Chasing Victory

Since it has been a month now and Cruise Critic has not published this as a review or feature I have included it here for you. (not really a 'review', more of a story).

All cruisers remember the excitement and anticipation of their first cruise. The promise of exotic destinations, lounging aboard a mega-ship in the middle of the ocean, entertainment, adult gaming, and food. Lots of food.

What none of us realizes, at least not at first, is the amount of preparation that is required to go on this adventure. We are, after all, going to a foreign country. Maybe several. Now there are passports or certified records of birth to obtain. Visas in some cases. Cruise line check-in requirements. Not to mention the usual travel arrangements to and from your ship.

The amount of preparation quickly surpasses the usual hotel/airfare requirements of a vanilla vacation, but that dream of exotic shores and shipboard ecstasy easily keeps us motivated. Soon the challenge is met and all your carefully laid out travel plans are set in stone. You are ready. Bring on the fun.

The big day arrives and hopefully all your plans have executed perfectly. You make it to the airport on time, board the plane on time, make your connections and arrive at the port in time to check-in at the cruise terminal to receive your coveted ship cabin card. The one card that opens all the doors to your vacation wonderland. But what if they didn’t?

Seasoned cruisers have learned to avoid the many pitfalls that await new cruisers. Some by experiencing them, and some by reading about others’ misfortune online in places like the Cruise Critic forums. Each cruise line usually has their own online forum. There is a plethora of information and advice on exactly this topic. Yet someday, sometime, the unthinkable happens. Horror strikes. You realize something has gone wrong. This is the story of that moment when it happened to me.

Friends Scott and Becky live in Clearwater Florida so I have made a habit of flying to Clearwater a few days ahead to visit, then we all go to Miami the day before our cruise to meet the rest of the group, get a hotel then take a short cab ride to the cruise terminal in the morning. Easy parcheesy. But not this time.

On this particular visit to Clearwater the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were playing at home on the Sunday before our Monday cruise. So we all went to the game and stayed in Clearwater overnight. Scott and Becky live in Clearwater so they decided to make the drive to Miami. About 4 hours. This didn’t appeal to me as I hate long drives, especially when I’m not driving (it’s a guy thing) and arranged tickets to Miami for 9:50am Monday morning with another like-minded friend, Brandon. 45 minute flight. What could go wrong?

As luck would have it, I wasn’t able to do my online check-in and print a boarding pass because Brandon had bought the tickets. Not a problem by itself, but I also misread the departure time as the boarding time so we got to the airport 30 minutes early instead of 40 minutes early, and because I didn’t have a boarding pass I was not going to get one. Airline policy.

Monday

9:20am

‘No Problem’ says the curbside check-in guy. ‘We have a flight at 1:10pm that will get you there in plenty of time’. OK, problem solved. I briefly thought about just making the drive since I still had the rental car sitting at the curb and had not turned in the key yet (drop off was 50 yards away), but the guy was already tugging at my luggage and it just seemed easier to let him take it. ‘OK, we’ll take it’ I said and relinquished my luggage which was tagged and out of sight before I could think twice about it.

12:30pm

Brandon, who happens to be a private pilot, got us into the VIP airport lounge and we were enjoying our brief delay. Suddenly, Brandon’s relaxed demeanor turned rigid and a panicked look came over him as he was looking at his phone. ‘Our flight just got delayed’ the anxiety creeping out of his voice. Turns out it was only a 10 minute delay so not time for panic mode…not yet. We start jointly doing calculations figuring time to get luggage, taxi time to terminal…ok, just enough time. Seconds later he refreshed the application on his phone. 30 minute delay. Panic sets in, I rush to Airline counter to confirm delay. It is now 60 minutes. I rush back to Brandon to report. ’90 minutes’ he says with dread. I look at his app and my head starts swimming. My eyes go slightly out of focus and there is a buzzing in my ear as the realization sets in that we are in trouble. Big trouble.

1:00pm

Brandon, one of the most relaxed and friendly guys I know, turns into a machine. He exudes professional determination as he starts checking for private plane rentals. My traveling companion is a pilot! How can one be so lucky in an emergency? I start dutifully checking other flights. Nothing. Then other airports. Nothing. Brandon reports every single private plane in a 50 mile radius is already booked. He even tried the backdoor. A training flight. Trying to book ‘cross country instruction’ Tampa to Miami. All the instructors are out already. We’re doomed.

2:00pm

Back to the Airline counter at the gate. The line is long. An entire flight now delayed 3 hours. People are unhappy. As it turns out there is another flight that was to leave soon but it has been overbooked for some time which is why it didn’t show up on any booking apps.

We call Carnival Cruise Lines’ emergency number and inform them of our predicament. They are genuinely concerned for us and tell us they will inform the ship and to keep them informed of our progress.

30 minutes later we made it to the front of the line. The ticketing agent finally relents to our pleas of ‘Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope’ (yes, I actually said that) and issues us two standby tickets on the overbooked flight that is almost done boarding at the adjacent gate. It seems futile but the gesture was made and there is a chance…a very small chance.

