LIVE from the Horizon - July 8 - 16 - We’re finally back at sea!

[WhiteOptima]

Just told my husband the other day we need to book cruises we can drive to ports because flying has been horrible lately.  I will say the one I worried about the most went without a hitch was Spirit direct flights in April.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

1 hour ago, karriec said:

I am so sorry you had such a horrible experience at the end of your cruise.  What a nightmare!   By the way I was so engrossed in your story I almost forgot to start dinner.  Love your writing style.

 

Did you by any chance make enough dinner for 5 more?  We're too tired to cook.

 

Just remembered I need to go food shopping tonight.  I really miss the Family Harbor Lounge right now. I can use a cappuccino. Could have used a lot of them the past few days!

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

Not that it will in any way make you feel better, be less tired or remember your ordeal any more fondly, but I have never heard of smooth travel through Charlotte  - every flight I've every ecountered that involves Charlotte had delays. Returning from a cruise out of FLL last year, flights were delayed in & out due to thunderstorms. The gate agent handling my ticket exchange said "those people (she sweeps her hand toward the right side of the gate) have been here for 2 days and may not get out for 3 more." She was serious. Common denominator? All went through or had flights coming from Charlotte. 

As I read your saga, I felt like you time traveled and were stuck in the Great SWA Flightmares of 2022.

Happy to hear y'all finally made it home, the kiddos got to camp and hopefully you've had some sleep. I need some after reading all that!

Seriously glad the cruise itself was good and trust the next will be, as well. 

Can't wait for the next chapter - Tales of a Garment Bag...

I've just read that there were over 1700 flights cancelled on Sunday, nationwide.  It was one of those days. We came across people stuck in FLL and Charlotte since Saturday.

 

I'll let you all know about the garment bag.  We need a new one for next month! I'll also update on the travel insurance. It's a $3500 claim (minus the refund we get from Jet Blue).

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

48 minutes ago, mkcurran said:

So, you'll be driving to the port for that cruise? 😆😆

Absolutely! I'll go into details later, when I do my preview.  I'm both excited for this cruise and feel too tired to even think about it at the same time - though I'm sure the latter will pass in a couple of days, then I'll just be excited!

Edited July 18, 2023 by PrincessArlena'sDad

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

42 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

So sorry that you had so many obstacles in your quest to get home. Very impressed on how you all kept it together while you went through all this! We are blessed to have the extra time to drive to all our cruises, except to the west coast of course.  No worries about luggage weights,  cancellations, and such. We are planning a mega road trip in 2025 that will take us to New Orleans and Galveston. We're getting too old for all that flying stress! 😁

 

31 minutes ago, WhiteOptima said:

Just told my husband the other day we need to book cruises we can drive to ports because flying has been horrible lately.  I will say the one I worried about the most went without a hitch was Spirit direct flights in April.

We've had delays and such before, but nothing like this. Only previous cancellation was in 2009, when that blizzard shutdown DC area airports for days.  We were in Disney World at the time, so we had to spend an extra 3 days there.  No blaming the airlines on that one, though.

[luvcruzing]

I had to stop a few times reading these last few pages just to take a breath, because it was stressing me so much.  Brought back bad memories, too, of my cancelled flight returning home after my April Mardi Gras cruise. It was bad but nothing like your experience.  Glad you’re home.  You sound like a very even-tempered guy with a lovely family. Hope your next cruise is as enjoyable as this one was.

[fla33023]

First, I enjoyed every bit of your review and I hope you do a report for your next cruise as well. Second, this ending was riveting and completely awful. I cannot believe all you went thru to get home and you never even mentioned that you cried! Lol I don't think I could have handled it. Your wife being military probably handles herself in emergencies very well. Me, not so much! You holding on to the bars of the closed security gate while your wife hands you a book thru the TSA agent as you slowly slid to the floor (that's what I pictured!) was a scene from a movie. You have an amazing attitude and you are surely raising resilient children. Hats off to you and your wife for the way you handled that absolutely terrible debacle. Hope the rest of your summer is as great as the cruise itself!

[AKR2011]

Wow, what an ending!  I am so sorry you had to go through all that. I would be driving to the port in August if I were in your shoes.

[maxandmolly]

Great live review!  
Holy hell, that was an adventure getting home. I wouldn’t have held it together nearly as well. Fortunately I live in Florida, so we drive to ports. 

[tradewinds traveler]

3 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Thanks. I enjoyed doing this and look forward to doing it in August.

 

Honestly, the cruise was so great. I'll take this horrible end in exchange for how great it was until then.  I guess things balance out?

Wow! What a ending. I know flying at this time is a issue but you went thru hell. Thank you for your review & hope in August ( if you are fly, fewer delays & cancelled flights). I will be waiting for your next cruise!

