glennbo123
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 10, 2008
I'm with you -- those are great warthog pictures! I think I was only able to capture a picture of a backside sticking out of a burrow.
Enjoy your wedding!
Enjoy your wedding!
A Semi-Solo Weekend Escape - Sept 11 - Finished 2/7
- Thread starter onelilspark
- Start date
hstrickland
Way Down South...
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2009
The picture of the Luna Bar and water cracked me up....I eat those bars on a daily basis!!
And
for the low crowds!!! Holy cow! There wasn't anyone there! Wish my family could go in September, but just isn't an option with 3 kids in school....perhaps when we retire!
By the way...the next time you check this, you will probably be married! I hope everything goes beautifully! And enjoy your honeymoon! Can't wait to see pictures when y'all return!
Congratulations and safe travels!
Heather
And
for the low crowds!!! Holy cow! There wasn't anyone there! Wish my family could go in September, but just isn't an option with 3 kids in school....perhaps when we retire!By the way...the next time you check this, you will probably be married! I hope everything goes beautifully! And enjoy your honeymoon! Can't wait to see pictures when y'all return!
Congratulations and safe travels!
Heather
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
Hi everyone! We're waiting for our room to be ready in Rome, so I thought I'd share some photos!
Sneak peaks from our photographers:
Pompeii:
Sorrento, fresh cheese:
Athens:
Ephesus:
House of the Virgin Mary:
Santorini:
Sneak peaks from our photographers:
Pompeii:
Sorrento, fresh cheese:
Athens:
Ephesus:
House of the Virgin Mary:
Santorini:
ChildAtHeart82
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2010
Beautiful pictures! 
hstrickland
Way Down South...
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2009
Thanks for sharing your pictures! Can't wait for you to start your TR
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
Thanks for all the kind words everyone! I promise that soon I'll get back to my regularly scheduled trip report (and also share the link to our Honeymoon report on Cruise Critic!) But I want to try to reach as many people as possible, so I wanted to share this with everyone.
Our experience with Delta:
6am October 30: Flight canceled from ROC to JFK(snowstorm the night before at JFK, plane never came to Rochester.) When I called, we found out that they had rebooked us on a flight that would allow 45 (!) minutes to transfer to an International flight…in a different terminal that would require going outside and through security again. So we worked with the agent to rebook us on a flight out of Syracuse that would allow 2 hours to get to that flight.
Afternoon October 30: Flight from SYR to JFK is delayed…and delayed…and delayed for a mechanical error. We know we’ll miss our connection, so we talk to the gate agent who can’t do anything besides get us into Rome too late to make our cruise (from Syracuse to Detroit to Paris to Rome) since there were no seats in economy on the last flight out. Note: there were Business class seats available. We didn’t care if we got Business class or had to sit in someone’s lap, but *there were seats on the plane.* So I called Customer Care to see if there was anything we can do. He upgraded us and issued the reservation for 2 seats. Spoke with the gate agent and she was able to print a new itinerary for us that had our seat assignments printed with the word “confirmed” next to it. We were to check in at the Alitalia counter in Terminal 1 when we got to JFK and they would print our boarding passes.
Evening October 30: Once we get to JFK, we make our way to Terminal 1. We take our itinerary to the Alitalia counter…and they don’t have our reservation in the system, it didn’t transfer properly, so we needed to speak with the Delta agent further down in the terminal. So we head down to the Delta Counter. We spoke with the agent there that told us whoever we talked to on the phone shouldn’t have upgraded us. Ok, fine. But it said on the piece of paper (that had Delta’s logo on it) that we had confirmed seats on the plane. She was telling us that the only thing she could do was to put is on a wait list. To us, that was unacceptable. So we stood there and argued because we had a document that showed confirmed seats. In the end, we played the Honeymoon card and she suddenly found 2 seats on the plane for us (in coach obviously) after 30 minutes.
At one point, it was blamed on the fact that Alitalia was operating the flight instead of Delta. That’s nice and all, but we booked with Delta. Not Alitalia. We paid Delta, so Delta was going to be who was responsible. I want to stress that we were upset that we were told we had confirmed seats and didn’t, NOT over the lack of upgrade. We did tweet about our frustrations, to which we actually had a prompt response from @DeltaAssist who gave us each $75 vouchers for Delta. The flight itself was fine and we made it to Rome with our luggage.
The Trip Home
November 9: We receive an email from Delta “It’s Time to Check In For Your Flight!” with our itinerary and selected seats (32 E & G…bulkhead in attempt to give Geoff more leg room…selected back when we booked the flight, something like 9 months ago.) I attempted to check-in online, but it redirected to Alitalia, which was entirely in Italian, so we decided to just check-in when we got to the counter.
