Disembarkation
We awoke docked exactly where we started a week ago. As we had rooms on three decks, we had requested late disembarkation and were next to last. We breakfasted together in the dining room and made last farewells to Jose and Roland. It's a mark of Princess professionalism that service remained excellent, even after tips have been pocketed, evaluation forms filed and all realize that we will likely never meet again. We then holed up in the Wheelhouse Bar (gotta be one of the classiest rooms Asea) and waited until about 0945 and we were off the ship (sob!) by 1000. Very easy, well-organized disembarkation. We were shepherded onto busses by Princess personnel and taken to the airport.
We elected to wait at the airport rather than the Princess choices - probably a bad choice. Princess offered a rain forest tour ( it was canceled for lack of interest), a shopping tour (Yay!), and a day at a resort. We met a family just off a Celebrity cruise who had gone to a hotel in San Juan for a reasonable day rate and spent the day on the beach and in the casino. They then had one carry-on for wet bathing suits and were relaxed for the long flight to DFW. We will do this the next time, as the San Juan airport is not a great place to spend several hours and eat a meal. Flights home were, well, flights home. Long, uncomfortable, and sad. Midnight found us at home, underdressed for the cold and the scraping necessary to get into our frozen Jeeps.
CONCLUSIONS: To a person, we were extremely pleased with our cruise experience. Princess was extremely professional and seamless in their performance. The Dawn Princess is a marvel, all anyone could want in a cruise vacation. We are planning our next cruise vacation and are still rolling a bit, looking wistfully for Jose to present our entrees with his elegant "voila!" Not many "voilas" in the cold, cruel world. There should be more.
Embarkation; At Sea;
Barbados; St. Lucia; Martinique; St. Martin;
St. Thomas; Disembarkation