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Almost (not) live from the quest route of the vikings ii


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Are you ready for a vacation horror story? Then read on . .

So last week as we were doing our final preparations to depart for Reykjavik, I found my husbands Seabourn passport case on his dresser so I took it downstairs and placed it prominently on the kitchen counter to be sure he would see it and not forget to pack it, which he did not. CHECK.

We get to the Atlanta airport yesterday for our flight to Boston to catch our connecting flight to Reykjavík. He goes through security using his drivers license for ID. CHECK

All is well and we have a most pleasant flight on Southwest and arrive on time at a little after 3pm. We collect our checked bags and head over to terminal E where we have a little time to kill before the check in counter for Iceland Air opens at 5:00pm. CHECK

The time arrives and we step up to the ticket counter and we give the gentleman our booking number and he then asks for our passports. I hand over mine and he checks me in and then my husband hands him his and when the agent opens the folder, oh my god, it’s EMPTY!!! How can that possibly be, did it somehow fall out? We were in total denial at that point. Come to realize he had been previously using another passport case, hence, it started to dawn on us that his passport was now residing comfortably in a cubby next to his chair in our den back at home. We both felt sick to our stomachs, that sinking feeling of impending doom. The agent informed us we were not going anywhere without the proper documents tonight, but he would gladly change the reservation for us to tomorrow, which gave us some room to think. The reality of us not being able to get to Reykjavík in time to catch the ship started to descend on us like a thick, damp blanket. What do we do?

Our first thought was to have our trusted neighbor go over and get the passport and FED EX it overnight to us. Then our bubble got burst when we were told Sunday delivery was not possible. DEAD-END!

Our next brilliant idea was for one of us to book a round trip back to Atlanta to fetch it ourselves and the other to stay behind and get a hotel room secured for the night. Unfortunately, the whole northeast corridor the past few days had been deluged by thunderstorms which caused many cancellations and most of the flights were already sold out. The one we did find available was a main cabin seat unbelievably priced at over $3,000!!! Holy cow, are you kidding me! That option was to be undertaken as a last drastic measure.

Then, just like a lightbulb going off above his head, my DH mentions a Delta airlines package delivery service he knew about called DASH. I vaguely knew about it but was not sure how it worked or if they could deliver on a weekend as well. So we look up the phone number and give them a call. We got a very helpful gal named Kellie who walked us through the whole process, and, YES, they could get the job done and get it to the Boston airport on the last Delta flight out of Atlanta arriving at 12:53am this morning. All we had to do was get our neighbor to bring the passport to the Dash office at the Atlanta airport (which they happily did right in the spot). We immediately made all the arrangements right then over the phone and even prepaid the charge which was a mere $98.16. Quite a bargain I would say to save us from not being able to go on this trip at all. We both breathed a sigh of relief, but would not really be able to relax until that most necessary document was firmly in hand.

The time was now around 7:30pm and we were hungry and just a little stressed out so we decided to walk over to the Airport Hilton which is right in the airport complex and have dinner and see if we could get a room for the night. We only scored one of those two goals as the hotel was overbooked by 40 due to the backload of stranded passengers. As we dined on lobster quesadillas and quinoa and vegetable salad we made the startling discovery that almost every single hotel we called was in the same sold out position. But we kept searching and finally, the travel gods looked down upon us and came up with a room at the Westin Boston Waterfront, just a mere 3 mile cab ride away under the “big dig” tunnels. BOOK IT DANNO!!! And we did. But we still had to wait at the airport until the flight came in carrying our precious cargo. We tried to make ourselves comfortable in the Hilton lobby but when I ended up falling asleep in one of their comfy chairs a not so nice security guard come up to us and told us NO SLEEPING IN THE LOBBY. Geez, fella, have a little compassion, will ya. Not wanting to be harassed anymore, if by chance we drifted off again, we trudged back over to the airport to wait it out.