Noon November 10: We arrived at the airport and attempted to check-in at the Alitalia counter. To which we were told that our reservation was not in their system and we didn’t have seats. Even though we had picked them out, and had an email stating what our seats were. Luckily, I had documents (and the email) with me that showed our confirmation number. The lady at the counter was very patient with us as we became visibly upset (it was like déjà vu) and got us seats on the plane. The seats were across the aisle from each other and at the very back of the plane. Clearly, they had our money since she didn’t ask for another payment…but we didn’t have seats on the plane.
Evening November 10: We arrive in JFK for our flight back to Rochester. We had to recheck our bags at a special counter right outside Customs when we came back from JFK. There was a Delta desk and an Alitalia desk. Even though we were connecting to a Delta flight, the agents would not take our bags, we needed to wait for the Alitalia agent to come. As we were going through security around 7pm, the flight was listed on time…actually, technically they had sent us an email stating the flight was now leaving at 9:01pm instead of 9pm. As we were eating dinner (I’d say around 7:30/8pm) another email came to my inbox stating the flight was delayed. A little detective work on my part (thank you Flight Stats) and I discovered our plane was coming in from Chicago and it was late leaving there. It was supposed to take off before we even got to security. So the email during dinner came in quite late. They also changed the gate from 23 to 18…then back to 25, which happened to be the same pattern of gate changes when my flight with Delta last month was delayed. No real complaint there, more of an interesting thing to note.
When we got on the plane, we discovered that the flight had not been catered, so there was not enough water for everyone on board. In the end, not that inconvenient as it was only a 45 minute flight, it just points to the lack of preparedness on Delta’s end. We also needed a Tug to push us back from the gate, which wasn’t there. When it finally showed up 20 minutes after the door to the plane had been closed, we were missing a qualified driver for it. Of which there was only 1 available according to the pilot. Seriously? Did they not know they had a plane scheduled? Our pilot and flight attendants seemed confused and frustrated themselves. Another 20 minutes later, we were finally being pushed back from the gate.
Wrap Up
I just got off the phone with Customer Care at Delta with whom I went through this entire saga. At this point, we would never fly Delta again and I let her know that short of a free flight (or a full refund of this flight) to give them another chance, there was not much that could change my mind. I also let her know that I would advise all of my friends, family members, coworkers, really anyone who will listen, of our experience. That is what this write up is for as their response was to try to give us another $75 voucher each. Which I assume couldn’t be combined, so we’d just have to spend more money, time, and stressful energy I’m sure, on Delta.
Many of our problems do occur on other airlines, such as delays and cancelations. I fly often enough (actually, if I would have just flown Delta instead of the Star Alliance partners, I could have an elite status with Delta) to recognize that these things happen. I also fly often enough to know that when you confirm a seat with a customer, you should follow through and that is our main complaint. It is unacceptable and inexcusable to tell a customer that they have confirmed seats only to turn around and say “just kidding.”
I may complain about companies, but I will also sing their praises when they get it right. I very rarely ask for anything when something goes wrong and if I do complain, it is to let the company know what could have been better. However, this situation deserved special attention. Quite frankly, we don’t really know how Delta is still in business with these practices. We will never fly Delta again and we hope you won’t either.
Our experience with Delta:
6am October 30: Flight canceled from ROC to JFK(snowstorm the night before at JFK, plane never came to Rochester.) When I called, we found out that they had rebooked us on a flight that would allow 45 (!) minutes to transfer to an International flight…in a different terminal that would require going outside and through security again. So we worked with the agent to rebook us on a flight out of Syracuse that would allow 2 hours to get to that flight.
Afternoon October 30: Flight from SYR to JFK is delayed…and delayed…and delayed for a mechanical error. We know we’ll miss our connection, so we talk to the gate agent who can’t do anything besides get us into Rome too late to make our cruise (from Syracuse to Detroit to Paris to Rome) since there were no seats in economy on the last flight out. Note: there were Business class seats available. We didn’t care if we got Business class or had to sit in someone’s lap, but *there were seats on the plane.* So I called Customer Care to see if there was anything we can do. He upgraded us and issued the reservation for 2 seats. Spoke with the gate agent and she was able to print a new itinerary for us that had our seat assignments printed with the word “confirmed” next to it. We were to check in at the Alitalia counter in Terminal 1 when we got to JFK and they would print our boarding passes.
