Volendam.....Sailing from Canaveral......

[sail7seas]

It's been an odyssey of booking flights into FLL and Miami and having them all cancelled and booking others and they, too, cancelled.

 

Finally, HAL announced VODM will sail tomorrow at 11:30 P.M. from Port Canaveral. There will be shuttles to bring pax from other airports etc

 

WE ARE DELIGHTED.......Finally we are planning with an airport which is dependably open and operating.

 

We got a great booking and we are off to join the VODM.

 

I'll post from aboard.

 

It's been a long day.

[LoveLifeAtSea]

Sail .... I'm so glad that things finally worked out for you and your DH! Now, I can send you off with a proper Bon Voyage!!!

[comfortcove]

Have a great cruise! The Volendam is a ship we hope to sail on in the future.

[Aussie Gal]

Sail,

 

So glad everything is working out for you. Happy sailing and enjoy the next 14 days. ;) ;)

Jennie

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been thinking about you all day yesterday.

I kept checking Ft Lauderdale and Miami airports as well as Ft Lauderdale piers. We came to the conclusion that the Volendam would go to Canavaral and that you would be flying into there today.

Will be anxious to hear from you when you are all settled on the ship.

[sail7seas]

Thanks everyone for your good wishes.

 

We have booked and they have cancelled more flights today than many people ever take in their lifetimes. :)

 

My TA called to tell us about the change to Canaveral, and we told him brilliant!!! My usual TA is out with a hip-replacement and we had no faith there was anyone available to help us through this one. We figured it was left to us to get it worked out. I'm happy we were wrong and my 'brick and mortar' TA came through. Few people need one when things go smoothly but they sure come in handy when there are some bumps in the planning.

 

We finally have an open and operating airport. He got us a perfect flight early afternoon ---nonstop. He lined up a limo company to take us to the ship although he said HAL would have transfers available for everyone.

 

I think that under the circumstances, it is the best idea for HAL to move embarkation to Canaveral. Now I just hope we get there safely and on time.

[trubey]

It's time for you to be in bed for your big day! Or are you up so early getting ready? Have a wonderful time. susana.

[bellebaby]

Has anyone heard from the2ofus? Her info says she is from rural Ohio. It may be hard for her to change her routing. I guess if she can make it to a hub she will be OK. If I remember correctly, this was her first solo sailing after her husband's passing. What an eventful experience for everyone involved!

 

I hope we hear from her today.

B

[sail7seas]

We have plans to meet for coffee on board.

 

I believe she was flying last night from Ohio and planned to overnight in FLL> HAL will have transfer for everyone from Port Everglades to Canaveral. I am sure when she tries to go to Port Everglades she will learn of the change of plans.

 

It will be an inconvience to her but it has all been planned by HAL and she s(and her family) hould be fine.

[sail7seas]

We have plans to meet for coffee on board.

 

I believe she was flying last night from Ohio and planned to overnight in FLL> HAL will have transfer for everyone from Port Everglades to Canaveral. I am sure when she tries to go to Port Everglades she will learn of the change of plans.

 

It will be an inconvience to her but it has all been planned by HAL and she s(and her family) hould be fine. She isn't sailing alone. She has adult family members with her.

[sail7seas]

Grrr....I thought I was editing but ending up getting two posts.

Sorry.

[bepsf]

S7S--

Good for you!

Have a safe cruise and enjoy Volendam for us!

[bepsf]

S7S--

Good for you!

Have a safe cruise and enjoy Volendam for us!

[RuthC]

Here it is early afternoon and I'm keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that all goes well. You'll be anything but relaxed when you get there, but after you check in and walk up the gangway all will be well.

Bon Voyage (at last!)

[jhannah]

As KK said, we've been thinking about you ... wondering how things were going. Glad it all got worked out. Sailing out of Canaveral should give you a "Mickey" feeling! ;)

 

Bon Voyage.

