Saying Goodbye

Our last day on the Ocean Princess Cruise Ship was an incredibly beautiful day.  We were officially "at sea" and would not be visiting any ports until we reached our final destination back at Dover, England.  That is the same port where we began our journey around the tip of England, on up to Ireland and on around to Scotland.   I have shared all those places in the last six or seven posts.

On this last day "at sea" my husband attended his last continuing education class.  I found the laundry room on the ship and did a little laundry,  did some packing and in general prepared to leave.

We were greatly anticipating the second part of our trip which would be sight-seeing in and around London, England for a few days before heading back home to the good ole USA.

But, ... I was finding it hard to think about leaving the ship, and probably never seeing the wonderful staff we came to know each day of our journey.

A beautiful day traveling back through the English Channel on the way back to Dover, England.

It was really nice to be able to follow the progress of our ship on the in-room-TV.

   

   I loved being able to walk the decks of the ship getting fresh air and exercise.

We stayed so busy on the trip trying to take advantage of seeing everything on shore we could possibly see,  that we did not spend too much time on the ship.

Outside patio and pool on the ship.

This is the huge cafeteria room where we did spend a good bit of time.  It was wonderful to sit by the windows at lunch and look out over  the beautiful waters of the  sea,  or to sometimes see land in the distance and just enjoy the beauty all around us  the Good Lord has given us ... It is totally amazing!

On the last day of our journey the ship staff out-did themselves!  Isn't that an amazingly artistic carving in the watermelon in the below photo.  What talent! ...  I could not do that on a piece of paper,  let along on a watermelon of all things!

Now, who would ever think of this!  Again, what artwork!  Yes, a dragon made from fresh pineapples and what looks like red peppers for a nose and tongue, cucumber and olive eyes ... just amazing!  This little creature was the centerpiece at one of the food stations during the last day of the cruise lunch.

Another watermelon work of art!

Some of the wonderful food staff in the below photo!

What a dear, friendly,  and caring attitude they had for everyone.

The main ship staircase.  We did a lot of stair climbing on these stairs.

   One of the rooms where they entertained and played beautiful music during the evening hours.

One of the ship's hallways.

And, last, but not least! ... The main dining room where we had dinner each evening after our long day of sight-seeing around all over the place.    We had hilarious dinner companions each evening ... Two sets were from Kansas City and one set  from Canada ... We will always remember them!

The waiter in the middle was such a dear to my husband and to me.  Always so helpful and so much fun!  He was a long way from home ...   He was working on the ship all the way from India,  as were many of the staff.

All of the waiters in the above photo are involved here in the Parade of the Baked Alaska.  They walked around the room with each waiter carrying a huge Baked Alaska which would be served to all guests.

One of our dear waiters with the Baked Alaska for our table.

Can you think of a better way to end a wonderful week than with a piece of this delicious

Baked Alaska!

There is something quite touching about leaving behind so many people who have so selflessly worked so hard to help everyone have a wonderful time.

We will really miss you!  May the Lord always be with you!

As we arrived back in Dover, England we waited our turn to board the tour-bus which would take us back to beautiful London, England.  As you can see it was a beautiful day to begin the second part of our journey.

Join us again next time as we sight-see and explore in and around the amazingly beautiful London, England.

Thanks for coming along with us on this fun trip.  I hope you are doing well and having a nice end of Summer wherever you may be.