harryfat1

Somehow walking off the ship isn’t as happy as walking on the ship… Empty Terminal 18 will soon be filled with passengers for the New Year’s Sailing

Officially we were “dinged out” at 9:35. I overheard one security guy say to his coworkers that there were still over 100 people left on the ship so we were not the last ones off the ship. Just 5,100 out of 5,200 people… As discussed previously, Port Evergaldes won’t have a Shorepower plug-in for another few years similar the more “green” West Coast counterparts that have already implemented the plug-in technology.

By 9:20, they had called all the numbers and made the announcement requesting everyone to leave as they wanted to kick us off the ship ASAP as they couldn’t make any more money from us. So they are telling everyone else still onboard to “Move It, Move It” as they are welcoming a new group of cruisers like @LuCruise and @Ourusualbeach on the next sailing in order to extract some money from them. But before doing that, the leftover rift raft ghetto cruisers like us must disembark ASAP. Besides announcing over the PA, they also had a crew member coming over to 270 to tell everyone to disembark now. OK, I guess that’s the not-so-subtle sign to tell you to get off the ship. Making our way to the gangway.

The last photo of Windjammer at 8:45 as they have closed up and kicked people out. As our flight is later in the afternoon, we are in no hurry to disembark. It’s far more comfortable to sit inside the ship than at the airport. Besides, there’s complimentary food and drinks in the ship versus having to pay at the airport. With that thought in mind, guess where we went after leaving Windjammer? Bingo, 270. Technically speaking, they suggested the veteran cruisers use the Music Hall to wait there between 8 and 9 but we liked the 270 area better so we went there. Pastries and drinks at 270 at 9 AM. The area is also used for B2B cruisers to gather and get their paperwork done for the next cruise so there were a lot of people there. Throughout the morning, they kept announcing the group numbers being called so if your group number has been called, you are free to disembark. By then, they had already called group 40 but looking at the long line of people trying to disembark, we were in no hurry to stand in line with them

Windjammer opens from 6 to 8:30 on disembarkation day. Here’s one area of Windjammer I kept walking past daily and said I would come by and take a picture but never did until the last day. I like the floor-to-ceiling glass window view here. Well, probably be better if it was a waterfront view instead of the refinery area… Saw this automatic window cleaning thing going by spray cleaning the windows 20231231_083725.mp4

OK, done with breakfast. Time to go back and wake up the fam as we are supposed to vacate the cabin by 8 AM The Celebrity ship is across the waterway from us Few last pictures of the balcony area and one last 9.2 anal people check/double check we didn’t leave anything valuable in the cabin Yeah, back to the real world where Sunday actually means Sunday…

My phone App shows it was 48 degrees in Fort Lauderdale on New Year’s Eve. Wow. In the past, we disembarked wearing t-shirts and only put on jackets on the flight home. But this time, we kept the sweatshirts and jacket with us instead of packing them in the suitcase it was pretty cold the previous night so we had a feeling Fort Lauderdale might be cold. I’m typically not an advocate for getting Internet on the ship as I’m cheap but if there’s one day to get the internet, it would be on the last day as then you can check the weather at the port when you come back as well as check in for your flights at the 24 hour mark.

Not a single person was in sight at 270 at 6:55. But a whole lot of people right outside of café 270 to self disembark as the line wraps and turns right in front of the café area. You see the RCI worker in blue making sure the people make the turn to follow the line to self-disembark. While they do their thing, I do mine as I got my 2 pastries and coffee and enjoyed the last breakfast at 270.

The earliest “regular” departure tag you can get is #6. Per the list, unless you have a tour or transfer or are in suites/special status, the earliest departure tag you can get is #6. But we are not early people so I never thought about getting an earlier tag. On the Florida departure board on CC, every week someone will ask “What is the earliest time I can get off the ship?” That’s because many early departing flights from FLL are not full because cruisers are still on the ship so the airline lowers their fares to entice people to fly on them instead of say the more popular time at 12 noon. I’m waiting for someone to post – can I make an 8 AM flight out of FLL? Yeah, if you can jump off the ship and swim ashore at 5 AM…🤪

Day 9 – Homeward Bound I was up earlier today as it’s disembarkation day and everything opens earlier and closes earlier for breakfast. Here is the schedule again in case anyone needs to have an idea of when to disembark for your future Odyssey sailings: Café 270 opens at 6:30 AM so no need to wait for it to open as I took this picture at 6:41 of the hallway. The workers have the bags ready to put away the sheets and towels. Does anyone know what color bag holds what?

Yeah, suitcases are the least appreciated piece of equipment when it comes to traveling but it's very important in that it holds all your clothes and if coming home, many of your souvenirs/memories from the trip. Especially if it's the beginning of the vacation, trying to replace 1 plus week of clothes and travel accessories is a major work that nobody wants to undertake.

