Regal Princess Baltic Cruise Day 12 - Disembarkation

 

We booked the Princess transfer to the airport as we feared that there wouldn't be much in the way of taxis and we had a 10AM flight. We were assigned the Navy 2 disembarkation group, one of 6 (Navy 1-4 and Silver 3-4) that was for passengers needing to get to the airport for flights before 12PM. They staggered our meeting times in the Symphony Dining Room every 10 minutes between 6:15AM and 7:05AM. We got there shortly before our 6:25AM meeting time and by what felt like barely 5 minutes later, we were being called to head downstairs for the buses. What was estimated to be a 45 minute to 1 hour drive in the packed bus to the airport only lasted about 35 minutes since there was barely any traffic at that hour. All of our luggage was left in rows by disembarkation group color and number outside across the street from the terminal in a tent. We had been warned prior to the trip from other cruisers that this action could be super time consuming and may make our timing tight for such an early flight. We soon spotted our luggage in minutes however and made our way thanks to the helpful Princess employees stationed along the road into the main terminal only to be super early to even check in for our flight as British Airways won't open their check in desks until at least 8AM. It soon became our new group sport as the whole lot of us standing in line over an hour waiting had to keep pointing out to newcomers that they weren't the only ones and to go find the end of the line. Love how people can just walk right past the whole crowd standing there and then turn around when it's pointed out looking like they have no idea where we all came from all of a sudden.

Three countries, three time zones, and one random extra search of about 16 of us including myself by British Airways' answer to TSA that delayed our departure from London to Baltimore later, we finally arrived back in Baltimore by 8PM ET. While I think I may have had my fill of long haul international flying for a while, I'd happily cruise Princess and the Regal again.

Thank you all for checking out my newest travel blog entries! It has been fun reliving the cruise with you all through my stories and pictures. I hope it has also brought you enjoyment whether you're a seasoned cruiser, looking forward to that first sailing, or just someone who wanted to check out some cruise food porn. Bon Voyage!