Helped Westerdam passengers make it to Seattle today!

[snowmc]

Bravo Captain!

 

Which Westerdam sailing are you on? We will be on the May 25th sailing and would love to meet you, if that is your cruise. Our son, who is a Naval aviator, will be joining us and would also love to meet you...our family has a huge respect for aviators!

 

If that is not your cruise, I hope you have a great time...Alaska is beautiful!

[Sandi3667]

Allow me to extend my thanks on behalf of those cruisers as well - may you be rewarded in kind.

 

We did the same itinerary on Oosterdam in 2011 - absolutely wonderful, and it got us hooked on cruising (and apparently HAL). If you have half the fun we did, you'll have an incredible trip.

[roadbeagle]

Thank you for your kindness. You are a good man. God bless you.

[startwin]

Hi!

 

Just wanted to share a little story. I'm an Airline Captain and this morning, I had the pleasure of flying some passengers headed to Seattle to board the Westerdam.

 

I learned about them 10 minutes prior to departure when one of the gate agents informed me that we were missing 4 passengers who had checked in with luggage but apparently were stuck at the security checkpoint. At that point, 2 of them arrived at the gate out of breath and told us that the other 2 were still held up at the security checkpoint.

 

The agent gave them the choice of going without their friends or all of them could take the next flight available (which would be landing in Seattle at 5:15pm, past the ship's departure time. :()

 

Trying to stall the agent from closing the flight, I chit-chatted with the 2 passengers for a bit who informed me that they were on their way to Alaska aboard the Westerdam (which is the ship I'll be boarding in a few weeks! :D).

 

I took that as a "sign" of some sort and at that point in time, I made the decision to hold the flight as long as possible (without getting in too much trouble). I just couldn't imagine myself in their shoes, about to see their cruise vacation crumble to the ground.

 

I convinced the agent to hold the flight a bit longer and if necessary, to put the delay on me. I had the flight attendants get the cabin ready for departure and the First Officer run performance numbers taking the 4 passengers into account. All we'd need to do would be to close the door once the passengers arrived.

 

With 4 minutes to spare, the last two passengers showed up! We all ran down the jetway and closed the door for an on-time departure! :)

 

If the 4 of you are Cruise Critic members and happen to read this, I hope you have a WONDERFUL time on the Westerdam today! It truly made my day to have been instrumental in getting you there. :)

 

To everyone else: please, please let this story be a reminder to NEVER fly on the day of your cruise! (I did "lecture" these passengers a bit about it too :o)

 

What a nice thing to do! I am huge believer in karma, and it will pay you back one day when you need a hand. And you're absolutely right - never fly in on the day of your cruise!

[Tapi]

Thanks for all the comments! And while I'll gladly accept a visit from the upgrade fairy, in all fairness, I did what I NEEDED to do. There was NO way I could tell the agent to close the flight and leave these passengers behind, fully knowing the nightmare that they would be going through. I would've felt absolutely horrible if I hadn't held the flight until they got there.

 

I know that any fellow cruiser would've done the same to help another fellow cruiser get to the port had they been in my shoes. WE have an unwritten bond and we "get it".

 

The last thing the lead flight attendant said before she closed to flight deck door for departure was: "Those passengers are lucky that we have a cruise addicted Captain!" :o

 

Looking forward to June 8th!

[BeagleOne]

WOW, how nice of you! If I knew what airline you fly (I know you probably can't tell us) I'd make it a point to try to fly that airline from now on.

[Cruising-along]

WOW, how nice of you! If I knew what airline you fly (I know you probably can't tell us) I'd make it a point to try to fly that airline from now on.

 

I was thinking exactly the same thing. :D

[RuthC]

Sometimes your faith in humans gets kicked up a notch. You gave us all a gift by sharing the story.

Thanks.

[serendipity1499]

Thank you Captain..As a retired airline employee I thnk you for your kindness to those Passengers..You are the kind of person most of us want to be..

Sending you an Irish Blessing which Colleen (Colleyberry) posted for those of us on CC...

" May you live a long life,

Full of gladness and health.

With a pocket full of gold,

As the least of your wealth.

