MITSUGIRLYS BACK TO BELLY SUN CRUISE review and pictorial
Day 8: Sea Day
Day 7 on the ship: A full sea day.
Saturday: our day at sea. You know, the one that is supposed to be smooth sailing all the way home? Well, when we were still on the deck after the White Hot party last night, I forgot to post the video that I took of the pool. It got a little "rocky" during the night and it would continue for the rest of the cruise.
So much for a "smooth ride" right? There would be no alcoholic drinks needed the rest of the cruise. Everyone appeared drunk anyhow. There were some really big waves in that pool that night. It didn't dawn on me to get a video at first and of course when I did, I never did "catch the big one."
When I had picked up Sakari from the kids club the night before, they reminded me that the Circus was the next day. Sakari has been doing the circus for years now and absolutely loves it. It's the cutest thing to see the kids get on stage and perform. Some are shy and then some...are like Sakari and want to steal the show when possible. She's definitely not a "stage freight" type of girl.
On our last cruise she "moved up" to the next age category and gets to actually do something (versus having her face painted like a tiger and jump through a hoop). On the Getaway this year she did the "feather balancing" ooohhhh ahhhh. The skills involved. hehe
So they tell me that she HAS to be at the kids club by 9am in the morning otherwise she does not get to participate in the show. YIKES! Ok, I had totally planned on sleeping in today....not. I did inform them that she has been doing these shows for years and just got off the Getaway 5 months ago and "knows her routine" well. That didn't matter...she HAD to be there to practice...just in case she became stage frightened and didn't know what to do. (I guess having my kid for 1 week wasn't enough time to show them she's not that kinda girl).
I set the alarm to 7:30am and I ACTUALLY SLEPT UNTIL THEN. Whatdayaknow???
I decided that the rest of the family didn't need to suffer just because of this and I got dressed and headed up to breakfast. I got Sakari some waffles & bacon to bring back to the room to eat while I was taking my shower. Hey, at least she got to sleep in some right?
Today was a bit of a colder day out and it was very windy. I knew right then and there that it was NOT going to be a pool day.
I dropped Sakari off at the kids club for her "practice routine" (which would be from 9-12). This is her favorite counselor this time around. It's kind of funny that she picked this person because all of the other counselors knew Sakari/Shakira pretty well, but this particular counselor couldn't even remember Sakari's name...or either when we would pick her up, they would ask who we were there to pick up. I have never had this happen before. Usually all the counselors knew us by name and face by the second night.
I headed back to the room to start packing for our disembarkation the following day and then the hubby woke up...oops, did I make too much noise or throw too much on the bed while I was packing? (smiles).
We headed back upstairs so that he could get some breakfast...and that bacon just looked SO tempting. I just had to have more.
After breakfast we decided to do a little shopping and get the items I still wanted from the ship. I usually try to get things toward the end of the cruise because it seems like they have more stuff pulled out at that time. More stuff=better choices...or so I thought.
There was a small store that I didn't really see opened too much during the cruise (or at least not when we were passing by). I tried to get in but there were just too many people in and out and a few people movers blocking the way, so I decided it just wasn't an option.
In the atrium they had several tables set up for all those gotta have cheap watches that will break a week after you get off the ship (at least mine did on a previous cruise)... Don't forget those chains purchased by the inch...
I tell ya the shopping on this day was a little ridiculous. You would think everyone on the ship waits until the last day to shop. Oops, that would be me pretty much.
So I'm at the main shopping area and I'm looking for a tee shirt with the "sun" on it. I get a tee with the ships name on every ship I sail. I couldn't seem to find them anywhere. I know around Tuesday I had seen a few of the styles I have been buying (the ones that have the tee shirt and a ball cap wrapped up in a rubber band), but I haven't seen any since then. I knew that they had more because before they were closing up that night I seen a huge cart full of them (like the huge push laundry baskets you see the staff pushing). So they had to be hiding somewhere.