Evening October 30: Once we get to JFK, we make our way to Terminal 1. We take our itinerary to the Alitalia counter…and they don’t have our reservation in the system, it didn’t transfer properly, so we needed to speak with the Delta agent further down in the terminal. So we head down to the Delta Counter. We spoke with the agent there that told us whoever we talked to on the phone shouldn’t have upgraded us. Ok, fine. But it said on the piece of paper (that had Delta’s logo on it) that we had confirmed seats on the plane. She was telling us that the only thing she could do was to put is on a wait list. To us, that was unacceptable. So we stood there and argued because we had a document that showed confirmed seats. In the end, we played the Honeymoon card and she suddenly found 2 seats on the plane for us (in coach obviously) after 30 minutes.
At one point, it was blamed on the fact that Alitalia was operating the flight instead of Delta. That’s nice and all, but we booked with Delta. Not Alitalia. We paid Delta, so Delta was going to be who was responsible. I want to stress that we were upset that we were told we had confirmed seats and didn’t, NOT over the lack of upgrade. We did tweet about our frustrations, to which we actually had a prompt response from @DeltaAssist who gave us each $75 vouchers for Delta. The flight itself was fine and we made it to Rome with our luggage.
The Trip Home
November 9: We receive an email from Delta “It’s Time to Check In For Your Flight!” with our itinerary and selected seats (32 E & G…bulkhead in attempt to give Geoff more leg room…selected back when we booked the flight, something like 9 months ago.) I attempted to check-in online, but it redirected to Alitalia, which was entirely in Italian, so we decided to just check-in when we got to the counter.
Noon November 10: We arrived at the airport and attempted to check-in at the Alitalia counter. To which we were told that our reservation was not in their system and we didn’t have seats. Even though we had picked them out, and had an email stating what our seats were. Luckily, I had documents (and the email) with me that showed our confirmation number. The lady at the counter was very patient with us as we became visibly upset (it was like déjà vu) and got us seats on the plane. The seats were across the aisle from each other and at the very back of the plane. Clearly, they had our money since she didn’t ask for another payment…but we didn’t have seats on the plane.
Evening November 10: We arrive in JFK for our flight back to Rochester. We had to recheck our bags at a special counter right outside Customs when we came back from JFK. There was a Delta desk and an Alitalia desk. Even though we were connecting to a Delta flight, the agents would not take our bags, we needed to wait for the Alitalia agent to come. As we were going through security around 7pm, the flight was listed on time…actually, technically they had sent us an email stating the flight was now leaving at 9:01pm instead of 9pm. As we were eating dinner (I’d say around 7:30/8pm) another email came to my inbox stating the flight was delayed. A little detective work on my part (thank you Flight Stats) and I discovered our plane was coming in from Chicago and it was late leaving there. It was supposed to take off before we even got to security. So the email during dinner came in quite late. They also changed the gate from 23 to 18…then back to 25, which happened to be the same pattern of gate changes when my flight with Delta last month was delayed. No real complaint there, more of an interesting thing to note.
When we got on the plane, we discovered that the flight had not been catered, so there was not enough water for everyone on board. In the end, not that inconvenient as it was only a 45 minute flight, it just points to the lack of preparedness on Delta’s end. We also needed a Tug to push us back from the gate, which wasn’t there. When it finally showed up 20 minutes after the door to the plane had been closed, we were missing a qualified driver for it. Of which there was only 1 available according to the pilot. Seriously? Did they not know they had a plane scheduled? Our pilot and flight attendants seemed confused and frustrated themselves. Another 20 minutes later, we were finally being pushed back from the gate.
Wrap Up
I just got off the phone with Customer Care at Delta with whom I went through this entire saga. At this point, we would never fly Delta again and I let her know that short of a free flight (or a full refund of this flight) to give them another chance, there was not much that could change my mind. I also let her know that I would advise all of my friends, family members, coworkers, really anyone who will listen, of our experience. That is what this write up is for as their response was to try to give us another $75 voucher each. Which I assume couldn’t be combined, so we’d just have to spend more money, time, and stressful energy I’m sure, on Delta.
Many of our problems do occur on other airlines, such as delays and cancelations. I fly often enough (actually, if I would have just flown Delta instead of the Star Alliance partners, I could have an elite status with Delta) to recognize that these things happen. I also fly often enough to know that when you confirm a seat with a customer, you should follow through and that is our main complaint. It is unacceptable and inexcusable to tell a customer that they have confirmed seats only to turn around and say “just kidding.”
