SANTA CLAUS AND THE LAST HURRAH

We are now on our way home. Before we left Jamaica yesterday, they took the life boats out for a checkup before we will be spending the next 2 days very far from land. It always makes me feel good to know that they are up to speed in case of an unexpected emergency.

They wanted to make sure that everything was ship shape before we sailed away into the deep blue sea.
After breakfast, we went back up to the pool deck where we were playing cards. There was a couple on board who each had brought their own scooter to get around the ship. Not a bad way to travel!

While playing cards, Mark and Beverly came by and we decided to meet at Johnny Rocket's for lunch. They had not eaten there and we decided to have one last hamburger fling before reality set back in. Santa Claus was even dining there today! It's amazing what some people will do to get attention!

We decided to splurge, so after we had finished our burgers, we ordered two ice cream sundaes to be shared between the four of us. They were unbelievable. This young woman was in charge of making all the sundaes and milk shakes.

They were loaded with Oreo cookies, cherry and chocolate sauce not to overlook the whipped cream.

She topped them with crumbled cookies and then served them to us. What a treat!

We don't allow ourselves this indulgence when we're at home!

As we were about to leave, this gentleman came in and sat down at the counter. I don't believe that I have ever seen a worse toupee. I though he had brought his poodle along with him.

Do you think he honestly thinks he's fooling anyone besides himself with this hairpiece???
What we really needed after lunch was a nap, so we decided to take one last turn around the ship instead, just in case we had overlooked something.
We went up to the Peek-a-Boo bridge and discovered several things we had not seen before. There was a place where you could send you small children where they we well taken care of as you enjoyed some of the amenities of the ship.

And speaking of children, we were told that next week there would be 2,000 young people on board and a little more than 1,000 people in their 30's. It's Spring Break. I made a mental note never to cruise during spring break. You know that the ship will be like a zoo for a week!
We also discovered another card room and a basketball court on that deck.

There was a bar that we had never seen before that was called the 19th Hole. It was located adjacent to the putting green.

The decor was fun and appropriate. Frank tried to get a tee time but it appeared that there were no slots open when he wanted to play.

There was also a small piano bar in that room where Frank did his Ray Charles impersonation for me.

After our final exploration of the ship, we went back to our quarters and dressed for dinner. They had some special lighting going on in the Promenade and Frank said, "My word ... you're glowing". I had no idea what he was talking about until I saw this photo that he took of me.

This is our last big night, so we went to the show before dinner. It's really nice to have the late seating for dinner so you aren't rushed and can see the entertainment early in the evening. We're both early risers as well as early to bed people (and I thought that would make you healthy, wealthy and wise!), so with this plan we can be in bed by 11:00 at the latest.
The show tonight was called Broadway Rhythm and Rhyme starring the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers. It was another great show.

It featured all the great show tunes from popular Broadway shows and we really enjoyed it as that was right up our alley.
After the show we went to dinner and had a great meal. It was lobster night and Frank said that it was very good.

Our table mates had missed the crab cakes, so they made up a special order for us as starters which were as good as the first ones.

I opted for a steak instead of the lobster and we had the usual delicious deserts.

Our handsome waiter, Robin, bid us farewell as did Erroll Flynn.

One of Erroll's favorite things to do was to push me in my wheelchair and see just how fast he could go. It would frighten me to death, so on this final night I told him NO MORE! I wanted to get home in one piece.
When we arrived back in our suite, this silly monkey was waiting for us.

We will be in Galveston around 4:00 a.m. tomorrow and then on our way home. I will miss all the special things about this trip ... fresh linens daily, delicious meals, the nightly towel animals waiting for us when we returned to our room, the wonderful service that we were shown and the new friends that we made. We're looking forward to our next cruise and hope that if you will be sailing soon you will have as great an experience as we have had. Be sure and check out the following slide show to see what can happen to you if you spend too much time at the buffet tables. Thank you for traveling with us.
XOXO, Pcasso

BETTER BE CAREFUL!

Results of too many desserts!

THAT OLD DEMON RUM

Today will be a first on this trip. I'm going to go ashore! We docked at Montego Bay in Jamaica early this morning. The bay was a beautiful sight in the early morning sunlight. We continue to be blessed with perfect weather.

When I looked down from the balcony, the people looked like little ants all scurrying off to their destinations.

After breakfast, Frank loaded me up in my wheelchair and away we went. It's so nice to have such a competent and skilled driver. After all, I am at his mercy!

He pushed me through what I called Tent City. It was where all the local vendors had stationed themselves to try to lure the tourist into their cubicles before they headed off on tours. This is a shot of all the tour buses waiting for their passengers. There were more than you could possibly count.

