Monday, May 9th, Day At Sea----and last day on the ship!

Well, the last day of our cruise had arrived….and, as you can see in the attached picture, the weather was once again lovely and the seas were calm.  On the way North we had used the outside passage (the captain had the night prior given a detailed explanation over the P.A. system about why----but in a nutshell…it's maritime law for the region that any ship sailing out of Vancouver and up to Alaska for the first time, must always use the outside passage for its inaugural trip North).  Now that we were returning to the South and into Vancouver, however, we got to use the famous "inside passage."

The seas were not entirely smooth, but they were decidedly smoother than they had been on the way North-----I'm assuming that has something to do with being in a slightly more land-locked waterway rather than open sea….but I may be wrong.  Also, the shore line (on either or both sides) along the way was much closer and so lent itself to more great views.
Here are some pictures we took from the ship and from our room throughout the day:

Today was a day at sea---and so I apologize in advance for there not being too many pictures. 

Days at sea are usually a very happy day for us because we love relaxing sea days; but anyone who has every cruised and/or vacationed with me knows that the last day of the trip is never the best day to be around me-----I get very mopey (or actually, I like the word our table-mate, Randall, used to describe me better:  "melancholy"…..it sounds a bit more refined, doesn't it?! LOL)   Anyhow…..you know how some people get the condition known as "S.A.D."---seasonal affective disorder?  Which makes them depressed or moody in the winter when there's less sun and shorter days and, in some areas, colder temperatures?  Well I suffer chronically with what I now term as "V.E.D."---vacation ending disorder…where I'm stricken with mild to moderate depression when the end of my vacation and my return to the real, non-Disney world is looming!! LOL  (Thankfully, I know I'm not the only person with this affliction!!)   My declining mood not-with-standing, however, we decided to try to make the most of our day.

Our morning started with breakfast in the room----something we usually do several times during every cruise, but this was our FIRST in-room breakfast of this entire vacation!  Immediately after, we went up to the spa for another experience there. (Remember---pamper, pamper, pamper----and plus we thought the relaxation might be good for my mood…which it was for a while! *smile*).  Today's experience was another new one for both of us:   A bamboo massage.  This massage is exactly what it sounds like….a massage done with an assortment of bamboo rods in varying diameters and lengths.  This treatment is very popular with folks apparently because it allows, with the right pressure, for a deeper massage that stretches the muscles and maximizes the benefit.  The bamboo is also heated for the experience.  Well, let me just say that I believe I have a new favorite spa experience.  It was LOVELY!  I don't know if I just got a really great masseuse or what, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely do it again (and would recommend it to anyone)!

After our massages, we walked about the ship a little and chatted with Deb and her mom in the lobby for a while before lunch.  Lunch today was one of my favorite meals that they regularly offer onboard:  stir fry bar (you choose the meat and veggies and they stir fry them to order for you and mix them with asian noodles----YUM!). 

Once lunch was over, we decided to go to the room and get a jump on our packing….and then set in the V.E.D. symptoms!! LOL  Nothing says "vacation is almost over" like lugging out the empty suitcases you've had under your bed for almost 2 weeks and starting to transfer all the contents of your drawers and closets into them.  We also had to undecorated our door.  If you remember from a much earlier post when we boarded the ship, our door was a barren white metal thing with just a number on it.  By the end of our cruise with our fish extender, all our magnets and those we got from our onboard friends, here is what our door ended up looking like:

Packing and removing all that fun from our door was yet another blow to my sensitive mood, and so I decided that laying down for a bit of quiet time would be nice.  Quiet time turned into a nap that lasted a couple hours.  I know some people would probably think that sleeping away part of your day on your last day aboard the ship sounds like a colossal waste of time….but when you're on a Disney vacation (especially with me) you sometimes forget that the vacation ITSELF can be exhausting because you're having too much fun….and besides, when a parent's child gets cranky, what do they do? Put them down for a nap---because rest always helps….and so it's just what I needed! :)

Once I awoke, it was about time to get ready for the evening's show:  "Disney Dreams."  This is a show that I definitely do not miss, so we headed down.  Because we have so few pics for our blog today, we decided to try to take some shots of the show to add some color to this post (*smile*).  So here are some images of some of our favorite moments from the show----hopefully for those of you who have seen this show, this will bring back fond memories for you:

"Prince Ali" number from Aladdin

Cinderella & Prince Charming

Under the Sea

Beauty & the Beast

The Lion King's "Circle of Life"

the big finale

After the show we went to dinner.  Disney Dreams is a bit of a tear-jerker-tug-at-your-heartstrings kind of show and so I was a little sniffly (someone pass the kleenex! LOL) and already again feeling the weight of it being our last dinner with our friends on the ship-----and, in fact, our last meal altogether.  Usually we have breakfast the last morning but because our flight out of Vancouver was so early, we would have to skip breakfast, so this dinner was the time to say goodbye to Randall, Kevin, Rob, Larry & Janette----our fabulous tablemates---and to our servers Frano and Dewa.  Here's a picture of our whole group EXCEPT Janette (who refused to be in the picture with us LOL):

Table 15 on the LA Repo & 1st Alaskan!

After dinner, we returned to our room.  Waiting for us there was our towel animal for the day:

....now this is usually where our day ends...but not tonight.  After dinner tonight there were two events on the schedule we didn't want to miss.  One was the "Til We Meet Again" gathering in the lobby where all the characters and performers make a final appearance in their costumes and wish everyone a fond farewell.  Of course it's sappy and it just further reminds you that the trip is over...but you just gotta go with it and embrace the sadness! LOL  After that, we planned on going to the "Pub Night Skit" which is a very bawdy adult-oriented skit that the cruise staff does that is a tradition in the cruise industry and is always a way to laugh on your last night before turning in to get up the next morning and get off the ship.  Well both those things were on our agenda...but when we got to our room to change our clothes and put our bags out for the luggage carriers (had to be done after dinner), we had an invitation on our door.....

....a few days prior we had gotten into a really great conversation with a lovely cast member named Heather while we were waiting in line for pictures with one of the characters.  She was talking to us about our love of Disney and was super sweet...and after our conversation, she asked me what our room # was but was very cryptic about why she wanted to know----but I gave it to her.  Well, I am ASSUMING that the invitation we got was a result of that conversation (although I might be wrong)....it was an invite to a special meet & greet (open only to a handful of guests who got the invite) with all the characters who would be in the "Til We Meet Again" show and it came with an autographed pic of Mickey & Minnie in their pirate costumes!  Of course, for a Disney geek like me, this was really cool...so we changed quick and ran down to meet up with the performers and characters.  It was a very brief time with them just hanging out, taking pictures and chatting...but it was super sweet and fun:

After that, it was time for the show on the atrium stairs:

And then we were off to the Pub Night Skit:

We sat with Deb & Janette for this and then rode up in the elevators with them to their floor and said our good-byes (*frown*), then it was off to our room to go to bed in our Disney Cruise ship "home" for the last time.