Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Travel Shenanigans

I am a grandmother of 6 and this September, I was able to travel to Miami and then cruise to Bahamas with 2 of my 6 grandchildren. This happened just after Hurricane Irma and before Jose hit. Nevertheless, we pressed on to complete this trip because we hadn't seen each other in 17 years. So we booked the cruise and the post travel stay at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. While I was in flight, the hotel plans fell apart. My grandchildren arrived at the hotel, paid the taxi and got out only to have someone rush out to tell them that the hotel was CLOSED. Closed! Did they panic? Indeed they did. So when I landed, they called me at a high level of frustration. Did I panic? Indeed I did.

Fortunately, my cruise group leader had worked out the details with Holiday Inn and they promptly transferred our reservations to the Holiday Inn Miami Beach. It cost slightly more but when I tried to assure my grandchildren that we had a room, that we were not stranded and that everything would work out fine, they refused to believe. There they stood on the streets of a huge city (they are from Detroit Lakes MN), dragging their luggage down the street, in search of lodging. The first place they found was only $500 a night. In desperation, they were willing to pay it. With one more phone call, I was able to confirm our reservations at the Holiday Inn Miami Beach, much less than $500 a night and get them to the hotel with little to no problems. But the saga was only beginning. And remember, we hadn't seen each other for 17 years. They were just toddlers when I moved out of the frozen tundra of North Dakota/Minnesota. This would be a reunion above all reunions. When I laid eyes on them, my heart burst open and 17 years of tears of regret came pouring out. I cried uncontrollably as they wrapped their arms around me and called me grandma and whispered, "I love you." Best cruise ever and we hadn't even left the port yet. More to come.