The Cruise from ....(you know where)

Okay, I am ready to post about our cruise... As you may know, I have been looking forward to this cruise for 10 years.  Monday morning we arrived at the airport at 6:00 AM, boarded our Delta flight at 8:00 AM.  The plane was packed and there was no room left in the overhead bins for our carry-on, so we were told we had to check the bags (mistake #1).  Thinking we were going to depart (mistake #2), the pilot informs us there's a mechanical problem with the plane and a mechanic is going to come and take a look.  After 30 minutes the pilot comes back on over the loud speaker to inform us the problem is going to take a few hours and we need to get off the plane.  I immediately got up and was literally the first one out and at the counter ready to book the next flight to Atlanta.  I found out the 6:00 AM flight to Atlanta had also been cancelled and now they had two planes worth of people to re-book.  The 10:00 AM flight was also cancelled due to Mechanical problems (are you beginning to see a trend here).  They booked us on a 12:40 flight which would get us into Atlanta after our connecting flight to Jacksonville had left (mistake #3).  No one seemed to care when I explained that we were meeting a cruise ship and had to get to Jacksonville by a specific time.  One of the ticket agents did make the comment to me that I should have known to fly in the night before my cruise, her family is attending her funeral service today!  lol

So I called the 800 # to notify the cruise that we had missed our flight but was trying to get to the dock before they left.  At this point everything became a blur.  Somehow we were squeezed onto a flight, made a connection and arrived in Jacksonville 10 minutes after the ship was to depart. I called "Barbara", my new best friend, every 15 minutes to give an update as to where we were and what time I thought we would be at the ship.  Barbara kept telling me to HURRY!  I was waiting for our luggage and David was getting us a cab.  Our luggage NEVER came.  We had NO luggage; we filed a quick claim and raced out to catch the cab to get to the ship.  The cruise waited 45 minutes for us to get there.  David and I went to our room and just sat there unable to believe we made it and that we had NOTHING with us.  We realized we hadn't eaten all day, so decided to first search for food, which was an easy thing to do.  Then we went to the ship's gift shop and were able to find one (1) pair of Capri pants and two (2) shirts in my size.  David was able to find a few more items.  For three days we had none of our stuff.

On Wednesday morning we were scheduled for a snorkeling excursion as soon as we docked Key West.  I didn't have a swimsuit so as soon as we could get off the ship; we ran and found a swimming suit shop where I was able to purchase a swim suit.  The water was so rough it was very difficult to snorkel and the reef we were suppose to look at, was about a 1/4 of a mile from where we anchored, so I don't think anyone actually made it all the way to the reef.  I got into the water (mistake #4) and almost drowned.  I got back onto the boat and was ready to call it a day. 

When we got back onto the cruise ship and back to our room, we found 2 out of 3 of our luggage bags.  We called Customer Service to find out where the 3rd bag was and they informed us they had it because there was a security issue with an item inside it.  We had brought a "hand steamer" (mistake #5) and they confiscated it and told us we could have it back when we returned to Jacksonville.

The last day at sea was horribly rough.  It was storming all day and the dance shows were cancelled because the performers couldn't walk on stage let alone try to dance.  The ship rocked the entire day.  David became very ill (not from sea sickness) but from the flu and felt bad all day.

The flight back home on Saturday was almost as much of a nightmare as the flight at the beginning of the trip.  I think it only took us 12 hours to get home.

Okay, now I am going to mention all the positives:  we did made the ship before it set sail; we were able to eat anytime day or night; we loved Nassau and the beautiful colored water; we spent "quality" time together; we made it home safely; Delta is reimbursing us for all of our purchases (up to $499); and we will have something to laugh about for years to come!  Now we just need to decide when to book our next cruise...