so after hubby spent several hours on the phone yesterday evening trying to figure out what had happened with our cruise and trying to correct it, things looked pretty dismal.  i even went ahead and let my boss know that i would probably be working next week after all.  the cruise we were supposed to do was now full and the cruise line informed us that they would put us on a wait-list but that there was only a 5% chance of us getting on, which was what the travel agent had told us as well. 

 in an effort to turn his wife’s frown upside down, hubby spent his lunch break today trying to find an alternate cruise for this weekend.  pretty much everything is booked.  i think he found a cabin on a different cruise line out of new orleans but it was single bunk beds.  yeh, not for our anniversary.  then he tried one on the cruise line we were supposed to be going with out of tampa but they only had a super swanky cabin for something like $2k more than the cruise we lost.  nope. 

BUT… as hubby was getting ready to hang up, they told him that he should try the cruise out of mobile.  WAIT A SECOND!  that’s the cruise we were supposed to be on that was fully booked and we were wait-listed!  it was more expensive than when we had originally booked and hubby hung up with the cruise line and called the travel agent to give them a chance to make things right for us.  they were able to book the cabin for us at the higher rate and then reluctantly offered some onboard credit to make up for some of it – of course that was after hubby kept reminding him that we wouldn’t be going through all this if he had done things correctly the first time around.  i still don’t think they’ve done enough to fix things but hubby is in charge of that.  and i’ll definitely be posting some reviews of their agency when we return.  like i’ve said, i have no problem with someone or a business making a mistake but they sure as heck ought to take responsibility and make it right. 

in any case, out of a pure stroke of right time/right place, my husband managed to get us on the fully booked cruise that we thought we were going to be on to begin with.  i immediately started the online check-in process and it appears that we’re good to go.  i’m not going to get overly excited until we’re on the ship, in our room, and pulling away from port.  right now, i’m still fairly irked that they managed to make the most relaxing possible vacation into a huge stress, but i’m cautiously optimistic that we will be at sea and sipping champagne for our anniversary.

*UPDATE – 24may2011*
so i got a call from the agent’s boss the day after this post.  he wanted to be sure that we had been able to do the online check-in with the cruise line and that everything had worked out right.  he also asked for our mailing address and stated that he wanted to send us a token of apology.  i thanked him for his effort and calmly mentioned that i was just relieved that our vacation hadn’t been spoiled by such a frustrating experience.  i stated that i was still disappointed that we not only had to go through all the stress but that we also ended up paying a good bit more than we thought we were spending when we originally booked this weeks ago.  i was not confrontational and i was not emotional, i simply stated my feelings quietly and courteously.  at that point, the man stated that he was going to send us a check for the difference.  that’s it.  that’s all that they had to do… you made a mistake = you make it right.  i expressed to him our sincere appreciation for stepping up and correcting the problem.  of course, they are lucky that hubby’s diligence got us back on the cruise because i don’t think there would have been any making it right if we had lost our vacation altogether.  in any case, i just wanted to tell the rest of the story and let you all know that it was rectified.  when we got home and i finally checked the mail several days later, i found a check as well as a box of gourmet brownies with a card of apology.  i will not be providing any negative reviews of this agency.