OrcaGirl

I grabbed my iPad in lieu of my phone to film sailaway, but apparently because I’d watched so much Dexter and then Seven on the flights, its battery was low too. After filming like 15 min of the sailaway (inc backing up and spinning and then heading out) as a super cool time lapse, the iPad died and I lost all of it. 😭 Sailaway itself happened at 6pm; if there was an official announcement of the time, I missed it. After sailaway, I tried to go to the solo meet and greet in Bliss but 1) it was really, really loud in there to the point that I couldn’t really hear what the staff were saying about planned activities, and 2) there was no bartender. So I bailed and headed to Maltings for an Eastern Legacy to take to dinner. The MDR was serving the standard day 1 menu, so instead I headed up to the buffet for ‘American Dinner’. Turkey and fixings, sliders, etc. Pretty good. Someone on the transfer bus this morning had mentioned that there was a launch scheduled for the Space Center tonight, and I happened to catch the tail end of it. Not enough of a space nerd to know exactly what was going on, but seeing things burning up in the sky and then hearing a sonic boom was pretty darn cool. After that I went back to the cabin and my luggage was there! Yay! Spent a few minutes unpacking and getting organized before heading to the theatre for the Welcome Aboard show. Really enjoyed the dancers and vocalists, so I’m looking forward to seeing those full performances later in the cruise. But I’ll give the Beatles a skip. Can’t wait for when the cruising demographic ages enough that it’s more fiscally responsible to have a Depeche Mode or The Cure tribute show. After the tight 40 min set, I grabbed a nightcap at the Atrium bar and headed back to the cabin to finish unpacking. Or at least as much as I can without access to the main closet. Random observations This sailing has ~3700 guests from 35 countries according to Cruise Director Dan. Elevators are going to be a challenge. I’m trying to take the stairs as much as possible, but my foot is really bugging me so I’m taking the elevators if I need to go up more than three flights. Hmm, if only there was a foot pain seminar offered. 🤣 Speaking a little Indonesian and Tagalog continues to surprise and delight the staff. This cruise I’m going to try to learn a little Indian as well.

After my mini lunch, I did a quick lap of the Epic Garden Cafe. I forgot how small it is! But the food looked good. I then headed down to check out my cabin and drop off my backpack. The solo cabin is so cute! It’s showing a bit of wear and tear, and the sliding door to my closet is completely busted and won’t open so I hope they can get it fixed ASAP. I called housekeeping but the steward was very distracted with getting the final touches done on other cabins, so I’ll try reporting it again tomorrow. It was 3:45pm at this point, and I thought sailaway was at 4pm (though I had my doubts given the length of the lines earlier) so I hustled up to the top deck to scope out a spot to film sailaway. But the sailaway dance party came and went and no movement. So I gave up at 4:45pm and headed down to the Mandara Spa for the spa draw and to make a massage appointment. The staff spa acknowledged that the Platinum spa discount that’s only valid on port days was a little useful on a transatlantic, so they offered me an early morning spot tomorrow when I can use my 25% off. However, I can’t stack my $50USD spa credit onto the same appointment. Oh well. While in the spa waiting for the draw to start, I could see down into the pier that the crew was still loading provisions and luggage. There was even a crew on a lift doing repairs or cleaning, so yeah, I don’t think we’re leaving imminently. Alas, no luck at the spa draw. So I’m heading back to my cabin to try to charge my phone before actual sailaway. Random observations In 25 years of cruising this was a first. The captain (I think?) interrupted the sailaway party to request the driver of a Nissan minivan to move their car from the casino parking lot. 🤣 I’m regretting not bringing my binoculars or my DSLR. I’m trying not to freak out that the AirTag in my checked luggage is still showing as being on the pier. 😬 Apparently 70% of guests on this cruise are Latitudes members. The Wonder of the Seas seems to have departed close to on time.

The Freestyle Daily promotes the ‘all-new NCL app’, which I don’t think has been significantly updated in years, so I’m guessing it’ll be a looooong time. 😂

As soon as I was onboard, I went straight to the ladies room and then to my muster station. Priorities. I was craving a croque madame in Taste but lunch hours were already over, so I decided to get some embarkation chores down and then find food. Signed up for all the Latitudes Platinum things at the Cruise Next desk, and then headed to the Spiegel Tent to sign up for Canvas by U, which I have never done. The ship wifi finally reset about that time and I was able to get online. At 2:30pm, while I was in line at the pool bar, the ‘all cabins are ready’ announcement was made. Earlier than I expected actually. I grabbed my mojito and a hot dog at the Great Outdoors, and finally had a sit down and rest. Random observations The casino smells smoky. I miss the Waterfront already. I do love the outdoor dining area on the Epic. I know the Breakaway class ships sort of have it too, but it always feels so dark and contained. The Epic chandelier is nice enough, but I’ll always prefer the Encore’s bubble wrap chandelier. Yes, really. 😂 I’ve managed to scuff up three nails of the manicure I got yesterday. 💅 I better win the spa draw so I can get them redone.

