It's just coming up to 6pm, and we've just set sail on our last leg towards Miami, after spending the day in Key West, the most Southerly tip of the United States of America.

The first three and a half hours of the day (8am until 11:30am) were spent seeing the Immigration Officals who were on board to clear the ship. Every single passenger had to have a face-to-face interview, present their passports and green visa-waiver forms, and answer a few simple questions. In order to avoid a mad scramble, passengers were asked to only join the queue after hearing their deck number announced. This didn't stop passengers simply joining the queue at their own convenience, of course, and several heated exchanges occured when deck-8-ers realised they were being infiltrated by impatient deck-7 and deck-6-ers. Not a pretty sight.

As soon as I'd been cleared, I jumped on the shuttle-bus to savour the delights of Key West. The town is loud, brash, and very American, with burger joints, bustling bars and endless tourist souvenir shops, but I found I rather liked it. On the return journey to the ship, we had to stop at yet another security point. where two guards boarded the bus to check passports and ship boarding cards, and rummaged through our bags to check that we weren't taking anything back on board that we didn't ought to. What we might possibly be smuggling on board ship after two hours in Key West is quite beyond me. I can't help but think that they're a tad paranoid.

The end of the cruise is now in sight. I have to head on down to my cabin now and start thinking about packing. Suitcases have to be left outside cabins from 10pm onwards, so everybody'll be dressed in their civvies this evening.

I've been asked, via e-mail, why it is that this blog doesn't seem to be populated by all the crazy, eccentric people that previous cruises seem to have been. I think, despite all the negative immigration and Miami stuff, everybody just seems to have been happier for most of the time, and so the more extreme human traits don't seem to have surfaced quite so much. I put this down to the fly-cruise experience, where the cruise proper starts out under blue skies and blistering heat right from the word go. Every day, the top deck is a heaving mass of blistering flesh (think BBC Nature programs showing Lion seals flopping about on the beach and you kind of get the picture) and both swimming pools have been full.

My own cruising habits have also been slightly different on this trip. I haven't indulged in the quiz-nights, preferring to hang about in the 'Morning Light Pub' of an early evening, listening to the sounds of Pat Shannon, billed as an Irish Troubadour. I must say though, that his rendition of 'You're the One that I Want' from Grease, with himself singing both parts to a keyboard accompaniment made me cringe slightly. His other stuff has been brilliant though, and I've preferred his sounds to some of the more elaborate shows performed in the Neptune Lounge - it appeals to my sense of 'ordinariness'.

I don't quite know what tomorrow is going to bring. I'm not looking forward to the long hours before I finally touch English soil again, and am mentally preparing to go into 'hibernation' mode as and when the occasion arises. Once off the ship there will be 11 hours before my flight, during which I'll most likely be stuck at Miami Airport, unable to leave my suitcases until the earliest I can check them in, which will be 6pm, 4 hours before the flight. I'd love to get the chance to have a good look at Miami itself, but I don't know if the opportunity will be there. We'll see.

If I don't get a chance to write any further posts, I'd just like to say I hope those of you who have been reading it have enjoyed it. Of course, I'm hoping to get a wi-fi connection in the airport, so watch this space for any further excitement direct from Miami tomorrow!