kygal
December 26th, 2004, 09:56 AM
First let me explain how this "adventure cruise" came about. My DH won a contest and was allowed to choose HIS adventure of a lifetime. We had 3 ideas in mind and were swayed toward this trip for various reasons. I actually work in the "performance side" of businesses and after reading alot about how great HAL was, we decided this would be perfect.
After booking the cruise and receiving our documents, we realized our flight was scheduled on the day AFTER the ship left (oops) so after a frantic call to our TA they straightened that out and we were back in business..Our flight for San Diego left at 7:00 am EST and we arrived in San Diego at 11:08..I can tell you, I worried that something would happen and we would NOT make this cruise, but we were right on time and met at the airport by an older man who told us to get our luggage ..pile it up and wait our turn..we would be on bus #3 to the ship..we waited..and waited ...and waited..and finally we were called to board the bus to the pier.
We didn't have too long of a wait once we got to the pier..as we were NOT registering our credit card we were told to stop in at the front desk to check and make sure our shipboard credits were secured! After having our picture taken, we made our way onboard..lugging our carryons..which were VERY heavy because we were told that our luggage may arrive later ..and so I packed them full of clothes..(great suggestion..but I had no idea how far we would have to carry them)..we were never met with the white glove treatment..was I disapointed? yes! Was I going to complain about something this simple..not in this lifetime!! Afterall, it could be worse..right?
By the time we reached the Lido, it was very crowded and so we just grabbed something to drink and headed up to the front office (I spent alot of time here in the next 15 days)...I was greeted by Melody who was very friendly..and I asked her if she could check to make sure our onboard credits were in place..to my amazement ..our account was EMPTY!!..Frantically, we called our TA who assured us the monies were sent to HA well in advance and she would straighten this out..at this point..I just really wanted to go home..but we were 2,000 miles away from home and exhausted...so I made a cash deposit and headed to our outside stateroom. It was very much like the pictures I have seen on the internet..it was clean and would be our home for the next 15 days. I was shocked to find a crack in the mirror in the living area...(just what we need ..7 years of bad luck.. :( ..this was never fixed while we were onboard.)
...more to come..I have an injured finger and it is taking me forever to type this with nine fingers :rolleyes: so please bear with me..and any spelling errors I make along the way
After booking the cruise and receiving our documents, we realized our flight was scheduled on the day AFTER the ship left (oops) so after a frantic call to our TA they straightened that out and we were back in business..Our flight for San Diego left at 7:00 am EST and we arrived in San Diego at 11:08..I can tell you, I worried that something would happen and we would NOT make this cruise, but we were right on time and met at the airport by an older man who told us to get our luggage ..pile it up and wait our turn..we would be on bus #3 to the ship..we waited..and waited ...and waited..and finally we were called to board the bus to the pier.
We didn't have too long of a wait once we got to the pier..as we were NOT registering our credit card we were told to stop in at the front desk to check and make sure our shipboard credits were secured! After having our picture taken, we made our way onboard..lugging our carryons..which were VERY heavy because we were told that our luggage may arrive later ..and so I packed them full of clothes..(great suggestion..but I had no idea how far we would have to carry them)..we were never met with the white glove treatment..was I disapointed? yes! Was I going to complain about something this simple..not in this lifetime!! Afterall, it could be worse..right?
By the time we reached the Lido, it was very crowded and so we just grabbed something to drink and headed up to the front office (I spent alot of time here in the next 15 days)...I was greeted by Melody who was very friendly..and I asked her if she could check to make sure our onboard credits were in place..to my amazement ..our account was EMPTY!!..Frantically, we called our TA who assured us the monies were sent to HA well in advance and she would straighten this out..at this point..I just really wanted to go home..but we were 2,000 miles away from home and exhausted...so I made a cash deposit and headed to our outside stateroom. It was very much like the pictures I have seen on the internet..it was clean and would be our home for the next 15 days. I was shocked to find a crack in the mirror in the living area...(just what we need ..7 years of bad luck.. :( ..this was never fixed while we were onboard.)
...more to come..I have an injured finger and it is taking me forever to type this with nine fingers :rolleyes: so please bear with me..and any spelling errors I make along the way