Chapter 2 - Is it Really time to go home?

So we woke up Sunday morning, I watched cruise ships come into port. It was dark/rainy & windy - which made the lights on the ship look really neat. But I couldn't take a pic due to the reflection.

We told the girls to make sure to pack their new toys, etc. They were not totally buying that we were heading back home today. But they did what they were told. Then we headed down to breakfast - our reservation included a buffet breakfast.

After we ate we went back to the room. . .then John went into the restroom. . ..(TMI) after a few minutes the girls and I decided to step out for a bit and went down to the pool area.

They dipped their feet in the pool (it was too windy to try to swim), and then they played chess, etc.

Here is Mickie chasing a Chess piece that made a break for it in the wind. . . .

So we got a call that our limo was here. . . so we told the girls it was time to head back to the airport. John explained to them that we came all the way here to get a hat from Bubba Gump for my father for Christmas. You could tell they weren't sure what to believe.

Well, this limo was a really looooooooooong one

So we were off. . .. to Miami. The girls were smiling, enjoying the ride until we passed the airport. . .their smiles drooped for a bit, but we kept going. . . .then we started to see Carnival ships. . and they were sooooooo excited they just knew we were going on a "Whale Tail" ship. I told them we were not, but they thought I was kidding. . .they could see the 3 story blue slides on top and were so excited. But we kept going. They were twisting in their seats - so sure we were going to turn around when Mickie saw it. . .she started slapping Maddie "look, look, it's the Pearl". She was still excited. . .Maddie, a little less so - she wanted to go back to the Carnival ship. Her exact words were "but we've been on the Pearl already". Ugh - sucker punch.

So we were heading into the check in - and were redirected, to the VIP lounge. See, we don't have to get in line cuz we are in a suite. :D Can you say "sweet!"?!

We were escorted by a butler to the lounge area to sit, fill out our forms. There were sandwiches, cookies, drinks, etc. When we got up there - there was another family in front of us. . and he checked in and then said "And I bet this is Debra, John and their daughters behind us". It was the man who organized the meet & greet, Jim. He was in an inside cabin, but for some reason was given suite privlidges for the cruise - he didn't know why, but enjoyed them to the fullest.

VIP Lounge

After a while the butler came, and escorted us to Cagney's for lunch. We were kind of bummed as we were hoping to go to the main dining room to see if Marie was there. The girls mentioned to the butler they wanted to find Marie - so he got on his walkie talkie, came back and said she would be working at Lotus Garden that evening, did we want a table. I didn't even get a chance to answer - as the choir of M&Ms hollered yes.