Today was our final port of call, Princess Cays in the Bahamas, and our final day on the ship before returning to Fort Lauderdale. We opted to stay aboard all day and hang by the back pool and catch up with our friends one last time. One big topic of discussion was interest among our friends about our Alaskan cruise next July (2011). Hopefully several of them will join us next year. Also at the back pool was a private party just for our group, and the traditional group photo. That evening as we were sailing back to Florida the ship ran into some very rough waters. It was an adventure walking around the ship. Before dinner several of us had cocktails in Crooners Lounge (deck 7 midship); this lounge features dozens of varieties of martinis. That night at dinner we experienced a first: baked Alaska!

The next day we got up and finished packing, then headed to breakfast. While there we went ahead and booked our room at the Schubert Resort for next year. At the time we called we found out that there were only a few rooms left; apparently we weren't the only bears with the same idea. When our group was called we disembarked and picked up our luggage, went through customs, and drove back to Orlando. John and Randy stayed an extra couple of days to enjoy Orlando and Disney.

As sad as we were leaving the ship, we know we'll be back on the bear cruise next year, aboard Princess Cruise Lines Ruby Princess, cabin C706 (deck 10 aft). Plus we'll be doing an Alaskan cruise in July 2011.