tonykj1
February 8th, 2007, 09:32 AM
I guess reality has set back in :rolleyes:
My wife Amy and I were on the 1/27 Oosterdam cruise. We were a little apprehensive about the trip because of reading such a mix of reviews on the message boards. I know there is no such thing as a “perfect” cruise, but we always try to make the best out of any situation. Our trip home really tried this policy!
We intentionally stayed an extra day in SD after the cruise so we would have a no stress exit from the ship, and be able to see a little of the city before heading home.
Well, when we arrived at the airport Sunday afternoon, everything seemed OK. They unloaded the plane, and we were supposed to start boarding at 3:45pm. I thought something was a little odd when they had not started boarding the plane at around 4:00pm. Finally the gate counter agent came back off the plane. She said that the captain had determined that this plane had "major" engine problems, and he was taking it out of service immediately. She did not know if the flight would be cancelled, or if they would be able to get another plane. She advised us all to go into the bar that was next to the gate and watch some of the super bowl. After a little while, they came back and said they were going to be able to get another plane, and it was coming in from Dallas, so we would not take off until about 6:00pm
The second plane arrived and we all were loaded onto the plane. We took off a little after 6:00pm, so we thought all was going to be ok. Hmmmm were we wrong!
We arrived at O’Hare about midnight local time. We were supposed to originally land at 10:00pm. As soon as we landed, the plane stopped on the taxiway. After a few minutes the captain came on and said it was 10 below outside (real temp without wind chill) and that there was no gate for us, as all the available gates either had planes at them or had been staged with the planes for Monday morning service. He commented that most of the O’Hare employees had called in sick Sunday night because of the combination of the Super Bowl and the terrible cold.
Well anyway, we waited in that spot for a whole hour! By now it was about 1:00am. The captain came on and said he ended up having to get on his cell phone and call the American Airlines "Chief Pilot" at his home in Dallas and wake him up. By doing this, he was able to get some things moving. So now we finally had a gate.
Our plane got about 100 feet from the gate and stopped again. The captain got on the speaker again and said that due to all the people calling in sick, there was no ground crew to wave the plane into the gate, and he could not move the plane in until someone was there. So we waited about another 20 minutes on that.
Then they finally turned off the fasten seat belt sign which was everyone's signal to get up, get their carry ons and deplane. Well not so fast. Everyone did that standing in place thing you do on a plane while you are waiting on everyone in front of you to clear out, but the people were not clearing out. After a few minutes, the captain got back on the speaker and said that during our flight, the door of the plane had completely frozen shut and they could not get it open!!
They ended up having to call someone in from maintenance, and after about 20 minutes, they got the door open. We felt like getting down on our knees because we were finally on solid ground, but little did we know that our saga was not over!
It's now after 1:30am. So we went down to the baggage claim, and the first thing I noticed was about 50 people in the line for the baggage service counter. I remarked to Amy that I bet a whole plane full of people missed getting their luggage loaded on their plane. So we waited and waited and waited and started getting worried because our luggage was nowhere in sight. Eventually, people started wondering what to do, and exactly how long you should wait at the baggage carousel before giving up!
I had what I thought was a time saving idea. We had parked our car at the Renaissance Hotel O’Hare and used their park and fly program. I said I would go to the hotel and get our car. That way by the time we get the luggage, at least I will have already gotten the car. So off I went. Keep in mind that my winter coat was in my luggage, which was nowhere in sight, so I took off through O’Hare in my short sleeve tropical shirt and no coat. I walked through the inner bowels of O’Hare to go from Terminal 3 to the first floor of the parking garage where the Courtesy Shuttle pick up area is. I called the hotel and asked them to come get me, and they said they would send the drive right away.
There was a pretty nice enclosed waiting area to wait. However 2 of the 3 doors were stuck open because of the extreme cold. So I’m sitting there wondering how long I would have to wait. There were 3 O’Hare employees in full body suits sprawled out sleeping in chairs (Your airfare taxes at work!) There was another traveler who also appeared to be waiting on a shuttle. I struck up a conversation with him, but after a few minutes, he took some newspapers out of his travel bag spread them carefully on the floor, took off his coat making it into a pillow and laying down. So apparently I was talking to a homeless man and did not even realize it. Either that or he was frustrated with the amount of time he had to wait on his shuttle and decided to call it a night!
