The contract that nearly wasn’t…

I arrived from Vancouver, in LA around 10:30 am after collecting my luggage. Contrary to what all the airplane passengers might have thought (she needs THAT much stuff to come to LA for a week or two?) it’s not easy to pack for 4-5 months. Backpacking is much simpler. A few t-shirts, pair of shorts, one pair of pants, pj’s – you’re done. No problem before. Now I’ve got 5 theme nights to pack for, 7 formal nights per cruise (the long cruises you can’t wear the same formal!) and then the uniform add-ons – plus of course all the regular stuff you might need for everyday life at home. Anyhow, it was a lot to haul around. The cab driver from the airport to the ship had no idea where the cruiseship port was even after I gave him the address. I was so tired from no sleep the night before I left that I fell asleep in the cab and woke up to the guy driving around in circles. I think he thought I was still asleep and hoped I wouldn’t notice we were completely lost. I made him turn off the meter as it was already at $70. He still couldn’t find it and refused to ask for directions or call someone and we ended up driving around for an hour and a half. He then took me to where the Queen Mary is docked and tried to unload my things from the cab and leave me there. I wouldn’t have it because it was certainly not the right place. For those of you who may not know, the Queen Mary is a stationary hotel, which was the Queen of Englands’ ship until they turned it into a tourist trap and it’s been docked there for decades…I know because my mum made us stay there when I was a kid. I ended up getting another cab driver to take me to my ship and within 5 minutes I was looking up at my new home for the next few months.