Finally, the magic hour comes and the plane lands, the package we were told on the phone would then be brought to the baggage service office. We wait and wait and wait some more until about 1:15am when DH goes in to talk to the supervisor. She flippantly said there’s no dash package on the airplane, you will have to check with air cargo in the morning. His heart sank. And then another agent intervened and asked her to check once again on the radio. The guy on the other end asked what the air bill number was and, hallelujah, was able to confirm the package was indeed here. The supervisor was then adamant it would be going to the cargo center, and not the baggage service office. DH had to inform her that he was told that was usually the case except when a package arrived so late into the morning. She finally got back on the radio in communication with the plane and was told it would be put in a bin to come down the baggage conveyer belt. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, the minutes were counting down like an eternity. Then, all of a sudden, the conveyer comes to life and we see a bin coming down the belt. He grabs the box, tears it open with all his might, and there it was. The passport in all its glory. We hugged each other so tightly I thought neither of us could breathe. A total disaster had been avoided thanks to the smart thinking on my DH’s part who handled the situation with aplomb.

We grabbed our bags, made a beeline to the taxi stand and within minutes were at the front desk of the Westin being checked in by thee most empathetic Customer service agent named Adam. After we told him the events of the day we had just endured, he not only gave us a beautiful room on the 15th floor with a panoramic view of downtown Boston, but afforded us a late 4pm checkout and a complimentary Sunday brunch as well. As we settled into our Heavenly Beds, we now could decompress and let go of all the anxieties we had experienced that day.

We woke up this morning wondering if it had all been a bad dream. But, no, it had really happened and we managed to make the proverbial lemonade of of a heck of a load of lemons. Here we sit in our comfy room looking forward to our flight to Reykjavík tonight. We will now not have the luxury of the extra day there to recoup from the jet lag, but, hey, the good news is, we WILL be there. And so, there is a happy ending to this story as well as a lesson learned for all future travels. CHECK YOUR PASSPORT THOROUGHLY.

 

Tomorrow we board our home away from home, THE QUEST, and begin our Arctic journey of wonder and adventure. For that we are eternally grateful.

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Great travel tip: check your passort before leaving house, and always plan to fly in couple of days before your cruise departs.

Enjoy your cruise. It sounds wonderful.

You have great neighbors too!

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I am SO glad you made it!!!

 

My heart was racing reading this saga... my worst nightmare come true! We often find ourselves triple (and even quardruple) checking travel documents while in the car on the way to an airport out of this fear!

 

This happening on a weekend didn’t help at all either. At least on a weekday, the Boston passport office could have done an expedited temporary replacement in a couple of hours for a hefty fee. (8 pages, 6 months expiration)

 

I’ve been through similar heartache - landing in Sydney on New Years Eve before the start of an extended holiday closure for the US Consulate. Australian immigration decided not to accept my passport due to a tiny tear in the binding (caused by the strain of one too many sets of added in pages) but since I had come from New Zealand by way of Tahiti and was contributing to Singapore by way of Hong Kong, they had nowhere to send me back to or onward to. As such, they admitted me with an immigration stipulation that I could not travel onward without my passport being replaced. I had four hours (before the multi-day closure) to get a brand-new US passport in Sydney or risk having all my remaining travel upended.

 

I made it, with mere minutes to spare. And I now carry an extra set of passport photos with me in my wallet AND a color photo copy of my passport sealed up and hidden in each of my bags - and I have three more copies with filed abroad (with my assistant, my TA, and my parents).

 

This is also where a travel insurance company - and/or a relationship with a good passport/visa service - can really come in handy.

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This is one of my recurring nightmares which is why I check that my passport is in my bag when I put it in the car, when we get out of the car and compulsively at various times through the trip out and the trip back.

 

In fact, the only time I don't worry is when I know Seabourn has it.

 

I should add .... as a dual UK/US citizen, although I always travel on my US passport, I always have the UK one just in case.

