We arrived home last night at about 8:45 after a long day on the road/air/airport waiting lounge. We had left the ship at 7:30am so it was a long day of travel. I had saved my best cold medicine for the trip home but only had enough to use it strategically for maximum decongestion in the air. My plans worked out and I didn't blow up my sinuses!
Our last two days of living in the bubble were sea days. I took full advantage of the lower activity level and slept for much of the days. Carm would let me sleep in and head off to breakfast on his own, bringing me mine in the room. I'd go back to sleep for a bit and then would eventually shower to tame my bed head. I'd drag myself down to the public areas for a bit of shopping and a cranberry with soda at Crooners. Maybe two cranwaters.
I'd have a nap in the afternoon while Carm went to trivia, an enrichment lecture, and a swim. In otherwords, I missed out! I still managed to get dressed for supper and converse with strangers, an activity that is exhausting at the best of times. On our last dinner we sat with the man who was the Port expert. He had lots of stories to tell, but he seemed a bit sad and perhaps lonely in this sea of people.
Slowly I've been getting things back in order... the suitcases are unpacked leaving a huge piles of laundry on the floor. I've left the things that we'll need for our next trip in the bags, no point in trying to find a place for them just to haul them out again in 2 and a bit months.
I haven't taken care of the photos yet, that requires more energy than I have at this exact minute.
No breakfast in bed for me this morning :-( No buffet of choices for lunch, and I guess I'll have to figure out something to make for supper tonight. And the evening at the Wheelhouse visiting and dancing is nowhere in reach.
Did I mention that it was -21C driving home last night?
The dogs were only moderately excited when we got home - they obviously felt right at home with Pat. Pat was gone when we got home, but she had left the Christmas tree lights on and some other little lights around the livingroom - it was welcoming. Thanks Pat! We feel blessed to have someone so caring taking care of our beasts.
We loved the Coral Princess! We'd only been on the biggest ships and weren't sure how we'd like this smaller one but found ourselves in love with many aspects of her. First of course is the large Wheelhouse lounge with band and dance floor. We were there every night - the band knew our names and gave hugs on the last night.
The staff in the lounge also grew to know us and often had our favorite drink in hand when we walked in. I kept them guessing though as by the end of the cruise (when my cold was at its worst) I usually just had soda water with cranberry. One night when my cough started getting worse the bartender went down to the coffee place (International Cafe) to get me a hot water with honey and lemon. Carm got me another one and the bartender at the International Cafe recommended adding a dash of brandy to help me sleep - it worked.
Stephanie, the assistant Cruise Director, spent some time with us there everynight. Her energy and enthusasim was boundless. We looked forward to her visits. Skylar, another cd staff also visited - he was just 21 and seemed so young.
The buffet was okay but not nearly as good as the one on the Regal and Royal - it was perhaps 1/4 the size with fraction of the options of the bigger ships.
I missed the piazza on the bigger ships.
Whenever I felt like sitting somewhere I could always find a seat - it is hard to believe that there were 1800 passengers onboard.
The drinks package was wasted on us (especially me - Carm made more use of it!). It was included as part of a promotion but we'd never buy it. It was nice thouggh not having to think about how much each drink cost and if it was in our budget. I drank countless soda waters, and while regular water would have been okay, it was nicer to have sparkly. We also had a glass or two of proseco with supper every night - an indulgent treat that we would have passed on if paying by the glass. We'll look for a similar promotion in the future ;-)
I'm sure I haven't finished with my random thoughts, but this will do for today.
No comments:
Post a Comment