Anyone else have any "frightening" pre cruise stories?

[g-didi]

Does anyone know what would have happened to her if a flight attendant had seen her turn her cell phone on?

 

Passengers are required by law to follow the instructions of crew members. Likely your friend would have been instructed to turn her phone off immediately. If she complied, she likely would just get a warning from the FA not to do that again.

 

If she did not comply its very likely she would be detained and arrested. They may wait til they land or you will find out pretty quickly that there is an Air Marshall onboard! Depending on how out of control it got she could be charged with numerous offenses (federal crimes!) and be banned from that airline. Some incidents of disturbance aboard a plane have resulted in planes diverting to remove the passenger - and courts have ordered damages to pay for the diversion. Not cheap I imagine!

 

Not worth it to check messages!

[kanitter]

Not really frightening but more annoying. Got ready to go on our first cruise, a 15 day ta, our 30th anniversay, flying to Iceland, and England. Couldn't be better, right. Ok, so I'm a little nervous especially about forgetting the passports, so I'm checking that we have them probably every 30 minutes. Get to the airport, yep we have the passports, but no don't need them yet as we're flying from St. Louis to Mpls first. Have planned it that while in Mpls we are going to surprise my mil and have lunch with her as dh relatives all live there. Oh, but have to make one stop first as soon as we get off the plane. Need to go to Walgreens so I can get some insulin. Yea, I'm diabetic, have been for about 27 years. Was so dang concerned about the passports that I left my insulin sitting on the kitchen table. So I might go into a diabetic coma but I'll be able to do it in another country dammit.:D

[Bastet]

We were going on a cruise with our daughter and hubby and 2 grandsons. I was the one to ask each time we moved ahead in line. "you have all the bags?" We got through security, stopped to get our pictures taken, and board the ship. I ask hubby, give me the camera, I want a picture before we get to our rooms. Camera? We are in the lobby. He goes back through the line, panic...I left my camera. I wait it out. Fuming! Then I heard my husbands name being annouced over and over on the intercom. I thought they might have kept him lol...serves him right. Well you know what an unattended bag does. Whhheww...not so much. I always put our name inside the camera case. They asked my husband his name etc. They had the camera roped off ...you can only imagine. They let him take the camera..and he tried to board the ship...only to find he didnt leave the ship so they were confused. I could see him with security, I couldnt do a thing. Throughout the cruise..we could hear people talking about someone leaving their camera and tying up the check in. All was well...and we ended up purchasing a new camera in one of the ports. Lesson learned...dont let hubby hold any bags..and put your name inside the case.

 

 

We had something similar happen on our last cruise. We went to Barcelona the day before the cruise and had a wonderful time walking around and taking the HO HO bus and of course hubby was taking lots and lots of pictures. So the day we are to board the ship, we gather up the luggage and carry on bags, including the bag that hubby was using to carry his camera and other things, and get a cab to the port. Of course he has the camera out still taking pictures. So we get to the terminal, go through security, fill out the health forms, get are cruise docs and keys, and proceed to board the ship when hubby realizes he doesn't have his camera! :eek: He looks in his bag and can't find it and assumes he left it at security and goes running back only to find it's not there. Now it's only a camera, albeit expensive, and can be replaced, but it had all of our Barcelona pics. Needless to say our embarcation picture was not the usual happy smiling one. Once we got to our room, hubby was unpacking his camera bag and lo an behold, there is the missing camera in the wrong side of the bag! :o So we had a good laugh and much relief and had a wonderful cruise.

[gincase]

On our way from Vancouver to Seattle on 2007... We were at the terminal, all checked in for our suite. We were waiting dockside in the boarding area, when we were told the boarding would be delayed. We were very close to the boarding area for the boat. Hours passed and by this point, the waiting area was beyond capacity, people were anxious and angry.

 

Over the loud speaker we heard they would started boarding 50 people at a time. Since we were holding the boarding passes and we had the boarding "early" pass, we stood up and started to walk towards the entry area. Well...so did the other 1,000+ guests traveling with us.

 

The part of the story that I haven't told is that a big reason why we l Ike to board early is that I really don't handle large crowds very well...like I have anxiety attacks. I work very hard to keep it together, but at that moment...with crush of people heading towards us, I felt my heart just stop.