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Oh my ! Please let me buy you and your DH a glass of the champagne tomorrow at our Meet and Greet to celebrate your brilliant recovery from near disaster. I’m so impressed you kept your cool and used your smarts. One near disaster 20 years ago DH and I arrived at Dulles Airport outside Washington DC to head to Europe. At the check in counter I whip out my passport but his is conspicuously missing. Luckily we always arrive super early for flights so put him in a taxi home while I stayed with the luggage and he was back in less than an hour with the passport. The United agent was so nice she upgraded us to biz class (as DH was flying on government business so we had booked coach.)

 

Now like others we physically check, check and recheck to make the passports are in my purse!

 

We just returned back to our hotel in Reykjavik after a couple of intensive days of South Coast touring. As I just now looked out our window I noticed the huge MSC shipped sailing away to open up the berth for the Quest to pull in tomorrow early AM. 03fb9df99b1cba5654c7835cdd420e54.jpgI suggested to DH we wake up early to watch the sail in. We shall see! And earlier this week a familiar friend was berthed down in the Old Port - becff8c5f2d395af44bd9b811f74b88c.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Are you ready for a vacation horror story? Then read on . .

 

 

 

So last week as we were doing our final preparations to depart for Reykjavik, I found my husbands Seabourn passport case on his dresser so I took it downstairs and placed it prominently on the kitchen counter to be sure he would see it and not forget to pack it, which he did not. CHECK.

 

 

 

We get to the Atlanta airport yesterday for our flight to Boston to catch our connecting flight to Reykjavík. He goes through security using his drivers license for ID. CHECK

 

 

 

All is well and we have a most pleasant flight on Southwest and arrive on time at a little after 3pm. We collect our checked bags and head over to terminal E where we have a little time to kill before the check in counter for Iceland Air opens at 5:00pm. CHECK

 

 

 

The time arrives and we step up to the ticket counter and we give the gentleman our booking number and he then asks for our passports. I hand over mine and he checks me in and then my husband hands him his and when the agent opens the folder, oh my god, it’s EMPTY!!! How can that possibly be, did it somehow fall out? We were in total denial at that point. Come to realize he had been previously using another passport case, hence, it started to dawn on us that his passport was now residing comfortably in a cubby next to his chair in our den back at home. We both felt sick to our stomachs, that sinking feeling of impending doom. The agent informed us we were not going anywhere without the proper documents tonight, but he would gladly change the reservation for us to tomorrow, which gave us some room to think. The reality of us not being able to get to Reykjavík in time to catch the ship started to descend on us like a thick, damp blanket. What do we do?

 

 

 

Our first thought was to have our trusted neighbor go over and get the passport and FED EX it overnight to us. Then our bubble got burst when we were told Sunday delivery was not possible. DEAD-END!

 

 

 

Our next brilliant idea was for one of us to book a round trip back to Atlanta to fetch it ourselves and the other to stay behind and get a hotel room secured for the night. Unfortunately, the whole northeast corridor the past few days had been deluged by thunderstorms which caused many cancellations and most of the flights were already sold out. The one we did find available was a main cabin seat unbelievably priced at over $3,000!!! Holy cow, are you kidding me! That option was to be undertaken as a last drastic measure.

 

 

 

Then, just like a lightbulb going off above his head, my DH mentions a Delta airlines package delivery service he knew about called DASH. I vaguely knew about it but was not sure how it worked or if they could deliver on a weekend as well. So we look up the phone number and give them a call. We got a very helpful gal named Kellie who walked us through the whole process, and, YES, they could get the job done and get it to the Boston airport on the last Delta flight out of Atlanta arriving at 12:53am this morning. All we had to do was get our neighbor to bring the passport to the Dash office at the Atlanta airport (which they happily did right in the spot). We immediately made all the arrangements right then over the phone and even prepaid the charge which was a mere $98.16. Quite a bargain I would say to save us from not being able to go on this trip at all. We both breathed a sigh of relief, but would not really be able to relax until that most necessary document was firmly in hand.

