Monday, 1 December 2025
Day at Sea / Sailing to Miami 

Our wonderful 42-day journey is coming to an end as the Encore prepares for tomorrow morning's arrival in Miami. We have been treated royally by everyone at Seabourn. We have many memories and over 1400 photos to sort through during the days and weeks after our return to Tucson. Having Anita and Deb with us for the past three weeks has made everything more enjoyable, especially meal times.

This will probably be LFLatSea's final posting until we are at home and have done all the piles of laundry. We are especially excited about seeing our friends at Mountain View Retirement Village and catching up on all the gossip news we have missed.

There is still much going on aboard the Encore. After lunch on Sunday we attend a special performance by the "Seabourn Six" entertainers in the Grand Salon. Along with the performance there is plenty of caviar and Champagne.

The Head Chef and His Helper Offer Guests Caviar and Crackers While the Audience Awaits the Entertainment

For all 36 days we have been aboard the Encore, a themed tea service has been offered at 4pm in the Observation Lounge at the top of the ship. Today, for the very first (and last) time, I make my way up to Deck 11 to share British High Tea with Anita and Deb.

Our female friends claim they have had too many dainty sandwiches and will not join us for dinner. But with only tonight and tomorrow to savor our evening dinners, Will and I keep our usual time and table.

But Monday (today) soon arrives and it is time to face the unhappy chore of packing. There is more than enough storage space in the large walk-in closet and in cabinets throughout the stateroom, so we are scouring every nook and cranny to make sure we don't leave anything on board. We have checked in for our flights tomorrow. For a small fee Seabourn provides bus service to Miami Airport that will get us there with plenty of time to spare before our 2:09pm American Airlines departure to Dallas/Ft Worth and then on to Tucson, arriving at 7:13pm. Deb flies to Milwaukee, where ten inches of snow awaits, on United Airlines. Anita also flies American to Tucson, but through Phoenix, on different flights than we are taking. Will and I have arranged for Uber to meet us at the airport and to drive us home. 

Just prior to lunch today, the 14 trivia teams meet for a final session. Although my team, "Use It or Lose It," doesn't win any prizes, we do come in a respectable sixth place among the 14 teams.

The Really Nice Folks Who Tolerated My Wrong Answers for Ten Days of Team Trivia

We get most of our packing done in the afternoon so we take a pre-dinner break to attend the Crew Appreciation and Passenger Farewell Party on the open pool deck. This is the fourth Farewell Party I have attended, previously bidding goodbye to passengers at Athens, Rome, and Lisbon. Today has been the only day of bright sunshine and warm weather since we left Lisbon ten days ago, so it is a pleasure to enjoy live music, drinks, and international snacks on the open deck.

By the way, the music on this trip has been excellent. The two house bands, guest performers, and company singers have all performed at various times across all the bars and lounges on the ship. It's too bad that the acoustics in the Grand Salon, where the major shows take place, are not very good.

It's also the final chance for a good photo of Klevi (the Armenian), who has been a guardian angel for us for the entire cruise from Istanbul. For the first segment, from Istanbul to Rome, Klevi and Bharat (from Hyderabad in southern India), served our dinners at a table for two in the Restaurant (main dining room). After Rome, all the servers were assigned to different partners and different tables. Now the four of us managed to continue to dine with Bharat, but with his new partner, Michiko.

Klevi, however, continued to watch over and help Will and me wherever he saw us on the ship:  in the Colonnade for other meals, in the bars and clubs, and almost everywhere else. He really made our lives as travelers safe and happy. And, to top it all, he is the best-looking man on the Encore.

So with Klevi's smiling face, LFLatSea is ready to sail into port for the final time of this exciting adventure. But the blog will be back for a few more reports and photos from this trip . . . and who knows what new adventure awaits in the future. . . .