I may complain about companies, but I will also sing their praises when they get it right. I very rarely ask for anything when something goes wrong and if I do complain, it is to let the company know what could have been better. However, this situation deserved special attention. Quite frankly, we don’t really know how Delta is still in business with these practices. We will never fly Delta again and we hope you won’t either.
jedijill
Chiefs fan living in Bronco country
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2005
I feel your pain with Delta. I probably won't fly them again even after being a loyal customer for international flights for the last 15 years. Last year on my Barcelona flight, somehow my "confirmed" window seat ended up as the middle seat in the middle 3 of the plane. Of course, the flight was completely full....so nothing they could or would do. I didn't even get offered a credit.
I'm sorry your experience was so bad especially for your honeymoon trip. Hope the cruise was fantastic!
Jill in CO
I'm sorry your experience was so bad especially for your honeymoon trip. Hope the cruise was fantastic!
Jill in CO
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
jedijill: I can't sing enough praises for the cruise and I will, promise! I just had to get all the anger out of my system first so I can give it justice!
I think the lesson in all of this is when Delta says "confirmed seat" they really mean, "you may or may not have a seat at all."
I think the lesson in all of this is when Delta says "confirmed seat" they really mean, "you may or may not have a seat at all."
KatMark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2007
Kelly, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. It should happen under NO circumstances, but to happen on the start of your honeymoon. 
I can't wait to hear all about the cruise, etc.
We've never flown Delta, but after that story, we never will (I like United).
I can't wait to hear all about the cruise, etc.
We've never flown Delta, but after that story, we never will (I like United).
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
Kelly, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. It should happen under NO circumstances, but to happen on the start of your honeymoon.
I can't wait to hear all about the cruise, etc.
We've never flown Delta, but after that story, we never will (I like United).
It was really awful. Check the next post for the link to my Honeymoon Cruise Review!
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
Honeymoon Cruise Review is up!
You can check it out over on Cruise Critic, here's the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1516705
You can check it out over on Cruise Critic, here's the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1516705
glennbo123
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 10, 2008
Thanks for posting the link Kelly! I zoomed through, and will have to go back sometime and read more closely, but it looked like an awesome trip. Congrats on the wedding; I trust it was an amazing day. How's it feel to be married?
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
Thanks for posting the link Kelly! I zoomed through, and will have to go back sometime and read more closely, but it looked like an awesome trip. Congrats on the wedding; I trust it was an amazing day. How's it feel to be married?
I really don't feel any different. The most emotion I feel about it is annoyance at trying to change my name on everything
It's also super weird to say "husband." I'm not used to that yet. It makes me feel funny to say husband. Mainly because I think to myself, "am I really old enough to be married?" since most days I feel like I'm still 12.The cruise was amazing. I can't wait to take another Celebrity cruise, I'd really recommend it (maybe not for kids as it was a little subdued, but it was so relaxing!)
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
UPDATE: We were encouraged to take our problems with Delta further up in the organization. They have given us $300 vouchers each. We will be giving Delta another try as it should be sufficient to cover the cost of a flight that we would normally take.
I will of course update whether or not we feel they redeem themselves on that next flight.
(ETA: A flight to Orlando with Delta is somewhere around $270...guess where we're going!)
I will of course update whether or not we feel they redeem themselves on that next flight.
(ETA: A flight to Orlando with Delta is somewhere around $270...guess where we're going!)
ChildAtHeart82
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2010
That's so frustrating to have that much trouble with your flights. I don't complain much either but that would have sent me over the edge. To tell someone that they have confirmed seats and then not come through is ridiculous. It's nice to see that Delta eventually came through with reasonable vouchers. I hope the next trip goes more smoothly!
onelilspark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2008
Now back to our regularly scheduled Trip Report...
I just grabbed the bus from AK to Epcot.
Normally I don't ride Spaceship Earth right when I come into Epcot, but it was late enough in the day that it was a true walk-on.
I love this girl's tights:
We learned while at the Vatican that Michelangelo didn't paint the Sistine Chapel's ceiling on his back, he did it standing up. So the ride is wrong!
I also noticed that Rome was burning as smelly as it used to. It was nice to be able to breathe normally through that room!
I started to head over towards the Land pavilion to see if there was any chance of riding Soarin'. Nope. The wait was pretty long and all the FPs were distributed.
Instead, I headed left towards Figment! He's my favorite
It was just pouring when I left:
I put my poncho on and waited under the overhang until it let up a bit. Then I decided to make a run for it and headed over to the Seas pavilion...I figured I was already wet
On a side note: we've had our ponchos for years. We have a mix of clear and yellow ponchos. It always warms my heart to see people in the yellow ponchos because I know they're as crazy as I am!
When I was done with the ride, it slowed to only a light drizzle, so not too bad. I decided to head over to World Showcase and do a little strolling. It was originally my goal to find Bridesmaids gifts in the countries...but I failed miserably. I still enjoyed browsing though
I started my tour with Mexico:
In Germany I managed to avoid getting any caramel. I was proud of myself.
