Flying in on the day of the cruise...Have I got a story for you

[jennbill]

SaltyDingo,

 

We obviously made a risky decision flying in with that short of a window prior to sailaway. It almost burned us. Guess that's why I'm not a professional gambler. We learned our lesson. Sitting in Atlanta we swore never again. Just not worth the stress.

 

As far as saying "just not smart"....yeah we know. Really no need to point out the obvious. Seriously.....

[livingthedreamrtw]

Funny, I had similar issues with Delta employees in Atlanta being non-helpful and almost all out liars after my delayed flight that made me miss my connection. I am sure my follow up complaint to the VPs got someone chewed out as I got a long response within a day with $100 in vouchers with it and another one in the mail a few days after from a different VP with another $100 voucher.

[Dubsolute]

I had been contemplating flying in the day of our cruise in Feb. I wanted to minimize the number of vacation days I used for this trip. I live in NY so the weather will probably be at it's worst. Thanks for reaffirming that we need to go the day before.

[I Luv Crusin]

We are flying non-stop from Washington DC to Miami on 10/31 for our cruise. We have the first flight out in the morning and will reach Miami by 10 am. I hope that gives us a buffer. We've mostly flown in the day of cruises and haven't been burned, yet. I do worry.

 

My sister is flying down from coastal NC with a connection through Charlotte on USAir. I am worried about her flights. She isn't scheduled in until 12:30 or so. I hope she doesn't have any problems but she is a frequent flyer so hopefully they will help her out if needed.

 

The one time we were really late to the ship was due to Carnival's transfers in New Orleans! We got in and got our luggage but then we sat on the bus for a couple of hours waiting, waiting with little explanation for late people. I do have to say check-in was a snap! We boarded just before sail-away. Other than Rome that is the last time I'll do Carnival transfers. It wouldn't have been bad if they had kept us informed!

[reno3]

Just booked my flights with Southwest for my April cruise.

We are flying in the day before (direct both ways). The money I saved booking with Southwest and not Carnival with pay for the one night hotel plus some.

I also canceled my transfers with Carnival, which again saved me money:D

I learned all of this for my last cruise from CC.....thanks a bunch:D

[Travel Alot]

Typically, we do not arrive at a departure port the day of a cruise. We like to make sure there are no hassles. We have flown in on cruise day, most recently NYC in '06, with no problems. Now here's our story....

 

When we booked the 9/20 Legend cruise in April, we looked at airfare, schedules and such and decided to fly in on cruise day. Booked Delta through Atlanta with an arrival in Tampa a little after 12 noon. The Legend is scheduled to sail at 4 p.m.. Shouldn't be a problem we thought. Curiously, around the first of September I started to have these feelings that things wouldn't go well. I told Jennifer and she said to just stop that I was just trying to jinx us. Flash forward to the morning of 9/20.

 

Things are good when we board our flight from Oklahoma City to Atlanta. But then something seems kinda wrong. It's stuffy on the plane. No AC. As departure time arrives and passes, the captain tells us that he can't start the plane's engines and he'd get back to us. A few minutes later the problem looks to be that the compressors that supply oxygen to the jet engines (necessary for starting) have a valve stuck. So it's everyone off the plane while we wait for a mechanic. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes later, things look good and we're told to reboard. We're told to please find our seats as we had a limited time to get airborne and still have our slot in Atlanta. Soon the engines are started and things are looking good. Only about 45 minutes late but still plenty of time to make our connection in Atlanta. Thing is, we're not backing away from the gate. We sit and sit and sit... "We're not going anywhere" I tell Jennifer. Soon the captain comes on the PA system.

 

Seems that while we were waiting for repairs in OKC, fog and rain rolled into Atlanta. There is now a ground hold on all flights to Atlanta. The captain tells us he'll get back to us in around 45 minutes. Okay, so now things are a little tight but we'll see. Sure enough, right at 45 minutes later, the captain says we're good to go and we push back from the gate and begin taxiing.

 

We approach the runway, number two for takeoff, when we just sit. By now it's daylight and I see the problem. Yeah, fog in OKC has reduced our minimum visiblity to the point nothing is leaving. "We're screwed" I tell Jennifer. Finally, after another agonizing wait (and three hours late) we're airborne. I'm thinking maybe the ground hold on Atlanta traffic would put enough flights late for us to make our original connection...or maybe not.

 

We make Atlanta, deplane and check the monitors in the terminal. We've missed our original connection by about 22 minutes. Closer than I thought but now we have to scramble. At this point, all I can say is that Delta's personnel in Atlanta are waaaay less than helpful. As a matter of fact, they suck. But that's another post at another place. The best we can come up with is another Delta flight arriving in Tampa at 3:12 p.m.. This is not good. The only positive is that I'm able to talk us into row 20 on the 757 which is the row next to the door. Good for a quick exit.

