Help!!! Lost Passport leaving tomorrow!!!

[willowoodf]

 

I also feel that the OP taking the time to sit at the computer was a time to calm down in order to renew the search for the lost passport. I do that quite often when I need to refocus.

 

I am on cable and I NEVER log out of CC. I am logged on even when my computer is turned off. You cannot go by the On/Off Line staus.

 

 

 

I agree with Joanie here. I know when I am busy doing something, whatever it is, sometimes I just have to take a break to clear my mind, calm down, recharge. Whatever. And if is a stressful thing I'm doing, sometimes some positive feedback, as with the CC community, is very helpful in a positive mindset.

 

As for being online so much, we have DSL and our computer is always "on". I never logout of CC, and I have no idea when I'm not actually ON CC if my little light is lit or not. It's probably on all the time, even when I am at work and not having looked at CC in hours. I don't know what happens electronically when a computer is always on and always logged in.

 

Another thing from her post from Kenya - did you ever think that CC is probably not the only place she needed to e-mail to say she had arrived safely? There might have been many, many friends/relatives, etc. she needed to drop a line to and with a bad connection, she could only afford a line or two to each of those people she needed to notify.

 

And, as Sail said, even if it was a hoax, which I strongly believe it was NOT, it served a great purpose for having all of us check our passports and think about what we would do in the same situation.

 

Mary

[esther e]

She really didn't spend that much time online and, no, there would not have been any time for a scam.

 

btw: The latest thing going around is "I'm stuck in London, someone stole my wallet/purse with my credit cards and $$. Send me some money." It's signed by a friend. Someone has invaded the friend's e-mail address list. I got one of those from someone who I know is in the States.

 

A friend had this happen to her. The email was from London; she was physically in Vermont in her home. Long story short, it was sent to all the addresses from our graduating class for a reunion, and one of the classmates lives in London and checked out the address there, to find an abandoned warehouse. He immediately replied to everyone that it was a hoax. Truth be known, I'm not sure how many people would have sent her money anyway.;)

[tomc]

I keep my pp and other very important documents in a desk drawer marked "Next Cruise." If I need to remove them for any reason, the drawer stays open and the docs stay in sight until I return them. I never let them stay out of sight and I never leave them for any reason until I have finished the task.

 

All this because I have a medicine-induced bad memory.

[sail7seas]

Another CC'er who always has her computer on. I leave it in my kitchen and just about never shut it off. When doing whatever around my house, I pass through the kitchen now and then and check to see if anything new at CC. I check CC lots. :D

 

[wrp96]

btw: The latest thing going around is "I'm stuck in London, someone stole my wallet/purse with my credit cards and $$. Send me some money." It's signed by a friend. Someone has invaded the friend's e-mail address list. I got one of those from someone who I know is in the States.

 

 

At least they've switched to London now. First time I got an email like that it said the friend was visiting Nigeria.:p Sort of tipped all of us off that it was a hoax.;)

[DizzyDallasDi]

I'm always amazed that people actually fall for these "I'm stuck in ________ and need money. Please help me." emails. Why would anyone do this based upon just an email? :eek: If I got one of those, I'd ask my friend to call me...collect...so I could talk to them about it. The gullibility of people is what the bad guys prey upon. People, please use your common sense.

[mechcc]

I'm always amazed that people actually fall for these "I'm stuck in ________ and need money. Please help me." emails. Why would anyone do this based upon just an email? :eek: If I got one of those, I'd ask my friend to call me...collect...so I could talk to them about it. The gullibility of people is what the bad guys prey upon. People, please use your common sense.

 

Now that makes sense to have them call you collect. A close friend or relative would know your phone number and you would recognize their voice.

I just don't understand people who send money to someone they do not know.

[Boatdrill]

This is among the services/functions their staffs should be assisting constituents with. They are not merely law makers..... they are our representatives to government.

 

I would hope their staffs are trained and willing to assist citizens.

If not assistance from them, then who?

 

 

The passport agency ?

[room010]

I'm always amazed that people actually fall for these "I'm stuck in ________ and need money. Please help me." emails. Why would anyone do this based upon just an email? :eek: If I got one of those, I'd ask my friend to call me...collect...so I could talk to them about it. The gullibility of people is what the bad guys prey upon. People, please use your common sense.

