PHOTO: Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas visits Venice. (photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)
This is one of those "pleasant problems" that travel life sometimes throws at us.
Come home to a snowy, snarled mess (albeit coming back on time as scheduled), or spend one more day of paradise (albeit perhaps throwing your schedule off)?
That's what passengers on a cruise ship are facing today, though the decision was already made for them, the Associated Press reported.
Travelers aboard the Royal Caribbean International Grandeur of the Seas, due back in port at Baltimore on Sunday, will spend another day at sea and not return until Monday. With the entire eastern seaboard getting socked by an historic winter snowstorm, the Maryland Department of Transportation said Friday that the port would not be ready to accept the ship.
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The Grandeur of the Seas left Baltimore last Saturday for a cruise to the Bahamas. With more than 18 inches of snow having been forecasted for the area, not only is the port unavailable on Saturday or Sunday, but roads are imperiled, airports are closed and other modes of transportation aren't available.
That, of course, also creates problems for passengers trying to re-book flights home from one of the three area airports, either Baltimore-Washington International, Washington-Dulles or Washington-Reagan.
Meg Ryan of Hamilton, New Jersey, said she and fellow passengers found out Friday of the postponement from the cruise line's website.
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"I was not totally surprised and, frankly, happy to be delayed," Ryan wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "First, it is an extra day of vacation, but more importantly, safety comes first and travel Sunday would be difficult, if not impossible."
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