Adventure getting to the Grandeur – 04/05/08 to 04/12/08.

[BadgerFBfan]

This is a tale of having to go through the worst to get to the best.

We (self (46 years old), wife (45), son (10), dad (75), and mom (73)) were scheduled to fly out of Milwaukee on Saturday, April 5th at 7:00am via Delta. Due to storms in Atlanta the previous day, everything was late getting into the various destinations (including Milwaukee) the previous evening, and due to FAA regulations, our flight out Saturday was immediately delayed by 3 hours. After checking with the gate agent in Milwaukee, we were “assured” that we “probably” would make our connecting flight, since we’d have 20 minutes to catch it. When we arrived in Atlanta, we found our connecting flight had already departed. As a result, we put on standby for a 2:20pm flight (Grandeur was scheduled to leave at 5:00pm). We were 15th-19th on the standby list; next to no chance of making this flight, and next flight out would get us to Tampa at 11:00pm (well after Grandeur left).

Luckily for us, we purchased the Cruisecare insurance through RCCL, so we immediately got on the phone to them to get some assistance. Let me say that Melissa from Berkley (the underwriters of the policy) was WONDERFUL in trying to help us get flights to Grand Cayman through Miami (to catch up with the ship) and hotel rooms in Grand Cayman on a Saturday night. Melissa told us to go to the Airtran ticket counter (outside security – this becomes important later on), where we could buy our tickets that were being held for us. We purchased our tickets to Miami from Airtran (no checked luggage, since our luggage is on Delta and on it’s way to Tampa, even though we tried to get Delta to take the bags off the flight), then got back in line to go through security again. At this point, we have about 40 minutes before the flight leaves, and the lines are long. We’re thinking, “Oh, no…we’re going to miss this flight too.”. Eventually, we get to the TSA screeners and my wife (who’s nickname is Pit Bull) is asked to go into “the pen” for a pat-down search; then, my son, myself, my mom, and my dad. Turns out that the airline flagged us for additional searches, since we paid cash for the one-way tickets, at the last minute, with no luggage checked. Finally, we get through security and have just over 10 minutes before the flight leaves. We run to the shuttle tram to the concourse where our plane is, get off, and I start running down the concourse to beg them not to close the doors on the plane (since Mom and Dad can’t run). We just make the flight…OK…take a deep breath….we’re on our way!

We arrived in Miami, then rushed to the Cayman Airlines ticket counter. Of course, the ticket agent had problems finding our reservation. When she did, she gave us a different price than Melissa had quoted us. After some help from a supervisor (who was really great and helped us a lot), we had our tickets and boarding passes. At this point, it’s approaching 7:00pm, and we’ve had nothing to eat since 5:30am in Milwaukee. So we headed over to the nearest fast food place, grab a quick bite to eat, then head off to our gate for our flight to Grand Cayman.

At about 9:15pm, our flight landed in Grand Cayman, and by 9:45pm, we’re in a taxi headed towards the hotel that Melissa booked for us (Marriott Courtyard, on Seven Mile Beach). A quick stop for basic necessities (toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.), then we arrive at the hotel. Nice hotel, nice desk clerks. We check in, get settled, and my dad and I head to the bar for a quick nightcap (we figured we earned it). We order a glass of Merlot and a gin & tonic - $30 USD, including tip (whoa!).

The next day (Sunday), we get up and enjoy the warm sun and pool (son especially enjoys it). At one point, we see iguanas roaming around near the pool, so my Dad decides he wants to get a closer look, stumbles and falls and gashes his hand. Blood pouring out, we grab towels and get him to the room. Bleeding stops, but hand starts swelling. Dad refuses to go to a doctor or hospital, so we continue on with the day (side note: I found out today Dad did indeed break a bone, but he STILL refuses treatment. Boy, is he STUBBORN!).

At about 3:00pm Sunday, we realize the luggage still hasn’t shown up, so we go to the front desk and start calling the various airlines involved (Delta, Cayman Airways). Turns out the luggage was still in Tampa and won’t get to Grand Cayman until the next day (when we’re scheduled to catch up with the ship and leave). But they promise it will make it in time, so not to worry. At this point, my wife and I decide we need some clothes, so down to the gift shop to buy a couple of things to wear. However, there is no place open in Grand Cayman on a Sunday that sells things like underwear or socks. So, late Sunday night/Monday morning (at about 2:00am), my wife was doing laundry at the hotel.

Monday morning we see the ship pulling into port. YAY! Something positive!! We get a cab and take it to the port. The first RCCL representative we find is Richard, a security officer from Britain. We explained we were catching up to the ship, and he was so considerate of our plight to this point, and was so nice to all of us! They’d been expecting us, he says, and after a few minutes we’re on the tender to the ship. There, we’re met by Diane from RCCL guest services, who immediately hears our story and is very sympathetic and sensitive to what we’ve gone through to get there. Through security, up the elevator, and over to the purser’s desk where Arlene from RCCL guest services is waiting for us. She starts jumping up & down, yelling, saying how glad she is we made it, that they were expecting us. Finally!!! We’re home, where someone cares about us and doesn’t make promises they aren’t keeping (like the airlines with our luggage, now MIA for a third day).

