Well, it's taken me a few days to get caught up enough to make this last post.  We made it home with no problems other than the flight that cancelled earlier and caused us an overnight in Fort Lauderdale before we could get a direct flight home.  That all went smoothly.

This is the first time we've used the luggage shipping offered by Holland America (through FedEx); it was wonderful not to have to deal with the big bags.  Even better, there was no weight limit so we packed them as full as possible. They were very heavy.  The bags arrived here at home this morning (Tuesday, May 7) at about 10:00. You couldn't ask for better service than that.

I had mixed feelings about being ready to go home; I love everything about being on the ship, but I also knew that things at home must get done too.  It really was a great cruise, I'd have a hard time picking a favorite port but my big experience was the 3 day overland to Phinda Forest Game Reserve. That knocked the #1 off of my bucket list.

Now it's time to decide what/where we go next...

Last Day at Sea

It's the last sea day - we are all packed and have already set the bags outside - all except the carry-off bag for tomorrow morning.  It's quite sad to have this adventure come to an end and know that reality is only a couple days away.  I'm sure going to miss having my coffee brought every morning on a tray, to say nothing about having my food cooked and my little house cleaned AND waking up each morning in a new place.
It's been a wonderful trip and we've met many new friends and renewed acquaintences with several that we've cruised with before. I'm sure the crew will have mixed feelings about the passengers of this cruise leaving- I'm sure it is a very demanding group. But, at least they didn't have a turnover day every 7 or 14 days.  I'm not sure how they survive turnovers.
I'll come back after we are home and post some final thoughts and perhaps a few more pictures.

Less than 1000 miles to go

I just looked at the information screen on the TV at is shows less than 1000 miles to Fort Lauderdale.  I'm not ready to go back to reality yet.  Another 3 or 4 months would be just about right.
We spent yesterday at Castries, St. Lucia.  It was a gorgeous day on a gorgeous island, but we didn't do much.  I had read about the great Saturday market in the city and decided to go there rather than do a tour around the island.... bad choice. It just wasn't an interesting market to take pictures. There was also a nice large craft market but I really do not need any more stuff. We spent the afternoon just watching the breeze blow through the palms until we sailed away at dinner time.

Today is th first of three sea days - the final leg of the cruise.  I started weeding out a lot of stuff today that seems to accumulate - maps, daily programs, etc. We will pack on the last sea day and I'd like to be ready then and not have to sort through it all at that time.  I hate packing... maybe the packing fairy will show up...