The last few hours of luxury.

I (Charlie) was up before dawn for a last look around the ship. It was rather nice having the ship to myself with hardly any crew in evidence and definitely no fellow passengers. To aid visibility (I think), they leave lots of lights on all over the outside of the ship so that it's as obvious as possible to other vessels of all sizes. Despite all the local light pollution, it was a clear night and I could see lots of stars, and Venus is even visible (see arrow) in this view over the (now empty) pool:

Looking the other way across the pool, the blue tiles on the changing rooms add a bit more colour ...

Up a few decks the deserted bar, small pool and jacuzzis glow in the night ....

and near the top of the ship, a strange figure presides over the unused ranks of sun-loungers:

The ship's name is brightly illuminated in large letters on both sides:

While on the quiet stairs the mirrors glow colourfully ...

And the library is even quieter than usual:

Dawn now creeping through the library windows ....

illuminates the green baize card tables and matching chairs through the decorative portholes:

Outside, the daylight wasn't nearly as bright as it might have been and the visibility was now extremely poor. Harbour walls suddenly loomed up right in front of us:

But we managed to miss them all (just!) .......

By now, a few other passengers were sharing the drama of the final few furlongs into Dover's Cruise Terminal ...

Then a tug came up and shoved us unceremoniously against the quayside:

Soon enough we were secure and the cranes started unloading all our luggage and stuff and we all found places to sit until we were called by group.

Many of us were on the National Express services to London and were amongst the first to be called, and sadly, that was it. No more pampering, back to our ordinary ways of life, but lots of great memories of a beautiful ship and friendly crew.