December 17, 2022
It's our last full day at sea and we plan to make the most of it, beginning with breakfast! There are a couple of different offerings today, a green which looks like collards and is called callaloo greens, a favorite Caribbean vegetable dish made with indigenous greens, and another called upma, a traditional south Indian breakfast dish. And there's chocolate-banana smoothies on offer!
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| Constant maintenance on the zip line, right outside the Windjammer window. |
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| stroll through the art walk |
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| Many of these works by Kre8 were sold at auction. |
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| Trevorn, our dance instructor |
After breakfast we head to the Captain's Corner, where the captain and Dan Dan, the cruise director, entertain questions from the audience. The caption is a hoot!! He makes his entrance to AC/DC! He tells us that his salary is the third highest expense for each cruise, after fuel and food! (giggle!) There is a handout with astounding fun facts, like the Aqua Theater pool is 17.9feet deep! No wonder they can to those ridiculously high dives! There are 22 chefs and 222 cooks. There are 28 galleys operating independently. In an average week 16,000 pounds of chicken are consumed, and 1,800 pounds of lobster! When asked what he had to do to become a captain, he responded that when he came to Florida from his native Norway in 1990 he got a Florida driver's license. Really, if you can drive on I-95, you can captain this ship!! He then told us the real answer which includes a whole lot more work and education! He did mention that he got his promotions by bribing his captains! :) He now has his Unlimited Masters License. We learned that at one point we were only seven miles off the Cuban coast and the props actually pull us through the water, not pushing us, as I had thought. The Harmony burns $120,000 worth of fuel each day! and food for a day costs about $85,000!
From here Robin and I go to a towel-folding exhibition where three of the housekeeping staff each create two towel animals each. They make it look easy but I don't believe that for a moment! Robin leaves early and I go as soon as it's over. We have to have our bags backed and in the hallway by ten this evening and we have lots left to see today. When the elevator door opens, there's a piano being played inside!
I spend just a bit of time throwing dirty clothes (virtually everything I brought) into my suitcase. Not a lot of thought required!! And up to lunch! A little bit of this and that, mostly salad stuff, and it's down to the Royal Theater on Deck 4 for "Columbus" a musical about Chris Columbus's distant relative, Marvin! Actually, I'm the only one who goes to the show. Ma and the girls are up by the pool and Tobi and Dean haven't made it to very many of the shows.
The major set piece is a sailing ship as big ass the stage that rotates a full 360 and has a cabin that opens. There are sharks that fly through the air and at one point Chris descends in a helicopter! Clever lyrics, great voices, fun staging - a most enjoyable production!
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| So many pieces of silverware! |
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| Salmon Tartare - lemon-marinated salmon with fennel, chives, capers, trout caviar and a toasted baguette |
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| One of the bottles of wine gifted to the table |
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| Garlic Tiger Shrimp - with jasmine rice, roasted seasonal vegetables and herb butter |
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| This morning's handout front. - and back |
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| Such a fun tribute to the superb wait staff! |
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| Our headwaiter addressing the crowd! |
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Cherries Julilee - dark cherries cooked in a wine-cinnamon sauce topped
with vanilla ice cream |
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| Remove the bead by moving only two lines |
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| Voila! |
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| Looking through the back of one of the glass elevatorss |
Back to the room for a little break and a small glass of wine before dinner at five.
We are just about on time but Tobi and Dean have beat us again! It's fine. We have two hours before the new ice-skating show. Tonight is our last dinner and we've brought envelopes for Roque and Velroy. I'm sure they get a part of the daily gratuity; but they really have gone above and beyond! And when dinner is over Roque brings us our last brain teaser. And I get it!!
Off to watch "1887"'s premier performance! The most amazing part of the production is the way the appearance of the ice changes throughout the show. Initially it represents a frozen Seine and as we watch the ice cracks and turns to rushing water! And there are lots of other effects, too, as the scenes change! Of course the skating is lovely and olympics calibre. By the time the show is over it's time for bed! Bur first we put out all the bags except our carry ons. It was quite a todo to make sure that my bag, Ma's walker, and Tobi and Dean's things all have the same number on the luggage tags. That way they will all be in the same place when we go to reclaim them in the morning.
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