Our trip out was a mess. I thought this may be the time we would actually miss the ship. Started with delays in Dallas, missing the first plane to Brussels, getting to London but knowing that all the planes from London to Copenhagen were full. We went standby and although they told us our odds were poor we did make the plane and arrived within an hour of when we were supposed to in the first place. So first challenge overcome. We KNEW we would have no luggage that was obvious but as I have said before lost our luggage so many times we are used to it. It completely surprised us when ONE of our TWO bags showed up. That was a great thrill. Ken had no "formal" clothes so as they were in his other suitcase. They sent up a Tailor who provided formal clothing and made sure it all fit and looked nice. They do our laundry for free until we get our second bag they are really good about the lost luggage. Also provide little "kits" of necessities.

The weather is spectacular, sunny calm seas. First dinner was with Maryellen, Jim, Ray and Penny and we had a lovely time. Good prime rib .

Met up with everyone at the appointed hour and had a full turn out of all those we expected and now we look forward to getting to know them better as the trip progresses. Just knowing who everyone is by sight early helps.

I am now running VERY late for the formal night so off to clean up and go see the wonderful Captain Dag and look forward to my lobster tonight.

Will post more later.

And who was your travel agent Ngaire?
Just kidding! Hope the rest goes smoothly.. have fun!

Just as long as you got there safely! Tell Ken he could wear a burlap bag to formal night and still look handsome!

So glad to hear you made the ship! Best wishes to all for a wonderful cruise. Eager to hear details of those beautiful fjords! :D

We eagerly await updates on your "scouting" trip for NorFjor723. I especially look forward to the "unique" experiences with Captain Dag's return to special ports.

Luke

Ngaire, Glad you are there enjoying your cruise. Hope the seas remain calm and the challenges small. Have a great time! :)

Betty

Ngaire, what a day you had! Wishing you wonderful sunny skies and calm seas throughout!

Ngaire,

Sorry about all of the trouble, but glad all is well now!

I hope your cruise experiences calm seas, wonderful weather, and even better company.

Anthony

Ngaire,

Glad you both arrived safe and sound.

Your experience has just confirmed why I am working so hard to change our outbound flight for DOF! If it were me going through what you went through, I would have needed sedation!

Have a wonderful time!

Gee that's a tough start. But you must be used to it. Bet you used ambience, or whatever the pill is called. Enjoy the cruise and say hello to Capt. Dag and Paolo, the great Maitr'D at Compass. Tell him that the nuisance will be bothering him in Sept. !!!Just kidding. We could use an iceberg here in S.Fla. It's 98 degs. now but cooling off tonight to 89 !!

The Fates smile on you and your luggage! :nw: :nw: Remember that no good deed goes unrewarded. All you've done for others is remembered with the arrival of that bag.

Hope you are having a marvelous time! We look forward to hearing about it and going dreamwalking.

Cheers! <img border="0" alt="[vhappy]" title="" src="graemlins/icon_vhappy.gif" />
Ash

Glad to hear all of you are well. Please give our best to Mary Ellen and Jim. Hopefully, the remaining bag will show up shortly. How's the weather? Cheers, Anne

What is with all this bad luck with luggage???? Glad you made it and hope the other piece shows up soon.

Oh, I hope everything shows up for you! We did the Canal on RCCL several years ago, and had a delay in Dallas (it was snowing like a bad man). Our luggage apparently didn't make it on the same plane to Acapulco that we did, and it was on the last load that came from the airport. Mark was freaking out; he kept saying "SHE can shop in the ship stores, I can't!" We finally got it about 9:30 that night.

I hope this is the last of the bad for you, and that the rest of your trip is heaven.

Trust our Ngaire to have such a positive attitude...she always manages to make lemonade when handed lemons!! I will never be able to get the vision out of my head of Ngaire and Ken hiding behind a car giggling hysterically after getting lost!!! :D
The trip you just took Ngaire would have defeated me and reduced me to a puddle of tears!!!

Ngaire, you are such a seasoned traveler. I would have to take a nitro. We are going to be sure take most of what we NEED on a carryon. We have 4 plane changes before we get to Moscow. Bet our chances of our luaggae showing up will be 75/25. Have a nice time and try to relax on the sea. :lct:

Ngaire:

The seasoned traveler that you are shows through! Such a good take on everything!

Please give Ray & Penny our love (from Andi & Moi). They are very special people & I am proud to call them friends!

