Feel decidedly lacklustre this morning. Is it the fact it's our last day on the ship? No. I think it's more a case of over indulgence last night with both food and drink. A shower and a nice breakfast makes me feel a whole lot better. It chocolate themed breakfast today where you can have everything from chocolate cereal, chocolate pastries and even choc waffles/pancakes. I stick with just Eggs Benedict and no French Toast.

Peter does his cycling at the gym early today. I head for the Solarium with my iPad and a coffee to blog. On the way back I notice a few people are out on the sun loungers despite the chill breeze. They must be hardy Scandinavians. I cut through the Royal Promenade and notice there is a giant cake that the culinary staff have prepared to celebrate the Atlantic crossing. I take few snaps but doubt I will get a slice.

Peter returns from the gym and we head up to the Diamond Lounge which is busy. We sit outside and notice there is a big increase in shipping around us. We are close to the English Channel now, one of the worlds busiest sea lanes. It's mostly cargo ship and tankers but we know P&O's Oriana is slightly behind us also making her way to Southampton.

We lunch in the Windjammer where we spot Rick from the roll call. We met him on day one of the cruise at the sail-away on the pool deck back in Miami. This is the first time we have seen him since that day. apparently his wife Bobby has been poorly but is feeling better now. When they get off the ship they are heading for a river cruise down the Rhine.

The afternoon is spent doing the dreaded packing. We take less care and curse a lot more than when we are going away on hols. Not as much fun at all but got to be done. It doesn't take too long and it's nice to get it out of the way.

We dress for dinner. It's casual tonight so just jeans and a shirt. We meet Sue and Malcolm in the Imperial Lounge and are joined by Jennifer and Dougie as well. We enjoy our final dinner in the Main Dining Room. I have Spanish tapenade followed by Lamb Shank (which is amazing) and some Lemon Sorbet. After dinner we say our goodbyes to Sue and Malc. They will be off the ship very early in the morning so we will not see them. For the rest of the evening, all over the ship, we see this repeated. People saying goodbye to old and new friends alike.

We make our final donations to the casino and a last drink in the Schooner Bar before heading back to our cabin. We can see lights to the south of us and realise is mainland France, Cherbourg to be exact. We have a taxi booked to pick us up from the cruise terminal at 10am tomorrow so ewe don't need to rush off and can take it easy first thing.