In terms of planning a cruise, there are loads of errors which you could make. Nevertheless, there may be one mistake that each passenger tries their finest to keep away from: lacking the ship.

Sadly, this can be a state of affairs that influencer Heidi Could Yeager not too long ago discovered.

Yeager and her household have been on their solution to catch their Salt Lake Metropolis to Miami flight when unexpected occasions prevented them from making it to embarkation day.

As an alternative of a seven-night Royal Caribbean cruise onboard Oasis of the Seas, the household was left searching for methods to get to Florida.

Salt Lake Metropolis to Miami

The unique plan was to fly from Salt Lake Metropolis at 11:57 p.m., arrive in Miami at 6:30 a.m., and have loads of time earlier than the cruise left at 3:30 p.m.

Nevertheless, the flight was delayed till after 2 a.m. due to extreme climate across the nation. Yeager calculated they’d nonetheless have sufficient time to board the ship regardless of the setback.

They arrived on the airport 2 hours early, giving them sufficient time to park, take a shuttle, and drop their baggage off. They didn’t know that the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) safety checkpoint closes at 1 a.m. in SLC. The household of 5 arrived at safety 5 minutes after 1. Shocked to search out the TSA closed, they instantly raised their concern to American Airways (AA) whose response was lower than reassuring.

American Airways didn’t know that the TSA had closed both.

Nevertheless, the Salt Lake City (SLC) airport website signifies, “The primary TSA safety screening checkpoint is positioned on stage two of the terminal at Salt Lake Metropolis Worldwide Airport. The checkpoint is open from 3:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.”

The household finally determined to fly to Dallas the following day and await a connecting flight, however no last-minute seats opened up. After spending the day in Dallas, that they had no selection however to fly again dwelling. 

Yeager used her Instagram reel to share her expertise. “Due to the disconnect between American Airways and the TSA in Salt Lake, we missed our flight which meant we truly missed our cruise. It was very, very heartbreaking… American Airways and the TSA ought to have communicated and made certain that they nonetheless saved it open since there was a delayed flight and we must always have been capable of get on,” she stated.

Was there something Yeager may have finished to keep away from or decrease the impression of such an unlucky chain of occasions?

Right here’s what we advocate:

• Arriving a minimum of one full day earlier than the cruise leaves for an additional time buffer
• Buy travel insurance. Whereas journey insurance coverage wouldn’t have prevented the missed connection, it could have considerably mitigated the monetary and emotional impression.
• Checking what time airport safety closes, particularly you probably have a red-eye flight
• Reserving flights by means of the cruise line (within the occasion of delays, the cruise operator will make preparations so you’ll be able to be a part of the voyage at its first port of name)

Yeager has booked one other cruise for her household, scheduled to go away subsequent month. We contacted the influencer for extra particulars however haven’t heard again.

Featured photograph by way of IG/@everydayismagic