 

 

 

The time was now around 7:30pm and we were hungry and just a little stressed out so we decided to walk over to the Airport Hilton which is right in the airport complex and have dinner and see if we could get a room for the night. We only scored one of those two goals as the hotel was overbooked by 40 due to the backload of stranded passengers. As we dined on lobster quesadillas and quinoa and vegetable salad we made the startling discovery that almost every single hotel we called was in the same sold out position. But we kept searching and finally, the travel gods looked down upon us and came up with a room at the Westin Boston Waterfront, just a mere 3 mile cab ride away under the “big dig” tunnels. BOOK IT DANNO!!! And we did. But we still had to wait at the airport until the flight came in carrying our precious cargo. We tried to make ourselves comfortable in the Hilton lobby but when I ended up falling asleep in one of their comfy chairs a not so nice security guard come up to us and told us NO SLEEPING IN THE LOBBY. Geez, fella, have a little compassion, will ya. Not wanting to be harassed anymore, if by chance we drifted off again, we trudged back over to the airport to wait it out.

 

 

 

Finally, the magic hour comes and the plane lands, the package we were told on the phone would then be brought to the baggage service office. We wait and wait and wait some more until about 1:15am when DH goes in to talk to the supervisor. She flippantly said there’s no dash package on the airplane, you will have to check with air cargo in the morning. His heart sank. And then another agent intervened and asked her to check once again on the radio. The guy on the other end asked what the air bill number was and, hallelujah, was able to confirm the package was indeed here. The supervisor was then adamant it would be going to the cargo center, and not the baggage service office. DH had to inform her that he was told that was usually the case except when a package arrived so late into the morning. She finally got back on the radio in communication with the plane and was told it would be put in a bin to come down the baggage conveyer belt. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, the minutes were counting down like an eternity. Then, all of a sudden, the conveyer comes to life and we see a bin coming down the belt. He grabs the box, tears it open with all his might, and there it was. The passport in all its glory. We hugged each other so tightly I thought neither of us could breathe. A total disaster had been avoided thanks to the smart thinking on my DH’s part who handled the situation with aplomb.

 

 

 

We grabbed our bags, made a beeline to the taxi stand and within minutes were at the front desk of the Westin being checked in by thee most empathetic Customer service agent named Adam. After we told him the events of the day we had just endured, he not only gave us a beautiful room on the 15th floor with a panoramic view of downtown Boston, but afforded us a late 4pm checkout and a complimentary Sunday brunch as well. As we settled into our Heavenly Beds, we now could decompress and let go of all the anxieties we had experienced that day.

 

 

 

We woke up this morning wondering if it had all been a bad dream. But, no, it had really happened and we managed to make the proverbial lemonade of of a heck of a load of lemons. Here we sit in our comfy room looking forward to our flight to Reykjavík tonight. We will now not have the luxury of the extra day there to recoup from the jet lag, but, hey, the good news is, we WILL be there. And so, there is a happy ending to this story as well as a lesson learned for all future travels. CHECK YOUR PASSPORT THOROUGHLY.

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we board our home away from home, THE QUEST, and begin our Arctic journey of wonder and adventure. For that we are eternally grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

faf30638b2239781e10d53c70449eb8d.jpg7bd20ff0507f7debbb015fdf0326f39d.jpg407b7b6db3f8ec571e214ce938956d03.jpg

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Thanks one and all for your support and not making us feel so stupid for not check, check and rechecking our passports. Believe me, never again!

 

Chairsin, we would love to take you up on your offer for a glass of champagne at the meet and greet. Glad to hear your time in Iceland has been wonderful, Pedre Puffin, our trivia mascot, took his first plane ride and loved every minute. He can’t wait to get back to Iceland to meet up with his brethren.

 

As they always say, alls well that ends well. See ya tomorrow.

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Hmmm... this is why I am always in charge of our passports check them several times for expiration dates etc! I carry them in my purse the day of departure and keep checking to make sure both are there. We don't put them in cases (even though we won SB cases in a Trivia game on the Ovation). Now, I'll be more paranoid than ever!

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I love thriller movies, and thriller series on Netflix...but few can compare to your thriller post on Cruise Critic. Enjoy your cruise and relax!! However, I'm looking forward to your cruise posts; bet they will be as interesting.