[minniegidget]

Wow what a way to end a vacation.

[karriec]

9 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Did you by any chance make enough dinner for 5 more?  We're too tired to cook.

You all are welcome anytime.  Just hop on a plane and come back down to Florida.   Not that you want to travel by plane anytime soon.   I agree with what has been said about how you and your family handled everything.  I told my husband about your story and that he would have been arrested for sure if he would not have gotten back through TSA.  He agreed.  

[pe4all]

Fantastic review - time to relax a bit now from the stress of traveling home.  Glad you had a great time on the cruise.

[fair-winds39]

After reading about your very extended journey home, we’re happy we have ports we can drive to from the Philadelphia area; NY/Bayonne, Baltimore, even Boston if need be. While it leaves us with repeat visits in many cases to locales we’ve been to many times before, we are happy not to have to deal with the airlines.

 

So glad you enjoyed the cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed following along.

[vanislandcruisers]

GREAT Review and Happy to read you and the family finally made it Home!!! 

[cruiser52forever]

Wow, you and your wonderful family handled this situation so wonderfully.   Kudos to all of you!  So nice to read about such a nice family.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I meant to get back to you all last week, but after the vacation I needed to take in order to recover from our vacation, I was days behind in work.  How is it that missing one day results in being 2 days behind, and missing 2 days results in being 6 days behind?  I don't quite understand the math there, but it seems to be true.

 

Update on "Tales of a Garment Bag" (I hope you don't mind me stealing this title):

 

We made it back to Regan airport last Friday.  One nice thing about Regan is that terminal parking is free for the first hour.  My wife came with me, so that if there was a long line, she could run back to the car, drive it around the airport, and then back into the lot. There were only a handful of people in front of us, so we got back to the car in plenty of time.

 

While waiting on the line, two people came in because their flight was canceled, and wanted their bags back so that they could drive instead. The wait for them to get their bags back was over two hours!  Talk about adding salt to the wound.

 

The AA employee who I got clearly had no idea what he was doing. He not only had a look of complete confusion, he also mumbled to himself incomprehensible phrases that included words such as, "uh oh," "ummm, where is it," and, my favorite, "what's that mean." I was seriously worried.

 

Luckily, the other person at the desk saw what was happening, came over, and stopped him.  Believe it or not, he was trying to create a tag to send my garment bag on a flight somewhere. Not sure where he was trying to send it.

 

Hopefully her competence matches her confidence.  She keyed in a few things, printed a receipt for me, and sent us on our way. The receipt has an online tracking number for Rynn's Luggage. As of today, there is no update on whether they will repair or replace it, or any timeframe. The FAQ of their website states a turnaround of about 2 weeks, so we'll see (their date of receipt on the tracking was Monday).

 

I finally received the letters from AA and Jet Blue that I need for our travel insurance claim. So, I could start filling it out today. But, I'm thinking I might want to wait a week or so to see what happens with the garment bag, in case I need to add that to my travel insurance claim.  I have 15 months on the travel insurance, so a week won't make a difference there.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Here's a preview of our August cruise:

 

First off, we are DRIVING!!!!! 

 

Thankfully.  

 

We came very close to flying. Long story short: we are traveling with my father-in-law, which, when added to the five of us, plus luggage for 10 days, equals not enough room in the car. We weren't very keen on using a car top carrier, nor renting a 12 person van, either.  

 

While debating the possibilities, my parents decided to join us, and offered to drive one of the kids in their car, leaving enough room in ours! 

 

At the time, we were thinking only about the $$$$$ we were saving on 6 round trip tickets to New Orleans. Now, I'm thinking about the night I will NOT be spending in an airport somewhere west of the Mississippi (our flight home probably would have stopped in Kansas or Utah).

 

For now, I'll leave you with an abridged itinerary:

Aug 11: Try to beat as much rush hour traffic as possible as we head to New Orleans

Aug 13: Board the Glory!

Aug 16: Mahoany Bay cabana rental

Aug 17: Belize: Altun Ha Mayan ruins

Aug 18: Fury snorkel and beach

Aug 20: start home, and arrive back before those who chose to fly

 

I'll start a new LIVE thread for this cruise closer to departure, and continue from there, but I'll post back here updates on "Tales of a Garment Bag" and our travel insurance claim.

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

...Update on "Tales of a Garment Bag" (I hope you don't mind me stealing this title):

...I finally received the letters from AA and Jet Blue that I need for our travel insurance claim. So, I could start filling it out today. But, I'm thinking I might want to wait a week or so to see what happens with the garment bag, in case I need to add that to my travel insurance claim.  I have 15 months on the travel insurance, so a week won't make a difference there.

