I traveled to the US Virgin Islands for a three day, two night business trip. John and I were there 10 years ago on a cruise stop with friends. The guys golfed and the ladies went to the beach, so we didn't explore the island much. I didn't get much time to explore this trip either, but I can report back that it's beautiful and I wouldn't want to rent a car there! Traffic drives on the left side of the road and the roads are windy and narrow.
The most notable part of the trip was the flight home, since the bulk of my time there was spent in meetings. En route to Miami the power went off (while I was in the middle of watching Magic Mike XXL on my console) which caused the flight attendants to do a hurried dash through the cabin. A few minutes later the captain announced we would be landing in Nassau, Bahamas due to an issue with the aircraft. After landing rather uneventfully and unloading at the gate, we learned that we would be sequestered in Bahamas due to U.S. Customs requirements until a replacement plane could be sent to pick us up. Since we were in the USVI, no passport is required, and there would have been people on our flight traveling without who couldn't "enter" the Bahamas (or have the ability to re-enter the U.S. if they had). Three hours later, a new, empty plane from Miami arrived and took us on the 45 minute flight there. Turns out our original aircraft lost an engine and the protocol is to immediately land at the next available airport. Makes sense to me!
The strangest thing to me was that the crew that flew our replacement plane to the Bahamas did not fly us to Miami. They deemed the replacement flight to be a continuation of the old flight (i.e. gave it the same flight number) and the old crew flew and tended to the flight. The "rescue" crew sat in the couple of empty seats in first class as passengers.
The most notable part of the trip was the flight home, since the bulk of my time there was spent in meetings. En route to Miami the power went off (while I was in the middle of watching Magic Mike XXL on my console) which caused the flight attendants to do a hurried dash through the cabin. A few minutes later the captain announced we would be landing in Nassau, Bahamas due to an issue with the aircraft. After landing rather uneventfully and unloading at the gate, we learned that we would be sequestered in Bahamas due to U.S. Customs requirements until a replacement plane could be sent to pick us up. Since we were in the USVI, no passport is required, and there would have been people on our flight traveling without who couldn't "enter" the Bahamas (or have the ability to re-enter the U.S. if they had). Three hours later, a new, empty plane from Miami arrived and took us on the 45 minute flight there. Turns out our original aircraft lost an engine and the protocol is to immediately land at the next available airport. Makes sense to me!
The strangest thing to me was that the crew that flew our replacement plane to the Bahamas did not fly us to Miami. They deemed the replacement flight to be a continuation of the old flight (i.e. gave it the same flight number) and the old crew flew and tended to the flight. The "rescue" crew sat in the couple of empty seats in first class as passengers.