2:45pm

The agent calls standby after standby as we both stare at her intently like a puppy begging for a scrap of food. The gate doors begin to close and our hearts fall to our feet. Then, just as the door is about to close, an angel appeared from behind the door and pushes it open again. ‘We have one more seat. Do you have any more standbys?’ she asks the agent. The agent calls Brandon. Brandon and I look at her, then at each other. ‘We are traveling together’ we say in unison. ‘Only one of you can go’ she says. I begin to think this seems like a movie I saw once. ‘You go Brandon. I can make it on my own. I’ll figure something out’ I said, which is what the hero in my imaginary movie is supposed to say. ‘Are you sure Ken?’ Brandon asks honestly. I think he wanted to be the hero too. ‘No, you go ahead and have fun. Say hi to everyone for me.’ Brandon slips behind the door just as it closes, shutting out the last glimmer of hope for me to make it to the ship on time.

Cruise lines like to make it easy for you to travel so they will allow, in many cases, a certified record of birth instead of a passport. I remember a heated debate about this topic back when I was preparing for my first cruise. Many people looked on a passport as an unnecessary expense and just another paperwork hassle. Some regarded it as Government intrusion. I looked on a passport as my personal ‘Golden Ticket’ to exotic places so I went about the joyless paperwork/interview process of obtaining one.

I have since found a passport to be that Golden Ticket I anticipated. It tears away the red tape and unlocks the borders of the world. ‘I am a Citizen of the United States of America!’ it declares. ‘You may pass’ say the gatekeepers. It is all very Roman somehow.

4:00pm

I breathe a heavy sigh as I realize the ship, Carnival ‘Victory’, is sailing with my friends happily ensconced on the Lido Deck, sipping the drink of the day and cheering as the ship blows its whistle announcing departure. The feeling of anxiety, horror and panic relents and fades into guilty acceptance. I am a seasoned cruiser. How could I possibly let this happen? I don’t deserve to be on that ship. I failed.

Text messages back and forth between my friends on the Lido Deck and I report no sighting of Brandon. The last communication we got from him was around 3:30pm with a cryptic ‘I’m down’ and nothing since. We all imagined him racing for the gangway and breathlessly jumping aboard just as the ship pulls away. Another movie.

I came up with a plan. I have my passport. I would take the delayed flight to Miami, get a hotel and take a morning flight to Nassau, Bahamas, the ships’ first port of call. I’ve heard of people doing this, and always snickered at the thought. How could anyone be so inept as to miss the ship? I felt a little guilty about that as I booked a Bahamasair flight for 8:50am the following morning out of Miami.

I keep a PDF copy of all my travel documents on my phone, in my dropbox account, paper copies in my luggage, in my laptop bag and on my person. I pulled out my Carnival Cruise Lines Boarding Pass and again found the emergency number. I called to update them with my new plan to meet the ship in Nassau. ‘No problem’ they said. They would pass the information on to the ship. Just remember to bring a letter from the Airline saying the flight was delayed for maintenance or weather or some other reason beyond our control. ‘What?’ I said. ‘You can’t just board the ship in a foreign port. There has to be a legitimate reason Customs will accept. If you were late due to your own negligence they won’t let you on. It has to be the airline’s fault.’ ‘Oh my!’ as my Facebook friend George Takei would say. We all know how anxious airlines are to admit something is their fault. Another roadblock.

I approached the same airline agent who was sympathetic to our plight and asked her for a letter showing it was a maintenance delay. ‘We don’t have anything like that’ she says routinely. I ask if there is anything she can give showing that the flight was delayed due to maintenance. Anything. She senses my anxiety and says all she can do is print out a ‘status’ sheet. I told her that might just do it. PLEASE print one for me.

She prints out this teletype looking sheet of paper with my name and a bunch of airline codes on it. She explains what each code means and shows me the code for ‘awaiting equipment’ and the time-stamps indicating the original departure time, and the rescheduled departure time. It is something. It just might be enough. I give her my sincerest ‘thank you’ and for a brief moment she let down that armored wall that defends her from angry customers. She exposed her humanity, and she smiled.

5:15pm

4 hours after our original departure time, we are allowed to board the plane. I am filled with a combination of relief, anxiety and hope as I take my seat. Just as the announcement came to turn off all your electronic devices a text message arrives. From Brandon. ‘In Miami. Getting hotel. Let me know when you get here’. I quickly reply asking him to book the Holiday Inn on Biscayne. It is near the cruise terminal and the Bayside Marketplace, a popular Miami party spot. A drink is starting to sound good about now.

6:10pm

Touchdown Miami. I make my way to the luggage carousel and my bag is there waiting for me. First thing to go right all day. I am hopeful this is a sign that the worst is over. I get a text from Brandon confirming our room at the Holiday Inn and grab a taxi. He tells me to get a room key from the desk, drop my bags and head to the Tradewinds Bar & Grill at the Marketplace. A comfortable watering hole we are both familiar with from previous trips.

