Club Med Insider

The Silver Lining

Our family was scheduled to travel to Club Med in Cancun Mexico in April 2009. This was to be our first Club Med vacation.The excitement my wife and I felt was surpassed only by the anticipation of our 2 eight year old sons (we also were traveling with our 13 month old son). Snokeling and exploration of Mexican ruins had been the talk of our house for months. We arrived at the airport on the morning of our trip with 4 passports and one birth certificate, sure that within hours we would be enjoying the sun and sand of Club Med Mexico. Then, to our horror, the airline check in personnel told us that a passport was also required for our 13 month old due to changes in US travel regulations. We would not be allowed to travel with him outside of the US.
We tried to obtain an express passport for our son, but being a weekend, it would not be possible until late Monday at a cost of some $500. We contemplated splitting up, with my sons and I traveling to Mexico without my wife and baby. This idea was quickly discarded. Tears were rapidly falling from my son's eyes and I must admit, I felt a few fall as well. My wife suggested one last ditch effort. "Try calling Club Med and see if there's anything they can do." This turned out to be the silver lining we needed. When I reached Club Med the woman on the phone was very sympathetic to our plight. She suggested that it might be possible to change our trip to the Sandpiper Resort in Florida. Passports are not needed to travel within the US. She quickly got a manager in on the conversation. They set up a whole new vacation for us in about a half hour. We had new reservations at the Sandpiper, new plane tickets (the airline refused to refund our airfare so we had to purchase new tickets...more on this in a moment), and transfers from the airport to the resort. When we arrived at the Sandpiper, we were sure it would be a terrific vacation but were still disappointed it wasn't our Mexican trip. The GOs, food and activities at the Sandpiper made us forget all about Mexico. The GOs bent over backward for us when they heard our tale (although I believe they do this for everyone). The food was the best we've had on vacation anywhere. My sons and I had a blast on the battle boats and the river boats, and the shows were terrific. It was without a doubt everything and more that we could have wanted in our vacation. The folks at Club Med however were not done with us yet. They felt badly that the airline would not transfer our flights, so they issued us a credit toward another Club Med vacation to make up for our loss. They have won over our entire family, and we have shared this story far and wide. We can't wait to schedule our next Club Med vacation.