 

As we sit in Atlanta, the phone calls start. Jennifer calls the Carnival customer service number on our docs and they offer as much help as the can. They provide us the number to the port and suggest we call. Busy signal. Next phone call goes to travel insurance. They tell us we have to make the cruise at one of our ports of call to be able to claim unused portions of the trip. Okay, Jenn, start using that IPhone to check airfare from Tampa to Cayman. Way too expensive. Then I realize I brought my phone with me. (I hate cell phones and rarely use mine.)

 

While Jenn is Googling potential travel to Cozumel to catch the ship, I call the port. This is where things start to go a little better. I reach a Carnival port agent by the name of Linda. She was an angel. A very calming voice in a hectic early afternoon. As I explained to her our situation, she took our information (name, cabin number, etc.). She asked when we'd arrive and I told her 3:12 was our scheduled arrival. "You should be okay", she said. She explained to call her immediately upon touch down in Tampa. Look for the Carnival reps at baggage claim she said. Linda says "Now one thing, you may not have time to wait for your luggage. You may have to go without. Talk to our people in baggage claim and they'll get your luggage to you in Grand Cayman." I'm thinking no problem, we'll buy a few necessities in the gift shop and skip first formal night but if we make the cruise, so be it.

 

In the meantime, Jennifer has called a cab company in Tampa to arrange to have a taxi waiting for us at baggage claim. Good move. I call Linda one last time as we're boarding the plane and tell her I'll talk to her soon. As we taxied in Atlanta, all I'm thinking is that I don't want the pilot to come on the inercom and say that we're number 20 for takeoff and to just sit back and relax. To my relief, things go better than I anticipated and we're off the ground only around 15 minutes late. Things aren't looking great and Jennifer and I say nothing during the flight. Arrival in Tampa at 3:19, the pilot made up some time. Fortunately, first ones off the plane and now it starts to look like an episode of the "Amazing Race".

 

Jennifer and I are sprinting (literally) up the jetway and through the terminal to the shuttles to baggage claim. She starts to lag and I'm yelling at her, "You gotta dig!! Go Go Go!!" It was ugly and she was a trooper. We make it to baggage claim. No Carnival reps. Crap. I'm on the phone, trying to breathe and dial Linda at the same time. Now we're just looking for a cab to get us to the pier. Then right before us are our bags. They made the earlier flight we couldn't. Now, I'm thinking just grab any taxi and go. Not so fast in Tampa. There were no taxis lined up at baggage claim like at most other airports. There is a taxi stand and we ask for a big taxi as we have four max size bags weighing right at 50 lbs. each. This guy was a moron. No help and now we're waiting. In the meantime, Jennifer is contacting the cab company she called from Atlanta. The driver is waiting for us on the top floor of the parking garage. GO! GO!

 

We make it up, find him, load up and ask him to haul ass to the pier and we'll make it worth his while. Once we clear the airport, the drive seems to take forever but I'm looking at his speedometer and he's like 20 over the speed limit. We wind through the streets of downtown Tampa and finally see the pier. The Legend is still there. We might make this after all. We pull up to the pier when we hear "Uh oh" from the driver. "What, what?" we're saying. The big gate at the pier is rolled down. Not good. So this is how it ends? We're standing at the pier as the Legend pushes away. Crap. Then we see a door to our right. The workers are frantically motioning us over. I'm grabbing bags, Jennifer's giving our driver double the fare. A young female security guard takes our bags from us and rushes away.

 

Carnival's pier personnel are there. We're running toward registration. And then there's Linda. "You're okay", she says. Security, registration, sign and sail cards, the familiar "ding" of the security picture were all a blur. We were still trying to run up the gangway when Carnival's personnel were reassuring us "You're okay. You're going to make it.".

 

We pass from the gangway to the ship's atrium at 3:54 p.m.. We did, in fact, make it. We tried hard to catch our breath as we headed toward our aft balcony. The Legend pushes away from the pier at 4:10 p.m. as the rain begins to fall. We can't believe what we've just gone through.

 

Our luggage arrived to our cabin by 4:45 and we were off on a great cruise. Needless to say that evening included several cocktails and a vow to never, ever fly in on the day of the cruise.

 

I can say that the Carnival representatives at the Tampa pier were amazing. Linda was a calming voice who helped us beyond belief. It was nice just to hear someone trying to talk us through. We've contacted her superiors in Tampa to heap praise upon her.

 

Bottom line to a long story, well I think you get it.....

 

 

Been there and done that and it isn't fun! Gosh...the stress alone is enough to take 5 years off of your life. Coming through Atlanta and having to change planes....you just about have to come in the day before...for your own piece of mind.....if it isn't fog at the airport, then it is thunderstorms or flooding or ice.....Just getting there from Chattanooga is big hassle so I always end up going down to the port a day early....

[cruisingbajan]

Typically, we do not arrive at a departure port the day of a cruise. We like to make sure there are no hassles. We have flown in on cruise day, most recently NYC in '06, with no problems. Now here's our story....

