“The Day of Eating”
Friday, March 13, 2015
This day was full of exciting adventures but somehow we were always eating. I guess we just wanted to taste it all and have just one more bite!
Morning
Our last day at sea was an unexpected early one as Chris woke
up at 5:30AM to jog another 6.5 miles and I tried to go back to sleep with no luck. My
brain kept thinking “This is your last day… get up and explore”. After Chris
was done jogging we went to breakfast in Windjammer for hand made-to-order
omelets. These were MUCH better than that on the Navigator but still not near
as good as Carnival.
BOOOOOO....
We then went to Cafe Lattitudes for coffee and to use another
coupon to earn a free coffee. This was a nice added bonus for ALL guest and was
a step in the right direction for Royal Caribbean who seem to always be trying
to “Nickel and Dime” their guests. We then talked with Michelle, one of the cruise
director staff members, and her delightful Scottish accent while drinking our coffees.
We did a morning stretch routine, led by Michelle, did some shopping then went
to The Captain's Champagne Brunch.
At 10am, we went on a galley tour with one of the Executive Chefs and about 50 other people
including some of our Cruise Critic friends.
This galley tour was only on deck 5 instead of all 3 galley areas like the tour we had on the Navigator and lasted about 40 minutes. This led us to brunch in Chops Grille, where we
were seated with our friends and treated to free morning refreshments. Each of them were fantastic and better yet... FREE. The lobster was better than the MDR night before, which is why Chris had
six lobster tails. The steak was excellent and dessert hit a home run.
The amazing bread machine that took a heap of dough and then turned it into 20+ rolls! So cool!
Some of the hard working kitchen crew making sandwiches for Park Cafe.
Executive Chef David (From The Chef's Table) taking us on the tour of the galley!
We were able to meet the
food and beverage manager and discussed the galley and ship. We found him to be
more aloof; we definitely liked Werner from the Navigator more. We enjoyed a
nice conversation with Cindy and Jim, our A&M friends, and Eric and Nancy, our friends from LA, for about 1.5 hrs about
cruising and their experiences. I liked it but it got depressing
thinking of our limited schedule and money. "One of these days" I kept telling myself!
Afternoon
After brunch, we attended the Parade
of Nations sponsored by Royal Caribbean and featured their crew and staff which was AWESOME. We ran to lunch in the MDR for my favorite dish of the whole cruise Seafood Tomato Risotto and Barramundi. This was well worth the scavenger hunt to get. The risotto was amazing;
however the barramundi fish was not as good as before.
The Parade of Nations felt a little "Olympic" like but we enjoyed it!
USA USA USA!
This led to 80’s music trivia
at 1:30PM. We teamed up with the sisters
we met on day 2 and dominated and WON!!! I had been listening to 80's on Spotify and Pandora since our last cruise studying the top hits so I was stoked! After so many close trivia defeats
on this trip, it was our crowning trivia moment. We were rewarded with Royal Caribbean hats
and pens. We talked with the sisters for 20-30 minutes and went to the Captain’s Corner, a discreet question and answer session with the Captain, chief
engineer, hotel manager, and cruise director. Chris asked the very first
question which had to do with the loss of electricity on the ship 4 weeks prior.
The 80's trivia winning team! We were SO excited!
The Captains corner with the Captain, chief engineer, Hotel Director and our Cruise Director.
After the Q&A, we had a little spare time, so I got souvenirs while Chris
stood in line for “Win a Cruise” bingo. It cost $81 and we lost (ALL 4 games) but we budgeted much more for whole trip and this was our first and only gambling (I was impressed with ourselves).
It wouldn't be a DAVIS cruise without BINGO!
Evening
We then went to
walk around on decks 5 and 12 and opted for an early dinner. I changed and Chris
and I saw the aerial show in the Centrum complete with trapeze artists. We went early to dinner around 5:20PM so that we
might finish in time to enjoy the sunset. Dinner was great with a 3rd singing of
"Happy Anniversary" and a large delicious cake made especially for us. After dinner, we headed to deck 5 to
watch the sun go down over the sea.
Watching the sunset over the water on the final day of the cruise has
become a cruising tradition for us and is a perfectly romantic way to end our last night of each cruise.
Part of the Ariel show in the Centrum!
God's handiwork is always so awe-inspiring and amazing!
This was the perfect way to end our cruise!
This was the perfect way to end our cruise!
After the sunset, we headed to the finale
show of the cruise. Chris really enjoyed the comedian, but I thought he was
terrible at best. The song performed by many of the crew members, “Until We Meet Again” made me cry thinking about my cruise being over. Chris and I made our way to Vintages for our favorite
Cabernet Sauvignon, Caymus.
We fell in love with this one while dining with Werner on the Navigator but it was just as good on the Serenade!
After our glasses of wine, we slowly walked back to
the cabin in order to pack and stuff clothes in bags. At 10PM, we went to deck
12 to watch the Mississippi River approach and watch the ship transition from
the gulf into the mouth of the river. This was so neat and we were able to see the first sight of land as well as the color changes in the river from the Gulf waters. We
stayed up there until we passed the pilot house and channel entrance then
called my dad to check on him and the kids. We were feeling a little hungry, so we went to Park Cafe to get one more slice of pizza and forks for more cake. Afterwards we went back to the room we ate a little more cake and
then went to bed around 11:30PM since we were getting up early to head home.
Our wonderful and glorious cruise was coming to an end. When we wake up tomorrow it would all be over! I didn't want it to end!
Our wonderful and glorious cruise was coming to an end. When we wake up tomorrow it would all be over! I didn't want it to end!
Up next... Disembarkation and the close of our cruise!
God is good... All the time!
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