Day Eight ~ Labadee

I woke up a little sad that today is our last port day. BUT, it is going to be a wonderful one. I love Labadee. And the sun is shining and it will be in the 80's AND we'll get in the ocean for the first time this whole trip!!

So we woke up a little after 6, which certainly wasn't my plan since we don't get into port until 9:30. But what can you do? So we lazed around in bed for a while and then Doug went to get raspberry pastries from the WJ while I made coffee and we enjoyed that on the balcony.

So we went to the WJ to have breakfast and sat with Paula and Brian. It was about 8:30 at this point. After I finished breakfast, I went searching for a mimosa. The pool bar opens at 9, and if it's after 9 I just get my own. But before that it's hard to find somebody to make it. Last year they had somebody manning the table and made fresh juice and it was easy-peasy. This year I had to ask a server to find somebody who would find somebody and they would make it with bottled juice and felt a little annoyed to be asked. Bottled juice is fine, BUT I paid for the Ultimate drink package, so wanted fresh. Next year....not paying for that.

But anyway, I found somebody to make a mimosa for me, and I headed back to the room. Doug went to guest services to talk to Edger (guest services manager) about our room steward. I've not said much about our inexperienced, not trained well enough cabin steward. He doesn't always leave washcloths. Or hand towels. He never replaced the dirty wine glasses; he just leaves the dirty ones. At least he doesn't take them and leave me none! It is pretty annoying. We're afraid to put our used towels on the floor because when we do, he takes them, but he doesn't leave us any new ones. And he often just takes them off of the door! And still doesn't replace them. So since Doug talked to Edgar, and he assured us everything would be taken care of, I put our towels on the floor expecting we'd have towels and washcloths when we returned from the beach.

We really aren't hard people to please. On the first day we requested ice, and to always have 4 towels (not 4 new ones every day), and 2 washcloths in our room. We'd reuse them several times, fine. We don't leave our cabin a mess. We always put our clothes away, make sure the trash is in the trash can, put any dirty dishes we may have in our room all in one place and don't leave clutter around. Really the steward just needs to get ice, make up the bed, and make sure we have towels.

OK, so Doug comes back to the room and we sat on the balcony and watched while we pulled into port.

And then off we went to enjoy the day.  Our plan today was to go all the way back to Columbus Cove, rent floats and relax with Labadoozies. And so we did.

It is a long pier, and a little further to walk to the tram that will drop you wherever you want to go. Doug's knees were hurting, so we slowly walked to the tram area, and he waited to catch a ride while I walked back, stopping in the market along the way to shop a little.  I bought a few little things and then met Doug at the beach.

We got all set up in the shade, and I went to rent mats and off into the ocean we went :)  We had a nice view for the afternoon.

Scott and Tammy were on this beach, too, so we visited with them a lot. We also didn't get pictures with them. Like I said, we took so many fewer pictures this trip. We need to be more intentional next year.

A little while later we grabbed a labadoozie and floated in the ocean while sipping our drink. A while later we had lunch. What I love about Columbus Cove is it is so much less crowded. We didn't have to wait in line for lunch, which was lovely. The beach wasn't crowded. It was just a very relaxing afternoon.

After lunch I went back to the market to buy some rum. They only had 1 bottle of our favorite, which was a little disappointing, but I snatched it up. I bought some little flasks of rum punch, too, which is delicious. It's their rum with honey, cinnamon and vanilla. Yummy. They spell it Rhum Punch.

Then back to the ocean, another labadoozie and floating in the ocean while chatting with Doug, Scott and Tammy. Pure Bliss.

About 2 we decided to head back to the ship. We both took the tram back to the pier. I stubbed my toe on the lounge chair when we first got to the beach, and it was very swollen and purple and incredibly painful, so I didn't want to walk. Then through security and the long walk up the pier. There were musicians and dancers, which is fun to watch.

So back on board we decided to shower & relax on the pool deck and enjoy as much pool deck weather as we could because it is going to be cold way too soon.

But, we didn't have enough towels or washcloths. I was so irritated. Doug was hopping mad. So he called guest relations and asked for towels to be brought RIGHT NOW! Earlier in the trip we had called and asked for towels, and they never arrived. It's day 8. We really shouldn't have to be asking for towels, right? Whomever Doug talked to knew he was mad. We had towels before I finished my shower YAY.

So we finish showering and then head to the pool :) Doug went to grab chairs in the shade while I stopped off at the Solarium bar for mudslides. So we relaxed at the pool. Doug watched football on the big screen. I forgot it was Sunday until then.

