Live from Miami and just off Zuiderdam

Well folks here we are stuck in Miami Hilton awaiting a flight to Atlanta .... just off our 9 day cruise (2 days were spent circling Cuba). 4 sea days in a row was a bit much but we're safe so far and will give a full report as soon as return. For now everything is HUNKY DORY.

Mr. & Mrs. Dexter

Dexter:) ...so glad to read you are back safe and sound!!! Look forward to reading anything you have to report!

Glad you made it back safely and hope you get home soon.

We've been seeing shots on TV of the ships returning to port. We counted 12 at the Port of Miami. An unusual sight.

Glad you made it back safely. How soon will you be able to fly out of Florida or are you driving back home? Could you tell if there were many people able to make the next cruise?

Well folks here we are stuck in Miami Hilton awaiting a flight to Atlanta ....

Mr. & Mrs. Dexter

The wind and rain from the hurricane are just arriving in Atlanta ahead of you as we speak. Fasten your seat belts; it's gonna be a bumpy ride. :eek:

Nice to hear from someone who is back from the Zuiderdam. I bet it was an interesting voyage. :)

The RCI and Carnival ships that normally arrive back at Port Canaveral are also arriving in Miami. Port Canaveral won't re-open until Sept. 8.

No kidding, Peaches! We've had wind and rain all day here in Auburn, and it's supposed to get worse overnight and all day tomorrow.

Glad to hear you are safely disembarked and on your way home....hopefully.

Hope that as soon as you are settled and have the time, that you will post some comments about your 'adventure'.

Welcome Back.

Dexters -

Welcome home, almost. I hope you are in good spirits and make it home safely soon.

Your travel insurance should cover your extra expenses. Glad you're back safe and sound.

Welcome Back Dexter - glad to see everyone is home safe and sound. I will be interested in seeing your's and others follow-ups.

Welcome back and welcome home. Can't wait to read your report.

Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures at sea. Its a pity we can`t go into Cuba, I hear they have some nice beaches.....jean :cool:

Welcome to Land Mr. & Mrs. Dexter!

Hope yoy have a safe trip home, cant wait to hear about your extra days! Thanks for the Hunky Dory comment, brought back memories for us!

Your travel insurance should cover your extra expenses.

Did they say they had travel insurance? I didn't read that.

Mr & Mrs Dexter

There are a lot of us here waiting for your report.

Hopefully you have gotten a flight home today.

Just curious - would travel insurance cover you for post cruise stays because I thought you would only be covered fior the actual days of your cruise. This is something I would love to know about! Also, usually people I know do not cover their air costs - cruise cost only. I know that in this case, airlines are I HOPE honoring past ticket holders, but had it not been a hurrican - would they or would there have been penalties?

luv2cruise

Good question.

I never thought about what happens if you have to stay on the ship longer than expected and then can't fly home on the day the ship actually docks.

Would the travel insurance pay for hotels and food and any other fees since you do indicate how long you are to be gone on the form and now you are past that deadline????

This is the insurance we always use, so I just called and asked. Seems IF they have to stay overnight or any time I guess say in a hotel awaiting a flight, they WOULD BE COVERED under TRAVEL DELAY at $150 per person per day. IF the cruiseline does NOT reimburse them for a flight penalty, they would also pay on that with proper documentation/proof of itinerary.

I was just curious so I called to find out. Seems you can call a certain number and get info from claims dept and/or download a claims form to be submitted from online.

Good to know I thought. I assume other travel insurance companies would be similar and hopefully they DID have travel insurance!

This is a case where it would definitely pay to have it!

I just spoke with friends who returned yesterday on the Z and fortunately, they were able to get flights back home with minimum waiting. They seemed to have taken it all in stride and really bragged on how HAL kept everyone informed and updated. She said the weather was great except for a LITTLE motion coming back in.There were buses there waiting for them as they disembarked to take them to the airport. As she pointed out, it was great having 2 "free" cruise days except for the anticipation of not knowing what to expect when they disembarked. Of course, for the Florida residents, I'm sure it was not nearly so stress free as they worried about their homes, etc.!

I forgot to ask what they did those 2 extra days at sea as far as activities. I bet that Cruise director was working overtime!

Well...I managed to get out of Orlando last night. We rented a car and certainly had an exciting ride up I-95. Thank god...We had a full tank of gas as you couldn't find it anywhere.

I have to say I have mixed feeling on how well the whole thing was handled by HAL. I guess from day "1" there was some anciety (shared by many I talked too) about if we were going to have an itinerary change. Not a word was said (only rumours). The Caribbean Princess ran behind us on the 1st night (they went to Princess Cay) then headed to the Western Caribbean. We continued directly towards Tortola and Frances. Late in the day Monday, the Captain announced that Frances had skirted Tortola & St. Thomas and we were going to hug the Dominican coastline and come up behind it into Tortola with an arrival of 930am instead of 7am. We hit heavy sea's late Monday night (early Tuesday) and arrived in Tortola. (Frances was a 190 miles away) Roadtown was almost shut down with all boats either drydocked or in a safe harbour. All excursions were canceled except the island tours. It was windy and started raining after lunch. Not a wonderful day. The port of St. Thomas was closed Tuesday. Wednesday - St Thomas...nice day. On sailing Wednesday night from St. Thomas we were advised that we were missing Nassau (as expected) and were heading up on the West side of Puerto Rico, Dominican and then back into the Atlantic between Cuba and Haiti. Late on Thursday we were advised that we would be delayed til at least dinner time on Saturday to Ft. Lauderdale. Then later we were advised it would be Sunday morning. People started to panic...running off to the internet centre and making phone calls to change their travel plans. Saturday afternoon we were told of another 24hr delay.

Now...the entertainment staff were wonderful. With 4 sea days...they worked very hard to come up with things to keep us busy. Sometimes it was silly, but you know what, they did a heck of a good job!!!!!

The Casino staff and Store Staff also worked hard to keep us entertained. I have to say, it felt like I was in the movie Groundhog day. As a matter of fact, all the staff worked long and hard to keep us happy. Even the computer system thought we should be off the ship Saturday and locked us out of our staterooms. The stewarts stood guard until 11pm, to let you in to your cabin and then ran down to reprogam your card.

Now, I was really disappointed that HAL maintained their internet and phone pricing. Not until Saturday at 0001am did the phone charges drop from 7.95 per minute to $2.95 minute. The internet maintained it's per minute rip off rate with slow servers being taxed. It wasn't hard to have a $20.00 charge for one E Mail. They missed a perfect opportunity to give their guests that piece of mind.

Met someone on Monday morning at Alamo Car Rental from the Caribbean Princess....They were given free phone and internet service from the time of the announced delays. They had a much better chance of rebooking flights then us poor soles. It was not unusal to be talking for 30 to 60 minutes to rebook a flight. (do the math)

Theres a lot more, ask any questions.

My friend stressed to me that HAL couldn't have been nicer. And this was an "older" couple who I would have guessed might have been upset over all the uncertainty. They reported a great time on the Zuiderdam.

After rereading, maybe the prior poster was NOT on the Zuiderdam????????

After rereading, maybe the prior poster was NOT on the Zuiderdam????????

Just curious..

Why in the world would you think Searanger wasn't on the Zui ??

Srpilo

P.s. IMO.. "First Hand" information is by its very nature always more acturate and reliable. ... btw Thanks Searanger for taking the time to post :D