Fun in the Sun 2013- Sea Day #3

Saturday, August 3, 2013

The Voyage of the "Mighty Mississippi"

 "Take a deep breath and relax. This all ENDS tomorrow." This was a caption flashing across the TV screen in our stateroom as we got ready to face the last day on the ship. We knew that we wanted to do as much as we could on the boat today but still be able to rest and relax... Besides, we turn back into FULL TIME parents when we get home tomorrow!

We started the day off with breakfast on the Lido Deck where Chris had his usual omelet and I went for the wonderful Breakfast Tacos at Blue Iguana Cantina (If you have been following our blog, you know I really LOVED these things!) We knew that today was the last day we would be able to play in the casino and we also knew that once we got into the Mississippi River waters the casino would close and since we didn't know when this would be we decided to go ahead and play a little before it got crowded and busy. Since it was before 9am, we even got to play on the $3 minimum table! Yay for low bets! It was at this casino session that Chris earned back all of his losses as well as additional cash. I too was in the "black" as they say and this helped pay of our "Sail and Sign" account and charges throughout the week.

The rest of the morning we spent walking around, relaxing and taking it all in. I went to "The Fun Shops" and did a little souvenir shopping for my babies while Chris played 70s Music Trivia before Brunch. We then went and had one last wonderful brunch in the Punchliner Comedy Club. Chris said his Filet Mignon Steak and Eggs were amazing!

After Brunch we went to the Q&A session with our Cruise Director, Cory Rogers. This was awesome because he spent a lot of time answering questions about everyday life on the boat. Chris and I learned A LOT from this short 1+ hour discussion but our favorites were:

1. The ship's 2 largest revenue streams were the bar and the casino (Kind of a "Duh" thing but interesting considering that you can eat AS MUCH AS YOU WANT)
2. Most ship employees are on contract for 6 months on the boat and then 2 months off.
3. Any unused food they use a very large Grinding Mill to process it and then they shoot it out the back of the ship at specific locations. It is pretty much FISH FOOD. I thought this was awesome and explains why we would look out our balcony and see SCHOOLS OF FISH!
4. They have an entire 1/2 floor of FREEZERS and they keep 2 weeks worth of food. This led me to question the outcome of the whole Triumph incidence. Our Cruise Director basically said that the media BLEW THIS WAY OUT OF PROPORTION but I am still a little skeptical. I have a friend from High School who was on the boat so I will have to ask her sometime.
5. The employees ARE allowed to fraternize with EACH OTHER but never with guests.
6. Because of the Currency Exchange Rate most of the employees from The Middle East, like India and the Philippines, make so much money they drive Rolls Royce when back at home. Of course, one of the Assistant Directors from Ireland said he looses money.

After this Q&A session we went to the Chocolate Extravaganza Buffet. I am not a chocolate lover, AT ALL, but these desserts were amazing. I thought this buffet would be at midnight but a mid-afternoon snack really hit the spot.

We decided that we better go ahead and use our Match Play given to us by the casino so we played Roulette. We had $25 in Match Play coupons and we made $25 so that was pretty cool. After we did this we went and cashed in all of our casino chips and tickets and went and paid off our account. All in all we made close to $300 and this cut our bill in half! We were pretty thrilled.

What cruise wouldn't be complete without... HARRY POTTER TRIVIA! Wait, that sounds weird doesn't it! But Chris had already been a star of the Star Wars Trivia so we decided to play along. Us and about 100 other TEENAGERS! It was pretty lame but kind of cool at the same time! All in all I answered 8/29 questions (I am ashamed... I should not know that many!) and Chris answered 26/29! We did not get a trophy for this one because there were TONS of Harry Potter Nerds in attendance. This one girl knew 15 spells by name... WOW!

We left the Harry Potter Trivia and went and got A Pineapple Paradise on the Lido Deck. This was so cool because it was served right out of the Pineapple! It was really cool! This led to naps and relaxation on our balcony before we had to pack our luggage and get ready for dinner.

Chris' first one had a hole in it and we had to hold our fingers on it until they could carve out another one... It was pretty funny!

 I enjoyed my Pineapple Paradise

So did Chris... after he got one without a hole!  

During the afternoon we were able to see a FULL RAINBOW. We didn't even know it had rained but we looked out our balcony and saw an entire Rainbow. I have never seen a Rainbow START TO FINISH! This was so neat to see yet another proof of God and HIS creations and promises. This turned out to be a trip based around God and His Awesomeness and Creations. This experience was priceless!

My camera would not allow me to capture it all.. but it was there and it was AWESOME!

After packing all of our luggage and leaving outside our door, we headed off to dinner for the last night of Prime Rib. Once again, Chris got his money's worth (And mine) at dinner. It was here that we were able to see the last dance and performance by the waiters and even listen to a song they wrote for us! It was special and made me cry a little... I really LOVE CRUISING! I miss my babies but I don't want to leave!

One last Balcony shot before dinner... We love cruising on a Balcony!

We finished the night on our balcony watching the entrance to the mouth of the Mississippi River. We entered at about 9pm. This was cool because you could actually see the seawall as we entered. Of course there were TONS of oil rigs but you could see land as well. We even saw a "Pilot House" where the Pilots stay as they bring ships into the River! This was really cool to actually see the transition from ocean to Mississippi!

This was the first sight of our "pilot" who would lead us all the way to New Orleans. This was at 9pm and we were not scheduled to arrive in New Orleans until 5am. Hard to believe we spent that much time on the River.

Hard to see in the picture but this was the Pilot House we saw!

You can see the Seawall in this picture and land which we think is Pilot-town, LA

Another look at the Mississippi River and the Seawall... Notice the "Ugliness" of the water, Yeah we are back in the Mississippi! Gross!

Sea Day #3 was awesome and we had a great time "livin it up" and relaxing before having to go back to the REAL WORLD tomorrow! Thank You, Lord, once again for this amazing trip and opportunity you have given us!

God is good... ALL THE TIME!