HOMEWARD BOUND - MARCH 13TH

 

                                            Our position is back in Miami.  End of our cruise.

LAST EVENING

                                                                 Spaghetti Puttanesca

                                                                    Fried wiener schnitzel

                                                  Chocolate hazelnut cake with ice cream.

                                                                        Cherry strudel                  

                                                                     A"Happy Happy"

TODAY

      Up at 6am to prepare for our departure.  Last room service breakfast at 6:30.  We were down at Franck, the General Manager's office at 7:45 as instructed to be lead off the ship first.  The US Health Dept was on board inspecting the ship so Franck asked Brenda, the Head Purser, to take care of us.  There were so many bags to unload it was 8:45 before disembarkation began.  We were the first off and immediately found a porter to handle our bags and take them through customs and out to our limo.  He had been waiting since 8am for us.

        We were in the limo and on our way to MIA airport by 9am.  There was some initial traffic but we arrived at the curbside baggage check in for American Airline just before 9:30.  No lines at baggage check in OR even TSA so on our way to the gate by 9:30.  It was a long walk to out gate but we had plenty of time.  Boarding started at 9:55 and we were among first to board.  Stowed our carry-on bags and settled in our nice first class seats.

Unfortunately we had a maintenance delay until 11:30.  Then we had to wait for a push back crew intil 11:50.  I'm not happy by now!  Then it was another 40 minutes waiting in line to takeoff.  So not on our way until 12:30.  Now our estimated landing time is just after 2pm (Dallas Time).  I kept our driver, Mike, who is picking us up updated via texts.

                                     Some warm nuts and a red wine to start lunch with.

        I had this beef entree and Rebecca had a chicken entree.  Beef was ok but not great.  The cake was great. 

        We finally landed at DFW at 2pm.  It took another 45 minutes to get our luggage.  Mike was right there waiting for us as always.  We were back home by 3:20.  Just in time to get luggage in our apartment and spruce up a little before going down for the Friday 4pm happy hour.

        I hope you have enjoyed my blog on this cruise.  I enjoy doing it.  Our next cruise will be June 1st.  It's a 14 night cruise from Miami down in Caribbean, up the East coast of US, ending up in New York City.  Yes, there will be a blog.

        It's good to be home again with all our friends at our senior living facility.  Not looking forward to getting on the scales tomorrow morning!  BYE!

LAST DAY OF THE CRUISE, AT SEA - DAY 24

 THIS WILL NOT BE MY LAST POST AS I WILL DO THE LAST POST WHEN WE ARRIVE BACK HOME.  HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE AN UNEVENTFUL TRIP.

I WANT TO REMIND YOU HOW TO VIEW ALL MY BLOG POSTS.  ON THE RIGHT SIDE UNDER OUR PHOTO IS THE "BLOG ARCHIVE".  YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK ON THE MONTH FEBRUARY TO SEE THE LIST OF THOSE POSTS.  SAME WAY WITH MARCH IF THEY ARE NOT SHOWN.  THEN CLICK ON THE DAY TO VIEW IT'S POST.

FOR MUCH BETTER VIEWING OF MY PHOTOS, CLICK ON THEM TO ENLARGE.

        Our position at noon today us denoted by triangle in the circle.  We are cruising just 13 nm off the coast of Cuba.  We still have 311 nm to go before arriving at the Port of Miami tomorrow morning.  Smooth seas today and 81 degrees.  Total distance we will have sailed from Buenos Aires to Miami is 7095 statute miles.

LAST EVENING

        The doors opened at 5:45 for the Krew Kapers show but we went to the Meridian Lounge to get a couple drinks to take with us,  We stood at the back of the upper balcony on deck 5.

                                  Cruise Director, Natalie, greeted us and introduced the Captain.

        Captain Ubaldo explained how hard these kids prepared for this show at the end of their duty day.  The Captain shared some facts about our consumption on the cruise.  They used 32,000 eggs and 26,000 bottles of chardonnay wine.

                                  Dance number that they choreographed started the show off.

                                        This young man had a great singing voice.  Bravo!

                                                         A Balinese traditional dance.

                                                                  Indonesian dance

                        The blue cloth represents water and the guys are flamingos.  Funny bit.

                                              This young man was also an awesome singer.

                                                               Hip Hop dance number

        End of the show.  The theater was packed full for the show and everyone gave the cast a standing ovation.

        The curtains opened and representatives for all departments were on the stage to say good bye and thank us.

                                     Then the ship's officers came in on in front of the stage.

        We stopped off at the Meridian Lounge for our jalapeno poppers and a drink.  Then on down to Compass Rose for dinner.

        I had not been feeling 100% as did not sleep well the night before.  I had some drainage that kept me awake and then a little coughing stated in the afternoon.  I was very tired.

        Rebecca had not had any escargot yet so we both had an order.  Neither of us finished it however.  It was served very hot!

                                                       Our wine choices for the evening.

The Beef Wellington was perfectly cooked and very delicious.  I just did not feel like eating it all.

                                Rebecca had a bite of my pecan pie cheesecake.  Very good.

