Day 131, Sailing toward San Diego, California

It’s definitely cooler as we continue north toward San Diego. Some deck motion has returned, although nothing like some of the days crossing the Atlantic or in the Tasman Sea near Australia.

There was another “Walk for the Cure” this morning, but we were hunkered down in our cabin packing all morning and didn’t get a chance to get to the promenade deck to see how many people were participating.

Since we live in San Diego, we decided to forgo our FEDEX shipping option and take all of our bags with us and directly home. We have a driver service we have been using for years and we told him to bring his biggest SUV as we will have about 13 bags and boxes, plus carryon. If everything doesn’t fit, we will have to get a cab to follow us home with the rest of the bags. We only live about 30 minutes from the Cruise Terminal, so we can afford to be squished in for such a short trip and hold some bags on our lap if necessary.

I took a break to catch the Location Guide, Wallis’s port lecture on San Diego. Even though we live here, I was interested in hearing how she would cover the city we are so familiar with. She did an outstanding job and her talk reminded me that San Diego is one of the best cruise ports in the world. A modern, exciting city, and many tourist sites within easy walking distance or accessible using the many public transportation options.

We were continuing to pack throughout the day so we ordered in room dining for lunch. A very good hamburger and a grilled chicken sandwich. We love the in-room dining option and used it every day for breakfast, but only occasionally for lunch. While we know you can have anything off the MDR menus delivered to your room if you order during meal hours, we have never taken advantage of this option.

I played my last Texas Hold’em game for the cruise – with my record of 7 wins, 9 second places (16 in the money finishes) out of 46 total games. I had a great time in the Casino and left with more money than I started with – always a good thing.

Judy and I played our last round of Bingo this afternoon. There was a huge turnout and the final jackpot was almost $500. About double what you usually see for Bingo. One person won the “four corner” game – where you must match the number on each the four corners of your card – after only 5 calls – only one more than necessary.   Wow!

After Bingo it was back to the room to finish packing.   We would have used FEDEX from Fort Lauderdale to ship some of our stuff home, but since we were in transit, we were not allowed to ship anything from that port.

The more we packed, the more it seemed stuff was appearing out of the “wood work” – but right before dinner, we managed to get some bags out in the hallway and could start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here is shot of some of our first bags in the hallway. Any guesses as to what the long item is? More on that in later posts.

Our final dinner was wonderful as were the previous 130 or so. Our tablemate Brad arranged for us to have a special Indonesian Entrée called “Billy Ketchup”. Not sure if this is spelled correctly, but it was a spicy beef/pork and shrimp dish that we were told is quite popular with the crew and in Indonesia. Of the 8 people at the table, 5 of us decided to give it a try – and I found it quite delicious and look forward to having it again in the future. Any insight as to the origin or correct spelling appreciated.

International violinist, Jacqueline Roche, would be the final entertainer for our cruise. She was outstanding and we particularly like her final number which was a medley of songs from “West Side Story”.

After the show, we said our final good byes to the wonderful Casino staff and headed back to our cabin to finish packing.   We asked for the last possible debarkation time which is expected to be around 10 am. We love the fact that HAL lets you sleep in on your final day and stay in your cabin till you are ready to leave the ship.

Our final bag hit the hallway at 1am and we were finally done!

I would like to give  big SHOUT OUT to my wife Judy for editing every post and taking 95% of all the pictures!

• Jacqueline Roche