MAKING MEMORIES: THE FRUSTRATIONS OF GETTING THERE!
Welcome to our cruise vacation. Unfortunately, we had three planes to catch before we could get to our port of Embarkation. A member of the United Airlines Ground Crew made our time at DFW a little difficult, but soon we were winging our way to Newark’s Liberty Airport. Come along with us!
Modern Inconveniences
So, we land at Newark, I turn on my phone and start getting notifications. The friendly skies were sending us love notes about our upcoming flights. I was happy to use my data to read all my notifications, instead of trusting the airport wi-fi, but I wanted to juice up my phone, so there’d still be power when I got to Frankfurt. We found a charging station and I filtered through my love notes. Primarily, Lufthansa wanted me to know that I’d be flying with them out of Frankfurt, even though the flight had been booked through United and United was letting me know I should check the departure boards in Newark, because sometimes there were gate changes. Those messages resolved, I checked up on the rest of my digital life and then sat there, very near our gate and let the phone charge.
When they called us to board, we got to participate in the new airport game – Gate Bus Plane. We filed through the turnstile to have our boarding passes read and then marched down the stairs to the tarmac. There we boarded a bus which played chicken with all the jumbo jets to take us to our pond jumper. I’m thinking this new game is a way for airlines to save money. It must be cheaper to drive your customers across the airport and have them climb stairs rather than just walk down a jetway or we wouldn’t have been doing so much of it on this trip. Whoever dreamed up this game should be punished severely.
Friendly Seatmate
For this leg of the journey, we’d opted for the last row of the plane. It gave Bill a window seat, we could sit together and it was close to the bathroom. Worked for us.
Then a guy sat next to me. Very friendly and helpful. Confessed to being military and knew a lot about the plane. We chatted a bit and I felt as if he were a little evasive about some innocent questions concerning his assignment and location. I was a little surprised by how often he seemed to travel, but it wasn’t my business.
Then I as the flight proceeded, it seems he was rarely in his seat and often could be found chatting up the flight crew. Later I decided he was some kind of air marshall, but I didn’t put it all together until long after the flight was over.
Honestly, I wasn’t very impressed with the Friendly Skies of United. The entertainment center was almost useless and the food was awful, but I slept through most of the flight, so it wasn’t a big loss – just disappointing.
And Then There Was Frankfurt!
I had fond memories of the Frankfurt Airport! I’d been through German airports a few times before Mr. Bill, but it seems as if those trips had been through Munich. The first time I remember going through Frankfurt had been in 1994 and I had been impressed with it. The shopping area was out of this world and I recalled a great little English pub.
We were back in 2016 for a layover, but it had been a rough Transatlantic flight and I spent most of the layover asleep in Bill’s lap. None of my fond memories played out in 2025.
The first frustration I will lay at the feet of Viking. They had a guy there to point us towards our next flight, but he pointed us in the wrong direction. We must have spent at least an hour wandering helplessly through the airport.
We finally found the right gate and chatted with an older couple who was supposed to be on our cruise. Some one showed up to take them in wheelchairs to another gate and I asked if we should move, too, but we were told they were being moved to better accommodate their wheelchair status and assured we could stay where we were.
Bill made a bed for himself across several chairs and I read the one of the books I’d brought along. The time of the flight was getting closer, but I wasn’t seeing much activity that looked as if that were true. I had been expecting to see more Viking passengers and that wasn’t happening either.
I’d turned off the wireless network to save money, but something told me I should get on wi-fi and see what was up. Good thing!! Everything had changed. Our flight number had been changed and our flight was delayed AND now the flight was leaving from a completely different terminal
I woke up a sleepy Mr. Bill to catch him up on things, none of which he was very happy about. We gathered up our belongings and began the trek to the next terminal. That was interesting and it was a trek. By now I was hungry and there hadn’t been any cute English Pub. The beautiful displays of German pastries, which were all over the airport didn’t do much for my gluten-free state. When we finally found the gate, I did a little exploration and there was nowhere decent to eat. I found a sandwich store for Bill, but I had to make do with a meat and cheese snack from a convenience store, which I topped off with potato chips. Gluten free is not necessarily healthy.
This gate was a lot more promising. There was more activity that resembled a flight and yes, there were other people with Viking paraphernalia. This looked good. I kept my phone on and watched for more activity, but none occurred.
Finally, they started boarding the plane, but like Newark, we went down the stairs to a bus first and that bus wandered around forever. I thought they were driving to Athens! Then they parked and herded us off the bus. It was cold and rainy outside as we waited to climb the stairs to the plane. I lamented the days when Lufthansa was the gold standard for international travel. Now it was the armpit!
On to Athens
Once we were on the flight it was unremarkable. In a few hours we landed in Athens and Viking personnel were all over the place. At baggage claim we were happy to discover our bags had made it, but before I realized it, they’d already been whisked away by Viking. We kept getting pointed in another direction and finding Viking personnel who wanted to know our name, which they would then check off a list. I don’t even recall how many times we went through this ritual, before and after baggage claim. Eventually, we were pointed in the direction of a bus, which after a while, had a chirpy Viking employee welcoming us to Athens and letting us know why we would be on the bus for at least another 45 minutes.
I was beyond tired, so I leaned back and tried to relax. It had been a very long travel day – two travel days, in fact. The calendar had turned a page since I left DFW, but after awhile I noticed a familiar glow in the distance. There, rising above the dark city of Athens was the Acropolis, with floodlights causing the Parthenon to glow in the night.
I felt like I did at Butchart Gardens and on the porch at The Grand Hotel. Mom was with me. She never made it to Athens herself, but she was thrilled I had. I couldn’t hold back the tears. And to think, the very next day I would be walking up there, where Aristotle, Pluto and other Athenian luminaries strolled.
Embarking on the Viking Vela
The bus pulled into the port and we were ushered off. The check-in process was ridiculously easy. We barely had time to set everything down before they were pointing us towards the gangway! As soon as we stepped on the boat, we were offered champagne and sent to life boat drill, which was actually just a quick lesson on wearing the life vest. We found our cabin and made our way to the buffet for some real food. Something we hadn’t seen in a while.
When we returned to the room, our bags had been delivered. I unpacked and put everything away in the generous storage of our cabin. Afterwards we went to what they called The Living Room and listened to some great music – a pair of string musicians playing popular music in a classical style. We had an early shore excursion the next morning, so we went to bed fairly early.
We’d made it. The journey had been frustrating and exhausting, but I was in Athens, Greece! Exciting, but hard to believe. Join me next week to visit the Acropolis. It was a great shore excursion!
jane sadek 