travels, races, and other musings

Disembarkation, Travel Home, and Final Thoughts We needed to be at breakfast by 8:15 AM so Roger and I woke up around 7:15. I looked out the window and we were docked back in San Juan. Sigh. I showered and we finished packing up our things and woke up Emmaline so we could get some breakfast. She was very hard to wake and in a very very bad mood. I didn't blame her but I really did need her to get out of the bed so we could get moving. Finally I got her up and dragged her to Tiana's Place where we sadly said goodbye to our serving team and table mates, exchanging contact information with the latter. We were some of the last people to filter out of Tiana's and by the time we had used the bathrooms and said our final goodbyes at 9:30, they were starting their calls of "GET OFF THE SHIP RIGHT NOW FOR REAL!!" So we got. We found our luggage, made our way easily through customs and found end of the long long taxi line. A guy came up to us in the taxi line and as...

At Sea The last day of our vacation was another day at sea. I woke up and brought down some fruit and pastries for a light breakfast from Daisy's before Roger and I prepared to go to spin class at 9:00 AM. Emmaline opted to stay in the room in her pjs and watch the stateroom TV while we were there. Spin class was fine, but not my favorite instructor I've had on DCL. Interestingly the lady next to me was also an instructor so we chatted a little before class. After class, we went back to the room and cleaned up then we all went and had a little more light breakfast in Cabana's. We did a little packing and organizing and then Emmaline wanted to go check out the "Mickey 200" in Azure. We got there a little bit late and as it's first come first served so we didn't get a number card we needed in order to participate. However, the member of the cruise staff team running the activity remembered Emmaline from the talent show and went out of her way to pair Emm...

Aruba We awoke around 7:30, got ready, ate breakfast at Cabana's and disembarked at 8:45 AM for our 9:00 AM car rental pickup. We waited at the location they indicated but they did not arrive. By 9:20 I was annoyed and trying to figure out what to do. Our phones didn't work in Aruba so we couldn't call. I asked at the nearby diamond store if I could use their phone and they refused. So I went into the Harley Davidson store and they agreed. (That might say something about diamond people vs. bikers...) I called the car rental and they said that they would send someone so finally at 9:40 we were picked up and taken to the offsite car rental place. We got the car sorted out and by 10:00 AM we were on the road. I still don't know why they weren't there. I saw that they had a list of pickups on the car counter when I was filling out paperwork and it said "9 AM cruise terminal" on the list. Someone dropped the ball, I guess. Our first stop was the Casibari Ro...

Curaçao I didn't mention in my entry from our sea day that I had been feeling a little queasy. It had gotten pretty windy and the sea was quite choppy and rough during our voyage south to the island of Curaçao  I finally opted to put on a Scopalamine patch, which I haven't needed in several cruises. So when we arrived that morning, it felt good to get off the ship for awhile. We ate breakfast in Cabana's and disembarked at 8:45 to meet at 9 AM for our tour. We had a hard time finding where we were supposed to be. There were two different gates out of the cruise "terminal" area (not really a terminal, more of an outdoor space with kiosks full of tchochkes for sale) and at first we took the wrong one. Eventually we found the right place and our tour guide, Leo. Leo was a twenty-something native guy that, were he an American, I would refer to as a "bruh" and picture him out surfing somewhere. Instead, Leo speaks six languages fluently (Papiamentu, Dutch...

At Sea We had planned to do laundry the afternoon prior, in St. Kitts, but we all know how that turned out. Instead I woke up early before Roger and Emmaline, tossed on some clothes, and made my way down the hall to the laundry on deck 2. There was a machine available so I popped my laundry in, set the timer on my watch, and went up to deck 9 with my book where I grabbed a croissant and fruit from Daisy's and a cup of hot cocoa from the drink station. I parked myself with my book when, about 10 minutes in, I got an alert from the DCL app on my phone that the washer had stopped. Checking my watch, I saw that there was still about 20 minutes left on the cycle. Confused, I looked at my half eaten plate and wondered what to do. A few tables away, I saw a lady sitting and reading her book with her breakfast and I asked her if I could leave my items on her table so they wouldn't get cleared away by an efficient crew member. Leaving my book and plate I went down to check the laund...

St. Kitts This day didn't turn out quite like we expected. Usually I try to book a variety of durations of excursions on our cruises, making sure that every day isn't a marathon all-day tour. Since the day before in Tortola was an all day excursion, I booked an easy half day excursion for St. Kitts. Or so I thought... Let me back up a bit. I woke up at 7 AM, tossed on my running clothes and went up to deck 4 for what I hoped were full laps around the deck before they closed the forward section for mooring operations. The all ashore time was 8:30 so I thought I was early enough, but when I arrived on deck 4, I saw a couple of runners coming in the wrong direction so I knew right away it must be closed. So I started my U-shaped run with everyone else, being careful in the narrow sections to look for runners and walkers going in the opposite direction. I completed my run and did a few sets up pushups on the deck before I went back to the room and showered before we all went to...