Anniversary Cruise: Sea Day 7

Well how are we doing?  I know, I get all excited, make a goal and wow, y'all just have to keep up.  (yes, that's how they write it down here.)

So by the time we hit our last sea day, i.e. travel the ocean day to the next island, we were so ready for some more of the relaxing part and less of the adventuring part.  This is honestly the only day I can say I really remember hanging out by the pool.

We ate a leisurely breakfast and then hit the sundeck.  I loved it.  Whenever I'm at the beach or a pool, I'm worried about drowning, predators (human/other), and sand in all the places I can't use a wipe fast enough like up little noses. This time I got to actually feel the sun warm my skin instead of realize too late that though the kids had plenty of sunscreen I petered out and forgot myself.  I got to drink a nice cold cup of water without having to worry about what the last "sharing" episode did to it.  And I even got to take a quick dip in the water to cool off without someone crying because I was going to be more than 2ft away from my last location.  Honestly, I think it was one of the best parts of the whole cruise.  I love to play, but I love to do nothing in the sun even more sometimes!

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE to hang out with my family.  My kids are fantastic and so much fun, but the exhaustion factor after a day like that is killer.  This last sea day, I did pretty much nothing and never once did I feel guilty about it like I should've done something more productive with my time.

With this being the last sea day and all, it was also the last formal attire night at dinner.  We dressed up without going super formal and still had so much fun.  The dinner staff in the restaurant was in rare form with jokes, dancing around the tables, pulling us into the longest conga line I've ever seen live, and just basically making it a great time for everyone.  The food was great, the lack of clean up on my part was better, and the entertainment was worth watching.

gave them to my kids for dress up when I got home!

After dinner we went to the last family show of the cruise.  This one was done with the theme of Mardi Gras with smooth jazz and beautiful dancers.  The set was constructed to look like New Orleans and the costumes cracked me up.  The most fun was the great music (Chris and I are huge jazz fans) and the streamers and necklaces thrown over the audience at the end.  I so loved these shows.  Some people criticized the lack of professionals in the cast or the kind of music or theme the show focused on - I just really enjoyed a free show, well done, without having to find a babysitter, drive for an hour, stuff down dinner from a fast food place, and then hopefully find our seats and hope they were good.  I guess my expectations are just too easily met compared to some.

hanging out on deck at night

After the show, we wandered the decks some more, watched the black ocean pass below us, and watch the moon cast an almost mystical look to the waves.  I know it sounds like I'm making it so "over the top" as Chris would say, but that's what it was really like.  Not every moment feels like a movie, but there are some moments in life that you're sitting there thinking how beautiful and romantic it all is and why isn't there music playing to this scene?  Can't help it.  My life just has movie moments like that so it's how I describe them.

The point is, we used our last sea day to it's fullest advantage, enjoyed each other's company and the company of our friends and really just relaxed in a most relaxing atmosphere.