I ask one of the staff members about it and they told me they were all sold out. WHAT??? Don't tell me this would be the first ship that I was not able to get one! I was devastated. I was shown another type of shirt and it was a shirt that is compressed into the shape of a ship with a picture on the front and instructions to "just add water" and it turns into a beautiful tee shirt. Well duh, it's not magic.
I specifically ask the person as I was checking out if this tee had the Sun on it, or what was on the front is the picture, or at least the name of the Sun on it. The reply was "yes, it has the Suns name on it and that picture" while pointing to the picture on the front. "Ok, I'll take it!"
After I checked out, something told me to ask another sales associate. They said "oh no, that's not on the shirt. I don't think that the word Sun is even on it. Go check the mannequin on the display in the glass case outside the store and it will show you the shirt" Sigh...nope, the cashier had lied to me about it.
I went back in and started asking about the shirt I wanted in the first place. This time around I was told there were some in the back and they would check for me and I should return around 3pm and they would have one for me.
Just in case they couldn't find one, I decided that I HAD to have this shirt...diva!!!!
I now wished that I would have gotten my daughter one to go along with a cruise certificate that I bought her for Christmas. Darnit, what was I thinking with?
We did a little more shopping and then headed back up to the kids club to pick up Sakari hoping that she had enough time (4 hours and 1 previous cruise doing this routine) to learn how to balance her peacock feather on her hand, chin and so on. :p
After picking up Sakari at noon, we headed to the buffet to grab some lunch and then back to the room to do a little more packing and to get her ready for the "big show".
She wanted to wear, what she has named, her "pretty dress" for the show. I warned her she would have to sit like a lady at the show if they made them sit on the stage at any point. (Made this mistake once by putting her in a dress on stage).
She really loved her face painting with feathers on each side of her cheeks.
It was 2pm and time to drop her off for the show in the Stardust Lounge.
We decided to head to the casino to kill a little time before going to the show. Of course I was doing well on the same machine, but the hubby had to drag me off of it to head to the show. I just knew this would happen. LOL
The show started and we were in the front row.
Can you spot her in her "pretty dress" that now has a circus vest over it that doesn't match? LOL
Look at that skill. Make momma proud. You go girl and show them your skills that you have been practicing for 4 solid hours this morning.
Would you look at the concentration?
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The sad part is when she came out she somehow managed to bend the end of the feather. So, she had a floppy feather. The show must go on and she balanced that floppy feather anyhow. Show'em who's boss! The couselor noticed what had happened and did walk over and give her a new one. She was good to go now. Balancing on the hand, finger, the back of the hand, the elbow and then the chin. I think Sakari has an advantage over most kids since she comes equipped with her own chin holder (what I like to call the butt chin, which she gets from me). LOL
The rest of the show consisted of rolling these sticks (I can't remember the names of them)
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There were tigers (the younger group that Sakari moved up from) that jumps through the hoop of fire.
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The rope wranglers
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Chinese yo-yos
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Juggling acts
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More juggling
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Plate spinners
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The show lasted 45 minutes and then it was over.
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The kids had a good time and the parents were proud.
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Can you tell Sakari poses a lot for pictures? Look at the hands.
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After the show, the kids headed back to the kids club and I headed back to the shopping area to check on my tee shirt request.
As I was standing at the counter waiting for the lady to ring up the person at the register, I looked down and GASP!!!!! OH NO....IT COULDN'T BE!!! The big diamond in my wedding band was GONE!! Are you kidding me? This thing has been hit and banged against everything for 8 years and it has held up like a rock. I haven't managed to hit it on anything this cruise and the diamond is gone!!
We looked everywhere. I back tracked all the steps we had made and I'm pretty sure that it was there at the Circus show. We spent the next hour or so with our heads hanging down to the floor and of course everyone we passed ask us what we were looking for. The staff helped us look everywhere and even took us back into the Stardust Lounge and had people get up and move from the area that we were sitting at (there was now a bingo game going on). Sigh* It was like finding a needle in a haystack. I just knew that we would never find it. My heart sank.
