[Hyacinth Bucket]

This is the first of two stories about the importance of travel insurance.

January 6, 2005 –
Marty wakes up to 7 inches of snow at 5:00 AM gets dressed and starts to shovel the driveway. We have a flight out of Albany at 9:50 with a connection in DC then on to Norfolk, Virginia. Our cruise ship is to leave Norfolk at 5:00 PM. After FINALLY getting Marty into the house at 7:00 AM we got out of the house at 7:45 onto roads that were very slippery. We could not travel at even a close to normal rate of speed. We got to Albany at the time that the flight should be taking off and fortunately (we thought) it was delayed for just about 1 hour.
We proceed to the security gate. My carry on is throwing a flag at them. Off to the side it goes and they are searching it. Marty tells the security officer that he “thinks” he put a scissors into the bag. Oh good! Why didn’t he do that to is own bag? They are looking and looking and don’t find the long scissors that he insists are there while I am having a fit. Finally I said that perhaps they are not looking for long scissors and that the tiny pair of embroidery scissors is what they are searching for? Ahh, yes, that made them happy. They confiscated them and we were finally on our way. I then look over at Marty and he is having a problem with his duffle bag. In his hurry to close the bag the zipper was pulled clean off the runners. After we got to the gate I repaired the zipper, and in about 20 minutes we got on the flight to Dulles.
That delay in Albany of course got us to Dulles International 1 hour late. Just in time to miss our flight to Norfolk. Right to the service counter we ran to get on the next flight to Norfolk. We got to Norfolk at 4:00 PM, went to the luggage carousel only to find out that our luggage did not arrive with us. I fill out the baggage claim form as fast as I can and the guy that was dealing with this mess tells me that there are many other bags that did not make it. He marked ‘Maasdam’ (the cruise ship that we were on) on the top of the form and told us that our luggage would be sent to the ship. Now it is 4:15. We grab a cab for the 15-minute ride to the dock and ran right into rush hour traffic. We got to the dock at 10 to 5 and as we put our feet on the curb, someone coming up the ramp says to us that the gangway was just pulled up and she thought that we missed the ship! We did. It didn’t even look like it was in motion yet but we stood there and watched the cruise ship take off without us! Marty is all kinds of upset and wants to go home, me? I’m the stubborn one and thinks that there has to be another way to get onto the ship. There were several people who are involved with the organization of passengers on the dock who are trying to help us. One is calling the harbormaster to see if we can get onto the ship via his pilot boat. That would have involved a cost of $300 and climbing a rope ladder to get onto the ship. I thought that would have been really cool, Marty thought it was nuts. The harbormaster agreed to take us. The captain of the Maasdam said no, the waters were too rough (it was quite windy). I call the company that I insured the vacation through to find out what we can do. Next plan of action was to find a flight to St. Thomas that is where the ships first port of call was. At a cost of $915.30 per ticket – one way, we secured tickets on Delta for a 7 AM flight. THANK God that I had insured the whole trip! We went to a hotel within walking distance and got a room for the night, went to the mall to get some clothes (insurance covered $200 for each of us) and then had dinner – after all it was Marty’s birthday!
The following morning we got up at 4:45 AM to get to the airport by 5:45. Up on time and off in a cab, we got to the airport in plenty of time. Got our tickets and by now it is 6:15. We get some coffee and tea and relax for a few minutes. Marty goes to the men’s room and to smoke a cigarette. By now it is 6:30 and when he returns he is telling me about someone he was chatting with. I tell him we really have to get to the gate and we have not yet gotten through the security system. We proceed to the security screening. They take a look at our tickets and lucky us we have SSSS on them – the signal that security will be thorough. (the flag was 1 way tickets out of the country and we both look suspicious) Sure enough, wand, pat down, they check everything we have shy of looking under my tongue, and by the time they got done and we get to the gate the jetway has just been pulled up, there are no people at the gate and we missed the flight! Marty was so upset that he was waving at the pilot and ground crew and making gestures. The phone rings behind the ticket counter. He answers it. “Hello? This is Martin O’Connell. I have no idea. I am trying to get onto a flight that is taking off. I can’t talk to you right now!” and he hangs up. Enter stage left: a ticket agent who presumably is going to rebook us. How does he know that we missed the flight? I have no idea. He goes behind the counter and begins the rebooking process while Marty calms down. OH my!!! Fortunately we got rebooked immediately and within less than 2 hours were on the flight to St. Thomas.
