Time To Settle

Ok, I'll get the Travel Day Of Nightmares out of the way and then move onto better things. Because there are very many more better things to talk about than how Air Canada is a terrible, terrible human being (corporations are legally considered people, isn't that ridiculous?).

So basically, it was this: we left home on Friday at 4am to make sure we were on time to catch our 7am flight. No problems there. We settled into our seats on the plane and rejoiced that in a mere 6.5 hours, we'd be in the Cayman Islands.

But then we got to Toronto and even though our flights were booked, confirmed, and paid for over a month ago (and we'd also checked in online the night before), we were bumped because at the time the flights were booked/paid for by Brad's employer, whoever was doing that forgot to reserve our seats. Because, apparently, paying for a flight isn't enough to convince the airline you're actually going to be on that flight.

After they bumped us, they then told us we could take the same flight the next day. We said we couldn't, because we'd left all of Innis's winter gear in Ottawa because WE WERE MOVING TO THE CARIBBEAN, and there was no way we were leaving the Toronto airport in February with Innis dressed in his summertime shorts-onesie and sandals.

Thus followed a frantic hour at the customer service desk, from which we were finally rerouted to Jamaica. Innis and I went ahead to the gate while Brad finished up with the last minute paperwork, and when I got there, the gate guy was all, "you're going to Jamaica?" to which I replied, "yup," AND THEN HE SAID: "well, hurry up! Why're you late? They've been calling! The plane's waiting!" To which I said ... nothing. THE RAGE WAS TOO STRONG.

So then we got to Jamaica at 3pm. And we sat. And waited. And waited.

This is pretty much what our time in Jamaica looked like:

Of course, this was after we found out that all of our luggage (including Innis's car seat, without which we were unable to leave any airport, including the one we eventually hoped to reach in the Cayman Islands) was lost. Gonzo. It didn't come with us to Jamaica, and no one could tell us whether or not it was back in Canada, in the Cayman Islands, or on the moon.

This was also after Innis had a giant poo explosion (might I add at 2:16pm, while we were still on the plane to Jamaica and not in our hotel room in the Cayman Islands where we were supposed to be, with extra diapers and clothes at our disposal). Thus, he spent the rest of the day changed back into his pajamas. Awesome.

So at 6:30, the check in counter for Cayman Airlines opened. Yay! we thought. At last! But when we reached the counter, we were met with blank stares and furious (and confused) bouts of tippy tapping at the check in computer because ... guess what? Air Canada hadn't bothered to book us on the flight out of Jamaica, as per the travel itinerary they gave us in Toronto.

So we waited for two more hours while they sorted that out. And this was when I neared a complete and utter meltdown, because at that point I had been awake for 40 hours with only a one hour nap sometime during the night before (the cause of this sleeplessness being some chaos regarding the pet crates, plus the usual far-too-optimistic packing/moving schedule we'd set for ourselves). The tears were also threatening because I was just so frustrated and felt like we were completely and entirely at the mercy of assholes who really couldn't care less about whether we were people or just numbers with dollar signs attached, and I also thought we were going to be stuck in scary Kingston, Jamaica, all night if they couldn't sort out our tickets, having to walk to the nearest hotel because we didn't have a car seat, with Innis on my hip, travel cash in our pockets, flashing neon signs on our foreheads announcing our complete and utter vulnerability. AND Innis hadn't eaten anything but sugar buns and potato chips all day because we'd planned to eat breakfast on the plane to Grand Cayman, and then actually be there for lunch by 1:30, but every area we'd been held in on our journey had been real food free, and so I was also a TERRIBLE mother on top of everything else.

After every single other person was checked in for the flight, our boarding passes were finally printed. Then the plane was delayed until 10pm. And then when we got to GC, we had another hour of wrangling to figure out our luggage (six bags had arrived, two had not -- one of which included all my etsy product).

We got to our hotel at midnight, twenty hours after we'd started out that morning. And then we went to bed.

Oh my god, that was supposed to be short, wasn't it?

Anyways. The next day, even though we were here, pretty much looked like this:

Overtired, overheated, hungry. Oh yeah.

But we did go to the beach:

And Innis allowed the water to touch him, just a little bit:

(even though maybe it was just so he could throw sand in the surf like he was mad at it)

But we're here! And we looked at houses yesterday! And maybe we'll actually rent one this week! And it's really pretty outside. So now maybe we can relax a little. Sort of.

Comments

[Gillian Danby]

Good Heavens, have now read the rest of the story. Air Canada gets worse and worse. Love, Gill.

[Catherine]

Glad you're there safe and sound. Sorry it was such a misery to get there, but it does look gorgeous. Hopefully, once you're all caught up with sleep and have your own place, you'll all be able to enjoy your beautiful new island! Thinking of you lots! xox

[Administrator]

Meredith -- you're so right. Too bad it has to be that way. And they say high school doesn't last forever ...

Thanks for the love, sistahs!!

xx

And yes, you should all get on planes (to come here, not because they're evil. Just not with Air Canada ... unless you also want to see Jamaica ... )

[Meredith]

Airlines are kind of a combo of the high school jock asshole and a hormone-confused 13 year old girl. Selfish, Heartless and completely unorganized. Usually you just do your best to keep your head down and hope you're not today's target.

Glad to hear you all arrived safely. The beach looks absolutely beautiful. Makes me want to get on a plane!

[Claire]

We're so glad you finally made it there! We were worried! Love you xx

[Victoria]

Yikes! Well done keeping it together despite the mountains of crap!! Glad you're all safe xx looks beautiful there! Love you