DAY 7: SEA DAY

Well here comes another boring sea day. I just really don't care for them. But Sakari will be in charge so if we're bored, I'm blaming her. 😁

Since we had to move our clocks up 1 hour last night, that meant I actually slept in...or did I? We were scrambling to try to figure out what time it really was because we didn't want to miss breakfast. It's my favorite meal of the day and always has been.

We rang the kids doorbell, yes I get great pleasure out of this and think every cabin should have one but know the kids would play...what is it called? Ding dong ditching? Either way, that's what I did today. They did not answer, so we headed upstairs for food. We were throwing caution to the wind and for some reason decided to hit up the buffet instead. I know, the wrong day to do this since it was a sea day and everyone was there. However, we knew the secret back doorway to get to Food Republic and it was never crowded there.

The staff was singing and dancing. I guess that's something we've been missing out on since we haven't been eating at the buffet. I mean they do have their coffee and breakfast songs. 😂

I've eaten a lot of premade omelets on this cruise but this time I would have them make it with everything I wanted in it. Yummy!!!! This would also be the first time I've had a cinnamon roll in probably about 5 years. I'm throwing caution to the wind this cruise I tell ya.

After breakfast we noticed people were gathering around on the pool deck. There was someone carving something out of ice so we stopped to watch.

I'm not sure what it was going to be but this happened...

Yep, the whole side of the ice came off. It was time to readjust his thoughts of what to make and he did so quickly and in the end did a marvelous job and created an Eagle out of what he had left.

Since it was a sea day and our vacation was almost ending, this is the day that I usually start at the end of one deck and walk each deck to take pictures of everything. So, most of the pictures you have seen in the beginning of the review came from either today or the first day. See, I'm working off those calories already.

After we completed our walk, it was time for resting and we headed back to our room to wait for the kids. I got a chance to watch The Little Mermaid and before it was over, the kids were knocking at the door. Of course, Sakari finished watching it with me and singing the entire time.

Some of the movies we watched while on this trip:

Beauty and the Beast (not the cartoon)

Eternity

Inception

Lincoln

Mercy

The American President

The Little Mermaid (not the cartoon)

Since the kids had gotten up so late, they were hungry. I guess it was lunch time now and I wasn't objecting. I had worked up an appetite from all the walking we did.

All this talk about where the pizza is, I knew I wanted some. As always, I would have a hodge-podge of food on my plate that never makes any sense and doesn't go together. I mean what else do you do when cruising?

Of course, I couldn't resist the desserts...it's my favorite thing and yes I am ashamed and regret it all...but not in the moment I made that decision of course.

After lunch we wanted to go check out and order what pictures we wanted to purchase. I can tell you that they were cheaper than the minions pricing. Not to mention, I get my VIP discount as well. Winning!!! 🥇

Since Sakari is in charge today, we were heading to the bean bag toss competition. The worker conducting this game I swear he made things up as he went along. They would play a round and certain people would get eliminated. Then somehow he would bring them back in for another round. Then more would get eliminated. It made absolutely no sense. Sakari was doing great, so she stayed in the game the entire time.

Sakari was doing so well and, in the lead, and then she cracked under pressure and didn't make any in the last round. She eventually came in 3rd place out of everyone. Not too shabby considering how many people were playing.

After the game ended, we sat and waited on whatever was next. It was going to be a dance class, so you know we had to stay.

Today's class was country line dancing. Same instructor as before with the Salsa and same as the bean bag toss. Well, let me tell you...he played the same 2 songs over and over. One was Achy Breaky Heart and I don't remember what the other was, but it was all he played. After a while it was getting annoying. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I used to love Billy Ray Cyrus and this song when it came out back in the day but now I hope I never hear it again...just saying. At some point daddy decided he would join her.

Ok, what's next??? "Karl" yells out "CASINO". He felt that he needed to redeem himself from losing all the money he has lost during the cruise. Yes, he lost his $950 he had won the other night. Yes, he lost the winnings from the beginning of the cruise that him and Sakari had won. Now it was time to try again.

I've always heard that toward the end of the cruise you don't do as well. I've read that the slots are adjusted for less big wins (not sure if there's any truth to this) so I was playing it safe with small bets and just having fun. Sakari was playing some too and doing ok.

"Karl" well...he just couldn't resist and was betting $10 spins, and it eventually paid off.

He couldn't wait to rub it in my face with a big grin saying, "I told you I was going to win again". Do you think he kept it? Nope! Sakari begging and pleading with him to cash out and stop and he wouldn't listen and lost it all. The boy has no self-control.

Meanwhile the hubby was over here winning...only he knew when to cash out.

Not as big of a win as "Karls" but still decent on a $1.50 bet.

We decided to head out and back to the rooms to pack a little. Then "Karl" discovers he has lost their room cards. We back tracked everywhere we had been and could not find them, and no one had turned them in anywhere. That meant a trip to customer service to get new ones, and we all know what customer service lines look like on the last day of the cruise. We waited with them because we knew we needed to get VIP luggage tags as well. We usually don't get off first thing in the morning, but I wanted that option. I didn't want to race around in the morning but knew if we had the VIP tags that we could do what we needed and walk off at any time.

Here are the luggage tag colors for those interested.

Back in the room my laundry had arrived. All clean and nicely pressed.

Of course, I had asked the kids if they wanted any of their clothes washed the day before and they had said no. Now all of a sudden Sakari had clothes to clean. Whelp, it's too late now. I guess you'll have to do all your laundry when you get home. Oopsy!

I did want to mention something...our cruise included 150 free minutes for each room. I tried so many times to get on today so that we could check in for our flight and it WOULD NOT WORK!!! I would log on, get to the Southwest website and it would just spin and try to connect. Meanwhile, it was eating up all of my minutes. I went from 150 minutes down to 10 minutes in a heartbeat. Like what the actual heck?!?! It was worthless. I was so glad that I didn't actually pay for that. I know it used to be slow but dannnngggg.

After packing most of what we could, it was time for dinner, and we all decided to go to The Commodore.

Our appetizers:

A few of the main courses:

I was so involved in my yummy dessert that I don't have a clue what the others had:

There wasn't much left to do...but pack. We forbid "Karl" to go back to the casino.

Our white boards for the day:

Everyone showered and used up everything we wouldn't need for the following day. I reminded Sakari to make sure to have clothes to wear tomorrow and not pack them. I'm still traumatized from the time I didn't leave her any clothes out to wear on one cruise when she was little and was in panic mode.

You are supposed to have your luggage out by 10pm, and I swear I have never been able to accomplish this...like ever. Tonight would be no exception. Our luggage and the kid's luggage seemed to be the only ones out there.

We headed to bed after a quick phone call to the kids to tell them to make sure to set their alarms. We didn't want to miss breakfast. 💤