Day 10-11: Voyagar of the Seas Cruise Ship & Airplane

Saturday, September 25 was our last full day on the cruise and our port of call was Toulon, France. It's a large military harbor with Marseilles, France not too far away. By the end of the week though, Todd & I just wanted to relax on the ship and since we hadn't heard of much to do in either Toulon or Marseilles, we decided to do just that. I woke up early to get in 14 mi on the treadmill before relaxing poolside most of the day. Unfortunately, it had been pretty windy the night before and continued throughout the day and night again. It was warm in the sun but once the wind picked up and if you were in any shade, it was chilly. We sat outside, reading, napping, and enjoying some tropical drinks, all while the wind got worse. At one point, the staff on the cruise ship was tying down all the lounge chairs on the upper deck so they wouldn't blow away. Before we decided it was getting too ridiculous outside, we were able to enjoy the pool bartenders put on a show and Todd even got a free drink!

Nothing better than sipping on a frozen drink next to the pool

Our "seats" at the bartender show

Todd & his free martini

Part of the reason Todd & I went on this cruise with my parents was because my Mom's work was having a conference on the ship. While she didn't actually have to work at all while we were there, we were able to book our rooms through her work's travel agent. We were also able to go the cocktail hour on the last night for her coworkers. After a week of spending a lot of money on expensive drinks, we took full advantage of free drinks for one hour.

Todd & I (yes, I'm a sucker for a frozen drink)

My parents with Todd & I

This was about halfway through the cocktail hour...what can I say....it was free!

After our cocktail hour and final formal dinner, Todd & I went back to our room to pack up our luggage. We had to have it outside our door by 11:00 PM because the cruise staff unloads your luggage for you the next day. Our plans were to go to the farewell show but the weather had other plans. The wind had gradually become worse throughout the day and by the time dinner came around, I was not feeling well. I took some motion sickness medicine since the boat was rocking a lot but once we got back to our room, all I could do was curl up in a ball and close my eyes so I wouldn't get sick. Todd actually had to pack some of my stuff for me. I think since our room was at the very back of the ship, we could feel it rocking more. My parents' room was more in the middle and they said it wasn't that bad at all. We found out the next day the waves were coming up all the onto the 4th deck and they had to close all the upper decks due to the wind.

Some of the waves at dinner

We had to get up very early on Sunday morning to get off the ship and make it to the Barcelona airport for our flight at 10:30 AM. Luckily the winds had died down sometime during the night and I was actually able to get some sleep. We boarded our flight and 9 long hours later, we arrived in Philadelphia. I was ecstatic to be back in the U.S. so I could finally turn on my phone and start calling all my friends and family to let them know the good news about Todd & I. A short flight later, we were landed back in Columbus and our vacation was officially over. It was an unbelievable trip and a once-in-lifetime experience. For obvious reasons, it'll be a trip I never forget and I still can't believe all the amazing sights we saw and food we ate. Definitely a trip to remember!