I was woken earlier than usual. Kristine was at the door, reminding me to get up. Evidently someone had written my room number down for an early wake-up call. To accomodate passengers who had to make early flights, a breakfast buffet was served at five in the morning. A couple of the kids in our group had wanted to get up then, just for the food. I ended up getting out of bed at around quarter after six. Our final day was fairly uneventful. Nothing was planned, just to make it to the airport on time and start our trek back home. Luggage was already started to collect in front of the bar. We were encouraged to write our departure time in chalk on our baggage so it would be loaded onto the appropriate launches heading ashore.
We figured we'd leave around noon, but just so our luggage wouldn't somehow get transported ahead of time we labeled it with "1:00". Jim noticed plenty of passengers' bags were earmarked for noon, so he was arguing we should avoid the crowd by leaving early. Tom and I were in no hurry, and besides our final meal would be at noon. Most of our group took the 11:30 launch, but Tom and I stayed til 12:30. They missed a great lunch, which consisted of all the chicken and ribs leftover from our grilled dinners. When Tom and I finally did leave we ran into a problem of our own making: because we'd labeled our luggage for "1:00" we had some trouble convincing the hands to load our bags.
It was sad to leave the ship behind and also rather sad to see how quickly the Polynesia was adapting for its next week of passengers. Crates of fruit were already being transported to the ship. A taxi was waiting for us, which took us back through the island to the airport. The rest of our group was sitting on the floor of a corridor, right near where we needed to pay our disembarkation fee. We then moved on to the gate, where we waited for our own flight while seeing now familiar faces head off to their own continental airports.
There was a bit of confusion as we walked onto the tarmac. There were two American Airlines planes waiting. I tentatively followed the crowds, unsure exactly where I'd find myself flying. I surrendered my window seat for the flight from St Maarten to Miami, letting Nicole have the view for once (and setting my camera aside for this flight). Just like last week, I saw no more of Miami than its airport. We were informed our flight was delayed due to the weather. It was rather dark in Miami, but in fact our plane was all ready for boarding and it was heavy rains in Detroit which were causing us to wait. I'd be tempted to say we were getting tired of each other since we all seemed to be a bit cranky. I celebrated the Fourth of July with a hot dog combo at the airport. It was $4.99 for a mere dog, bag of chips, and Coke, but it seemed an appropriate meal for the day. I reclaimed the window seat in hopes of seeing some fireworks displays. I'd always been curious what a fireworks display looks like from above, and by a stroke of luck I should be able to have my chance on this very flight. I got to see some lightning too.
I got my wish -- big time -- seeing maybe a dozen fireworks displays up the eastern coast. As we approached Metro Detroit, the amateur, backyard displays looked like thousands of cameras flashing. My dad was waiting for us at our gate at Metro Airport. After grabbing our luggage, we split up and went our separate ways; but since my dad needed to drop off Uncle John and Callie, I wound up meeting with a couple of fellow passengers back at my Uncle and Aunt's house.
Don looked particularly wearied. He was also complaining of a sensation which made him feel like he was still at sea. I was surprised he'd never experienced it before. I was actually enjoying it...it was like a free souvenir. Back at home, it was nice to sleep in my familiar bed and then take a long hot shower the following morning. But after freshening myself up I wished I could go right back there again. I was glad I'd shot so much videotape: it allowed me to relive my week in the Caribbean over and over again.
Our final day was fairly uneventful. Nothing was planned, just to make it to the airport on time and start our trek back home. Luggage was already started to collect in front of the bar. We were encouraged to write our departure time in chalk on our baggage so it would be loaded onto the appropriate launches heading ashore.