I join Brandon who has already started the party and he orders me a drink. He regales me with tales of his adventures since boarding his flight. He arrived at the terminal while the ship was still in port. He could see the happy cruisers having the time of their lives on deck. He could not board the ship. The ship was still tied up to the pier. The crew was still loading supplies. It was devastating. He begged and pleaded with everyone who would listen. Boarding pass in hand. He could not board the ship.

Before a cruise ship leaves port it must clear customs. This includes a ships manifest listing all passengers and crew aboard. Once this list has been finalized and cleared by customs it cannot be changed without the ship actually leaving the dock and returning, which of course results in enormous additional docking and port fees. It just isn’t done. So Brandon was tortured with the sight of the ship sailing away with him at the pier. Another movie moment.

8:00pm

Brandon, who also had his passport, was able to book the same Bahamasair flight I was on, so we resolved to make the best of it and have a good time at the bar. We watched Monday Night Football, had a nice dinner and lots of drinks. Lots of drinks. Text messages had previously sailed back and forth between our friends on the ship and everyone was rooting for us. Becky kept in touch with Guest Services on board to make sure everything was in order for us to board in Nassau in the morning.

Tuesday

Departure 8:50am

5:00am

Rise and shine. We make our way to the hotel lobby, checkout and grab a waiting taxi to the airport. A quick stop at Starbucks to subdue the impending hangover symptoms and we make it with plenty of time to spare. Or so we thought.

The check-in line is long. The agents are slow. It must be a Bahama thing. As we inch our way through the line we notice a sign. ‘International flights must be checked in at least 2 hours prior to departure’. I look at my watch. 6:00am. I look at the line. It hasn’t moved in 5 minutes. This might be a problem. Minutes seem like hours. Shuffle, stop. Shuffle, stop. It is 6:30am and at least 15 people in front of us. Shuffle, stop. 6:40am, 10 minutes left. Panic. My head starts swimming again, my vision gets fuzzy, my heart is pounding in my ears. I want to scream. Suddenly, like Moses parting the Red Sea, the line clears. A bunch of people in front of us were all in the same group. They all went to one agent. We might…just…make it.

We made it to the ticketing agent. ‘Passports please’. No problem. ‘This is one way?’ Yes. ‘How are you returning to the United States?’ Here we go. We explain our predicament while I see a frown growing on the agents face. Please God, no. A supervisor is called for. We explain again and show our Boarding Passes to Carnival Victory. They demand an itinerary showing the stop in Nassau. I fumble through my travel documents then find my receipt for a shore excursion to Atlantis Aquaventure. Good enough. Our boarding passes are time-stamped 6:50am. We proceed to the gate without incident.

9:50am

Welcome to Nassau. After a comfortable but very short flight we make our way through Bahamas customs. ‘Purpose of your visit?’ Pleasure. ‘Where will you be staying?’ Atlantis (not really a lie, just no need for extended explanations). ‘How long is your stay?’ Just today. ‘Enjoy your stay’. Thank you. And I meant it.

We grabbed a taxi and made our way to the cruise terminal, about a 20 minute ride. We now refer to this as our ‘Exclusive Air-Conditioned Taxi Tour’ sight-seeing excursion. The only sight we were interested in seeing was the Carnival Victory. And there she was. A shining beacon of the sea. Waiting for us in all her splendor. Happy cruisers moving to and fro. And we were soon to be among them…maybe.

The only way to get to the ship is through the cruise terminal. This is normally a simple affair. You want to return to your ship you generally just show your cabin card. On Carnival it is called a ‘Sail n Sign’. It is your cabin key, credit card and identification all packed into a lovely little card. Your personal passport to the fun. Since we missed the ship, we didn’t have one.

Brandon and I looked at each other with disbelief. How could we get so close and have no way to get onto the cruise ship pier? A helpful cruise terminal person saw us standing there with our luggage and asked where we were going. We told him we were trying to catch up with our ship and he pointed to a small security hut off to the side. This is where the ships crew go in and out of port. It connects directly to the pier.

‘Names please’ asks the uniformed guard. We give our names which he checks against a list. ‘Are you crew?’ No, we missed the ship and are catching up to it now. ‘Oh’ he says with a look of concern. He rifles through more paperwork. ‘Are you Ken and Brandon?’ YES! YES WE ARE! We were on his list. Someone, somewhere at Carnival had remembered to contact this small security hut off to the side. Whoever that was deserves a great big bear hug and had they been there they would have got it. Whoever you are THANK YOU!

We passed through a minimal security checkpoint similar to the one on the ship and then he led us to the pier. He waved us farewell and we started toward the ship. We ran into a few of our friends along the way who stopped briefly to commiserate as they headed for their excursions. We still had one more hurdle. Present ourselves to Carnival Victory and hope she accepts us as one of her own.