Doug

PS: don't believe a word Ray tells you about our trip on the PG. The man is a cronic tall tale teller (grin)

God Ngaire - hope things work out and your get your luggage, well Ken gets his -- been there done that and spent the first night crying!! We were on Windstar, and everyone was so nice, shared stuff with us, the staff found stuff for us, but I felt so weird without my own clothes. In the same situation I would have happily shared with someone else. Anyway, we got lucky the luggage arrived the next day, and the ships hostess went to the airport and picked it up for us, and we were sitting at the bar, when half the passengers came up and started applauding and let us know our bags were there. I was so happy to see my own clothes, in spite of very generous passengers and staff.
Take care - have an asesome time/cruise.
JoAnn

Ngaire - yikes, what a ordeal! Hope that the second bag shows up soon. Say hi to Ray and Penny from all of us!!

Masaki

PS: and keep the updates coming!

I'm sitting here trying to decide how to arrange our trip from Nice to Copenhagen ...plane or overnight train and I'm thinking fast train to Paris and perhaps a train to Copenhagen ..luggage intact..I hate plane security and lost luggage. Ngaire, your experience may have convinced me. HOpe all goes well and you have a spectacular time. Give Ray and Penny a Hug. Can you guys and Ray and Penny detour to Basel at the end of your cruise?

Well, this is not out on the wire yet for security reasons, but I think that I can share it with this ever so select group.

As you all know, there has been a rash of lost baggage lately affecting American travelers.

It has been determined (or thought to be - not clear here) that this is the work of an extreme group led by an international bad guy: Osama Bin Luggage.

The authorities are doing all they can.
Pack wisely.

Doug

I usually pack my booklet with all the information about the cruise in my checked luggage. When mine got lost last cruise, fortunately I had packed it in my carry on. Very easy for them to copy, and they have your whole itinerary, local contacts, etc. to know where to send it when it gets found.

Ngaire, hope yours finds you soon! I remember some time ago, I think you suggested that couples pack "mixed bags" husband and wife, so that at least you have something for both if one bag goes missing. That was a good idea!

If there is a connecting flight involved I have always adopted the process of printing out, in 2 inch high letters , the arrival airport code.
I then staple or glue it to two sides of the luggage.Red is my colour of choice !!
We have made many 'multiple flights' and never lost a bag.
Several check-in counter people have complimented me on the idea.

Neville,

That's a very good suggestion.

Doug,

The Bronx cheer to you for that one!

Doug - ouch, I think that one actually hurt. ;)

Masaki

Olivia,

That is a great idea to have a copy of the itinerary in your luggage. I'll print mine out right now and slip it in my bag.

Thx, Beth

I did the same thing when we flew into Nice - Jax to JFK and on to Nice - taped LARGE note to front and back of luggage with NCE and flight number and used duct tape to hold - it looked awful but I didn't care - and enclosed schedule in a second name/address tag I had - Joanna

One of the advantages of making your own air arrangements rather than using the cruise line package is that you can structure them to minimize high risk connections which can result in lost baggage:

1) Favoring connections with the same airline or with one of its alliance partners.

2) Providing for additional connecting time in anticipation of travel delays. If your plane is on time, it can be enjoyable to check into an airport hotel for a few hours to take a shower and have a good meal before flying to your final destination.

3) Making your connections in the U.S. at a major international gateway rather than outside the U.S. If we can't get a non stop flight from Chicago, my wife and I often fly to the East or West Coast early, spend a leisurely afternoon enjoying the city, and return to the airport to fly non-stop to our final destination.

With us are a couple we met on the "stand by" list in London to get to Copenhagen. They did their own air. They were coming in a full day ahead. They left their home town and flew to Chicago. The plane sat so long on the ground that by the time they got to Chicago they could not get to Europe that night and had ot stay the night in Chicago. I believe they had a three hour window to make that connection. Should have been plenty of time.

Then the next day when they were supposed to already be in Europe they left for London and ended up in the same boat as us praying for seats to Copenhagen. So this couple did everything possible to make things work.

Believe it or not they STILL DONT have their luggage. We got one bag before we sailed and the next one the next day. It was almost no incovenience at all.

They are a super couple and have the BEST attitude. Between insurance adn the airline allowance they can spend $1500 on clothes but there is almost nothing to buy here. They could have shopped in Trondheim but thought their luggage would arrive.

No matter what plans you make these things can happen. You can limit them with time between connections etc. I do think the key is to make the best of it no matter what.

Ngaire - You have a great attitude! The most important thing is enjoying the trip.