 

Sadly, internet scams are BIG (I'm talking billions of dollars) business worldwide. People are slowly beginning to wise up to the more obvious scams so the criminals trying to steal our money are becoming more cunning and manipulative. Even so, people still send their hard earned cash to strangers who've told them about an unexpected inheritance, a secret bank acccount, a terrible lost passport sob story, etc. Golden Rule: If it seems to good to be true then it IS too good to be true. Common sense is a wonderful thing; unfortunately it's not very common sometimes :rolleyes:

 

As for keeping passports in a bank I think that's overkill and can lead to its own set of problems. We have an Important Documents box-file in a desk drawer and that's where we keep passports, birth certs, marriage certs, Wills, insurance docs, etc. No burglar is going to bother with them and if the house catches fire it's the file we will grab.

[matondo]

I was just on-line reading a few posts. We are paying 200 Kenyan shillings an hour for internet time so I am not going to take the time to read everything.

 

We are staying at Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Wamutu, Kenya, which is beautiful I might add. Our cruise is in November but I knew my cruise critic friends were the best resource.

 

Reader's digest version...Congressman's office told us what to do and made the appointment for us at the passport office in Detroit. We drove 3 hours to Detroit, applied at 1 picked up the passport at 3. For Kenya you can buy your visa at the airport. Rest of the details to follow when we return this weekend.

 

Looking forward to reading all of the posts. I will tell the whole story when I return as I learned a lot of lessons the hard way.

 

Thank you, thank you for all of your support.

[brucory]

I was just on-line reading a few posts. We are paying 200 Kenyan shillings an hour for internet time so I am not going to take the time to read everything.

 

We are staying at Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Wamutu, Kenya, which is beautiful I might add. Our cruise is in November but I knew my cruise critic friends were the best resource.

 

Reader's digest version...Congressman's office told us what to do and made the appointment for us at the passport office in Detroit. We drove 3 hours to Detroit, applied at 1 picked up the passport at 3. For Kenya you can buy your visa at the airport. Rest of the details to follow when we return this weekend.

 

Looking forward to reading all of the posts. I will tell the whole story when I return as I learned a lot of lessons the hard way.

 

Thank you, thank you for all of your support.

 

Thank you for sharing your story! Good for you to turn here and get the advice you needed.... Glad you got to your destination. Enjoy Kenya and how exciting that you have the beautiful Oosterdam to look forward to!!!

 

:D:D:D

[willowoodf]

 

Reader's digest version...Congressman's office told us what to do and made the appointment for us at the passport office in Detroit. We drove 3 hours to Detroit, applied at 1 picked up the passport at 3. For Kenya you can buy your visa at the airport. Rest of the details to follow when we return this weekend.

 

 

Great to hear this! Will be waiting for the "unabridged" version to come! Enjoy your vacation!!!

 

Mary

[Krazy Kruizers]

I was just on-line reading a few posts. We are paying 200 Kenyan shillings an hour for internet time so I am not going to take the time to read everything.

 

We are staying at Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Wamutu, Kenya, which is beautiful I might add. Our cruise is in November but I knew my cruise critic friends were the best resource.

 

Reader's digest version...Congressman's office told us what to do and made the appointment for us at the passport office in Detroit. We drove 3 hours to Detroit, applied at 1 picked up the passport at 3. For Kenya you can buy your visa at the airport. Rest of the details to follow when we return this weekend.

 

Looking forward to reading all of the posts. I will tell the whole story when I return as I learned a lot of lessons the hard way.

 

Thank you, thank you for all of your support.

 

Glad it all worked out.

Enjoy your trip.

[Cruising-along]

I'm SO glad to hear there is a happy ending, thank you for letting us know!

[vbmom87]

So glad you were able to get your passport in Detroit. The office there just recently opened, so you were very fortunate. So glad to hear your situation was resolved in time for you to take your trip. Enjoy your vacation.

[CleoT]

I was just on-line reading a few posts. We are paying 200 Kenyan shillings an hour for internet time so I am not going to take the time to read everything.

 

We are staying at Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Wamutu, Kenya, which is beautiful I might add. Our cruise is in November but I knew my cruise critic friends were the best resource.

 

Reader's digest version...Congressman's office told us what to do and made the appointment for us at the passport office in Detroit. We drove 3 hours to Detroit, applied at 1 picked up the passport at 3. For Kenya you can buy your visa at the airport. Rest of the details to follow when we return this weekend.

 

Looking forward to reading all of the posts. I will tell the whole story when I return as I learned a lot of lessons the hard way.

