The Royal Treatment ~ R is for Recollections

I woke up at dark o'clock as we pulled alongside Galveston, both eager to watch the docking process and dreading the dawn.

Land ho!

It was time for disembarkation day.

Sea salt coating the verandah railing and the verandah left a salty crunchy taste in the air.

I couldn't stay on our verandah for very long before I needed my coat. Back in Texas, it still was winter.

Ducking inside, I looked at the lovely sheets and reflected on some of the awesome times we enjoyed.



My favorite souvenir.
Funny story, actually.
Ben bought the fish key chain for himself when I bought this purse. He asked me if I could carry it for him. As soon as I slid it onto my purse, he figured, given how much I liked it, he wouldn't get it back. I intended to give it back to him, but Ben's mom gifted him a replacement keychain later in the cruise.



My favorite FE gift. I wore it the whole cruise, pretty much. As Ben finished up his shower, my first early riser made her appearance. She wanted to go upstairs to wander around on deck, but settled for walking around indoors instead.



They moved the hair braiding station indoors the day before so that the inclement weather wouldn't preempt braiding. Kylee liked the idea but didn't want to go for it this cruise.



Back downstairs in the room and Ben squared away his things. Kylee and I headed up to the drink station for some nice hot tea.



Then back down to deck three to meander for a bit before our breakfast arrived.

Spot the photographer.

I took a few of Kylee then she wanted a turn with the camera.

Please excuse the sleepy face. It was still predawn.

I actually love this picture and the fact that Kylee took it makes it just that much better.



Kylee and I found another hidden Mickey!

Noticing all of the people queuing for early breakfast seating with their day bags and luggage, we decided to see if our room service (on disembarkation morning, this is a suite perk for concierge!) arrived during our wanderings.

But on the way Kylee got distracted by the last minute photo sales in Shutters. She gathered all of ours together neatly and discarded them in the "Unwanted Photos" box.

Wood paneling? Must be time for ballet.

We enjoyed a little ballet as we rode the elevator up to eight, at least Kylee did.

Heading for breakfast.

Kylee hurried off to our room past the stateroom hosts carts piled high in preparation of turning over the ship.

Still quite early...

Continental breakfast of cereals and fruits may have been simple, but the recollections everyone shared of favorite moments in an unhurried environment made my morning.
A favorite memory of me and Ben (which missed being included in the trip report?
While walking to fetch Chris and Kylee in the afternoon on our Cozumel day, we approached a group of Club and Lab counselors walking down the hall with a rolling cart. They were pushing a cart and laughing and talking as they headed past us at the Buena Vista Theatre. Done reading the show times, we turned and followed them. Behind us came a repetitive thudding noise.
To quote Sebastian the crab "Teenagers! If you give them an inch they swim all over you."
I put it down as one of those things until I saw experiment 626 gallop past us toward the counselors who likewise hadn't noticed much of his approach.
One of the counselors screamed in shock and backed into the curtains.
After recovering herself she chided him "Stitch! You scared me!"
Stitch gave her a big hug around the middle and all the counselors dissolved into giggles.
He hopped onto the rolling cart on his tummy and they pushed him off to the Lab.
Best. Stitch. EVER!

Disembarkation gets underway.

Rather than join the queue down on three, we hung around our suite until we really had to leave. Kylee wanted to meander, so I agreed to accompany her.

Please???

Kylee tried to break into the Oceaneer Club.  No dice.

Chaine turns on stage.

We went out on deck to dance and wander a bit but the top deck was way too windy and the ninth deck still was pretty chilly. We headed back down to the suite.

Bye Glenn!

Glenn came by to check if we needed anything last minute. Our group could leave anytime we chose, but he stressed that we could stay in the suite until 8 or so if we wanted.. Kylee gave him a high five.



A few Mickey Shorts later and it was well and truly time to say "Goodbye Room!"



Ready to go?

We waited up on deck five for Casey and Chris to finish their late seating breakfast, then we all disembarked. I was going to ride home with them while my family would ride home in our Honda Fit. We all got our bags, tipped a porter and headed through customs. Our family went first, and Casey and Chris got pulled out of line to go settle up on their replacement wedding rings.
We headed outside to wait.

Bye dear!

Ben asked me what I wanted him to do. I told him I would be fine and to go take the kids to the car. A bright spot in all the hubbub as I waited, I got to enjoy some Texas style people watching.

This happened.

Cowboy boots? Check.
Cowboy hat? Check.
On top of car in strong winds? Check.

Thankfully Chris and Casey made it through customs before the next shuttle arrived. We made it to the parking lot to discover Kylee was distraught and didn't want to leave "without me" so Chris and Casey let her pile in with us.

Feet.

She amused herself taking photos of her feet and ChikFilA signs. Chris found a restroom for Kylee in record time and after one very sketchy gas station restroom, we eventually made it back to suburbia.
Chris and Casey left us thankful to be back at home as they headed off to DFW.

They're just glad to be out of a car.

Mom, Ben and Chris were already relaxing at the house before the second driving of the day. Ben headed out to drive mom to drop her with dad.

Sorting laundry into lights, darks and pixie dust.



And so it ends.

I started the unpacking, while the kids ran around glad to be back in their own home but missing room service and the clubs.

Thanks for reading along with this record breaking trip report! This is the fastest I've ever written up a trip report (usually, I reminisce over trips months later rather than immediately) and the longest (over 16,000 words, not including the Diana's Journal guest blogs).
Until next time, see ya real soon!

This is Part 22 of an Ongoing Trip Report "The Royal Treatment" additional sections of this report can be found on the Adventures page