Disembarkation

Well it is over! I am in fact writing this the next day.  Let me try and jog my memory on how the day played out.

We don’t have a flight till much later (1:30) so we request a late disembarkation.

The alarm goes off at 7 am and we shower and pack up the last few items.

We make sure to be out of the cabin prior to 8 am as noted in the disembarkation information.  The stewards all need to work very hard to get all the cabins cleaned and ready for turn around. 

It is amazing how they pull it all off getting every cabin ready within a few hours.  Just think of a hotel that would have to do that.  It just would never happen!  So I am impressed.

I suggest the Allegro dining room for breakfast.  It closes at 8:30 today so we high tail it down there.  We head to the Aft elevator bank on our floor. We know the elevators will be busy so when Bernie gets one he rolls on his roller bag and I take the stairs down to deck 6.. 

It is relatively quiet in here.  I order the scrambled eggs with asparagus (the special) and we reflect on the cruise and how sad it is to leave.  But our future is exciting and we are looking forward to the rest of the year - stay tuned.

It is now around 8:30 am and they announce that they are ahead of schedule.  I am not surprised since there is only one other ship in port with us.

We sit in the International Cafe with Margaret and Liz (The Moms). Soon Dylan joins us for a last goodbye.

We run into Cruise Staff Nathalie who has some news.  She is heading to the Island Princess for a few weeks as Cruise Director.  This is a big step for her.  Her first time in this position.  It is only temporary but it is a step in the right direction and we are very proud of her.

We end up leaving the beautiful Royal Princess at 9:30 and we are in a taxi within 15 minutes.

At the airport after a short taxi ride and we are checking in.

Home by 9:00 pm - midnight in Florida.  

Thanks for following along.

Seattle - Disembarkation

Another cruise is done.  We wake and know it is time to get back to reality.

We shower and pack up the last of the items.  

We have chosen to do the earliest walk off and were assigned the first group at 7:30.  

I shower while Bernie heads upstairs to get a small bite to eat and bring back some fruit for me to have in the cabin.

We leave the cabin at 7:30 and thank Enrique for all his hard work this week.  We always leave the auto tips in place and we have tipped him extra three times this week.

The Platinum/Elite Lounge is Da Vinci Dining room.  We figure it will be rather quiet since there are not many that fall into that category.  In fact we are first to arrive.  But a couple who walk in behind us grab a paper and head to a table.  Only to come back a minute later and wonder about breakfast. Seems they think they are serving breakfast here this morning.  Riz (Captain Circle Host) directs them to the Botticelli Dining room, which can be confusing for some.

We chat with Riz for a minute when she asks us which group we are and we say Walkoff 1 and she says "oh you are clear to go, we are already on Walkoff 3".

Bernie heads up one floor with the suitcases in the elevator and I take the stairs up to the Promenade where we are binged out and off the ship.

We already have our customs form filled out and our passports in hand.  It is about a minute to see a customs agent and we are out the door.  In all it took maybe 5 minutes to get off the ship and get out of the port building - a record for us I think.

Prior to today we sent an email to Jan and Michael who we stayed with the night before the cruise that we would be off around 8. Well it is about 7:40 and we make our way to the end of the island where pick ups are.

Jan and Michael show up right at 8 and a quick drive to their place and we are in our car and heading North at 8;15.  We are home at 10:40 and the bags are emptied and the wash is in.

On reflection this was a great trip.  I loved being able to spend my birthday at sea.  I was spoiled and very moved by how many people helped me celebrate.

The weather was the best too.

The ship is looking great, the crew are still amazing, the passenger I really enjoyed.  I did have reservations at first about all the kids and families but in the end they were very polite and excited to just be on a cruise.

Overall this cruise was smoother than the one we did in May that was a reposistioning from LA to Vancouver.  Maybe because we are mid season in Alaska with repeated itinerary.  The crew know how it flows and many of the passengers are new it made us remember why we love to cruise.

Thank you Crown Princess for another wonderful trip.  Till we meet again.  Stay tuned, we have seven booked.