 

I froze, couldn't see my (now) husband. The next thing I know, is that I've got some Russian guy saying "Ginny, Ginny, are you okay?" and I have an oxygen mask on. I see my husband next to me, trying to push people away, while the paramedics try to calm me down.

 

NCL summoned extra crews to deal with the crush of people and unorganized dock (Non-NCL staff) crew. And things started to board more smoothly.

 

I did get to board. Almost the very last person to get on. I am pretty sure everyone boarding the boat saw me in hysterics. Didn't care, there was nothing I could do.

 

We did win big on bingo to cover the cost of the cruise.

 

And, my husband books priority boarding every single time. (thanks honey)

[dragon94]

Driving to Philly airport around three AM. One hour away from airport. Penndot decides they are closing the turnpike to do road construction. Get off of turnpike, now one would think that detour signs would be posted. NO. Not one sign in sight. Nothing is open as it is 3 AM. Luckily we did find one mini mart open and as I was very close to having a nervous breakdown, we found a tow truck driver from the area in the parking lot and he gave us perfect directions!!

 

Lesson learned, NEVER go out of town without the GPS! :rolleyes:

 

Bastet, sounds like something my husband does all the time!!

[johneeo]

Driving to Philly airport around three AM. One hour away from airport. Penndot decides they are closing the turnpike to do road construction. Get off of turnpike, now one would think that detour signs would be posted. NO. Not one sign in sight.

 

HA HA HA HA HA !!!

You do not get to Philly much, huh?

 

You were lucky. If they did put out signs, you would have wound up in Ohio.

[shanejb]

The night before boarding the second to last flight to get to the point of embarkation for our looooong awaited Mediterranean cruise. Even the flights sounded amazing !(yes, this was my first cruise) I loved telling people at work “Oh yeah, we’re flying from Miami to Madrid, Madrid to Barcelona” It just rolled off the tongue(say it to yourself)

Where I’m from is more of a KFC place, so when we hit McDonalds in Miami I went straight for my go to meal : Strawberry milkshake, Big Mac and fries. Eating on an empty stomach without having something hot to drink first usually results in a very gaseous, liquid-like movement of my bowels, so you can imagine drinking something ice cold and dropping junk food into that churning mix of stomach juices...well, we'll get to that.

“Miami to Madrid” went well. “Madrid to Barcelona”, not quite so well. I spent the better part of the second half of the flight in the toilet; so much so, that I figured I was going to find out if the stewardesses have orders to bodily remove people from the toilet if the plane is going to land even if they haven’t finished yet. I made it back to my seat in time.

 

 

We arrived at the airport and got our taxi. The drive into Barcelona was gorgeous. There was already such a variety of things to see in that brief ride, a hint of the things we were going to encounter on this trip. At the port we lined up all excited and chattering with one another and got our form to fill out which asked if we had exhibited any of the following symptoms : diarrhea(I can NEVER spell that without looking it up) or vomiting. Now before I explain why I answered the way I did, some things need to be said to understand my reasoning. First, they preceeded the question with a statement about their concern for passengers and communicable diseases. This i understood since my experienced cruiser friend had fascinated us with stories of the dreaded Noro virus which had stopped many a cruise-liner dead in the water as it ravaged passengers and left the elderly as fatal casualties in it’s wake. My “in flight-entertainment” a few hours before was nothing of the like, plus I knew it had cleared up and it was in no way communicable. Second, I had been raised to be honest despite whatever consequences it might bring, knowing my honesty would be rewarded, if in no other sense than a clean conscience when I laid my head on my pillow and closed my eyes at night. So it was with the aforementioned thinking that I ticked the box next to diarrhea(i just had to look back up a few lines to spell that again) Afterall, the Noro Police were certain to see that I wasn’t a walking host of pathogens, pale and spewing liquid from both ends. I was the picture of a healthy young virile man. This view was not held by my experienced cruiser friend. After dutifully checking his wife’s and our other companion’s forms he kindly scanned mine. To try and describe his face would make no sense, save to say that when he looked up into my eyes after shouting my name he knew he was looking at a man that has signed one-way ticket back home.

“WHY DID YOU CHECK THAT!?!” he bellowed.

Trying to reason with him on my elevated sense of ethics was getting nowhere and I recalled him having once recounted one of his travel stories that involved a missing document, some cash, and an especially yielding South American immigration officer. His wife(who had not been on that trip) assured me that taking the honest route was best.