When we got to St. Thomas our luggage had not yet arrived. We booked into a Holiday Inn that was the worst that I have ever seen. The air conditioner was so loud that we had to turn the TV up to hear it when it was on and when it went off, turn the volume back down. There was no more than a 40 watt bulb in the bathroom which may have been a good thing, the phone cord disconnected your calls if you moved it just right, the noise from the bar behind the Holiday Inn was from a party that started at 9:00 and ended each night (morning) around 3:30 AM and small animals could fit under the door the space was so big! This concerned me since I had seen a roach that seemed to be asking directions and carrying a bat and hat about a block and a half away. We had evaluated each other carefully on the sidewalk before we went our separate ways. And for all this luxury they got better than $200 a night.
While we did find a few things to wear in Norfolk, finding clothes for warmer weather was not an easy venture as it was the wrong season so when we got to St. Thomas we attempted shopping. Kmart was the only place where we were told we would find some ‘basics’ and basic this place was. They had just about nothing and even that was expensive.
Each day we were on the phone with United airlines trying to get info on our luggage. They told us that they didn’t know where it was at first, the next day. No idea at all. The second day we were told it was trucked to Charlotte, NC and then had to be put on a flight back to Dulles but the plane that they wanted to up it on was already too heavy and our bags didn’t make it. We spent nothing less than 1 _ hours on hold over 3 phone calls with United and never got confirmation that our stuff would be in St. Thomas before the ship left on Monday evening. They ‘thought’ it would make it.
Monday at mid-day the Maasdam pulled into the harbor. The security officer at the top of the gangway was the first person that I spoke to. As soon as I said we were just coming onto the ship he said “oh! You must be the O’Connell’s”. Hallelujah! At least I didn’t have to fight to get onto the ship. Paula from guest relations was there in a matter of a minute. She escorted us to our stateroom and told us that someone from the ship would go over to the airport and retrieve our luggage. By 4 PM our luggage was at our door. At least something had gone right! I got misty.
That evening at dinner we were introduced to our tablemates for the first time. They were so pleased to see us and we had to tell our story. They told us that they celebrated Marty’s birthday, obviously without us, when the wait staff brought the cake the first night out and were all looking at one another to see who’s birthday it was. They said they had a good time and that the cake was good. I’m glad they had fun. We were trying to find clothes at about the time they were celebrating. One of the ladies gave us a bottle of wine and we all toasted Marty’s birthday and a good rest of the cruise.
On Tuesday the accumulation of stress caught up with me. I was up for a few hours and was so tired that I went to sleep for the afternoon. By evening I felt better and our days on the ship were good until Saturday. Around mid-day the weather turned and became stormy. At 2 PM I was on the 9th deck trying to win a cruise playing bingo when wave hit and cleared the windows. The waves were estimated at 18-20 feet with gale 8 force winds. Each time another wave hit the ship groaned as the stabilizers where keeping it from actually rolling. It felt as though something solid hit each time. The afternoon and evening were pretty much the same and the storm and my stomach rolled into the night. Three seasick pills did little for me, I was still nauseous and laid down several times even before our last dinner onboard (which I did not eat). Each time I laid down all I could think of were various scenes from the Poseidon Adventure in combination with the Perfect Storm. Really relaxing.
We docked at 8 AM on Sunday morning, got to the airport in plenty of time for our 10:50 flight only to have them tell us that our flight had been delayed for 1 hour. That was just long enough to make us miss our connection at Dulles. (Sound familiar???) Fortunately there was another flight within 2 hours and we were home by 6 PM.
There are a couple of lessons to be learned from all this. The first is making sure you have travel insurance! We would have been in sad shape had that not been the case. Of course now I have a mountain of paperwork to do but that is not a major thing. The 2nd is to leave an extra day prior to the trip. Finally, take it in stride. I was told somewhere along the way that travel plans gone awry are just God’s dancing lessons. I learned a few new steps! Now I need to go back to work. I need the rest.
Andra

Have a great day!

Susan
Susan Jaman
SUSAN'S SPECIALTY TRAVELS
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