DAY 15 - May 28th, 2011 - Barcelona, Spain
At 6:25, I found myself waking up (5 minutes before the alarm was to go off). I did not want to get out of bed. I did not want this experience to end. I did NOT want to get off this ship for good! I wanted the cruise to go on forever. I wanted to continue making such wonderful memories with my family. I wanted to continue on seeing the world via this gorgeous ship!
It was with great sadness we finally got out of bed and began getting ready. By 7:20, we were on our way to Parrot Cay for our final meal aboard the Disney Magic. At around 7:45, the doors opened and in we went. Is Marianne here? We turn the corner, and....YES! She is here! Thank goodness! We couldnt imagine getting off the ship without telling her goodbye! Zuzana was currently changing cabins and would be joining us later so we could say goodbye. It was a quiet, depressing meal (and we were tired). As we looked around the restaurant, we saw a great deal of goodbyes, hugs, and fond farewells. It appeared that some of the crews contracts were ending, so they were also making the rounds, saying goodbye. Why are goodbyes always so sad?! I need to always think of what the character farewell tells us. Its Til We Meet Again!
We finished our meal and said our goodbyes and thanked our dining room team profusely. It was an absolute pleasure and joy having them as our servers and we made sure to tell them so (and on the questionnaire as well!). We were leaving the restaurant at 8:25 and then made our way to the lobby to debark. It was a VERY smooth process and we had our luggage and were on the bus by 8:40! I tried not to look back but it was VERY hard. The Disney Magic was our home for the past two weeks and I wasnt ready to say goodbye.
After 10 minutes, the bus departed the port and we were on our way to the airport. I stared out the window trying to take everything in one last time. Before I knew it (and 20 minutes later), we were already at the airport. We were checking in at 9:30 and we made it through security and were at our gate by 10:00. Our flight didnt leave until 12:35, so we had lots of time to sit around and be depressed.
Apparently there was a massive football game occurring today as well. The airport was FILLED with people wearing Barcelona jerseys. I couldnt believe just how many of them there were, all waiting to board planes to take them to the big match! They were quite a loud crowd as well, filled with LOTS of team spirit!
Meanwhile, we sat around trying to pass time, and I snapped my final pictures of the trip.
At about 12:15, the boarding process began and it was MASS CHAOS. Dad had been selected for an extra security screening, so he got separated from us and had to board the plane before us. The other three of us tried to stay together and figure out just what the heck was going on with this boarding process! Our number was finally called at 12:35, and we fought our way through the crowd to board the plane. We found our seats, buckled in, and tried to mentally prepare for this 9 hour flight. The plane started pulling out at 12:55 (20 minutes later than scheduled). Before we knew it, we were in the air flying away from this amazing vacation.
While on board, we got A LOT of food. I mean, A LOT! We werent expecting so much! We got: a beverage, a meal, another beverage, bottled water, a snack, a pizza, and another beverage! Not too shabby! There were also movies playing on the TVs. I was more interested in the world map showing us our journey and where sunlight was located in the world currently. Pretty neat! At about 3:00pm local time, we landed in New York. Now, it was actually 9:00pm in Barcelona...almost bed time for us, haha! But, we still had another flight.
Once we got off the plane, we made our way to the Customs and Border Protection line. What a line! It took about 20 minutes to get through, but we all passed! We got our luggage and then proceeded to the next checkpoint. We passed again and then dropped off our luggage before heading upstairs to go through ANOTHER checkpoint! This time it was the normal airport security line. After 10 minutes, we made it through that line and were on our way to the gate. We dropped off our stuff, then the guys went to get some food from McDonalds (of course, that was the location of our first American meal, haha).
I didnt continue writing anything down past this point, so what happened for the rest of our journey has escaped me. All I know is that our flight kept getting delayed unfortunately. It ended up being delayed almost 2 hours if memory serves me correctly! This day is already long enough as it is! It was almost dark by the time we boarded the plane. James and I practically slept the WHOLE flight. I have NEVER done that before, but we were exhausted. By the time we landed in Orlando, it was past 11:00pm (5:00am Barcelona time). We went down to baggage claim, was greeted by our Tiffany Towncar driver, got our luggage and loaded up the van. We finally made it home after midnight (6:00am Barcelona time). Yep, by the time we went to bed, we had been up for 24 hours! Craziness! It was weird being home. Weird being on land. Weird being back in the real world. Weird sleeping in our own bed. But, the trip had to end sometime and our normal lives had to be returned to.
And with that, my trip report is now over. I cant believe it! Just as I didnt want the final day of the cruise to come, I didnt want this trip report to end either! I guess its now time for my final thoughts...