We walked up the gangway and presented our boarding passes to security. We briefly explained we missed the ship in Miami and had contacted Carnival about picking us up here. He spoke into his radio a few times and soon a smiling ships officer showed up to escort us to Guest Services. We presented our Boarding Passes and passports. She asked for the letter from American Airlines. I gave her the printout. It was fine. Our portfolios and Sail n Sign cards were waiting for us. We finished some paperwork and received our cards. With steadfast determination, focus, assistance from Carnival and friends we overcame the obstacles. Turned defeat into Victory and Victory embraced us. We made it.

Epilogue

The cruise was wonderful as expected. It turns out we missed less than 24 hours of fun. We were aboard for lunch the day after sailing. We decided to forgo our prepaid excursions in Nassau. No need to tempt fate. The staff and crew at Carnival were amazing. They did everything they could do. Courteous, professional and capable do not even begin to describe them. I didn’t even need to make a call to my friend John Heald who everyone knows walks on water, as long as he has clean underwear on. Many thanks and a big ‘Cheers Mate!’ go out to all of them.

One last hurdle came at the end of the cruise. As we were leaving the ship back in Miami we were pulled to the side then escorted directly to customs where we had to explain one last time why we flew to the Bahamas then returned on a ship. After the dogs took a sniff at our luggage we were sent on our way home…with a new story to tell. I hope you enjoyed it.

Ken Wilson

Ken Wilson is a Platinum Carnival Cruiser with 17 cruises under his belt.

Thanks for the adventure I would not have wanted to take.

I read that after you posted on John Healds page. I don't know how you managed to stay as calm as it appeared you were. I would've been panicked beyond words. Glad you enjoyed your trip nonetheless.

Yikes! That was one gut-wrenching story! Great lessons for any cruiser, though.

I would be freaking out too.. wow.. glad it all worked out for him and his friend in the end. and I agree, between carnival forums and cruise critic I was as prepared as one could be for our first cruise. always such a wealth of information and if more ppl did their research they would know more instead of b*tching about this or that. lmao.

Thanks. Looking back it all seems like a great adventure. At the time not so much ;-)

looking back is always easier than when your dealing with it at the moment. Glad it all worked out. and btw, I used to live in San Diego lol. but many years ago now.

Fantastic story! Thanks for sharing. Our only adventure is the Chicago weather hopefully!

Wow, what an adventure! :eek: Glad it had a happy ending for you!

Wow! Thanks for sharing your "adventure!" Glad you were able to get on board and have a good cruise. :)

:eek::eek::eek: I broke into a sweat, not sure what to expect. WOW!!!! What an adventure!!! SOOOOO glad you made it on the ship.....:D:D Perfect title for your thread! I hope you had an AMAZING cruise!!!!! This is something I would never want to experience....I am tired after reading this...lol

Did you have travel insurance to cover all extra expenses?

sorry for the delayed response. No, didn't buy the insurance this time. Since I usually plan on being in port a day prior to my cruise, I have a whole day to make up for travel issues. Didn't work out that way this time :-( - Not sure insurance would have helped since missing our original morning flight was entirely my fault. It is what started the whole chain of events.

But other than $50 for my half of hotel, $97 for Bahamas flight and $20 for taxi our only expenses were at the bar, which would have incurred anyway aboard ship so that is kind of a wash ;-)

*as an aside I would like to mention how convenient having a smartphone was in this situation. Being able to monitor flight schedules and make ticket purchases from my phone is just too darn wonderful. Even amid my crisis I was thinking that as I was buying my Bahamasair flight on my phone.

Thanks for sharing the story.

If my math is correct the delay cost about the same as the missed excursion...was that refunded or just took the loss?

Even when I lived in Miami I would get trip insurance, never know when there is a car accident blocking traffic...etc..etc... also I get it in case any trip interruptions during the cruise.

OMG W:eek:W I am going on the Victory in the summer, and for half a second thought about maybe just flying in the day of.......... DEFINITLY wont be doing that after reading this!!

Glad you were VICTORYous !!!

I just booked Victory for a month from now and was going to get an early morning flight down (I have only done that once in the past). The airfares are literally up in Kayak in another tab. I am looking for a room for the night before now.

Really interesting and different read. Thanks!

WOW, now that is a story you cannot put down, so glad that it worked out for you and it gives cruisers heads up to always go to the city of departure the day before and most important buy insurance. You definitely never know about the airlines..Thanks for sharing..;)

thanks again for all the replies. yes, I just ate the excursion too..kind of. I was able to informally 'transfer' it to one of my friends on board so at least it wasn't wasted. I could have checked-in on the ship, turned around and took my excursion but at that point I seriously did not want to tempt fate. God forbid I jaywalk or something and run into a cop having a bad day.

Anyway, next cruise booked closer to home. I'm in San Diego and it sails out of Los Angeles. Easy drive. Sailing on Carnival Imagination in September for the Live Concert series with Styx! woohoo!

