HOLD THE GANGPLANK!!! WE'RE COMING!! Updated 3/11 About This Page:

[NanaTink]

great start!!! Oh, that snow! Can't wait to hear more!!!

[poohlover]

I did manage to get home, even though I was making a mental list of everything that I had to do to get ready for this "unplanned" cruise adventure! ("Unplanned can mean many things to many people!)

When I saw Tink, I TRULY meant to do some incredibly creative little scavenger hunt or silly surprise, but what actually happened was:

"TINK!!! You and I are going on a 4 night Disney cruise next week so I certainly hope that you do not have any soccer practices, tests or previous engagements since you will just be cancelling them all!"

To give her full credit, she is so used to me that she initially thought I was joking...She has borne the brunt of my planning over the years, and knows it takes me a long time just to decide upon where to eat if we have decided to dine out.

After she assured herself I was NOT kidding, she raced upstairs and began to "think about what to take" - her scaled down version of planning. I, on the other hand, had completely dissed any dinner thoughts, and was meticulously making a list with every item I could possibly come up with that I had recommended over the years, basing it on my handy Passporter guise checklist. I was in the middle of an inner struggle over whether or not I had enough time to do a gorgeous and unusual magnet door display (and the answer to that was "NO") when she returned and went back to texting or facebooking or some other non-verbal form of communication.

"I'm about done", she offered. "What step are YOU on?"

I got up, mostly because I actually didn't have a cute reply...yet, but also because Rian had just come in from work and I needed to share the joyous news of our cruise, and ask him VERY nicely if he would handle cat duty for us. (My DH is allergic to them both, but tolerates them with meds so I can have a small lap ornament to relax with - Personally, I think it works in his benefit...I tend to plan less when I am rubbing a soft little head and reading)

After whipping out his calendar on his I-Phone (I am the lone individual in our home without any advance tech toys other than my laptop, which I use to....WORK....gasp..I know...scary) and verifying that he could not go with us due to work conflicts, he agreed to occasionally check the catbox and feed them if they started gnawing on the furniture, or him. Couldn't ask for more cooperation.

The next few days the weather began to look a little iffy, then unsettled, then downright scary. It has been years since we have gotten more than a very few, scattered inches of snow in my area, so the thought of a major snow issue had not even crossed my mind. Now it was not only crossing my mind, it was messing with my planning track. I became obsessed with the Weather Channel, even talking back to it (Which does not help a whole lot, and makes people feel you might be a little out of control).

As we got to Thursday night, before the Sunday flight out and departure, I was feeling a bit sick. The airlines here had already issued warnings and were allowing folks to make switches WITH NO PENALTY. That is NEVER a good sign, considering that these are the same airlines who think nothing of charging a small fortune to check a bag and refuse even a peanut to a starving traveler in Coach.

I began to look for options for travel. We needed to connect in Charlotte, but they were expecting ice, which seemed worse than our snow. We could not fly out earlier than Sun, since Tink had to work on Sat morning. We COULD have driven down late Sat night, but the prediciton looked scary.

By Sat afternoon, with snow falling very heavily, all airports closing down, and no way to get anyplace, I called my co-worker who was also scheduled to go, and told her I couldnot find any flights within a 300 mile radius. She offered to look.
It got to be later and later, and Tink was quite upset that we came so close and now were going to be stuck at home (plus, she had already lorded it over all of her friends that she would be basking in Disney magic while they slaved away at studies, and was determined to not be at school the following week).

By 9:30 pm, I had officially given up. Tink was sulking in her bedroom, and the cats were sleeping in the half unpacked luggage. I got a call from my co-worker.

"We're on a 'Stealth' flight out fo Roanoke at 9:00 am tomorrow! See you there!"

A stealth flight is one that the airlines put in their schedule unofficially, and therefore, it is not listed anywhere. If you do not know to ask for the exact flight number, they will not be able to find it, literally. **By the way, airlines have a LOT of "Official" stufff that is, in fact, not very "Officailly" binding at all. Just FYI.