 

When we booked the 9/20 Legend cruise in April, we looked at airfare, schedules and such and decided to fly in on cruise day. Booked Delta through Atlanta with an arrival in Tampa a little after 12 noon. The Legend is scheduled to sail at 4 p.m.. Shouldn't be a problem we thought. Curiously, around the first of September I started to have these feelings that things wouldn't go well. I told Jennifer and she said to just stop that I was just trying to jinx us. Flash forward to the morning of 9/20.

 

Things are good when we board our flight from Oklahoma City to Atlanta. But then something seems kinda wrong. It's stuffy on the plane. No AC. As departure time arrives and passes, the captain tells us that he can't start the plane's engines and he'd get back to us. A few minutes later the problem looks to be that the compressors that supply oxygen to the jet engines (necessary for starting) have a valve stuck. So it's everyone off the plane while we wait for a mechanic. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes later, things look good and we're told to reboard. We're told to please find our seats as we had a limited time to get airborne and still have our slot in Atlanta. Soon the engines are started and things are looking good. Only about 45 minutes late but still plenty of time to make our connection in Atlanta. Thing is, we're not backing away from the gate. We sit and sit and sit... "We're not going anywhere" I tell Jennifer. Soon the captain comes on the PA system.

 

Seems that while we were waiting for repairs in OKC, fog and rain rolled into Atlanta. There is now a ground hold on all flights to Atlanta. The captain tells us he'll get back to us in around 45 minutes. Okay, so now things are a little tight but we'll see. Sure enough, right at 45 minutes later, the captain says we're good to go and we push back from the gate and begin taxiing.

 

We approach the runway, number two for takeoff, when we just sit. By now it's daylight and I see the problem. Yeah, fog in OKC has reduced our minimum visiblity to the point nothing is leaving. "We're screwed" I tell Jennifer. Finally, after another agonizing wait (and three hours late) we're airborne. I'm thinking maybe the ground hold on Atlanta traffic would put enough flights late for us to make our original connection...or maybe not.

 

We make Atlanta, deplane and check the monitors in the terminal. We've missed our original connection by about 22 minutes. Closer than I thought but now we have to scramble. At this point, all I can say is that Delta's personnel in Atlanta are waaaay less than helpful. As a matter of fact, they suck. But that's another post at another place. The best we can come up with is another Delta flight arriving in Tampa at 3:12 p.m.. This is not good. The only positive is that I'm able to talk us into row 20 on the 757 which is the row next to the door. Good for a quick exit.

 

As we sit in Atlanta, the phone calls start. Jennifer calls the Carnival customer service number on our docs and they offer as much help as the can. They provide us the number to the port and suggest we call. Busy signal. Next phone call goes to travel insurance. They tell us we have to make the cruise at one of our ports of call to be able to claim unused portions of the trip. Okay, Jenn, start using that IPhone to check airfare from Tampa to Cayman. Way too expensive. Then I realize I brought my phone with me. (I hate cell phones and rarely use mine.)

 

While Jenn is Googling potential travel to Cozumel to catch the ship, I call the port. This is where things start to go a little better. I reach a Carnival port agent by the name of Linda. She was an angel. A very calming voice in a hectic early afternoon. As I explained to her our situation, she took our information (name, cabin number, etc.). She asked when we'd arrive and I told her 3:12 was our scheduled arrival. "You should be okay", she said. She explained to call her immediately upon touch down in Tampa. Look for the Carnival reps at baggage claim she said. Linda says "Now one thing, you may not have time to wait for your luggage. You may have to go without. Talk to our people in baggage claim and they'll get your luggage to you in Grand Cayman." I'm thinking no problem, we'll buy a few necessities in the gift shop and skip first formal night but if we make the cruise, so be it.

 

In the meantime, Jennifer has called a cab company in Tampa to arrange to have a taxi waiting for us at baggage claim. Good move. I call Linda one last time as we're boarding the plane and tell her I'll talk to her soon. As we taxied in Atlanta, all I'm thinking is that I don't want the pilot to come on the inercom and say that we're number 20 for takeoff and to just sit back and relax. To my relief, things go better than I anticipated and we're off the ground only around 15 minutes late. Things aren't looking great and Jennifer and I say nothing during the flight. Arrival in Tampa at 3:19, the pilot made up some time. Fortunately, first ones off the plane and now it starts to look like an episode of the "Amazing Race".

 

Jennifer and I are sprinting (literally) up the jetway and through the terminal to the shuttles to baggage claim. She starts to lag and I'm yelling at her, "You gotta dig!! Go Go Go!!" It was ugly and she was a trooper. We make it to baggage claim. No Carnival reps. Crap. I'm on the phone, trying to breathe and dial Linda at the same time. Now we're just looking for a cab to get us to the pier. Then right before us are our bags. They made the earlier flight we couldn't. Now, I'm thinking just grab any taxi and go. Not so fast in Tampa. There were no taxis lined up at baggage claim like at most other airports. There is a taxi stand and we ask for a big taxi as we have four max size bags weighing right at 50 lbs. each. This guy was a moron. No help and now we're waiting. In the meantime, Jennifer is contacting the cab company she called from Atlanta. The driver is waiting for us on the top floor of the parking garage. GO! GO!