Upon reaching the counter we handed up all our forms and passports together. It was very evident when the young lady with the clipped, yet pleasant accent which I couldn’t quite place got to my from. Her convivial expression stiffened and she looked up. She asked which one of us this form belonged to and I came forward. She asked about what I had checked on the form and I proceeded to explain that it was just a case of gas having not eaten properly the night before and I assured her it was all cleared up. I was asked to stand aside. I still wasn’t worried. My friend came over and when I calmly reviewed the exchange he bellowed at me again:

“THEY’RE NOT GOING TO UNDERSTAND GAS!!! THEY’LL THINK IT’S GAS-TRO[ENTARITIS]”

Oh, and for the record what I did have does have a medical term, it’s called gastritis. Anyway, through the crowd we could see the doctor being directed toward us. I felt the draft as my “friends” distanced themselves from me. The tanned Dr. Mauritz in his tailored uniform, very stylish glasses and expertly coiffed hair proceeded to talk to me in his refined Eastern European accent. It was NOW that things started to get a little anxious. My stomach would surely have been turning over, had it’s contents not been recently evacuated into the waste lines of the “Madrid to Barcelona” flight. My mind was racing and I really wasn’t listening to him except when my mind stopped to take a breath. It was during one of the breaths that I heard him say “you would not be able to get on the ship” My heart sank. Now, I consider myself to be one of principles (hence my honesty) and it was at this point that I wondered how universally just would it be for me to let me get allll the way to Barcelona and not get on this ship. Stop me in Miami, but to get all the way here AND on top of it this was happening because of my honesty??? As I finished an exchange with my Creator and my mind took another breath, I heard Dr. Mauritz say I would be allowed on the ship and quarantined for 24hrs, they would observe me, and if the symptoms continued I would be thrown off of the ship in a life raft to fend for myself until help arrived. No, no, he said I would be dropped off at the next port of call. Since there was uncertainty of my infecting other passengers, I was to be whisked past the line and straight onto the ship. I suddenly felt another draft; this time of my friends suddenly re-appearing at my side to by pass the line. I was confused. As we were ushered past the queued passengers, I told my friend I thought I was not going to be allowed on and he explained that he had been listening from a little bit away(a skill which his wife abhors)and that Dr. Mauritz had said if it were an AMERICAN cruise-line I would not have been allowed on.

I was sent straight to my cabin and my friends made up for their temporary lapse in loyalty by bringing me food from the ship in covered plates. After the 24hrs had elapsed(and a few calls from Dr. Mauritz to ensure the symptoms had not returned) I was given a check up and a clean bill of health and was deemed fit to mix with society once again and enjoy the cruise I nearly missed.

[4x4bob]

Ahh, 10 June 2006, how well I remember it, just like yesterday. We had been marking off each block as we prepared to head North to Alaska on the Radiance of the Seas.

 

And, Lucky for me I had made a copy of each document as we processed it and brought it with me.

 

So, the Wife and I made our way up the check in counter for RCI. The wife processed with no problem. Then it was my turn. I laid down my Passport and boarding pass.

 

The Clerk picked up the Passport and made an entry into the computer. Then the clerk laid it back down and pushed both documents back at me stating there is no record of your reservations on this Cruise. Then the Clerk looked past me at the next passenger in line behind me.

 

Before the word Next could be spoken, I asked the Clerk if it was time for their Break? Looking startled I was told no. Then I said you have time to call a supervisor to this station because I am not leaving without a boarding card.

 

Long story short with me laying down numerous documents with the RCI seal on the top of the page and two more supervisors I was finally cleared.

 

They gave me a new sign and sail pass with just my name and folio number on it. However, it would not open the cabin door and I could not use it to charge a drink. This meant another line at customer service desk to get another card issued.

 

And, the funny part just kept on happening. On RCI you can check your folio account on the TV in the room. My wife had one account, I had three different accounts behind my name. We checked each and everyday to make sure that I did not get charged three times for any charges.

 

As for the rest of the Cruise? It was outstanding.

 

Bob

[CanWeGoYet?]

Ahh, 10 June 2006, how well I remember it, just like yesterday. We had been marking off each block as we prepared to head North to Alaska on the Radiance of the Seas.