We are booked on the Victory for September 11th and I was just checking out some old threads and ran across yours. Wow, what an amazing adventure. I have to tell you, you should be a suspense writer. You had me on the edge of my seat reading this thing. I'm so glad it all worked out for you and Brandon. I have to say too, I give you props for maintaining a great attitude through the whole experience. I've seen people have complete meltdowns due to very minor issues. We are driving to Miami from Charleston SC. It's about 9-10 hours. We were going to leave the day before, stay the night before in Miami. We have now altered our plans a bit. We are leaving two days before, driving the first 6 hours, then the other 3 or 4 the next morning.....just in case......what could possibly go wrong?.....

OMG...I was so hooked I didn't clock in at work until I finished the story. I had a similiar incident leaving out of Ft. Lauderdale, we had 8 people, the airline didn't have any of us checked in ???(wonder how that happened). Well our connecting flight was delayed they never rerouted us because they said we weren't on the plane and it was spring break, so all flights were booked, they split us all up on different airlines and called the ship, we were told to get a taxi once we landed we were running, we all made it with different stories to tell, but I learned from that experience to ALWAYS go the day before, it took me six years to fly again for a ship(always drive)...but I am flying out on the 30th(day before)...WISH ME LUCK!!!

This was exceptionally well written and I think I shed a tear at the end!!! So glad you made it...eventually. Thanks for sharing the experience!

Again, sorry for the delayed reply. I'm cruising again in a few days so CC is a pre-cruise must read.

Thank you so much for the kind words about my writing. I'm really hoping something will inspire me to start the first pages of a book. Right now I'm kind of practicing by writing a fan sequel to a best seller. If I can pull that off maybe I will finally gain the confidence and inspiration I need to do something original.

One thing that really surprises me, in a good way, is how many people actually rethought their travel plans after reading my story. It makes me very happy to think I may have saved someone from coping with the experience I had.

Thanks again for all the replies. I wish you all fair winds and following seas.

Ken

Hi Ken

Many years on from your cruise, I have just read this. OMG! OMG! OMG! This was awful to read. I think I held my breath reading most of it. I never, ever, ever want this to happen to me:eek::eek::eek:. We always stay the night before because only once did we nearly miss the ship & thought, never again.

A fab read and very entertaining (if you can call in that). Glad you made it in the end. I assume you've had many, many more cruises since then, & hopefully this has not happened again.

Many thanks for the read - it was fab!

Best wishes

Karen

Since it has been a month now and Cruise Critic has not published this as a review or feature I have included it here for you. (not really a 'review', more of a story).

 

 

 

Chasing Victory

 

 

All cruisers remember the excitement and anticipation of their first cruise. The promise of exotic destinations, lounging aboard a mega-ship in the middle of the ocean, entertainment, adult gaming, and food. Lots of food.

 

What none of us realizes, at least not at first, is the amount of preparation that is required to go on this adventure. We are, after all, going to a foreign country. Maybe several. Now there are passports or certified records of birth to obtain. Visas in some cases. Cruise line check-in requirements. Not to mention the usual travel arrangements to and from your ship.

 

The amount of preparation quickly surpasses the usual hotel/airfare requirements of a vanilla vacation, but that dream of exotic shores and shipboard ecstasy easily keeps us motivated. Soon the challenge is met and all your carefully laid out travel plans are set in stone. You are ready. Bring on the fun.

 

The big day arrives and hopefully all your plans have executed perfectly. You make it to the airport on time, board the plane on time, make your connections and arrive at the port in time to check-in at the cruise terminal to receive your coveted ship cabin card. The one card that opens all the doors to your vacation wonderland. But what if they didn’t?

 

Seasoned cruisers have learned to avoid the many pitfalls that await new cruisers. Some by experiencing them, and some by reading about others’ misfortune online in places like the Cruise Critic forums. Each cruise line usually has their own online forum. There is a plethora of information and advice on exactly this topic. Yet someday, sometime, the unthinkable happens. Horror strikes. You realize something has gone wrong. This is the story of that moment when it happened to me.

 

Rule #1 Always arrive in the port city at least one day prior to your cruise

 

Friends Scott and Becky live in Clearwater Florida so I have made a habit of flying to Clearwater a few days ahead to visit, then we all go to Miami the day before our cruise to meet the rest of the group, get a hotel then take a short cab ride to the cruise terminal in the morning. Easy parcheesy. But not this time.

 

On this particular visit to Clearwater the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were playing at home on the Sunday before our Monday cruise. So we all went to the game and stayed in Clearwater overnight. Scott and Becky live in Clearwater so they decided to make the drive to Miami. About 4 hours. This didn’t appeal to me as I hate long drives, especially when I’m not driving (it’s a guy thing) and arranged tickets to Miami for 9:50am Monday morning with another like-minded friend, Brandon. 45 minute flight. What could go wrong?

 

Rule #2 Get to the Airport at least 90 minutes prior to departure. 2 hours is better. 3 hours for International flights

 

As luck would have it, I wasn’t able to do my online check-in and print a boarding pass because Brandon had bought the tickets. Not a problem by itself, but I also misread the departure time as the boarding time so we got to the airport 30 minutes early instead of 40 minutes early, and because I didn’t have a boarding pass I was not going to get one. Airline policy.