I can tell you that you never notice anything dirty on the floors until you are looking for a diamond on it. You will notice every little spec of anything that closely resembles a diamond or white in color. I can also tell you that if you look close enough you will find all kinds of things that may or may not be diamonds on the floor and especially in the restrooms. Costume jewelry or whatever, you wouldn't believe the amounts of things I found that were...who knows, real or fake.
Ok, yes I know I haven't painted my nails or removed the polish since returning home from the cruise. Disregard the icky nails...my poor ring.
I was completely devastated. Completely. (I just turned the ring in the other day to have it sent off to see how much it's going to cost to repair it. I haven't heard back from them yet).
I really thought my other ring (which I'm still wearing) that I purchased from the Getaway would be the one to lose the diamond in it. If you read my Getaway review, you would know that the week I got off the ship the huge diamond in it became lose as well. I have yet to send it off and it has remained intact. Sigh
We pretty much searched for the rest of the day and at a certain point, I just said to my husband "You know we'll never find it. I just know this in the bottom of my heart. Looking for it is doing no good and I'm not about to let it spoil the rest of my vacation. I'm done searching!" Although I did catch myself with my head down a few more times that night when I approached the areas that I was in, but for the most part, I did well.
It was 5pm and time to pick up Sakari. Then we headed back to the shopping area to finally check on my shirt. The people at the counter said they had no idea what I was talking about or who the associate was that helped me.
I did notice one of those shirt/hat combo's on the counter and ask if it was mine. They had a tag on it with someone else's name and room number, so it was not. I told them that was exactly what I was looking for and what they were supposed to find for me. I wasn't leaving without my shirt this time since I knew for sure they had some. Why they were not bringing them out baffled me. At that point I was not a person to be reasoned with. Moma bear had just lost her wedding ring diamond and I'm not taking no for an answer.
They went back to search what they had and what do you know...they found some. I picked a dark brown shirt (since that's one of the colors I don't have yet) and Sakari picked out a whale and a turtle stuffed animal that said "I love to cruise".
It looks like they changed the styles on these shirts now.
Back in the room we had received our information about getting kicked off the ship the following day and how they were going to nicely do it.
We were given VIP tags, even though that pretty much means nothing to us because I like to take my time getting off. I'm never in a rush.
We had a VIP gift waiting for us.
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We decided since this day had turned into a crappy day, I needed some cheering up. We were going to go out to dinner at the 7 Seas to try to have a relaxing dinner instead of the hustle of the buffet area.
We got dressed up and headed there. No lines or waiting as always.
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I had the yummy mushrooms like always.
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That was followed by some Alfredo noodles
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For desert I had the apple pie and ice cream. The weird thing about desert was that Sakari wanted ice cream. She had watched them bring out the apple pie with ice cream and she decided that she just wanted the ice cream. When I ask them for ice cream for her, they replied "we don't have ice cream in here for desert." Um ok. So maybe they ran out? Nope, it was on my plate. I have found that "usually" the NCL staff will go out of their way to get you something that you need. I have even had a time that the staff went to the buffet to get something Sakari was wanting, even though I told them it was not necessary. They always go out of their way. This person was not!
So I shared my ice cream with Sakari and promised her I'd get her some more up at the buffet.
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I don't even know what this was...it must have been the hubbys
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On the way out I noticed the little light buzzers they give you if you need to wait on a table. I can assure you there was no waiting for ANYTHING on this ship this cruise...at least not for us.
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Later that night, it was PJ night at the kids club and Sakari wanted to go for the last time. We headed back to the room and I finished my packing before taking her there. I have to say that I have NEVER started packing this early on a cruise before, but it sure worked out better!!! I was packed before the evening of activities hit and we were able to enjoy our night without having to rush back and pack last minute and try to get the luggage out. It worked out nicely and I think I will adopt this practice from now on.
We dropped Sakari off at the kids club and once again headed to the casino for our last night of fun. I won a little, I lost a little. When I was done playing for the night, I cashed in another $558 total. Not bad at all and a lot more than what I came with.
