The Cruise that Wasn't {Part 2}

So, evidently, the cruise wasn't going to happen. We drove another hour back to Ft. Lauderdale, kind of vacillating between shock and outrage. We kept trying to get over it and change the subject, but then one of us would suddenly turn to the other and say "I can't believe they didn't TELL us beforehand..."

The cruise had been scheduled for months. I think Robert bought the package back in February, and then it took a long time getting my passport updated, but it had definitely been scheduled for about 3 months in advance. And the worst part is, while he was scheduling it, Robert TOLD the cruise representative on the phone that I was pregnant. "Okay, great!" he replied. Not "how far along will she be?" or "Oh, that's great, but by the way, we have this policy..." Not a word. Then, once it was all scheduled, they sent us some paperwork detailing all the things we would need, the extra fees we would be charged, the papers we would need to get on the ship or if we were going to bring our children.... Guess what that paperwork didn't include? ANY mention of their pregnancy policy whatsoever!

I understand the policy (now that it's been explained to me), and I don't really have a problem with it. See, after 23 weeks, babies born early have a lower but very real chance of survival. If a pregnant women were to go into premature labor and have her baby early, they don't have the neo-natal facilities or resources to properly take care of it. It doesn't have a helicopter pad, either, so it would take longer to get the woman and her premature baby back to the mainland to get to a hospital, etc. I understand that they are afraid of getting sued and don't want to deal with it. I get it. And I would have had no problem with this stupid policy if SOMEONE, ANYONE had bothered to mention it to us BEFORE we tried to set foot on the ship!! We would have scheduled the cruise for 3 weeks earlier and everything would have been fine. But...BUT...

Back in Ft. Lauderdale, we found ourselves being shuffled back and forth between the "Welcome Center," the cruise line phone representative, and the hotel staff, none of whom seemed to want to claim us. We were starting to feel like Philip Nolan, the fictional character from The Man Without a Country! Our plane didn't leave until Sunday morning, so we were here for another three nights no matter what. We went to get some lunch at a local seafood place while waiting for the whole situation to get straightened out so we could get another hotel room.

Right next door to the seafood restaurant, we spotted this:
 

Did you know in an alternate universe, I'm a notary public? ;-) When you have such a strange name as I do, you always get excited to see it in random places. It's even spelled correctly! Also, the seafood place, Flannigans, was good. Robert was very happy with his shrimp linguine, and I even ate smoked fish dip and clam chowder of my own free will and enjoyed them. (I'm not a big seafood person, in case you can't tell!)

Back at the hotel, we FINALLY got our room, and went and fell into bed and took a four hour nap, trying to catch up from a night of little sleep and a day that held frustration from start to finish! Woke up feeling better, grabbed a quick dinner at the hotel, and took a short walk to buy some water bottles. Then we girded up our loins and began planning Our Vacation: Take 2.  Robert suggested we take the car the next day and drive all the way down through the Florida Keys, stopping at various interesting sights along the way. We resolved that no amount of aggravation from the cruise line or the "Welcome Center" was going to prevent us from having a terrific vacation after all!

Our plans and resolution being made, we went back to sleep. Can you tell we're parents with small children??

To be continued...