 

We make it up, find him, load up and ask him to haul ass to the pier and we'll make it worth his while. Once we clear the airport, the drive seems to take forever but I'm looking at his speedometer and he's like 20 over the speed limit. We wind through the streets of downtown Tampa and finally see the pier. The Legend is still there. We might make this after all. We pull up to the pier when we hear "Uh oh" from the driver. "What, what?" we're saying. The big gate at the pier is rolled down. Not good. So this is how it ends? We're standing at the pier as the Legend pushes away. Crap. Then we see a door to our right. The workers are frantically motioning us over. I'm grabbing bags, Jennifer's giving our driver double the fare. A young female security guard takes our bags from us and rushes away.

 

Carnival's pier personnel are there. We're running toward registration. And then there's Linda. "You're okay", she says. Security, registration, sign and sail cards, the familiar "ding" of the security picture were all a blur. We were still trying to run up the gangway when Carnival's personnel were reassuring us "You're okay. You're going to make it.".

 

We pass from the gangway to the ship's atrium at 3:54 p.m.. We did, in fact, make it. We tried hard to catch our breath as we headed toward our aft balcony. The Legend pushes away from the pier at 4:10 p.m. as the rain begins to fall. We can't believe what we've just gone through.

 

Our luggage arrived to our cabin by 4:45 and we were off on a great cruise. Needless to say that evening included several cocktails and a vow to never, ever fly in on the day of the cruise.

 

I can say that the Carnival representatives at the Tampa pier were amazing. Linda was a calming voice who helped us beyond belief. It was nice just to hear someone trying to talk us through. We've contacted her superiors in Tampa to heap praise upon her.

 

Bottom line to a long story, well I think you get it.....

 

Wow....I was going to arrive same day on my cruise in April. I don't think now that, that is such a good idea.:eek:

 

I'm so glad you made it on time.

[Winterstale]

If it makes you feel any better...United didn't handle it much better for us than Delta did for you....

 

June 2008 - heading from LAX to STT via IAD for a sailboat charter that started the next day. Got on the red-eye from LAX to IAD -- figured we had PLENNNNTY of time to catch the 8:45 flight that goes daily from IAD to STT. From there, we hop on the good old ferry to Tortola and hop on our boat for a week sailing in paradise. The best laid plans of mice and men. Flight out of L.A. is delayed by around 35 minutes for reasons unknown - takes another 1/2 hour for everybody to stow their unstowable, oversized carryon -- I'm not panicking yet at this point -- we get a drink, settle in, and fall asleep. I wake up to a VERY bright plane - too bright for only 6am - yup, Dulles is fogged in and we can't land. What is it with fog??? LOL We have to fly to Pittsburgh, pick up fuel (I am on a need-to-know basis and did not need to hear the captain tell us we were running low on fuel from circling Dulles!) and head back. The flight attendants assure us that most of our connectors are grounded as well. She walks down the aisle of the plane and stops when she gets to me and my husband. "You're the couple going to St. Thomas? I'm sorry, but your flight did take off on time. Just go to customer service in Dulles when we get there."

 

When we finally get to Dulles? The line for customer service looks like the line on the hottest day of the summer for Splash Mountain at Disneyland. It's at least 3 hours long. My husband calls United and they tell him "there's nothing we can do for you."??????? I about imploded. We gather our things -- we were carrying on duffles since large suitcases are not sailboat-friendly -- we had one small checked bag with all of our lotions and toiletries and we figured we could pretty much kiss that good-bye -- we head down the terminal to the Red Carpet Club -- it should be noted that I am NOT a member of said Red Carpet Club. I pull out every weapon in my arsenal -- first, I begin to cry. Loudly. In the lobby. :D Then, I invoke the name of my company and the fact that I book TONS of my actors on United on a daily basis and I can't believe this is happening to us and blah blah blah - while my husband stands next to me with an "I can't control her" expression on his face, meekly hands the woman at the check-in desk our tickets and says "can you help?" She begins typing madly, I'm sure just to get this CRAZY person out of her lobby :D

 

We spent TWELVE HOURS in the Dulles airport. We rode the people movers around from terminal to terminal and I think we may have sampled drinks at every bar, visited the little back massage place, did anything we could to pass the time. The gal at the Red Carpet Club got us on a 10 pm flight to Philly where we had to PAY to spend the night -- because the fog was an "act of God" -- that is why the airline won't do anything in situations like that. If it's mechanical, they'll help you (yeah, right) - if it's an "act of God" you're basically SOL. Now....the girl in the Red Carpet Club said she re-routed our checked bag...I wasn't holding out hope. As we sat the next morning in Philly, waiting to board the flight to St. Thomas....I watched as our little lotions bag was the FIRST one up the ramp into the plane! LOL. We lost a day of our charter, but at least we made it!

 

So...even if you take the red-eye...it's STILL better to fly in the day before! We went back in June for another charter -- I booked us in to Dulles the day before - got us a room there -- and scheduled us out the next day on the flight to St. Thomas. It was June. I figured I'm safe, right? No fog at Dulles, right? Right.

