Our last day of the cruise. We slept in. The big event was the “Platinum and Diamond Reunion”, an event only for Carnival’s most ardent cruisers. For the first time, I qualified to attend on my own merits. It isn’t much of a party – some music and a promo video from Carnival, then they bring out all the officers again. But it has an open bar. Both Marlene and I had two. Not a big deal as we both get free drinks in the casino, but there is some small thrill associated with getting a free drink.

We took a few photos after the event.

I don’t know why I go into the casino on the final day – I never win. Some did. One woman sitting near me won over $2,000. But I lost $165, ending the cruise down an even $400. But I am actually happy with that as I was down nearly $600 at one point but came back some.

Marlene lost even more.

We were tired and decided to wait until morning to pack. We set our alarms for 6 am.

Grand Turk was port #8 of 8. It is the only port that we also visited recently on the Carnival Vista cruise. Because we had been there recently we were not interested in hanging around the port area, so we decided to go into town – Cockburn Town. We inquired as to the availability of golf carts (none), bicycles (available but at $50 each for eBikes) and taxi (available but $8 per person each way). Marlene voted for walking – over 4 miles – and who and I to vote against her?

It was a long walk, but fairly interesting. And it was a lovely day. We encountered a memorial to John Glenn’s space ride (he landed near Grand Turk) and some feral donkeys. And lots of lazy dogs.

When we finally reached “downtown” after about 90 minutes of walking we were underwhelmed. There were only a few actual retail shopping buildings. Mostly it was tents along the shore. We considered walking to the famous lighthouse but learned that it was another 3 or 4 miles. We had already logged over 15,000 steps by that point. I wanted to take a taxi back but Marlene again balked at spending $16 and wanted to walk. I believe I expressed my opinion that walking back was “crazy” as it would be tedious and would cut the arrival pretty close to the ship departure time. Ever resourceful, Marlene found a guy who would drive us for $10.

We didn’t walk back but we still logged over 18,000 steps on the day – a new record. Over 8 miles, I believe.

We shopped a bit in the port area then returned to the ship. I blogged and we both snacked.

Dinner was forgettable, as was the casino: I lost $100 without getting a single bonus. Down $235. Bah humbug.

I don’t know what is in the “Funship Special” drink that you can get on a Carnival cruise, but they are deadly. I had about two and a half and ended up with the worst hangover that I have had in years. I slept until noon.

After a brief breakfast consisting mostly of coffee, Marlene and I went to the casino. It was exactly the opposite of the day before – very forgiving. And giving. I won $145, leaving me down $135 for the cruise. I was actually up by nearly $300 at one point, but you rarely finish at the top. Still, I was very happy to win back some of my losses. Marlene did well too but is still down much more than I am.

We weren’t in the casino all day. We spent some time on the Lido Deck in the bright sunshine. Then, believe it or not, we went to the gym to weigh ourselves (yes, we have gained weight), but we also walked a mile on the treadmill. It is a very nice gym with a view right over the bow.

It was formal night and we dined with Kay, Runette, Juan and Laurie. A very pleasant dinner.

It is always sunny in Aruba. Except on the day we were there. It was cloudy all day and even rained a bit. I felt sorry for those people who had booked one of those high-priced beach or snorkeling excursions. They couldn’t have been pleasant.

As is our wont (or at least Marlene’s wont), we shopped. We didn’t really buy anything, but we spent about 4 hours considering things that we didn’t buy. Not my idea of a great time – I didn’t even get a beer. I did get a coffee cup.

Back on the ship I blogged, had a snack and then read a bit before dinner. I had pasta at dinner.

The casino was brutal. I lost $160 with nary a bonus in the time I played the slots – my only “bonus” was 12 free games which garnered me 25 cents. Down $280 for the cruise.

I like Curacao. It is beautiful and has interesting shops and restaurants. This is probably the port that I was most looking forward to seeing again.

My last visit was about 10 years ago and a lot has changed. The port is more built up and there are more hotels, shops and casinos on the walk into town. But the town – Willemstad – is mostly unchanged. The floating bridge is still there and we had to hustle to jump off it as it started to move.

It was, as usual for our port days, a day of shopping. We visited many shops, but the one Marlene most wanted to see again was the “Everything $5” shop. We bought 2 dresses and a number of shirts. It must have been 10 items because the total cost was $50. That made Marlene very happy.

I also treated myself to 3 small beers for $10. That was right after we ran into 3 members of the Conquest Rockband and got a photo with them.

After dinner we listened to some music in the lobby and watched our Cruise Director, Robbie, dance. He is quite good. Then we went to the casino and I struck gold – I won $165 (but still down $120 for the cruise).