They primarily had the same "junque" to sell that you can see everywhere else you might travel in the world, only this had a Jamaican flair to it. Not to sound unappreciative, but you can find most of these items at the Flea Market in Santa Fe.

There were some paintings by local artists that were quite primitive but very nice. My problem is that I don't really have a spot for one other thing in my house.

I didn't take many photographs because every vendor was trying to get you into their cubicle to give you a deal. Several even said that their prices were better than wholesale. I did see these tams with the dreadlocks sown into them and though about getting one to show our cousins in Kansas. They would have loved it!

One thing that Frank DID find for me though, was a Jamaican boyfriend to bring home with me. He kept calling me his Sista. At least his dreads were real and not attached to his hat!

If I had my druthers, he was not the type I would have had in mind. My thoughts seem to run more along these lines ;-)

There was a man playing the guitar and singing when we arrived and when we sailed away, he was still singing and playing. Don't you know that his voice and fingers must have been very, very tired!

I really got the feel of how big the ship was when I was on the ground looking up. It was the first time I had seen this for myself and this is only the back third of the ship.

These chefs were on their way somewhere so I wanted to get a shot of them off duty. I wonder what they were up to.

Our main plan of attack once we got inside the terminal was to purchase some good Jamaican rum, the real reason for our shore excursion.

Papa left me outside while he went inside a duty free shop and made the purchase. The help was really interested in his "money clip". When we travel he puts his cash on the outside of his credit cards and then puts double rubber bands around the entire thing. This serves two purposes. First, it can't slip out of your pocket and second, a pickpocket would have a very difficult time taking it out without your feeling his or her hand in your pocket. He's done this for years and so far so good.

While he was in the store, I took a closer look around. Their Customs desk left a lot to be desired. The customs agents seemed more interest in looking at the tourists than they did seeing what they might be carrying.

The terminal was fairly big, attractive and very clean and well kept. The shops inside had a little more variety if you were interested in hats or T-shirts. At least they had them in large sizes. I guess they were used to catering to cruise ship passengers who didn't know how to stay away from the buffet lines!

Once Papa had made his purchase we decided to go back on board for lunch. I'd had all the excitement I could handle in a morning.

Once on board, we had to check our purchases with the customs officer on board. She will have it delivered to our room before we get off the ship since you're not allowed to bring "spirits" on board.

When we were back on board we decided to grab a quick bite in the Windjammer.
This is the kind of trouble you can get into if you eat at the buffets!

Since it's a buffet which is open almost 24 hours it's an easy place to get a fast meal.
They have everything you can imagine there, but we prefer to eat in the dining room and be served.

As an aside, when I weighed in at Weight Watchers, I had lost 2 3/4 pounds when we returned from this trip. I'm thoroughly convinced that a lot of this is because we did not eat at the buffets. Everyone, including me, tends to take more than they really can eat at a buffet and I don't know about you, but I'm a charter member of the "Clean Your Plate Club", so I can't afford to do that.
When we finished lunch, Papa decided he needed a little "lie down" after pushing me around all morning and while he napped, I journaled and read my book.

We went outside on the balcony after we dressed for the evening and took one last look at Tent City.

The sun was setting and it was a beautiful sunset indeed. The perfect end to a perfect shore day.

The show this evening was in the La Scala showroom. It was a movie theme and was called "Music in Motion".

The production featured selections from films such as All That Jazz, and Moulin Rouge. Bob Fosse certainly changed the style of dance for movies as well as Broadway and I love it. Lots of "jazz hands" and hats.

They even had one very exciting Bollywood number which paid tribute to Slumdog Millionaire.

The costumes were beautiful and they weren't even designed by Bob Mackie ! The young singers and dancers were exceptionally talented and we thoroughly enjoyed the show.
Tonight is Italian Night in the dining room and our waiters have promised us a surprise. We started with cream of garlic soup, a spinach salad with tomatoes and mozzarella followed by garlic shrimp. I guess they called the menu Italian because of all the garlic. We finished the meal with puff pasty filled with zabaglione. The photographs are in the reverse order of how the meal was served but everything was still delicious.

After they finished serving dinner, all the waiters disappeared. Then suddenly we heard singing and they paraded around the dining room singing Italian songs and waving white napkins. They all had big smiles on their faces as they lined up on the staircaise for a standing ovation and thundering applause. It was delightful.

The dining room can seat 2000 guests and there are over 250 waiters that serve us. It's quite an impressive sight to see them all together. If you look very closely, you can see them gathered together on the balcony and on the staircases at one end of the dining room.
After dinner we went back to our suite and found this handsome fellow waiting for us.

I took his sunglasses off and tucked him in bed between Frank and myself.
This is our last port of call but I have one more blog to post of this trip. Lots of loose ends to tie up. Hopefully it will be entertaining. Until then ....
XOXO, Pcasso