 

Good old Southern California. The Burbank Airport was fogged in. We still made it, just got in later than expected. But by golly, we were ON that flight to St. Thomas the next morning and drinking ice cold Carib on the deck of the sailboat by 5pm!!

 

Didn't mean to highjack - just had to share! Your experience brought back those vivid memories!! Glad you made your ship and that must have been THE BEST first cocktail EVER!!!

[moonandsun]

WOW, I was reading the post out loud to my husband and daughter (21) and they were on the edge of their chairs. lol

Not the best story to read when we have just booked a same day flight on March 3rd out of Miami. We are to land at 10:30 am. Bad thing is we also go through ATL. :eek:

[pe4all]

I had been contemplating flying in the day of our cruise in Feb. I wanted to minimize the number of vacation days I used for this trip. I live in NY so the weather will probably be at it's worst. Thanks for reaffirming that we need to go the day before.

 

Bite your tongue! We are sailing on the Freedom the same day you are sailing on Inspiration. I booked a flight into Miami on the 12th just in case. And yes - the weather in NY can be very unpredictable in Feb.!

[NH Cruisers]

We learned after our fist cruise to never fly in day of. Nothing bad happened but the stress was untolerable.

 

Our next cruise in February we are actually flying in two days early due to the fact that is a common time for big n'oreaster storms in the Boston area.

 

We don't want any stress.

 

Jon

[Peaceful]

This story left me breathless! What great writing style. Sure do hope you write a review, as I'm sure it would be fabulous. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Winterstale, I would be greatful to know about your charter; it's something my non-cruising husband would love to do. Could you email me a link? peacefulbon @ bonhicks . com. Thanks so much.

[Winterstale]

Sent you an email, peaceful ;)

 

There is just NOTHING like sailing on your own...nothing....

[pepsicruiser]

Typically, we do not arrive at a departure port the day of a cruise. We like to make sure there are no hassles. We have flown in on cruise day, most recently NYC in '06, with no problems. Now here's our story....

 

When we booked the 9/20 Legend cruise in April, we looked at airfare, schedules and such and decided to fly in on cruise day. Booked Delta through Atlanta with an arrival in Tampa a little after 12 noon. The Legend is scheduled to sail at 4 p.m.. Shouldn't be a problem we thought. Curiously, around the first of September I started to have these feelings that things wouldn't go well. I told Jennifer and she said to just stop that I was just trying to jinx us. Flash forward to the morning of 9/20.

 

Things are good when we board our flight from Oklahoma City to Atlanta. But then something seems kinda wrong. It's stuffy on the plane. No AC. As departure time arrives and passes, the captain tells us that he can't start the plane's engines and he'd get back to us. A few minutes later the problem looks to be that the compressors that supply oxygen to the jet engines (necessary for starting) have a valve stuck. So it's everyone off the plane while we wait for a mechanic. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes later, things look good and we're told to reboard. We're told to please find our seats as we had a limited time to get airborne and still have our slot in Atlanta. Soon the engines are started and things are looking good. Only about 45 minutes late but still plenty of time to make our connection in Atlanta. Thing is, we're not backing away from the gate. We sit and sit and sit... "We're not going anywhere" I tell Jennifer. Soon the captain comes on the PA system.

 

Seems that while we were waiting for repairs in OKC, fog and rain rolled into Atlanta. There is now a ground hold on all flights to Atlanta. The captain tells us he'll get back to us in around 45 minutes. Okay, so now things are a little tight but we'll see. Sure enough, right at 45 minutes later, the captain says we're good to go and we push back from the gate and begin taxiing.

 

We approach the runway, number two for takeoff, when we just sit. By now it's daylight and I see the problem. Yeah, fog in OKC has reduced our minimum visiblity to the point nothing is leaving. "We're screwed" I tell Jennifer. Finally, after another agonizing wait (and three hours late) we're airborne. I'm thinking maybe the ground hold on Atlanta traffic would put enough flights late for us to make our original connection...or maybe not.

 

We make Atlanta, deplane and check the monitors in the terminal. We've missed our original connection by about 22 minutes. Closer than I thought but now we have to scramble. At this point, all I can say is that Delta's personnel in Atlanta are waaaay less than helpful. As a matter of fact, they suck. But that's another post at another place. The best we can come up with is another Delta flight arriving in Tampa at 3:12 p.m.. This is not good. The only positive is that I'm able to talk us into row 20 on the 757 which is the row next to the door. Good for a quick exit.

 

As we sit in Atlanta, the phone calls start. Jennifer calls the Carnival customer service number on our docs and they offer as much help as the can. They provide us the number to the port and suggest we call. Busy signal. Next phone call goes to travel insurance. They tell us we have to make the cruise at one of our ports of call to be able to claim unused portions of the trip. Okay, Jenn, start using that IPhone to check airfare from Tampa to Cayman. Way too expensive. Then I realize I brought my phone with me. (I hate cell phones and rarely use mine.)

