Liberty Halloween Review - LOOOOONG

[Jsme]

Finally recovered enough to get together a review. Grab a snack - this is gonna be long:D . We'll see if anyone actually makes it to the end of this;) .

 

After over a year of waiting, we finally made it to our Liberty Halloween cruise and I am pleased to say we had a fabulous trip. We took our first cruise on the Miracle last fall and have it to thank for this cruise addiction thing now. After a disappointing 2 night cruise-to-nowhere on the Victory in June, I was wondering if I would be disappointed in the Liberty as well and if nothing would ever live up to our first cruise. This trip exceeded our expectations by a long shot and I wish I were back onboard right now!

 

The trip got off to a rocky start. For those of you who missed my frantic Friday night postings a few weeks ago – we were scheduled to fly out of Roanoke on a 6pm flight Friday night, stay at the Sleep Inn in Dania and board the ship in Fort Lauderdale the next day. I had wanted to book an earlier flight but was using my credit card points for one fare and had limited options plus the boss wanted me to work at least a half day that Friday. Two days before our trip, after a 6 month drought here, it started raining. And raining. And was still raining when we got to the airport Friday afternoon. Our flight was still listed by US Air as on time. About 5pm we went through security, walked the 30 seconds to the gate (we have a very small airport) and saw the big “DELAYED” message. By 7pm US Air told us they still didn’t know when the plane would get in from Charlotte to turn around and take us back and that there was no way we’d make our 8:15pm connection in Charlotte. The only later flights in FLL were all overbooked. All the morning flights into FLL from Charlotte were booked. They finally told me they could get me on a flight that would arrive in FLL the next day at 4pm. :eek: Our other option was to fly north instead into Philly and spend the night in the airport hoping to catch an early flight the next day to Florida.:eek:

 

I was doing my best not to have a full blown panic attack while standing in the airport at this point, and trying not to think about the fact that after over a year of waiting for this cruise we were about to not make the ship!!!! I think the lady at the counter took pity on me since the five people in front of me had yelled at her and I was actually being nice and just trying not to cry at that point. After about 20 minutes of looking at various options (MIA – booked, West Palm – couldn’t make the connection, Orlando – could fly in the morning there and rent a car but still not sure we’d have time to make the drive) she made a phone call and let us know we were now confirmed on a 6 am flight the next morning with a 45 minute connection in Charlotte and due to arrive in FLL at 9:50am. If all went well with these flights we’d make the ship. If something didn’t, well, we didn’t really want to even think about it, especially since our area tends to get very foggy in the early mornings after it rains. We called our ride to pick us back up and I called the Sleep Inn to cancel my reservation. Now I knew that we were past the cancellation deadline for the day, but it would have been nice if the guy on the phone had at least apologized before he interrupted me and said “you have to pay anyway.” Just sort of rubbed me the wrong way as had the guy I talked to earlier in the week to confirm our reservation and was told the shuttle stopped at 11pm and don’t even bother calling if it was close to that time when we arrived. So I will find another hotel the next time we are in FLL. I knew I would still be charged but thought I’d be nice and let them know we weren’t going to make it. Rudeness is never OK to me and tact and friendliness go a long way. And yes, they had billed my credit card for a night’s stay when we returned.

 

After catching a couple hours sleep we got up at 2:30am on Saturday to get everything back together and headed to the airport by the 4:30am time the agent told us. Got to the gate again only to see that evil “DELAYED” message again. It’s a good thing I have some anti-anxiety meds for when I fly because I really needed one about then!!! Luckily we were only 15 minutes delayed. Landed in Charlotte about 7:20am, grabbed our carryon and ran for our 7:45 flight on the other side of the airport. We walked up, straight onto the plane, and made it to FLL finally at 9:45am!!!! I have never been so thankful to be somewhere in my life I think! Next year I am flying early the day before if not two days before!

 

I do remember your thread and thought about you alot. I am so glad you made it!!

 

Nice review. I am glad you had a great cruise.

[vacruizer]

I am curious, what is a hasher?

 

Linda

 

 

Not sure I want to re-open that debate but they are a running/drinking club. Some say they are fairly innocent, others have experienced some out of hand behavior. It may all depend on the individual chapter.