I should have listened...

My husband and I went on our first cruise Feb 28th and it was the Cruise from .... (you know where). We should have taken everyone's advise and flew to the port the night before, BUT no, I figured since we had four exta hours, then we wouldn't have a problem. I was so wrong!!!

I had been looking forward to this cruise for 10 years. Monday morning we arrived at the airport at 6:00 AM, boarded our Delta flight at 8:00 AM. The plane was packed and there was no room left in the overhead bins for our carry-on, so we were told we had to check the bags (mistake #1).

Thinking we were going to depart (mistake #2), the pilot informs us there's a mechanical problem with the plane and a mechanic is going to come and take a look. After 30 minutes the pilot comes back on over the loud speaker to inform us the problem is going to take a few hours and we need to get off the plane. I immediately got up and was literally the first one out and at the counter ready to book the next flight to Atlanta. I found out the 6:00 AM flight to Atlanta had also been cancelled and now they had two planes worth of people to re-book. The 10:00 AM flight was also cancelled due to Mechanical problems (are you beginning to see a trend here). They booked us on a 12:40 flight which would get us into Atlanta after our connecting flight to Jacksonville had left (mistake #3). No one seemed to care when I explained that we were meeting a cruise ship and had to get to Jacksonville by a specific time. One of the ticket agents did make the comment to me that I should have known to fly in the night before my cruise, her family is attending her funeral service today! lol

So I called the 800 # to notify the cruise that we had missed our flight but was trying to get to the dock before they left. At this point everything became a blur. Somehow we were squeezed onto a flight, made a connection and arrived in Jacksonville 10 minutes after the ship was to depart. I called "Barbara", my new best friend, every 15 minutes to give an update as to where we were and what time I thought we would be at the ship. Barbara kept telling me to HURRY! I was waiting for our luggage and David was getting us a cab. Our luggage NEVER came. We had NO luggage; we filed a quick claim and raced out to catch the cab to get to the ship. The cruise waited 45 minutes for us to get there. David and I went to our room and just sat there unable to believe we made it and that we had NOTHING with us. We realized we hadn't eaten all day, so decided to first search for food, which was an easy thing to do. Then we went to the ship's gift shop and were able to find one (1) pair of Capri pants and two (2) shirts in my size. David was able to find a few more items. For three days we had none of our stuff.

On Wednesday morning we were scheduled for a snorkeling excursion as soon as we docked Key West. I didn't have a swimsuit so as soon as we could get off the ship; we ran and found a swimming suit shop where I was able to purchase a swim suit. The water was so rough it was very difficult to snorkel and the reef we were suppose to look at, was about a 1/4 of a mile from where we anchored, so I don't think anyone actually made it all the way to the reef. I got into the water (mistake #4) and almost drowned. I got back onto the boat and was ready to call it a day.

When we got back onto the cruise ship and back to our room, we found 2 out of 3 of our luggage bags. We called Customer Service to find out where the 3rd bag was and they informed us they had it because there was a security issue with an item inside it. We had brought a "hand steamer" (mistake #5) and they confiscated it and told us we could have it back when we returned to Jacksonville.

The last day at sea was horribly rough. It was storming all day and the dance shows were cancelled because the performers couldn't walk on stage let alone try to dance. The ship rocked the entire day. David became very ill (not from sea sickness) but from the flu and felt bad all day.

The flight back home on Saturday was almost as much of a nightmare as the flight at the beginning of the trip. I think it only took us 12 hours to get home.

Okay, now I am going to mention all the positives: we did made the ship before it set sail; we were able to eat anytime day or night; we loved Nassau and the beautiful colored water; we spent "quality" time together; we made it home safely; Delta is reimbursing us for all of our purchases (up to $499); and we will have something to laugh about for years to come! Now we just need to decide when to book our next cruise...

At least you had a a good time, seem to have a postive attitude, and haven't giving up on cruisiing.:)

Hopefully, the next one you go on will begin and end with A LOT less stress!

BTW: What cruiseline were you on? Just curious to know what ship waited for you...

Thank you for posting this...I was on that cruise, and we all wondered why the ship was an hour late leaving! Yes, there was a little bit of motion the last day, but not bad...

Only one ship sails from Jacksonville...Carnival Fascination! EM

I am AMAZED that they held the ship for just the two of you. Consider yourselves VERY lucky!!!!

P.S. Glad you enjoyed the cruise.

Only one ship sails from Jacksonville...Carnival Fascination! EM

Thanks! I thought it was Carnival, but wasn't 100% sure...

Sorry you had to go thru all that.

WOW! I am surprised that they held the ship for you too- esp. since it sounds like you did not book your flights through Carnival. Glad you guys made it and had an overall good time all things considered.

Also glad that you had a good enough time to give cruising another try!

Mysery loves company ;) do you mind if I share my story?

We flew the same day from Oakland, CA to Los Angeles - was it 1 or 2 hours flight? We reserved 8 am flight to have enough time in case of a delay.

Who could predict, the planes were left overnight in a hangar in California got iced in? And of course there was only one de-icing machine... Of course we were sitting on pins and needles for boarding, after that scared what if a problem with the plane...

We had cruise ship transfers to the port - lucky us, got on the last bus! And the bus was full, I gues we were not the only ones careless travelers! (at least we had insurance that time!)