 

While Jenn is Googling potential travel to Cozumel to catch the ship, I call the port. This is where things start to go a little better. I reach a Carnival port agent by the name of Linda. She was an angel. A very calming voice in a hectic early afternoon. As I explained to her our situation, she took our information (name, cabin number, etc.). She asked when we'd arrive and I told her 3:12 was our scheduled arrival. "You should be okay", she said. She explained to call her immediately upon touch down in Tampa. Look for the Carnival reps at baggage claim she said. Linda says "Now one thing, you may not have time to wait for your luggage. You may have to go without. Talk to our people in baggage claim and they'll get your luggage to you in Grand Cayman." I'm thinking no problem, we'll buy a few necessities in the gift shop and skip first formal night but if we make the cruise, so be it.

 

In the meantime, Jennifer has called a cab company in Tampa to arrange to have a taxi waiting for us at baggage claim. Good move. I call Linda one last time as we're boarding the plane and tell her I'll talk to her soon. As we taxied in Atlanta, all I'm thinking is that I don't want the pilot to come on the inercom and say that we're number 20 for takeoff and to just sit back and relax. To my relief, things go better than I anticipated and we're off the ground only around 15 minutes late. Things aren't looking great and Jennifer and I say nothing during the flight. Arrival in Tampa at 3:19, the pilot made up some time. Fortunately, first ones off the plane and now it starts to look like an episode of the "Amazing Race".

 

Jennifer and I are sprinting (literally) up the jetway and through the terminal to the shuttles to baggage claim. She starts to lag and I'm yelling at her, "You gotta dig!! Go Go Go!!" It was ugly and she was a trooper. We make it to baggage claim. No Carnival reps. Crap. I'm on the phone, trying to breathe and dial Linda at the same time. Now we're just looking for a cab to get us to the pier. Then right before us are our bags. They made the earlier flight we couldn't. Now, I'm thinking just grab any taxi and go. Not so fast in Tampa. There were no taxis lined up at baggage claim like at most other airports. There is a taxi stand and we ask for a big taxi as we have four max size bags weighing right at 50 lbs. each. This guy was a moron. No help and now we're waiting. In the meantime, Jennifer is contacting the cab company she called from Atlanta. The driver is waiting for us on the top floor of the parking garage. GO! GO!

 

We make it up, find him, load up and ask him to haul ass to the pier and we'll make it worth his while. Once we clear the airport, the drive seems to take forever but I'm looking at his speedometer and he's like 20 over the speed limit. We wind through the streets of downtown Tampa and finally see the pier. The Legend is still there. We might make this after all. We pull up to the pier when we hear "Uh oh" from the driver. "What, what?" we're saying. The big gate at the pier is rolled down. Not good. So this is how it ends? We're standing at the pier as the Legend pushes away. Crap. Then we see a door to our right. The workers are frantically motioning us over. I'm grabbing bags, Jennifer's giving our driver double the fare. A young female security guard takes our bags from us and rushes away.

 

Carnival's pier personnel are there. We're running toward registration. And then there's Linda. "You're okay", she says. Security, registration, sign and sail cards, the familiar "ding" of the security picture were all a blur. We were still trying to run up the gangway when Carnival's personnel were reassuring us "You're okay. You're going to make it.".

 

We pass from the gangway to the ship's atrium at 3:54 p.m.. We did, in fact, make it. We tried hard to catch our breath as we headed toward our aft balcony. The Legend pushes away from the pier at 4:10 p.m. as the rain begins to fall. We can't believe what we've just gone through.

 

Our luggage arrived to our cabin by 4:45 and we were off on a great cruise. Needless to say that evening included several cocktails and a vow to never, ever fly in on the day of the cruise.

 

I can say that the Carnival representatives at the Tampa pier were amazing. Linda was a calming voice who helped us beyond belief. It was nice just to hear someone trying to talk us through. We've contacted her superiors in Tampa to heap praise upon her.

 

Bottom line to a long story, well I think you get it.....

 

 

 

I'm so happy you made it but I'm exhausted sitting here reading this story.

[gone_cruisin]

Well, I knew it was going to be bad the moment I read that it was a Delta flight:eek: I don't think I recall ever reading anything positive about them on these boards.

 

Not that I am a Delta fan (see my home city and figure my preferred airline) but I don't think it has anything to do with Delta, but more the airport. Atlanta has to be one of the worst airports for delays.

 

Glad that you made it. I could feel my heart racing as I read your post.

[deepnite10]

im just happy you made it the pier in time..this is a good example of the stars lining up for you..

 

the stress you went thru is enough to convince anyone that it s not worth the dollar savings flying in the day of ..

 

now, my story, its short..:D

 

we live in the central valley of calif..its either a 6hr drive to san pedro or a 1 hr flight to LAX..due to circustances the previous yr. we decided to fly rather than drive this time..being safe we flew in the day befor..nice dinner that evening and a good nights sleep..

 

we left for the airport at 7 am for our 10am flight..then told the flight was canceled but they could get us on a 1am flight..no problem..get to LAX about 2pm..then decide to take super shuttle to san pedro..end up getting there when it was dark..:mad:..had this been the day of the cruise we would have missed our ship, the Star..

