The End

We began Shabbat with a chocolate-themed character breakfast.  Romi liked Fiona, was intrigued by King Julian, but would have absolutely nothing to do with Po.  

While Kelley went to work out, Rob and Romi made a ship on the ship out of towels and the bunk.  We grabbed a quick lunch and JoJo took Romi to the splash zone.  Rob and Kelley attempted to make it to a swing class but were late, so they sat on the bow and enjoyed the view, weather, water and one another instead.  Morgan, Steven and Melody tried their hand at shipboard ice skating, but not only did they have to wear helmets, but Steven had to put on Melody's pants.  We relaxed on deck, where we all slept on and off, Romi most of all, taking quite a long nap on his Abba.  Romi slept through the farewell parade, but the rest of the family enjoyed the spectacle.  Before our last supper we took in the Farewell Finale, which had its moments.  We said our goodbyes and thank yous before heading back to pack and put all our belongings in the hallway.

We arrived at Port Canaveral way too soon Sunday morning.  We had grandiose plans to see Downtown Disney and got off the ship fairly early, but the travel gods had given us all our blessings on board.  We didn't make it anywhere fun, but we did have brunch at Sweet Tomatoes, returned the car and made it to the airport in plenty of time.  It was bittersweet.  We absolutely made the right choice having our bags checked through.  We again partook of Jamba Juice in the Baltimore airport, but somehow on this end of the trip it didn't taste quite as good.

We all made it safely home, although there was some serious land sickness suffering.  We also had to figure out which day of the week it was all on our own instead of just looking at the carpet in the elevator.  Our towels hang on racks and are not made into lovely animals.  I have to ask for bubble water instead of Eduardo merely bringing them to me all through my meals.  We are back on land, but still at sea in our hearts!  None of us can wait to go again.

Things that Go Bump in the Morning

Friday morning began with a big bump.  Literally.  Romi fell off the ladder to his bunk.  He didn't get hurt, but it did scare him, and he decided to react and to react loudly.  When Ima and Abba finally decided the best course of action was to not give the incident anymore attention, he changed tactics and started wailing for JoJo.  We would have explained that his efforts were futile since she was asleep in the cabin next door, but mere seconds after he requested her presence she appeared to lavish him with boo-boo attention. 

As long as the four of us were up we headed to the dining room for breakfast.  (I really miss that granola bar.)  We returned "home" to relax and nap before the girls headed to Portofino for a decent but not earth-shattering pasta demonstration and lunch at Portofino.  JoJo set sail for her massage while the rest of the family decided not to miss seeing Madagascar 3, in 3-D, on its opening day.  We were excited to show Romi his first movie, but shortly after deciding not to wear the 3-D glasses he fell asleep.  He got a great nap while the rest of us ran around with "Dut duta dut duh dut duh circus" in our heads.

Morgan and Kelley found the advanced napkin folding class in the bowels of the ship (OK, the conference center, but it was pretty much the same thing) while Steven and Abba took Romi to his cupcake decorating class where he learned how to create and eat a frog.  

We headed up to the pool where Romi insisted he didn't want to swim, but by that he meant he only wanted to swim in all of his clothes, which he happily did all afternoon.  We tried and tried to attend the Grease sing-a-long to no avail, so we played Name that Tune before the second formal night dinner.  

We took pictures and enjoyed our meal until Romi indicated that he was done and wanted to go back to his room.  Steven generously offered to take him home and walked up all five flights of stairs and the length of the ship, only to have Romi enter the room, turn off the bathroom light and indicate that he was done and ready to return to the dining room.  Kelley put the little bugger to bed while everyone else enjoyed the cruise director's comedy show.  JoJo went out dancing and the young adults played games.  All in all, another perfect day at sea!

Ahhh, Thursday....

