Getting There Is Half the Battle
Apologies for my extended absence; umbran and I just spent the past week on a Caribbean cruise. It was partly my reward for recovering from surgery, partly help recovering from surgery, and partly therapy to help me survive the rest of a New England Winter. And it was absolutely wonderful, especially considering that, by all rights, we never should have made it there.
We were supposed to fly out last Saturday at 6am - not the most pleasant hour, but since Disney (the cruise line we chose, and who now have a loyal customer for life) said we had to be on the ground in Orlando by 1pm to get on the ship - and it's a 3-hour flight - it was the only flight that gave us enough wiggle room in case of delays.
Unfortunately, at 1am we got a call from JetBlue telling us that our flight was cancelled. No, they couldn't tell us why; no, they couldn't rebook us; no, they couldn't reroute us; no, they couldn't do anything to help us. Too bad. At this point I was still heavily medicated (the primary medication I'm on right now, to help decrease muscle spasms in my neck and shoulder, is valium. Just try problem-solving at 1am through a double-dose of that. I dare you.), doing my best not to just cry, and fumbling through drug-induced fog for a solution that made sense. Luckily, we had packed the night before, so the only thing we could think of to do was just go straight to the airport in hopes of talking to a human being.
We got there by 2am. Unfortunately, none of the airlines open until 3:30am. On the other hand, getting there early meant we were first in line - by the time they opened there was a hell of a line of other lost and stranded travelers. Polite persistence got us booked standby for an 8am flight, and I managed to nap for an hour or so while umbran drank impressive quantities of Coke and stood guard over myself and our bags.
So, 7:30am and boarding time rolled around... and nothing happened. Eventually an announcement was made that our flight was waiting for crew, and would board.... sometime. No estimates, no promises, no assurances at all.
By 9am, Disney's offices were open. We called them and let them know what was going on; they assured us that as long as we took off by 11am everything would be fine - that they worked some wiggle room into their own schedule. Meanwhile, mostly non-drugged by this point, I wound up making friends with a handful of other passengers, including a couple with an adorable yorkie and a mother-daughter team who it turned out were going on the same cruise we were.
Somewhere around 11:15 the couple with the yorkie gave up and decided to drive, letting us know that, since we were standby, we'd at least have their seats. JetBlue had, in the meantime, moved our plane away, moved it back, and shuffled us to a new terminal at the other end of the airport, leaving me with the sinking sensation that they were just playing 3-card Monte with us.
Now teamed up with the mother and daughter, we made a joint call to Disney, updating them again. Luckily, Disney is magic, and promised us as long as we took off by noon, they could make it work. Technically we'd be landing an hour away at the time the ship was supposed to be casting off, but... they'd pull some strings and postpone the departure and get us on there, by hook or by crook.
Amazingly, shortly thereafter a flight crew appeared, and we started boarding... at 12:15. At this point I was fairly certain that we'd land in Orlando only to be sent back again, but my stubbornness had been engaged.
Thank all the powers that be, the flight was uneventful, and when we landed around 3pm (two hours past the deadline) there was a Disney crew member waiting at our gate with a big sign. Both the mom and I hugged him, and then he led us at a half-jog through the entire airport to a waiting and warmed-up van that promptly sped us on our way, while radioing ahead to the ship that we were en route. By 4pm we were at the dock, checking in while a large crew of Disney employees grinned and told us it was okay to stop running.
By 4:10 the ship was underway.
The rest of the story is wonderful, and worth telling, but that's another story. The moral here, at the point, is just that Disney is amazing and will work miracles for you once you're in their hands. I can't imagine any other company that would have done that for us. Seriously, if you're ever even thinking about going on a cruise, go Disney....
We were supposed to fly out last Saturday at 6am - not the most pleasant hour, but since Disney (the cruise line we chose, and who now have a loyal customer for life) said we had to be on the ground in Orlando by 1pm to get on the ship - and it's a 3-hour flight - it was the only flight that gave us enough wiggle room in case of delays.
Unfortunately, at 1am we got a call from JetBlue telling us that our flight was cancelled. No, they couldn't tell us why; no, they couldn't rebook us; no, they couldn't reroute us; no, they couldn't do anything to help us. Too bad. At this point I was still heavily medicated (the primary medication I'm on right now, to help decrease muscle spasms in my neck and shoulder, is valium. Just try problem-solving at 1am through a double-dose of that. I dare you.), doing my best not to just cry, and fumbling through drug-induced fog for a solution that made sense. Luckily, we had packed the night before, so the only thing we could think of to do was just go straight to the airport in hopes of talking to a human being.
We got there by 2am. Unfortunately, none of the airlines open until 3:30am. On the other hand, getting there early meant we were first in line - by the time they opened there was a hell of a line of other lost and stranded travelers. Polite persistence got us booked standby for an 8am flight, and I managed to nap for an hour or so while umbran drank impressive quantities of Coke and stood guard over myself and our bags.
So, 7:30am and boarding time rolled around... and nothing happened. Eventually an announcement was made that our flight was waiting for crew, and would board.... sometime. No estimates, no promises, no assurances at all.
By 9am, Disney's offices were open. We called them and let them know what was going on; they assured us that as long as we took off by 11am everything would be fine - that they worked some wiggle room into their own schedule. Meanwhile, mostly non-drugged by this point, I wound up making friends with a handful of other passengers, including a couple with an adorable yorkie and a mother-daughter team who it turned out were going on the same cruise we were.
Somewhere around 11:15 the couple with the yorkie gave up and decided to drive, letting us know that, since we were standby, we'd at least have their seats. JetBlue had, in the meantime, moved our plane away, moved it back, and shuffled us to a new terminal at the other end of the airport, leaving me with the sinking sensation that they were just playing 3-card Monte with us.
Now teamed up with the mother and daughter, we made a joint call to Disney, updating them again. Luckily, Disney is magic, and promised us as long as we took off by noon, they could make it work. Technically we'd be landing an hour away at the time the ship was supposed to be casting off, but... they'd pull some strings and postpone the departure and get us on there, by hook or by crook.
Amazingly, shortly thereafter a flight crew appeared, and we started boarding... at 12:15. At this point I was fairly certain that we'd land in Orlando only to be sent back again, but my stubbornness had been engaged.
Thank all the powers that be, the flight was uneventful, and when we landed around 3pm (two hours past the deadline) there was a Disney crew member waiting at our gate with a big sign. Both the mom and I hugged him, and then he led us at a half-jog through the entire airport to a waiting and warmed-up van that promptly sped us on our way, while radioing ahead to the ship that we were en route. By 4pm we were at the dock, checking in while a large crew of Disney employees grinned and told us it was okay to stop running.
By 4:10 the ship was underway.
The rest of the story is wonderful, and worth telling, but that's another story. The moral here, at the point, is just that Disney is amazing and will work miracles for you once you're in their hands. I can't imagine any other company that would have done that for us. Seriously, if you're ever even thinking about going on a cruise, go Disney....