I didn't take too many pictures around the WS since I was mostly just browsing the stores.
I caught the last performance of the Voices of Liberty for the day, who I just love.
I also caught some of the Japanese drummers:
Around that time I was starting to get hungry for dinner. So I did what any normal person would do and I got a drink from France:
I also went around and tried to get a walk up for 1, since it was still drizzly, I didn't really want an outdoor QS. No dice. Unless I wanted to wait until 8pm, which I didn't. So I decided to stick with my original plan and got QS from the new Mexican one. I'm so glad I did! It was delicious! I also grabbed a passion fruit margarita. I always think I like passion fruit, but I really don't, so I didn't finish it
After dinner, I was exhausted and tired of being in the rain, and since I was by myself, I made the executive decision to head back to the hotel. Not before I stopped in MouseGear obviously.
Being on the monorail line meant I had one more ride before back to my room!
This was such a fun way to end the evening! Night of Joy was happening at the MK that night, so I was glad I was taking the resort monorail instead of the express. Lots of teenagers singing and being noisy.
I did see this as we went through the MK, which was interesting, but not entirely surprising considering it was 2 days before the 10 year anniversary of 9-11.
Up Next: A relaxing evening at the Contemporary & Bay Lake Towers!
I just grabbed the bus from AK to Epcot.
Normally I don't ride Spaceship Earth right when I come into Epcot, but it was late enough in the day that it was a true walk-on.
I love this girl's tights:
We learned while at the Vatican that Michelangelo didn't paint the Sistine Chapel's ceiling on his back, he did it standing up. So the ride is wrong!
I also noticed that Rome was burning as smelly as it used to. It was nice to be able to breathe normally through that room!
I started to head over towards the Land pavilion to see if there was any chance of riding Soarin'. Nope. The wait was pretty long and all the FPs were distributed.
Instead, I headed left towards Figment! He's my favorite
It was just pouring when I left:
I put my poncho on and waited under the overhang until it let up a bit. Then I decided to make a run for it and headed over to the Seas pavilion...I figured I was already wet
On a side note: we've had our ponchos for years. We have a mix of clear and yellow ponchos. It always warms my heart to see people in the yellow ponchos because I know they're as crazy as I am!
When I was done with the ride, it slowed to only a light drizzle, so not too bad. I decided to head over to World Showcase and do a little strolling. It was originally my goal to find Bridesmaids gifts in the countries...but I failed miserably. I still enjoyed browsing though
I started my tour with Mexico:
In Germany I managed to avoid getting any caramel. I was proud of myself.
I didn't take too many pictures around the WS since I was mostly just browsing the stores.
I caught the last performance of the Voices of Liberty for the day, who I just love.
I also caught some of the Japanese drummers:
Around that time I was starting to get hungry for dinner. So I did what any normal person would do and I got a drink from France:
I also went around and tried to get a walk up for 1, since it was still drizzly, I didn't really want an outdoor QS. No dice. Unless I wanted to wait until 8pm, which I didn't. So I decided to stick with my original plan and got QS from the new Mexican one. I'm so glad I did! It was delicious! I also grabbed a passion fruit margarita. I always think I like passion fruit, but I really don't, so I didn't finish it
After dinner, I was exhausted and tired of being in the rain, and since I was by myself, I made the executive decision to head back to the hotel. Not before I stopped in MouseGear obviously.
Being on the monorail line meant I had one more ride before back to my room!
This was such a fun way to end the evening! Night of Joy was happening at the MK that night, so I was glad I was taking the resort monorail instead of the express. Lots of teenagers singing and being noisy.
I did see this as we went through the MK, which was interesting, but not entirely surprising considering it was 2 days before the 10 year anniversary of 9-11.
Up Next: A relaxing evening at the Contemporary & Bay Lake Towers!
KatMark
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2007
Great update, Kelly. I love the photopass pics of you in front of Spaceship Earth.
We have those yellow Mickey Mouse ponchos (I think we still have three of them). We tend not to bring them because they are so heavy in the luggage and on us, and use $1.00 store ones and and then toss them. But I use my Mickey Mouse one if we go to the zoo at home or something.
Have a great Thanksgiving as a newly married woman.
We have those yellow Mickey Mouse ponchos (I think we still have three of them). We tend not to bring them because they are so heavy in the luggage and on us, and use $1.00 store ones and and then toss them. But I use my Mickey Mouse one if we go to the zoo at home or something.
Have a great Thanksgiving as a newly married woman.
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