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I've Got Something to Say
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Today’s schedule is a little upside-down, and a little topsy-turvy when compared to the schedule we’ve grown accustomed to over the last week. We woke up this morning and the ship was still at sea, making headway to Victoria, British Columbia where we would dock somewhere around 6:00 PM, and shove off at 11:30 PM. Six o’clock is our standard seating time for dinner, so that has been pushed up to 5:00 PM to allow us to eat on ship before docking – the blue group is normally seated at 8:00 PM will have seating available at 7:00 PM tonight (if they are remaining on ship). To provide additional dinner accommodations, the Lido Restaurant will be serving dinner this evening, too. Another change in the schedule is the "Farewell Concert" is at 2:00 PM for the red group – before going to dinner.
Being at sea all day had me wondering what we were going to do today to stay busy. That turned out to be nothing to worry about. After getting up and going to eat some breakfast, we returned to our room and did most of our packing and preparing to be ready to disembark tomorrow morning. Part of the preparation is to get our luggage ready and leave it outside our door when we go to bed. We would then pick it up in the terminal after offloading from the ship – just like when we boarded, we don’t have to carry it with us. It was a challenge to figure out how we got all of our stuff into the two checked luggage and one carry on. After spending some time doing that, we headed to the Vista Lounge for the red group’s seating of "The Message" with Max Lucado that started at 11:00 AM.
This inspiring hour started with a couple songs from Michael Olsen before Max came out and spoke about "The Great Day" That would be the day when there will be a shout, a trumpet sound, many waters will roar, the Earth destroyed and there will be new creation. That’s the day when Jesus comes again, a day He told us about, a day that will happen on any day. Upon that day, any baggage that we’ve been carrying will disappear and lose all meaning that it has for us today. Upon that day, we will see Him face-to-face. At the conclusion of the session we made our way to mid-ship where the Smitty Cruise Store has had merchandise from all special guests all week, and where Max was scheduled to have an autograph session. We got in line for the autograph session, with about 2 dozen people ahead of us, and waited for the signing session to begin. Once started, we got our turn fairly fast, then made our way to the Lido Restaurant to grab some lunch before heading back to the Vista Lounge for the Farewell Concert at 2:00 PM.
The concert provided a little bit of everybody again, starting off with Smitty & band, then Matthew West doing a couple numbers including a new release off a new album to be released in Sept. He was followed by Henry Cho, who confessed to being a Christian and admitted that his routines would not necessarily classify as Christian comedy, but his comedy is clean and received a rousing ovation. He went on to say that "church comedy may humorous, but isn’t really funny." Following Henry, Natalie Grant came out and sang a couple songs, one with the band (I Will Not Be Moved) and a couple songs with just her husband accompanying her. Then Smitty and band came back and played a couple more songs before being joined on stage by Matthew, Henry, Max & Natalie to close out the final concert of the week.
With about an hour and a half before seating for dinner, we strolled around the ship a little before heading back to the room to see what else we needed to pack. The atmosphere at dinner was noticeably different than the other nights. Partly because there were several folks that didn’t come to this seating – maybe they were waiting to eat ashore, or they were eating in the Lido, or it was just a little to early for them to eat. Mostly, though I think it was the sobering fact that this would be the last time we would be together, to share food, with folks that we have spent quite a bit of time with over that last 7 days. Duncan & Angie and the two of us still enjoyed each other’s company, have some good laughs and reminiscing over our recent memories and appreciating the dedicated service of Yuta, our waiter for the week. As we ate, the ship pulled into the harbor with many other ships coming & going and pulled up to the dock that was adjacent to a sea wall were a few people had strolled out to the point and waved at us all on the ship as it settled into its spot.
As we finished our meal (our last supper together – ha ha), I topped mine off with yet another serving of Baked Alaska. Jacque & I then made our way off the ship and onto the pier. We didn’t have anything in particular planned, so we stood around and watched some people jump into cabs, others onto excursion buses and others like us just kind of standing around trying to decide what to do. There was a group of about 4 couples that decided what they were going to do and started walking to make their way off the pier and toward their destination – Jacque & I just started following them. One of the couples in the group was Chris & Pam who were also in our zip line group yesterday morning. Within a couple blocks we were welcomed to be apart of their group, embarking on a 2+ mile trek to see Craigdarroch Castle. A few blocks later we crossed paths with a few local young people who were walking to their night’s entertaining spot as our group started up a conversation with them. Our routes diverged from each other, then a block or two later we found each other again. Upon them hearing where we were headed, they provided some affirming directions for us to get us to our destination.
We made our way past the British Columbia Parliament Buildings and on past a bustling marina and the Empress Hotel. Added to the excitement in the area was a huge car show scheduled for the weekend. Some of the classic cars were cruising up and down the street that was crowded with traffic, lots of pedestrians, and a few bicyclists – pedicabs and private riders, too. Then there was the street entertainment – the copper mime, Darth Vader playing the violin (Flight of the Bumble Bee as we strolled by), a one man band and later (on our return trek) a juggler with torches & chainsaws! These are street performers and expect tips, especially if you are going to take their picture. The mime shook her finger at us, catching us snapping her picture – then got one of the other couples into a little act when they threw a couple dollars in her hat.
Well, it turns out the directions we received from the locals actually took us a few blocks out of the way to our destination. It also happened to take us along a street where several homeless people lived. It was also a little strange to see disposal boxes for used syringes mounted on post along the side walk, like you might see a mailbox or a newspaper vending box.
Upon arriving at the castle, it was about to close for the evening and the tour cost $13.75/person so we opted to just walk around the outside, and maybe step into the gift shop.
As we started to leave the castle area and return to the ship, we walked passed a tree that a couple folks mentioned looked like something out of Harry Potter. We took a more direct route back to the marina area that was bustling just as much after the sunset as it was when we first passed by an hour or so before. Upon reaching the pier there were two other ships docked; the Norweign’s Pearl (not pictured), Princess’ Sapphire Princess (the one on the right in the picture with the ships) and our ms Oosterdam (the one on left).
We made our way back on board, stopping by the Lido for some ice cream & cookies, before returning to our room for final packing, setting our bags outside our door and calling it a night.
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