Cancun to Toronto via Newark

After a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs with veggies, cheese and homemade chipotle sauce at the Kumar’s, it was time to bust a move. We got to the airport in good time and the first thing Paul did was hit Starbucks for some iced frappe’s.

Our travel route was flying from Cancun to Toronto via Newark. We got in line and check in at United, and the woman at the counter noticed that we had arrived in Mexico over land, so we had to duck out of line to go over to an immigration kiosk to get our Mexican immigration form stamped. She told us to pop straight back to her when that was done. We did get a few dirty looks from folks that were still waiting in line when we cut in front of them all. Flying out of Cancun instead of Belize saved us $200 USD per ticket.

We didn’t have to wait long to board and overall the airport was a breeze to get through. Security was so easy, I didn’t even have to take off my shoes or remove my laptop from my bag. It was about a 30 minute wait at the gate to start the boarding process, just enough time to get snacks for the plane. We ended up in the emergency exit seat which was great for leg room, but a little uncomfortable as the seats in that isle don’t recline at all. We scarfed down our Philly Cheese Steak sandwich before we had even pulled away from the gate.

Immigration and everything at Newark was a snap as well, and within about 45 minutes we had gathered out bags, gone through immigration and security, and had jumped on a shuttle bus to the next terminal over. We had a ton of time to wander around the terminal looking for food options. We ended up at a ‘Diner’ that was done up as a 50’s restaurant. Of course my eyes were bigger than my stomach. After I finished my French onion soup and my side of coleslaw, I had no room left for the order of Sweet Potato fries so I took them as a to go snack. Paul had a meatball sub that he wasn’t as impressed with.

We found a spot to buy an e-cigarette for Paul as well, as there were no smoking areas inside the terminal. It ended up being a long layover in Newark because we got through security so quickly. Finally, it was time to board the flight to Toronto. We ended up in different seats this time. Paul ended up falling asleep before we left the gate, and woke up part way through the flight thinking we were still on the ground in Newark waiting to take off. He realized that they were in the air when the stewardess’ were offering drinks to people. Shortly after that it was announced that we were 15 minutes out from landing (the flight itself was just over an hour in total).

Given that we are Canadian citizens, but residents of Belize, were weren’t exactly sure how to fill out the immigration forms. We tried to enter them in new machines that would scan the form and just let you go straight through, however, United had given us ‘old’ forms that wouldn’t work with the scanner. We lined up to talk to an agent expecting to have to tell a length story, but he just took a quick look, stamped us and sent us on our way.

Shortly after that, we were walking into the arrivals area where Monique and Kieran found us right away. We whisked off to her place in Mississauga. After a little chit chat we hit the hay and it was the end of a long day traveling.