It took us about an hour to reach the cruise terminal from the airport, but it felt interminable. (You know how some people’s voices are like nails on a chalkboard to you?; that was our bus driver.) But we saw gators from the bus so that was cool. Our first view of the embarkation lineups was a bit shocking to a lot of the people on the bus. Don’t worry, the ship won’t leave without us. The luggage situation was a bit more chaotic. Unattended luggage was just sitting out everywhere before we even pulled in, and only one porter seemed to be on site. I’m more used to the ports at Los Angeles, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, etc where there are dozens of porters everywhere you look. Upon arrival, we were directed to stay on the bus until the luggage was all offloaded. My luggage was already tagged so once we were cleared to get off the bus, I headed over to the very long check-in line. The timing: 12:30pm - got in line 1:30pm -made it to the top of the ramp and inside the building 1:37pm - hit the offshoot line for Platinum and above (probably saved me about 20 min) 1:40pm - checking in 1:45pm - into the boarding queue 1:49pm - on board the Epic Random observations At least a few people on our bus didn’t tag their luggage before putting it on the bus, so they were concerned that the porter would grab them before they could get to them. I feel like a bit of a party-pooper. The lady next to me on the bus was saying how great the Epic looked compared to the Wonder of the Seas and the MSC Seashore, and my unfiltered reaction was a nose-crinkle and a “Really?” 😂 (I booked this cruise for the price; I’m not a huge fan of the Epic on its own merits.) I think it took me five minutes to get a bit of a sunburn waiting in line in the Florida sun. Every cruise, it seems like more and more people are bringing their big luggage onboard themselves. A few people were really fixating on “we have to be on board by 2pm” and it didn’t matter how many times they were told that as long as they’re in the line at the port, the ship will not leave without us. A paramedic crew with stretcher entered the port building around 1:30pm. Someone’s vacation might be ending before it’s begun.

Group 7 got called to the transfer coach a bit before 11am. Unfortunately a bunch of people didn’t pay attention and hadn’t actually checked in and gotten a group number, but boarded the bus anyway. Three or four of us were left without seats, so the poor NCL rep had to double-check that everyone had their 7 sticker and kick a bunch of people off the bus and the poor bus driver then had to dig their luggage out of the hold. That whole process added an extra 20 minutes or so to loading, and we didn’t leave the airport until 11:20am.

Another uneventful flight from Toronto to Orlando. I tried and failed to get even a little sleep. But I did listen to a different serial killer on this flight. Disembarked the plane and followed the signs to baggage claim (gate-checked my carryon again), where I quickly spotted the dude holding a NCL sign and followed his (poor) directions to the NCL transfer desk. Around 10:30am I checked in and received a group 7 sticker. And then I booted it over to the nearest Starbucks for a caffeine and sugar fix. Random observations I think half the people on this flight were going on a cruise, and the other half were on their way to Disney World.

Had a disappointing sandwich at YVR. Flew to Toronto. Uneventful flight, but didn’t get any sleep. I had gate-checked my bag, so once we landed I went to find it. (They couldn’t check it all the way to Orlando because US Customs would be closed when we landed in Toronto.) So I grabbed my bag at the carrousel and went to find a quiet-ish place to chill until NEXUS opened at 4am. Found an empty bank of seats in front of a retro art installation. 🤣 Couldn’t get comfortable, couldn’t sleep. Next time remind me how much I hate red-eyes and long layovers. At 4am I headed into the Nexus line. Sure, I could have gone through the the regular line at 3:30am, but what’s the point of having Nexus if you don’t get to jump a queue? And damn do I love having Nexus for the purpose of going through customs and immigration. One look at the camera and I’m through in seconds. First stop after US Customs and Immigration was Starbucks. Oh look, it’s right next to my gate. How convenient. Now to wait 2.5 hours for my flight to Orlando so we can get this ship on the road. Random observations I had a bunch of extra US cash leftover from the hospital transfer shenanigans on my last cruise, so I exchanged $100USD to €80 in Euros at the airport for a little pocket money while in Alicante. I actually don’t know if Gibraltar accepts Euros, too, or if I should have also gotten a few pounds. The flight to Toronto was oversold, and they were offering $300CDN to anyone willing to take the 10:30pm flight. It was tempting, but I wasn’t willing to risk a one-hour layover at Pearson. I binge-watched several episodes of Dexter on the plane. 🩸 Apologies to anyone seated behind me. (I forgot how much nudity and sex the first season had.) The potato, cheddar and chive bites at Starbucks have quickly become my favourite travel day breakfast/snack.

