Sunday, April 26, 2015

Inca Empire Cruise - Day 30 Sea Day

This is it, the last day of our cruise.  It seemed to go by so fast.  Not that long ago we had a whole 30 days ahead of us and suddenly it’s over.  Nothing lasts forever and we are looking forward to being home, but it’s still sad to leave.

After breakfast, we went to the showroom to see a talk on the workings of the ship which was interesting.  After the talk, many members of the crew walked onto the stage and we were able to show our appreciation of all the hard work they do to make our cruise so enjoyable.

After that we made our way back to the room to face the inevitable and started our packing.  It was a bit of a problem as we have made quite a few purchases on the trip, but didn’t bring any extra bags.  There is also a 50 pound weight limit for checked baggage on Amtrak so we also had to keep that in mind.  Weight was never a worry when we drove ourselves to San Diego to start a cruise so we’ve never had to think about it before.  We finally got everything squared away by lunchtime and had our bags ready go.  All luggage, except for carry-ons, has to be put out in the corridors by 1:00 AM so it does take a bit of planning to make sure you have everything you need in the morning.

Our packing finished we headed off to the Lido for lunch and then to the showroom for the final lecture by Tommie Sue Montgomery.  Today she talked about her own experiences and how she got where she is today.  It was very interesting as usual.  I think she is one of the best we have heard on any of our cruises.  After the lecture we decided to kill some time in the casino before returning to our room and relaxing until dinner.

After getting ready for dinner we were off to the MIX Lounge to drink our last unleaded margaritas for the trip and listen to Chris’s music one last time.  Soon it was time for dinner and we said our good-byes to Chris and the bar staff.  We usually don’t spend much time in the bars on the ship, but this time we really enjoyed it.  We were entertained by Chris and there was a group of regulars who showed every night to listen to his music.  I don’t know whether this is good or bad, but when we walked up all we had to do was wave to the waiter or bartender and our drinks would be there almost as soon as we sat down.  We will miss our nightly drinks and music when we get home.

Dinner was quiet as everyone knew that the cruise was almost over.  It was one of our better dinners of the trip and at the end the dining room and kitchen staff came out and serenaded us with a Indonesian farewell song.  We said our good-byes to our waiters, Al and Purna, and then made our way to the casino.  I lost my nightly allotment of money, but at least it took me a while to do it and Val continued to have luck and did pretty well for the trip.  Val didn’t come out ahead, but she did go home with almost as much money as she had brought with her.  I didn’t lose all my money, but I came close.  Anyway, we had fun and that’s why we gamble, it certainly isn’t because we expect to win money all the time.

After dinner it was back to the room to do our final preparations for getting off the ship and then I set our bags out in the corridor and we called it a night.  We would be in San Diego bright and early tomorrow morning, but not as bright and early as we thought.  We would be going through one more time change and setting the clock back an hour again – an extra hours sleep is always welcome.

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