About 5 we went back to the cabin to rest a little then get ready for dinner.  We collected our pictures from yesterday and waited for tonight's photo shoot. They only had one station, on the floor, and neither of us wanted to be crawling around on the floor again, so we skipped it and went to dinner.

Tonight was Italian food. I love that. I had caprese salad (which doesn't compare to Giovanni's Table), roasted garlic soup, eggplant parm and tiramisu, which was OK.  Doug had shrimp cocktail, roasted garlic soup, lasagna and sticky bread pudding, which is what I should have gotten. It was delicious! Saby kept me supplied with Moscato and we enjoyed talking with Renee, Steve, and the girls.

After dinner we went to the Schooner bar. David, Joan, Dan, Susan and Joan's other friends Bonnie & Peter joined us for a while.

Grahame came in to play and everybody else left to grab seats for the 70's party that was later tonight. We listened to Grahame, and when he went on break, we talked with him for a while, and then decided about 10:15 to make our way to the room. We watched the 70's party from Deck 6. The party was on Deck 4 in the Centrum

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Then we headed back to the room. No snacks or drinks on the balcony tonight. We were snacked and drinked out. I was hoping it would be nice the next night so we could enjoy our nightcap.

But we did want to sit on the balcony. So I opened the door and saw a GIANT shadow on the ground. It looked, to me, like a bat! I have a bit of bat PTSD since I was bit by one in 2011 (rabies shots and all; it was a little traumatic). So of course I ran screaming into the room and slammed the door (as much as you can slam those heavy doors lol).

Doug went out to investigate what it could possibly be. It was a GIANT moth. I mean GIANT! If it weren't so dark, we would have gotten a picture. But Doug killed it and then it was safe to go outside lol.  We sat outside for a good while and then went to sleep. It was an absolutely perfect day. Floating on a mat in the ocean in Labadee drinking Labadoozies is the best way to spend a December day!

Our last towel animal was a snail. I'd never seen the snail before.

Day Nine ~ At Sea

I was so hoping to sleep in this morning. A sea day. No need to wake up early, right? Notsomuch. I was awake at 6:30. But that's OK, because it's warm and sunny and we'll squeeze every ounce of pool deck time out of this day!!

I went out on the balcony to let Doug know I was awake. Doug went to get pastries while I made coffee and we sat on the balcony enjoying the peacefulness of being at sea.

We decided to head straight to the pool deck after coffee and grab seats in the shade. It's 7:45 in the morning lol. But what better way to spend the day, right?

So on our way out of our room, the steward pops out of nowhere. He did the almost EVERY time we walked out of the room the rest of the trip. It was very annoying.

So before 8 am I'm sitting on the lounge chair journaling while Doug has breakfast in the WJ. And then I'll have a turn. And then I need to put my swimsuit on. Not sure why I didn't just do that before leaving the room HA!

So after breakfast I went to the room to change, and I found a huge stack of towels and washcloths on the bed. Plus the extra towels that they brought the night before, plus the ones the steward left in the bathroom when he made up the room, plus the ones we had used while showering the day before. We had 11 towels and several washcloths! It was a little ridiculous at this point. But at least we have towels!!

So back to the pool deck to wait for it to be 9 am so the pool bar would open and I could grab a mimosa (or two or three). And lots of bottled water. And throughout the day margaritas and Doug had his favorites.

So while we're lounging in the shade, under the cover of deck 10 above us, it was hot and sunny and RAINING! So Strange! It didn't lasts long. But it was weird.

We saw this bird on the top of the Viking Crown Lounge while we were at the pool that day.

It was also $10 t-shirt sale on the deck, so I bought one for each of us and the kids. We planned to roll their confirmation letters up in the t-shirt when we surprised them with next year's trip.

So we lazed around a while, and took turns grabbing lunch. Doug sat in the hot tub with David for a while and I talked with Joan. The pool deck is HOPPING today. EVERYBODY wants to squeeze every second of tropical vacation out of the day that they can since it's almost time to go back to winter!  

There was line dancing and a chili cook off and the belly flop contest and baggo and the band playing. As the day went on, it started to cool off. And then 15 minutes after the band started to play, it got cloudy and started to rain. Then stopped. Then started again with a downpour. So we headed back to the room. Eight hours at the pool...not too shabby lol.

