It is sixteen years since I last took a flight on my own and in those days I had no worries about luggage because my passage was provided by the HK Government. The allowance was somewhere in the region of 35kg and even when I exceeded this I was never actually charged for excess baggage. "Travelling Light" is a phrase completely unknown to me.
For the Grand Voyage last year I left with four suitcases plus two large holdalls (and returned with an additional two cases !). Again there was no problem with weight because I was travelling Southampton to Southampton and as long as I could actually fit the suitcases and bags into my cabin (under the beds and in the wardrobe) then all was fine.
On that icy cold January morning in 2009 when I first laid eyes on the mv Arcadia I thought she was the most beautiful ship I had ever seen. But before I could board I had to check in and there was a queue a mile long in the Arrivals Hall. How on earth was I going to manoeuvre all the luggage from the taxi up to the entrance? Martyn, my taxi driver, went off in search of a porter but there were none to be found. Gallantly he took on the role himself and ferried the suitcases over to a hole in the wall where a couple of P & O staff were unceremoniously chucking the cases through. Apparently I would not see them again until they arrived outside the cabin. I was still left with the two large holdalls so Martyn wheeled these up to the Arrivals Hall and then bid me a fond farewell. What a life saver this taxi driver had turned out to be. I did give him a very good tip!
I had to queue for about an hour but I chatted to a lady behind me and the time went by in a flash. Up to the counter I went, tickets seen, passport handed over, credit card registered, photo taken and then it was through to negotiate security. I had a small purse type handbag slung over my shoulder beneath my jackets. This contained a quantity of coins and so had to be removed. I started to undress. I also had to take off my belt as it had a metal buckle— I was then terrified in case my trousers fell down around my ankles. I was one of many thousands of people in London who had suffered from a very nasty flu virus just before Christmas and I had lost a huge amount of weight. I staggered through the metal detector desperately clutching at my trousers—thankfully they did not fall down. I then had to thread the belt back through the waistband loops, replace the handbag and put on my two jackets. Oh dear, in all my dreams of this holiday I pictured myself looking very elegant and here I was clumsily trying to get dressed in a very public place. I did the best I could, picked up my two heavy holdalls and then made for the gangway which I could see ahead of me.
“Photo time!” I heard someone shout. I looked up and to my absolute horror saw that the ship’s photographers were waiting to pounce on everyone going through. I was working solely on adrenaline at this point in time and was very hot and flustered after the security gate debacle. I was in no mood to argue so did as I was told and stood in front of the painted backdrop. I might add that when I saw the photo displayed in the Photo Gallery the next day I was absolutely horrified. It was three and a half months before I was able to bring myself to buy this particular photo. I only did so in the end in order to have a full set of "Before and After" pictures !
The photo at the head of this posting is of the luggage hall at Southampton early in the morning when we arrived back. I might add that the luggage hall extends a very, very, very long way back from this entrance and contained somewhere in the region of 7,000 cases.
On this my next adventure the ticket informs me that I am allowed 23 kg for checked in luggage plus an additional 5kg in hand luggage. Oh deary me! On my first attempt I packed absolutely everything I wanted to take and not surprisingly the suitcases weighed in at the old 35 kg weight allowance. After ten days of weeding out and re-packing I have eventually managed to meet the 23 kg limit - providing my scales are correct. I have not dared to weigh the hand luggage.
My next post will probably be from somewhere within the Bermuda Triangle - providing I manage to negotiate check-in & security at Gatwick.
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