Well, you've already heard about Princess Cays....we had asked for a "wake up" call of coffee to the room that wasn't necessary. We were directly under the first life boat that they lowered to use as a tender! LOL
We were told while we were at the beach at PC that all of the Mirage people needed to have their bags in the hallway before we went to dinner that night!
That made it a little more complicated. For one thing, we still didn't have our laundry back. Plus...whatever we wore to dinner would have to go into our carry on bag with our pajamas and toothbrushes, etc. Not to mention that I always pack my curling iron and makeup. So much for looking good for the flight home, and trip back to the Mirage!
I briefly thought about going to dinner early, and then putting the bags out, but by 6:00 or so, there were already bags in the hallway. I felt guilty, so we packed first. Luckily, while we were getting the bags out, the laundry came. All of the clothes...shirts, pants, shorts...were on hangers. Darn...I was soooo hoping they would be folded! And all the undies and socks were just stuffed in a paper bag. When I sent laundry out (the only other time I've done it) at the Polynesian, the undies came back, folded neatly, in little boxes. Go figure. But then, I bet alot of us sent clothes out, more than they might normally have, because they offered us free laundry, something usually only available to people who have cruised Princess more than 16 times.
It did feel nice, though, to go to dinner and relax, knowing the bags were all done, and all we had to do was relax for the rest of the night. On Disney, I'm always running around the room at a quarter to 11.....not enjoying the last night at all.
The group met at Skywalker's for drinks, but we were packing, so we missed it.
It was a casual night, and they were serving mostly Creole in the buffet, so we headed up there. Had to say goodbye to our friend the Maitre'd.
Then we went down to the casino, they were holding a drawing for credit on our Player's cards for when we returned to the Mirage. (You use it on the slots and at the tables the same as cash). They drew 6 names, and not one of them was mine! LOL I really stink at drawings!!
It came time to say goodbye to Andrea, and the other two people that we had gotten friendly with, Charlie from Scotland and Ioan...my friend from Romania.
Jay had left by now...can't stand the smoke.....so Ioan and I were talking, and he told me that he was a "New Start"...had just started on the ship recently. He missed his family....he was only 24. He told me how badly he wanted to come to the U.S. and work, though. He asked me if we would sponsor him for a Visa to work here, and then he started to cry. I lost it, right then and there. I thought about how sad it was that there were so many people in the world who would love to have the freedom that we have......and unlike some of the people we see crossing our borders here, he would be willing to pay taxes to our government and work hard. It was just sad. I told him that we had a friend who used to work for us, until his Visa expired, from Germany. It would cost us thousands to bring him here, with no guarantee that he'd get to stay. It was so hard to tell him no, and then walk away. I know that there will be some skeptics who would say that I'm a fool for even listening to him...maybe it was a pitch that he repeats at every cruise...but I honestly felt that he was being genuine. Either way, I felt bad....and didn't turn to look back when I walked out.
There was a farewell show in the Princess theater, bringing back the singers, dancers and comedians from the week.
The movies of the day were:
Herbie Fully Loaded
Hitch
Shrek
Madagascar
Mr & Mrs Smith
Wedding Date
Batman Begins
Miss Congeniality 2 which we did sit and watch part of, though we'd seen it already.
It seemed like they had a pretty good mix of movies. Nothing too heavy....and not all kid's shows.
I didn't find out until later that we could have had our bags shipped directly to our house. I wish I'd had the foresight to do this.
When the ship docked, people were told to be out of their rooms by 7:00 am, and they had numbers called for disembarkation. There were people standing in the halls with their bags, in the lounges...everywhere.
We didn't have to leave our room until 9:00....just about the time they started calling the first groups. We had breakfast in the room, watched as the bags were unloaded from the ship...and then went to the Wheelhouse Lounge, the designated waiting area for us. I wouldn't have ordered room service if I'd known they were going to have a spread for us there. I should have figured they would. Coffee, juice, tea, water, danish, muffins, bagels, milk and cold cereals, fruit......really nice. And again...I felt guilty because we had all that, and there were people standing for hours waiting to get off.
They called our number, and we left the ship and went to the baggage claim area.....basically a huge warehouse, no signs...just bags placed in groups on the floor. Two of ours were next to eachother, the other one was on the other side of the room. Thank goodness they are easy to spot....they are royal purple!
We had to grab our own bags (could have gotten a porter, but we didn't need one) and head to customs. The customs guy asked me what I bought and where I bought it. Other than St Barth, there wasn't much....so he waved us out, and we headed for the motor coach to take us to the airport.
There were quite a few East coast people who took taxi's and flew home from Florida, rather than go all the way back to Las Vegas.
We thought we were all loaded and ready to go. We waited and waited....there were 4 people missing. No surprise...when Jay and I and another couple walked out of the terminal, we asked a guy who was directing people where the Mirage group was.....and he pointed to the parking garage! We repeated "MIR age" a couple of times, and gave up. Then we saw the busses.
Finally found everyone and we got to the airport. We had to wait, we were the last bus to arrive, and they were still wanding and checking in the others. Then the electronic gate that was to let us in broke. It was hot, and the air on the bus wasn't working. The natives were getting restless.
Finally they got the gate opened, but our driver just sat there. Eventually, his cell phone rang...it was one of the other drivers asking him why he wasn't driving in. He said "Because they didn't wave me through". OMG....ROFLOL......they were working on the gate...they HAD opened it for us...my guess is they figured since they opened it, he would be smart enough to know he could go through.
WELL....not too many of the Mirage people thought this was as funny as I did. Some were hollering at the driver.
Once parked by the plane (this time Frontier Airlines) we were told again that they'd take us off in groups of 4. Jay & I and another couple were the first four....but we were being stampeded by the people in the back. The grandma widows had been right behind us, and they were trying to crowd forward. And I'm thinking "Where do they think they're going?" We all leave at the same time. Geesh.
Jay & I were given our seat assignments....row 4 or so....a window and an aisle, just like on the way down...we had some room to stretch.
There were individual TVs in the back of each seat with DirecTv on them. 60+ channels to choose from, plus movies.....very cool.
That's when the fun really began.............
Sorry it isn't home made. Hope today is a better day!
Angie - and happy birthday!