Yeah, we had the front door slammed on us a couple of times on day 1 when we opened the front door with the balcony open. After that, we always checked if the balcony door was closed before opening the front door.

The show’s over and back to the cabin. The last picture of the night was at 11:48 PM as it had stopped raining. and the corner cabin from the top no longer has holiday lights as the people packed them for home This concludes day 8 of the trip report. But we are not done as we haven’t gotten off the ship yet. In the past, when I read other trip reports, on the day of disembarkation, many writers just have a quick summary “We got up in the morning and got off the ship and came home”. Wait. What? Anal Inquiring minds want to know the hows and whats of disembarkation. As I said in the beginning, my trip reports are typically from airport to airport. Meaning I start in SFO and end in SFO (with a twist this time). So there will still be more photos and unwanted editorals from me on day 9 for those interested in tuning in. Let's close out the night and the cruise with the Kansas song as with what seems to be a blink of the eye, it's coming to an end +++++ Almost done, folks. The Fat Lady is up on the stage belting out her song… ++++++

OK, done with suitcases, time for the final entertainment act of this sailing. The typical “adults only” comedian act at 10 PM. It’s the same comedian from earlier in the cruise. He had a few decent jokes but nothing really great.

After dinner, back to the cabin to put last-minute stuff in the suitcases, and then it was time to haul them outside. On paper, everyone was supposed to have all the suitcases outside by 10 PM but when we came back after the show at 11, they were still out there and they didn’t get picked up until close to midnight as I heard the workers outside at the hallways taking them away before I went to sleep. What’s the latest time people have left luggage outside and still be picked up? Speaking of suitcases, is there a more important travel gear than your suitcases but yet we take them for granted. We never miss our suitcases until they are gone. When not on vacation, we shove our suitcases in the garage/back of the closet at home and when we go on vacation, we throw all the dirty clothes/socks inside the suitcase coming home. Not to mention the cruise lines/airports stack the suitcases about 7 deep so that if you are at the bottom of the pile, you are being crushed. How often do you show appreciation for your suitcase unless it’s gone missing? (Hint: we will soon find out…)

We said goodbye to our waiters. They were good. Not spectacular but not bad either. Pretty standard for cruise ship wai staff. Before leaving, we had to listen to their spiel on their requesting the highest rating on the post-cruise survey. Seems like that’s the standard spiel for all wait staff everywhere. We heard the same speech on Princess Cruise as well so it’s not just an RCI phenomenon. I assume their promotion/continued employment is partly based on the customer satisfaction of their job, which is why all wait staff on various cruise lines are pushing hard for a good number.

Goodbye from the MDR staff 20231230_202859.mp4 Singing waiter 20231230_203135.mp4 Grandma recording on her iPad

Dinner at MDR is Mediterranean food. I missed the lamb from the short 4-night cruise. Only get this on the longer 7+ night cruise

Done with bumper cars. Back to the cabin and shower. How many people actually have an electric razor that still uses this plug? The modern-day electric razors use USB cables for recharging.

As there’s not much to do, we saw there was a bumper car session starting in 15 minutes at 6 PM, we made our way to Seaplex at 5:45 to stand in line to wait for them to open. There's already a long line of people waiting at 5:45 for the 6 PM opening

Thanks for reading along and providing positive feedback on the Navigator and this trip report. Oh, very nice to see a Cirque show. I think I have seen 7 of their shows including the old one at Disneyworld before they changed out and 3 shows in Vegas and various traveling shows including Corteo last August in San Francisco. Still need to see the big "O" in Bellagio next time we are in Vegas. Enjoy the show and let me know what you think of it after you come back.

It's a good thing you could sort out the photo package. It gets complicated with younger relatives in other cabins in adding them to your package. Yeah, we got the printed package as it was just our family but if it were a bigger group, then the digital version would work better to share amongst everyone to print on their own.

Hi, Thanks for continuing to read along. No shoes restrictions on bumper cars. You will need socks for rock climbing. Probably need shoes for iFly as I assume they wouldn't want your sandals to be flying around inside the tube. Have a great cruise if we don't talk again before you leave.

I like these connecting cabins. I know the obstructed view sucks but if you get the connecting cabin and have a view facing forward as well to the side and having a wider balcony is a good trade-off

Back to the cabin. As I mentioned previously, we hardly ever see anyone walking on the Promenade deck. I sometimes see mechanics walking by. The area is very quiet We had already discussed this topic previously but here is when I took the pictures of the USB hub and different types of cables This picture of the pool deck at 5 PM pretty much tells all about what the weather is like outside