Ever forget your passport?

[shofer]

We were booked on the Grand Princess to leave 2/2/08 from Ft. Lauderdale traveling with our adult children and their spouses. The plan was to leave Chicago on Friday, 2/1/08 and stay overnight one night pre-cruise to allow for any weather delays. It started snowing on Thursday and continued for 24 hours, dumping about a foot of snow in Chicago, canceling 600 flights on Thursday and continuing on Friday. Lucky for us, we were flying United which has its hub in Chicago and we not only had an aircraft at our gate but our flight was on time. The anxiety over the weather had overshadowed everything else on our minds.

 

As we winged our way to Ft. Lauderdale, I turned to my DH and asked if he had brought the passports as they had been sitting on his dresser. The horrified look that he gave me confirmed my fears. We weren't going to land for another 2 hours and we frantically discussed this with the kids.

 

The girl sitting next to me suggested that we have someone go to the house and FEDEX them to us. The problem was that no one else had a key to the house. She suggested that we get a friend to get a locksmith to open the house and then send the passports. This sounded like a good idea to me but DH felt that there were too many parts to the plan that could go wrong and his plan was to fly immediately back to Chicago and come back the next day.

 

We called Donna, our trusty travel agent for advice and she called Princess to confirm that we needed passports or a certified copy of your birth certificate which you could get from a national data base here in the States. The fly in the ointment for that idea was that DH was not born in the USA.

 

She started checking flights from Ft. Lauderdale when I mentioned the locksmith idea. She became very excited and said that she had a good friend who was a locksmith and she would call him and ask if he would do this for her. While we went down to baggage claim, we also talked to the Princess rep who met us for the bus transfer to the hotel and told her that DH might not be coming with us.

 

Donna called back and said that while the locksmith would open the house, he would not go in it because of the liability. His best friend however was Donna's ex-boyfriend and he agreed to go along and get the documents off DH's dresser and take them to a FEDEX-KINKOS for next day delivery.

 

We boarded the bus to the hotel and Donna called us about 10 minutes later and conferenced us in with the locksmith who was having trouble opening the lock and he said that he had to make a key and did my key have a number on it. It did and he was able to open the door. We gave Donna the hotel address and she called us later to confirm that the package was on the way and should be delivered by noon, guaranteed.

 

Our SIL asked us to get the tracking number and he would check it for us the next day. Donna called us back that evening with it and we all breathed a sigh of relief. We were so grateful to her for going above and beyond for us; we could not thank her enough! You would not get someone to do this for you from an online agency. She charged the locksmith fee, about $100 and the FEDEX fee about $44 to our credit card. This was a small price to pay for our stupidity.

 

The next day, Jeremy checked the tracking number and said it was in Pompano Beach which was the next town away. We went in for breakfast anticipating that it would be there shortly. By eleven it was still not there and I asked him to check it again and it came up with an "exception". I called 1-800-GOFEDEX and they told me that the address was incorrect! But the package was on the truck and I could pick it up at the facility when the driver came back and they were open until 7:00 PM. Small comfort when the ship was sailing @ 5:00! They asked for the correct address and said that they would leave a message for the driver.

 

The hotel had given us a letter telling us to meet downstairs @ 11:30-12:00 for "pre-check-in". We sent the kids down and checked out of our room and anxiously awaited a call back from FEDEX. Unbeknownst to us, Donna had also noticed the incorrect address that morning and was also calling FEDEX.

 

I tried again around 12:15 and got the same response, that they would send a message to the driver. In the meantime, we pulled our luggage out of the Princess pile so it wouldn't get on the ship without us and waited while the Holland America reps boarded about 12 buses for their cruise.

 

We discussed our problem with the hotel manager and he assured us that the FEDEX depot was only 10 minutes away and most Saturday deliveries were over by 1:00 so we should have no problem getting there to get our package and making it to the ship on time. He even said that he would arrange a Towncar for us that would be the same cost as a cab and would wait for us. So we had an alternate plan. Meanwhile, DH was waiting outside looking for any FEDEX truck that came by so he could throw his body in its path just in case it was the one with our passports.

 

We tried to call again @ 12:50 and the FEDEX person noticed a message that said that the driver would be there in 15 minutes! As soon as I hung up, Donna was calling us with the same news. She was feeling responsible since it was her friend who had put down the wrong address!

