Days 6-8: At Sea back to Port Canaveral
The 2005 Caribbean Cruise
Days 6-8: At Sea back to Port Canaveral
Friday, 23 Sept 05: Talk about a lazy day. We didn't even leave the room until almost 1100. We went to the Windjammer to eat Brunch and then walked to the Sea Trek Dive Shop on the ship to look at the equipment and buy some t-shirts. We walked back to the room to drop off the shirts and while we were there, we decided to read our books on the balcony and then took a nap. I woke up about 1500, but Heather was still sleeping. There was nothing really for me to check out on the ship, so I grabbed my book and just read until she woke up. About 1800, we headed to the Casino. This wasn't the first time. I didn't keep entries in the journal about the casino, so I don't know what happened on what day until these last two days. The first time we did go in there, I plugged in 10 bucks and won 20 at the slots. I walked away after that. This time, we headed in and watched all 30 bucks stay in the machines. I liked last year's better when I won 160 bucks. That wasn't going to happen this year. We went back, got clean and got dressed for the Formal Dinner. We had our pictures taken on the stairs and then headed to our formal dinner. A nice lobster dinner. Very tasty. After dinner, we went back and changed into comfortable clothes and then off to another show. This one was called "Pure Energy." It was much better than "Front Row", but still nothing to write home about. I just seemed to enjoy last year's shows better than this year's. They also had the midnight buffet this night. Magnificent food carvings and displays. They actually open the buffet 45 minutes early so people can come take pictures. The eating doesn't start until after the picture time is over. It was pretty amazing. Then, it was back to the room for more sunburn relief before trying to sleep. I did sleep a bit better this night. Although, not through the night, I think this was the first night I actually slept more than I was awake.
Saturday, 24 Sept 05: Awake and out of bed earlier today. About 0800. By the time we got showered and dressed and headed to the Windjammer for breakfast it was about 0930. We ate and went through the Photo Area to pick out and buy our last batch or pictures taken by the ship's crew. We were back in the room by 1030, but I had "cabin fever." I noticed while packing up my sister's dive shirt I bought her, they ran a bit small. I had bought myself one of the dive shirts also, so I went to exchange it for a larger size. Afterwards, we back to the casino and Heather lost another 20 bucks. I didn't feel like playing today, so I let her lose it all by herself. We then decided to search for the helipad at the bow of the ship. I had seen people on the helipad at certain times on the TV, but I could never tell if they were passengers or crew. I decided to see if we could find it and get to it. It only took a little while before I found it. It was open to everyone and the view was amazing. I wish I had found this place earlier in the week. We stood up there for awhile and took a few pictures. Then, we decided to go get some frozen yogurt at the Windjammer. Heather, after deciding she didn't need to eat it all, figured she would wear hers and promptly spilled it on her shirt. After the yogurt, we headed back to the stateroom to pack our bags (they had to be outside our door by midnight) and do our customs paperwork. We had a quick bite to eat at Cafe Promenade around 5:30 pm. They had the "Farewell" show in the theater and we went to that, then for coffee on the Promenade. We sat around just "people watching" until it was time to go to dinner. We went to dinner for the last time with our tablemates. Lou and Diane decided they were going to eat at one of the "Extra" restaurants on the ship, but they stopped by first to bid us farewell. So, it was just Heather, Sandy and I for dinner. After our last dinner, we headed to the room to put our bags out and watch the last half of the UGA game. Went to bed about 2300-2330. I actually slept good for the first time all week this night.
Sunday, 25 Sept 05: We docked in Port Canaveral about 0630. We were given our times to leave the rooms and then we had to wait on one of the decks until our tag color was called. Heather and I sat up on Deck 11 just reading and taking a few pictures. They ran about 45 minutes late, but we were off the ship, in the car and on our way by 1030.
It was an amazing week. Royal Caribbean has always given us great treatment and we love using their cruise lines. If you have ever given any thought to a cruise, DO IT!!! You will not regret it.
Pictures from the helipad on the last day and the last picture taken on the ship