We took naps. I woke up before Doug and took a long soak in the tub. The phone rang and woke up Doug. It was somebody calling to ask more questions about the towels! We've had several calls about the towels. Yes.....thank you for making sure we have towels. Just train this kid some more, ya know? I don't think we were the only frustrated people. I was talking to Colin (the steward the next block of rooms down, and another passenger was asking him if he could tip the steward that wasn't his, meaning Colin, because he was so much better. Sad.)

Tonight is formal night, but we decided to not dress up. We just weren't feeling it. But we did have pictures taken. And we did talk with Joe and Sally, like we did every night, because we were on the same routine and time schedule :)

While we were having our pictures taken, we saw Renee and family taking their own pictures in front of the tree, so Doug offered to take pictures of the 4 of them. Then we had pictures taken of the 4 of us. (Renee, we really do look like cut-outs in front of that tree! So Weird!)

And then off to dinner. We had SO much fun at dinner tonight with Renee and her family. We decided to cancel our Chops reservation for the next night, because we'd rather come to the dining room for dinner the last night and enjoy the company instead. So Doug cancelled the reservation on the way out of the dining room. And we had our picture taken with Peter and Saby this night, too.

Tonight is the Quest, so we made plans to meet Steve and Renee in the South Pacific lounge at 10:15 or so. They were going to the show. We didn't go to any shows this time. It starts at 10:30. I have no idea how I was going to stay awake that long though LOL.

We went to change after dinner, and then to the Schooner Bar to listen to Grahame. 

Once he took his break, that's when we went to the South Pacific lounge to grab seats. Karaoke was going on at this time. I am not a fan of karaoke. It's rather painful actually. I told Renee it is true love if I was going to sit through that to save seats lol.

The Quest was pretty tame, but it as still fun.  After the Quest we took our picture in the mirror ceiling in the South Pacific Lounge. I don't know why I like to do that, but I do lol.

Steve and Renee are staying in an inside room, so we took them up to our room to see a JS and the balcony. They loved it. Then we went to the Viking Crown Lounge, which is a disco by this time of night. It was loud. The strobe lights were awful. And the music was yuck. We ordered drinks and decided it would be more fun to sit on our balcony. So we did. Until about 1:30, and we only came in because it started to rain.

It was much later than I was used to staying up, but it was SUCH a FUN night with friends. And such a wonderfully relaxing day. I'm sad the trip is almost over. But I'm excited to go home and surprise the kids!! And see my doggie.

Day Ten ~ At Sea

We woke up at 8. I felt so much more rested than when we go to bed at 11 and wake up at 6. Isn't that so strange?

And...when I opened the drapes, I saw the SUN! Woot Woot! I opened the door and it was cool, which makes Doug happy because the heat has been getting to him. I put on long jammies and a robe and made coffee and sat on the balcony. Doug was happy it was late enough that he only had to go to the Park Cafe to get pre-breakfast pastries. The last of the trip :(  He ran into Steve while he was out, so it took him longer to come back.

So I relaxed on the balcony and caught up on the journal. I am anxious to get out and enjoy the last day, but also just want to sit here since tomorrow will be cold, and rushed.

After coffee and pre-breakfast, we went to the Photo Gallery to collect our pictures (for the last time). It was crowded. And after that we went to the WJ for breakfast.  Although I did stop at the pool bar for my morning Vitamin C. JD hooked me right up.

We thought since it was so sunny, that maybe sitting on the pool deck would be an OK thing, with a jacket, in the sun. So Doug went to sit up there while I went to the shops. We still had quite a bit of OBC to spend. I looked around and looked around, and just didn't find anything I really wanted. So I went to the liquor store and bought a few things, and spent some of that OBC, but we still had a lot. I didn't want to spend money just to spend money, so I wasn't sure what we were going to do with it.

So I went out to the pool to meet Doug. The sun is gorgeous. The wind is awful! Doug was talking to Marko from Giovanni's Table, so I went to see JD for a little more Vitamin C.

Marko told us that GT was having 20% off tonight, so $16 per person instead of $20. And that there were plenty of openings. And so....while walking away, I asked Doug what he thought about asking Steve and Renee and the girls if they wanted to join us for dinner at GT tonight. We had enough OBC to cover all of us. He thought that would be a great idea. So on the way back to the room, we saw Renee and asked her. She said she'd talk to the others and let us know.

So then we went to the Schooner bar and I asked Ullston to make a Grand Margarita. How can it be the last day before I learn of this? Patron tequilla, margarita mix and Grand Marnier floating on top. With a salted rim. Yes Please!

