Hey everyone!!!
Welcome to another post in the series chronicling Nickie’s and my (Nickie and mine? Nickie’s and I’s?) September 2025 Empty Nest trip. And today’s post is one that maybe at first glance you would be like…
Because it’s the day we leave the ship.
But then you’d be like…
On account of we still have like 6 days of vacation left.
Then though, you’d be like…
When you realize how many more blog posts that means.
Let’s go!!
Our 12-Day Empty Nest Extravaganza Trip: Day 7
On Day 7, we were up at around 6:30AM and greeted with this view which was both beautiful and sad.
Beautiful on account of. Well. Look at it.
But sad on account of it meant we were docked in Fort Lauderdale. Which meant it was debarkation day on the Oasis of the Seas. Which was a big whomp. Though I mean, we still had some vacation left so it wasn’t like…the saddest.
But still. Sad.
We were docked right next to the Jewel of the Seas.
Oh you. Not THAT Jewel of the seas.
THIS Jewel of the Seas.
We were up, packed, and ready to go by 7:30.
It was unfortunately time to bid a depressing farewell to our balcony.
I think about you still, balcony. I miss you.
But it wasn’t quite time to head off the ship just yet. On account of since we were part of the Key Program, we were being treated to an exclusive a la carte breakfast and could basically depart whenever we wanted. This Key program was pretty great actually. It’s like what we learned in all those fairy tales growing up – money can buy happiness and it makes you better than people who don’t have it.
Right? That’s what I got from all those stories.
So like, let’s go get a debarkation day breakfast. The breakfast was hosted in the main dining room.
We started off with some croissants, fruit, and as per usual ALL THE BEVERAGES – coffee, juice, water, and champagne.
Btw? That fruit cup was kind of a trip to Flavortown or whatever. It had some heavy hitters in there – pineapple, grapes, watermelon, kiwi – and everything tasted really fresh.
But man cannot survive on fruit alone.
Or maybe he can? Yeah, probably he can actually. But I dunno. I am not looking to find out anytime soon. So let’s get onto the main dishes.
Nickie went with the French Toast, served with Berry Compote.
And I ordered the Royal VIP Steak and Eggs, which traditionally comes with a Petit Filet, Fried Egg, Confit Idaho Potatoes, Roasted Tomato, and Asparagus.
But I told the waiter I was kind of also craving some Bacon. And Sausage. And also Hash Browns. So like, as you can see, he accommodated.
Look guys – this was our last day. I had to squeeze as much cruise life as I could out of these couple hours.
A really nice last breakfast on the ship though. We were sad to be leaving the ship but bacon helps.
We finished up at around 8:30AM and made our way down to the Promenade deck to blend back in with the ‘non-Key’ masses so we could disembark.
Yeah, that line looks kind of merpy, but it wasn’t as bad as it looked. We were off the ship within 30 minutes or so.
We made our way through all the necessary checkpoints and ordered up a Lyft on account of we needed to pick up our rental car. On account of we had a two-hour drive to our next destination. We ended up with a white Nissan Sentra.
Of which I only have a picture because I was documenting that little mark under the door. SO GOOD at blogging!
But where were we headed? We were going to be spending a couple nights at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort!!
So exciting, right?
But before we get there, a quick stop at Walmart to pick up some essentials.
Yeah, essentials. Like Sun Cruisers and Reese’s Oreos. Oh, and that little snack mix looking thing there next to the Sun Cruisers? It was like this amazing “Spooky Party Mix” thing. There was like multi-colored popcorn, chocolate-covered pretzels with Halloween sprinkles, M&M’s, and candy corn. I literally was powerless against this situation.
Here is a better look at it.
It’s spooky how Walmart knows me.
Anyway tho – let’s get to Disney’s Vero Beach!
We arrived at close to 12:30. We checked in…
…but since our room wasn’t ready just yet, we headed straight over to the Wind and Waves Marketplace for a quick lunch. This also gave us a nice first look at the main pool. Look, a nice first look.
Since we were heading to Walt Disney World in a couple days and could use them both here and there, in addition to lunch, Nickie and I also purchased some refillable mugs.
And erm. That was the only picture I got of lunch. I am the best blogger. Seriously, it’s a wonder I don’t get paid to write this blog. I am legit on top of things.
But I am pretty sure I got an Italian sandwich. So close your eyes and picture some cured meats in a sub roll. I do remember it being real good tho. So that’s some information at least, right?
Yeah. You’re welcome.
The room was still not ready so Nickie and I changed into our bathing suits and grabbed a lounge chair by the pool.
We spent maybe a half hour or so in the pool before deciding to sneak a peek at the beach. Which was just down this little path.
See? Look, there it is. I wasn’t lying.
And hey – while we were checking out the beach? We got a notification that our room was ready! So let’s go check it out!
Upon entering the room, to your immediate right, is the poopy room. Which many call a bathroom.
Well, first there is the external sink.
And inside the bathroom, this shower curtain was literally everything.
I actually asked one of the cast members if I could buy that shower curtain somewhere and she NemO which totally Crushed my dreams. Get it? Nemo? Crush? These are characters.
Also though…in the bathroom. Hidden Mickey!
And straight ahead as you leave the bathroom (or to the left if you are entering the room)? This little kitchenette area thing*.
*Bottled water and Diet Coke not included.
You walk in a little further and to your left, is the TV*.
*Goodreau welcome not included.
And then to the right a little ways in is this couch-but-also-a-bed and the bed-that-sure-you-can-use-as-a-couch-if-you’d-like.
