WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18---HOMEWARD BOUND

HOW TO FIND THE DAILY BLOG POSTS

WHEN YOU CLICK ON THE BLOG TO VIEW IT THE LAST POST WILL SHOW UP FIRST AS THE ORDER IS FROM LAST POST TO FIRST POST.  TO VIEW THE OTHER POSTS LOOK FOR THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" BELOW OUR PHOTO ON RIGHT SIDE (IT'S BELOW THE ITINERARY.  YOU CAN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU HAVE NOT READ FROM THIS ARCHIVE.  ALSO A REMINDER FOR BETTER VIEWING OF MY PHOTOS, CLICK ON THEM TO ENLARGE.  WE REALLY ENJOYED THIS CRUISE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS JUST SEVEN NIGHTS.  WE GOT TO SEE MANY CREW FRIENDS AS THEY ARE OUR FAMILY NOW.    

        We were back at the Port of Miami by 6am (early) but they have yet to start unloading the luggage.  All the luggage has to be offloaded before we can get off the ship.  People who are carrying off their own luggage can leave the ship starting around 7am.  We are hoping to be off around 8:30 as our limo to the airport is scheduled for then.

Last Evening

        We arrived at the Horizon Lounge at 5:45 for cocktail hour.  This is my favorite bartender, Peter, from Bulgaria.

             I had ordered these pigs in a blanket during lunch for our canape this evening.

                     Marcia joined us for cocktails.  Jane went to the wrong bar so arrived late.

      This is Richard, a bar waiter.  Such a nice young man who we have cruised with before.

        At 7:00 we headed down to Compass Rose to meet retired Captain John McNeil and his wife, Andree, for dinner.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the 5 of us at dinner.  We was a wonderful evening with them as we exchanged stories about our captain times, him captain of ships and me a captain of airplanes.

                                             Rebecca and I had the chicken parmesan.

                            I enjoyed this apple tart with some vanilla ice cream for dessert.

        We still had a little La Crema chardonnay left in the bottle so they had it sent up to our suite.  We were so surprised to see Manuel deliver it and he surprised to see us.  He manned the room service phone taking orders so had never seen him.  He was very happy to see us.

Today

        Rebecca's scrambled eggs came at 7am after I had gone down and got us come Americano coffees as usual.  We showered and finished packing our carry-on bags and left the room just before 8am.  You are supposed to vacate the suites by 8am so they can clean them for the next cruise.

        Surprisingly, almost shockingly, they called our color luggage tag at 8:15.  We were standing right there so were about the first to disembark.  We got our checked luggage and went our front of the terminal and our limo driver, Raul, was right there waiting for us.  So off to the airport we went.

        We arrived there at 8:40 and went in and got in line for the ticket counter as we wanted to catch the 11:14 flight to DFW instead of our booked 1:28pm flight.  The line went fast and a nice agent got us rebooked on the earlier flight.  The TSA pre-check line was clear so we went right through.  It was a LONG walk to get to our gate but arrived there 2 hours prior to the flight.

        The crew was late getting to the gate so we had a 15 minute delay getting off the gate.  However, we were only a few minutes late arriving at DFW.  We all three got the exit row as LOTS of leg room and free drinks, more importantly.  I asked for 2 Woodford Reserve minis and so did Rebecca for me.  I did not drink them but put them in my bag for later.

                                      Rebecca will kill me for putting this photo on the blog.

        Cruising wore Jane and Rebecca out!!  You can see the extra leg room at the exit row.

        We had to wait a half hour for our luggage to come out.  At least it did.  The Parking Spot (where we left the car) pickup point was just outside baggage claim.  Nice driver who even loaded our bags into Jane's car for me.  My back is killing me so I gave him a nice tip for doing it.

        Jane dropped us off at The Tradition (our new home) at 3:40.  Got bags up to the apartment but I only unpacked my carry-on.  I wanted to finish this post first.  Will unpack the big bags tomorrow.

I ran down to Connie Barton's apt as she got our mail for us, so I got the key and mail.

        It is now 4:30 and will be happy hour in just 30 minutes.  I should be finished with this by then.  I hope you have enjoyed traveling with us the past week.  I really enjoy doing my blogs.  Next cruise blog will be end of February as we have a 39 night cruise booked then.  It will be going up the Amazon River in Brazil so you won't want to miss it.  

        Last of all, Rebecca and I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy 2025!!