Where's My Suitcase?

For those of you who have been on a cruise, you know that the night before disembarkation you have to put your checked luggage outside your cabin door and it is hauled off only to appear again at customs the next morning. The bags are marked by colored tags according to your disembarkation group. Sounds easy enough. I put both our well marked and tagged suitcases outside our door and I even saw them being hauled off almost immediately. I was expecting no problems.


So we awoke back in San Juan to some scattered showers but a nice looking sunrise. We made one last trip to the buffet for a final shipboard breakfast. I hope I don't see another buffet for a long time! I may have possibly gained some weight on this cruise....or else my shirts have shrunk a little.

Then it was time to disembark. We were called by our group number and we went right next door to the disembarkation terminal to claim our suitcases and clear customs. And guess what?...no suitcase. I looked and looked all over but no luck. Somehow Princess managed to lose it in the 200 feet between the ship and the terminal. That's worse than some airlines I know! (AA comes to mind for one). I was pretty fed up with Princess by now. This was definitely strike three. So I filed a claim form and we headed out for our last excursion.....a tour of Ft San Cristobal and then a tour of the Bacardi Rum Distillery.

The fort tour went well since it was self guided. It's right on the coast and afforded some nice photos. The fort was built in the 1700's and is still kept in great condition thanks to the National Parks Service.


Then it was off to the Bacardi Distillery. After visiting the Malibu Rum distillery in Barbados,we were expecting another less than stellar tour. But it actually was very nice. We were impressed. The place was spotless, the tour was well done, the drink samples were good and we left there with a good impression of Bacardi rum. We even bought a bottle.....for medicinal purposes after my knee surgery!





Did they water this palm tree with rum?










After this it was off to the airport and then on to Orlando on a full A-300 and then a connecting 757 to DFW. The vacation was over.

Would I recommend Princess Cruises? Nope.....They still had a chance until the last day but then they lost my suitcase. They ultimately found it and shipped it to my home several days later but most of the contents were missing! It had been pilfered. I'm still going back and forth with them about this issue.....somehow and someday they will pay for this!

Thanks again to everyone for enduring my vacation stories. I'll be back on the line in a month or so with airplane stuff again. You might see some unrelated stuff between now and then. Another vacation is coming in April. Stay tuned.



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St Thomas.....It's Almost Over

The last port of call on this cruise was to be St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.

After the bad experience with the Princess organized excursion on Tortola we canceled our preplanned excursion for St Thomas and chose to do our own thing.


We docked near the town of Charlotte Amalie. It was a short taxi ride from the dock to town. We passed a small seaplane terminal and got to see a Twin Otter launching for one of the nearby islands.

More fun flying I'm sure!

We spent a couple of hours in the town generally doing the things that tourists do. Sightseeing, shopping, eating, etc.

We then hopped on a small bus that was headed for a sightseeing tour of the island. First stop was a nice overlook atop the island. From there we had a great view of Meghan's Bay and beyond.


Looking the other direction we had a great view of Charlotte Amalie and the port.
From there we went over to Sapphire Beach. The water was extra clear today.....very nice.







After a short stay at the beach the time had come to return to the ship. We passed back through the town on the way.

I could see why St Thomas is so popular with tourists. It was really nice!


Princess was spared from my criticism today since we did our own touring. But tomorrow would be another day.....strike three was coming!


So back on the ship for the short overnight sail back to the starting point of San Juan.

Tomorrow we would be going home.




For a look at some more of my photos, please aviate over to Plane & Simple