Celebrity Summit Day 9: Disembarkation (Bayonne)

Today we have to say good-bye to the Celebrity Summit until next year. We got up early and had coffee. It was very cold outdoors to us Californians.

We did hang out on the balcony for a while despite the temperature enjoying the scenery and watching the ship go under the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge.

Breakfast in the buffet was at 6 am today and the dining room was 30 minutes later. We went by the coffee bar when it opened and I had one last nonfat latte with 2 shots of expresso.

I took that to the dining room where we were seated at a table for 8. Most people were nice but we were seated with two grumpy, demanding ladies which wasn’t pleasant.

After breakfast we went outside and barely could make out the Statue of Liberty.

It was too hazy from the rain and it was too far away to get a good picture but I did take one anyway. I also took a picture of this monument which I found out later is known at the Tear Drop 9/11 Memorial.

You can’t see the tear drop in the center from this angle.

We then headed to the celebrity lounge after getting our hand luggage from the cabin. I was surprised by how few people were there at this point. We found a seat and relaxed. Once the dining areas closed, the room became busier but never overcrowded.

They started calling numbers around 8:20 I believe. We were called by 8:45 or so and it was an easy walk through the photo gallery and turning left to the outside deck. One last Bing with the card and were walking off.

We quickly found our luggage and got in the customs line. That took about 10-15 minutes and we were through customs. The agent didn’t ask us a single question; wonder if global entry made a difference there. Our first experience at Port Liberty was great!

Travel Home

We found the buses for Newark (they checked us off from the Amtrak list as the ship hadn’t corrected it) and only one one family boarded after us. We had one person in line in front of us in the first class line at the airport.

Yes I had used miles to fly us home first class and gently assimilate us back into life. 🙂

There was a line for TSA precheck but apparently no dedicated screening machine so we were given orange cards. Once done with screening we settled in at a gate, charged cell phones, bought a Sunday paper and caught up on email.

We had lunch at the Ruby Tuesday by our gate around noon.

This grilled turkey, avocado and bacon sandwich was delicious.

It was better than I expected. Shortly after it was finally time to board our short flight to Philadelphia. This plane was tiny and the seats were very cramped.

It seemed like we just took off and it was time to prepare for landing. We took a shuttle from F terminal to C terminal and found our gate and shortly after boarded the San Diego flight.

We enjoyed pre-departure beverages and took off about 30 minutes late due to a delayed flight attendant. While waiting to take off the attendant took our dinner orders.

Started the meal off with warm nuts and a cranberry vodka.

We had pre-ordered entrees, but needed to give her our bread selection (sourdough or multigrain roll), drink order and whether or not we wanted the ice cream dessert.