Freaking out!!

[BillOh]

The TA has been "busy" today so I finally called her manager after a few calls went unreturned by my office manager... I was polite but I explained that we had already invested 1700 into this cruise with arranging for a nanny for my grandson as well as other expenses and of course that did not include what DH's boss paid for the cruise and flight. I did get some answers that they were working on an earlier flight on Feb 3rd and I researched room availability myself for our overnight.

 

 

 

Not taking any personal credit, but I'm sure glad you found this forum before hand, and I'll bet others in your group will feel the same way.

[BillOh]

Thank you...I've skipped over all their posts because you can not read them!

 

***

 

Every browser has a magnify or zoom feature that is easy to use.

[BillOh]

Thanks for all the suggestions for a place to stay in Tampa. I loved that many suggested the Holiday Inn. I am very fortunate to have a sister that works for the Holiday Inn as an events sales manager in another state and she was able to hold 3 rooms for us... the GM wanted to find his own place to stay... at a SUPER reasonable rate. More good news when I was talking to the GM yesterday he said he would also pay for all the transportation to the port and back to the airport. weeeeeeeeeeeeeee :D:D:D

 

Feeling better for you now, as other have said ,I hope you will come back and let us know how it goes.

[av8tr21]

Glad everything worked out for you! Have an awesome cruise! :cool:

[nbsjcruiser]

I have done it 3 times, under the right condition it is workable, but flying in the day before is so much more stress free. We usually cruise in May, but our first November cruise we flew in the night before and it was so much easier.

 

To the OP: Good luck, enjoy the cruise.,

 

We fly two days early in the winter and one day early in the fall. No point risking a a couple thousand dollar trip on a 100 dollar hotel. Makes no sense.

[atb]

Hope that everything on this trip was awesome - let us know:)

[nellydean]

I did not contribute to this thread, but I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame, so I eagerly await a post-cruise review, an dhope everything was smooth sailing after all this worry, phew :)

[Scared2Fly]

OP: suggest a Plan B quick. As a cheap professional aviator who is scared, AV8 and others are spot on. Even as a chap who freeloads on flights, I always get in the night before. You have 6 folks that will be stressing.

 

Unless your TA has made alternate plans for you in Tampa to party, early will free your stress. FWIW, I left the hotel at noon and got stuck in a 45 min traffic jam on the bridge.

 

Enjoy the cruise....if you make it. Or the Tampa Aquarium :)

 

J2

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

I am sooooooo sorry that happened to you!!! You MUST fly in the day before! I always fly in a day early! If your luggage gets lost you have an extra day to find it! (that only has to happen once!!) There are several reasons you don't want to fly the day of sail... flight delays, weather issues, flight bumps! One snafoo & you've lost a lot of cash! Unfortunately, that is the way we all learn these things!! Bite the bullet, pay the extra & fly in a day early! You don't want to miss your first cruise!!!!

[love2cruise56]

I hope everything worked out for you. Please let us know how things went.

[drider]

I will definately post a full review but I wanted to post a small bit here. We did end up getting a flight in to Tampa that arrived at 12:25 am. We had prearranged for Blue One Transportation to cart our group to the hotel because their driver got off at midnight. We stayed at the Comfort Inn at RJ Stadium which was a special treat for some in the group. When we woke up in the morning before the trip to the pier we walked to the summer training camp and saw some Monster trucks. Everything went smoothly from our flight arrival all the way through to Costa Maya. There was a small hiccup at Costa Maya with a tour we arranged through Native Choice. At the end of their tour our van left with another group and left 4 of us sitting waiting on a ride with another van. The wait was an hour and a 45 minute ride back. We ended up missing out on another excursion we booked with another couple. They did not wait for us because the time left was short. Our time on the Jewel was fabulous. We purchased the portrait package because it was our first cruise and was well worth the price. I am glad we did get the fancy clothes for the formal night. There was no such thing as smart casual on this cruise. The Superbowl party was great!! Disembarking was very organized and on time if not early.

Great ship great time!!:D :D :D

[bikergal78]

*phew*

 

We can all relax now knowing you made it to the ship and had a good time :D

 

Can't wait for the review and hopefully some pictures :p

[Starry Eyes]

I am glad you enjoyed your first cruise:D

[Familygoboston]

So glad you had a great trip...kept checking for your update.:D

[jakesmom04]

So glad you enjoyed it. Hope to see that you will be sailing again in the future.