We woke up at 4:30, knowing we needed to leave by 5:00. Roanoke is only 45 miles away, but it was STILL snowing, and the roads were scary, to say the least. PLUS it was dark...not my favorite combo.

Oh, and I probably forgot to tell you that during the week previously, my DH's car had something electrical that needed something bigger electrical to fix it, and we were operating with my KIA Sephia, which at the time had NO HEAT, NO DEFROST, and not a lot of room (OK for TINK and I, but DH is 6'7")

Are you thinking at this point..."Why can she not see that she is not destined to take this trip? The weather, her DH's car, the weather...." I was actually the one who said, "This is NOT going to happen at this time. We just need to hope for another option in the Spring". My DH was determined that we were going (which in hindsight makes me a little suspicious...hmmm) But I digress...

Well, we shlepped our way through drifts of 8 feet to get in my little, tiny, unheated KIA. I tossed a slew of blankets into the back seat, and Tink disappeared in them. I draped them over us in the front, as safely as I could.
The roads were BAD, I neded gas (OF course. Why would I have filled up my tank?), and DH needed coffee. Fast forward to a delay while we got stuck and then unstuck at the local Sheetz for supplies.

We eventually got to Roanoke, but it took us over 2.5 hours to go 45 miles.
DH said that the ride home was easier, since the sun was on the roads, and he was able to follow a salt truck most of the way. (My KIA will be scarred for life)

NEXT:
Did that Delta plane just hit the side of this terminal?
__________________

[chezp]

Thank goodness you made it to the airport - my goodness, that sounds horrible, thinking you wouldn't be able to fly out. However, the next installment doesn't sound inspiring either... :

[Desurae]

Yikes! What an adventure so far!!

[DrDolphin]

Wow!!! What a beginning!! Hope things smooth out just a little bit!

[pamcarey]

Oh my goodness! What an adventure to get to the airport! Waiting anxiously to hear what happens next!

[Kenny]

Hmmm, now, how does it go? "...neither snow, nor rain, nor dark of night...", no... THAT'S the Post Office! 45 miles in 2.5 hrs... I've done it, NOT FUN!!
You seem to have mastered the art of suspense, I can't wait to find out about the Delta plane!

[Colexis Mom]

That was quite the adventure! My gosh!

[MAria R]

Wow, what an adventure, glad you found a flight!

[rlb38]

battling snow to get on sunny vacation is never fun ! You do get on the ship right???

[kdevoe]

That's some adventure!! Keep it coming.

[poohlover]

So, we got to the airport, only to find HUGE snow piles all over as they tried to clear a tiny roadway up to the terminal. The runways looked very clear, though, so I was hopeful.

DH wanted us to get checked in, so he dropped Tink and I off, and went to park. We got to the US Air desk, and the clerk was having some difficulty with her coffee mug leaking. (I had to give Tink the “FIRM GLARE”, and send her to a distant seating area.) I waited while the clerk mopped up several spills, and then asked me for our information.

She tried to pull it up, and could not find the flight. We went over the number numerous times, and finally she called a supervisor, who looked at me oddly, and then played with the computer for a minute. She found our flight, but asked me, “How did you find this flight? It technically does not even exist in our manifold?”

I explained the entire situation very briefly – “My co-worker found it yesterday.”

“Well”, she replied, “I have been with US Air for 14 years, and this is VERY irregular. I don’t even know what type of plane would be on this level of flight!” I was quietly hoping for one with wings and a couple of engines .

She handed me our boarding passes, and I gathered Tink and looked for DH. We watched as a large snowplow looped around the terminal, then slowed down and stopped right outside so…DH could jump out of the cab? He looked a bit harried and rather moist around the leg region. I was going to just pretend that this was totally normal and head up to the Security area, but not Tink.

“Dad! How cool is that! Why are you so wet?” He mumbled something about having to scale miniature Mt. Everests in the parking lot, and the third time he fell, the snowplow was coming by, and offered him a ride. He was not completely enchanted by the experience, and I felt guilty again.

