Day 7 - Castaway Cay & Packing Day
Hm ... Cay and Day look like they should rhyme, but they don't. That's the kind of thing that drives Conor nuts.
This is a day (for us anyway) that does not require a lot of reporting. It's generally the same: We get up, eat, go to beach, generally are lazy as all get out, and then return to the ship just after lunch, to enjoy a bit of quiet on board, and pack.
This iteration was not really any different. This I know because I have almost no photos... because packing photos are just not that exciting, and I just don't move enough otherwise to take any. We have been active before- renting bikes, running the 5K, but seeing as we had another long day of travel the next day, I thought it would be best to prepare diligently... by resting.
We did not rush off the ship - we aim to get off early enough to avoid the rush, but not at the crack of dawn. I'm pretty sure we did the "go-to-Cabanas-for-the-variety-but-bring-it-back-to-the-cabin-to-avoid-the-masses" deal we usually do for breakfast.
As usual, we found a shady spot fairly easily, and plunked down. Conor and DH explored the water a bit, and did in fact go to the sting ray excursion. We had a ticket for me, but I decided that it was way, way, way too energetic for me that morning (I was comfy on my chair with my Kobo), and besides, someone had to sacrifice themselves to watch our stuff, right? This bought me an hour of relative peace on my own, and I certainly did NOT nap.
Because I wasn't there, there are no photos of the sting ray fun.
I do have photos of my view though...
As you can see, the weather was awful.
They returned happy (DH said it was pretty low-key, but well done, with a real conservation/protect the animals bent, which Conor loves). We meandered over to have the same lunch as always (so sad I can say that!) at Cookies 2. We were close enough that I could deploy Conor to get us both ice cream. He's getting very handy that way.
After lunch, Conor remembered that he liked excavating dinosaur bones or some other large fossil in the kids club on the island, so we checked him in there for a bit.
DH and I resumed lounging. I finished my book. I started another.
At about 1:30 ish, I decided I needed to rest up from all this exertion. DH had his snorkeling excursion cancelled, so he agreed, and we fetched the kiddo, who was (again) chatting up his favourite Australian CM.
We meandered back to the ship (we walk to get at least a modicum of steps) and realized we forgot to bring the postcards to mail ... and that Conor still had 2 more to write... well, to copy. DH popped into the post office which, for the first time in 4 trips, was actually open, and procured the stamps we needed.
After boarding and after much drama about the horrors of writing the exact same 3 sentences on 2 more post cards, we packed up our little pile, and he and I disembarked just long enough to mail the cards. For some reason, Conor has deep anxiety about us missing the ship (he knows what it means when they page overhead), so he fretted the entire time, despite me pointing out that a) it was 2:30 and all aboard wasn't until 4:00 or 4:30 or something like that, and b) ... THE SHIP WAS RIGHT THERE. (Seriously - it's next to the post office, practically), and c) he was not actually a snail or a slug, and could walk faster than a pace of 1 in every 3 hours so.
Having tortured the child thus, I happily returned him to DH on board (tag- you're it! you get the tired, vacationed-out child), evicted them both from the cabin clad in (clean) swim suits for the traditional "enjoy the pools when they're not full on the last day" gig, and settled down to packing.
This meant I had to confront Big Purple again... but forewarned is forearmed, so it was less painful. The extra duffle bag was pressed into service to take just about all of our shoes except those we would be wearing the next day, and that helped a lot. Having off-loaded the maple syrup and been ruthless about not accumulating heavy stuff worked as well. I also multi-tasked and did a bit of laundry as it's usually pretty quiet on the last day. My theory is it's a bit novel on the ship, vs. being just dreary at home... and we have less illegally imported sand.
For the new folks, I'll just do a summary of my leaving the ship packing strategy:
- Pre-pack at least once or twice during the week - this means mostly just tossing stuff you know you won't need again into your suitcases.
- Get everything out on the beds on the last day- all suit cases on the main bed, all clothes and things on the smaller bed.
- Rotate what you pack where (except shoes... which go in that small 'yes it's worth paying for an extra bag to ovoid the extortion that are overweight fees').
