Our last full day on our cruise was spent at sea. It was a bit strange: I wanted to enjoy myself, but it was hard because I simply did not want to even consider that we were going back home the next day.
Not that I didn't want to go back home. I just wanted all of the waiters, chefs, housekeepers, and other cruise personnel to go with me. I liked being waited on hand and foot. A lot.
We spent a lot of the day much the same way we spent our first day at sea: eating, reading, swimming, and napping. And repeat. It was pretty great. (Although by now I had read all of my Lois Lowry books and now started to read "John Adams" by David McCullough. It's a good book, but a little heavy for cruise reading, you know?)
We also went to a culinary demonstration by the ship's head chef and maitre'd. It was pretty good, mainly because the chef was French and the maitre'd Italian, and they were pretty funny together. A few fun facts we learned:
- Amount of food loaded onto the ship at the beginning of the cruise: 125 tons
- Average amount of shrimp served daily: 300 lbs (I ate at least 39 pounds of that)
- Average amount of mayonnaise used daily: 28 gallons
- Average amount of veal cooked daily: 400 lbs (Lance ate 13 of that)
- Average amount of assorted pastries used daily: 6,000
- Average amount of butter used daily: 500 lbs
- Average amount of fresh fruits served daily: 7,000 lbs (I ate a lot of that; Lance didn't)
- Average amount of dishes washed daily: 70,000 (I washed NONE of those!)
- Average amount of glasses washed daily: 21,500 (NONE of those either!)
After the demonstration we got to go on a tour of one of the galleys, which was pretty cool. Well, obviously not cool enough to take any pictures of. Oops. Well, just imagine a big, industrial kitchen with all the best appliances and kitchen tools you could ever want. And then multiply it in size by at least six. And that was just one of the galleys.
Oh wait - I did get a picture of one of the veggie bouquets they made. Cool, right?
We mournfully packed that afternoon. It was tres, tres depressing. I don't even want to remember it. It was hard to decide what to pack and what not, because you have to 'check in' all of your luggage the night before you leave. Anything you needed the next day for disembarkation you had to have in your carry on.
To brighten our spirits that evening we went to another comedian show. It was pretty good. (Can you tell we like the comedians?) After the show we stayed in the theater for the next show. We must have all looked really bored, because the cruise staff broke out a bunch of balloons that we blew up and knocked around while fun music played. It was pretty funny to watch.
We were on a half-billion dollar boat and a room full of adults were very entertained with a $2 bag of balloons. Nice. Also, that guy right there in the light blue shirt and dark hair? I had to sit behind him and his huge noggin' during the next show. (Really, his head was huge. Once again, the picture doesn't do it justice.)
The next show was a staff talent show, which actually was a lot more entertaining than I anticipated. Oh sure, some was a little lame, like the singing production manager, or singing trumpet player.) (Sorry production manager and trumpet player.) But other acts were really good, like the dancing galley workers. My favorite was this little Philippino pastry chef who did a really funny Elvis number - outfit, wig, swingin' hips and all!
Sooner than we wanted, it was time for bed. Not that we went to bed. No, we got back to our stateroom and realized that Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was on and of course had to watch the rest of it. Because when you don't want the cruise to end any excuse will do, right? (That part where Anakin, in his new Darth Vader outfit, is told that he has killed Padme and then stands up and yells "Noooooooooo!!!" as he shakes his fist in the air? Yeah, still lame.)
Then it was time for bed.
Side note: We had choppy seas for most of the cruise. At times you could really feel the boat rock back and forth. It was never really bad, but you could definitely feel it. It didn't really bother me, and in fact, I think the gentle rocking motion helped me sleep at night. I haven't slept that well in quite a while. Well, it was either the boat or the fact that I was totally stress-free and relaxed. One of the two.
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