 

And, Lucky for me I had made a copy of each document as we processed it and brought it with me.

 

So, the Wife and I made our way up the check in counter for RCI. The wife processed with no problem. Then it was my turn. I laid down my Passport and boarding pass.

 

The Clerk picked up the Passport and made an entry into the computer. Then the clerk laid it back down and pushed both documents back at me stating there is no record of your reservations on this Cruise. Then the Clerk looked past me at the next passenger in line behind me.

 

Before the word Next could be spoken, I asked the Clerk if it was time for their Break? Looking startled I was told no. Then I said you have time to call a supervisor to this station because I am not leaving without a boarding card.

 

Long story short with me laying down numerous documents with the RCI seal on the top of the page and two more supervisors I was finally cleared.

 

 

That's horrible. Were you ever given an explanation of what went wrong or even apology? I hope so.

[4x4bob]

No, no explanation at the sign in desk, at the Customer Service Desk ( had to explain why I had a card with most of the information normally on a card missing) and the post cruise comment card was not followed up.

 

We switched to Princess Cruises after that fun filled trip.

 

Bob

[mrsfuzzmo]

We were flying to our cruise port of Houston and had a short layover in which we did not have to switch planes, but off loaded most passengers. Since we did not have to switch planes, and our seats were near the front, we decided to wait until the crowds left (incase they had to make connections.) Our flight attendants said we could leave our carry-ons in the overhead if we wanted. Well, when the plane was empty, we decided to get off and stretch our legs before our next leg of the journey. To be safe, we wanted to take our carry-on (holding the cruise tickets - pre-e-ticket - passports, money, CCs and all our other "important" things) and when my husband went into the overhead bin, NOTHING!! Our carry-on bag was gone!! Everyone was off the plane except us, and all of our stuff was gone!! We ran to the flight attendants and told them someone had taken our bag. She radioed up to the front of the jetway and told us to run up there to see if we could identify anyone carrying it. We did so, but didn't see it anywhere. They began making an announcement and I looked down the Concourse and a gentleman was walking back toward us with our bag. He was traveling with a large family and assumed it was one of theirs until they heard the announcement and he checked!! Imagine if we just decided to stay on the plane and not get off to stretch our legs........YIKES!! Be sure to keep an eye on your bags! Just because they are above your head doesn't mean someone else won't take them. We did make the cruise!!

[Twibbs]

I am not a pink person, but based on some of the posts, I think I might order this soon: http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Smart-Conair-Blocking-Passport/dp/B003YULHW8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319726781&sr=8-1

 

That way I'll be dang sure it's MY passport I have!

[travelplus]

Royal Caribbean had to give you another gift basket and charge the family who consumed it(theft by consumption) since they did not belong in the suite and had to be forcibly removed. I hope they were denied boarding for stealing your gift basket.

 

 

My husband and I had taken our children and grandchildren on a trip to Nassau, which was hectic, so we decided on a 4-night cruise on Majesty over Thanksgiving week. This was way before Majesty was stretched and refurbished; my 15-year-old grandson was four.

 

We had booked a "B" category for ourselves, "C" categories for one daughter and son-in-law, one son and daughter-in-law, and one for the two unmarried sons. For the other daughter and her family, we booked (and paid an enormous price for) what they laughingly called the "Royal Family Suite". For that "suite", they had taken some storage space behind the elevators and rigged up two bedrooms, two tiny bathrooms (which they guaranteed us had a bathtub in one; they lied), and a miniscule "sitting room". But that was the only category on that deck that they would allow four people in, in those days. Anyway, we spent a pretty penny.

 

Before we left home, the daughter with no children got mad at us and refused to go on the trip; at least she did give us the tickets back, which would turn out to be very important. I don't think we had any kind of trip insurance, but that wouldn't cover daughter being mad at Dad anyway.

