Jewel of the Seas: Days 1-2

Let me start this post with saying that cruises are the best trip ever as far as budgeting and seeing a lot of things in a short time. We got to visit five islands in seven days with no stress about food costs or hotel or anything because everything was paid up front. Now with that being said I am going to fill you all in on our fun trip to the Caribbean... once we finally got there.

So a few of you saw my drama queen diva tweet about hating Delta and missing my cruise. Well, rest assured. I got on the ship. But a day late. And this is where our story begins. Adam flew back to SLC after a week of baseball training. We went to dinner and then headed back to the airport to catch our red eye flight to NYC. A two hour layover in NYC and then we would be cruising. The two hour layover turned into three hours. No big deal. We would still get there by 1 PM and then we could just explore until the ship left at 8 PM.

So the time to bored our flight rolls around. We get on. We settle in. We fall asleep. I am not sure when Adam woke up, but about two hours later I woke up... And we were on the ground. I think to myself, that was an easy flight. And then I realize everyone is looking not super happy on the plane. And then I realize... we are still sitting on the tarmac in NYC.... WHAT?! Okay... so the fog rolled in. Before I fell asleep I remember them saying we were 8th in line. Then we were 20th. Then I was out. They would figure it out. While I was asleep apparently everyone got out but us and we soon hit the 3 hour limit of sitting on the plane without leaving. Which meant. We had to deboard. And the second we got off the plane the pilots peaced out. They had hit their 14 hour limit... cool. But they assured us if the fog cleared we would have pilots and staff and be out by 2:30 PM. Perfect. We would get in at about 7 PM and still be fine for the cruise.

2:30 PM comes and we are all boarded on the plane. No pilots. 2:45 PM. No pilots. 3:00 PM. No pilots. 3:15 PM. No pilots... then the announcement that they cannot find the pilots and we have to deboard. There goes all hopes of making the cruise. I loose it. Seriously loose it. Tears and tears and tears... Delta wasn't very helpful at all. Not even at the help desk. We stood there for about 30 minutes before we finally got them to help us get a flight, a hotel, and another flight to meet our ship. That is a whole different story. But at least they helped us eventually. We get to San Juan. Get to our hotel. Sleep. Wake up. Eat. Back to the airport.

We go to check in to our flight. Cancelled. SERIOUSLY!? This trip is turning into a full on nightmare. Luckily there is a flight every hour or so. So we got on the next one. When we got back to the gate we were moved to the early flight leaving at that very moment. But before boarding us she says, "How much do you weigh?" And in my head I am thinking... that is pretty personal and I am not happy with my weight right now. Well let me show you a photo of why she asked....

THAT IS THE PLANE we rode in! That tiny little baby plane. With 10 seats total. Two of which were for pilots. What am I getting myself into? I am going to die. I know it. Well either way... we got on the plane. Tiny little thing. These photos are not zoomed in at all. And this was our plane ride for the next 45 minutes.

We didn't die. We landed safely at Beef Island. But... our luggage didn't. We reported our luggage missing. They said "it will come on the next flight" so we waited. But.... it didn't come. So we told them and waited for the next flight. Didn't come. So we told them and waited for the next flight. At this point I am very annoyed and angry because they were not helpful at all. Next flight comes in. Adam's luggage is there. Mine is not. I start bawling slash being so angry. Cool. I go to complain they say there is nothing they can do and that they will get my luggage to me when I can. Hi? I am leaving your country tonight. So I am getting all sorts of mad and Adam marches straight back to immigration (I have never seen Adam mad until this very moment) to get the supervisor, who in turn is so angry that he walked in that she refuses to help and goes to get a different supervisor. This supervisor comes out and says they will do all they can. And I said, "No. You will get me my luggage because I have been waiting here since 9:40 AM with NO help from your staff. It is now 1 PM and I am leaving on a cruise ship tonight at 5 PM." He seems bedazzled by the fact I was so up in his grill. But he gets the work done. Within 5 minutes I get confirmation that my bag is being rush delivered on a plane with a different airline. He also made up some lie of a story... but I don't need to tell you all that.

So then they say my bag should be on this next plane. I don't want to believe them. Because they lie a lot. But there it was. VICTORY! Adam and I have our luggage and we can go cruise now. So we catch a taxi with two Canadian girls around our age (who sadly didn't get their luggage that night, and were told they might never get it while cruising, and they cried a lot and I could not help them at all and I felt sooooo bad - but the next night we saw them and they did get their luggage and so we all smiled and cheered together at the club) to the cruise ship. We board the ship. We check out our room. We eat lots of food to make up for missing the first night. We go to a few shows. We make some friends. And we go to bed because the next morning we had to wake up early for our first adventure on land!

So now that you have listened to my nightmare of a start... get ready to listen to the fun. Tomorrow I will share our first two islands! Oh. And a tip for your cruising plans. Fly in one day early... jusssssst in case. Oh. And if anyone has a tip for writing an "I'm not happy with what happened" letter to a company... let me know.