Getting off

When I was a restaurant manager I used to tell the wait staff that the worst time to keep the customer waiting was at the end of the meal, when he wanted to leave.  No matter how well everything had gone, this was the last memory the customer was taking with him – you’d better make it a good one, I said.

Celebrity Cruises knows this and works hard to adhere to this advice. Today they failed – big time.

Not sure what happened, but first, we were late tying up at the pier. Then, because the line eschews multiple announcements, calling various groups ashore, there was no information available. At 9:45am – 15 minutes after our scheduled disembarkation —it was evident that few, if any, passengers had left the ship. I called Guest Relations; they said there was perhaps a 15-20 minute delay and that people were getting off the ship.

Wrong on both counts. I went out on deck where I could clearly see that no one was disembarking. In fact, luggage was still being off-loaded and US Customs officials don’t allow passengers off until all the bags have been cleared.

So we’re sitting in the café on Deck 14, hoping for some kind of word as to when we can get off. Our transportation to New Haven is aware of the delay, so I am hopeful we won’t be stranded here in not-beautiful, not-downtown Bayonne. After 11 days, I’m anxious to get home.

Addendum: we got off the ship – 3 hours later than scheduled!

We got off the ship – only to get on a bus to take us to the terminal.

We got off the bus – but only after sitting parked at the terminal for 10 minutes.

We entered the terminal – it was a madhouse.

But we got our bags, made it through customs, found our ride to New Haven and were home by 3pm. All in all a great cruise; we’ll just overlook the one gaffe and try hard to not let it be our last memory.

OK, so it wasn't quite this bad.