IT HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF US
IT HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF US
When you travel a lot, you can expect to have a hiccup or two under your belt. As a Travel Advisor, I travel as much as possible so that I can pass my experiences onto my clients. I returned last week from cruising the Southern Caribbean onboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas. I was in a classroom for 2 days and able to explore 4 islands on the other days. The continuing education was inspiring, and I am grateful that I was invited to attend. The islands were beautiful. I learned a lot about the history and culture of St. Kitts & Nevis, Aruba and Curacao. I went way outside of my comfort zone in St. Thomas by going on an excursion I never thought I would do. My husband and I went on the BOSS excursion. BOSS stands for Breathing Observation Submersible Scooter. I don’t like swimming with fish, in fact I was terrified, but this was truly a fun experience and I’m so glad we did it.
After disembarking from the ship, we had several hours until our flight, so we booked an excursion taking us through the El Yunque Rain Forest in Puerto Rico. Our tour guide was informative, knowledgeable and entertaining and we really enjoyed the tour. We had just left a fabulous ship that took us to 4 beautiful islands and ended our week with a great tour. Perfect, right? But wait! There’s more!
About 2 hours before we were scheduled to start boarding the plane in San Juan, I received an email that we were delayed. No problem. We still had time to make our connection and our arriving gate was right next to our departure gate. Then another email informing us of another delay. Then another. Then two more. Needless to say, we missed our connection. It departed Ft. Lauderdale about an hour and a half before we arrived.
As soon as we landed in Ft. Lauderdale, I checked our connecting flight, hoping that the gate agents in San Juan were correct in thinking they would hold the plane for us since we had about 30 people on our flight connecting to Cleveland. But alas, the flight was gone. I quickly called the airline to get us booked on the first flight out the following morning. By the time we made it off the plane and down to the ticketing counter, I already had us rebooked on the first available flight the next day…at 9:00 PM. I felt sorry for the girls behind the ticket counter who were getting yelled at by other passengers. Like it's their fault there were electric storms in South Florida all afternoon. The airline put us in a hotel, a very nice Holiday Inn in Hollywood, and gave us meal vouchers. This is not something the airline HAS to do, it is at their discretion. If they hadn’t done it for us, we could have used our travel insurance to recoup the cost. Either way, I wasn’t worried. I was exhausted, but not worried.
After another delay on the day of our rescheduled flight, we finally made it home at about 3:00 am. We had all our luggage, fantastic memories and a great story to tell everyone. The moral of my story is…it happens to the best of us. First time travelers and seasoned travelers alike have some mishap at one point or another. It doesn’t do any good to yell at the ticket agents who had nothing to do with the storm that passed through or the mechanical issues that delayed you. Make the most of your situation, roll with it and enjoy life.
Make it a week to remember, Lisa Collins
AMADANTE GROUP WINE CRUISE
The ship has only 7 French Balcony cabins left available. Fitzgerald Travel has special group pricing but we do not block cabins. Cabins are sold by travel advisors across American. When these 7 cabins are gone, the ship will be completely sold out.
Nervous about taking your first river cruise or perhaps your first trip to Europe? Don't worry, your personal travel advisor is hosting the group and I will on board with you for whatever you need. Our current group is 24 people! Join us, you will have a great time.
If you call me by the end of April and if I still have cabins left, I do have a very, very special offer for you!
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