Day 50 At Sea

After a wonderful 50 day cruise, today was our last day at Sea.  We will disembark in San Diego tomorrow.

 

We set an alarm for 7 am to ensure we get our body clocks on track.  J had packed his bag last night, I used the time before the 10 AM Cruise Overview and Crew Farewell to get a solid start on packing my bags.  Cruise Director, Ian Page, gave us an overview and reminded us of all the ports we visited.  The Captain gave a few words saying how proud he was of this cruise.  Then all (or most of the crew) came onstage - the stewards, waiters, guest services, chefs….and they received a prolonged standing ovation for all their hard work.

 

Ian summed it up with the well known phrase, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the places and moments that take our breath away!”  A number in the audience had tears in their eyes, myself included.  How very true that statement is.  

Crew onstage accepting thanks. 

 

We intended to stay in the Mainstage Theatre to watch the “Origin Story” - the 150 years of history of Holland America.  As it happened, our three friends who joined us for the dripping wet day in Fakarava (with whom we had so much fun!) were seated just in front of us.  I asked if they wanted to see our pictures, they said yes, so I ran to the room to get my laptop.  We shared our 12 minute slideshow - then air dropped pictures back and forth!  (That is one of the beauties of apple devices).

 

In fact, once we watched Origin Story, I realized I had seen it (J had not) but it has so much information included, it was good to watch again.  We walked out of the theatre talking with one of our Fakarava friends, and learned she had contracted COVID on the ship (likely from the Fakarava tender) and had been in quarantine - but was now free and clear and able to move around the ship.

 

We had one last lunch in the dining room that was excellent.  After lunch, J went to bridge and I went to the Future Cruise Booking desk.  There are incentives to book onboard the ship as they give you onboard ship credits for your next cruise so I followed up on that matter.  I checked in for tomorrow's flight (only because I was reminded to do so by running into friends who were waiting for access at the business centre to print boarding passes).  Then final packing ensued and I weighed my bags!  I have 1.2 pounds to spare on my big bag!  I do have a smaller (newly purchased) bag that I can add to if the airport weighscale doesn’t agree.

 

Our last supper was really wonderful with lots of smiles and laughs and delicious food!  We will miss our waiters and our friends!

Our waiters Juma and Wibi - two of the best in the business!

We feel privileged to have been on this wonderful journey for 50 days - spoiled indeed.  Back to life in Canada - where the weather won’t be as mild and we will surely miss our room stewards who keep our stateroom spotless and our waiters who have made these meals so effortless for us.  Life is good and we are thankful every single day!