 

May the dreams you hold dearest,

Be those which come true.

The kindness you spread,

Keep returning to you.

 

May brooks and trees and singing hills,

Join in the chorus too.

And every gentle wind that blows

Send happiness to you."

Hope you have a great cruise & wishing you fair winds & following seas !

Cheers...:)Betty

[Linda&Vern]

Thank you for sharing that story. It felt nice to have a smile on my face after reading a CC post. :D If someone can give me the name and number of the upgrade fairy, I'll call and put in a good word for you.

 

We never fly in day of cruise ... but have been at the airport and witnessed long flight delays that cause passengers flying directly to their cruise to go into panic mode. :eek: Next time someone on CC asks "will I be okay flying in on the day of my cruise" I expect this thread will be copied as the answer to what could go wrong.

 

Have a great cruise on the Westerdam! It is our 2nd favorite HAL ship (right behind Maasdam).

[jayisgerman]

Nicely done, Captain! :) Hopefully, they will have learned their lesson on not risking flying the day of the cruise. I hope you will enjoy the ship. We will be on her in November. Safe travels to you always!

[Toad]

I think your airline should make a commercial, featuring you and dramatizing the true event of the day! Lots of people would appreciate it.

[Sir PMP]

"we have a cruise addicted Captain"

 

It's good to have a real Hal fan, kudo's to you...

[Copper10-8]

Bravo Zulu to you Captain! Those pax will be talking about you for a long time! Awesome job!:) Too bad you're on a different Dam ship in June or I would buy you a Wang Wang or two! Enjoy your WEDM cruise and God's Country!

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing, two thumbs up to you Tapi.

[erewhon]

Tapi,

 

What a wonderful story, am sure you will be rewarded one of these days.

 

We never fly in the day of our cruises,........will arrive in Vancouver 3 days ahead of our next cruise.

[trouble1964]

I hope if something happens to our flight, we get lucky like that!

 

My husband's job has changed to where he can only get one Saturday off in a row. Because of where we live, there are no late flights to get to Seattle, so we are having to leave Sunday morning and sail Sunday afternoon. Luckily, the chances of our flight getting cancelled are slim, because we will be driving to Atlanta and getting a direct flight to Seattle.

 

I'm already a nervous wreck about it.

[monina01]

thanks so much for sharing this. Love it, huge smile right now :)

[Keith1010]

So very nice.

 

Keith

[sapper1]

This is a very heartwarming story as well as being a cautionary tale.

We have a three day rule, which gets us there and would hopefully allow any lost luggage to catch up with us.

[kazu]

What a wonderful story and how kind you were:D You saved the cruise for these people:D Thank you so much:D

 

I hope you have a truly wonderful cruise Tapi - you deserve it:):)

[kjeanne2001]

Such a great story! Thank you for holding the plane! I will be flying for the first time next year and will definitely fly in a day or 2 early!

[Mary Ellen1]

I hope if something happens to our flight, we get lucky like that!

 

My husband's job has changed to where he can only get one Saturday off in a row. Because of where we live, there are no late flights to get to Seattle, so we are having to leave Sunday morning and sail Sunday afternoon. Luckily, the chances of our flight getting cancelled are slim, because we will be driving to Atlanta and getting a direct flight to Seattle.

 

I'm already a nervous wreck about it.

 

Trouble: You're asking for Tr... Oh never mind.

But let me say this: it's been on the news all week, here in Atlanta, about HUGE delays in getting through security at the airport. The TSA agents say it's because of the sequester budget cuts, but that doesn't really make sense, since supposedly that got fixed... But anyway, wanted to let you know about extra-long delays. Give yourself plenty of time. Good luck! ;)

 

Tapi: Wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it. Thanks for doing it! :D

[sue117]

What a great story! I'm sure over your life as an airline captain you've earned your share of good karma, but this is definitely MORE good karma for you! I certainly hope that if I was ever in that position that someone would do that for me. Have a great time on your cruise! (We will be on the W-dam in Sept this year too).

[swedish weave]

Tapi !! You moved up a couple of notches on my list of "good guys".

 

BUT You still must tell us what airline you work for......