Saturday, November 21, 2009

Packing Day

As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and this trip is no exception.


It is sunny and warm as we cruise off the north-west coast of Cuba and the cruise is drawing to a close. We attended the last lecture of this trip, Dr. Wolff’s discussion of the Titanic, a great thing to talk about on a cruise ship! After the lecture we did our daily two miles on the Promenade Deck and now we are packing. Actually we are already about half done. Unlike some of our cruising friends who wait until the last evening to start, we like to get it out of the way early so we can enjoy the rest of the afternoon and evening. It helps that we have the walk-in closet in this cabin because it lets us get the packed suitcases out of the way.

Yesterday in Grand Cayman was a rather uneventful day. As we have been here several times, and it is a tender-serviced port, we elected to stay onboard and avoid the aggravation. Never mind that this was the busiest stop we had on our whole cruise: joining us in port were the Sea Princess and Carnival Valor, with a combined passenger load of around 5,000 if they were full. Apparently it was quite busy in George Town, so we were glad we hadn’t worried about going ashore.

Traffic Jam in Grand Cayman!

Monica took advantage of the time to go to the spa for a “detox” treatment. Unlike what some might think when they hear the word “detox”, this had nothing to do with alcohol. Heck, Monica’s bar tab up to the end of Day 18 was only $311!!! Instead, this involved having her body wrapped from neck to toes in hot seaweed and various oils and potions. This is apparently good for the body. While all this was going on Larry was hitting the gym and doing the laundry! Not sure who got the best of that deal!

After the last steak sandwich, double caramel ice cream (now known as Dulce de Leche as the ship is headed for a South America circumnavigation) and oatmeal raisin cookies, we’re completing the task at hand. Of course, Larry has already calculated the time he’ll have to spend away from his favourite treats: 110 days including tomorrow until we board Crystal Serenity in Dubai.

While we were sitting at the Starlite Bar for our after-dinner visit with barkeep Natalia, Mark Merchant, the ventriloquist who had been part of the entertainment for this cruise, came by and stopped to chat for what ended up being almost two hours. In exchange for him taking a (promotional) video of us on his iPhone, we got a couple of pictures of us with him. A great way to end the cruise!




We hope you’ve had as much fun following along on this journey as we have reporting on the experience. See you at home!

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