 

We all checked in at different desks, we had the youngest son with us to see if he could take the vacant cabin since we had paid for it, and the two boys were never the best of buddies. While we were talking to the lady, she glanced at her screen, and said "hmm, I wonder if those people know each other, they just checked two families into the Royal Family Suite". Son said "DAD! That's (sister's) suite!" RCCL had given a grandmother and her two grandchildren from Iowa or one of the mid-western states a "complimentary upgrade" from their lower deck, inside cabin, into our daughter's Royal Family Suite. They got there first, consumed the gift basket from our TA, and barricaded themselves in the suite; it took security to forcibly remove them. Further, they had given away that inside cabin, so there was only one place to put them; the mini-suite that we had available from daughter not going. We were able to sell RCCL the cabin back, and they even paid for the airline tickets; it totally ruined our first day, with all the stress, but at least there was a cabin. The people glared at us the entire time, for taking "their" suite away from them.

 

The people in the purser's office couldn't have been nicer, they recognized us everywhere and always made sure we were okay. RCCL, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less.

[mr green]

I remember about ten years ago, a couple of days before leaving on our cruise, my wife and I went to our small theater, to see a play.

Later the next evening I was going out to play bridge, but, I could not find my wallet. I went to the theater, but, the janitor told me that nothing had been turned in. The went inside and I checked the seat that I had been in, and, my wallet was there, complete with drivers licence, and credit cards.

Now that was scary.

 

john

[cassie55]

ABout 7 years ago my husband and I were doing an Alaskan cruise from Seattle.

 

We flew into Vancouver and spend 3 days there and we had a shuttle booked on the morning of the cruise to take us to Seattle.

 

We had packed and left the hotel room when my husband realised that he couldn't find his passport. We went back into the room and checked everywhere but it was nowhere to be seen.

 

The shuttle arrived and we told them to go without us.

 

I called the British consulate who said they could issue us with an emergency document to get us back to the UK but we couldn't use it to go into the US, cruise and then get back. I was nearly in tears as an Alaskan cruise had been my dream holiday for years and I could see it disappearing rapidly.

 

The Bell Captain (who had been talking to us) suggested that we looked in my husband's suitcase in case he had packed it. My husband laughed at this and said there was no way it had been packed. The Bell Captain said that it was worth a try and took our cases to the 'left luggage' room where we could spread out (rather than unpack in the middle of the lobby at the Pan Pacific!).

 

Unbelievably, there was his passport - in his suitcase.

 

The Bell Captain then called the shuttle co, luckily they were still in Vancouver at another hotel and they agreed to wait for us if we could get there quickly. (He got $100 for everything that he did - and he had to be persuaded to take it).

 

Guess who takes charge of the passports now? ;)

[zacc]

The first time we stayed at the Embassy Suites if FLL after checking in we went to the managers free cocktail party. Thats when it all started.....I went to the bar and ordered a dirty martini up. Well you can just imagine my horror when I was informed that martinis were not part of the free cocktail party. After composing myself, having my color return and showing a few singles I ordered vodka on the rocks with a splash of olive juice and an empty glass. Horror put to rest!!

[NoobCruise]

Wow. There are some things about your post that bother me. First, the term "stewardess" has not been used for...um...many years! They are "flight attendants". Second, I don't understand your term "extra" pilot. Flight crews have exactly the number of flight personnel needed for a particular flight. Often, a flight crew will travel on an aircraft as a courtesy. Third, the tourist areas of Belize are quite safe, and many Americans own real property there....the prices can be quite high! Fourth, the weather is never a guarantee. Anyone can tell you that! Fifth - it sounds like you haven't travelled outside the US very often. Just saying.

 

Wow. I think it's weird that any of these things would bother you. Many people still call them stewardesses. Habits are hard to break. and pilots frequently fly as passengers. They don't always fly the plane "back home" so ride along as passengers. I don't know anything about Belize, but while weather is unpredictable, it can still be a bummer if your entire vacation is stormy.

 

I think its weird that you would feel the need to call someone out on things that are not unusual.

[Talisker92]

We were going on a river cruise, and we were waiting on the bus to be taken to the ship. One passenger's luggage was missing, and they had to go to the lost luggage desk where there was this "Brunhilde"-like lady and fill out some forms.

The worst part was their luggage was not lost-someone else on our bus took it by mistake.

The person had to go through security than to the baggage office to pick up their piece. This exercise delayed us all over an hour. We had all just flown from the States and just wanted to get on the ship and crash. The person got back on the bus and said,"I do not want to hear about this". Well he was wrong as a number of people voiced their displeasure.

Another time, we landed in Santiago , Chile. There were signs all over about not bringing any fruit or vegetables into the country. Well this was this group who thought it did not apply to them. We had to sit on the transfer bus for over an hour while they were each fined $200!