Off to the balcony for a little rest. Soon we'd have to pack. But first journaling and picture taking. It's gorgeous on the balcony since the wind is blocked. So much sunshine...it's a glorious last day at sea in the Atlantic Ocean in December!! OK, and maybe a little bit of a nap.

We decided to see if Maria and Carissa were in their room (which was down the hall on the other side of the ship from us) and see if they wanted to see our room/balcony too since they were already in bed when their parents came the night before. And they did! We're all not wanting to pack yet.  So we stole them for a while.

So we talked with the girls for a while. And then decided that we just needed to get to packing. But first....another Grand Margarita...that will make packing easier, right? So off to the Schooner bar to ask Ullston for just one more.

Then we set to piling and organizing and getting all of the stuff ready to pack. Steve & the others came to the room while we were in the middle of this to accept our dinner invitation :)  And of course we had to sit on the balcony and talk for a while. Anything to procrastinate having to pack, which meant having to accept the trip was almost over.

After a while the alcohol was starting to go to my head. I needed some water and food and I needed it now. It was 1 or so at this point. So off to the WJ. We started to eat inside, but it was SO HOT and I was getting queasy, so we went out to the seating area on the deck. Heatwave was playing, which made no sense. They were schedule for a 4 hour block. It was windy and not a soul was on the pool deck. But whatever. We enjoyed listening to them while we ate, and Doug enjoyed talking with them while they took a break.

And while we were out, why not hit up Ben & Jerry's once more, right? So we did. We took it to the Schooner Bar to eat. And then I got a coffee from Cafe Lattitudes. And then back to the room to finish packing :(

I was really starting to feel rotten, so I got a cold cloth (we have those now!) and laid down and rested while Doug kept packing. And then I napped. And then one last bubble bath! Without alcohol HA!

So we finished up as much packing as possible after our naps and put the luggage out in the hallway. It's such a sad, sad sight. We got ready for dinner (8 pm reservation) and headed to the MDR to let Peter know we wouldn't be at dinner tonight, and to hand out extra tips to our waitstaff, Kicki & Boniface, and Peter and Saby. They really made our dining experience wonderful. We also went to the Schooner bar to talk with Alex and give her a little something.  And we had about 90 minutes to wait until it was time for dinner, so we just stayed in the Schooner bar.  

Joe and Sally came in and we talked with them until they went to dinner. I can't believe this is the only picture we have of Joe, and not one of Sally. But this just shows how much fun he was anyway.

As they were leaving, Paula and Brian came in. It was about time for classic rock trivia, and they were playing, so we played along until Renee and family joined us for dinner. It wasn't over, and I have no idea if Paula won. Paula, if you are reading this, did you win? 

So we walk into Giovanni's Table and notice the restaurant is mostly empty. And it is empty by the time we are half way through dinner. It was like a private dining experience! It was SO lovely. And since Giovanni's Table serves family style, and we had 6 people, we sampled almost the entire menu. We had 6 of the 8 appetizers. Steve and Renee had soup. We had all of the pasta. Three of us ordered veal and 3 ordered the filet mignon. It was the best dinner I've had in a long time. I ate way, way, way, way too much. But Oh My Deliciousness! (I am stealing some of the pictures from Renee's family). There was just SO MUCH FOOD! But I had to try it all. I don't think I sampled the Caesar salad. But everything else...yum. The risotto! The blue cheese gnocchi! The filet with Gorgonzola sauce! The tiramisu soaked in all kinds of yummy liquors! I prefer this restaurant over Chops. The steak was better, even. And dessert.....I want to bring the kids here next year....a couple of times. 

We stayed until after ten just talking and laughing. The girls headed up to bed and the 4 of us went to the Schooner bar for one last night listening to Grahame, and 2 more Grand Margaritas (Must learn to make this at home!). 

About 12:30 we headed back to the cabin to call it a day. We made plans to meet the D family for breakfast in the MDR, which is the WAY TO GO on the last day. SO much less insane than the WJ.

It was a truly lovely last day at sea. This cruise didn't have the most exciting ports (in our opinion) or the best weather, but we had the BEST time. We met some GREAT people and really relaxed, which was the goal after the craziness my work has been this fall and planning Isaac's wedding.

Day 11 ~ Disembarkation Day :(

My least favorite day. When we went to bed, we set the alarm for 5:45, but we woke up a little before that. We wanted to have everything packed and ready to just grab our bags after breakfast. The only thing we'd need to still do is clean out the safe.

