WE DISEMBARK AT ACAPULCO, MEXICO
By Bob Van Leer

  (LAST DAY AT SEA, Friday, Feb. 7, 1997) - Our cruise aboard the Legends of the Seas is nearing an end and tonight will be our last day on board.

  Getting 1803 passengers disembarked and sent on their various ways in just a few hours is quite a task, but the ship's people are used to it.

  These ships work on a tight turnaround time. The ship arrives in Acapulco, Mexico about 6:00 a.m. tomorrow. Almost the entire load of passengers will disembark and a new shipload be taken aboard and the ship will sail again about 10:00 p.m. in the reverse route. One day is added on the cruise to the east making a complete loop every three weeks.

  Not everyone will disembark, a few passengers are staying aboard and taking the return cruise back to San Juan.

  Our neighbors, Chuck and Joyce Jones, took the west-east cruise on the same ship last year.

  We were originally scheduled to stay a night in Acapulco, but there was a scheduling problem and we will leave the ship and start directly home.

  We will return via Dallas-Ft. Worth. Portland and finally, Eugene, where we began our plane flights.

  The big event of today was the bingo game. It had been quietly building during the cruise with a jackpot building larger every day that no one was winning, down to the final game this afternoon where someone was going to win if the play took all day. The final jackpot was $15,043 and enough players turned out, including our party, to fill the 800 seat theater. Unfortunately, none of us won.

  The ocean was calm today with an air temperature of 80 degrees and we saw one school of dolphins and a couple of turtles. Capt. Bengt Ronsen said this bay is inhabited by thousands of turtles.

  Tomorrow will start the long journey home. Total miles sailed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Acapulco, Mexico, is 3004. We're leaving Acapulco on Saturday, but probably won't make it home until Monday. It has been a fun cruise and enjoyable to spend time again with my sister and husband, Bud and June, but it's time to get back to work.