Our last two days of the cruise were sea days as we made our way back to Fort Lauderdale. On day 18 I still wasn’t feel great – but was certainly better than the day before. Still a good bit nauseous and my appetite had not yet returned.
View from the Diamond Club
The day basically went as follows :
Breakfast at Windjammers , time in the Diamond Club lounge, reading in our room, lunch in the Dining Room, a spa & swim, reading in our room, dinner at Windjammers, back to our room to watch some Vlogmas videos.
Chopped salad from the dining roomSunset at sea
Our last day was pretty much the same, except for the swim. And thankfully I was feeling even better again and my appetite is almost back to normal.
Breakfast at Windjammers, time in the Diamond Club lounge, reading in our room, lunch in Windjammers, PACKING, reading in our room, dinner at Windjammers (with our tablemates from the dining room), put luggage outside room, read.
Breakfast from WindjammersReading in the Diamond ClubOne of tonights dinner options in WindjammersVegetable Mongolian Stirfry from Windjammers
Can’t believe the cruise is almost over. We have enjoyed it and really enjoyed the South American ports but I do think I might prefer other modes of travel for now, or at least cruises with less sea days. I guess after 20 years of cruising our lifestyle/needs have changed somewhat and we probably aren’t getting what we used to out of cruising.
No alarm this morning but I still woke about 6am (which was now 7am since our time zone had changed again but we didn’t realize this until 12pm
Kevin kindly went and got some soy milk so I could make a tea & a coffee for himself. about 9am (which was 10am) we went to have breakfast at Windjammers. We sat out the back in the open which was nice and cool due to the sea breeze.
My typical breakfast on this cruise
After breakfast we went for a little exploration of the ship. We checked out the Diamond Club (for Diamond level cruisers). Would be a lovely area to use if we didn’t have our own balcony. We sat and enjoyed the view over the pool area for a little bit…
then checked out some of the bar areas….
And other areas around the ship.
and then around some of the outdoor decks. It was pretty windy out there today, but still very warm.
Back in the room for a bit where, after sitting outside in the sun for about 10mins, I worked on catching up on my blog posts. Kevin had a little nap. About 2pm there was a knock on our cabin door with a special delivery (for being diamond club members. And I confess I had half of the strawberry and half of the chocolate cup. Both were delicious. But it meant we had dessert before lunch !!
Finally we realized the correct time and about 2.30pm we went back to Windjammers (again) for a late lunch. We had planned to go the dining room but it was closed by the time we were ready for lunch. We ate outside again but this time at the back of the boat.
I spent the rest of afternoon desperately trying to catch up on the last few days blog posts before I forget all the details. We arrived in Aruba about 4pm (not that we can see much as we are facing the ocean) and after I finally finished off yesterdays blog, we headed ashore.
Dinner tonight was a surprise Kevin – The Dutch Pancake House. It was about 10 min walk and was in a really lovely place – all lit up for Christmas and there even a band/singing performance going on nearby. So we finally got to listen to some Caribbean music (sadly this ship doesn’t have a Caribbean band onboard.
Kevin and I both had pancakes. I had fruit delight and Kevin had bananas with a pina colada sauce (turns out it was our waiters invention). Both were delicious and they were the thin pancakes which I really prefer.
After dinner we strolled through the complex (mainly restaurants but some shops) and back to the ship.
We were hot and sweaty when we got back (still 28C outside) so I decided to have a cool shower to freshen up (not much point having one in the morning since we’ll be going swimming). Kevin and I then did face masks (it’s not Kevin’s normal thing but he was happy to join me). I then wrote up this post (yes, I’m all up to date and current) – just need to add in photos when I get the chance.
It was another slow morning for us (no surprises there) and eventually we decided to get dressed and head for breakfast about 9.15am. Before leaving I asked Kevin to check what time our all access tour of the ship was. And guess what? Instead of being in the afternoon like we had both thought for some reason, it was a 9.45am. So instead of breakfast we headed to the meeting area. Then read that long pants were required so Kevin (who was wearing shorts) had to go back to the room to change. No to worry we were still ready in plenty of time.
The tour was really good – we had a talk by the dining room manager, walked through the kitchens (which are always amazing to see), the storage rooms and ONE of the meat freezers, the Engineers room and laundry – always have someone from that department to talk to us.
And luckily we also got to see the bridge. We really enjoyed this 2 hour tour and though it was reasonably expensive, feel that it was well worth it, if you are interested in the behind the scenes operations of these big ships. Kevin and I thought the best part was the galley. It’s always amazing seeing the work that goes into providing meals for everyone at sea.
