Erk's 2014 Pacamerican Circle

[erkpod]

Monday 27 January, ATL Sky Club near gate B10

Day 27


Now in the ATL DL Sky Club near gate B10. The male lounge angel changed me from 13B I was allocated last night to 16E. He apologised for last night & assured me it was perfectly legal for my bags to go to Miami & not me. According to him, it's important that bags make it to their destination.

But what about the self loading freight?

 

[erkpod]

Pics from Sunday 26 January
DL 2152 JFK - ATL



DL app showing the plane's incorrect departure time. Pushing the plane back a couple of feet & breaking the towbar isn't departing! Successful pushback at 1914. Maybe this incorrect departure time led DL to think that there was enough time for my connection.



I knew I was in trouble mid flight when the app said the connection was departing ATL on time.



Another view of the plane on Plane Finder heading to a cruise of FL280.

 

[erkpod]

Pics from the Sheraton Gateway near ATL. Didn't hear a single plane!



Which bed do I sleep in & which bed do I use to build a little fort?







When is an exit not an exit?



White courtesy phone. Could have used one of these at the closed gate last night.

 

[erkpod]

Pics from ATL
Monday 27 January



The white zone is for the immediate loading & uploading of passengers only.



Not a long line for a free massage this morning. No free massage today unlike yesterday's back of head pat from TSA. I swear that guy didn't know the difference between the front of my head & the back.





With most of my clothes in my hold luggage in Miami, my clothing options are extremely limited.

 

[erkpod]

I was expecting a cart ride last night.





Counting down to departure. I've never seen this display.



Ready for departure. Next stop Miami!

 

[erkpod]

At 0830 this morning, DL sends me an email to tell me that "it appears as though your bags went on an earlier flight. Please come to the nearest baggage office & collect your bags."

*facepalm*

How can I get my bags if I'm in flight like you know I am!

 

[erkpod]

See you on Friday US time after 70000 Tons of Metal! I'm on the Majesty Of The Seas.

 

[Grooba]

Can't wait erk, enjoy the cruise!

 

[BoyZeus]

Hope you have your luggage with you on the cruise!

 

[A.Butts]

ERKPOD. Fantastic Trip Diary. Can’t wait for the rest of the trip. Should be used as a learning tool for travellers. In hindsight, the above photo you took from the train on Sat 11[SUP]th[/SUP] Jan showing an aircraft departing SFO is distinctly a China Eastern A332. On this day it was Flt No MU590 destined for Shanghai Pu Dong Airport, China. Runway departure was at 12.11pm. The markings under the wing are the 6 Chinese characters for China Eastern Airlines (CES). Took a bit of squinting, but was found clearly when compared to the China Eastern Logo. MU590 was departing SFO on runway 19L heading out over Millbrae station as you took this photo from the train. Safe Travels,,,,,,

The livery on this particular aircraft did have the Skyteam colors, as does some 19 other Airlines in the alliance. The A332 aircraft was identified by the 4 each Flap Track Fairings to the rear of the flaps, compared to 3 each on B777 aircraft. The undercarriage configuration was another way to determine which aircraft, but they were retracted. This and the departure schedule out of SFO was all that was needed to confirm this aircraft, and to eliminate others. Hope this helps.

 

[erkpod]

Greetings again from Miami. Pics & report from 70000 Tons of Metal to follow shortly. I'm on a bus to MIA then flying DL to ATL for the weekend.

 

[erkpod]

70000 Tons Of Metal
Monday 27 - Friday 31 January
Days 27 - 31

I am emotionally & physically spent.

Setting sail from Miami to Costa Maya (Mexico) & return on Royal Caribbean International's Majesty of the Seas under beautiful skies, I was one of 2000 metalheads on board. There were event & ship crew plus 40 bands for a total of around 3500 people.

With the music starting around 1730 Monday & day 1 finishing at around 0400 Tuesday, I knew I was going to get little sleep - this on top of my enforced early departure from ATL, I knew I wouldn't get much sleep. By the end of day 2 (1000 Tuesday - 0400ish Wednesday) I would have seen every one of the 40 bands once. At many times, there were 3 stages (1 outdoor, 2 indoors) running, often with no clashes.

Wednesday is port day. Last year I went on the same cruise but to coughburn Town, Turks & Caicos Islands. This year was a choice of the sailors based on distance from Miami & Costa Maya was chosen. Unlike last year where we arrived early in the morning, Costa Maya's arrival was closer to lunch time. There was a Carnival ship in port & I thought we'd have to wait for it to leave. But in the end, we had an empty wharf to be alongside the Carnival ship.

