America-bound
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2007
1
17
20
Trip End
Sep 29, 2007
Atlantic Ocean,
Nova Scotia,
Canada
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Our last day of the cruise...how sad. During the night the ship performed certification tests - electricity would be shut off and the ship would come to almost a complete stop. It seemed, though, that either the testing continued throughout the morning or there were legitimate problems as many times we seemed to be sitting almost dead in the water. We ate breakfast on the aft deck, basking in the sunshine. John had his usual breakfast and I had waffles with blueberries, sausage patty and what is called coffee. By now I can't wait to get home to grind my own beans and enjoy a cup of the real stuff!
We visited the cruise agent this morning and booked a 5-night Caribbean cruise for February 2009. The ship will leave from Miami and dock in both Key West and Grand Cayman with sea days in between. The shipboard credit program when booking a trip has been changed dramatically and is not as enticing anymore. That's alright, by saying 'charge it' with my American Express card, the points can add up quickly and turned into shipboard credit. Yet another reason to go shopping!
The better part of the day was spent getting our belongings organized and packed. We had to remember to keep what we might need for morning separate as our suitcases will be taken away tonight. Gratuity envelopes are ready to hand out and customs forms filled in.
On our way to lunch we found CC'ers Cathy & Dennis so we chatted with them for a while. Lunch was at the Seaside Café as usual. John had 2 cheeseburgers with fries and white chocolate chip cookies. I had a hamburger patty, a few fries and a salad and once again we ate on the aft deck in the sunshine and chatted with our CC buddy Phil who was lounging on his corner aft balcony directly below.
In the afternoon we attended the Passenger Talent Show. There were 4 singers, a guitar player, a magician and 3 songs performed by an impromptu passenger chorus. Doris Basile, a regular poster on our Cruise Critic roll call thread (comedienne and all-around great person), was one of the singers and performed the song Always by Irving Berlin. Loved the lyrics and she did a great job...thank you Doris!
John & I discussed and compared our last two cruises. Using a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best), we determined the Med cruise was a 9.5 and this one was a 6.5. When something was wrong, it was bad. And when it was good, it was definitely good. We had a great time and all, but I guess the bar was set high after the Med. John caught a cold two days ago so naturally he's been feeling out of sorts, cranky and not able to fully enjoy everything.
Before dinner we dropped in with some fellow CC posters at the Martini Bar: Phil, Helen, Garry & Bob, Karen & Bill, Joanie & George, and Claudia & Charley. John had a Jack & Coke and I tried Celebrity's Peach Martini. Then we enjoyed our last dinner with Jack & Norma. John's choices were Caesar Salad and Grilled Churrasco Steak. I had Shrimp Cocktail, Ripe Plum Tomatoes on a bed of Crisp Lettuce with Hard Boiled Eggs and Olives, and the Grilled Churrasco Steak. Surprise - we both skipped dessert!
We retired to the room to finish packing and watched the movie "Annapolis" on TV. Tomorrow will be the start of our land-based part of our vacation and we'll back in our own country..
Before Dinner Get-Together
