Aruba Part I: Getting There (or "Now What??!?")

Flarf and I decided to go to Aruba for vacation this year. We settled on Aruba because it seemed like a place where there was a decent amount of stuff to do and see – we both get very bored very easily with “relaxation,” so we needed a place that had options. We also couldn’t take too much time off of work, so we settled on the Caribbean and settled on Aruba. We scheduled the trip from January 7, 2009 to January 12, 2009. We packed and were ready to go.

On January 7, an ice storm came in during the morning. It wasn’t supposed to get bad until late morning and our flight was at 8:20, so were hopeful. Our schedule was 8:20 flight from Albany to Charlotte, NC with an hour layover and then an 11:30 flight from Charlotte to Aruba, getting in late afternoon (all on US Airways – I know, mistake number one). We crossed our fingers, headed to the airport and hoped for the best.

Our flight in Albany was scheduled to leave on time. We boarded on time. Then we pushed back from the gate about 15 minutes late. Okay. No biggie. Then the pilot says we need to de-ice which will take about 10 minutes. It takes 40. So, we leave an hour late. We then land in Charlotte at 11:30. Remember what time our Aruba flight was supposed to leave? Right, 11:30. And we appear to be the only Albany passengers on that, so the plane is not held. Argh.

We get sent a few places and deal with an unpleasant woman and then are finally sent back through security to the line to be re-booked. Which we stand in for 2 and a half hours. We finally get to the counter and a very nice lady tells us that she can still get us in that day through Miami (but tells us to shhh because most other people in the line are being forced to stay overnight). Our new flight is to leave Charlotte at 4:15 and arrive in Miami at 6:15. Then we would have a hours layover, switch to American Airlines and leave for Aruba at 8:15.

We boarded our 4:15 Charlotte flight on time, sitting several rows away from each other (beggars can’t be choosers and we have iPods, so okay). And then. The pilot comes on and says there is a wind delay in Charlotte and there is only one runway open now, so we have to wait our turn. And we wait. And wait. And take off at 6:15. Yes, we take off when we were supposed to land. Go on, do the math. Yes, we land when our next flight is supposed to leave. Sooooo…surprise! We missed it.

Out to the US Airways counter to figure something out. Of course, there are no more flights tonight, so we are on the first American flight the next morning – at 11:10. This took forever at the counter. And because the delay is weather related, they won’t pay for a hotel. We get a voucher for a discount and end up going to the Wyndam Hotel near the airport. No luggage because we’ve been rerouted so they can’t get it for us. We did meet a lovely couple from Syracuse who also missed the Aruba flight and had a similar day to us. They joined us on the hotel shuttle. Turns out their kid went to RPI and they’ve met my mom. Small world.

We eat some late dinner in the hotel bar and have a couple of much needed drinks and then head to the room. We try to call the hotel to make sure they don’t cancel our reservation. We keep getting put on hold with no one picking up. We finally get on the phone with Orbitz and then conference the hotel. We still have reservation, but we will be charged for the missed night. At this point we do not care.

Our carry-ons have some clothes, but no jammies. So, I sleep in a towel. We also did not think to put the toothpaste or hair products of any sort in the carry-on, so joy. We go to bed. And then spend the entire night waking up every 20 minutes or so because we have realized we are staying at the noisiest hotel ever. There are buses. There are trucks. There is even a train. And then as soon as dawn approaches, there is construction across the street at the airport. The beeping of the trucks is enough to make you stab someone.

So, uber-well-rested, we get ready for the airport. I try to do my hair with lotion. It does not work. We chew a lot of gum since we have no toothpaste.

We get to the airport at 9. We look for the correct AA counter for a while – there are about 50 at the Miami Airport. We finally find a line where the bouncer lady permits us to enter. We’re not sure it’s correct, but we’re happy to be somewhere. After only about 20 minutes behind people with more luggage than I thought existed in the world, we get to the counter. Where we promptly learn that the US Airways woman last night was a moron. There are 3 reservations under Flarf’s name and none under mine. Never mind that we have printed E-ticket things. We are told they mean nothing.

