To say that we had an interesting end to our cruise would be putting it mildly. We had a VERY interesting end to the cruise. On the last night (or rather very early on Saturday morning) at about 1:00am, just as we had finished packing and were settling in to sleep, we felt a HORRIBLE shudder on the ship. It felt like an 8.0 magnitude earth quake! We didn't know what the heck was going on. It lasted for about a minute, and we flew out of bed. We went out onto the balcony to see what we could see, and Hubby noticed that we'd made a huge, fast turn, and the engines were cut off. How strange is that! Saying that it totally freaked us out would be an understatement. We got dressed really quick and were ready in case an alarm went off.
We waited for a few minutes and didn't hear anything, so we went out and tried to figure out what was going on. No one seemed to know, and some people we talked to hadn't even felt the shaking. After about an hour, we came back to the cabin and TRIED to get some sleep. (I didn't have much luck with that)... Anyway, we were up before dawn in the morning (I got some great sunrise pictures!) and finally at breakfast we found out what had happened.
The captain made an announcement saying that he'd seen a distress signal from a very small fishing vessel, directly in front of the ship. He'd halted our engines as quickly as possible, and turned to avoid hitting the fishing boat. They sent out a rescue vessel, and made contact with the boat. They realized the little boat was sinking and they were able to save the two people on board. They brought them to our ship, and waited for the Coast Guard to come and get them. How wild is that? I'm so glad we got an explanation! Needless to say, it was quite an ending to our otherwise very relaxing trip! We got home safely on Saturday evening, and we so pleased when we thought about how the trip went. Every one of our flights was on time, every one of our shore excursions worked out great, and none were canceled. Every one of our meals was great, every taxi we took was fast, every day was excellent. How often can you say that about a vacation?
I am extremely happy with how everything went, and so thankful that we had this opportunity to spend quality time together, reconnect, and relax. It was good for the soul, that's for sure. We also had some great surprises along the way, in the form of free drinks from strangers, shipboard credits from very special friends (you know who you are, and we can't thank you enough!) and meeting new friends that made our cruise even more memorable and certainly more enjoyable. We certainly hope to run into you again Danielle, Bud & Patsy, Karen & Graham, "San Pedro" and Dodih! If you are ever in San Diego, you've got a place to stay!
Huge thanks, once again, to my folks for sending us on this incredible adventure, and for caring enough to know we really needed this. It certainly wouldn't have happened without their love, and support, both emotionally and financially! I know I am one very lucky daughter, that's for sure.
As I go through my pictures in the next few weeks, deciding what to do with them all, and weeding through the fuzzy ones, I'm sure all post more...but this will pretty much be the wrap up for now. Life goes on, and it's back to reality....but I have a feeling, that things are going to be pretty exciting in the weeks to come.
Stay tuned.
After a very fun, and silly dinner, we came home to open presents and enjoy a little cake.
Happy (belated) birthday Pickle! We love you! 
