Bermuda Adventure 2024 - Day 7+

The seas are smooth as glass. Quite a contrast from our outbound cruise. We enjoyed a bright and sunny day. The final day of our cruise. The pool deck is the only place to be and 4,000 fellow cruisers agreed. Once again Alison triumphed and secured three lounges. She knew the cruise staff did not allow mass seat control. If someone puts down a towel on a chair and does not return in 30 minutes they pick up the towel. Alison follows them around and grabs the brass ring. Brilliant.

Priscilla and I enjoyed our last breakfast in our suite. Room service is not available on the final day of the cruise. Tomorrow we will be forced to have breakfast with the great unwashed.

We purchased our photo package from the ship. It includes twelve 8 X 10 prints, a mini Adirondack chair picture frame, a photo cube and a digital download of all the photos. All for only $249.00. The photographers were very pleasant and ended up taking 106 photos of our family. Priscilla. Alison and Rachel whittled them down from 106 to 12. Not an easy task with such a good looking group.

This is the group photo that made to cut. Our favorite photographer Voltaire staged this photo for us.

Much of the day was spent poolside with kids jumping in the pool and riding the giant water slide. The Garden Cafe is nearby so JP kept up a steady stream on pizza, burgers and fries. This was also our last day to punish our “all you can drink” cards. There are twenty bars on the ship so there is usually only a short wait for service. There are also cocktail servers plying the crowds around the pool. You never have to leave your seat. There is live entertainment all around with ice carving, quiz contests and poolside Olympics. Most of the time there is a band playing Caribbean music.

JP and Parker took one last soak in the hot tub. You can see the giant water slide in the background.

For our final evening together we scheduled a family meal at the teppanyaki restaurant. This was a good choice because the nine of us filled up one entire grill table. The chef was very entertaining with his cooking theatrics and karaoke singing style.

The teppanyaki restaurant was the perfect choice for our last supper together.

Rachel ordered sake and Oscar and I joined her. It occurred to me that the last time I had sake was in Tokyo in 2015. Carl “Chef” Wooden and I were enjoying white sake at a tiny bar under the Shinkansen railway tracks. That bar had survived the bombings of WW2. Having traveled to Japan for over twenty years, I was no stranger to sake.

As a final farewell JP organized a champagne toast in the Observation Lounge. Each family member toasted Grammy and Papa by recalling their favorite memories with their grandparents. It was so sweet.

Eleanor gave her toast and thanked Grammy and Papa for taking her on the cruise.

Then it was back to the cabin and back to reality. We had to pack and have our suitcases in the hallway by 9:00 pm. That requires a bit of planning to have the things you need for the evening and next day in your carry on.

The ship docked in NYC at 7:00 am. The disembarkation started soon after. Passengers that carried all their own luggage exited first. We were not sure what time we would be called to disembark. We had yellow tags on our luggage which determined where our luggage would be stored awaiting our arrival to pick it up. We were next. Oh well, we were not in a hurry to get off the ship that early. Disembarkation was efficient. We found our luggage and found our bus to Newark Airport. All is well. We will arrive back in Stuart this evening.

Drink it up, this one's for you
It's been a lovely cruise
I'm sorry it's ending, oh it's sad, but it's true
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise

We hope you enjoyed our blog. We enjoy sharing our experiences with you. Do not despair. You will not have to wait very long for our next blog. As part of our continuing full year celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary we will be going on an African Safari in Kenya and Tanzania in October. Stay tuned.