Since we had missed breakfast, again, we headed right to Windjammers at the conclusion of the tour. My lunch today was salad, potato and bread (which you will see is a pretty reoccuring theme whenever we eat in Windjammers).
A 2 hour non-stop walking tour was quite a lot for my body so we pretty much just chilled in the room for the afternoon – reading (and I also did some computer work). I would have sat outside but it was way too steamy.
Before 5.30pm we got ready for dinner and headed off to the dining room.
I had tortilla soup (which was yummy, but a little spincy, vegan bolognases (delicious) and a “cheesecake” which was super sweet so I really only had a few bites. We had two new dinner companions tonight – from the UK. Luckily it was easier to here everyone nearby tonight.
We didn’t stay for tea/coffee as we wanted to catch the 7pm show – which we did. It was the usually. Nothing too outstanding (especially after our cirque shows in Vegas) but we enjoyed it anyway.
After the show it was back to the room and off to bed.
We had a great last day together in Vegas. As usual I was up about 5.30am. I actually enjoy this time as I’m working on my blog or editing a vlog I can watch Vegas wake up.
We have been going very slow in the morning – it’s how I tend to go with fibro these days and Christy & Kevin seem to be in go-slow holiday mode as well. We didn’t even have breakfast (yep, bagels again) until after 10am.
Finally we headed out via uber, getting dropped off at Treasure Island and walking across the bridge to the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. I think this is my fav. of the resorts on the strip. Love the atmosphere and the fact that there are some “more affordable” shops and it isn’t all luxury brands.
We first stopped by the LOVE sign…
and the gorgeous Christmas displays.
We then explored more of the Venetian and visited a few of the stunning art shops/galleries.
Of course Kevin had to buy another fruit stick from Godiva. And Christy managed to make a new friend.
From the Venetian we walked up the strip. I really don’t like this part of the strip – it is always so hectic and busy (even during the day).
We walked up the Linq Promenade – which we had never been too before. It’s really a rather nice area – though mainly restuarants.
But we were here to go on the High Roller (another thing we had not yet done in Vegas). And it was such a gorgeous day for it today.
The whole trip takes 30mins and it was really nice to sit back and enjoy the view, though I think Kevin was most excited about high speed Tesla charging station that was right beside the High Roller.
By now we were all getting hungry so decided to Uber back to the apartment so we could last nights leftovers for dinner – which I very much enjoyed. Christy and I both then did a bit of packing and sorting and then resting until it was time to head back out. We had a booking for Nacho Daddy but I mucked up the timing and we realized that we would be rushed for the show tonight. So I cancelled the booking and we headed straight to the Luxor. One thing I definitely won’t miss about Vegas is having to walk though the smoky casino sections of the hotels.
There was nothing much on offer for us in the food court but we did come across this lovely looking restaurant.
I ordered what I thought was Fried Rice with Cauliflower & edamame but turned out to be Cauliflower fried rice with edamame. I’ve never had cauliflower rice before so I didn’t think of it when I read “cauliflower fried rice” !! It was quite nice but I would have preferred rice. I only ended up eating half of it. Christy had a bowl of jasmine rice and Kevin had a pepper beef which he really enjoyed. It came with asparagus which he’s always claimed not to like (though I’ve told him many times that fresh is very different to canned) and he LOVED it.
We had to chase down out server so we could get our cheque and head to the theatre to see RUN.
No this show is pretty different for a Cirque De Soliel show and it’s their first live action theatre show. It’s all about 2 rival gangs and they do a great job of setting the scene as you enter.
We may have been sitting a bit too close to the stage because there things happening all around and in the aisles. It was noisy and bright and very busy. I really enjoyed certain parts of it and thought others were just okay. I can appreciate the work and effort that has gone into this production but as someone who isn’t a big action movie person it really wasn’t quite for me. So I’d definitely recommend for people who love action movies and flight scenes (Kevin & I always complain that they go on too long) then I’d recommend this show for you. If not, then maybe see other Cirque shows before this one. Christy said she enjoyed it and Kevin said it wasn’t as bad as the Avator one (which we were all disappointed with). Mystere is Christy and my favourite, Kevin’s is KA (which for me is very close behind Mystere.
After the show we got an Uber back to our room. I then had some delicious peppermint bark vegan ice cream before heading to bed.
