Day 9
At the end of a cruise, they have all the characters come out and do meet and greets. They are not with cruise photographers, they are just around the atrium and on the various decks. So you run around and try to get photos with whoever you can find.
We tried to find some of our favorites, usually the ones we hadn't waited in line for yet. You can find almost everyone on the ship, even some of the stars of the shows or more minor characters. While it is crowded and not super organized, everyone is buzzing around and excited. It is chaos but I actually love it!
We went straight for Don Don, as we call him!
Then we ran into Belle, aka Lilli
We always love to find Goofy!
And Captain Minnie!
We had already seen Mickey in his house so I didn't wait in line for him. You only have about 15 minutes of them out so you have to prioritize!
At the end of the evening, they sing a farewell song all together on the stairs!
It is bittersweet! Another cruise come and gone, but this one just as great as the others!
Back in our room we found one last blanket creation:
Then the sadness creeps in. You have to pack up!
You have options on a cruise - you can have your bags packed and outside your stateroom the night before disembarkation. They will take them and have them ready for you at the port after you go through customs. You go have a nice sit-down breakfast in your last dining room (so for us it would have been Animator's) and leisurely make your way off the ship. They stagger the times so if you had late dining (as we did) you have a late breakfast.
OR, you can carry them off yourself for an early departure. You can grab breakfast at cabanas but you have to have your bags with you. We have done both. Last year we left the Magic in New Orleans and drove straight to Orlando to go to Universal Studios (that was a last-minute, wild decision!) so we needed to get on the road. This year we had plans to explore San Diego so we also wanted an early start. But to be honest, I like to take my time getting off the ship if I am just heading home after.
Since we were carrying our own bags off, we didn't have to have them packed up by 10 PM. So when we returned to the room we started putting everything in the packing totes and squeezing them in the suitcases. 9 days of clothes had to fit back in, plus we still had one more day/night to go. Scarlett was outside working on carefully taking down the door magnets. Well, we didn't realize she had the door propped open and when Lilli opened the balcony door to get some fresh air, it created a vacuum that slammed the cabin door onto Scarlett's finger. The problem was, she didn't make any noise and we didn't hear it happen! So she was sitting out in the hallway crying in pain and we had no idea! She finally came in, white as a ghost, and told us what happened. I don't know how it didn't break her finger(s) but we majorly avoided a catastrophe! Poor baby, she was hurting pretty bad and that just added to the mood of sadness in the room!
Thankfully she didn't break them. She was in pain for a few days, though!
We all decided 4 nights is too short for all the packing involved, but had one more glorious night of sleep!