August 28 – Disembarkation

Early this morning we pulled in Boston to conclude the cruise portion of our vacation. We were awakened by the screaming of passenger jets flying just over our heads. The cruise port is just south east of Logan airport and as we approached the pier, we were in direct line with the runway.


I want to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to our sommeliers. Mark in the lounge called the Cellar Masters and Richard in the dinning room were among the best we’ve ever encountered on our cruises.

The disembarkation process could not have been more chaotic. I’m not sure who to blame but it was the worst experience that we’ve had on our any of our cruises.

It started with clearing USA Customs and Border Protection.  Celebrity tried a new process to go through customs and leave the ship. We were supposed to leave the ship at 9:00am, but the process proceeded at a snail’s pace, and we did not leave the ship until after 10:30am. Celebrity blamed CBP for the slowdown because they did not provide enough agents to clear the 3,000+ passengers in a timely manner. After 9:00am, while we waited for our number to be called, Celebrity closed off the internet and closed the food and beverage bars. We did finally find a coffee bar.

When we finally cleared customs and left the boat, we were greeted with mass confusion on the pier. There were four intermixed lines, those wanting a taxi, those wanting for an airport transfer bus, those joining a scheduled excursion and those waiting to board the ship for the cruise to Montreal. No one from the Port Authority seemed to be taking charge and trying to find the end of queue was a chore. Taxi service was inadequate for the number of people needing cabs and Uber was not allowed into the port. It took over an hour in the hot sun to finally get a cab. Traffic around the port was so snarled because of construction and the usual daily congestion that a ten minute cab ride turned into thirty minute high speed race through downtown Boston.

Meanwhile Marg’s cousin Debbie and her husband Wayne were waiting patiently for three hours at the airport for us to arrive so that we could rent a car and go to the AirB&B home we have rented in Cape Cod. So for the next four days we will be enjoying all that Cape Cod offers with our family.

Tonight we went to the house were Kari and her family are staying for dinner and games.  It is about an eight minute drive, or at least it should be. Google maps seems to totally screwed up and does know where we are located. Given that this a new area for us and that the roads don't seem to follow a grid pattern, it was more than frustrating. It seemed to be telling us to do U turns every minute or so.






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