 

DH, DS, DIL, SIL all waited outside for the FEDEX truck to make an appearance while DD stayed with me calming my frazzled nerves. A few minutes later, FEDEX pulled up and DH ran to him to claim our envelope. The driver questioned him because our name was spelled incorrectly but DH pulled out his driver’s license to prove it was him and then tipped the guy.

 

And yes, inside were the passports, the bill for the locksmith and the key he had made to get into the house. Princess was still boarding buses and had not yet called our color. Our luggage went back into the pile and we were finally on our way!

 

Had we ever discussed our passports before leaving? Yes, a few days earlier I had asked where they were thinking that if they were in the bank vault, I would have to go get them. But DH had assured me that they were on his dresser. And we then promptly forgot about them with all the anxiety over the weather. From now on, they will be the first thing on my list! Donna saved us from having to make another flight back home and saved our vacation with our children.

[Richintx]

Great story it had me on the edge of my seat. I thought I was reading a great book. Glad everything wooked out.

[BeachBumMama]

Wow, I was rooting for you and glad it all worked out!:) Guess it does take a village.:D

[flashdog_1]

My daughter and I (we live in different cities) who have cruised together before this, were traveling out of Tampa to W Carib on HAL almost 2 years ago. We had travel insurance, drove in the day before (8 hr drive), enjoyed our stay and were looking around the hotel room for anything we might have left etc. before we drove to the port to park. I said, "put your passport in the outside pocket of your carry on because they'll check it when we go thru the gate." Her face went white.

 

She had not packed it. While she was apologizing and thinking $$ lost, I called the travel people connected to the travel insurance. The agent was NOT one who made final decisions, but she was so nice, and almost convinced me that the insurance would cover everything, absolutely everything, and we would make the cruise by flying to Key West the next morning.

 

She found us a room at the Marriott w/ free parking, & made plane reservations (we'd have preferred to overnight in Key West but the flight was $1000 for some reason that day, so we waited until morning to fly). She made the arrangements with the courier, too. All of these transactions are on my credit card, of course.

 

Meanwhile I've spoken to my husband who has agreed to drive 100 miles to my DD's house and find the passport and meet the courier who will get it to a plane and it would be there that night.

 

The courier was slightly late and then he got a call later saying the package had missed the flight that would guarantee its arrival that night, but they'd have it there by breakfast time.

 

Breakfast came and went, and so we called the courier. He had a signature at the Marriott that the package was received. So the agent went into the mail room and found (luckily) the only package from THAT courier. However, it had been put inside an airline box so it would not get lost (an envelope has more of a chance of getting lost than a package) and there was no NAME on the box.

 

I'm going back and forth on the cell phone between the courier and the Marriott agent. We all gave permission to open the package. Inside was the envelop my husband had addressed correctly. so, we jumped in the next shuttle to the airport and were off to Key West.

 

When we landed we got a cab and went to the port. The immigration agent was unhappy and made us wait a long time. We were not ruffled at this point because we were standing there looking at Veendam! We were going to board some time that afternoon. We'd had a time share in Key West & had been there several times, so were not missing a day in port in our minds.

 

A HAL agent met us and took us on the ship while the immigration man was laughing at the basketball in the suitcase. I said, "it's for a Mexican school!"

She took us to guest relations and had me sign the first chit for our sea pass $600 for Jones Act Violation. I knew about the charge from reading cruise critic so that was not a problem, either.

 

Meanwhile, I'm thinking what a good investment of $120 travel insurance is! We enjoy our trip, meet DD's proxy godparents who live in Belize (that's too long a story to relate here), all the pre-arranged private tours went spectacularly and we drove home happy as larks.

 

I filed my claim. It was denied, of course. It wasn't a stolen or lost passport, it was a forgotten passport.

 

I canceled my next cruise because I would not be able to afford it after the expenses: $150 Marriott, $30 dinner, $320 airfare? $300 courier fee, $15 cab in Key West and $600 JOnes Act Violation. That came to the exact amount of the balance after downpayment on the next cruise! Sad

 

The good news is that recently someone filed a class action suit against Hal pertaining to the $600 fine. They won, and tomorrow HAL is supposed to be mailing the refunds to all parties who had been charged the fine since 2001 I think.

 

Of course the other good news was that while I was in a very solemn mood thinking we'd just have to accept the fact that we weren't going on a cruise and that I'd lost $1600 or thereabouts, the travel agent bouyed my spirits and made it all possible. I do not think I would have had the energy to make all the arrangements.

