Vacation Day #10 (Saturday 3/25/06)

What a night! We all slept soundly until about 1 or 2 AM Saturday morning. My husband awoke first and went out onto the balcony to find whitecaps everywhere. He fell back asleep quickly but I was awake until the sun came up. Between 3 and 5 AM, the ship rolled non-stop back and forth (port-to-starboard) - it was the wildest thing I'd ever felt! Surprisingly, I wasn't really scared - it was just odd - like nothing I'd ever experienced. I know in my head that the ships are built to withstand a fair amount of movement but the constant "creaking" and "squeaking" threw me for a loop. Thankfully, the kids slept right through it and never felt a thing.

When I got up at 5:45 AM, we were already pulling into Port Everglades. All four of us definitely felt a bit sad that the vacation was over. I honestly think we could've handled a few more days - maybe even another week! The morning was cool - cooler than we'd felt for the whole week - but beautiful nonetheless. We showered, packed the carry-on luggage that we'd kept with us and reviewed our final bill before having a quick breakfast in the Caribe Cafe and heading to the Princess Theatre at 8 AM as we were instructed. While CNN (with coverage of the fire on the Star Princess that occurred while we were at sea) aired in there, we listened to Captain Romano's final "farewell announcement". The first group was called to disembark at 8:20 AM. Our group (Silver 2) was called at 9 AM and we followed the crowd of people to the gangway and through customs. We gathered our luggage easily once off the ship and in the Princess terminal and then made our way outside to board the bus. We were on it and headed for the airport by 9:40 AM - a totally painless and efficient experience. Curbside check-in at FLL was easy (like at LAX, $2 per bag) and, by 10:15 AM, we had boarding passes in hand and were prepared for our (long) day at the airport. Since FLL doesn't allow passengers into the gate area until 2 hours before their flight is scheduled to depart, we went to Chili's (at the airport) to eat, read a newspaper and reminisce about our all-too-quickly-ending trip. At 1:30 PM, we made our way through security and were allowed, finally, into Terminal F. The gate area was very busy (I'd heard how crazy this airport was on weekends with all of the cruise-passenger traffic) and our plane (American Airlines #2083 non-stop to LAX) was delayed over an hour. The flight was long (an hour longer than our east-bound one!) but we enjoyed a snack and Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire as well as a few naps and arrived at LAX just a bit late. Our luggage retrieval was uneventful as was our short drive home. It was good to sleep in our own beds (for the first time in 10 days). We always say - no matter how great a vacation is or how much fun you have, it's always nice to get home.

We loved everything about this trip and will definitely cruise again. (Like I mentioned in a blog a few days ago - we have already booked a Spring Break cruise for the Mexican Riviera in 2007!) Travelling via cruise-ship is a great way to visit places that we, most likely, would never see otherwise. And while the ports are wonderful and exciting, the ship itself is just as enjoyable. We loved it - the activities, exploring the decks... The at-sea days were great. There is something so peaceful and beautiful about the endless and brilliantly blue ocean. I thought I'd feel isolated and nervous while at sea (not seeing land or other ships) but I loved it. I did get a bit of that out-of-touch feeling - very little cell phone coverage and limited news coverage - but it almost forces you to relax, assume all is well with the world and enjoy the uninterrupted time with your spouse and your family.