While I was waiting, Amy called me from the baggage carousel on my cell phone. She said that they had made an announcement that the baggage from our plane would not be unloaded, and we would all need to file baggage claims. So Amy was off to get into the massive baggage claim line
After 40 minutes my shuttle arrives. I go to get into the shuttle and the driver sees me in my short sleeve tropical shirt. He says to me, “Don’t you have a coat?” I shrug my shoulders and tell him “you don’t even want to know……”
So I arrive at the hotel, and go to get my car. I tried starting my car, and to make things complete, the car would not start! It made kind of a groaning noise as if it was saying to me, “are you kidding, it’s 3am here - - give me a break”.
I realized in my car I had my “Extreme Weather Russian Fur Hat” and my gloves. So I grabbed them, put them on, and walked back into the hotel lobby with my fur hat and gloves on, accompanied by my short sleeved tropical shirt. For those of you that know me, I’m a big guy, so you can imagine the shock on everyone’s face when they see me coming back into the hotel! They must have been considering if they should be dialing 911.
I explained my situation to them, and asked if they had any rooms available. They said they did. At this point, I felt like I just needed to s-l-e-e-p ! So I asked the shuttle driver if he would take me back to the airport to get Amy. He said yes. The maintenance man at the hotel told me telling my story, and told me they had a battery charger. Would I like to try giving my car a jump, before going to get my wife? I thought why not, so he went off to get his coat and the battery charger. We went back out into the -10 degrees with my fur hat and gloves and tropical shirt. We hooked up the battery, and something amazing happened - the car started!
About this time, Amy called and said she had worked her way through the line to get the baggage claim forms, and called the 800 number to file the claim. Then, as she was finishing the process, our luggage started coming out of the carousel. We were later told that there was only 1 person unloading the baggage from all the American flights that night. Just amazing!
So I let the car warm up for about 15 minutes, then I drove back to the airport to get Amy and our baggage, and we were off for home.
We arrived home at 5:10am, and we were both supposed to be at work at 8:00am. Needless to say, both of us went in a little late on Monday!
So I would have to say after going through this, that it made the actual cruise itself that much more special. We had such a wonderful time that it was amazing.
Tony and Amy
My wife Amy and I were on the 1/27 Oosterdam cruise. We were a little apprehensive about the trip because of reading such a mix of reviews on the message boards. I know there is no such thing as a “perfect” cruise, but we always try to make the best out of any situation. Our trip home really tried this policy!
We intentionally stayed an extra day in SD after the cruise so we would have a no stress exit from the ship, and be able to see a little of the city before heading home.
Well, when we arrived at the airport Sunday afternoon, everything seemed OK. They unloaded the plane, and we were supposed to start boarding at 3:45pm. I thought something was a little odd when they had not started boarding the plane at around 4:00pm. Finally the gate counter agent came back off the plane. She said that the captain had determined that this plane had "major" engine problems, and he was taking it out of service immediately. She did not know if the flight would be cancelled, or if they would be able to get another plane. She advised us all to go into the bar that was next to the gate and watch some of the super bowl. After a little while, they came back and said they were going to be able to get another plane, and it was coming in from Dallas, so we would not take off until about 6:00pm
The second plane arrived and we all were loaded onto the plane. We took off a little after 6:00pm, so we thought all was going to be ok. Hmmmm were we wrong!
We arrived at O’Hare about midnight local time. We were supposed to originally land at 10:00pm. As soon as we landed, the plane stopped on the taxiway. After a few minutes the captain came on and said it was 10 below outside (real temp without wind chill) and that there was no gate for us, as all the available gates either had planes at them or had been staged with the planes for Monday morning service. He commented that most of the O’Hare employees had called in sick Sunday night because of the combination of the Super Bowl and the terrible cold.
Well anyway, we waited in that spot for a whole hour! By now it was about 1:00am. The captain came on and said he ended up having to get on his cell phone and call the American Airlines "Chief Pilot" at his home in Dallas and wake him up. By doing this, he was able to get some things moving. So now we finally had a gate.
Our plane got about 100 feet from the gate and stopped again. The captain got on the speaker again and said that due to all the people calling in sick, there was no ground crew to wave the plane into the gate, and he could not move the plane in until someone was there. So we waited about another 20 minutes on that.