Here we go again. I honestly didn’t think this cruise was going to happen for me, but I’m so happy it is. I’ll be heading out on the Norwegian Epic for the 12-day transatlantic cruise from Orlando to Rome, with port stops in Gibraltar and Alicante. This will be my second time on the Epic (first time was the extended-due-to-COVID-shutdown cruise of the Epic in March 2020), second solo cruise, but first time sailing in an actual Solo cabin. I will try to post 2-3 times each day with what I’m up to; my particular focus is usually cocktails, food, entertainment, and excursion adventures. (I’ll also be posting lots of photos over on Instagram Stories; look for erin_braincandy if you just want photos/videos without all of the commentary.) Today’s travel plan I’m currently sitting at Vancouver International Airport, waiting for my red-eye flight to Toronto, Ontario. Early Sunday morning, I’ll go through US Customs and Immigration, and take a quick flight down to Orlando. I’ve booked the NCL shuttle from MCO to Port Canaveral. 🤞 Past Semi-Live from CC threads… If you’re interested in some of my past “semi-live from…” threads: February 2024 | Mexican Riviera on the NCL Bliss (the fractured ankle in the Thermal Spa trip) October 2023 | Bermuda on the NCL Escape June 2023 | Alaska on the NCL Bliss April 2023 | Alaska on the Discovery Princess October 2022 | Mexican Riviera on the Celebrity Solstice December 2021 | Mexican Riviera on the NCL Bliss

Six has now (sadly) wrapped up on both the Norwegian Bliss and the Norwegian Breakaway. I was on the Bliss in mid-February and we had the second-to-last week of performances. See you at the Queen Elizabeth! Renewed my season subscription this morning.

Re: arrival in Los Angeles I don't know the why, but we did arrive into Port of Los Angeles a bit late. Disembarkation started about 45 minutes later than I would have expected, and the line of people doing self-disembark was craaaaaazy long. That said, a 3pm-ish or later 'cabins are ready' announcement has been typical on my last 3-4 NCL cruises. Re: cabins Sign of modern times. NCL went to once-per-day cabin service last year sometime, and I haven't seen a towel animal since before the restart. Cabin stewards are handling more cabins than ever. Because of mom's injury, we were often in the cabin during typical cleaning times so our schedule was all over the place, but the steward and his assistant did a great job of keeping the room clean and accommodating our special needs.

If any staff tried to tell you that you couldn't wear water shoes, I'd look them dead in the eye and ask them exactly how many people slip and hurt themselves in the thermal spa each week. (I highly doubt anyone would say that she couldn't wear them. I mean, I saw an old dude on my last cruise wearing his tighty-whiteys in the pool and no one said boo. 🤷‍♀️) I honestly don't have any other suggestions besides the grippy water shoes, which the Fox and Red both said they'll never cruise without going forward. And we all did penguin walks for the rest of the week since we didn't have them.

I like the overall aesthetic, but as others have mentioned, without the pool, it'll likely be a 'try it once with a day pass and never again' for me. I do have concerns about the stairs to the hot tub. Maybe it's the angle, but they look super-steep and seem to only have a handrail on one side? And the step tile looks like just plain tile, nothing to make it non-slip. As documented on my recent 'live from the Bliss' last week, my mom fell and fractured her ankle (plus two broken toes and ligament damage in her knee) right in front of the thermal spa hot tub, so I'm paying more attention to these details.

So, we felt the medical centre staff were wonderful, our room steward was great, and all of the dining room and buffet staff were great at finding us a table to accommodate the wheelchair. I was not impressed by the Guest Services staff or the communication for disembarkation procedures. I'm also annoyed that we got two fruit baskets with a 'hope you're feeling better' card, but only the doctor from the medical centre actually followed up to see how she was doing. We never received any follow-up from either the thermal spa manager or the security team regarding the incident report while on the cruise. We received a call from Norwegian head office yesterday, and that's all I'll say about that until I have something to report. Re: my mother, we're still waiting to get in to see an orthopaedic surgeon here in Canada to get her looked at and get a better idea of recovery expectations.

As others mentioned, we rotated so we started the morning facing the beach but by the time I reboarded the ship around 10am we were facing the Arch. We were portside.

