We have arrived at the last full day on board. We are steaming back to Baltimore and will be docked there by 10:00 AM tomorrow, if not sooner. In the meantime, there's some business to take care of. The big event this morning is the debarkation presentation, where we get briefed on the plan for arrival.
The Debarkation Presentation
We were presented with two options: Self-assist or Checked Luggage. Self-assist is when you bring all your bags, etc off the ship yourself. This is the option to take if you want to get off quickly. For example, you have an early flight, meaning a flight before 1:00 PM. On the other hand, Checked Luggage is when Carnival staff takes your things off for you, and then you pick everything up in the terminal.
My flight home is mid-afternoon, so just to be sure, I'll be doing Self-assist. This will get me off the ship by 10:30 or so, roughly a half-hour after docking.
Either way, we have to check out of the rooms by 9:30. This is because, according to cruise director Alex, a whole new crew is onboarding (literally, and in the business sense) tomorrow. Plus the new passengers are starting to arrive at 11:30. This means, if all is perfect, our debarkation has to be complete in one-and-a-half hours.
The other thing to take away from the presentation is settling your bill. If you have a cash account, if you owe anything, you'll have to pay it off before you're allowed to leave. If you have a credit card, any balance due will automatically be paid on the card. In my case, I have a credit card. Now, here's what happened: I had a $14 and change credit due to return of port fees in Baltimore for the late start. With the lobster from last night and the milkshake today, I now owe $15. Instead of paying on the card, I'll bring cash down and take care of it myself. That way I'm free and clear.
On the other hand, if you have a credit, you'll get a check in the mail for that amount, unless it's under $10.00, in which case it will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
Either way, overnight tonight, our final bills will be delivered to our rooms.
The VIFP Gathering
The big doings for this afternoon was the VIFP Diamond and Platinum Gathering. This is a party for all those who have achieved these levels (the highest two) in the VIFP Loyalty Program. This was my first one!
There's so many people eligible for invitation that most voyages have to have two parties, or one big one in the main theater. Here on the Legend, we had two. My invite was for the second party.
There were drinks served, but no hors d'ouerves. There were contests awards. One of the awards was for the youngest person to make Platinum. The winner was a 3-year-old who attended the first party. One needs a minimum of 75 nights aboard ships to get into Platinum, so good for them. Thier parents must have started cruising with this kid since birth.
After the awards and recognitions, all the department heads came to visit and say thank you. It's amazing all the departments a cruise ship has, everything from a chef de cuisine to a hotel manager to entertainment manager (the cruise director's direct boss).
Well, that's it. The rest of the night was taken up with dinner, packing, and getting ready to go home tomorrow.
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