Then they finally turned off the fasten seat belt sign which was everyone's signal to get up, get their carry ons and deplane. Well not so fast. Everyone did that standing in place thing you do on a plane while you are waiting on everyone in front of you to clear out, but the people were not clearing out. After a few minutes, the captain got back on the speaker and said that during our flight, the door of the plane had completely frozen shut and they could not get it open!!
They ended up having to call someone in from maintenance, and after about 20 minutes, they got the door open. We felt like getting down on our knees because we were finally on solid ground, but little did we know that our saga was not over!
It's now after 1:30am. So we went down to the baggage claim, and the first thing I noticed was about 50 people in the line for the baggage service counter. I remarked to Amy that I bet a whole plane full of people missed getting their luggage loaded on their plane. So we waited and waited and waited and started getting worried because our luggage was nowhere in sight. Eventually, people started wondering what to do, and exactly how long you should wait at the baggage carousel before giving up!
I had what I thought was a time saving idea. We had parked our car at the Renaissance Hotel O’Hare and used their park and fly program. I said I would go to the hotel and get our car. That way by the time we get the luggage, at least I will have already gotten the car. So off I went. Keep in mind that my winter coat was in my luggage, which was nowhere in sight, so I took off through O’Hare in my short sleeve tropical shirt and no coat. I walked through the inner bowels of O’Hare to go from Terminal 3 to the first floor of the parking garage where the Courtesy Shuttle pick up area is. I called the hotel and asked them to come get me, and they said they would send the drive right away.
There was a pretty nice enclosed waiting area to wait. However 2 of the 3 doors were stuck open because of the extreme cold. So I’m sitting there wondering how long I would have to wait. There were 3 O’Hare employees in full body suits sprawled out sleeping in chairs (Your airfare taxes at work!) There was another traveler who also appeared to be waiting on a shuttle. I struck up a conversation with him, but after a few minutes, he took some newspapers out of his travel bag spread them carefully on the floor, took off his coat making it into a pillow and laying down. So apparently I was talking to a homeless man and did not even realize it. Either that or he was frustrated with the amount of time he had to wait on his shuttle and decided to call it a night!
While I was waiting, Amy called me from the baggage carousel on my cell phone. She said that they had made an announcement that the baggage from our plane would not be unloaded, and we would all need to file baggage claims. So Amy was off to get into the massive baggage claim line
After 40 minutes my shuttle arrives. I go to get into the shuttle and the driver sees me in my short sleeve tropical shirt. He says to me, “Don’t you have a coat?” I shrug my shoulders and tell him “you don’t even want to know……”
So I arrive at the hotel, and go to get my car. I tried starting my car, and to make things complete, the car would not start! It made kind of a groaning noise as if it was saying to me, “are you kidding, it’s 3am here - - give me a break”.
I realized in my car I had my “Extreme Weather Russian Fur Hat” and my gloves. So I grabbed them, put them on, and walked back into the hotel lobby with my fur hat and gloves on, accompanied by my short sleeved tropical shirt. For those of you that know me, I’m a big guy, so you can imagine the shock on everyone’s face when they see me coming back into the hotel! They must have been considering if they should be dialing 911.
I explained my situation to them, and asked if they had any rooms available. They said they did. At this point, I felt like I just needed to s-l-e-e-p ! So I asked the shuttle driver if he would take me back to the airport to get Amy. He said yes. The maintenance man at the hotel told me telling my story, and told me they had a battery charger. Would I like to try giving my car a jump, before going to get my wife? I thought why not, so he went off to get his coat and the battery charger. We went back out into the -10 degrees with my fur hat and gloves and tropical shirt. We hooked up the battery, and something amazing happened - the car started!
About this time, Amy called and said she had worked her way through the line to get the baggage claim forms, and called the 800 number to file the claim. Then, as she was finishing the process, our luggage started coming out of the carousel. We were later told that there was only 1 person unloading the baggage from all the American flights that night. Just amazing!
So I let the car warm up for about 15 minutes, then I drove back to the airport to get Amy and our baggage, and we were off for home.
We arrived home at 5:10am, and we were both supposed to be at work at 8:00am. Needless to say, both of us went in a little late on Monday!
So I would have to say after going through this, that it made the actual cruise itself that much more special. We had such a wonderful time that it was amazing.
Tony and Amy