(Friday & Saturday, August 11-12th, 2023)
I'm going to push through to the end, since in theory, there shouldn't be as many pictures here at the end. We only had one more day at sea and then it was time to disembark and drive home. The last day at sea is usually pretty chill. It's time to do or see or eat whatever you will regret not doing, or seeing, or eating on the ship. For some people, that meant getting up really early to see the sunrise. There weren't any dolphins this time, but it was still lovely.
Later that morning, there was a towel folding class, so some of us went to learn how to make cute creations. We took detailed pictures to remember the steps, and I still can't remember how to make them. I'm not too worried. I bet youtube has my back if I ever need to make a quick dog-bunny. We actually did a pretty good job following the steps and the only things our critters are missing are the black dot eyes. We may not be ready to do more fancy animals like the giraffe we saw on a cart, but we've got skilz now.
Next on the list was food. My last day at sea is usually my donut day. But the girls really wanted the cheesecake, so we got a big fat slice and a shake and we shared them. We never took a picture of the cheesecake and it disappeared so quickly!! Meanwhile, Dad went to fulfill his own food dreams. The last day is Sushi day for him. I think he missed having Jonny around. Sushi for one is not quite as fun.
We played a lot of games.
We completed our necklace sets. Carnival did this thing where they gave away free little life preserver charms at different times and days. We missed the first couple colors, so we went back on Friday to get the ones we missed. They ran out of a couple, so we didn't all have complete sets so we switched them around and came up with some fun color combinations. Pearl is sporting watermelon colors here. You'll see more at dinner.
There's always time for a power nap.
Dinner was bittersweet. It was our last night with our amazing staff. You'd think we'd be more serious, but that's not how we roll. Instead, we balanced things on our faces, but now you can see the fun colors of our necklaces. I'm sporting grapefruit and June is patriotic.
Really, the focus was on our awesome servers. We adored Christine. She brought us bread every evening, which is practically the best part of any meal.
We still tried out the rare find. The last night it was frog's legs. It certainly wasn't the worst of the lot, but no one loved it.
At the end, they gave us a little name card so we could remember our servers. When you fill out a survey, you can put names in. Jefferson was in charge, but we didn't see him that much. Christine brought us bread, and I Made did practically everything else. He took orders and kept us straight, and cracked jokes, and was just amazing. I wish him the best in life! Beau drew him and gave him the drawing as a gift.
Tyler and I got cute matching shirts in Cabo, that we wore on Friday. As I was helping him off the bed, we got this great picture of him. Looks like we each have a somewhat unflattering picture to remember the cruise. :) Maybe that should be a new thing: Worst picture of the cruise. I still think I win.
Last day, last towel animal. I don't know what the other room had, but we got a swan. Can you believe it is almost over?
The sunrise must have been amazing, because the same four kids got up for round two the next day. Impressive.
We packed up everything and said goodbye to our room. Last breakfast. Normal as usual.
Debarkation went well. We sat on deck 4 until they called our number and then we were off. There was a bit of a line, but nothing terrible. And if you remember, our car was just a hop, skip, and a jump from the terminal, so we were out of there in no time. It was fairly smooth. Note for the curious: Debark and Disembark mean basically the same thing. Except that you can debark a tree, but you can't disembark a tree.
We immediately drove for home, since it is a nice long drive. We only made one stop along the way and I mostly regret it. We stopped in Nipton, CA. That place is dead. Here's what the internet has to say about Nipton: About an hour southwest of Las Vegas, just across the Nevada-California state line, lies the small town of Nipton, Calif. The town currently has a population of about 20 residents and only 10 permanent buildings. The rest of the space is mostly filled out with RVs, trailers, and old Burning Man art installations.
We stopped to see some of the art, but you couldn't get to it. It was just a waste of time. But we did stretch our legs for a moment, so there's that. I would say our time there was NOT magical.
The rest of the trip, we switched off drivers and made good time. There were some amazing clouds and an epic sunset, all more magical than Nipton, I might add.
We came home to Analena and Nova. Analena was so kind to watch our house and dog. She is the best house sitter! It sure was nice to be home. I'm so glad that we took a million pictures and I hope everyone has great memories. It was our first cruise as a family and hopefully not our last.
