We got up at 5:30 to shower and dress to be ready for our 7:30 call to disembark the ship. The timing was perfect as we were going to attend church in New Jersey at the Chris High's church and where Marty Hubbard is a member. As we were getting dressed, our stateroom lights blinked but came right back on. Once ready to run down and grab a bite of breakfast before our disembarkment, as we got to the other end of the hall on our deck, we found that the lights were off and only the emergency lights were on. What in the world? We were glad to find that the elevator worked and took us up the 3 flights to go to breakfast but when we walked into the restaurant, we found that their lights were off with only the emergency lights working ~~ candlelight breakfast before dawn. SWEET!!! Once in there and seated, we discovered that the ship was moving an inch and in fact, we were sitting there under the Verrozano Bridge which is located between Staten Island and Broolyn. What it the world? As we were eating breakfast, the ship's Captain got on the horn and announced to us all that the ship's propulsion system was not working and that the anchors had been dropped. OOPS!!! Not a good sign. We completed our breakfast and then made our way back to our cabin to get our luggage and report to the dining room where all of the walk-off passengers (those of us who would not "check" our luggage with Princess but who would get themselves and their luggage off the ship.) We reported to the already full dining room but found seats and sat with the other 500 people there for the same reason. All of us and all of our luggage. The room was stuffed!!! Everyone kept a good attitude, but I felt really bad for those who had close flight connections from NYC! It was 3 hours later when somehow our ship made it into Brooklyn (they had partially restored the propulsion system per the captain's 2nd announcement) and we had cleared Customs and were in our car in the Brooklyn Terminal at 10:45. The High's church service (miles away in Clifton, New Jersey) started at 11:00 so, of course, we didn't even try to get over there. We were very disappointed about that!!! We made a good day's drive of 400 miles to Staunton, West Virginia where we are lodged for the night. I am thrilled to have FREE WiFi and have been catching up on the 455 new emails that had accumulated in my inbox. We are going to go back to Gatlinburg tomorrow to check out some possibilities for a place to spend Christmas this year. Brian, Amy, and Chip all want to do it so we are going to see what we can find. Otherwise, we will slowly make our way back home and arrive home on Saturday. That is our current plan. We had a fantastic cruise and look forward to this week as it unfolds. We love and miss all our family and friends and look forward to seeing you soon. Blessings, Susan
In the room for 3 hours waiting to be disembarked from the ship.
This is the bridge that the ship sat under for nearly about 2 hours. I wonder what the people were thinking as they saw it there for so long.
A beautiful sunset as we were driving through Virginia on Sunday evening.
