Cruise Day #23: FINAL Day at Sea

Well, while we were trying our very best to be in complete denial about it....our FINAL sea day had arrived.  Because it was our last day to enjoy the ship, we decided that is exactly what we were going to----we basically didn't even LOOK at our personal navigator for the day....just skimmed it to make sure there was nothing really super exciting that we'd miss (there was not)...and made the decision that we would just E-N-J-O-Y!!

(Note:  I know I've put this disclaimer in here several times for sea days...but why stray from my pattern now, right? LOL  Anyway...don't expect a lot of pictures...because there won't be many!  While we were actually both really, REALLY happy with our decision to not do too much "planned" activity...and just be lazy...that also meant not a lot to photograph...so you'll have to just create pictures in your mind from my fantabulous descriptions! LOL)

The End Is Coming....I swear!!

So a number of people have asked me why the blog ends with Tortola---when they know there were at least two more days in the trip after that.....and the simple answer is this: 

The blog doesn't actually end there---I just haven't posted the rest yet! LOL

So why am I so tardy with the last two days?  There are two answers to that question:

Cruise Day #22: Tortola

Welcome to Tortola!! Well it's another port day....and it was a bittersweet day because it was our last port (except for Disney's private Bahamian island, Castaway Cay) before the end of the trip....which means that we're headed home soon....AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!  Honestly, where does 24 days on the boat go?!?!  It really does seem like we JUST got on and even though I know when I go back and read all these posts it will be clear to me just HOW MUCH we did and saw....it feels like this vacation shouldn't be even close to over yet! :(

OK...before I make myself cry thinking about it being over....let's dive right into our experience in Tortola today...and to probably one of the excursions I was most looking forward to:  DOLPHINS!!!  Remember.....I love anything to do with animals...especially aquatic animals and/or exotic birds!  I'm getting ahead of myself, though....

....before I describe our day in Tortola, please note our fabulous magnet for the day...with our "signature characters," Tigger & Roo....so cute!

Cruise Day #21: St. Maarten

(Note:  Sorry there has been a delay in posts.  For the last couple days on the ship, the internet was just awful---and I couldn't even get emails to send to Hadley with the new content to post...and then Hadley went out of town to spend time with her family (Hope you're having a great time, Hadley!!)....so we decided that I would just wait and post the rest of our trip blogs once we got back into the USA---which means that, yes, sadly we are off the ship and have begun the process of getting home....but I don't want to talk about that...just yet!! LOL)
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LAND HO!!!  Yep, we arrived at land, on the 21st day of our cruise, at the island of St. Maarten----a Caribbean island that is split nearly evenly with half of it being Dutch and the other half French.  It is, apparently, the smallest island nation on earth that is split between two separate countries.

Our magnet here shows an image of one of the main buildings in the port area in St. Maarten....and Jason cut and paste the character Stitch (one of Disney's most tropical characters) into the shot to welcome us to the islands!  (Later in this post you'll see a picture of me and Jason sitting basically exactly where he placed Stitch on our magnet----once again it was fun to see our magnets coming to life! LOL)

Cruise Day #20: Day at Sea

Well, Day 20 arrived and it was our last day at sea before we would see land again.  All around the ship there were lots of people who were vocally anxious to get their feet on dry land once more....but not me and Jason.  We wanted the boat to turn around and head back to sea for another 5 (or 10 or 20) days!! LOL

Jason rounded out a series of fun "Day at Sea" magnets with this magnet depicting one of the underwater scenes from Pinnochio....this is one of my favorite magnets from this trip, I think, because it's so cute!

This day at sea started out a little differently than our other days because after a very quick stop to the rainforest room in the spa, we had to get back to our room, shower and get changed so that we could.....

Cruise Day 19: Sea Day

Well, day 19 arrived and it was, again a beautiful one. 

You'll notice that today's magnet says "Pirates" on it----this is another scheduling snafu.  When we originally got the schedule of events for our cruise so we could start putting together magnets, we were told that day 17 would be Villains and day 19 would be pirates....well you already know (if you've been following along on the blog) that they switched Villains on us.  They also switched Pirates night....and it got moved to Day 21 (St. Maarten)....but, of course, it was too late by then to change our magnets....

...but that's OK....nothing says "Sea Day" like Mickey Mouse decked out in his buccaneer outfit....so the magnet still works for us!! *smile*

Cruise Day 18: Day at Sea

(Note:  Another word regarding yesterday's magnet...in addition to the date being wrong on it because Disney Cruise Line rearranged the date of the Villains show...I also, when I was going back and reviewing the posts I'd submitted so far, noticed that the word "villains" is spelled wrong! (the "i" is missing).   AAAAHHHHH!!  I don't know how Jason and I missed that up to this point....but we've decided this is our excuse:  Spelling doesn't count on vacation! LOL...so file that little nugget away for a rainy day! *smile*)

OK...now back to business.  Yup it was day 18 and, you guessed it, we were still cruisin' out in the middle of the Atlantic making our way from one continent to another!  Fortunately for us----this day, unlike our magnet for the day, did not include any piracy or run-ins with Captain Hook (we wouldn't be seeing him again until the official "Pirate Night" at our next port of call, St. Maarten in the West Indies).

I hesitate to even type this so as not to jinx what little time is left of our vacation----but our weather could NOT have been better.  On our last TransAtlantic voyage, it wasn't awful...but it was a little windy and chilly and the water was definitely choppy...and, of course, we are sailing across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean now during hurricane season and reportedly dodging tropical storm fronts along the way....but the truth of the matter is you would never know it.  The sun has been out daily, we haven't seen a drop of rain on the ship since we left Gibraltar and we haven't REALLY felt the boat moving under our feet since we left the Mediterranean!   This voyage has truly been amazing.....