So we got it together, got ourselves together and met Renee in the hall and went down to the MDR to meet the rest of the family for breakfast.  We were hoping to sit in Kicki's section, but that didn't happen :( But we did have a very nice breakfast with great friends and good conversation. We will ALWAYS eat breakfast in the MDR on the last day now. This is the first time we have, and it was so relaxing and not stressful. Especially since I have to talk to people without the benefit of caffeine. It's just better that way lol.

After breakfast we went back to the cabin to grab our stuff and go out on the balcony one last time.

Until  next year

So we cleaned out the safe and grabbed our bags and off to the Palladium Theater to wait for our disembarkation number to be called. We arrived at the theater and realized how crowded it was and not really anywhere to sit comfortably, so we walked back out to the Centrum area. Doug sat there with our bags while I went back to the theater to wait to be called. We weren't sure if you'd be able to hear the numbers being called in the Centrum area (you can and we'll wait there from now on). I visited with Renee and family while waiting. One last hug to everybody when they called my number, and off I went to meet Doug.

Disembarkation was as easy as embarkation. We grabbed our stuff, rode the elevator to Deck 1, and waited in line for customs. We saw several crew members that we knew and talked with them while we waited. Then through customs and off to find our luggage, which we did. Flag down a luggage guy and off to the car. They push your luggage to the car in the parking lot! I love that!

So once to the car we found our front tire is quite low. The dashboard told me 15 lbs. of pressure lol. So we asked if they had air at the port; no. So we got directions to the closest gas station so we could get air. So we tipped the guy. Doug loaded our luggage into the car, which is like a puzzle that has to go together just so, and we were off to the gas station.

Oh, I have to say, the weather was so nice. Cloudy, but warm. It was 60! It's the nicest return day we've ever had, and we usually return before Thanksgiving!

So we got air and then hit the road. We did stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch on the way home, and a few other stops along the way, and made it home about 4. Now that we were no longer on the ship, I was anxious to see my people, and the dog! We were hoping all of the kids could be there together sometime tonight.

Jordan was there when we got home since it was his day off (and he had the house looking amazing! Thanks Jordan).  Isaac and Maranda stopped on their way to church, so 3/4 of them were there. But Allen was working in Harrisburg this week and wasn't home. Ack, I was going to have to keep this secret! Until Sunday we thought. But Allen came home early, and all the kids came over on Saturday for pizza. And we were able to give them their t-shirts with the reservations rolled up. It was SO fun to watch their faces! And now we're waiting to see if they can all get the vacation time. If not, we'll push it forward until spring. But we are really hoping they can make it work.

Anyway, the boys helped Doug unload the luggage and drag it upstairs. Isaac and Maranda left for church. Doug ordered Sunrise and Jordan stayed to have pizza with us before heading home. And we watched Amazing Race for a while.

It was good to be home! I slept great that night because it's always great to be back in your own bed! It was only Wednesday, and neither of us had to go back to work until Monday evening. Which was a good thing. I had oodles of laundry. And it's 2 weeks until Christmas! With work training and wedding planning and subbing and Thanksgiving, I hadn't done anything for Christmas other than decorate the tree, which I am SUPER glad we did. So we planned to stock the kitchen, do some Christmas shopping, and laundry, and enjoy the next 4 days together before going back to the craziness that is our life. And we had some awesome family time that weekend with the kids on Saturday and my big Broadway/Tomerlin family Christmas celebration on Sunday.

It really is good to be home.

Day Zero ~ Travel Day

We just got back from our 3rd cruise.  We are addicted!  This time we are embarking on a 10 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore, Maryland :)

We woke up to a gorgeous, sunny day for our drive to Maryland.  We're excited and ready to go!

Our first stop was at Weight Watchers for our weekly weigh in.  And I wanted to get my employee weigh in for November over before vacation eating and drinking commenced :)

Then off to Starbucks for coffee and breakfast and then we were on our way!

We stopped off at the travel plaza on the PA turnpike, and while we were there we needed a Starbucks refill!

We decided to stay at the Best Western in Hagerstown, Maryland, which is about 75 miles from the cruise port.  I wanted to shop at the outlets.  We got to the hotel mid-afternoon, checked in and then headed out for lunch and the outlets. I found a couple skirts on clearance at Dress Barn...Yes!

We headed back to the hotel for a nap, and then off for Mexican to get this vacation started.  We asked for an authentic, local Mexican restaurant and were pointed toward La Tolteca.  We loved it!  Next time we cruise out of Baltimore, we'll stay in Hagerstown just so we can eat at this restaurant.  The service was really good, and the food was amazing, and the peach margarita was really, really good.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to sleep.  We had an early start to the day :)