Transatlantic Crossing Day 17

Start of day: Port Canaveral, Florida
End of day: Home in North Carolina

Our final accounting is 4,693 nautical miles.

A stateroom television showing the Celebrity Cruises bridge-camera channel before dawn, with a grey-toned view over the ship's bow toward the lights of Port Canaveral. The sidebar reads Position 28°24.93´ N, 080°37.53´ W, Speed 0.0 kts, Course 180°, and the bottom bar reads 'Saturday, October 31, 2026 06:54 (UTC-04:00)' and 'Total cruise distance sailed: 4693 nm'

This is a pretty crazy view to wake up to, tbh.

Port Canaveral before dawn, seen from the ship's deck, with a brightly lit Disney Cruise Line ship with red funnels glowing purple and pink across the dark water on the left, and the stern of the Carnival Vista, registered in Panama, with 'Choose Fun' in blue letters, docked at the terminal on the right

Looking out from the stateroom through the sliding glass door and the veranda's large round porthole cutout before dawn, framing the illuminated Disney ship and the stern of the Carnival Vista across the harbor, their lights reflected in the rain-flecked glass and the wet blue veranda floor

I didn’t sleep well – I never do the night before disembark. I walked around on this last morning, had a light breakfast, and snapped some photos.

I had this excellent view of (one of?) Blue Origin’s landing platform barges. a SpaceX vessel was docked next to it.

Blue Origin's landing platform vessel Jacklyn moored at Port Canaveral at sunrise, seen from high above on the ship: a long flat black-hulled barge with white-and-blue deckhouses at each end lettered 'Blue Origin' and 'Jacklyn,' and a round landing fixture at the center of the deck, beside a quay with a large crane, a parking lot, and a causeway under a pink and gold sky

An empty upper pool deck at sunrise in Port Canaveral, with stacked grey loungers on wet teak decking, a curved wood-clad wall on the left, a decorative metal screen, and a glass railing looking out over the water and the flat Florida coastline under streaks of pink cloud

Sometimes self-service walk-off is a madhouse and sometimes it’s like this:

Passengers disembarking along a covered outdoor promenade deck, walking past the hulls of the ship's lifeboats lettered 'Apex' on the left and a navy-blue wall with porthole doors and a security camera on the right. Travelers carry backpacks and roll a suitcase toward an exit marked with a green '3' sign

One of the most recognizable atriums in the world, I feel.

The soaring central atrium of Orlando International Airport under a glass and white steel skylight, with the Hyatt Regency hotel's tiered balconies rising on all sides, palm trees and potted plants around a plaza of wooden benches, a fountain spraying in the foreground, and travelers sitting and walking across a floor inlaid with blue and cream curved stripes

Same with the carpet.

A close-up of the patterned airport carpet at Orlando International Airport, a dark teal background with rows of stylized cream, tan, and rust-red plant stems and leaves

I arrived at the airport around 9:30am and by the time I was settled in at the Delta Sky Club at the B terminal it was around 10:00am. I had (another) light breakfast, then received a notification at 10:22 that my bag had been loaded – onto a flight that wasn’t mine and left in about 30 minutes. I travel a fair bit but this was the first time my bag was expedited; I was firmly operating under the belief your bag traveled with you.¹ This opened up an opportunity: if my bag was already gone, could I fly standby? It’s Orlando to Atlanta, there are tons of flights. By the time I made it to the gate for this flight they were already done, but I could standby for the noon flight. OK.

I knew the seat wouldn’t be great, and it wasn’t (37A), though it allowed me to make it to Atlanta 45 minutes earlier.

The economy cabin of a Delta jet during boarding at Orlando, looking forward from row 36 over blue leather seats with seatback screens showing seat numbers 36A and 36B and a Delta and Porsche ad, with overhead bins, reading lights glowing blue, and a passenger in a brown leather jacket standing in the aisle

Once in Atlanta I walked all the way from the very end of Terminal D over to Terminal T, avoiding trains and moving sidewalks. It’s a time-tested way to lock in at least a mile of steps.

The lounge was basically at my gate, T6. Note for future travel this lounge doesn’t have stairs, so plan a little extra time queueing for the elevator down when it’s time to leave.

The entrance to a Delta Sky Club at Atlanta's airport, with a wood-paneled wall holding a screen that lists club hours as daily 4:30AM to 9:00PM and directs guests to the A17 Sky Club open until 10:00PM, beside a tall banner advertising Delta SkyMiles Reserve American Express card benefits and a menu stand

Looking through the glass doors into the lobby of a Delta Sky Club in Atlanta, with a curving corridor under a blue-lit cove ceiling, a wood-paneled 'Sky Club' wall behind a check-in podium staffed by an agent, departure screens, and white self-service kiosks on a grey carpet

The flight was fine. The bonus of my bag being expedited was that it was waiting for me as soon as I stepped off the plane. I appreciated not having to wait those extra 5-15 minutes.

I made it home right as Halloween trick or treating was kicking off.

End of trip.

Footnotes:

Part of the Transatlantic Crossing 2026 trip.

I checked with an airlines person I know and they said the person-travels-with-bag rule is more for international flights and that domestic bags might be expedited to ensure the bags make their connections. ↩