[ithaca gal]

Not a pre cruise horror, but a post cruise one. About three years ago on our RCL cruise my wife went to bed about 10 on the last night. I came up from the casino around 11 to put the bags in the hall and saw she had some clothes on her suitcase. I figured she put them there to pack them but forgot so I packed them and put the suitcases out. WRONG.

She woke up before me and I heard a scream. All she had was shoes and a nightgown. Needless to say, I was sent down to see what I could do. To make matters worse, I did not fill out the information on the luggage tags thinking that where can it go, we are sure to get it back (actually since then, I have met a couple of people who have had lost luggage during disembarkment).

Anyway, I went to the purser to explain the situation and the first person offered me a tee shirt. I explained, this was really not very good, but might help a little. Her superviser came out and asked what type of luggage we had. Luckily we replaced our generic black luggage with beige luggage which is a little more unique.

After about 15 minutes she came back with my wife's suitcase. I wanted to hug her. She looked at me and said that I really need to fill the luggage tags out. She got a nice tip and a letter to RCL about this great service that probably saved my life.

 

This happened to me on a vacation to the Bahamas, years ago (LOTS of years ago!). We put our suitcases out in the hall and away they went (this wasn't a cruise vacation, this was a "flying" vacation). I woke up in the morning, put on the top of my pantsuit and then realized I had PACKED the slacks! The top came down to my thighs and I had to wear it and pull it down all day on the trip home! Thank goodness I was young enough to get away with it at the time, but boy was my face red!!!

[ithaca gal]

Wow. There are some things about your post that bother me. First, the term "stewardess" has not been used for...um...many years! They are "flight attendants". Second, I don't understand your term "extra" pilot. Flight crews have exactly the number of flight personnel needed for a particular flight. Often, a flight crew will travel on an aircraft as a courtesy. Third, the tourist areas of Belize are quite safe, and many Americans own real property there....the prices can be quite high! Fourth, the weather is never a guarantee. Anyone can tell you that! Fifth - it sounds like you haven't travelled outside the US very often. Just saying.

 

Imsulin, after critiqueing (spelling???) the poster's story, do you feel better now? Maybe you need a good BM. Just saying.

[Love.II.Cruise]

We have two frightening stories that we can laugh at now.

 

On our wedding cruise, my DH packed my old, hole-punched passport! Fortunately, at security, when it was noticed, we still had time for our friend to go back to our house to get my new passport! Wedding saved!

 

On our honeymoon cruise (over a year later), we left out of Papeete and you just walked on a cement pier to the ship (320 passengers). There was a gangway to just walk onto the ship (no building that you go through like modern embarkation ports). The wind caught my white skirt and all of a sudden I was having a Marilyn Monroe moment. The passports and boarding tickets went flying out of my hands! :eek: I dropped all my luggage (including bag with laptop) and started running full speed towards the runaway documents and passports! The crew at the end of the gangway saw what had happened and all 3 started running full speed towards us to help. At the the time we were the only ones on the pier walking to embark. Fortunately, we got everything before they tumbled into the ocean. :) Very crazy! And fortunately the laptop still worked afar being dropped on the concrete. :)

[AnandaQ]

My now husband and I had only been dating for about a year when we went on our first cruise. We were sailing out of Puerto Rico and arrived a few days early to take in the sights there. The night before we were to embark, we went on a nighttime kayak tour. Once we had paddled out into the bay, we had the choice to swim for a while or stay in the kayak. I went swimming and left my wallet and eyeglasses with my bf, who decided to stay in the kayak and dry. Well, he was dry until I, not one of God's more graceful creatures, flipped the kayak trying to heave my ungainly carcass back in! :eek: Amazingly, he was able to see the humor in this and all of our possessions managed to stay safe. (For the moment *cough*).

