At Sea – April 27, 2018

Lots of goodbyes today.

I started with my usual juice and a roll and then to Sit and Stitch.  Some were missing (still packing) but we all took some pictures.

Morning trivia was another tie win for us with 14 out of 16.

1)How many countries border the Pacific Ocean (2 Points for getting the exact number)?

2)The discovery of which Aboriginal is considered to be the oldest Australian known?

3)What is the fastest swimming shark with speeds over 50 mph?

4)What is the dominant language spoken in Hong Kong?

5)Who lost to Ali in 1975 even though he landed 440 punches?

Packed a few more things (there seems to be no end to little odds and ends) before going to lunch.  In Arts and Crafts we made our last pair of beaded earrings.

At 3:00 we had the Crew Farewell Grand Finale.  The Queen’s Lounge was packed.  Hamish (the cruise director), Barbara (the EXC Guide) and Captain Jonathan all spoke.  Barbara is retiring in the autumn and was very emotional.  After watching a cute video (including Henk in the bathtub with his rubber ducky) many of the crew came in to a standing ovation.  (By the way, we had 637 crew on board.)

Went for my last afternoon ice cream by the pool before afternoon trivia.  We did not do as well as morning trivia but we ended as “Bridesmaids” one last time coming in second with 9 out of 17.  It was questions we had before however we did not recognize many of the questions (they must have been from port day trivias).

1)What does zeitgeist mean?

2)Who was the Robin Hood of Scotland?

3)Which Shakespeare play begins with, “Who’s there?”

4)The official languages of the U.N. are English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, and ___.

5)How old was Dickens when he started working in a factory?

After many sad hugs and goodbyes (and “see you in 2020”) after trivia, I went back to pack more stuff.  Had most everything in (except what I was wearing) by 7:15 so I went to hear Jamm in the piano bar one last time. 

We had lots of wine at dinner and a good meal.  The dining room was decorated in orange since today is Koningsdag, the celebration for the birthday of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.  I had fruit, a huge (23 oz) ribeye steak, and a cherry Pavlov for dessert.

I had my 3 suitcases and box out by 10:35.  Suitcases have been dotting the hallways all day.  This is one cruise where you can put your bags out any time during the day.

I know I will not sleep well tonight (up every half hour or so to look at the clock).  I have the first disembarkation time after those who self-disembark since I am taking a Fort Lauderdale tour and airport transfer.  I will have a post for Saturday but likely will not put it up until Sunday.

some of our Sit and Stitch group

they already started taking down the lights around the Lido Pool

Hamish

Barbara

Captain Jonathan

crowded Queen's Lounge

a few of the great crew

orange glow in the MDR

Morning trivia…

1)42

2)Mungo Man (the Australians did not know this either)

3)mako

4)Cantonese

5)Frazier

Afternoon trivia…

1)spirit of the times (missed that one both times ☹)

2)Rob Roy

3)Hamlet

4)Arabic

5)12

Smooth sailing until next time!