“ I guess we should go upstairs and get ready for Security.” He agreed, and Tink helpfully mentioned that they might have that really strong, turbo hand dryer in the men’s room (You know, the one where your skin hangs on for dear life as it blows all moisture from within 10 feet into oblivion?) They actually did, and a few minutes later, he was dry, just stained (chemicals on the snow). We sat and looked at each other and the lone Security officer for awhile, before I decided we should just go on through, and see what the flight status was.

DH was going to wait to see us take off before he headed home, so we left him with a Latte and went on to find AC and Diva (my co-worker and her grand-daughter, 4). We found them plastered against a window in the far end of the terminal. Apparently, there was a Delta flight that had just loaded up, and they were attempting to back away from the terminal. The tarmac was very icy, and completely in the shade. I found myself staring at the plane as they would back up, slide, back up slide, and then, VERY SLOWLY, came towards us and gently bumped into the terminal. I have never actually been that close to the captain in his cockpit from the INSIDE of the terminal. He waved weakly…I was so shocked I waved gaily back.

I decided it was better to just go find our gate then try to think about THAT, so off we went quickly. There was a large number of folks who had been waiting for about 1.5 hours for a REAL scheduled flight, that for the following hour would continue to be “Delayed due to weather-induced tarmac conditions”. I guess announcing that the Delta flight had crashed into the terminal might have caused some stress?

At about 10:30, we noticed a jet making its way to our gate. There was only about 10 of us on this flight, so we assumed it was for the other folks. Nope, it was ours. We all got on quickly, as they were not looking friendly (UNDERSTATEMENT). I was pretty nervous at this point, as the sweet DCL folks had sweetly told me that we HAD to be checked into the cruise terminal BY 4:00, and must be checked into the DCL transfer desk BY 3:00. It was 11:00, and we had about a 2 hour flight to Charlotte, which we were already late for, probably causing us to miss our connection. The thought of going through all this, and then having to call my DH and let him know we were stuck at Charlotte and would just be returning home on a later flight and he had stained his pants for no reason was making me twitch. Tink, Ac and Diva remained optimistic.

We left shortly after 11:00 (There was an issue with 2 passengers on the flight having the same seat assignment, WHICH on a full flight would have been an issue, but on a flight ¾ empty? Really? Airlines at their best) and arrived to a slushy Charlotte at about 1:00 pm. In terminal A. Our connecting flight to Orlando left at 1:20pm. In terminal D. Diva had dropped her carryon, and there were crayons all over. I offered to run and try to catch the flight and let them know we were coming.
As I arrived at the gate, I watched as they pushed the plane away from the terminal. So did about 25 businessmen with matching polos and carry ons with Magical Express tags. I backed up and made a dash for the US Air customer service desk, beating the guys by a minute or two. Then a race began involving which rep could type faster to get their folks on the next plane to Orlando. Luckily, I had a manager, who looked at the other clerk, and mentioned something about locking the system for a few moments while he searched using his MANAGER’S CODE. (I KNEW we were all headed to Orlando, but truly, we HAD to get there by a certain time, and they were just trying to make their “Meet and Greet” at RIX in CSR. I did NOT feel guilty.)

As it turned out, the only flight available that would arrive in Orlando before 6 was one that arrived at 3:58, AND was over-booked. The manager looked me in the eye, said quietly, “Go over to the desk, stand around looking sad, and see if they can squeeze you guys in. Maybe other folks will not make their connections.” I actually found myself doing just that, even though I KNEW how awful it was to want other people to miss their connections to Orlando. I am not proud of this, but the cruise had become a crusade to me, and I was determined to have tried EVERYTHING to get on this ship.

*Again, I know you are thinking, “What is it going to take for this woman to realize that this is BAD Karma?!?! “ I can’t explain it myself. It was as if some inner being had risen up and taken control.

