No Cruise for You!

View from our hotel room in Miami

Saturday I got hit with the flu. Nasty. The kind where you cry for your mommy.

Monday morning—in the early A.M.— I was still feeling nasty. There is a great SNL faux-mercial advertising a product called “Oops I Crapped My Pants” that has always given me the giggles. Monday morning, the faux-mercial made sense and I found no humor in it at all.

I put out a Twitter asking all my Tweets to pray for me because Tahni and I had a plane to catch at 7:30am to go to Miami to leave on a cruise. I felt so supported and loved with the responses from those who were still awake (go West Coast!) vowing to pray with me.

When I crawled out of bed at 3am I was not feeling “great” by any means but the cruise gave me a bit of hope. I pictured myself lying in the sun where the Fahrenheit read twice that of Michigan.

We landed in sunny warm Miami today shortly before lunch and headed to the port. Tahni’s company always treats us so great (they were sending us on this trip to reward her for her booty-kicking good work) and we were welcomed with smiles. I was feeling better by the minute.

We got our stateroom keys and were given instructions on boarding which was to begin immediately.

Then I saw the sign.

The sign was worded vaguely but basically said “if you have had any stomach problems in the past few days please let us know so our helpful staff can assist you.”

How nice, I thought.

The man at the counter thanked me for letting them know and asked me to sit in a side room so the ship doctor could meet me in case I needed assistance.

How nice, I thought.

The doctor came soon enough and asked me what symptoms I had been having so they could assist me.

After I told him, He told me he would not let me board the ship. Yep. That just happened.

Despite Tahni’s company’s wonderful efforts to get their legal department involved and advocate for us, we were offered a bottle of rubbing alcohol from Royal Caribbean to wash our hands and were asked to describe our bags so they could fetch them for us.

Bummer. To say the least.

The upside? Tahni’s company put us up in a very nice hotel and gave us the royal treatment. Corner room. Overlooking the water. Cash for meals. Organized all our travel home and paid for it. Paid for all our cab rides and tipped the drivers in advance. Organized for a private car to take us to the airport tomorrow. And, we will be able to take a “make-up” cruise. They rock.

The downside is obvious, plus we will have to pay for airfare for the makeup cruise.

So, take my advice . . .

• Don’t believe the cruise ship sign regarding sickness. They are sneaky liars. I understand why they do it but their rules for boarding are really sketchy and it is up to the doctor whether you board or not.

• Buy travel insurance for your plane ticket. Depending on airline rules, you may be able to get a travel voucher if you think you are going to be denied boarding.

• If you are ever feeling poopy before a cruise, call your airline and the cruise ship to ask about your options.