Friday, December 16
at sea
Today's the last day of the cruise and the last sea day. Tomorrow we have to go back to reality.
It's Carolyn's birthday.
We had breakfast on the back deck as usual. Discussed plans for the day. I tried to burn up some internet minutes, but the internet was so slow you could take a nap waiting for a page to load.
Beth started packing. We've learned that it's best if only one person at a time packs in those tight quarters.
I found Carlos in the dining room and got him to order a birthday cake for Carolyn. Found the perfect present for her in the shops—a pink silk jewelry traveling bag.
We've decided not to tip our waiter and assistant waiter extra—a first ever for me. The service has been lackluster and the waiter kept annoying us by reciting the menu for the next night as we were taking the first bite of our entrée each night—even after having been asked not to do that. It was as if he were a Celebrity robot programmed only to talk about how good the food was. So we had fun distributing the money we had set aside to tip those two to other more deserving staff members: other favorite waiters, our sommelier, and our cabin attendant who has labored faithfully in the Celebrity vineyard for almost 20 years and will get no pension when he retires and has no benefits. These people actually contributed to making it a great cruise for us.
Had lunch and then went to the officers vs. guests volleyball game in the pool. Those are a hoot. This one was particularly crazy because the pool had turned into a wave pool from the motion of the ship. By the time I realized I should be shooting video instead of still pictures, it was all over. I still can't get used to the fact that my camera shoots video as well as pictures. Old habits die hard I guess. I always need someone to remind me I should be shooting video!
Then I got a good seat for the ice carving demonstration. The activities person running it promised a prize to the first person to guess what it would become. I guessed an eagle, which is what it turned out to to be. Since I was the first person to guess an eagle, I expected to get a prize. She seemed to forget that she had promised a prize—she's somewhat ditzy. Probably the same person who sent out the invitations to the Cruise Critic party for Sunday, December 15. Instead of Thursday, December 15.
Visited with JR & Karen & Beth on the back deck and then it was my turn to pack. Not fun. That means the cruise is over. Plus I have to figure out how to cram everything into the suitcases which were pretty full when I started the cruise and now I've acquired some souvenirs and gifts.
Finished packing and got ready for dinner. As soon as we had finished dinner, Roger showed up to take our desert orders, which no doubt made our waiter apoplectic. Roger efficiently took the orders, made suggestions to those who couldn't decide, disappeared, and returned almost immediately with the deserts. Nothing like the long wait we endured every night with our waiter who shall mercifully remain nameless here.
After dinner took a last stroll completely around deck 11 which Celebrity plans to fill up with cabins in the near future, so that option will go away. Put the last touches on the packing, put the checked luggage out, and went to bed.
Saturday, December 17
Up at 6:00 a.m. as we were approaching Ft. Lauderdale
Had breakfast and visited with the gang on the back deck. Told Barb & Bob we'd be showing up for Christmas dinner (!) Decided to head off about 8:45 since Carolyn had an 11:00 flight to Dallas
Discovered on arrival at FLL that you can't check in for your flight prior to four hours before the flight leaves. So much for my plan to retreat to the peace and quiet of the Sky Club—you can't get there without a boarding pass and going through security. Was able to check in at 11:00 and then proceeded to the club which was much more peaceful than the main airport.
Uneventful flight home—even had a vacant middle seat—yeah!!!
Dominique picked me up at the airport and we went to her house for dinner. Marge and Mary were there as well, so got a chance to visit with them. Got home around 9:30 —it had been a long day!
Sunday, December 18
Rude awakening. Nobody to make my bed or cook my breakfast. No room service. No cabin attendant to whisk my dirty laundry away and deal with it. Nobody replaced my towels and washcloths as I used them. AARGH!! Back to real life. Spent the day dealing with all this myself. Didn't have a pile of mail to go through since, once again, the carrier forgot to deliver the accumulated mail. Will have to pick it up at the post office tomorrow.
Another wonderful cruise enters the history books. It's always hard when they're over, but I have a busy week ahead. Lots of Christmas parties and Christmas in a week.
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