[akcruz]

So glad it all worked out for you. You've got lots of great memories to look back on. Now when's the next cruise? :D

[SuziCruz]

Well I stumbled across this 9-page thread tonight and just couldn't look away! I had to find out how it ended and I'm so glad everything worked out and you had a fabulous time.

 

Was chuckling thinking about our first cruise (honeymoon), with a flight out of Ottawa, Canada to MIA the morning of the cruise. The day after our wedding. We slept through our alarm. Missed the flight out of Ottawa! FIL drove us to Montreal at break-neck speed. This was 20 years ago but my FIL had a phone (handset) in his car and we phoned Montreal airport to say we were almost there. We arrived to find they had sold our seats. Me in tears, my FIL told the ticket agent to "fix the problem" and he bought us tickets to Tampa, then Miami. They put us at the front of the plane heading to Tampa and someone met us there to race us through the airport to make our connection. No idea if our luggage made it at this point. We got to Miami and rejoiced when we saw our luggage on the belt. As we described it at the time, we literally "jumped" on the ship (not really literally, but it felt that way) as they were pulling the gangplank... and we were sailing away, hot and sweaty, my hair in the same hairdo as the night before and probably still a bit tipsy. As I mentioned, this was 20 years ago when you could still hop on a ship like that, and when airlines were compassionate about customer care. We have laughed about that experience many times since.

 

We took one cruise a few years later, flying to Montreal the day before, and direct the day of. The next cruise we took with our children (Liberty), we almost didn't make the ship flying out the day before! Our first flight was cancelled and they had us re-routed all over the states - they worked on the itinerary for at least an hour before they finally had us getting to Miami in the wee hours before our sail date. Last cruise we took (Oasis) we flew in TWO full days before!

 

This year we're driving to Kissimmee and doing the Disney/Universal thing before our cruise (Monarch), driving ourselves to the port the day of - that will be a whole new experience!

 

Didn't mean to this thread with my long winded story :D But there you have it. Happy sailing!

[Karter]

This year we're driving to Kissimmee and doing the Disney/Universal thing before our cruise (Monarch), driving ourselves to the port the day of - that will be a whole new experience!

 

Be aware parking at the port is $15/day and they charge an extra day (ie 3 day cruise they charge for 4 days). There is a park and cruise near port for $5.99/day or a Ramada Inn at $5.99/day if you want to save some money. I have used park and cruise and they were very good.

[Pichu21]

I will definately post a full review but I wanted to post a small bit here. We did end up getting a flight in to Tampa that arrived at 12:25 am. We had prearranged for Blue One Transportation to cart our group to the hotel because their driver got off at midnight. We stayed at the Comfort Inn at RJ Stadium which was a special treat for some in the group. When we woke up in the morning before the trip to the pier we walked to the summer training camp and saw some Monster trucks. Everything went smoothly from our flight arrival all the way through to Costa Maya. There was a small hiccup at Costa Maya with a tour we arranged through Native Choice. At the end of their tour our van left with another group and left 4 of us sitting waiting on a ride with another van. The wait was an hour and a 45 minute ride back. We ended up missing out on another excursion we booked with another couple. They did not wait for us because the time left was short. Our time on the Jewel was fabulous. We purchased the portrait package because it was our first cruise and was well worth the price. I am glad we did get the fancy clothes for the formal night. There was no such thing as smart casual on this cruise. The Superbowl party was great!! Disembarking was very organized and on time if not early.

Great ship great time!!

 

I also stumbled upon this thread today, and after catching up, I'm VERY glad to hear that everything turned out great. :) We live here in Tampa and as it happens, we were actually at the port that day watching you guys on the Jewel pull away from the pier watching and drooling :p. I even took a couple of pictures. But the question I think everyone has on their mind is.....will there be a second cruise for you guys? :D:D A new addition to the CruiseCritic list of long-addicted cruisers? :p:)

Happy cruising

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Welcome home!! So glad everything worked out for you. Sounds like you had a great time!!

 

Will be looking foreword to your review!!

 

***

[lovetocruise75]

GOOD to hear!!!

[SuziCruz]

Be aware parking at the port is $15/day and they charge an extra day (ie 3 day cruise they charge for 4 days). There is a park and cruise near port for $5.99/day or a Ramada Inn at $5.99/day if you want to save some money. I have used park and cruise and they were very good.

 

Hey Karter - Thanks yes, I've looked into parking ($60 at the port for a 3-day cruise) and had found one of those 5.99 sites, park n' cruise - parkcruise.com - that we'll reserve.