Travel Debacle

dadto6

dadto6

Senior Insider
United flight was scheduled to depart this morning from Dulles at 8:15am. Sitting here for hours due to mechanical issues. Now, just informed, we are awaiting a part to be flown from Cleveland to repair hydraulic issue. What a way to spend my birthday.

Oh well, I have my best friend with me. United says we should be able to lift off around 4:00 this afternoon.

Going to miss my birthday dinner at L’Esprit the most. Contacted Winair to change my flight until tomorrow morning. Changed car rental, notified villa owner, notified J-C, Reserved a room on St. Maarten for tonight.

Longing to breath in the air when we arrive in Paradise.
 
Bummer.

I've sat on the tarmac at CLT making the caculations.

We need to take off by "X" to get to SXM by "Y" to catch the Winair flight at "Z".

And didn't make it. Sad face.

Also, Happy Birthday!
 
that surely is a debacle. one of the reasons I try not to fly united. I stick with jetblue and delta.

Isn't your wife staying at flamands blue villa later in november? so you will leave and she will stay?
 
I'm a little bit sad to share this, but Perhaps J-C will save some Perrier Jouët for you.

P-J.jpg
 
Happy Birthday Dad! Sorry to hear of your travel woes but you will make it to paradise eventually. Safe travels!
 
Dad orchestrates so well in all he does for his best friend & family so I'm sorry to be reading about this glitch in your long planned week. But mechanical is what it is so know you'll make the best of it & perhaps UA will too...maybe some of their bubbles on the plane, not sayin' ginger ale ! Wishing you a special birthday week in Paradise once there !
 
So sorry about the delayed start of your trip. Been there, done that. Hope you still have a wonderful birthday!
 
So near, yet so far. Dad has made it to SXM. This slightly blurry image shows his flight landing just before 6PM. I know the pain of having a great reserved table on SBH sit empty, while you're stuck on SXM. I have no doubt that he will make the best of it.

UA SXM 2.jpg


The image is from the live webcam at MahoBeachCam.com which shows the runway at SXM, sometimes panning to show arriving flights.
 
That sucks to hear that you missed your birthday dinner. I hope you have a better day tomorrow and can get the first flight out of SXM and start your week in SBH
 
And missed such a special dinner event at L’Esprit with French champagne pairing.
Arrived at 6:00pm, stayed at Sonesta Maho resort, close to airport. Sitting on 1st flight out at 8:30 Winair to Paradise. Life is great. Thank you for all the kind Birthday wishes and thoughts.
 
dadto6 said:
And missed such a special dinner event at L’Esprit with French champagne pairing.
Arrived at 6:00pm, stayed at Sonesta Maho resort, close to airport. Sitting on 1st flight out at 8:30 Winair to Paradise. Life is great. Thank you for all the kind Birthday wishes and thoughts.
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Great attitude for bummer of a start! I am 1 day older than you (calendar wise if not year wise!).

A sort of long story short... Years ago (2010?) Montserrat volcano was erupting and there was a very narrow air corridor for ALL the planes in the AOO to fly through. Needless to say, we arrived at SXM too late to hop over to SBH as it was getting dark. There used to be a 'fixer' at SXM name Princess who I used to always talk to during the transition times and so I called her over. Mind you, we had a LARGE group ranging from small children to grandparents. She got us two cigarette boats to make the crossing from SXM to SBH that night. It was an adventure to say the least and we were met by both WIMCO, Car rental, and Gendarmes* who were super fun and welcoming at Gustavia harbor. Made it to the villa and bought a mortgage payments worth of pizza from Bagatelle.

* I seriously have NO IDEA how any of them knew we were arriving...
 
KeithJake said:
Great attitude for bummer of a start! I am 1 day older than you (calendar wise if not year wise!).

A sort of long story short... Years ago (2010?) Montserrat volcano was erupting and there was a very narrow air corridor for ALL the planes in the AOO to fly through. Needless to say, we arrived at SXM too late to hop over to SBH as it was getting dark. There used to be a 'fixer' at SXM name Princess who I used to always talk to during the transition times and so I called her over. Mind you, we had a LARGE group ranging from small children to grandparents. She got us two cigarette boats to make the crossing from SXM to SBH that night. It was an adventure to say the least and we were met by both WIMCO, Car rental, and Gendarmes* who were super fun and welcoming at Gustavia harbor. Made it to the villa and bought a mortgage payments worth of pizza from Bagatelle.

* I seriously have NO IDEA how any of them knew we were arriving...
Click to expand...

That's quite a story of "the old days"--thanks for sharing. Must be one of your fondest memories.
 
Our Family enjoyed a nice vacation on Montserrat during Christmas prior to the BIG eruption. We stayed in a nice Villa on the Northwest Coast. Very many fond memories were made. Great snorkeling, we were guided by an American Professor from the University, he showed us the best places. We hiked to the top of the Soufriere before it blew its top.
The locals were so kind and friendly. They traveled the streets singing Christmas carols on Christmas eve.
 
BND said:
That's quite a story of "the old days"--thanks for sharing. Must be one of your fondest memories.
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Great story for me, some others did not enjoy it as much! I just recalled another detail from the trip... the skipper of my boat was "Captain Pepsi." I asked if "Captain Coke" was too obvious!
 
dadto6 said:
Our Family enjoyed a nice vacation on Montserrat during Christmas prior to the BIG eruption. We stayed in a nice Villa on the Northwest Coast. Very many fond memories were made. Great snorkeling, we were guided by an American Professor from the University, he showed us the best places. We hiked to the top of the Soufriere before it blew its top.
The locals were so kind and friendly. They traveled the streets singing Christmas carols on Christmas eve.
Click to expand...

Definitely has been on my list :)!
 
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