 

Drive time to Miami 4 hours. Flight time to Miami 45 minutes. Ship sails 4:00pm.

 

Monday

 

9:20am

 

‘No Problem’ says the curbside check-in guy. ‘We have a flight at 1:10pm that will get you there in plenty of time’. OK, problem solved. I briefly thought about just making the drive since I still had the rental car sitting at the curb and had not turned in the key yet (drop off was 50 yards away), but the guy was already tugging at my luggage and it just seemed easier to let him take it. ‘OK, we’ll take it’ I said and relinquished my luggage which was tagged and out of sight before I could think twice about it.

 

12:30pm

 

Brandon, who happens to be a private pilot, got us into the VIP airport lounge and we were enjoying our brief delay. Suddenly, Brandon’s relaxed demeanor turned rigid and a panicked look came over him as he was looking at his phone. ‘Our flight just got delayed’ the anxiety creeping out of his voice. Turns out it was only a 10 minute delay so not time for panic mode…not yet. We start jointly doing calculations figuring time to get luggage, taxi time to terminal…ok, just enough time. Seconds later he refreshed the application on his phone. 30 minute delay. Panic sets in, I rush to Airline counter to confirm delay. It is now 60 minutes. I rush back to Brandon to report. ’90 minutes’ he says with dread. I look at his app and my head starts swimming. My eyes go slightly out of focus and there is a buzzing in my ear as the realization sets in that we are in trouble. Big trouble.

 

1:00pm

 

Brandon, one of the most relaxed and friendly guys I know, turns into a machine. He exudes professional determination as he starts checking for private plane rentals. My traveling companion is a pilot! How can one be so lucky in an emergency? I start dutifully checking other flights. Nothing. Then other airports. Nothing. Brandon reports every single private plane in a 50 mile radius is already booked. He even tried the backdoor. A training flight. Trying to book ‘cross country instruction’ Tampa to Miami. All the instructors are out already. We’re doomed.

 

2:00pm

 

Back to the Airline counter at the gate. The line is long. An entire flight now delayed 3 hours. People are unhappy. As it turns out there is another flight that was to leave soon but it has been overbooked for some time which is why it didn’t show up on any booking apps.

 

We call Carnival Cruise Lines’ emergency number and inform them of our predicament. They are genuinely concerned for us and tell us they will inform the ship and to keep them informed of our progress.

 

30 minutes later we made it to the front of the line. The ticketing agent finally relents to our pleas of ‘Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope’ (yes, I actually said that) and issues us two standby tickets on the overbooked flight that is almost done boarding at the adjacent gate. It seems futile but the gesture was made and there is a chance…a very small chance.

 

2:45pm

 

The agent calls standby after standby as we both stare at her intently like a puppy begging for a scrap of food. The gate doors begin to close and our hearts fall to our feet. Then, just as the door is about to close, an angel appeared from behind the door and pushes it open again. ‘We have one more seat. Do you have any more standbys?’ she asks the agent. The agent calls Brandon. Brandon and I look at her, then at each other. ‘We are traveling together’ we say in unison. ‘Only one of you can go’ she says. I begin to think this seems like a movie I saw once. ‘You go Brandon. I can make it on my own. I’ll figure something out’ I said, which is what the hero in my imaginary movie is supposed to say. ‘Are you sure Ken?’ Brandon asks honestly. I think he wanted to be the hero too. ‘No, you go ahead and have fun. Say hi to everyone for me.’ Brandon slips behind the door just as it closes, shutting out the last glimmer of hope for me to make it to the ship on time.

 

Rule #3 Always carry your passport when traveling.

 

Cruise lines like to make it easy for you to travel so they will allow, in many cases, a certified record of birth instead of a passport. I remember a heated debate about this topic back when I was preparing for my first cruise. Many people looked on a passport as an unnecessary expense and just another paperwork hassle. Some regarded it as Government intrusion. I looked on a passport as my personal ‘Golden Ticket’ to exotic places so I went about the joyless paperwork/interview process of obtaining one.

 

I have since found a passport to be that Golden Ticket I anticipated. It tears away the red tape and unlocks the borders of the world. ‘I am a Citizen of the United States of America!’ it declares. ‘You may pass’ say the gatekeepers. It is all very Roman somehow.

 

4:00pm

 

I breathe a heavy sigh as I realize the ship, Carnival ‘Victory’, is sailing with my friends happily ensconced on the Lido Deck, sipping the drink of the day and cheering as the ship blows its whistle announcing departure. The feeling of anxiety, horror and panic relents and fades into guilty acceptance. I am a seasoned cruiser. How could I possibly let this happen? I don’t deserve to be on that ship. I failed.

 

Text messages back and forth between my friends on the Lido Deck and I report no sighting of Brandon. The last communication we got from him was around 3:30pm with a cryptic ‘I’m down’ and nothing since. We all imagined him racing for the gangway and breathlessly jumping aboard just as the ship pulls away. Another movie.

