Last Sea Day

 Tuesday, March 11, 2025

I dislike the first day of any cruise. It is nice to know that the journey is just beginning, but things are so hectic on the ship. People are cramming into the elevators with massive amounts of luggage, crowding into the buffet trying to find an empty table, looking for their muster station, making dinner reservations and lining up at guest services for all sorts of reasons...it seems like everyone all needs to be in the same places at the same time. Not the relaxed atmosphere I usually love on a ship. 

But compared to the first day, the last day is the absolute worst. I dread the packing and it hangs over my head until it is finished. But...there is no way to get it all done until the end of the day. Invariably, things never go back into the luggage the way they came, and partly this happens by choice. When I come, I try and prioritize things in my carry-on that I would most need if my checked luggage went missing. Going home, I don't have that same fear so I pack differently. But regardless of which direction I'm traveling, I struggle with the weight of my suitcase and being careful of how my liquids are packed. OK…enough whining. The last day is still a day on a cruise and I need to quit thinking about the stupid luggage!

When I woke up at 6:30 am I was surprised to see how dark it still was. A couple of days earlier we were due to switch our clocks back from the Atlantic Time Zone to Eastern Time Zone but instead (because of the change to daylight saving time) we didn't make the change. I didn't want to fall back asleep so got up and worked on my Wordle and other NY Times puzzles in the dark on my iPad while Bob continued to sleep. Right at 7:00 am the phone rang. It was Jon wanting us to come to the Sea View Pool to watch the sunrise. Bob can throw on clothes and be ready to go out the door in two minutes, but I was still sitting in my pajamas and knew the sun would be well above the horizon before I was ready! (It turned out that the sunrise wasn't that impressive so I didn't feel too bad about missing it.)

Bob's sunrise photo.

Once I was dressed, I went up to the buffet and there was Erni with our table all set. I thought maybe the others had beat me but no, she had just gotten it ready ahead of time. I got my eggs benedict but I had to wait much longer than usual. There were quite a few people behind the counter and I got the impression that maybe there was an inspection happening.

I had almost finished eating by the time the others arrived. Erni came by to visit a couple of times while we sat there for our extended breakfast. She let us know that she would not be in the buffet tomorrow morning so this was our time to say goodbye. What a sweet girl. Her contract ends in a couple of months and she said she would most likely go home and not come back. She has a four year old daughter who will be starting school soon and she wanted to be home for that.

I went back to the room to start packing but banished Bob from the cabin so I didn't have to work around him. Michelle also went back to her room to start packing and I believe Jon ended up in the casino. By 10:15 I was to the point I really couldn't do much more so I went up to the art studio because I knew Bob was planning to be there for the origami class at 10:30. Michelle had also ended up in the Crow's Nest and was trying to finish her book so she could return it to the ship library.

Bob was walking on Deck 3 and happened to see into the bow of the ship through an open door.

Bob spotted a Carnival ship sailing by while he was walking.

That beautiful blue water!

Bob had also been at the 9:30 "Coloring for Adults" class and had an Alaska picture about 25% finished. With Ian's instruction, the two of us made a couple of the origami roses. They turned out slightly better than yesterday's crane but there was no chance I could ever re-create either one on my own.

Art director, Ian.

Ian connected an iPad to the video screen to demonstrate origami folds.

At noon we all met up at the main dining room to have a civilized lunch with a waiter taking care of us. We were seated at the very back of the ship and could easily see why we were feeling some ship movement today. The wind was very strong and the swells were big. (For two days the captain had been warning us that we would experience gale force winds today!)

As the waiter was clearing the dishes from our table, a knife somehow slipped off his tray and landed in my glass of water. Water and ice went EVERYWHERE...even on top of my iPhone which was laying on the table. He was horrified, but we quickly mopped up the mess with some napkins and all was OK. The waiter apologized over and over and I know he felt bad but it was just an accident.

Bob didn't order any dessert after lunch and instead wanted to go to the "Cake Me Away" event in the buffet. Jon rushed off to go to the "City on the Sea" presentation about the inner workings of the ship and Michelle went with us. I got a skinny slice of carrot cake and Bob got some almond roca and we shared a little bit of each.

Just a random photo that Jon took to show how expensive prices were on the ship.
By my calculations, at this rate, a pound of M & M's would cost over $34!

While Bob was packing in the room, I took a shower and then laid down on the couch as best I could. It is really no more than a loveseat, but by propping up and hanging my legs over the edge I soon fell asleep. I woke up as Bob was coming back in the room from having taken his luggage down the hall to where a scale was set up. He announced his luggage weighted 49.5 pounds. Once I finished my packing, mine weighed in at an even 50 pounds.

A little after 4:00, Bob and I had done all of the packing that was possible and had dressed for dinner so we went back up to the Crow's Nest for the watercolor class. Ian, the instructor, had the class painting a beach scene, but Bob and I just painted flowers.

We went straight from the class to the main dining room where we met Jon and Michelle. They announced they had taken part in the the "Deal or No Deal" game show during the afternoon and Michelle had won $75! This wasn’t their first time to win on a cruise. Back in November of 2019, they were lucky enough to win a free Holland America cruise playing bingo...but unlucky in that the pandemic struck a few months later. The cruise certificate was to be used within 12 months but cruising was paused for much longer than that. Jon never bothered to call so I'm not sure if HAL would have eventually honored their prize or not.

Michelle playing "Deal or No Deal"

At dinner, we were given the same table at the back of Deck 3 that we had the previous night. Erni was doing bar duty and came by our table to say "hi"...a pleasant surprise!

Ric Steel was performing for the second time in the theater and we had enjoyed the first show enough that we returned. He had a great voice and told stories of growing up in Memphis with Elvis.

Ric Steel

Bob hadn't slept well the previous night and didn't want to be up late, but we decided to just go to the Crow's Nest to use our last two Mariner's cocktail coupons. Holland America got by cheap with us because I had a Diet Coke and Bob had a virgin daiquiri.

After three weeks on the ship, I think this is the only photo we got of all of us together!

Jon planned to disembark early the next morning because they were driving and he wanted to go to Tampa to stop in at one of his company's offices. We said our goodbye's before heading to our cabin. I shuffled a few things around, hoping to get a little weight out of my checked luggage. We didn't bother to weight it again and just hoped it would be OK. The bags were placed out in the hallway and we went to bed.