NEVER AGAIN!! :o

Wow, what a story. The best part is you maintained your humor and were still able to eek out some fun and relaxation, that speaks volumes about the two of you. I loved your line about this "One of the ticket agents did make the comment to me that I should have known to fly in the night before my cruise, her family is attending her funeral service today! lol" ;)

Kirk

Wow! It sounds like you took Murphy along with you on vacation. I am glad you still found the possitive.

welcome to cruise critic

wow -- you sure did have an adventur for your first cruise

Bless your heart. I hope this doesn't spoil your plans for another cruise some day. There are time when things just don't your way. We've had a couple cruises where we felt like we were beating our heads against the wall. Fortunately, this is not the norm. We too have learned to fly in the day before a cruise. Airlines are completely unreliable these days and are more often late then on time. Its not worth the hassle or stress to push everything into one day.

It sounds like Delta is going to make you whole. You will remember this cruise for a long time and you will laugh as time passes. Look at the bright side, nobody got hurt and you got a few new things on Delta's bill :)

Don't give up on cruising. Its still a great vacation.

Smart-Travelers

http://www.*****

Sounds like an airline problem and you had a good cruise.Seems to me the cruise line nothing wrong.

There are people coming in from the US for my upcoming Mediterranean cruise the day of departure! :eek: I am worried about them and hope they make the ship. But there is the potential for delays into London Heathrow. Then it is a 1.5 to 2 hour transfer from London Heathrow to Southampton. :eek: Then of course there is the potential of traffic issues between Heathrow and Southampton. :eek: Needless to say, I will be very interested in watching the ship cast off from Southampton to see if anyone comes running at the last minute or misses the ship.

Wow! I hope that some day in the future you will look back on this trip and think "what an adventure!" I probably wouldn't have been thinking that at the time, however. More like "@%^$#". ;)

Wow! I am so sorry that you had all of that craziness happened! But I am glad to hear that you all made the best of it! Now go book your next cruise or other adventure and know that it has to be much simplier than you last one. And go have fun on your next trip!!!

I sure am glad I don't fly out of Indianapolis.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise (and that you learned something from your experience)!

During all of my years of cruising, I've learned to NEVER fly or drive on the day of the cruise, NEVER take a connecting flight, and ALWAYS take insurance.

Oh My!! sorry you went through this but glad you kept your chin up!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise (and that you learned something from your experience)!

 

During all of my years of cruising, I've learned to NEVER fly or drive on the day of the cruise, NEVER take a connecting flight, and ALWAYS take insurance.

Congratulations, you live in a hub city. Not everyone can fly to every port without taking a connecting flight.

On our last vacation adventure I used my free flight for giving up my seat on a previous flight home from a conference. I booked my DH on another airline that was cheaper that the one that I was using. I dropped him off early in the morning and then went back home for a few hours. I was dropped off at the airport about 5 hours later.

Just like everyone else, I arrived an hour and half prior to my flight from our small airport. No announcements, no airline staff was informing the passengers as to why we were suppose to be boarding and there wasn't even a plane at the gate. Everyone kept asking as what was happening and where was our plane. Finally a crew member showed up at the board gate, but too bad they had no clue as to what was happening. This was very frustrating.

Turns out that the orginating flight had been delayed due to a flat tire. Two hours later we finally took off. I had an hour and half lay over, so I was hoping that I was going to make my connection. We landed 15 minutes after my connecting flight was to take off. The pilot was nice enough to announce to the full plane to let those that had connecting flight to disembark first in the hopes that we could make our flight. I was the first one off the plane and promply looked to see that my flight was still boarding. I ran to the boarding gate (at the furthest point at the airport) to see the plane pulling away from the gate.

I raced to the closest service desk for that airline. I quickly explained my situation. The support member wasn't happy with me until she learned that it was the airline's fault for the missed connection. She then went out of her way to get me on another flight. She then informed me that was actually a direct flight to my destination that was boarding.

So, off to the races once again since that flight was only a gate or two away from where my orginal plane had disembarked. When I arrived at the gate, they had already closed the door. At that point I am in tears. I have run from one end of the Phoenix airport to the other not once but twice in about 20 minutes. But blessing to one of the ground crew. She opened that door and intervened with the flight crew and got me on that flight.

When I landed in Orlando I had no luggage, but I was there about 2 hours prior to when I was suppose to land. But having previously heard about other adventures with lost luggage, I cross packed our clothes, so if lugage was lost or delayed we would still have some items.

Our cruise wasn't for a few more days, so my luggage did catch up with me prior to our cruise. When I went to lost luggage area for the Orlando airport to give them my info they were horrified as to the adventures of my day. They was very impressed that I had cross packed the suitcases. My luggage was delivered to the hotel at 2 A.M. I had requested the hotel NOT to call me, but that I would check with them first thing in the morning. Nope, they just couldn't let it go, I got a 2 A.M. call to inform me that my lost luggage had been delivered.:cool:

To rest of the trip was great, but it did have a rough start.

Wow! I'm glad you made the best of the trip! I definitely would've freaked out if I didn't have any luggage, especially when it should've been carry one anyway!

I'm sure next trip will be better!

so can you really not bring a hand clothing steamer? I cruised back in 99' and brought one then, but I'm sure things have changed. I had planned on bring one on my cruise in July, we are going on RC Serenade?

thanks!

Tanya

It's awesome that after all that your looking forward to your next cruise.

Now you've learned some things that will make your next trip a breeze.

Crap happens and when you make the best of a bad situation your way ahead of the folks that let it get to them:cool:

Just a little tip I thought you should know. Many of my co-workers (we work in an airport) think that Delta is actually an acronym for Doesn't Ever Leave The Airport. Either that or Don't Expect Luggage To Arrive! Take your pick.