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January 11, 2013 - 1:52 a.m.
"carnival breeze day 6: aruba"

Hey Journal!

Today was our port of call before heading back to Miami! I know, it's horribly sad! I have been dreading this day for a whole week... since before we left... and now it's happening. We are officially "on our way home." Of course, we still have two more sea days left, so that's the only thing that makes it bearable!

Before I get to the days adventures, I will give you an update on some names we have given to people around the cruise. I might have mentioned some of these before, but this is the full recap. There is Sticks & Stones, 6P and Juice Box, Spaceman and Mission Control, Stripes and Solids, Tiny Dancer (young kid who danced like crazy at the deck party), the bee keeper, the one armed bandit, the cherubs, Moonshine, Smiley (he never smiles... ever), Santa's Little Helper (looks like an elf), Checkers, and J Money. There may be a few more, but at the moment I can't think of them! There are just so many people to keep track of!

This morning, we got up at 7:00 to get ready for our 8:30 tour. I shaved and got dressed and then we went out to get some breakfast at the Marketplace. We headed back to the room and ate our breakfast here, put on our sunscreen, and then met for the excursion. This one was Me, Dan, my mom, Dan's Dad, and Dani's Brother. We got off the boat and went into the little port area to find out tour. On the way down the dock, we passed J Money and I gave him the head nod. He gave it back. lol

When we got inside, there was a guy with a sign for our tour, and so we headed over there. We got on a little bus that took us to a parking lot about 2 minutes away. There, we got into these big trucks that had two sideways bench seats in the back. Our driver was Noel.

He was really nice and a crazy driver! He kept driving over curbs and swerving! It was intense, but really fun. Our first stop was a rock formation that you could climb to the top. From there we took lots of pictures and checked out the island, then headed back to the trucks to head to the Natural Pool! This is where we did the most of our "off road" adventure. We went over some crazy rocks and we were bouncing around! It was really fun. My mom was a little apprehensive about it, but otherwise did well.

We did this tour because it was recommended by Re who had done it a few years ago. She said it was crazy, she screamed the whole time, but loved it.

We got to the Natural Pool which was really beautiful. We took some good pictures but the only problem was that the waves were too rough and we weren't able to go down and go swimming in the pool... but as the tour guide explained, they had made some alternate arrangements, and we would "bathe today!"

We got back in the trucks and headed to the Indian Caves. We went inside and saw a little of what was there, but it really wasn't THAT impressive. Then we headed through the city and to the beach. It was about a 20 minute ride to the beach and when we got there I was super hot and ready to get into the water! I was kinda happy that things turned out how they did because the beach was beautiful. The water was clear blue and the sand was perfect!

We had some snacks... chips and drinks, and then went in the water! We had a great time in the water! It was a lot of fun. It started to rain while we were out there but even that was fun! I loved it. I stayed in, and it only rained for about 5 minutes or so.

When I finally headed back to the beach, I was standing facing the beach and a big wave hit me from behind and knocked me under! I came up and realized my sunglasses... my FAVORITE sunglasses... were not on my head anymore! I was so sad! I looked all over, but they weren't floating! I was feeling really upset about it, and just then I felt something hit my feet! I reached down and there they were!! WOO HOO! :)

Crisis averted!

Anyway, after the beach we got back into our truck and headed back to the cruise terminal. It took about 10 minutes, and then we got back on the ship. I went back to the room and put my stuff in here. Then I went out on the deck to take some pictures of Aruba and use my phone a little to see if I could post anything or get in touch with anyone. I was able to go online for a few minutes, but not too long.

Then, I had a hamburger and Dan went in the pool. I took a little walk around and wound up in the area outside of the Red Frog Pub. I played with the dominoes there but just laid them out to see if they were all there. They weren't... seven were missing!

Dan came down shortly after and we went in the hot tub and watched the ship leave Aruba!

We were in there for over an hour and while we were in there, it started raining again. It cleared out and we had it all to ourselves for a while until people decided to come back out again!

When we came in, we took showers and got ready for dinner.

My mom was going to get a massage today after our excursion but when she went to use the $50 gift certificate that she had won, they told her it wasn't good for the massage she wanted. She didn't really care about that, but then they told her they were going to charge her a cancellation fee for not keeping her appointment.

She said she wouldn't pay such a fee, and they said the Spa manager would have to call her. Long story short, she wound up getting it taken care of.

At about 6:30 we headed out and people watched around the ship. We were out until dinner... well, except at 7:45, Dan went to his parents room to have wine and I just sat on the chairs on Deck 4 overlooking the lobby.

We met at dinner at 8:15 and I was the first to arrive. Everyone else was pretty late, so our waiter asked me if I was dining alone! I told him I hoped not!

They eventually arrived, but not my mom. The boat was moving just a bit tonight and so she decided to stay in her room. Sometimes I think she isn't happy unless she's unhappy... and what I mean is that sometimes it seems that she LIKES to look for negative things to be negative about and doesn't leave the door open to having fun in a more conventional way.... but at the same time, she enjoys whatever it is because she was negative about it.

Anyway, dinner was good, I had chicken noodle soup as an appetizer and then ordered turkey for dinner. The turkey was a little weird, but okay. Then I had the Chocolate Melting Cake for dessert.

The Maitre'D is a little strange in our restaurant. He sings each night, but then when the servers do their dances, he ALSO sings those songs! So, the other night he sang Gangnam Style and tonight he sang Low by Flo-Rida. It was really weird. They should just play the songs at that time!

Anyway, when we were done there, Dan and I walked the ship a little and did some random videoing for my YouTube tour! Then we went to the Deck Party. This time it was the Blue Iguana party and Dan and I participated in the festivities and dances! We had a fun time. Lots of other familiar faces were there... and most notably, Tiny Dancer was out and he knew every move to every line dance! He's INSANE. Today he wore a black shirt with GIANT BRIGHT letters that said "EVERY DAY I'M SHUFFLIN'!" I swear, he is a mini Jerry. The way he dresses reminds me of Jerry and his attitude is Jerryish! I'm gonna have to tell Jerry.

After the party, we went to get a deck of cards from Guest Services and played some games on the Lido Deck in the Marketplace. Then we walked around some more.

I was getting exhausted by 12:30, and then we were making out final lap when we walked though the Piano Bar and they all yelled some pre-organized thing at us, and it was really scary! lol We wound up staying there for about 30 mins until the show was over even though the piano guy isn't that good.

Alas, now it's 1:52 and I HAVE TO GET TO BED! It's so late! Luckily tomorrow is a Sea Day and I am NOT setting my alarm!!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)