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So glad you were able to make the arrangements work! Never knew about DASH so great to know! Also saw the big cruise ship sail out today and looking forward to boarding Quest tomorrow ! See you all then!gkrgeous night in Reykjavik and fingers crossed supposed to be nice again tomorrow!

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WOW - what an adventure (and one I hope we never have to go thru). I am so glad to hear you thought of using DASH and they delivered - literally, albeit with the sometimes unnecessary Delta drama... (I'm almost a Million miler and I have stories I could tell...)

 

To hopefully prevent what happened to you, we always ask each other as we drive down the road from our home right before we turn on to the main road: do you have your passport - and whatever foreign currency we need to be carrying, which we divide amongst us - whether or not we are driving ourselves or taking a car service and make each other prove it. I personally always carry my passport in a shirt pocket w/ a button so it is a conscious reminder and can't fall out. What you described is my nightmare come true.

 

Enjoy your cruise and have Chairsin buy you a few drinks!

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Glad it worked out! So much tension, I felt like popping an extra blood pressure pill reading this.

 

DH and I have traveled for years and had never forgotten our passports ( though for a US business trip he once showed up at the airport with an expired drivers license, so he had to reschedule the flight for after he went home and got his passport). We were always in charge of our own key ID info and our own cases and packs.

 

But last year on a late night flight before an Alaska cruise, he and the chatty driver of our usual car service started talking about sports cars when we got picked up. Amidst endless talk about slip differentials and ceramic brakes, we made it all the way to the airport before he realized he and the driver had forgotten his backpack, which included his passport and wallet, sitting on the dark doorstep. Only because I always insist on going to airports early, and because the flight was a little delayed, were we able to zoom back home, get the pack and zoom back to just catch the flight. I told him from then on, like SLSD, Miss Compulsive ( me) would be the one in charge of passports and key items and making sure we have everything.

 

The driver did not charge for the three trips, only for one.

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Catlover54, I am laughing about your story. Believe me, it is my responsibility to keep up with the Passports! AND the excursion tickets. AND the cruise documents. My husband is the kind of guy who can arrive out at our farm with no keys to the gate and no keys to our houses! And no, I don't chide him about it--I just quietly make sure that I am in charge of all of these things and continue to let him feel like he is in charge...

 

By the way, did you know that you CAN travel domestically in the United States without a drivers license or picture ID? How do I know this? i've done it! Miss Compulsive here always has her license in her wallet---but one time I didn't. We discovered this when checking our bags at the airline counter. The clerk told us that I could fly anyway if I could produce anything else from my wallet to prove who I was. SO---At the TSA checkpoint, I pulled out my medical insurance card, some credit cards with my name on them, my gym membership card, etc. I was allowed to fly! And, I had to do the same thing for our return. Where was my license? I found it later in the console of my car. I had put it there one day when I drove to the local mall which is the best place to walk in the wintertime. I had not wanted to leave my purse in the car, and didn't want to carry it while walking, so I had just put my license in the console of my car.

Edited by SLSD
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Thanks for all of the wonderful stories and precautionary measures. Hope no one has to ever actually use DASH but know it is an option when FEDEX is closed on Sunday. One of the contributing factors to our dilemma was the fact that after numerous trips without a passport cover/case we won two at trivia. Thinking how nice to board with an “official” cover/case I used it on our last Seabourn cruise. However, during our most recent cruise (on Oceania) I felt it would be tacky to board with a Seabourn case, and unbeknownst to DW I switched covers. My fault for 1. Not remembering and catching it then, 2. Not telling DW and finally 3. Not using it to go through security instead of my DL. Of course the pinnacle of stupidity was neither of us actually opening up the case to verify the damn thing was in there. Ugh. On board the Quest right now in our cabin, sipping champagne and putting the incident behind us.

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In case anyone ever needs to know this, Delta DASH is what is known as a "counter to counter" small freight service. Several airlines have one, also known as "NFO" or next flight out. So if DASH is not an option, ask around who else at that airport has a counter to counter service.

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