Leaving the ship was slow. I took around 30 minutes to leave the ship. Assured that my on-ship pre-booked tour wouldn't leave without me ... my on-ship pre- booked tour (ATV Jungle adventure) left without me. I was placed on the Dune Buggy tour with 2 Canadian guys in the front seat.

We arrived at a bar where we learnt about the local area. There was a rope swing which I did use.

We then dune buggied off to another bar & had a chance to swim in the ocean. I had the chance to wait for fish & chips, see the server guy give them to someone else. Then he re-cooked them for me. My swim in the ocean became a walk into the ocean.

 

[erkpod]

Returning back to the boat in the dune buggies, we had to go straight to the ship. Again, another long line ensued to return to the ship. By this stage though, we were used to waiting to get on or off the ship. No bands play while the ship is in port but the bands re-commenced on time. I could hear them while still on the wharf.

I spent a lot of the night in one of the stated capacity 8 person spas. An average on this cruise is around 12-20. That's no good if you have personal space issues. It became worse because the other spa was closed because someone vomited in the spa.

One pool on this cruise was closed because it forms the base of the temporary floor & stage. On return to the ship, the remaining pool was closed because someone threw a glass bottle into the pool & it broke. The pool had to be drained & it was later re-opened.

 

[erkpod]

Wednesday afternoon/evening & all of Thursday are chances to see bands again. However, I'd seen them all already to I was happy to hang out in the spa on Thursday & be around like minded people. But waking up on Thursday I woke up to news that the pool area was again closed. Thinking "Ok, what have people been doing in the spa & pool again", I headed upstairs
torrential rain. There would be several breaks in the weather but nothing long enough to allow people to play on the stage.

All of the bands have to rescheduled into the 2 remaining spaces. Some people decided to entertain themselves in the pool & spa despite the rain. I spent many many hours in the spa with an interesting group of people.

The stage & associated equipment were simply too wet to use safely. There was hope that the rain would clear up however it was too on/off again to rely on. Ultimately the decision was made to close the stage & the event crew had a headstart to dismantle the stage prior to our Miami arrival.

After way too long in the spa, I went to listen to some other bands. With the rescheduling, the last band was due to finish at 0400. After the last band finished, I decided to pack my bags but my cabin mates were asleep. I decided to head back to the late night karaoke.

Miami soon came into view & it was time to pack then leave the ship.


I am tired & probably still a little drunk. I didn't sleep from around 1000 Thursday it is nearly 1000 Friday now as I write this from MIA.

 

[erkpod]

Protip - It's a long way from the MIA terminals to the MIA People Mover. Then you still have to get the regular train to downtown.





Miami Metrorail





Lots of Pol-ice cars downtown. I found a local courthouse nearby.



I also found a panhandling free zone in downtown Miami. How effective is this? I can't say. I had breakfast & headed to the ship.

 

[erkpod]

For conciseness & an element of "What happens on tour stays on tour, I'll feature some behind the scenes type things many people won't see on normal cruises.





Before & after stage erection photos of the main stage over the forward pool.



Looking towards the Viking Lounge overseeing the remaining pool.





My quad cabin that I shared with 3 random dudes.

 

[erkpod]

My view of the main stage from the spa when it was sunny on Wednesday.



Great view from behind the stage that you would not get at a regular music festival.



This view is of the drummer - one level higher than the pool deck



A rare moment - an empty spa!



The shows do go on at night. The lights & the smoke/lighting effects can work
out well.

 

[erkpod]

Woke up on Wednesday with Mexico in sight.



Looking towards the very front of the ship.



The rear of the two ships in port.



Looking towards the Carnival ship from the rear of my ship.



Flying the Mexican flag in port.

 

[erkpod]

Looking over towards the other boat in port. Some of the passengers of the other boat were wondering about the noisy neighbours who just pulled along side.



Funky crowd shot. I was on level 6 when I joined the queue to leave the boat.



Regular cruisers here on AFF are probably used to the boarding/leaving process. Some of my shipmates... not so much.



The 2 ships in the beautiful looking water.



There was an ambulance on standby at the wharf. I'm not sure why.

 

[erkpod]

Setting off to go dune buggying in Costa Maya, Mexico.



Apart from learning about the local history, the idea of the Pee-Pee stop was to Pee-Pee & have a drink.

But after Pee-Pee, I found one of our female metalheads having a swing at the bar.



So I decided to join her for a quick swing. Her husband took the photo for both of us.





Back in the dune buggy, we had some speed up & the wind was really in my hair driving down the road while in the back seat.