I then proceed to have a mini-meltdown. No scene. Just some quiet tears as I realize there is a serious possibility that I am not getting on this plane. The AA lady seems very cranky and mean, but she turns out to just hate US Air, not us. She gets us both on the plane, even sitting next to each other and gives us priority boarding – we think just to be nice.

We head to the international gates, grab some sandwiches and wait. We board and fly to Aruba on time and uneventfully (yay!). When we arrive, there is then a mess in immigration. The place is packed with people and the lines make no sense. Then they open a new line, so we get in that one. Then the lady there decides to move 5 lanes away and tells the line to go with her. Which is chaos. Utter chaos. It ends up with no less than 3 lines feeding into one. Then, the person at the front of the line has not filled out the form we were given an hour ago on the plane. And the immigration person LET’S THE IDIOT STAND THERE AND FILL IT OUT!!!! So, we all get to wait with out already filled out forms while Captain Dumbass looks for a pen because he was too busy licking the barf bag on the plane to be bothered to fill out the form as he was told. On the up side, we meet a nice older couple in line who are frequent Aruba visitors and the man looks like Caribbean Santa.

We finally get through immigration and go to baggage claim. Guess what? No bags. Of course. We then meet the Syracuse couple again who also have no bags. We all stand in line and fill out the lost bag forms. The AA lady is very nice, but gripes about US Air in a way that makes us think this is a very common thing. She tells us AA will bring our bags to our hotel when they get there, but can’t guess as to when that will be.

We then go get on our bus and head to the hotel It’s a long bus ride because it stops at every major hotel, but we’re actually happy to see the other places. And happy to be off an airplane and on our way to our lovely room.

We get to our hotel, the Occidental, and head into the lobby. Since we have no luggage to get off the bus, we are second in line. They bring us champagne and we are happy. Then we get to the counter and rather than give us room keys, they tell us the manager needs to speak with us and we need to wait over here. Now we are paranoid. We called last night about the missed day, dammit! Now what?

After over 30 minutes (but happily, an additional glass of champagne), the manager lady takes us to a creepy back office clearly not meant for the eyes of tourists. We wonder why we are being treated like shoplifters. We are told the hotel is overbooked and they need to move us to the hotel next door for the night. Seriously.

This is when the lady got super nice and apologetic. I believe that’s because we both looked like someone punched us in the stomach – what the hell else is gonna happen? Huh?

That is the end of the messy part of vacation. We got in a day late and had no room and no luggage. We did get our little all-inclusive bracelets so we could come to the hotel and drink our annoyances away. They promised to make our dinner reservations for us (the hotel had restaurants that required fancy clothes and reservations and you only get a certain number per stay) at 8 P.M. like we asked (turns out they misunderstood and they were all for 9, but we managed to change 2 of the 3 later). We also got free massages and dinner at the restaurant for fancy rich people on the top floors where we weren’t supposed to be allowed to go. And we have a certificate for a free night if we go back within a year. So, fine.

The manager herself drove us next door to the Radisson (which we found funny, especially once we realized it was a 5 minutes walk). We were given the contents of our mini-bar because the Radisson is not all-inclusive. We checked in with a really amusing guy who was super nice to us and found our travel story hilarious in a glad-it’s-not-me kind of way. We got a free tote bag which came in handy for the rest of vacation. We went to our room which was actually kind of nice. The grounds of the Radisson are really nice too. Flarf called the trip insurance people while I went to the hotel gift shop and bought a t-shirt (I packed really weird crap in my carry-on that did not go together), toothpaste, a toothbrush, Q-tips, hair gel and sunscreen. For $63. We headed back to the Occidental for the Thursday night beach party for dinner and relaxing. As that begins the fun part of our vacation, I will leave that for the next installment.