 

note to self was, from now on we re going to drive..

[momoftwins2]

So glad you made, I was in suspense reading your post!! I know how you felt!!!

 

Twice that happened to me cutting it very close (with the 2nd time happening last week when I was on my last cruise, due to Carnival booking our flights so close to boarding time, flight arrived at 1:45, supposed to be on the boat by 2:30, but shuttle from Carnival didn't arrive until 3:00) so we were on the boat at 3:40, with it departing at 4:00 pheewww close call, Didn't like that feeling at all.

 

Hated having to rush to the muster and not getting a drink until after:( Cause we sooo needed it!!

[Yoitsbbg]

Hey guys...

 

Great story and so glad ya made the ship! (I got to talk to Jenn as she sailed away...).

 

But if ya didn't, you could always have come and spend the week with us and babysit 2 screaming boys! :) Just think...we would have given ya a day off to goto the Food & Wine Festival! :)

 

-YO

[jennbill]

Scott,

 

Sounds like Jenn told you about me not thinking of going to EPCOT post-cruise. When I saw that billboard promoting the festival, all I could say was "***** was I thinking?". Tampa was fun anyway. Sorry we didn't get the chance to see y'all.

[Coolmama_1]

Just tripped across your story. As fans of Amazing Race, I can picture your adventure! Thanks for sharing for all those who tempt fate when they cruise.

 

We always fly in the day before as I am sure you do now too!:)

[GNunn]

OK darn it .. I'm flying in the day we sail out of NOLA - it's a non-stop surely to goodness we'll be alright. I bet I check to see what a flight change will cost us though. Wouldn't I feel a bit on the stupid side if I missed our sail time after reading this. :eek:

 

You about gave me a heart attack reading the OP.

[kenrod]

What a hair raising story! You really had me at the edge of my seat. It was like watching The Amazing Race.

 

I am so glad the story ended with a happy ending. Your story is exactly the reason why I won't fly on a cruise day. I just can't imagine getting to to port only to watch the ship sail away.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[conchead]

Typically, we do not arrive at a departure port the day of a cruise. We like to make sure there are no hassles. We have flown in on cruise day, most recently NYC in '06, with no problems. Now here's our story....

 

Skipping Ahead...

 

Bottom line to a long story, well I think you get it.....

 

Thank you for such a story, (I think:p) it feels like my

blood pressure is about to go through the roof.

 

 

I have always had the thought of something like that

happening to me and have tried to explain how things

can go wrong to others...they just say "plan a flight that

gets there early and it will be no problem"

 

..I think yeah right!!:rolleyes:

[Barb Nahoumi]

Typically, we do not arrive at a departure port the day of a cruise. We like to make sure there are no hassles. We have flown in on cruise day, most recently NYC in '06, with no problems. Now here's our story....

 

When we booked the 9/20 Legend cruise in April, we looked at airfare, schedules and such and decided to fly in on cruise day. Booked Delta through Atlanta with an arrival in Tampa a little after 12 noon. The Legend is scheduled to sail at 4 p.m.. Shouldn't be a problem we thought. Curiously, around the first of September I started to have these feelings that things wouldn't go well. I told Jennifer and she said to just stop that I was just trying to jinx us. Flash forward to the morning of 9/20.

 

Things are good when we board our flight from Oklahoma City to Atlanta. But then something seems kinda wrong. It's stuffy on the plane. No AC. As departure time arrives and passes, the captain tells us that he can't start the plane's engines and he'd get back to us. A few minutes later the problem looks to be that the compressors that supply oxygen to the jet engines (necessary for starting) have a valve stuck. So it's everyone off the plane while we wait for a mechanic. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes later, things look good and we're told to reboard. We're told to please find our seats as we had a limited time to get airborne and still have our slot in Atlanta. Soon the engines are started and things are looking good. Only about 45 minutes late but still plenty of time to make our connection in Atlanta. Thing is, we're not backing away from the gate. We sit and sit and sit... "We're not going anywhere" I tell Jennifer. Soon the captain comes on the PA system.

 

Seems that while we were waiting for repairs in OKC, fog and rain rolled into Atlanta. There is now a ground hold on all flights to Atlanta. The captain tells us he'll get back to us in around 45 minutes. Okay, so now things are a little tight but we'll see. Sure enough, right at 45 minutes later, the captain says we're good to go and we push back from the gate and begin taxiing.

 

We approach the runway, number two for takeoff, when we just sit. By now it's daylight and I see the problem. Yeah, fog in OKC has reduced our minimum visiblity to the point nothing is leaving. "We're screwed" I tell Jennifer. Finally, after another agonizing wait (and three hours late) we're airborne. I'm thinking maybe the ground hold on Atlanta traffic would put enough flights late for us to make our original connection...or maybe not.