No, I was so entirely focused on my mom that I didn't even think to download them.

Ooh, I'd definitely take a reservation on the Beyond... great ship. 🤣

It was slippery tile right in front of the hot tub. Thank goodness she didn't bonk her head. Over the week, in addition to my mom falling, two other guests also slipped and fell in the spa just that we saw. I can't imagine how many others have.

Oh, the only hash brown I got all trip… 🤪

Disembarkation day wrap-up What a cluster*&$#… Never my favourite day of a cruise, this time is was 10x worse trying to manage the crowds with the wheelchair and trying to figure out where we needed to go. We got up, got dressed, left a very nice extra tip for our room steward, and headed down to deck 6. That was my first mistake. It was a 30 min wait for the MDR (actually only 15, we later learned from the Fox and K) and at this point we didn’t know how delayed disembarkation would be, so we didn’t want to wait. So we headed to the Atrium, and I ran up to the buffet to grab mom some toast and watermelon. That was my second mistake. The buffet was of course packed, and here is when the ‘touch all the toast’ dude really pissed me off. And the toaster wasn’t really working so I had to send my (untouched by random a-hole) piece of bread through three times and it was barely even golden. Then I tried to take an elevator down from 16 to 6, but after ~10 minutes or so of full elevators or people arriving after me taking any available space, I gave up and took the stairs down. After giving mom her breakfast, I decided to walk up to deck 7 and figure out where we were supposed to go for wheelchair assistance. Except the aft stairway and central stairway were blocked off, and the forward stairway was full of people awaiting the ‘easy walk’ announcement. I tried talking to one staff member to find out his suggestion for getting to the Local for wheelchair assistance, but he wasn’t any help. Sort of a shrug and just try to get through. Finally self-assist / easy walk was called; seemed like many, many more people chose that option than I’ve seen on past cruises. Our plan was to head up to the Local once the colour before us was called, but by the time it was and we said our goodbyes to the Fox and K, our colour (orange) was being called at 8:52. We headed up the nearest elevator bank and sort of merged into the line heading towards the Local. But when we got to the split point, the staff dude there basically said ‘you’re almost there’ and waved us on our way. And that was my third mistake, not listening to my gut and saying ‘no, we were specifically told to go to the Local for wheelchair assistance.’ So we basically cut the line (although everyone was very gracious about it), and got to the doors within minutes. Except this was the point that we actually really needed wheelchair assistance because I wasn’t going to be able to maneuver mom in the wheelchair across the disembarkation ramps. The lady ushering people off the ship was really trying to keep the line moving, but I dug my feet in and she called over her manager, who called for a wheelchair attendant to meet us there. It took about 10 minutes, and at this point, I was starting to sweat making our flight (which was for 12:40pm). So the wheelchair attendant arrives and was fantastic, and we disembark… only to discover a loooooong line for the one (?!?) elevator to get down to the luggage hall. It seemed to be split in two, with people using NCL wheelchairs and attendants got priority over people in their own wheelchairs or with just a f***ton of luggage. At the entrance to the luggage hall, our NCL wheelchair attendant had to leave us (union rules). So I took over pushing mom (still in NCL’s wheelchair, which seemed weird) towards the luggage. In my entire lifetime of 20+ cruises, I don’t think I’ve ever used a porter, but this seemed like the perfect time to start. We flagged one down, and Red found our luggage for him to load. And having access to the porter line for immigration was handy. A quick facial recognition later, we were heading out of the building. The porter brought us to the ‘ADA pickup area’, which, you know, seemed like a logical place to be at the time. Unfortunately it was also crowded and chaotic and staff kept yelling to move forward, move forward, and more than one passenger was having a very cranky morning. At this point, I called the first of the two phones I was given by Guest Services. It was very hard to hear her, and for a while she couldn’t find any record of us. Eventually, though, she told me to go find Mario or Dabby (?) by going up to the stop sign and using the crosswalk to the far aisle. Which, doesn’t seem to be super accessible with a wheelchair and luggage. So I left mom and Red with the luggage and went to find where we needed to be before dragging everything and everyone over. I don’t know if I was expecting someone holding a sign or what, but I couldn’t see any vehicle that looked accessible, so finally I approached a staff person loading the NCL airport busses and basically cried “I need help.” And she pointed behind her and said “that’s Mario in the long coat.” Not sure how I was supposed to figure all this out. Mario told me to bring my party and our luggage to this location. So back I go, and tried to navigate the disembarkation crowds with the wheelchair and our bags. I tried to flag down a porter who had just dropped someone else’s bags off but he waved me off. So we get over to Mario, and still no one was told us what type of vehicle to expect. After several more minutes of confusion, Mario gets in touch with our eventual driver, except his vehicle was in the middle aisle, so we had to drag everything across the crosswalk again. It took another 20 minutes to get mom transferred from the ship’s wheelchair to the transport van’s wheelchair and safely loaded into the van and strapped down. I’m glad we didn’t have more luggage as it just fit. And then we were off. I hope NCL got their wheelchair back, I guess? I was feeling better as we reached the outer edge of LAX about 30 minutes before the luggage drop deadline for our flight. But then our driver ‘took a shortcut’ and we ground to a halt. After many, many minutes of not moving, other people were actually getting out of their Ubers/Lyfts/taxis and pulling their luggage down the ramp and across the busy lanes in front of Terminal 5. Obviously not an option for us. After much honking by everyone, the driver at the front of the traffic jam was persuaded to ignore the ‘no turn on red’ sign (the light hadn’t changed colour in over ten minutes) and merge forward, which got us moving again and we arrived at our Terminal. My husband (with his good Air Canada status) had theoretically arranged for a wheelchair to be waiting, but they looked at me like I had two heads when I mentioned that. But anyway, a wheelchair arrived ten minutes later, we were able to get her transfer from one chair to the next, and released the transport van driver. I shan’t bore you (too late?) with the rest of the transport shenanigans, but suffice it to say: travelling with a disability is a b*%$&. But we got to Vancouver, spent the night, and then flew up today on a small plane that actually went smoother than yesterday’s business class adventure. We just pulling into the farm now, and my momma will likely never let me talk her into a cruise again. 🤣 If anyone has questions, fire away and I’ll answer over the next couple of days.

