I agree with the advice to allow extra time, even a full day, for very time sensitive connections such as a cruise ship. However, the advice to get off the aircraft is less clear cut. You are very much in the hands of Flight Nazi's and you are often prevented from doing so, under threat of criminal action for failing to obey the instructions of a flight nazi. Remember this is the airline that threw a woman and her infant child off the plane because he was saying "bye bye plane". The delay started as an operational delay, but became a weather delay as time went on. Even the most tenuous link to the weather is grabbed hold of by the airlines. You might have a reasonable chance in small claims court, especially as Continental did in fact provide provide hotels and seems to have tacitly accepted the delay was not entirely weather related.
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