        We finished our dinner an hour before the show was to start.  I knew I was not going to it as needed my bed.  Rebecca sat around in the suite an finally did go down to see Josh.  He's quite a talent as plays the trombone, piano, and sings on stage.

TODAY

        Did some coughing during the night but covered my mouth with a wash rag so as to try and keep Rebecca from getting this.  We're both ready to be back home!

        This morning while Rebecca was doing her 40 minutes on the treadmill, I folded all my dress shirts and prepared my sports coats for packing.  I'm pretty much ready to just throw my clothes in the suite cases.

After getting cleaned up we headed to La Veranda for a bite of lunch.

                                                      I had this paella and a little fish stew.

        Thought I would try this large noodle pasta with chicken and a saffron sauce.  Pasta was not cooked enough so did not eat it.

                              So I headed out to the pool grill and ordered some lobster nachos.

        When we returned after lunch Paul had our luggage sitting on the bed so we immediately started packing.

        We started packing at 1pm and was pretty much finished by 3:00.  Will have to finish after dinner as want some of those clothes packed.

               Rebecca went out of a walk and found this on our door.  Natalie, our cruise director, had sent it up to me.  Looks pretty big but is a large.

        Here is tonight's CR menu.  There is always fried wiener schnitzel on the last night's menu.  Not sure why that is.  We call this dinner, "The Last Supper". 

        There is a pre-dinner "Farewell" show at 6pm in the theater.  I am still not feeling well so will skip that and head to the Meridian Lounge for some "medicine".  Dinner will follow in Compass Rose so we can say good bye.

        Ok, tomorrow the ship is to be docked by 7am and disembarkation should commence around 8am.  Sure hope so anyway.  Our flight out of MIA is for 10:33.  I have our Blacklane limo scheduled to pick us up at 8am.  We are scheduled to be one of the first to disembark but the General Manager, Franck, told us to meet him in his office at 7:45 and he would escort us off as soon as they started.  All the luggage has to be off the ship before disembarkation can begin.  It is not a long ride to the airport and I have been checking the TSA wait times online all week.  As we are booked in first class we can use the "Priority" line which only has a few minute wait so far.

        We have to have all our checked luggage out in the hallway by 10pm.  The crew will be working late and hard to get it all down to the hold.  We will be up around 5:45 tomorrow morning.  Hope all goes smoothly.

      One more post from home!

AT SEA IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN - DAY23

 

        This is our position at noon today shown by triangle in the circle.  We are sailing in the North Atlantic Ocean 40 miles off the north coast of the Dominican Republic.  The ship is riding well so pretty smooth sailing so far.  It is 77 degrees now.  We have a 25 knot tail wind (out of the east) so that is helping with the ship's speed.  We are doing 20 knots today which is fast for this ship.

LAST EVENING

        Our suite air conditioning has been working great until yesterday afternoon.  Could not get warm air.  This technician came and solved the issue right before we went down for cocktail hour.

                  Orlando was our waiter in Sette Mari.  We cruised with him back in 2017.

Komang brought this Cast chardonnay that Emiliano, the head sommelier, sent to us.  It was very nice.

       This shrimp was yummy. The little peppers stuffed with cream cheese was also very good.

                                                      I also had this R Collection red blend.

                                                        We both had the minestrone soup.

                       Rebecca had a small portion of the penne bolognese again tonight.

        And of course, my veal parmesan.  Just half order.  I had to ask for more marinara sauce but it was very good.

                         We had some biscotti for our dessert and I had some lemon cello.

        We finished our dinner an hour before the show so went back to our suite for a while.  I was at the theater when the doors opened a half hour before the show started.  Got our usual front row seats.

        Cast taking a bow to a standing ovation.  This cast will be disbanding and going home after their 9 month contract ends when we get to Miami.  Singers and dancers are VERY talented.

TODAY

         We have some birds following us.  It was nice out on the balcony so I sat out for a while and watched the birds.

                 Lunch today was up in La Veranda.  I had some shrimp and smoked salmon.

        I had some salmon in pastry, chicken piccata milanese, and potatoes.  Salmon in pastry was not as good as usual.

                                                          This bag is a gift from Regent.

                       It opens up to make a larger tote bag.  We already have one of these at home.

        Tomorrow afternoon we will be packing our luggage for disembarkation when we arrive in Miami on Friday morning.  This afternoon I am getting things organized.  I have what I will be wearing off the ship on one hanger which will not be packed.  Don't want to be wearing a bathrobe off the ship.

        Watched some enrichment lectures on our suite tv this afternoon.  I also did an online "Digital Survey" regarding our cruise experience.

        This evening at 5:45 is the Captain's Farewell Reception and Krew Kapers show in the theater,  The Krew Kapers is a show featuring some of the ship's crew.  You would be surprised as they are very talented.  The show always gets a standing ovation!  Following it we will enjoy our cocktail hour in the Meridian Lounge as usual.

        Tonight's Compass Rose menu.  Beef Wellington and lobster is always on the Captain's Farewell menu.

        Tonight's show at 9:30 is featuring Josh Jenkins again.  He is the orchestra's band leader and trombone player.  His shows feature his voice however.  Hope I can sleep better tonight than last night.