We didn't think it could get much better, but then we hadn't yet had Thursday.  Following breakfast in our "hotel" room, the day started off with a mad scramble of what to do on St. Maarten.  Rob went in search of a scuba diving trip and lucked out in getting the last spot.  He had to scramble to make it on the excursion, but he's glad he did, even in spite of the barfing and shark which headed straight for him.

Kelley headed down to the desk to determine not only what was available but what was open to a four-year old.  We jumped at the five open spots on one of the last excursions available.  After lying to everyone about the time to meet, we headed downstairs to get JoJo a replacement Sea Card (hers stopped working due to sunscreen).  We got in line, made friends, and boarded the Golden Eagle III, a gorgeous catamaran.  This proved to be a highlight of our tip.  We admired the shoreline as it went by, marvelled at the color of the ocean, listened to upbeat music, lifted our faces to the wind and drank fruit drinks.  We arrived at Mullet Bay and Mullet Beach, which turned out to be quite close to the infamous You Tube airport.  JoJo, Morgan and Steven headed off to snorkel and Kelley grabbed a noodle and Romi and paddled the little bugger to shore.  The water was clear and blue, the sand soft and inviting.  We had a ball playing on the beach.  The swell was aggressive but not scary and Romi absolutely loved getting pushed over, rolling in water and jumping up again.  Kelley asked Steven for help returning Romi to the boat and we swam in to little cries of "faster, faster."  We sang, dance, ate and drank our way back to port.  Romi loved Toddler Parasailing on the net.

As we returned to this ship, hungry but happy, we heard a familiar voice calling to us from 12 decks up.  Rob was just finishing up his meal at Johnny Rockets.  We grabbed quick showers, divesting ourselves of an unusual amount of sand, and gorged on fries, onion rings, shakes and burgers.  As we headed to our cabins for family nap time, JoJo picked up Sea Card number three.  Despite sunburns all around, we headed out for the Freedom.com Ice Show.  There simply is no way to describe the out-of-control hula hoop act, forget about the fact that we were at sea and watching an ice skating show!  Following Italian night, Rob and Romi headed to bed and the rest of the crew rocked out a the Britannica Rock Party on the Promenade.  Another great day!

Loose Hair in a Portrait

On Wednesday our beloved Freedom of the Seas pulled in late morning to Saint Thomas, providing plenty of time for JoJo and Kelley to work out (and for JoJo to lose and locate her Sea Card) and for everyone to enjoy breakfast, complete with granola bar and yummy muffins, in the dining room. We disembarked and fond the Virgin Islands hot and sticky but beautiful.  We walked into town and up Synagogue Hill to the shul.  Established in the 1830s as a Sephardic community, the synagogue is now a small Reform congregation.  We admired the building, the sand floor and the amazing pieces in the gift shop.  Mina spent quite a bit of time with us talking shop. 

We headed back to main street and caught an open-air taxi to Magen’s Bay, reportedly one of the world's top ten beaches.  The ride was wonderful in and of itself, with great views and glimpses of our ship's life boat drill.  We arrived, picked out the perfect spot under a mangrove tree, rented lounge chairs and settled in to enjoy the truly spectacular view.  The bay is, well, a bay, surrounded on all sides by lush foliage.  The water is gorgeous, blue and clear, with a picturesque island floating in the middle.  It was refreshing and fun.  We ate pizza for lunch, talked to other tourists, made friends, took photos and had a really good time.  

When we returned to the ship, Morgan, Steven and Kelley headed out on deck to take photos.  We eventually found ourselves in the game room and played Loose Hair in what Steven accurately described as a portrait.  Following a French fry appetizer, we got dressed and headed to the odd magic show.  On our way home from dinner in the dining room, Kelley horrified the man by the elevator when she insisted everyone follow "The Rule."  (The Rule was you could only take the elevator if it was six or more flights, otherwise we took the stairs.)  The Gludts headed off to bed while the Salomon/Brown family went to a dance party, found Melody and played a hilarious game of Cranium, complete with Melody sawing herself in half.