 

I came up with a plan. I have my passport. I would take the delayed flight to Miami, get a hotel and take a morning flight to Nassau, Bahamas, the ships’ first port of call. I’ve heard of people doing this, and always snickered at the thought. How could anyone be so inept as to miss the ship? I felt a little guilty about that as I booked a Bahamasair flight for 8:50am the following morning out of Miami.

 

Rule #4 Always carry a copy of ALL your travel documents with you.

 

I keep a PDF copy of all my travel documents on my phone, in my dropbox account, paper copies in my luggage, in my laptop bag and on my person. I pulled out my Carnival Cruise Lines Boarding Pass and again found the emergency number. I called to update them with my new plan to meet the ship in Nassau. ‘No problem’ they said. They would pass the information on to the ship. Just remember to bring a letter from the Airline saying the flight was delayed for maintenance or weather or some other reason beyond our control. ‘What?’ I said. ‘You can’t just board the ship in a foreign port. There has to be a legitimate reason Customs will accept. If you were late due to your own negligence they won’t let you on. It has to be the airline’s fault.’ ‘Oh my!’ as my Facebook friend George Takei would say. We all know how anxious airlines are to admit something is their fault. Another roadblock.

 

I approached the same airline agent who was sympathetic to our plight and asked her for a letter showing it was a maintenance delay. ‘We don’t have anything like that’ she says routinely. I ask if there is anything she can give showing that the flight was delayed due to maintenance. Anything. She senses my anxiety and says all she can do is print out a ‘status’ sheet. I told her that might just do it. PLEASE print one for me.

 

She prints out this teletype looking sheet of paper with my name and a bunch of airline codes on it. She explains what each code means and shows me the code for ‘awaiting equipment’ and the time-stamps indicating the original departure time, and the rescheduled departure time. It is something. It just might be enough. I give her my sincerest ‘thank you’ and for a brief moment she let down that armored wall that defends her from angry customers. She exposed her humanity, and she smiled.

 

5:15pm

 

4 hours after our original departure time, we are allowed to board the plane. I am filled with a combination of relief, anxiety and hope as I take my seat. Just as the announcement came to turn off all your electronic devices a text message arrives. From Brandon. ‘In Miami. Getting hotel. Let me know when you get here’. I quickly reply asking him to book the Holiday Inn on Biscayne. It is near the cruise terminal and the Bayside Marketplace, a popular Miami party spot. A drink is starting to sound good about now.

 

6:10pm

 

Touchdown Miami. I make my way to the luggage carousel and my bag is there waiting for me. First thing to go right all day. I am hopeful this is a sign that the worst is over. I get a text from Brandon confirming our room at the Holiday Inn and grab a taxi. He tells me to get a room key from the desk, drop my bags and head to the Tradewinds Bar & Grill at the Marketplace. A comfortable watering hole we are both familiar with from previous trips.

 

I join Brandon who has already started the party and he orders me a drink. He regales me with tales of his adventures since boarding his flight. He arrived at the terminal while the ship was still in port. He could see the happy cruisers having the time of their lives on deck. He could not board the ship. The ship was still tied up to the pier. The crew was still loading supplies. It was devastating. He begged and pleaded with everyone who would listen. Boarding pass in hand. He could not board the ship.

 

Before a cruise ship leaves port it must clear customs. This includes a ships manifest listing all passengers and crew aboard. Once this list has been finalized and cleared by customs it cannot be changed without the ship actually leaving the dock and returning, which of course results in enormous additional docking and port fees. It just isn’t done. So Brandon was tortured with the sight of the ship sailing away with him at the pier. Another movie moment.

 

8:00pm

 

Brandon, who also had his passport, was able to book the same Bahamasair flight I was on, so we resolved to make the best of it and have a good time at the bar. We watched Monday Night Football, had a nice dinner and lots of drinks. Lots of drinks. Text messages had previously sailed back and forth between our friends on the ship and everyone was rooting for us. Becky kept in touch with Guest Services on board to make sure everything was in order for us to board in Nassau in the morning.

 

Tuesday

 

Departure 8:50am

 

5:00am

 

Rise and shine. We make our way to the hotel lobby, checkout and grab a waiting taxi to the airport. A quick stop at Starbucks to subdue the impending hangover symptoms and we make it with plenty of time to spare. Or so we thought.

 

The check-in line is long. The agents are slow. It must be a Bahama thing. As we inch our way through the line we notice a sign. ‘International flights must be checked in at least 2 hours prior to departure’. I look at my watch. 6:00am. I look at the line. It hasn’t moved in 5 minutes. This might be a problem. Minutes seem like hours. Shuffle, stop. Shuffle, stop. It is 6:30am and at least 15 people in front of us. Shuffle, stop. 6:40am, 10 minutes left. Panic. My head starts swimming again, my vision gets fuzzy, my heart is pounding in my ears. I want to scream. Suddenly, like Moses parting the Red Sea, the line clears. A bunch of people in front of us were all in the same group. They all went to one agent. We might…just…make it.

