Ever miss the boat?

Why it is a good idea to buy insurance or air through the cruise-lines...



One hundred and forty-five passengers missed their cruise Sunday night when Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas left San Juan, Puerto Rico, early to avoid Hurricane Irene.
The ship was scheduled to depart at 8:30 p.m., but the cruise line says port officials began to limit harbor traffic at 12:30 p.m. that day, forcing the vessel to leave three hours early. That evening the storm lashed the island, knocking out power to 800,000 homes.

Of the 145 guests left behind, 15 of them had purchased their airfare through the cruise line and were given hotel accommodations Sunday and Monday night, and flown to Aruba on Tuesday to catch up with their seven-day cruise. The other 130 were left on their own.
"Independent guests were advised of hotel availability in the area, but the expense was on them given that it was a weather-related event," Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez said in a statement.
One passenger, Nicole Washington of Baltimore, said when she and her family arrived at the docks Sunday around 5:30 p.m., the gates were locked and the ship gone, she told  a CBS affiliate.

This item was written by Larry Bleiberg, former travel editor of Coastal Living magazine and The Dallas Morning News. Bleiberg is serving as Guest Editor of The Cruise Log while USA TODAY Cruise Editor Gene Sloan is away


Ron Trimper 
The Way To Go Travel
Kansas City MO 64113
www.thewaytogotravel.com