I went for breakfast in O'Sheehan's and at the next table was the bloke from the quiz the other day, who was originally from Bournemouth but moved to the US seventeen years before.  He and his American wife were both wearing AFC Bournemouth lanyards so we talked football.  Despite us having different waitresses, our orders were taken at the same time yet mine didn't arrive.  After almost waiting half an hour, he called a waiter over who went to check then returned with two red hot plates (I'd asked for two cheese omelettes but they came separately).  At 8am, mine returned.  "I'm back, madam.  Is there anything else I can do for you?"  Well bringing me my breakfast or telling someone else to before you went off would have been something to start with!  We had to be out of the rooms by 8am but my steward had said there was no hurry.  Once I'd finished, I said goodbye to the couple then got my stuff and headed to the Manhattan Room to wait.  We weren't allowed in due to US immigration checking the crew!  That was really bad because surely there was somewhere else they could have gone.  Crew area perhaps?  

Our time was called at 8.40pm and the queue was quite long to get off.  I ended up with a bloke in front who had not only bought some art, but had it over his shoulder so it would stab me each time he moved.  Surprisingly, knowing from friends' experiences of taking photos of their ship, no one stopped you which was great.  Down to baggage reclaim then join the horrendously long immigration queue, which took over half an hour for you to reach a desk.  Thankfully someone did crank up the cool air which was very much appreciated.  The last two desks on the right were for non-US citizens so why couldn't people have just been directed there in the first place as had happened when I disembarked in Los Angeles in 2008?  In the disembarkation info, it said you had to have your passport and copy of the ESTA in your hand.  I handed both over and the security guard immediately pushed the ESTA back at me, saying it wasn't needed.  

And so to the fresh air - yay!!!  No one was directing you where to go to find the bus and I wasn't the only one like a headless chicken.  Outside waiting by my bus to JFK was my good friend, Howard Paulman, who I've known since the QE2 Fjords cruise in June 2008.  It was great seeing him again after three years since he and Patty were in the UK.  We didn't get much time to talk but he pointed out the rich boy's toy close to the ship.  It was Eclipse, the yacht belonging to Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovitch.  Very nice!  I got on the bus and this is where things started going wrong.  I had last done NCL transfers for Epic in 2011 and that was a pain.  This was about to be worse!  First of all, we were told we were missing some people and there were about 320 still in the terminal.  Then it was NCL had taken too many bookings for transfers to La Guardia and not told them so if they were unable to get another bus, some of those people would be put on ours.  After an hour sat on the bus waiting, off we went.  Well it killed some time.  

Then the driver stopped at the Novotel to drop people off but it was the Holiday Inn in another part of the city and he claimed to the two women no one told him and they still gave him a tip when he arrived at the correct place.  JFK appeared easier.  Terminal 1, Terminal 2 then he drove past the drop off for Terminal 4 (ours) and went to Terminal 8, saying this was for the rest of us.  He denied he went to T4, insisting Virgin Atlantic was T8 so several of us argued the toss.  He was quite prepared to just dump us there and was an English ex-pat so no one could blame Americans!  Once in the airport, check in wasn’t until 2pm, flight 6.20pm and nowhere to wait laid on by NCL for the two hours until we could ditch our hold luggage as I wandered around with a lady from the bus trying to work out what to do and where we could go.  Seats were at a minimum in the terminal even at arrivals, where we ended up waiting and finding something to eat.  I had a very nice jalapeño bagel.  

I have never known an airline as nitpicking as Virgin.  As I said at the beginning, this was my first time with them, arranged by NCL.  The check-in lady was so cold and formal, weighing hand luggage to make sure it wasn't over their mean 10kg limit (British Airways give you 23kg).  I was surprised she didn't measure it while she was at it!  She said it had to be tagged, which is also a first for me.  I met my Facebook friend Byron Huart for a quick hello and goodbye then went through security.  Shame we couldn't have spent longer together but it was nice to meet him.  Nice Irish pub at Gate 4 but there were red peppers at the bottom of the coleslaw which you don't expect.  Then it was time to board.  The back of the boarding pass had a space for you to put emergency contact details, as it said it would take that but they didn't.  Our plane had about 230 passengers so loads of empty seats but they’re so small and the cabin crew don’t apologise for bashing into you with themselves or the trollies.  We all seemed to be an inconvenience to them.  So off I went, the opposite direction to the one I’d come a week before, arriving back at Heathrow twenty ,minutes earlier than scheduled in the rain – normal weather has been resumed!

To see photos of Breakaway's Southampton departure, click here and Queen Mary 2 in the Atlantic can be found here.