 

We made it to the ticketing agent. ‘Passports please’. No problem. ‘This is one way?’ Yes. ‘How are you returning to the United States?’ Here we go. We explain our predicament while I see a frown growing on the agents face. Please God, no. A supervisor is called for. We explain again and show our Boarding Passes to Carnival Victory. They demand an itinerary showing the stop in Nassau. I fumble through my travel documents then find my receipt for a shore excursion to Atlantis Aquaventure. Good enough. Our boarding passes are time-stamped 6:50am. We proceed to the gate without incident.

 

9:50am

 

Welcome to Nassau. After a comfortable but very short flight we make our way through Bahamas customs. ‘Purpose of your visit?’ Pleasure. ‘Where will you be staying?’ Atlantis (not really a lie, just no need for extended explanations). ‘How long is your stay?’ Just today. ‘Enjoy your stay’. Thank you. And I meant it.

 

We grabbed a taxi and made our way to the cruise terminal, about a 20 minute ride. We now refer to this as our ‘Exclusive Air-Conditioned Taxi Tour’ sight-seeing excursion. The only sight we were interested in seeing was the Carnival Victory. And there she was. A shining beacon of the sea. Waiting for us in all her splendor. Happy cruisers moving to and fro. And we were soon to be among them…maybe.

 

The only way to get to the ship is through the cruise terminal. This is normally a simple affair. You want to return to your ship you generally just show your cabin card. On Carnival it is called a ‘Sail n Sign’. It is your cabin key, credit card and identification all packed into a lovely little card. Your personal passport to the fun. Since we missed the ship, we didn’t have one.

 

Brandon and I looked at each other with disbelief. How could we get so close and have no way to get onto the cruise ship pier? A helpful cruise terminal person saw us standing there with our luggage and asked where we were going. We told him we were trying to catch up with our ship and he pointed to a small security hut off to the side. This is where the ships crew go in and out of port. It connects directly to the pier.

 

‘Names please’ asks the uniformed guard. We give our names which he checks against a list. ‘Are you crew?’ No, we missed the ship and are catching up to it now. ‘Oh’ he says with a look of concern. He rifles through more paperwork. ‘Are you Ken and Brandon?’ YES! YES WE ARE! We were on his list. Someone, somewhere at Carnival had remembered to contact this small security hut off to the side. Whoever that was deserves a great big bear hug and had they been there they would have got it. Whoever you are THANK YOU!

 

We passed through a minimal security checkpoint similar to the one on the ship and then he led us to the pier. He waved us farewell and we started toward the ship. We ran into a few of our friends along the way who stopped briefly to commiserate as they headed for their excursions. We still had one more hurdle. Present ourselves to Carnival Victory and hope she accepts us as one of her own.

 

We walked up the gangway and presented our boarding passes to security. We briefly explained we missed the ship in Miami and had contacted Carnival about picking us up here. He spoke into his radio a few times and soon a smiling ships officer showed up to escort us to Guest Services. We presented our Boarding Passes and passports. She asked for the letter from American Airlines. I gave her the printout. It was fine. Our portfolios and Sail n Sign cards were waiting for us. We finished some paperwork and received our cards. With steadfast determination, focus, assistance from Carnival and friends we overcame the obstacles. Turned defeat into Victory and Victory embraced us. We made it.

 

 

 

Epilogue

 

The cruise was wonderful as expected. It turns out we missed less than 24 hours of fun. We were aboard for lunch the day after sailing. We decided to forgo our prepaid excursions in Nassau. No need to tempt fate. The staff and crew at Carnival were amazing. They did everything they could do. Courteous, professional and capable do not even begin to describe them. I didn’t even need to make a call to my friend John Heald who everyone knows walks on water, as long as he has clean underwear on. Many thanks and a big ‘Cheers Mate!’ go out to all of them.

 

One last hurdle came at the end of the cruise. As we were leaving the ship back in Miami we were pulled to the side then escorted directly to customs where we had to explain one last time why we flew to the Bahamas then returned on a ship. After the dogs took a sniff at our luggage we were sent on our way home…with a new story to tell. I hope you enjoyed it.

 

Ken Wilson

 

Ken Wilson is a Platinum Carnival Cruiser with 17 cruises under his belt.

WOW, what a story. I couldn't help but wondering while reading it how many people take off on an adventure like a cruise without a credit card or a debit card with enough backing to be able to book a flight on the spur of the moment. In most cases, you pay considerably more that if you booked ahead of time.

Me being a worry wart, we use our cell phones for boarding passes on airlines yet I still print off a copy just to be safe. I learned a long time ago that if there's a chance that it could go wrong, it probably will. Same with luggage tags. Put one on the outside, put one on the inside. Better safe than sorry.

Booked hotel rooms in NOLA for "X" amount of dollars for pre-cruise stay. Printed off a copy of the booking and cost. Got to the hotel and they were going to charge us considerably more for the rooms. I showed them the copy of the booking and they gave us the original cost.

It seems like the more they say that the world is becoming paperless, the more you need to make copies of everything.