminiscing and growing even closer together (we have always been very close).

 

 

 

 

After our lovely dinner date, Mom and I returned to our cabins to pack up and get ready for debarkation in Miami the next morning. Mom went to bed, and I stayed up a bit to explore the ship one last time and meet and dance with my nightlife buddies whom I had gotten to know (and who had come to love me) over the week for the last time.

 

Here are the last two pictures of our cruise, with Mom and the rose I had gotten for her a few nights prior. She was able to take the rose home with her, a piece of me and a memento of our cruise together. Yes, that is a beer bottle serving as a vase!

 

 

 

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: DISEMBARKATION, AND CONCLUSION

[SmithAlien]

DISEMBARKATION IN MIAMI, SUNDAY AUGUST 14

 

Our ship arrived early Sunday morning at PortMiami and began disembarkation upon clearance by US Customs. Mom and I got up around 7am, finished packing, and headed to our favourite breakfast spot--the Garden Cafe buffet (deck 16 aft). I took Mom down to the theatre on deck 7 forward, where those needing wheelchair assistance were instructed to gather for expedited, escorted disembarkation. After I left Mom and her walker there, I went back to our cabins (deck 10 forward) to retrieve all our luggage, and schlepped it all back down to the theatre. A ship's staff member pushed Mom in the wheelchair whilst I followed behind, as we debarked from deck 7 through the Jetway-style elevated gangway into the crowded, sprawling Terminals B and C complex, took a lift down to US Customs, and cleared through Customs with the appropriate declarations paperwork and passports and everything. Outside the Customs exit, we waited for the rest of our group to come out. Eventually they did, and Mom and I followed them to the center island in the car park to await our arranged private bus transfer. The bus came, we all loaded, and we headed from PortMiami up north to FLL airport.

 

Since my mother's flight was leaving before our group's flight, and she was flying AA (and we were flying UA), our travel agent instructed our bus to drop off me and Mom first, at FLL T3 (the AA terminal). I helped Mom get into T3, where we requested wheelchair assistance. Our escort helped Mom check in for her AA FLL-CLT-FWA flights, and we had to wait a bit longer to check in her suitcase (as it was over 4 hours prior to Mom's scheduled departure). Eventually Mom's bag got checked in (she was checking it as it contained her big bottle of Champagne). She was escorted to the TSA security checkpoint, as I gave her one final hug good-bye before she headed home. As soon as I saw her safely escorted through TSA, I left T3 and walked all the way over to T1 (for my UA flight with the rest of the group).

 

I joined up with the rest of my group at FLL T1 after having seen my mom off at T3. We checked in, and the group checked in their bags (I chose to carry mine aboard, since they were small enough to stow overhead or underseat). We went through TSA; since I have NEXUS/GE, I automatically have TSA Pre, so I breezed through. We had lunch at Chili's in the concourse, awaited our UA FLL-DEN nonstop, and had an uneventful flight back to DEN. We arrived at DEN at 5:37pm local.

 

Mom eventually made it home to Fort Wayne, meanwhile. Her AA FLL-CLT made it to CLT, but then her connecting AA Eagle CLT-FWA was delayed over an hour and a half, so she did not make it to FWA until 11pm local. A family friend of ours waited at FWA to pick Mom up and took her home.

 

CONCLUSION

 

This trip was a wonderful, and successful, "workation" for me (it was part of my work, as my work not only involves my research in craniofacial genetics, but also public engagement for craniofacial research and awareness of craniofacial anomalies). "Workation" is the term I have coined, meaning "working vacation". The point of this cruise was, besides fellowship and getting to meet each other, for me and my mother to share with others about our experiences (me living with TCS and Mom raising me with my challenges). I also was an ambassador of sorts aboard ship; by meeting so many other people on the ship over the duration of the cruise, I got to make friends while sharing my unique perspective and life experience and inspire them.

 

I plan to continue hosting Fabulous Faces at Sea Craniofacial Cruises for years to come, aiming them at the craniofacial community (adults with craniofacial conditions, families with children with these conditions, and others) as not only an opportunity for fellowship, but also as an educational workshop type of thing on a cruise.

 

I hope you all have enjoyed sailing the seas with me on this unique cruise.

[sjnyc323]

What a fabulous review. Thanks for sharing

[keeponcruising]

Hello, enjoying your review. I travel with my 91 year old mother who also uses a walker and tires easily. I pointed out to her your experience in Nassau so she knows she is not alone in needing a mid-day nap.;)

[tgirl25]

I really enjoyed your review and learned some things. Thank you so much for sharing. It really is heartwarming to see the relationship you have with your mom. I also thank you for sharing info about some of my upcoming ports, now I have a better idea about them.