 

Thank you, thank you for all of your support.

 

So glad things worked out for you. Thanks for helping us all learn a lesson vicariously through you. :D

 

And hopefullly you'll take lighthearted all the naysayers and those who thought you were scamming us. I though I was cynical. :eek:

[sail7seas]

Thanks for spending your vacation days and dollars to give us a brief idea of how you managed to travel. Hope you have a wonderful time.

 

VERY happy to hear your Congressman's Office facilited your Passport replacement. These are services we hope our elected officials help us with when we need assistance. They know the numbers, connections, methods about which most citizens don't.

 

[hpf]

So glad for you that it all turned out fine.

 

Now when you get home put your new pp where you will find them for your cruise.

 

Have a great trip now and later.

 

Helen.

[MardiGras316]

So glad you had a good outcome!

[IRL_Joanie]

I was just on-line reading a few posts. We are paying 200 Kenyan shillings an hour for internet time so I am not going to take the time to read everything.

 

We are staying at Turtle Bay Beach Resort in Wamutu, Kenya, which is beautiful I might add. Our cruise is in November but I knew my cruise critic friends were the best resource.

 

Reader's digest version...Congressman's office told us what to do and made the appointment for us at the passport office in Detroit. We drove 3 hours to Detroit, applied at 1 picked up the passport at 3. For Kenya you can buy your visa at the airport. Rest of the details to follow when we return this weekend.

 

Looking forward to reading all of the posts. I will tell the whole story when I return as I learned a lot of lessons the hard way.

 

Thank you, thank you for all of your support.

 

You enjoy the country of my Great Grandfather my friend!!! I'd love to visit Kenya someday, but unless I can get there via a cruise ship (preferably HAL) it will not be anytime soon. Oh Yeah, and if there were no pirate threats:D

 

Good to hear an elected official was able to get you taken care of!!

 

Joanie

[navybankerteacher]

It's good to hear there was a happy ending.

[SwissMyst]

Phew! Now we all get to relax with you. Thanks for the report and you will be happy to know 100% of us here now know exactly where our own passports are for sure and we all lived this vicariously with you. Only problem is now you owe us all drinks on that beach in Kenya. Start ordering and I want one with a cute little umbrella in it. Cheers! :p

[fortheloveofcruise]

YAYY!!!! Such a good feeling to know everything worked out! :D

[ourfamilylovescruising]

I am so glad everything worked out. I am the worst at not putting stuff back:eek: my husband is always saying just put it where it belongs and you will not waste time tring to find it(I am very ADD) so sure enogh I had all our pass ports out the other day because we are cruising in November and after reading this I thought oh no where did I put them and sure enough I diddnt put them back where they belonged but on my dresser so I wouldnt forget them needless to say they are now where they belonged. maybe one day I will learn my lesson!!:cool:

[matondo]

Dear CC Friends,

Thank you again for all of your support during my “crisis”. Between the advice and encouragement I could really sense the feeling of family. I just got done reading through all of the posts and it was very entertaining. Thank you for backing me up in my time of need. I hope I never have that happen again and I will take preventative measures to make sure it doesn’t.

Now for the “rest of the story”.

Background: DH and I were traveling to Watamu, Kenya to participate in an all-Africa conference for Samaritan’s Purse. This is what made the situation so horrible as we were their guests and you just can’t tell them, whoops I lost my passport and I won’t be coming without totally ruining your relationship. We knew that no matter what, I had to figure out a solution. What to do? First, we started praying and got our family to pray as well. Second, I went to my Cruise Critic friends….don’t you feel special knowing you are #2 on my list? I am a CC “junkie”, I usually hit the site at least once a day and have posted on several occasions 400 plus times. Thank you friends for backing me up when we had doubters.

After a terrible “night” of sleep I was up around 3:00AM searching again. I got all of my documents together, certified copy of birth certificate (thankfully I had that), travel itinerary, old expired passport (I didn’t need or use it but it was there if necessary). I drove to CVS pharmacy at 7:00AM when they opened and got my passport picture taken. I also finished up the last minute purchase of those last minute items we always forget about.