They began to board the plane, and then began to call the standbys. We were numbers 3,4,5 &6. They called 1 & 2, then waited. AND waited. AND waited. Finally, we were called! “We can’t seat you together, but we can get you all on!”. I do not know who ended up sitting by Diva as they actually DID seat her away from AC, despite that RULE that says they CAN’T separate a minor from their traveling adult…BUT Diva said she talked "ALL THE WAY TO FLORIDA WITH A NEAT GUY WHO HARDLY TALKED AT ALL!” It’s OK to chuckle…I did.

As we were taxi-ing to the terminal after landing, I called DCL, where they sweetly told me, “RUN! DON’T WALK! DON’T STOP AT THE BATHROOM! COME STRAIGHT TO THE MAGICAL EXPRESS DESK RIGHT SIDE, AND HAVE THOSE DOCUMENTS OUT AND READY!” I would like to formally apologize to everyone in the terminal and on the monorail and innocently standing on the escalator as our group made this mad dash through the airport! I actually saw parents grab their children and snatch them up out of our way. Looking back, we might have been a pretty cool commercial, but I am not sure what for…

AS we got off the escalator, there were 4 sweet DCL CM’s waiting to grab each of us, and rush us to the desk, where we were checked in so quickly I was afraid for mistakes. The bus driver was standing by, and as soon as they tossed us everything we needed, she grabbed Diva, and began to run to a waiting DCL bus. We boarded at 4:10 pm. She shut the door, and began to honk and back up at the same time. Then we literally zoomed out of that airport, and hit the Beeline expressway. I had not needed to use the bathroom before, but I really did now! As I came back, the driver was cheerfully chatting with Tink.

“Well, even though it SAYS you have to check in by a certain time, if you step onto my bus by 4:15, I can easily have you at Port Canaveral by 4:45, PLENTY of time to make the sailing!” Definitions of plenty vary, I guess. She was true to her word, though. We did get there at 4:40…
2 Security guards met us, scanned us, and asked us to wait, as we would have to go through the lower crew decks to board. Just then, another sweet DCL CM called from the top of the escalator, and asked us to be escorted up for photos. We were rushed to the photo counter (I can’t even begin to imagine what those pics looked like!!), and then we walked through the totally deserted terminal to the gangplank, where as soon as AC stepped off and onto the ship, it began to retract. We stood in the deserted lobby for a minute, then Tink said sadly, “Wow. I didn’t get announced.” Before I could respond (and boy, did I want to!!), 2 CMS came out of nowhere, asked her name, then announced us all and clapped vigorously! It was at that point that I just began to cry. It hit me that we were ON the ship, we HAD made it, Disney had come through again, and I was REALLY stressed. They immediately came over, gave me boxes of tissues, and took us to our rooms, where they waited for us to drop off our things, and then escorted us to deck 9 for the Sail Away Party. After getting all of us drinks and ice cream, they waved goodbye, and headed out to work magic for some other weepy individual.

I can only say this… EVERY step of the way, DCL folks were consistently patient, sweet, helpful, and NEVER gave up on us. When Tink asked about the lifeboat drill, they offered to give us a private one. They went so far above and beyond on this trip that I was totally blown away (and that takes a lot, since I have a very large respect for Disney to begin with). I would have given up so many times, but the people around me never did.

MORAL: IF EVERYTHING goes wrong, delays, weather, rides, DON’T give up! If we could arrive at 4:40, and get on that ship then, while it will not be the fun, relaxed and magical experience it might be with an on time arrival, the magic WILL find you. You just have to let go, BELIEVE, and it happens!

COMING UP: Falling for a married waiter!

[Desurae]

All I can say is....... WOW !! Good for you that you didn't give up!!! What a memory making experience all that was - LOL
I don't think I would want to see an airplane "bump" the terminal before flying out.

[chezp]

Oh my goodness! What a nightmare, but thank goodness you made it in the end - you really had luck on your side that day!

[DrDolphin]

WOW!!! D-R-A-M-A!!! I hope that the cruise is a little more relaxing!! BTW - I didn't see you say anything about LUGGAGE... I assume you had carry on??