 

We make Atlanta, deplane and check the monitors in the terminal. We've missed our original connection by about 22 minutes. Closer than I thought but now we have to scramble. At this point, all I can say is that Delta's personnel in Atlanta are waaaay less than helpful. As a matter of fact, they suck. But that's another post at another place. The best we can come up with is another Delta flight arriving in Tampa at 3:12 p.m.. This is not good. The only positive is that I'm able to talk us into row 20 on the 757 which is the row next to the door. Good for a quick exit.

 

As we sit in Atlanta, the phone calls start. Jennifer calls the Carnival customer service number on our docs and they offer as much help as the can. They provide us the number to the port and suggest we call. Busy signal. Next phone call goes to travel insurance. They tell us we have to make the cruise at one of our ports of call to be able to claim unused portions of the trip. Okay, Jenn, start using that IPhone to check airfare from Tampa to Cayman. Way too expensive. Then I realize I brought my phone with me. (I hate cell phones and rarely use mine.)

 

While Jenn is Googling potential travel to Cozumel to catch the ship, I call the port. This is where things start to go a little better. I reach a Carnival port agent by the name of Linda. She was an angel. A very calming voice in a hectic early afternoon. As I explained to her our situation, she took our information (name, cabin number, etc.). She asked when we'd arrive and I told her 3:12 was our scheduled arrival. "You should be okay", she said. She explained to call her immediately upon touch down in Tampa. Look for the Carnival reps at baggage claim she said. Linda says "Now one thing, you may not have time to wait for your luggage. You may have to go without. Talk to our people in baggage claim and they'll get your luggage to you in Grand Cayman." I'm thinking no problem, we'll buy a few necessities in the gift shop and skip first formal night but if we make the cruise, so be it.

 

In the meantime, Jennifer has called a cab company in Tampa to arrange to have a taxi waiting for us at baggage claim. Good move. I call Linda one last time as we're boarding the plane and tell her I'll talk to her soon. As we taxied in Atlanta, all I'm thinking is that I don't want the pilot to come on the inercom and say that we're number 20 for takeoff and to just sit back and relax. To my relief, things go better than I anticipated and we're off the ground only around 15 minutes late. Things aren't looking great and Jennifer and I say nothing during the flight. Arrival in Tampa at 3:19, the pilot made up some time. Fortunately, first ones off the plane and now it starts to look like an episode of the "Amazing Race".

 

Jennifer and I are sprinting (literally) up the jetway and through the terminal to the shuttles to baggage claim. She starts to lag and I'm yelling at her, "You gotta dig!! Go Go Go!!" It was ugly and she was a trooper. We make it to baggage claim. No Carnival reps. Crap. I'm on the phone, trying to breathe and dial Linda at the same time. Now we're just looking for a cab to get us to the pier. Then right before us are our bags. They made the earlier flight we couldn't. Now, I'm thinking just grab any taxi and go. Not so fast in Tampa. There were no taxis lined up at baggage claim like at most other airports. There is a taxi stand and we ask for a big taxi as we have four max size bags weighing right at 50 lbs. each. This guy was a moron. No help and now we're waiting. In the meantime, Jennifer is contacting the cab company she called from Atlanta. The driver is waiting for us on the top floor of the parking garage. GO! GO!

 

We make it up, find him, load up and ask him to haul ass to the pier and we'll make it worth his while. Once we clear the airport, the drive seems to take forever but I'm looking at his speedometer and he's like 20 over the speed limit. We wind through the streets of downtown Tampa and finally see the pier. The Legend is still there. We might make this after all. We pull up to the pier when we hear "Uh oh" from the driver. "What, what?" we're saying. The big gate at the pier is rolled down. Not good. So this is how it ends? We're standing at the pier as the Legend pushes away. Crap. Then we see a door to our right. The workers are frantically motioning us over. I'm grabbing bags, Jennifer's giving our driver double the fare. A young female security guard takes our bags from us and rushes away.

 

Carnival's pier personnel are there. We're running toward registration. And then there's Linda. "You're okay", she says. Security, registration, sign and sail cards, the familiar "ding" of the security picture were all a blur. We were still trying to run up the gangway when Carnival's personnel were reassuring us "You're okay. You're going to make it.".

 

We pass from the gangway to the ship's atrium at 3:54 p.m.. We did, in fact, make it. We tried hard to catch our breath as we headed toward our aft balcony. The Legend pushes away from the pier at 4:10 p.m. as the rain begins to fall. We can't believe what we've just gone through.

 

Our luggage arrived to our cabin by 4:45 and we were off on a great cruise. Needless to say that evening included several cocktails and a vow to never, ever fly in on the day of the cruise.

 

I can say that the Carnival representatives at the Tampa pier were amazing. Linda was a calming voice who helped us beyond belief. It was nice just to hear someone trying to talk us through. We've contacted her superiors in Tampa to heap praise upon her.

 

Bottom line to a long story, well I think you get it.....

 

Linda was indeed your guardian angel. Bless her.

[kittycrusin08]

That was some trip!!! Glad you made it in time. Makes me real happy about living only 45 minutes from the Tampa pier since we are sailing on the Legend in November.