Saturday, January 17th. Get off the ship day. Yuk, what can I say. The ship has docked early, there is only the ugly glow of the rust-color dock lights through the curtains of our verandah. It is cold, damp and still dark out there. We roll out of bed at the last possible minute, throw on our clothes and cram the sleep clothes, toothbrushes, teddy-bears and toiletries into our carry-ons. Thank heaven I didnt pack the drugs, because the kids and I both need a dose of ibuprophin, its official, we all have colds (remember those kids with the raw coughs?). Despite going through three containers of hand purifier. The only consolation for leaving, we may have ended up confined to our cabins. We leave the rooms, saying goodbye to Alejandro, who is already hard at work, sticks coding how each room must be made up for the next occupant tucked behind the fish. We left a bunch of half consumed bottles of liquor behind, I hope someone enjoyed it. We also leave the cakes behind, I had totally spaced the food-customs thing until this morning, too. What a waste. I race to Guest Services to retrieve the Castaway Cay purchases.
Breakfast at 6:45 A.M. in Parrot Cay, the kids are very weepy, hugging Adina and Anton goodbye. I feel pretty weepy too. Gma doesnt shed a tear, but Ill bet she will miss Adina more than any of us. She has not been so well taken care of, and with such apparent pleasure, in her whole life. Now she is just going to be stuck with crabby old Tink. If we did not tip enough, Anton and Adina certainly dont seem to hold it against us. Peter gives Adina his card, so we can stay in touch. Her request, not ours. I am touched. I can imagine people such as this pair must collect at least 20 people a cruise who want to stay in touch. We show them our survey, with the excellent marks, just so they do not worry, then drop it in the box. I hope they get a day off, the most prized reward for excellent ratings.
We go to the exit, no wait, and we are off. No customs officer hold up, just walk by an officer, dont even have to flash our KTTWC, we must be back to reality. We are instantly met by a porter as we begin to gather our luggage, dont even have to wave the tip. Luggage is a snap to find, it is arranged by room in much smaller sections than before. The luggage customs just waves us through, glancing at our passports. The porter wheels us across the parking lots to the Avis shuttle and we are gone. This happened way too easily and way too fast. A last look back at the Magic.
Next, It aint over till its over, or Cocoa beach aint such a bad place.
Tink
Breakfast at 6:45 A.M. in Parrot Cay, the kids are very weepy, hugging Adina and Anton goodbye. I feel pretty weepy too. Gma doesnt shed a tear, but Ill bet she will miss Adina more than any of us. She has not been so well taken care of, and with such apparent pleasure, in her whole life. Now she is just going to be stuck with crabby old Tink. If we did not tip enough, Anton and Adina certainly dont seem to hold it against us. Peter gives Adina his card, so we can stay in touch. Her request, not ours. I am touched. I can imagine people such as this pair must collect at least 20 people a cruise who want to stay in touch. We show them our survey, with the excellent marks, just so they do not worry, then drop it in the box. I hope they get a day off, the most prized reward for excellent ratings.
We go to the exit, no wait, and we are off. No customs officer hold up, just walk by an officer, dont even have to flash our KTTWC, we must be back to reality. We are instantly met by a porter as we begin to gather our luggage, dont even have to wave the tip. Luggage is a snap to find, it is arranged by room in much smaller sections than before. The luggage customs just waves us through, glancing at our passports. The porter wheels us across the parking lots to the Avis shuttle and we are gone. This happened way too easily and way too fast. A last look back at the Magic.
Next, It aint over till its over, or Cocoa beach aint such a bad place.
Tink
Thanks for the post....I want to be there now...it is 8 below zero today and has been all week....I would take port canaveral and the magic right now....bring it on.
