Friday – June 17 – day at sea
I wake up at 5:30am and set my camera outside to warm up. Sunrise is supposed to be at 6:20am but by 6:00am colors are starting to show up in the sky. Unfortunately there are clouds on the horizon which causes the sunrise colors to fade because the sun has to rise higher, which brightens the rest of the sky. Twenty minutes was not long enough for the entire camera to warm up. I guess the sun actually did appear above the horizon around 6:20am. I went back to bed and watched TV for a bit, finally getting up at 7:30am and out to breakfast at 8:00am. The lines were two or three people long, which is no problem. This time I went with some pancakes, bacon, some bread and a banana. The stores don’t open until 9:00am and since I have to leave the cabin so the room steward can do his thing, I save the final look see through the store and the photo gallery for when I hear the knock on the door.
Otherwise, I’m going to select which pictures to post with my review, reduce the size of the photographs (so they upload faster - which is why I need the photo editing software), do a little swimming and then unfortunately I’ll have to pack. Six nights did not seem as short as I though it would seem. I’ve been on three night cruises which are too short. I have not done a four night cruise yet. The one five night cruise I was on worked out well (especially since I combined it with a full day in New York - by arriving two days in advance of the cruise). I’ve done several one week cruises and three eight night cruises. It is surprising how nice that extra night is (which is why I thought the six night cruise would seem short). My next cruise is twelve nights. I’ve also done nine nights, thirteen nights and two weeks.
I’m back from the gift shop and the photo gallery. I picked up a few more souvenirs, but I didn’t find any new photographs. After a short rest I go out for lunch and a swim. There was a line for lunch, but I don’t know what the people were waiting for. There were four hamburgers just sitting there for someone to take, so I took one. On the way back to my cabin to change into my bathing suit two people stopped me and asked if they could take my picture. At first I was confused, but once I realized they had a list I realized this was a digital scavenger hunt and I was wearing a Carnival logo shirt (I assume a Carnival logo shirt was on the list, since they didn’t ask for my autograph).
From Stingray City ...
I don’t normally swim on the last day because I don’t like packing wet clothing. However, since the bathing suit is nylon and there is a hairdryer in the cabin, I figure I can dry it by the time I pack. One of the ship's photographers is taking pictures with a one of the ship's life preservers as a prop. It ends up being the second picture I buy. I’m out of the pool by 3:00pm because there is a watch sale at 3:30pm and this time I am bringing my camera. No way am I getting into the middle of that mess, but I do get a couple of pictures of the mob. Then I go back to the cabin and wait about thirty minutes, after which I go back to the store and find something worthwhile. I could care less about the watch. But the set includes cuff links, a pen and something else (I don’t remember what else and the box is already packed). For $20 how wrong can I be?
Gift shop sale mob ...
After that I rest some more (the heat and humidity get to me and besides, it is good to just relax a bit). Soon it is time for our last supper, then back to the cabin to dry my swim suit (with the hair dryer) and pack.
From the Turtle Farm ...
Tomorrow morning I’ll see my friends again, as we are all going on the Everglades excursion and then we will be taken to the Fort Lauderdale airport. Then we both head back to the real world (or California – depending on your political point of view). I have a 3:15pm flight and they have a 6:00pm flight.
