Friday, October 23 - At Sea

 Well, we're getting closer to Florida.  Just one more day at sea before we arrive in Miami on Sunday.  To ease my sadness at the trip coming to an end, I've decided to eat and drink everything not nailed down on the ship.  Because, apparently, part of my brain doesn't believe they have ice cream or pizza in Florida.

It was a great day - an early walk, balcony time, some fresh fruit outdoors while I chatted with an interesting lady.  We talked for about an hour.  About places we've visited.  About losing family.  About the emotional challenge of getting rid of old stuff that has sentimental value.  I love encounters like this where two strangers dive past the small talk and really connect, for at least an hour.

Photos!

Last night the ship was decorated for Scarlet Night.  This morning, everything was back to normal by 6 a.m.

I'm trying to burn through my bar tab so started my morning with this expensive 4 oz of juice.

It's the orange one - it was delicious.

Decorations were gone and there were very few people out and about so early.  The music from the pool was so loud I could hear it clearly in my cabin which is far from the pool where the party was.

The giant map was off-line.  I'm hoping the bridge has a different system.

Sunrise on the balcony.  

With my decaf and juice.

The sky put on quite a show.

I left the balcony long enough to get a pizza.  Mr. Kindle and I were both happy.

Love this view.

Obligatory selfie.

Bummer for the sun lovers but I love a nice, gray rainy day.

I had this tasty mocktail at dinner with Nancy 1/Bill and Rayann and Jack at Lucky Lotus.  Conversation and food were both great.

Once again I started eating before the photo.  Tasty shrimp and walnuts.

And, the spicy/sweet ribs I had on another visit.

And, the lettuce wrap, which was "meh".  All three dishes were appetizers.

OMG - the special dessert of the night was a toffee pecan bar with ice cream.  It had caramel and chocolate and was incredibly rich and delicious.

Jack and I got this ricotta Rangoon dessert.  Meh.

I snapped this photo on my way out.  The back plate is the branzino special - a whole fish with the head propped up and the tail in the air.  Impressive presentation.

I walked a bit after dinner.  This mural was black and white when the cruise started.  Passengers colored it in.

I'm guessing they either live in Orlando or thought it was a Disney cruise.

Thursday, October 22 - Still at Sea

 Another great sea day.  Lots of socializing, including chatting with a guy last night from London who visits Orlando every year for a month or so.  

I feel like I've been on a teeter totter - I started with my butt on the ground and as I traveled from Orlando to Bogota to Barcelona and the ship, my butt went up in the air.  Now that I've only got 2 more days, I'm starting to think of home, my calendar next week and as I do, my butt is heading back to the ground.

I remember my first cruises.  I lived in Detroit and was happy to do a 7 day Caribbean cruise.  As it came to a close I went home to work and snow.  Now, I go back to a wonderful retirement life and great weather.  I am so grateful to be as happy as home as on a vacation.

Photos!

It was rough the night before but I woke up to smooth seas.  Then this beautiful sky.

Every day as I waited in line for my decaf cappuccino (I'm going to miss those) I gazed longingly at these mini-loaves of banana chocolate chip bread.  I've been resisting but was weak and got one.  I'm on vacation!  It is covered in confectioner's sugar and what looked like a streusel topping but there were no chocolate chips and TBH, not much flavor.  I tossed most of it.  Not worth the calories.  

Great fishing-spotting seas but I just saw a few flying fish.

Still calm and beautiful as the wind started to ruffle the water.  So many shades of blue.

I've apparently been on the hammock too long.  I've turned into Lizard Woman!  The skin on my calf.  I laughed so hard when I saw this.  Then I was horrified when I realized that I wore a dress the other day after sitting in the hammock and this is how my calves looked as I went to get my coffee.

My photos rotate through the device I have on my kitchen counter.  I want to have lots of ocean photos randomly showing up every day.

Like a lake.

Have I mentioned that Hammock Time is my favorite part of the cruise?

I suggested that John and Michelle and I meet at the comfy couches outside the Pizza Place.  I didn't expect them to be covered until noon.  Happily there were nearby tables.

My tasty NA cocktail in Pink Agave.  Nancy 1 and Bill were kind enough to include me in their reservation.

Our table was next to a giant porthole.

I love their guacamole and really do think the pomegranate seeds add a nice burst of sweetness and crunch.

I went for the steak - which looks a mess here.  And, I'm not usually into a bunch of sauce and stuff on my steak but this was really tasty.  A thin rib-eye steak, cooked to medium with Oaxaca cheese and Chile ancho.  Not at all spicy but very flavorful.  Than ancho saucce was excellent.  I could only eat half the steak.

Dessert was chocolate tacos with dulce de leche.

Nancy 1 wasn't interested in dessert but ordered the chocolate tamal so I could try it.  I loved the dark chocolate but the masa was a taste/texture I didn't care for in a dessert.  Not awful but I wouldn't order it again.

The dulce de leche wasn't what I expected.  Sort of a mousse with gelatin is my guess, flavored (mildly) with the dulce de leche and another version flavored with chocolate inside two chocolate wafer cookies to make a taco.  I ate a bit but like the banana bread - ok but not worth the calories.

It was Scarlet Night.  Everyone is encouraged to wear scarlet.  I brought a red blouse but couldn't find it.  I'm sure I'll find it when I unpack at home.  Anyway - decorations around the ship, people in a party mood and shots of some sort being offered in the bars.  It was the first time I've been offered a drink in a table in a bar on board.  

This is what Virgin is really good at.  They can throw a party.  The whole ship feels like a themed house party and everyone seemed into it.  People watching was fabulous.

Unlike a lot of cruise lines, Virgin doesn't have photographers trying to take your photo so they can sell it back to you, which I like.  They did set up this sequin backdrop so people could take Insta-worthy portraits.

These giant inflatable fish appeared in the Social Club.

Did I mention people got into the Scarlet Night theme?

I skipped the party and ran into this gentleman from Scotland with the great t-shirt.  He was chuckling because when the elevator opened to let me on, another Scotsman in a red kilt was walking by.  I've met a number of people onboard from Scotland.  The passengers are primarily American but there's a lot of diversity which makes random conversations more interesting, to me.

When Virgin does a theme, they don't play.  Scarlet lights in the hallways.

And, on the balcony, where it was too windy for the hammock.  And, WAY too noisy.  This was the first night in 2 cruises that I was annoyed by the sound of loud bass in my cabin coming from the other end of the ship, two decks above.  During the day when they have a DJ at the pool I can faintly hear the bass on the balcony but not in my cabin.  Loud, crowded places are my least favorite so while I would have enjoyed the people watching and professional dancers at the party, it was a hard no for me.  I was happy when the music in my cabin stopped around 11.