Goodbye to Our Virgin Cruise & Connecting with Family in Florida

This was the last day on our cruise and we were a little sad coming to the end of a wonderful cruise. Up early, we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Razzle Dazzle Restaurant. After spending five days on this Virgin cruise, we just realized that that we could have had breakfast at the ship's nice restaurants for breakfast as well as for lunch and dinner. Our family had a fantastic experience with the Virgin cruise! One thing that impressed me most was the types of activities offered to their cruise passengers allowing them to be connecting with others a little easier than the other cruises we have had experienced.

E. has had a blast on this cruise. At first he was hesitant about it but we encouraged him to choose his cruise line and he was happy with his Virgin experience. I thank God who listened to my prayers about giving him the opportunity to know more people and make new friends. It was a pleasure meeting the family of three from Florida and E. got along with the two girls well. O, God of almighty, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your grace and mercy and the blessings you have bestowed on us on this trip. Though I only asked that you would bless E. with making at least one friend on the cruise, through your abundance of grace, you have blessed E. making with more than 1 friends. I thank you and am deeply grateful to you, God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob, for all the blessings you have bestowed on us. I trust your provision and that you already know what we ask for before we even pray for them. God, thank you again for your mercy and love! We disembarked and were at the Thrifty car rental by 11;15am But our car was not available and we waited for 1 ½ hours before we could get our rental car. It was a 3 ½ hours drive from the cruise terminal to our relative's place in Sarasota. We hadn't seen each other since the last time we visited Florida way before COVID. Lots have happened since and we looked forward to seeing him and his family again.

We texted P. not to wait for us for dinner as we know we woould not make it before 630pm for dinner. We arrived shlrtly after 7pm. There were some pizza, salad and sweets waiting for us. We met P.and his wife's big family spending time there for Christmas. We sat in front of the fireplace in the backyard and caught up with each other at their new house for about an hour. I knew it was important for E. and his most favourite cousin to see each other and be reunited after COVID again. Though it took us a few hours of driving back and forth, as a family we must make an effort to try to keep in touch and see each other whenever there is an opportunity. Since we were in Florida already, how could we not drive that extra few hours for a quick cousin reunion there? I am well aware of the fact that out of sight, out of mind. So glad that we made the drive. So good to see P., his wife and the two girls who have grown up a lot since we saw them last time. With kids, if we haven't seen them for a year or two, we really noticed their growning up. What a nice family settled down in Flroida from Canada. Happy for them indeed. We took a family picture to send to our big family and made my brother very happy. We couldn't believe how handy and efficient how P's wife has been fixing everything in the new house. Nice job, M.

We drove to Tampa for the night. E. booked a hotel for us and we spent a couple of days sightseeeing around the area before heading back home. It was thoughtful of him booking and paying for our stay in Florida while visiting there the whole time! RT, Florida 12272023