 

On the way back to our hotel, I took out my sodden wallet to tip the tour operator and... that was the last time I ever saw that wallet. I have no idea if I dropped it in the tour van, on the street, or what, but it was gone! So now I have no picture id at all (you didn't need a passport for the Caribbean at the time). We'd never been through the embarking process and didn't really know what to do, so we just went to the port early and tried to find who to talk to. We kept getting shuffled from one person to the next, all of whom just sort of looked blankly and told me to talk to the next person at the next checkpoint. Eventually, this continued until we were on the gangway! I could see the inside doors! I was going to get to take the cruise after all! Then *she* appeared, looming with a scowl, asking for my paperwork. I told her the same story I'd repeated umpteen times that day. She was unmoved. "No id, no ship." I begged, I pleaded, to no avail. Just as I was turning, tears in my eyes, to take the WALK of shame, I blurted, "I have my birth certificate. Does that help?" And suddenly, everything was great! Scowlyface stopped scowling and said "Oh, a birth certificate? That's all you need." (I still haven't the slightest idea why that was valid, given that I had no picture to verify that that was even *my* birth cert, but it got me on my cruise, and that was all that mattered in the moment.)

 

Once on board, I called one of my employees who's um... handy with photoshop and had him create and email me a newly invented-- er... minted workplace id. On our first port day, we found an internet cafe, printed the id, and that served everyone else who asked for the rest of the trip, including the San Juan airport on the return flight home. :D

 

Ananda

[tigercat]

On a cruise with my sister several years ago we drove from our friends house in Orlando to Tampa for our cruise. We had a rental car. I drove the car to the airport drop off point and ask my sister to get the document bag and that I would look after all the luggage. My sister is slightly handicapped so I figured it would be easier to do it this way. I got the luggage out and put it on a cart, asked her if she had everything and left the car and finished up our rental. I had arranged to use Carnivals transportation to the port from the airlines. We finally found it and when they asked for our documentation I asked my sister for the document bag. She looked at me like I had 3 heads. She had been so worried about getting her purse off she hadn't given the bag a second thought. It had everything in it, our passports, our boarding passes, our airline tickets and our rental car for the ride back to Orlando. I ran back to the rental car and the people cleaning the cars had found it and given it to the office.

After the cruise we were at our friends house and I was trying to make sure that my suitcases were not going to go over the weight limit. I had been packing and unpacking. Finally the weight was okay. I then decided to make sure of the time our plane left the next day and I couldn't find the boarding passes or the tickets or my passport. I had taken all of the other documents out and only needed the 2 things so had packed the document bag. I was frantic looking all over the bedroom for it. I was ready to go and tell her that we didn't have tickets to get us home or my passport when I decided I would check the pockets of the suitcases again the the upteenth time. Way down in the bottom of one was all the documents.

Since then I keep checking where things are and they never go in the suitcase.

tigercat

[CanWeGoYet?]

Oh my gosh, I can't top anything here. But I'm getting a stress reaction just reading these stories.

 

Stay tuned for a post reviving the old "cruise nightmares" thread tomorrow. :p

[mr green]

On a cruise with my sister several years ago we drove from our friends house in Orlando to Tampa for our cruise. We had a rental car. I drove the car to the airport drop off point and ask my sister to get the document bag and that I would look after all the luggage. My sister is slightly handicapped so I figured it would be easier to do it this way. I got the luggage out and put it on a cart, asked her if she had everything and left the car and finished up our rental. I had arranged to use Carnivals transportation to the port from the airlines. We finally found it and when they asked for our documentation I asked my sister for the document bag. She looked at me like I had 3 heads. She had been so worried about getting her purse off she hadn't given the bag a second thought. It had everything in it, our passports, our boarding passes, our airline tickets and our rental car for the ride back to Orlando. I ran back to the rental car and the people cleaning the cars had found it and given it to the office.

After the cruise we were at our friends house and I was trying to make sure that my suitcases were not going to go over the weight limit. I had been packing and unpacking. Finally the weight was okay. I then decided to make sure of the time our plane left the next day and I couldn't find the boarding passes or the tickets or my passport. I had taken all of the other documents out and only needed the 2 things so had packed the document bag. I was frantic looking all over the bedroom for it. I was ready to go and tell her that we didn't have tickets to get us home or my passport when I decided I would check the pockets of the suitcases again the the upteenth time. Way down in the bottom of one was all the documents.

Since then I keep checking where things are and they never go in the suitcase.

tigercat

 

As soon as our boarding passes are printed I bring up my carry in which I pack said passes, passports, and any other documentation for travel, to and from the ship, and any other papers such as Cruise Personalizer, and anything related to ship tours, and insurance.

It is quite simple for a worry free cruise.:)

 

john