And then, straight on through? The balcony!
Behold.
OK, fine. Not all that grandiose or anything but it’s pretty big. And I mean, this “view.”
‘Murica. Amirite?
We got somewhat unpacked and enjoyed a little downtime in the room. And since we could cast our Disney+ to the TV, we watched a little Hercules while getting ready for the night.
Classic, right?
I know. Agreed.
OK, let’s get out there and explore the resort a little.
We first stopped off in the Island Grove Packing Company. Which turned out to be just a gift shop and not a fruit packing plant you could tour.
Oh well. I mean, gift shops are fun too.
And I guess Walmart wasn’t the only place that was in the Halloween spirit. Surprisingly, I guess Disney does Halloween too? Pfft, who knew right?
See that tin there in the middle? That there is Halloween bark. Which, for me, brings back some hard memories. I once brought some of that back to my last job for my coworkers. And they actually complained that it wasn’t that good. So the day I brought it in I went into a whole shame spiral feeling bad about the gift I brought in for everyone.
Turns out though? They were just being thoughtless a-holes.
Anyway though. Lots of cute stuff in there. I mean, I don’t know if my ex-coworkers would appreciate it. But still.
Also look at this spa water outside the store exit. I love me some spa water.
Especially when within the spa water you can find a Hidden Mickey!!
At around 5PM, we headed to one of our favorite places at Disney’s Vero Beach – the Green Cabin Room.
This bar area hosts a lot of the different activities, games, tastings, etc. at the resort and tonight, we knew they were running a game at like 5:30. So we grabbed a couple drinks and hung out on the balcony for a bit before the game began. Plus, I wanna shout out the bartenders we had at the Green Cabin Room on this trip – Katie and Tabitha! These two were Ah. May. Zing. Seriously. I have more to say about them in later posts, but I couldn’t talk about the Green Cabin Room without mentioning them and their awesomeness.
And look at this view. It’s no American flag in the parking lot but it’ll do.
And at 5:30, the game began. The game today was Majority Rules, which essentially meant the hosts would give the players a question with no real “right” answer – like “What is your favorite ride at the Magic Kingdom?” or “Who is your favorite Disney princess?” and you wrote your answer down on this dry erase board and held it up. If your answer matched the majority in the room, you got a point.
Orrr? You could write ALL your answers on your board. Like Nickie did.
Well I guess she didn’t do that for every answer. Some obviously mattered more than others.
We didn’t like “win” per se, but they still gave everyone candy. Which is really all I wanted anyway.
Well, I mean. That wasn’t all I wanted.
After we finished up with the game, Nickie and I made a quick stop back at the room to freshen up before dinner. And hey, look…our view actually was kind of nice.
Sunsets. Amirite?
Tonight, we had a 7:45 dinner reservation at Wind & Waves, the resort’s sit-down restaurant. Here is a quick look at the menu.
I continued being bad at the blogging by not taking any pictures of our drinks at this meal but I am pretty much like 100% sure of the fact that we did have drinks. But I mean, it’s a good bet I had some sort of Hazy IPA and Nickie had some sort of Sauvignon Blanc.
You’ll just have to use your…
My pictures, meanwhile, kind of get right into the food. We bypassed appetizers but they did bring out some yummy little corn muffins to start us off. Which is fun. Look how cute these little things are.
But for actual real-ordered food, we went right to mains. I ordered the Shrimp and Grits (Spiced Shrimp, Andouille Sausage-White Wine Cream, Cheddar Grits, and Scallions).
And Nickie went with the Roasted Chicken with Cornbread Dressing, Whipped Potatoes, Green Beans, and Gravy.
Both were actually REALLY good. That shrimp & grits had a ton of flavor going on and def a little bit of a kick.
And while we did not get apps this meal, we DID opt to split a dessert. Specifically, we split the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding (Roasted Banana Bread Pudding with Rum-Caramel Sauce).
Which like. OF COURSE it was delicious. Did you even read that description?
Annnnd I paired it with a cappuccino. Which like. Doy, of course I did.
Such a great dinner at Wind & Waves tho. I know Disney’s Vero Beach isn’t like overloaded with dining options but the ones they do have? Kind of legit.
After dinner, we walked back into the Community Hall area to see what was doing and there were a couple of older women working on a puzzle but right next to them was another puzzle being not worked on at the moment. So we went over and started working on it and as we were? The two older women joined us. And as we puzzled, we chatted with them a bit and got to hear a little bit about their lives and, I dunno, it was just a real nice way to end the night.
Plus, we finished the puzzle.
Well. Almost.
Yah. The last piece was missing. If I was in a cynical headspace, I’d probably be thinking someone that was working on the puzzle earlier snagged a piece so they could put in the last piece, thus sort of stealing the glory for themselves without actually putting in the work to take the thing over the finish line. Which, I mean let’s face it, is selfish AF and maybe there is a special place in hell waiting for that sad loser who has nothing better to do than RUIN SOMEONE ELSE’S PUZZLE DREAMS!!
But eh. I’m not a cynical sort. I’m sure the piece was just lost.
Yeah.
Totally.
Anyway.
After we finished up our puzzle (sort of, right…grrr…nah I’m kidding…its cool) and our lovely conversation with our new friends, we headed back to our room to catch a little Bachelor in Paradise before drifting off to sleep.
So right, yeah. That was Day 7 y’all. Great stuff, right? And I mean, we still have a couple more days at Disney’s Vero Beach to go before we move onto the next phase.
See you guys on Day 8!
Last post – Day 6!
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