[Ziggy7]

Great to hear S7S !!!! Glad your cruise is going on !!!! Have a wonderful time, you really deserve it after this !!! eeeeks!

[SANDY BEACH]

Just a few bumps in the road. Now you're off to a wonderful cruise. Enjoy!!!

[lcruiser]

Happy sails S7S!

 

It was painfull, but now you are on the way a nice recovery.....

[PattiHere]

We just got off the Volendam this morning in Port Canaveral. Disembarked the ship at 10:30 a.m. and was on the shuttle at 11:00 a.m. to Port Everglades to get our car which was in the parking garage. Arrived there at 2:00 p.m. Funny thing is we live one hour from Port Canaveral and had to drive three hours to Port Everglades and then back.. None of southern Florida has electricity - so we couldn't find gas or any place to eat on our trip home - we had eaten at 7:30 a.m. in the Lido. It appears that everyone from southern Florida is headed north. Our three hour trip home took over six hours - one of those hours was waiting in a long, long line for gas. Finally ate something when we got home - sure miss being in the dining room on the Volendam.

 

Happy sailing S7S - they were offering inside and outside cabins for your cruise to anyone on our cruise for a $572 (I believe that was the figure). They had lots of cancellations for your cruise S7S - maybe you will meet some people that were able to sail back to back that were on the October 16th sailing. Wish we could have done it, had to be easier than driving home from Port Canaveral!:D

 

A couple that were our dining mates were suppose to fly out of Ft. Lauderdale early this afternoon, as of this morning though HAL was putting them in a hotel and they are flying out of Orlando tomorrow afternoon - makes our trip home seem a little easier!

[LoveLifeAtSea]

Patti ... Thanks for posting! I found your post to be of a lot of interest! Glad you are returning to a home intact, without any problems!!!

 

BTW - did you enjoy your cruise??? I am boarding Volendam on 1/22/06 and so look forward to it! Maybe, instead of posting here, you might consider starting a new topic??? Thank you and welcome home!

[DonMaryCar]

Even with all the weather problems we had a great time. I guess you have no control over the weather or the problems it brings. Seems like it was very difficult for HAL to get any information or at least couldn't share it with us. It was about 9 pm last night when they announced we were going to Orlando. Then it was a mad dash to try to change air reservations. Fortunately we were able to switch from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando and actually got home 1 hr earlier than planned. We seriously debated staying on board and talked with cruise consultant and the 572 per person for outside was very attractive. By the time they announced we were switchine debarkation sites all cabins were filled so we were a day late and a dollar short. We really had great weather on the ship except we missed water activities in a couple ports and missed out on the private island. Bummer, will have to try it next time.

 

New feature on the Volendam is the "Master Chef Dinner" first in the fleet to offer it. We all had chef hats to wear and a special meal the waiters performed along with the activity staff. I'm sure you'll all love it when you get to experience it.

 

Well it's late and need to get started on stuff. Now the bad part of cruising, laundry

 

Mary:)

[Ziggy7]

Thanks for sharing with us Patti & Mary, glad you were able to have a good time! Sorry Wilma had to be a bug in it!

Welcome home! :)

[PattiHere]

LoveLifeAtSea,

 

I have been busy unpacking, laundry, food shopping,catching up on e-mails and two weeks worth of mail and picking up my "Princess" from the kennel. I believe life is getting back to normal now.

 

Yes, we enjoyed our cruise - it was our first time with HAL and we would sail again. You will like the Volendam - everyone was helpful and friendly. Only sad part - missing Half Moon Cay - but that was the weather not HAL's fault.

 

Mary was correct - you will enjoy the "Master Chef Dinner".

[LoveLifeAtSea]

PattiHere ... It sounds like you are suffering the 'side affects' of cruising ... COMING HOME AND GETTING BACK TO REALITY! :( ;)

[PattiHere]

I don't like reality right now!:( Wish I was still sailing!:D