 

That's our story.

[Toyz711]

a village, some cell phones, a few good friends and a fed ex driver!!

glad you made it...2 cruises ago, i made it 3 miles from the house before i remembered the passports were in his file and i hadn't packed HIS file. last cruise, everything was in MY files...2 people packing leaves room for errors.

[ewheelock]

Wow, that was really lucky. I know that you couldn't have done that without your travel agent and lots of luck!

[Rahi]

I loved your story! Glad it all worked out. I have had bad dreams like that!

[benjidog]

I have nightmares for months before we cruise about forgetting our passports. I start a list and passports go on top. Once they are in my purse, I bet I check a dozen times to make sure they are there. I couldn't have handled your stress. Hopefully your cruise was great.

[hateswaterloves2cruise]

Both stories had me on the edge of my seat!!!! 10 years ago we did the Alaska cruisetour. Many suitcases all over the living room, packing was a nightmare. 3 flights later we are in Alaska and DH's ditty bag with his medicine, is home on top of tv. Call to DD, medicine gathered up and shipped DHL to hotel in Anchorage, all over Memorial Day weekend!!! so we had a few day delay. Traveling is so much fun...........;)

[slotaddict]

Never forgot my passport, but always a first time. I always put the passports in my carry on as soon as I get it out of the closet. Since I am one of the same day flyers, all the locksmiths in the world couldn;t help me if I forgot it.:eek:

[saabgal]

The night before our wedding, I asked my husband-to-be if he remembered to bring his birth certificate for our honeymoon..we were going to Cancun. We lived in Ohio, but were getting married in the Philadelphia area. The silence on the other end of the phone told the whole story. We couldn't call anyone back in Ohio to help, they were all in Philadelphia for the wedding! After scrambling, we were able to have a friend who was a notary sign a document (with a sworn statement from my BIL stating he had known dh-to-be his whole life and was born in the USA). In those days that document got us in and out of Mexico. Whew. Way to start out!

[chrisbd1]

Before we go a trip, we always stay the night before at a hotel near the airport. We had an afternoon flight to Europe and were getting ready to take the shuttle to the airport when the other half asked if I had the passports. I had this horrible look on my face because I realized I'd left it at home.

 

I was making a copy of the passport but had run out of paper, then the pet sitter had come by. I got distracted by that whole ordeal and had left it on my copier. Our flight was in 2 hours , so I had 1 hour to drive home and back. I broke a few land speed records getting home. Fortunatly I'd taken an alternate route, because I saw that I would have been caught in a AWFUL traffic jam getting home. I got back with about 10 minutes to spare :eek: .

 

We now ALWAYS keep our passports in our neck pouches, in a container of travel papers.

 

We were talking about this story and realized if we had been at home, instead of staying near the airport, we would have left home in time to be at the airport an hour before and would NOT have been able to get back home in time. Whew!

[missty]

Wow!! What a story!! Actually both stories are amazing!! Thanks for the important reminder! "Double check those passports!"

 

missty

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

I have nightmares for months before we cruise about forgetting our passports. I start a list and passports go on top. Once they are in my purse, I bet I check a dozen times to make sure they are there. I couldn't have handled your stress. Hopefully your cruise was great.

 

Ditto!!!

[heatherandfred]

One year, my mother was on either Carnival or the QE2 from NYC, where we are from...GO GIANTS!!! I digress... I had gone shopping and was putting my bags in the car when I rec'd a pc on my cell. Thank god I had it with me and that I decided to get one.

 

Anywho...it was Ma. She's like Sarah, I forgot my CC and money, I think I left it under the chair in the living room. I race home, put the groceries that will melt away, look under the chair and there is her little bag with everything in it. I jump in the car and thankfully the Westside Hwy was not crowded. (I'm in the North Bronx). Race down the highway with no traffic or cops to stop me. Race up the ramp to the terminal (pre 9/11) and find poor Ma standing there shaking and praying..LOLMAO..she rushes over to the car and gives me a kiss and a hug and a thank you. That was a story for the books. I almost forgot about it.

[flashdog_1]

The good news is that recently someone filed a class action suit against Hal pertaining to the $600 fine. They won, and tomorrow HAL is supposed to be mailing the refunds to all parties who had been charged the fine since 2001 I think.

 

My daughter received hers yesterday and today i received my check from HAL.