Heck a month from a 15 month window won't be felt, so I vote to give yourself a longer reprieve, cuz my vote is so important in your process, lol.

As for the use of the title, I'm all about sharing the good stuff 🤭

Hope your next Live is considerably less eventful (for your sanity) and anxiously await the next chapter.

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

[cruiser52forever]

Excited to follow the next adventure!

[Mycykfamilytime]

Thank you so much for the great review.  We’re in a family harbor cabin on the Vista in October so it’s fun to read.   If I were running for President I would put Airline customer protection as top of my agenda.  It’s gotten of control.  (That and zipper merging training for all American drivers…but I digress)   The airline consolidation to hubs has limited their ability to adjust in a weather incident and customer service is beyond unreasonable.  

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Update to "Tales of a Garment Bag"

 

The online tracking information had no new information. And Rynn's luggage did not respond to the online email form I sent in on Monday. So, I resorted to an old-fashioned phone call.

 

The guy I spoke to was friendly.  He thanked me for calling and said that because the claim had been sitting there for over a week now, he could expedite it. 

 

The frame of the garment bag was cracked and cannot be fixed or replaced.  Therefore, they are ordering me a new one from Macy's, which will be shipped to my house. He said I should expect delivery Monday or Tuesday next week and will have a tracking number by the end of this week.  

 

I will be happy if I get it by Thursday. I pack our elegant outfits the night before anyway, to minimize wrinkles.  As if sitting in the garment bag for 3 days will be so much better than sitting in the bag for 4 or 5 days. The power of self-delusion!

 

I think I'll be optimistic about the resolution for this and start filling out the claim forms for our travel insurance. But, with a touch of pessimism, I'll wait until receiving our new garment bag before submitting the claim.

 

I feel I should give a toast to the demise of our garment bag. It served us well for five years, but sadly spent most of its life in the back of our storage closet, waiting for Covid to end. 

 

[spiritkat090909]

I order from Macy's frequently... um.. I know you will have a Plan B. They ship usps and take FOREVER. But, at least it's not airmail! 

 

Really enjoyed your review and I always thought MY flights were the worst ever. I stand duly corrected. Here's a virtual ship on a stick, or plane on a watch.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Update on the Garment Bag!

 

To recap: the replacement garment bag came... the day after leaving for our Glory cruise.  The cat sitter brought it in for us, and our kitty had a nice high place to sit for a week.

 

Today we finally got around to opening it up to see what they sent us.  This is it:

 

Amazon.com | DELSEY Paris Sky Max 2.0 Two Wheel Garment Bag, Black | Garment Bags

 

It's a bit smaller than the one we had.  It was more like 28" high, and this is 23"

 

I'm not sure it is worth fighting over. It's more expensive than the one we had by quite a bit, actually. 

 

Now to start on the travel insurance claim.  Fun times ahead!

 

(I'd rather work on planning our next trip. We're considering a land-sea vacation; an 8 day cruise out of PC followed by Universal Studios).

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

TRAVEL INSURANCE CLAIM UPDATE!

 

I got full reimbursement for the AA tickets (minus the amount I got from Jet Blue for the refund of the unused tickets), meal expenses for the day, and the additional day of parking at DCA.

 

I would have gotten reimbursed for a hotel also (if I could have found one).  In fact, before processing the claim, they contacted me to send them the receipt for the hotel so they could include it. Of course, I had none to send.  

 

How long before airlines start charging hotel feels to sleep on the floor of the airport? 

 

Any delay in getting the claim paid was completely on me.  They responded and processed the claim very quickly. I just had a very busy month. 

 

We haven't even had a chance to decide on our cruise for next summer!  

 

For completeness, there were two minor hiccups in getting the claim processed that were the result of the doc software they use.  

 

First, their system auto-rejected and returned the claim form to me for lack of signature.  The signature was there, the system just didn't auto-detect it. All it took was a quick phone call for the rep to remove the flag.

 

Second, the system they use to import line items from the credit card statement doesn't detect highlighting. The claims adjuster couldn't figure out which line items I was claiming and couldn't get closer than $4.29 from my total.  Again, a quick phone call solved it.  The confusion was that I didn't claim food I would have purchased at the airport if there had been no delay.  The original flights were at 6:30, and we got to FLL at 1ish.  As we had planned on having a snack and then an early dinner prior to our flight, I didn't include that in the claim.  Anything purchased after 6 (when we would have been boarding) I claimed.

 

The total of the claim was just shy of $3k. 

 

Once we finally book our next trip, I won't have to compare travel insurance policies.  I'm definitely going back to them!

 

Until next time!