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indigo_rose99Our flights went well. No opportunities for conflict on whether to offer the annoying child next to me oxygen after putting on my own mask.
However, we arrived into Gatwick in London instead of Heathrow. This shouldn't have been a problem, since the cruise made our reservations, so it wouldn't be like our arrival airport would be a surprise to them. But... Before leaving, I had asked what to expect between airplane and cruise ship. "Exactly how will this transfer thing work, especially since we are arriving so very early in the morning and I know you don't want us to board until about 2pm?" The answer: there will either be a cruise representative or a bus to a local hotel to hang out at or both. Ok, that sounds easy enough.
Except, of course, it wasn't.
We got off the plane, went through customs, immigration, and found our luggage. Outside of baggage and customs, we looked for a person holding the appropriate cruise sign. Or anything similar. Nothing. We made it to the information desk without either of us seeing one. We asked at the information desk. They paged the cruise line. A guy answered who was there to pick up an employee showed up, saying that he was waiting, but not waiting for us. We waited. T did another pass, looking for a representative with the appropriate sign. The information desk people expressed themselves as surprised because our cruise representatives are typically very obvious. We waited. We called the phone number on our "if emergencies happen" paperwork. It was a bank holiday. We got a recording. T did another pass looking for someone with the appropriate sign. An airport person escorting two other (elderly and not terribly mobile) passengers showed up, also looking for a cruise person. He and they had not seen any cruise representative when exiting baggage. T did a full pass of the exterior of the airport, looking for a bus. He asked at bus information desk. Nothing. We waited.
About an hour and a half after arriving, the guy meeting the cruise employee said, "Well, my passenger didn't get on his flight and now I have this 6-seat empty van going back to Southampton anyway. Would you like a lift?" We gratefully accepted.
In a book or a movie, he would have turned out to be a thief or axe murderer. Luckily for us, he was perfectly nice and delivered us safely (and early!) to the dock in Southampton.
Several days later, I asked for the rest of the story. I got an official letter that said, Our representative in Gatwick waited outside of baggage claim for two hours. After which, went to the information desk and was informed that you and another couple had caught another ride.
....Yeah. Sure they were. *sarcasm* Two hours?! Not. And WHAT would be their reason for not answering the page? Or for four passes over the same signs and people to have missed them?
Lesson? Have a plan B. Especially on a bank holiday.
However, we arrived into Gatwick in London instead of Heathrow. This shouldn't have been a problem, since the cruise made our reservations, so it wouldn't be like our arrival airport would be a surprise to them. But... Before leaving, I had asked what to expect between airplane and cruise ship. "Exactly how will this transfer thing work, especially since we are arriving so very early in the morning and I know you don't want us to board until about 2pm?" The answer: there will either be a cruise representative or a bus to a local hotel to hang out at or both. Ok, that sounds easy enough.
Except, of course, it wasn't.
We got off the plane, went through customs, immigration, and found our luggage. Outside of baggage and customs, we looked for a person holding the appropriate cruise sign. Or anything similar. Nothing. We made it to the information desk without either of us seeing one. We asked at the information desk. They paged the cruise line. A guy answered who was there to pick up an employee showed up, saying that he was waiting, but not waiting for us. We waited. T did another pass, looking for a representative with the appropriate sign. The information desk people expressed themselves as surprised because our cruise representatives are typically very obvious. We waited. We called the phone number on our "if emergencies happen" paperwork. It was a bank holiday. We got a recording. T did another pass looking for someone with the appropriate sign. An airport person escorting two other (elderly and not terribly mobile) passengers showed up, also looking for a cruise person. He and they had not seen any cruise representative when exiting baggage. T did a full pass of the exterior of the airport, looking for a bus. He asked at bus information desk. Nothing. We waited.
About an hour and a half after arriving, the guy meeting the cruise employee said, "Well, my passenger didn't get on his flight and now I have this 6-seat empty van going back to Southampton anyway. Would you like a lift?" We gratefully accepted.
In a book or a movie, he would have turned out to be a thief or axe murderer. Luckily for us, he was perfectly nice and delivered us safely (and early!) to the dock in Southampton.
Several days later, I asked for the rest of the story. I got an official letter that said, Our representative in Gatwick waited outside of baggage claim for two hours. After which, went to the information desk and was informed that you and another couple had caught another ride.
....Yeah. Sure they were. *sarcasm* Two hours?! Not. And WHAT would be their reason for not answering the page? Or for four passes over the same signs and people to have missed them?
Lesson? Have a plan B. Especially on a bank holiday.
