We had a fun December. The festivities started at the end of November and seemed to keep on going.
Once Thanksgiving was over, we were getting ready my "retirement" and for our cruise with a group of friends leaving from Port Canaveral on December 9th.
My last day of work was December 6th. I didn't really say much to anybody in advance....because I didn't tell my boss until just a little over two weeks before I left.The thing with working at MBPL is that we had schedules that changed day to day, week to week. Sometimes I wouldn't see patrons for a few weeks just because of the day and/or time they happened to come in. It was not uncommon for people to comment "Oh I haven't seen you for a while. I was wondering if you were still working here." That along with our many part-time residents means there may be some folks who still have no clue that I'm no longer working there! (unless they happen to ask...and they very well may...because there are a lot of new faces). I can say that I DO NOT miss it and more than once at a certain day or time I will catch myself thinking "Oh I'm so glad I'm not there!".
I liked my job for the most part. I wasn't crazy about the boss and some of the "rules" …. but it wasn't terrible. I am happy not to be there for now and have heard through the "grapevine" that 3 of the people hired since I gave my notice in late November...have already left. I think it would be safe to say morale is not very high at this point. (One other person left...but she had another better job opportunity.)So.....I'll leave it at that.
The staff had a nice little celebration for me on my last day and I appreciated that very much. I enjoyed most of the people I worked with and hope they enjoyed working with me. My last day was a Thursday and I had fun with no obligations for a couple of days before we left on our cruise.
as I mentioned in my last blog I was a little unsure about the size of the ship and the itinerary. However...as usual, it was all for nothing, because we had a good time and the ship was pretty nice. Even though it's BIG...it never felt too crowded.
One thing I liked was the fact that it kind of got the Holiday season started.
The ship was decorated and everyone was in a festive mood. On the "formal" nights everyone was dressed up in their holiday clothes ...because if you've ever been on a cruise you know they are always snapping photos. It's a good way to get a (with any luck) good family photo...and since it was so close to Hanukkah and Christmas...I'm thinking lots of photos ended up on Holiday cards. Another plus was watching the football games on the big screen. There were some great games at the end of the season and watching in the stands with other fans was kind of fun.
we also had a great group of 12 people. There was always someone around to do things with. Sometimes days at sea can be kind of boring...but we had fun playing board games,
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one of the games Jeanette brought
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hanging out by the pool, trying the zipline, etc. There were plenty of bars and shows to choose from at night...and always someone who was willing to join you.
hahahah we had one dinner with the WHOLE group on my birthday (and one of the others, who had a birthday 2 days before me).
The other meals there might be 4-6-8-10 of us...lots of options and no pressure.
John, Sean ,Nancy and I tried the Rock Climbing wall. John made it to the top. Nancy and I got up to the first bell.
Sean watched. hahahah
Most of us tried the on board zipline.
A friend of mine who went ton the same ship a year or so ago told me she had tried it...I figured if she could do it...so could I. hahahah John was tempted to try the wave "pool" but it looked a little fast and he wasn't sure he wanted to have to deal with falling! It was fun to watch other people try. There was a contest one night...and an older guy, who works with the cruise line, won. He's 70?
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| Crowd watching the "Surf Contest" |
I think and has mastered the wave machine. He made it look easy. The night of the contest he dressed in red and wore a Santa hat and had flashing rings that he tossed to the spectators. John ,Charlie,Gayle and I got a kick out of watching that.
Everyone was cheering.
At our first stop a group of us did the zip line. A bus takes the group up the hill to the starting point and then you ride the zipline down over the water to the beach. Click on this link to see what it was like
https://www.facebook.com/royalcaribbean/videos/1224322507721070/UzpfSTEwMDAwNTg4NTUwMzcxOTozMDYwNjExMjk0OTk0MTQ6MTA6MTUxNDc5MzYwMDoxNTQ2MzI5NTk5Oi02MjY2MDE0MDQ0NDQ3Nzg2ODA0/?lst=100005885503719%3A100005885503719%3A1551147659
It was fun. We "sat" but Charlie and Gayle opted for the more
advanced" lay down position.
In Jamaica people went off on different tours. we walked around the town...but didn't venture too far from the ship...because it wasn't the "safest" place to go on your own. Charlie, Sean,Gayle and Nancy climbed the falls and had a good time. It was a 6 hour tour, and I wasn't sure I wanted to be gone all day long...soI opted out. Jeanette and Joe went to a plantation home tour that they really enjoyed. Art and Gayle went on a raft tour and really enjoyed it.
In Cozumel
4 of the group spent the day at the beach relaxing. The rest of us found a taxi that took us all to a beach "resort" where we spent the afternoon.
It was an old hotel (abandoned next to a nice restaurant, club house and pool .
You could snorkel, sunbathe, take a dip in the ocean or the pool. The cab drivers all hung out together while the tourists di out thing. We had a great lunch...LOTS of FOOD.... We ordered too much...but had fun sampling many different things.
It was a pleasant relaxing day. Originally we had thought we might head to a popular beach Gayle and Nancy remembered from trips to Cozumel years earlier...but the cab driver convinced us to avoid the crowds and let him take us to the spot where we ended up. On the way there he also dropped us off "downtown" so we could walk around a bit, check out some of the shops, etc. He was great. We liked him and I think he had fun with our crazy crew....because What's not to like...hahaha plus we're good tippers!
When we got home we went to a friend's party (described in my last post).
Then we celebrated Christmas...kind of a low key celebration...just John, Brenna, Josh, Mark and I.
Generally New Year's Eve is pretty quiet for us. I am not in to large drunken groups..especially when they are all trying to kiss you at midnight!!!! We were invited to an old friend's (she's not old...she's younger than me hahaha I mean a friend we don't see as often as we used to) 60th birthday party. Her birthday is New Year's eve...so that was fun.
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Birthday girl
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We saw some familiar faces there and enjoyed celebrating with that group for the first part of the night. Later we started heading back to the beachside...and to another party. (can't remember the last time we got invited to A party New Year's eve...let alone two!!!). We knew more of the guest at the second party. It was at a house on the river and it was a beautiful night. Cool fresh air, clear skies and a view of fireworks going off here and there along the river.
Enjoyed listening to some music and having some treats...and then after midnight we headed home.
The next day we were invited to yet another party! I think it was a record this year....hahaha
There was a UCF football game on and many of the guests were alumni, had kids there, etc. I didn't watch much of the game...I enjoyed sitting and talking with a group of others also not watching the game. It was a fun entertaining afternoon, and a great way to start off the new year.
With all the festivities going on it was easy to forget that I was newly retired. It was great to be able to say YES to everything though...without having to worry about whether or not I would be off and/or have to work the next day. My "Life of Leisure" was off to a fine start. hahahah
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