Okay, Okay - so yes, I really don't know how to blog - BUT - thanks to Emily I have a really cool looking page now - Thanks Emily.
So - you may have heard already that we MISSED the BOAT!
Plan A was to leave on Saturday, December 20th from Portland and meet Kayla in Dallas (she was flying in from Salt Lake City) and then continue on to Santiago Chile - arriving Sunday morning and the getting on the boat on Sunday afternoon.
We were worried that Kayla wouldn't be able to get out of SLC because of snow, but no, it was snowy weather in Portland. When we arrived at the Portland airport we noticed that ALL the Southwest flights in and out of Portland had been cancelled and there were LINES of unhappy people everywhere. We checked in and got to our gate and noticed that the evening flight coming from Dallas to Portland had already been cancelled. We ended up getting on the plane about an hour late and then sitting on the plane waiting to be de-iced. We made it to the runway only to find out that we couldn't take off because we were 7000 pounds to heavy for the 1/8th inch of snow on the runway so the pilot brought us back to the gate. By this time, Kayla is already on her way to Dallas and I'm madly trying to find out what we need to do since we aren't going to be able to make it to Santiago on time. The first Norwegian agent tells me that Kayla's flight schedule isn't impacted so she needs to continue on to Santiago and get on the boat or she will lose her cruise and if she stays in Dallas we will have to pay for all the flight changes. I definitely didn't feel okay with that option so I called back and got another agent and this time they tell me that because she is only 19 and not 21 that they won't even LET her get on the boat without an 'adult'. Yes, yes, she can gamble and drink once she is on the boat, but she can't get on the boat Anyway, I liked this answer much better because who knew if we were even going to be able to get out of Portland to go on the cruise at this point. Anyway, we sat on the plane for about six hours and they got us de-iced once again and we headed out to the runway and this time we got to take off - what a relief.
two in the same clothes - we even decided to find a church and went to church in our jeans and boots and didn't even get too many funny looks -
So - you may have heard already that we MISSED the BOAT!
Plan A was to leave on Saturday, December 20th from Portland and meet Kayla in Dallas (she was flying in from Salt Lake City) and then continue on to Santiago Chile - arriving Sunday morning and the getting on the boat on Sunday afternoon.
We were worried that Kayla wouldn't be able to get out of SLC because of snow, but no, it was snowy weather in Portland. When we arrived at the Portland airport we noticed that ALL the Southwest flights in and out of Portland had been cancelled and there were LINES of unhappy people everywhere. We checked in and got to our gate and noticed that the evening flight coming from Dallas to Portland had already been cancelled. We ended up getting on the plane about an hour late and then sitting on the plane waiting to be de-iced. We made it to the runway only to find out that we couldn't take off because we were 7000 pounds to heavy for the 1/8th inch of snow on the runway so the pilot brought us back to the gate. By this time, Kayla is already on her way to Dallas and I'm madly trying to find out what we need to do since we aren't going to be able to make it to Santiago on time. The first Norwegian agent tells me that Kayla's flight schedule isn't impacted so she needs to continue on to Santiago and get on the boat or she will lose her cruise and if she stays in Dallas we will have to pay for all the flight changes. I definitely didn't feel okay with that option so I called back and got another agent and this time they tell me that because she is only 19 and not 21 that they won't even LET her get on the boat without an 'adult'. Yes, yes, she can gamble and drink once she is on the boat, but she can't get on the boat Anyway, I liked this answer much better because who knew if we were even going to be able to get out of Portland to go on the cruise at this point. Anyway, we sat on the plane for about six hours and they got us de-iced once again and we headed out to the runway and this time we got to take off - what a relief.
Meanwhile - Kayla is in Dallas wondering if she gets to spend Christmas alone in Dallas or if her parents are going to be able to get out of Portland. Assuming we are going to make it - she trys to change our flights to Santiago - in fact, we needed them to get us all the way to the next port of call in Chile. After interacting with two gate agents that basically told her to get lost because they couldn't help her, we found a really nice gate agent that rebooked all of us all the way to Puerto Montt, Chile - however, instead of just leaving from Dallas and going on to Puerto Montt we got to go to Miami first and then on to Puerto Montt.
I had booked a hotel for Kayla in Dallas so we met her sleepy hide there once our plane got into Dallas. Of course, the plane arrived so late in Dallas that the ground crew was gone and couldn't unload our luggage - even though our flight didn't leave for Miami until the afternoon. So the next morning we start day 
two in the same clothes - we even decided to find a church and went to church in our jeans and boots and didn't even get too many funny looks - Our flight ended up leaving Dallas on time and arrived in Miami on time - HOWEVER - we wouldn't want things to go too smoothly so the cleaning crew decided NOT to show up to clean the plane, which of course meant we couldn't board and couldn't leave - which of course meant that we were going to miss our connection to Puerto Montt the next morning!
Well - we spent all night on the plane and arrived in Santiago Chile, went through customs and yes, yes, missed our flight to Puerto Montt - we were on standby for the next flight, but didn't make that one either so got to wait another seven hours in the airport until the flight that left and 7:00 at night. We finally arrived in Puerto Montt that evening and I put everything back into perspective when we were waiting for our luggage, a poor guy in a wheelchair collasped and slid onto the ground - and a young lady was giving him CPR - so I realized it was time to stop complaining and just be grateful to be alive - and - finally about ready to get on the ship!
2 comments:
Everything is an adventure with Sheila! I'm glad you finally made it on the boat!
Oh my! That sounds like quite the adventure you guys got to go on! I hope the cruise was at least wonderful. My mom got off her ship and realized that she left her memory card in the ship safe...so she's not too happy how her trip ended. Hopefully, yours ended much nicer. :)
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