Sailing Into the U.S.
Most of us were up early so we went up to the buffet as the ship made its way back to the United States.
Christmas Photos
Since we had some time to kill before the ship would clear customs and immigration, we took some photos of our own with the Christmas decorations. As we were returning to the United States, all passengers had to clear immigration. That meant getting in line near the Martini Bar and heading into the lounge where a CBP official looked at our passports and Celebrity punched a hole in our SeaPass card to indicate we had cleared immigration.
Key Lime Pie
We exited the ship and headed straight for the Del Sol and bamboo shop as Thomas was looking for a bamboo shirt. But he didn't like any of their designs. So next it was off to find key lime pie for Alex and J. R. They found what they were looking for and we all shared some pie and J. R. bought a coffee rum cake for home.
Walking Through Key West
The only plan for the day was getting lunch so we took off walking down the main streets of Key West, stopping in a number of souvenir shops to browse. Becca found a 'home' (a.k.a. Starbucks) and she and Alex had coffees.
Southernmost Point
We ended up walking all the way down to the Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S. before turning around and heading back towards lunch. We settled on Caroline's Cafe and were not disappointed. We started with conch fritters. J. R. had the fish sandwich and Janie had the dolphin fingers. Alex stuck with chicken wings while his brother had the Cuban sandwich. Becca chose the roast pork bowl. All the food was excellent and filling, which meant no room for more key lime pie.
Back on the Ship
We returned to the ship for more trivia, packing and more drinks.
Comedy and Christmas Show
The 7PM show featured Mike Gaffney, a comedian, and he was incredibly funny. He made fun of his kids a lot and much of the comedy hit home with us. Originally, we were disappointed Celebrity was only going to offer the special Christmas show at 9PM because it would conflict with our dinner time. After our experience with Raj the night before, it was an easy decision to skip dinner and eat at the buffet instead. The food was frankly better there, anyway. So then J. R. brought up the last bottle of free wine and we drank it during the Christmas show, which was a cute array of holiday music and a sing-a-long. J. R. was amused when they had the cruise director tell a small story, followed by a homily by the visiting priest and then a short speech from a Jewish rabbi. It seemed like a good setup for a joke - a cruise director, a priest and a rabbi walk onto a stage...
Last Disco
J. R. and Janie stayed up for the last silent disco and danced for awhile and then settled at the martini bar for some final drinks. They headed up to the Constellation for the dance party, but the bar was dead so they decided to turn in.