- In our case- set aside the things you'll need not just the next morning (get off ship time) but at the cold end of your flight (welcome to Canada). The stuff you need at the other end gets packed last so it's easily accessible.
- Go through all the drawers and cupboards - and find the things you missed the first time. Pack these.
- Discretely dispose of the things that are actually crap that your child 'packed'.
- Look under beds, in the table-that-is-a-chest, in the closet, and in the bathrooms. Find more things you forgot. Pack those.
- Check luggage weights frequently - not only is this a great upper body workout, this means you avoid those fees...
- Do not accidentally pack what you need the next day... because you won't have those clothes, and there are reports of people needing to disembark in their PJs, or even just underwear due to over-exuberant packing.
- Suddenly recall, when your alarm goes off, that you have clothing in the dryer. Curse quietly, and go and retrieve it, and find room for it too.
- Attempt to not forget the door magnets and your FE.
- Remember, at all times (no, I'm not obsessed) that the little stuff you toss in at the end all ads up - toothpaste, sun screen, the clothes you are wearing RIGHT NOW, etc. so you must aim for at least 3-4 lbs below the maximum weight.
Despite all this, it's fairly pleasant to me. I procure a yummy beverage, put on a nice audiobook, and enter a bit of a zen mode, interspersed with occasional curses. (Honestly- this all took about 45 minutes, so it wasn't the end of the world. DH was, of course, annoyingly, mostly packed but I do the rest.)
Generally, I have this about 95% done before supper. After supper on the last night, the rest of the things we won't need that night get put in the big bags, and they go out to be whisked away (we are not 'carry off your own bags folks').
This year, 5 cruises in, I am pleased to report I finished ahead of schedule. Practice makes perfect?
At some point, I joined the men on deck 11. Regular Conor had returned, as always, and he was frolicking about in the pools. DH watched and enjoyed some beverages. He and I plotted out our last few hours given that packing was mostly done (a rare event).
We decided in fine vacation form .. to wing it.
So having changed into Star Wars shirt number ... well, I've lost track, but I know we were not yet into repeating them, we headed down early for supper, and saw Captain Mickey. Conor had been a bit blazé about getting autographs on this trip but decided he needed "the classic", so we lucked out and were the last to see him before he packed up.
We met up with our table-mates, and noted that Conor's new BFF was a bit anxious about the time, because she was going to dance in the talent show. When Conor politely asked what kind of dancing (he can be great), she told him Irish dance, and he proudly declared (shut up kid!) that I used to do that. This is true, and it was a definitive bonding moment. Conor was determined that we should go and watch her, so after supper, off we went. She was great- especially in that her shoe came undone in the middle of it all and she soldiered on. Her family was then heading off to ... start packing. (I controlled my anxiety for them here...!)
After this, we waited until folks headed into either dinner or the show, and we bee-lined for the stores (otherwise, they are just sardine-ish on the last night). Conor had money on his gift card left, and he needed to use it up. He had his eye on one of the leather bracelets with your name in Star-Warsian and I can report that nearly 6 months later, he wears it all the time.
With that, we headed back to the cabin for wrapping up for bedtime, with one stop at the lab to return the bracelet . The final suitcase additions were added and the bags were set out. We ordered breakfast foods from room service (minus coffee) and had those ready to go for the morning (we get cereal, milk, juice, and a cheese plate generally and thus avoid having to rush out of our cabin) - this is a great idea (we think- I read about it here) but it does take a while on the last night, so just plan accordingly. DH had tipped our wait staff at supper and told them we would not be back for breakfast, and we found our cabin attendant, who was great, and gave him his envelope. DH had hit up the photo folks during the supper-show lull to buy 3 whole photos. He had also gone early to get our itemized bill and made sure there were no surprises (we've never had any, but best to check.)
Finally, it felt like all planets were aligned... bags were packed and out; the rest of our stuff was organized; Conor was clean; my to-do list was all nicely crossed off and it was time for bed. Or rather, bed for Conor and me, and DH headed off for a final night cap in Meridian.
We'll aim to finish this today. It's a holiday tomorrow (lieu day for Canada day) but I have to work anyway, so we'll make up for lost time... I hope!