When we got back to the room, there was a message on the answering machine that Sakari was tired and wanted picked up. It was 9:30pm and I figured it would work out well since my packing as done and there really wasn't any more we needed to do.
On the way back from the kids club, we took a different set of elevators and came down the long hallway. Sakari was dragging behind us (which is unusual for her because she always has to be in front leading the way) and then I hear "MOMMY, IT'S THE SUN!!! IT'S OUR SUN!!" I had no idea what she was talking about. She says "It's mine!!!" I walked back and found our door decorations on someone else's door!!! They had it actually hanging up on the door. WHAT??? Really? I took it right down and back to the room. The only thing wrong with it was that they had pealed off my name on my sun. Everyone else's was intact.
I can't believe I walked right past it and Sakari spotted it right away. Our door decor is nicely saved and will go in our scrapbook at home now.
Sakari brought balloon art back to the room with her from the kids club.
She claimed she had them make me a flower bracelet too because she loves me so much. She is so sweet.
We checked on our Internet minutes and there was still 71 minutes left of time. I decided to use up the time by checking in fb and contacting my daughter on there, who would be meeting us on the next cruise in FLL the following day. We caught up on things back home, the great time we have been having, the weather and what our plans were going to be when we all arrived at the airport.
Now I must have really been into this packing early thing because when it came time to put the luggage out to be picked up, I couldn't find my luggage tags or the customs form anywhere. I ended up having to unpack everything to find it. Yep, I had packed it away with all of my paperwork. Geesh.
At this point, we decided we were hungry again and wanted a snack. We decided to order a pizza.
I remember the first time we ordered a pizza on the Epic. It was the absolutely nastiest thing I had ever tasted. We ended up throwing it away. Over the years, the pizza they serve at the buffet had changed and was pretty good. The pizza that we had the other night was decent, not great like most of the other ships, but edible.
They charge you $5 for the pizza and can be delivered anywhere: room, pool, casino, bar, you name it.
When our pizza arrived...oh my... YUCK! The same taste the other pizza we had on the Epic. What the heck? Why can they get it right at the buffet but not delivery? Wouldn't it be the same pizza? They load it with cheese (and I'm a cheese lover), but this stuff doesn't even taste like cheese. It's like fake processed no fat, no whatever cheese. Just gross.
Now the weird thing for tonight was that they had decided to move the smoking section to the opposite side of the ship. Same place, but just the opposite side. From the rumors that I heard, the lady that was in the exercise room at nights, that was always closing the blinds, complained about working out and people sitting there smoking and watching her. Plus she didn't like that it was located right outside the exercise "healthy" room. So they moved it. I find this weird since there have been multiple complaints over the years about the locations and such that all it took was 1 person complaining about it and they moved it. I would be interested in knowing if it was moved back after this cruise. Just weird...
Once I located my luggage tags and customs form, I weighed my luggage only to find out that 1 of them was over 50#. Ugh, I had to repack again. I guess it's a good thing I got all of this started early in the day otherwise, I would be up half the night trying to get it right.
I found this cute little luggage contraption that you attach to the handle of your luggage and raise it up. It's digital and tells you how much your luggage weighs. I found it in the gift shop and I think it was around $19. In my opinion, I would definitely be able to use it and get my moneys worth. So I purchased it and it came in real handy for the rest of the cruise and will for future cruises.
We also found some paper brochures in the room that night that listed all of the NCL ships and where they go to. I kept it as a handy "go-to" and will be looking it over and planning accordingly.
After all, there are still a few ships I haven't been on.
Here is a copy of the disembarkation schedule and color of the tags. I have always found that they "usually" call you tag color earlier than what is listed. After all, they want you off the ship to get it ready for the next sun and fun seekers.
We headed to bed around 12:30am and I wasn't as sad to think about getting off of the ship knowing that I would be meeting up with the family the next day and heading to another ship. How exciting.