Day 8 - last day!

For those that are wondering, we did make it to the midnight comedy show. Good thing we got that extra hour last night as we were up by 6:15 am ready to repeat yesterday. Karin started the morning with 3 miles around the upper ship deck. Early in the morning, before they set out the lounge chairs, passengers use it for a jogging/walking track and they have marked it off in terms of distance - 10 laps equal 5 kilometers and it’s lovely to look out at the sea while you walk.
It’s easy to tell that we’re moving north. While it’s sunny and clear, the temperature is significantly cooler today. Combined with a 50 Kn wind, it was downright chilly up on the open decks this morning – however people are stubbornly laying out on deck chairs in sweatshirts and long pants. Fortunately for us, our balcony is at the aft of the ship, so is protected from the wind and toasty warm with the morning sun. We were able to spend the better part of the morning out there reading and soaking up the last hours of sun before we return to Minnesota in time for snow and cold. The picture here shows the view from our balcony.

Just before lunch we headed down to the pursers desk to find out about self-debarkation. Due to our propensity to over-pack, we typically try to avoid this and prefer to pick up our bags in the cruise terminal just before customs. This time, however, the only flight to MSP from San Diego was at 11 am, leaving self-debarkation as the only option if we want to make the airport in time.

Tonight at dinner we said goodbye and thank you (both verbally and with tips) to the staff in the dining room, all of whom have contributed so much to the enjoyment of our trip. Included in this group is Assadee (our head waitress from Thailand) who always took the time to stop and greet us by name whenever she saw anywhere on the ship; and who knew that Andrew would always order shrimp and that Karin would never want sour cream on her baked potato. Also thank you to Benjamin (our assistant waiter from the Philippines) who was always smiling and never neglected to ask how our day was. We also said thank you to Rolando, our cabin steward. Rolando kept our room spotless, and catered to our every whim including bringing us 3 extra pillows on the first day! Rolando also left us a virtual zoo of towel animals over the week – including monkeys, dogs and elephants. The staff on the ship really do go above and beyond to make sure that all the passengers have a wonderful time, and that they never want for a single thing while on the ship. They work long hours at not-so-glamorous jobs and are away from their families for up to a year at a time so we always try to remember to be appreciative of all their efforts and forgiving of any mistakes (although those are pretty darn infrequent).

After dinner it’s time to pack up. Karin likes to do laundry first, so that we take home clean clothes. Since the laundry room is just across the hall, it’s easy and convenient for us to do. Even better, as we’re cruising again in April, we can basically leave our bags packed for then! Tomorrow morning the ship will dock in San Diego around 7 am, and we’ll start getting off about 8:30 after the ship clears customs. We’ve had a great trip and it’s been fun for us to do these posts. We hope you’ve enjoyed following along – if so, we’ll do it again in April when we sail on a 12-day trip to Hawaii!