Day Eight - Disembarkation

Homeward bound today! Yes, I say that with enthusiasm. I LOVE vacation, but I also love getting home.

We docked at 6:00 am.

One of the things I love about Royal is that they don't force you out of your room by a certain time. We didn't have to lug our carryon luggage with us as we all headed up to the Windjammer for our last breakfast. The Windjammer was crowded this morning, it took us awhile to find a seat. We then took a last walk around the ship before heading to our assigned area for disembarking.

We were in Group 18 scheduled to meet in the Coral Theater at 9:00 am to get off the ship.

We had a 12:38 pm flight out of San Juan airport. 

Earlier in the week we went down to Guest Relations to inquire about getting off the ship early because of our flight time. While it wasn't 11:00 am or before, it was still not late in the afternoon. We were assured that we would not have any issues and EVERYONE would be off the ship by 10:00 am.

When we got our Group 18 assignment I went back down to Guest Relations again to double check that we would have enough time to get off the ship, go through customs and get to the airport in time. Again I was told that we had plenty of time.

We headed down to the Coral Theater a little before 9:00 am. They were on group twelve and currently were not letting anyone else off the ship because the customs line was backed up. The staff did not know when things would start moving again.

A drop of sweat fell from my brow.

9:15 am we are still waiting.

9:20 am we chatted with Daniel from the activities staff (he was in charge of the theater). We told him about our flight and we wanted to get off with the next group. He reluctantly told us we could, but most likely our luggage would not be out yet. We told him we would take our chances.

Finally at 9:35 am they started letting people off again. We were only delayed about thirty minutes, but it was a long thirty minutes (and I like to get to the airport early!).

And guess what? Our luggage was sitting there waiting for us. A porter quickly found us and we got in the customs line. Which was long. But it moved pretty quickly.

End result? We made it to the airport with a little time to spare. It was just a little stressful not being allowed off the ship for a bit.

After a turbulent flight home, we landed in New Jersey on time. And as expected, it was cold and rainy.  Unexpectedly, we got picked up in a stretch limo and saw a rainbow on the ride home. Now that is the way to end a perfect trip.

Until next time...