After checking in, we head up to the Windjammer for some much-needed fuel and start to relax for a bit. However, by 3:00pm (that ominous hour that it had become), we realize we STILL have no luggage. My wife and I head down to the purser’s desk, where Dragana Dumic (guest services officer) is. We explain our situation, and she gets on the phone and calls Cayman Airlines. Turns out that they (Cayman Airlines/Delta) would not release the luggage, since we were no longer at the hotel, then claim they can’t get the luggage to us in time. At this point, we’re at our wits end, so Dragana takes over, gets on the phone, and says, “Look – you are about 10 minutes from here, the ship leaves in 45 minutes. You WILL do your best to get it to the ship by then.”

We go up to the pool deck and I grab a lounge chair, and my wife goes over to the rail to watch the tenders coming in. As the very last tender is coming in, she notices something familiar – our bags. She starts jumping up & down, screaming and yelling. I immediately race down to the first floor, where the tender is docking. I see Dragana, walkie-talkie in hand, saying, “Please let the Krafts know that their luggage has arrived.” At this point, she sees me and motions me over to let me see them. At this point, I broke down and starting sobbing from exhaustion and emotion that had been building for the last 3 days.

From that point on, the cruise was great. Thankfully, the cruise insurance we took out should cover most of our costs we had catching up to the ship. But once again, even after 12 cruises with them, Royal Caribbean exceeded our expectations. At the return passenger party, I stopped the Captain (Captain Rob) and told him what a fabulous crew he had, explained our situation, and how wonderful everyone had been. If you happen to go on the Grandeur and see Dragana, tell her the Krafts say HI and thank you for everything she did for us.

[granger]

Wow! I'm exhausted just reading your review.

[Buccaneergirl]

What an ordeal! So sorry you had to go through all of that, but so glad RCCL went out of their way to turn a bad situation into a better one!:)

[maxs mom]

Wow! What a story! I read it once and then read it again to my husband. We, too, experienced a harrowing beginning to one of our cruises back in October, but no where near as crazy as this! So glad that everything turned out OK and you were able to enjoy your cruise.

[webteach]

That is quite a story! I am so happy to hear that RCCL came through for you.

[trvlgrl422]

You'll always remember that trip! What a story! I'm glad it had a happy ending!

[doitallWMB]

Just awesome!

[Tanker4]

Amazing story and a great ending.:)

 

Certainly makes the case for flying in the day before the ship leaves, and for having cruise insurance.

[pauline664]

Awwwww i am so happy it all worked out for your family in the end. And THANK YOU RCC for taking care of this family!

[txskier]

GREAT STORY

 

and another reason "to buy the insurance"

you never know when you will need it

[kittymom65]

I can't believe you didn't cry until the 3rd day of this saga. I would have started in the first airport.....

So happy that everything did work out eventually, and I am happy to hear that the Grandeur has such a great crew.

[Sea Island Lady]

I cried just reading the thread! :D

 

Next time, PLEASE fly in a day ahead! :rolleyes:

[JackieH]

Great story..glad you all made it safe and sound.

[BadgerFBfan]

Everybody's suggestion of flying out the day before is great. However, my neighbor across the street from me tried that a week before we left. The day he was supposed to leave, we had 15" of snow, and his flight ended up being cancelled. The next day, they went to the airport early and ended up coming back home for a few hours, then finally back to the airport and got out. They, along with 47 other passengers, they ended up just barely making the ship (they were also on RCCL (Mariner), and they held the ship for them because there were so many).

 

Guess the moral of the story is, traveling is always an adventure; sometimes things so well, other times not so much. Thanks for the kind comments to all!

[pups95]

Hi fellow Wisconsinite. What a great story. We have had a few close calls but nothing like that one. And so glad to hear your luggage made it.

 

Jan

[Sea Island Lady]

Everybody's suggestion of flying out the day before is great. However, my neighbor across the street from me tried that a week before we left. The day he was supposed to leave, we had 15" of snow, and his flight ended up being cancelled. The next day, they went to the airport early and ended up coming back home for a few hours, then finally back to the airport and got out. They, along with 47 other passengers, they ended up just barely making the ship (they were also on RCCL (Mariner), and they held the ship for them because there were so many).

 

Guess the moral of the story is, traveling is always an adventure; sometimes things so well, other times not so much. Thanks for the kind comments to all!

The moral of your neighbors story is that he had room to play with and you didn't. He made the ship and enjoyed the embarkation and sea day...you didn't get to experience that. ;)

 

I know that everyone cannot fly into a departure port a day ahead, but if you can, do so!

 

However, you seem to have a very good attitude about missing part of your cruise, and that is to be commended. :)

[cb at sea]

Man--Great ending, but your story made me cry--I would have been a total basket-case! I hope this is a once in a life-time experience for you!!!

[PhoenixCruiser]

What an adventure! Glad to read that you and your luggage finally made it on the ship.

 

###

[Honey's Gal]

OMG

that was quite and ordeal, and brought back memories of our very first cruise..

