Closing out the Cruise

It wasn’t too long after got back on the boat from Progresso that it was time to go for dinner. Doing the early option was the right decision, but it did mean that we had to hustle a bit and had a shorter time between lunch and dinner.

Looking back, I don’t remember the food that night (it was all really good), but I do remember the visitor that came to our table that night. Not long after we sat down, an on board magician stopped by to pay us a visit. After quickly assessing the table, he found his mark in Crosby which couldn’t have been more perfect. I don’t think he would make it in Vegas, but for a 5 year old, he was perfect. He turned 1 squishy ball into 2 and then 3, all to Crosby’s amazement. He did a few tricks with a coin, and then asked for some money for the next trick. Dad had a 5 which he then used to hide a packet’s worth of sugar before then being able to pour it back out. The tricks themselves were fun to watch, but seeing Crosby’s reaction to them was ten times better. It was really a lot of fun.

That night, the entertainment staff put on their country show, which was also a lot of fun to see. Crosby preferred to go play at the kids club, but Carlyn and Annabel loved it. They were dancing nearly the entire time. The show lasted about 45 minutes, but was very entertaining the whole time. The cast was joined by a few people from a real band (Texas Legends?) and the quality of music for all of the cover songs was probably among the best I’ve seen at that sort of thing. I actually ended up going back to watch it a second time after the kids went to bed.

We all got together again for a big breakfast to kick off our last full day at sea. It was a great start to what would be a nice leisurely day at sea. We did a lot more of the things we enjoyed the previous ones. Dad, Crosby, and I played some miniature golf. Dad and I got in a good run around the track at the back of the boat. And of course, Crosby and I spent some serious time swimming in the warm (hot) tub and went down the water slide more times that I could count. We also made some friends with some of the other kids and adults that were in the hot tub and whacked a beach ball in and around the pool for quite a while. It wasn’t anything expensive or all that special, but it was just fun.

Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for our last dinner together on the boat. We were hitting our stride (and our lava cakes), so we indulged on numberous appetizers and desserts one last time. I couldn’t say no to another round of prime rib which was really well cooked and seasoned. And oh, that lava cake! We also said our goodbyes to Adi and Vicente who had taken great care of us that week.

After dinner, we also had one more stop to make. Jason mentioned at dinner that Carlyn made the photo wall of fame! Of course, we had to check it out. Sure enough, up there on the wall as one of just four or five other pictures total, was her smiling face. I’m certainly a little partial, but she is a really cute little girl, but that was really the culmination of so many of the comments throughout the week about how pretty she was. As an added bonus, we got to keep that picture for free too.

We closed out the evening once again with the entertainment show… this time it was “America Rocks!” Essentially an 80’s and 90’s cover band show which featured the entertainment staff, the band from one of the other bars on the boat, and the same real band from the previous night. The girls went wild again — which was good so that they could get out that last bit of energy. And the show was really good again… so much so, that (again) I would later go back for round 2 a second time with Mom in tow.

Before that happened though, I picked up Crosby from the kids club and played outside a bit. They had a giant chess set, ping pong tables, and corn hole out there and we weren’t leaving until we did all of them. So over an hour later, it was finally time to drag him to bed.

We got up the next morning and packed our bags to get off the ship. We shortly found out that the Port of Galveston had been closed, and we were going to be a bit late in getting back. The plus side was that did add a little extra time for us to enjoy a final meal together before we went out separate ways.

Getting off the ship is never fun, and this turned out to be no different. Fortunately, our deck was the second called so we were able to get off relatively early. We said our goodbyes to the rest of the family and were on our way back home.

Closing thoughts from me were that I loved spending time with the whole family in a carefree atmosphere. No money, no checks… just have fun. And outside of that, I loved that dolphin adventure… it was definitely up there as one of the coolest things I’ve done. Crosby loved the waterslide and the kids club. And Carlyn? She loved watching “Tom and Jerry.” TV. Go figure!

All in all, it was a great trip! It didn’t take long for Crosby to ask when we would be going on another one.