I Never Should Have Been Writing this Post

Are you wondering if we got on the Cruise?

Ya know THE CRUISE that was suppose to cure my Winter BLAHS?

Well.......NOPE!

I am back in the hazy frozen tundra (A.K.A. UTAH)

We DID try, though.  We flew down to So. California on Friday night, so we could be on time for the Saturday ship departure - because THERE JUST HAD TO BE A CANCELLATION for us!  I NEEDED to get on that ship, right?!?

We arrived at the cruise ship terminal and every other person tried to take our bags to load them - I would've LOVED to have let them, but we had to tell them that we had to keep them with us since we weren't "FOR SURE."   When we got inside the ICEBOX terminal, we found out there was another couple there waiting, too.  (These strangers we didn't even know all of a sudden became "the enemy" :) - which of us was going to get on?)  The people who worked there told us we just had to sit on the blue iron benches and wait for "the powers that be" to come down and tell us IF there were any cabins for us.

WHAT?!?  My Personal Cruise Consultant - who I stalked on the phone over the last 5 weeks - had told me that I could get through security and up to the ticket counter and they would be able to check me in on the computer and be all ready to go when there was a cancellation or a "NO SHOW."

And with that big Nor'easter storm that hit on Friday/Saturday, I was feeling pretty confident about "NO SHOWS" with literally hundreds of flights that were cancelled and delayed.

BUT.  The "procedure" was quite different at the actual port.  They said that the ONLY way we could get on is if passengers actually called in and confirmed their cancellation.  And they could not let us have the cabin of a "NO SHOW" just in case they flew in to another port of call halfway through the cruise and showed up to get on the ship -- UNLIKELY, but they couldn't fill their cabin with US in case it happened.

So, my brother & sister and her husband were on the inside of the ship harassing the ticket counter and the front desk telling them that we were out there and were part of their group.  They were reminding them not to forget us and asking them how many passengers had not checked in yet.  Meanwhile, I was on the outside calling Holland America headquarters on the phone asking to speak to the ship inventory dept.  (I was denied, but PUSHED, and got the agent to call for me while I held.)  I was getting updates on the cancellations status - in our case, the LACK OF cancellations, but the people on the phone still told me I could buy the cabin of the "NO SHOWS."  My brother was able to get the Front Desk to disclose to him that 30 people had not checked in yet....so we were HOPEFUL.  This waiting and calling and communicating with my family on "THE INSIDE" went on for three hours.  The other couple gave up and left earlier - YES!  (More hopeful!)

But, in the end - no one cancelled!!!  Yes, there were NO SHOWS, but no one cancelled.  So, here's a lesson learned and a PLEA to everyone -- if you're not going to make it, CALL IN and cancel, because you could be helping SOMEONE ELSE.  Unless those passengers had purchased trip insurance (and a lot DON'T - do you?  Or do you just take the risk and save the money?)  they couldn't get any of their money back anyway, so they probably just didn't even bother to call.  I do not know why employees in the SAME company were giving out DIFFERENT bits of information.  There were a few different "Officials" who came out to talk to us -- they had all HEARD ABOUT US :) -- but they all had the same bad news, to which I asked them if they were aware that their phone agents tell their customers something opposite of the real deal.  They were not aware.  Aaaugh!

WHAT A BUMMER!!!

Actually, that doesn't even begin to describe it!  Even though we knew it might not happen.....to actually BE THERE but not be able to get on....and see the ship sail away....to think of what "might've been"....and know what the weather was like back home......it was SUPER, MEGA DIAPPOINTING!

Like we were seriously SADDENED.  LET DOWN.  DISILLUSIONED. BROKEN-HEARTED.  UNHAPPY.  DISENCHANTED.  BEATEN.  DOWN IN THE DUMPS.  HOPELESS.  IN  THE DEPTHS OF DESPAIR.

It might sound stupid to y'all, it's just about a vacation, but I REALLY wanted to go at this particular time!

We did have a plan B - to go use our free week in Cancun, but thanks to that same storm that was suppose to increase our chances on the cruise.......decreased our chances for flights.  The flights in & out of the East (the connecting spot to Cancun) were all filled up FOR DAYS with the leftover customers that were displaced previously.

Plan C was just to go home on Sunday.  (It was too late to get back on Saturday evening after the ship left.  THE SHIP LEFT US!!  I can't believe it.)  How depressing!

Plan D was to find another last minute cruise departing out of California.  We found a 4-day cruise to leave on the 11th, so I called.....and guess what?!?  It was SOLD OUT, but the reservations agent happily infomed me that he could put us on a "WAIT LIST" [for a small deposit].  You've GOT to be kidding me, right?!?  This news coming just RIGHT AFTER I spent my day in the icebox on a wait list!  NO WAY!  BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

We went and got dinner in a Mall Food Court -- so different from the lavish dinner we should've been having in the Cruise Ship Dining Room!  Boo hoo!  Thanks to Hotwire.com, we got a last minute hotel and tried to put an end to this day.

Matt came up with a Plan E:  To stay in San Diego at least a few days so the whole effort wasn't a total BUST.  But, that would cost more money and it wasn't really what we wanted to do.  But, if we went home, that would be worse!  Or would it?  We couldn't decide.  Our minds were too muddled to even know what the best plan of action was.  We would lean one way.....and then the other.  One of us decided one thing, and the other one started to agree, and then the first person would change their mind.  It was so tiresome.

I thought after a night's sleep, I would feel better, but I woke up still disheartened.

My first thought was that I should -- I DESERVED - to just stay in bed all day in my comfy clothes and no bra (my favorite outfit) and do NOTHING, except feel sorry for myself!

But, it WAS Sunday.

I had my iPad with me, and it was super easy to go to www.lds.org and find the closest church to where we were staying.

But, then one of Satan's lies popped into my mind, IF you would've got on the ship, you weren't going to go to church this Sunday anyway, since they don't even have church on the ship.
AND  
You've had a hard day, treat yourself to a day of 'vegging' in your hotel room.

Thankfully, I came to my senses enough and we did go to church.

IT WAS JUST WHAT I (WE) NEEDED!

I felt a little bit better the minute we drove into the parking lot and I caught sight of some men in white shirts and ties.  I felt even better when we walked inside the church and the door greeter gave us the HUGEST smile and a wave.  From there, things got increasingly better and better.

I was reminded of and gained a new appreciation for the scripture in D & C 50:22;  Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.

Guess what one of the speaker's topic was?  HOPE vs. DESPAIR!  Perfect.

It filled me with the right amount of Spirit that had been missing.  Going to church can do that!  Note to self:  Don't forget that! 


After church, we were able to even JOKE about our situation - and we decided to STAY.  We already had work off.  We already had caretakers for our children arranged.  And we had Hotwire.com......which we used to get a Hilton BEACH resort.

 And THIS scene outside our hotel window:

 Was TONS better than THIS scene back home:

 

I even got in a swim suit (with a hoodie over the top of it) and sat by the pool -- because the SUN WAS OUT!

BTW:  My "Personal Cruise Consultant" called me when I got back to Utah - maybe in response to all my voice mails I left her the couple of days before we left? -  to say she was sorry we didn't make it on the cruise.  I told her that she had given me INCORRECT info about getting on the ship if there are "NO SHOWS" and had I known the REAL policy, we wouldn't have even gone down to CA and waited for the DENIAL!  She claimed she didn't know.  Well, it seems like that would be a good thing TO KNOW so as NOT to lead customers (not anymore) astray!  I think the purpose of her call really may have been to try to book another voyage with me, but after she learned of our situation, and that she had screwed up, she didn't even bring it up!  ;) haha.  Smart Girl.