The final day is a mix of packing – how did I get everything here with me in the first place? – and the final activities.
There’s several jewelry raffles today (I’ve won a few so far earlier in the trip, but only for junk pieces; the type of thing you wear to dinner just to sparkle, and don’t worry if you lose an earring along the way). I have a spa appointment for a pedicure (only the second of my life).
The sea is glassy and smooth.
It’s also our last night with our wait staff at dinner, so we’ll give any additional tip over and above what we prepaid before the cruise. It’s possible to float tables each night, but we loved our first-night staff and got ourselves assigned there for the length of the cruise. (Bonus: assigning ourselves a table meant bypassing the evening line.) But our staff, Sudesh and Anita, have been lovely and we wish them both wonderful things for the future.
Speaking of our excellent dining experience… I’m not sure, but it is possible my clothes will have shrunk in the sea air when I get home.
My luggage was desperately full when I left. It is not any less so now. I am 50% packed with a sea day to go, and 99% by 8pm the night before we disembark. This mostly-readiness works out because S is NOT walking off the ship with her luggage, and she needs to get her bags packed up in short order. ALL HANDS ON DECK!
Once that’s sorted, we finish watching a movie in my cabin and then split to our respective spaces. My alarms are set for a relatively early wake-up.
I’m awake. I’m in an inside cabin so there’s no ambient light to give any clues of the time of day.
What time is it? 2am?!?
I try to sleep, but I’m restless. I toss and turn. I resist tinkering with my phone to find out the time. I finally give up and look at the clock again a little after 3am.
Sometime after that I do sleep.
Until 4-something. So apparently my system is anxious about the alarm and is not going to let me rest!
And then finally 6:15am. The alarms are for 6:45. I might as well get up then.
By 7am I’m totally ready.
By 7:15 I’ve hugged S goodbye and headed forward to the midship elevator, for the Santorini dining room. As expected, it takes several rounds to find an elevator empty enough to get on. But I’m at the designated dining room well in time for my group to be called.
Anyway there’s a bit of a delay and 15 minutes after we were supposed to have been taken off, we’re still waiting. I realize I could just walk myself off the ship. I don’t have checked luggage I have to try to meet.
I get up to make my way round…
Two seconds later the group is called. Of course.
Security check off the ship is smooth. Bus transfer to the airport is arranged by Princess, and our driver to Fort Lauderdale airport is an absolute delight.
There’s a coffee stand right across from my gate at Southwest.
I check the weather. 79 degrees at the airport here. 37 degrees back at home. May be up to 40 by the time we land. Yay? Still, it will be good to be home.
The flight is smooth. The traffic is light. It’s good to be home. Especially after I figure out that the rushing water sound is a broken hose, not a broken pipe.
Ugh.
(It was 70’s and sunny with nothing below 40s for the 10-day forecast when I left, having hooked up the hose to make it easy for Dad to watch the pond levels while I was gone. Who knew they’d have multiple nights in the 20s just before I got back? (Sigh))
Well, these things do get resolved. And then… it’s nice to be home.
Work awaits tomorrow.
Ugh.
aka gringita 