We however made the ship at 10:45 that evening (we left Boston at 7AM). They ship actually waited for us, there were about 50 of us on the Original charter flight (which was cancelled at 6:30AM). Our luggage didn't make it to San Juan.

We got off the ship in Curacao and saw our luggage sitting on the dock. Whew, clean undies

[Grannycb]

Thank you for sharing your adventure. We are leaving on the Grandeur this Saturday. We've been following our flight this week to see how often it is late. Yesterday, the same flight we will be taking on Saturday didn't arrive until 6:35 PM. :eek: Hope it does better for us! The ship sets sail at 4:00. Thanks to your posting, we have a much better idea on what to expect from our insurance if the worse happens.

[pjlee3333]

This is a tale of having to go through the worst to get to the best.

From that point on, the cruise was great. Thankfully, the cruise insurance we took out should cover most of our costs we had catching up to the ship. But once again, even after 12 cruises with them, Royal Caribbean exceeded our expectations. At the return passenger party, I stopped the Captain (Captain Rob) and told him what a fabulous crew he had, explained our situation, and how wonderful everyone had been. If you happen to go on the Grandeur and see Dragana, tell her the Krafts say HI and thank you for everything she did for us.

 

I'm so sorry that you had such an experience getting to the ship. Glad you made the best of the time you had left.

 

We'll be on the ship in May and will be glad to pass your message on to Dragana. We've met her on previous cruises and agree she is wonderful-though she's never had to help us with anything like you have been through.

 

You have given us some hope though. We're glad to know that unless she's transferred in the next month she'll be back from vacation the next time we get on.

 

Do you mind if we print a copy of your review and give it to her?

[BadgerFBfan]

Do you mind if we print a copy of your review and give it to her?

 

No - by all means, please feel free to print it and let her see it. I called RCCL today and got the address for the Front Desk Manager for the Grandeur. I plan to write a letter commending the staff and certain individuals specifically for the assistance, reassurance, and comfort they provided to my entire family. Too often, people only complain. But when something exceptional happens, I like to make sure it's recognized.

 

Enjoy your trip, and if all goes well, think of this experience we had, raise a toast, and say, "..at least that didn't happen to us!". And if something similar happens to you, please don't blame me. ;)

[pjlee3333]

Thanks for the wishes. We plan to enjoy the cruise. We loved this ship and itenerary over Thanksgiving.

 

We live a 20 minute drive from Port of Baltimore so we can usually be on the ship in less than 45 minutes, even with parking, luggage, security, and checkin. Now I've probably jinxed us with 95 being shut down or someting the day we leave.

 

We have done the same thing you are going to do. We wrote the ship management and also wrote the office in Miami after our Bermuda cruise on this ship last year. The ship had some unexpected delays coming back into Bermuda and the crew we dealt with handled the change in plans well. We were thanked so much by the crew we mentioned by name the next time we saw them. The workers were most appreciative. Management apparently turns this information around quite fast since it had only been about two weeks since we had emailed the information in until we saw them and they were thanking us for it--we had not mentioned that we were going to do it so they knew about it from other means.

[pjlee3333]

No - by all means, please feel free to print it and let her see it. I called RCCL today and got the address for the Front Desk Manager for the Grandeur. I plan to write a letter commending the staff and certain individuals specifically for the assistance, reassurance, and comfort they provided to my entire family. Too often, people only complain. But when something exceptional happens, I like to make sure it's recognized.

 

Enjoy your trip, and if all goes well, think of this experience we had, raise a toast, and say, "..at least that didn't happen to us!". And if something similar happens to you, please don't blame me. ;)

 

I took your message to Dragana on this cruise. She said she was going to keep your note with some of her keepsakes. This was the first cruise since the delays coming back to Baltimore because of weather. She remembered you instantly. She said to give you her best and she hopes things go well with you.

 

Dispite the fact that the cruise was shortaned by a day the only problem with our cruise was they made us get off this morning. I wanted to stay on for the next Bermuda cruise. We did sign up for another cruise on board though.

[kehlx2]

This is a tale of having to go through the worst to get to the best.

 

We (self (46 years old), wife (45), son (10), dad (75), and mom (73)) were scheduled to fly out of Milwaukee on Saturday, April 5th at 7:00am via Delta. Due to storms in Atlanta the previous day, everything was late getting into the various destinations (including Milwaukee) the previous evening, and due to FAA regulations, our flight out Saturday was immediately delayed by 3 hours. After checking with the gate agent in Milwaukee, we were “assured” that we “probably” would make our connecting flight, since we’d have 20 minutes to catch it. When we arrived in Atlanta, we found our connecting flight had already departed. As a result, we put on standby for a 2:20pm flight (Grandeur was scheduled to leave at 5:00pm). We were 15th-19th on the standby list; next to no chance of making this flight, and next flight out would get us to Tampa at 11:00pm (well after Grandeur left).

 

 

Ok I left only part of your message..I read it & I also cried--then I read it outloud to DH & I cried again--so happy that things worked out after 3 days..I am afraid I'd have not been too happy from day one & my DH would have gagged & taped my mouth by then..so glad it ended up so good.