8:00AM I show up at our congressman’s office. The first person to greet me informs me the person who assists in this area will be in about 20 minutes late. He says he doubts I will be able to get on my flight today but he did not know for certain. I keep praying. The staff assistant arrives. I tell her my sad story. She informs me I am not the first person this WEEK to have this problem (and to think I thought I was special LOL). She confirmed I had everything I needed to get my passport replaced the confirmed airline reservation is your golden ticket (aka: your capital L mark for loser so you can get the passport expedited). She asked if I could drive to Detroit so I could get my passport replaced. My husband was working that morning (We were supposed to fly out of Columbus at 3:45PM) so that meant with very little sleep I was going to be driving myself to Detroit (3 hour drive) and I would meet him at the airport. Of course I was willing to do whatever it might take. She called the passport office for me as it is a nightmare getting through the phone tree. She made and appointment for me for 1:00. While this is going on DH calls to say that he got done early at work and now we can drive together (Praises). It is now after 9 so I have less than 4 hours to finish packing, get the paperwork filled out and drive 3 hours.

9:30AM we are on the road. DH is driving I am filling out the passport application form, the form to say my passport was lost and making numerous phone calls. Thank you for the advice about call HAL for the passport number. Once they confirmed who I was they gave me the number I could complete my paper work.

IMPORTANT LESSON: Call the airline to inform them of the change of plans. We called Samaritan’s Purse travel office to let them know what was going on. They called us back and said that the expense to change our ticket made it necessary to change our flight to tomorrow and we should just plan on spending the night in Detroit. I asked if they would mind if I just called the airline myself so we could get everything worked out. They said that would be fine. I called the airline to inform them we would not be getting on the plane in Columbus but in Detroit and then for the return we would also need to get off in Detroit. They said no problem but it was going to cost me over $1100 to change our ticket. I asked how much it would cost if I just changed the first part of my flight. They said $600. So to not get on a plane in Columbus and give them back two seats I have to pay them $600. I asked what would happen if I just didn’t show up. They said they would cancel our whole trip. Since we did not pay for our tickets we decided the point was to make it and not fight it so we sucked it up and gave them our credit card number. We were rebooked leaving out of Detroit and now we have our reservations reconfirmed.

We got to the passport office a bit before one. It is a very nice facility. There was a lot of security. Turned in the paper work…you visit one window where they verify you have all your paperwork in order and then the second window is where they process all of the information. I did get grief about losing my passport and then having to get it the same day. I deserved it and so took it like an adult (only grumbling on the inside). Then he told me to come back at 3 to pick it up!!! It was amazing.

We went straight to the airport……we we not taking anymore chances for anything else to happen. Parked in long term parking and check in for our flight!! While we were waiting I decided to check the monitor to see what was up with the flight we were supposed to be on from Columbus. IT WAS DELAYED!! Estimated arrival time of arrival was 5 minutes before the flight for Amsterdam was due to depart. We never would have made the Amsterdam flight if we had not lost my passport and as a result we would not have made the Nairobi flight either as the connection time was like 90 later. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

We arrived in Africa on time!! A quick aside we spent a night in Nairobi and then caught a flight to Malindi the next morning. The resort is 25KM from the airport in Watamu. It is not 4 star but it is very nice. We had a lovely room and slept every night with the doors open listening to the noise of the waves from the Indian Ocean.

The story is not quite over….when we got to Amsterdam on our return we fell asleep in some really comfortable chairs and woke up hearing our names being paged. We ran to the gate arriving 20 minutes before departure time. We were too late and missed our flight. Guess what? Yep…those Marriott points are piling up on the old credit card. So that “free trip” turned out to be quite costly. In all our years of travel we have never missed a flight because we fell asleep. For the last leg of our flight that we did not take we went to the airline desk which was just outside of customs and told them we would not be getting on the flight. Doing that saved us several hundred dollars by not having them cancel our trip before hand. Go figure. This has been quite the trip and we hope we have learned all the lessons necessary.

Lessons to be learned:

• Confirm you passport is where you think it should be at least a few weeks before you are due to travel.
  
• For US citizens make sure you have a certified copy of your birth certificate in your files. For everyone make a photo copy of your current passport.
  
• If your plans change and you cannot make a flight inform the airline as soon as possible and try to have a backup plan. Get ready to pay but better to pay something than to miss out. If you are buying your own ticket seriously consider travel insurance.
  
• When making a connecting flight and you need to take a nap, take it at your departure gate instead of really comfortable chairs which are a long hike from your gate.
  
• Thank your DH for being such a DH. (edited by DH :D)
  

Thank you again. We are so looking forward to our cruise so we can recover from this last ordeal.