M Bowlan 2004 click to enlarge
Fun in the sun! Where's Waldo? :)

Ahhhh! A lazy day at sea, with technically nothing to do! We (or I) slept in really good today, Rhonda was up at 9:30, and I at 11:30am. We got ready for our day, and went for lunch at the "Windjammer"; ooops, we missed our "Big B", so we had a "Big L"! We spent the early afternoon shopping, and walking around the ship, making sure we saw everything we could see and that we didn't miss anything. We had picked up some postcards for the boys, so we wrote them up and mailed them. We will be home before they get them, but thats not the point! After some ice cream , we caught a few rays on the pool side loungers and then around 4:00pm I got another itchin' to hit the rock wall again. This was probably the calmest day of the cruise with only three foot seas and very little breeze (not complaining!). It was very hot during the two turns I had climbing the wall. Lotsa sweat! Being is business, I know how important getting feedback is to company improvement and growth, so I try to give it back to others when I can. After my climbs, I let the manager know: "I just wanted to let you know this is my first cruise, and I booked this cruise because of that wall!" He smiled, and was very happy that I had let him know. We shook hands and Rhonda and I walked down the stairs onto the level below us, then he called out to us to hold up and wait a second. We waited for him to catch up to us, and he asked us what size shirts we wore. He went and got us a "Ship-Shape" T-shirt (all the rock-climbing instructors were wearing) for each of us, and again thanked us for the feedback, he was very appreciative. Rhonda and I were very impressed with this very kind gesture! The friendliness and helpfullness of the crew was exceptional, they were eager to talk to you, give a hand, and always had a smile! They sure made you feel like their special guest! All of our bags needed to be packed and outside our door by midnight, for pickup during the night so that our bags would be available dockside when we departed the ship. So before getting ready for our last dinner, we started packing our four suitcases, what a job! We layed everything out; clothes, gifts, souvenirs, cameras, etc. and strategically planned and placed each piece to not only get everything home, but all in one piece! It took us about two hours. After that ordeal, I showered up and we got dressed and then met up with Gary and Wendy for dinner. They were up earlier than us and had spent a lot of the day relaxing and sub-bathing. Not like we can do that at home... yet! Our last dinner was great as usual, our four course meals were very good and the presentation was excellent. The atmosphere in the three level dining area was very nice, and you should see the half million dollar chandalier! After stuffing in our last bite of dessert, we said our goodbyes to our waiter, Advehesh from India, and our assistant waiter, Prapta, from Indonesia. They both made the cruise enjoyable and they felt like family by the end of the week. Definatly assets to Royal Carribean! We had to be out of our staterooms by 8:00am, so we decided to get to bed soon. It was a beautiful clear night with a full moon, so before retiring for the night, we took a nice romantic night stroll on the upper deck. While we were walking we saw a large, amazing shooting star, it was really cool. We layed down in the loungers to look at the moon and stars and enjoy the warm carribean air one last time. It was soon time to hit the hay. Our towel animal tonight in our stateroom was a cool alligator, they sure like to look after you and have fun doing it! Good night.