Boarding Ship Soon!!!

Hey guys! It's embarkation day today, and I am still one bag short... The airline has basically informed me that the earliest it could get to the airport would be on a flight arriving at 12:05, at which time it would have to clear customs, which would take "3-5 hours" after that (by which time I will already be on the boat). So Continental has pretty much told me they are giving up, and they're going to send it to the port in Spain.

I've called Semester At Sea and let them know whats going on, and that I'm not the only one dealing with this, so hopefully they can get it all straightened out and maybe leave port 2 hours late or so (?). I don't know if they will bend the schedule for anyone, though. I would rather just leave and deal with it than risking coming in late to the port in Barcelona next week. The guy I talked to on the phone was really nice, though, and he said he would make a couple calls and find out whats going on with the boat this afternoon, and if there's any chance my bags could make it to me.

On a wholly different note - the hotel is SO nice here. We are staying at the Westin Nova Scotian, and the entire staff has been amazing. The busboys and concierges let me use their phone a couple times last night, and ever since - every time any of the staff sees me in the hallway - they all say "I hope your bag gets here on time!" or "Have a good trip!" They are all so personable and they have a crazy memory. One guy even remembered that I ordered dinner on that phone last night, and he asked me how our pizza was!