Okay, perfunctory day 7 at sea recap. Starbucks? Probably. Breakfast in the buffet. Still no bennies, hash browns or waffles, which were my three favourite breakfast things. Popped down to 6 to change our Los Lobos reservations. I had made a reservation via the app for me, mom and Red, just minutes before the Fox and K confirmed they would be able to join us. And then I couldn’t change the reservation, only add a new one for 5 people. But somehow I ended up with three reservations? A quick visit to Teppanyaki took care of that. Afterwards we took mom up to the thermal spa, and got her settled on one of the comfy chaises facing the ocean. While she rested, I was checking out walker / rollator options for home. And then all of a sudden — a THUD. A man had slipped and gone down hard in the exact same spot as my mom. Fortunately he wasn’t injured, but also that meant no incident report was generated. One of the thermal spa attendants with a squeegee mop asked him his room number, but that was it. On my way out to grab a drink, I told the front desk staff what had happened, but it shouldn’t be me reporting this. After we were sufficiently spaaaaahed, we got changed and headed to the Observation Lounge for a light lunch. Good chicken salad croissants. We hustled (as much as one can in a wheelchair) down to the Atrium to meet the Fox for Deal or No Deal. (Avid readers may remember that I got selected to play Deal or No Deal on the first cruise I took with the Fox) .) Alas, we won nothing but a free photo. 😂 We headed back to the room for a rest and to do some pre-packing, which mostly consists of me staring at all of our **** and wondering how I’m gonna make it all fit. Mom and Red were enjoying a nice afternoon nap with the sun steaming into our cabin, so I left them there and went to join the Fox and K for the final bingo and win a cruise raffle. We did not have any luck, although at one point the Fox was the only person left standing for the raffle … until the last two numbers and someone else eventually clued it that it was their ticket. Quel dommage. The Fox and I then headed to Q to pick up our ‘confiscated’ liquor. We felt like such naughty ladies. Then it was time to finally get packed. Amazingly, most everything fit. We got dressed and headed to Los Lobos, meeting the Fox and K there. I still had one of my platinum vouchers, and they had one single FAS meal. So we ordered for three people but shared among five. And we still left food behind. The tableside guac remains a favourite, but the ceviche shrimp (appetizer) and tomatillo shrimp (entre) were excellent. The pork Al Pastor tacos were just okay, flavourful but chewy. Everyone declared the tres leches cake as the best dessert of the cruise. The not-actually-beignets were just okay. And — with everything going on — I forgot to tell the hostess that we didn’t want a birthday cake for mom. We were STUFFED. We sent the Fox and K off to the Observation Lounge for a solo vocal performance by one of the Six performers, while mom, Red and I retired to our cabin to finish packing. Tomorrow: the adventure of getting home. Random Observations: If someone was missing luggage with medical equipment in it, why did the notice only arrive on the last day?!?!

I will post the final sea day recap and disembarkation process once we get to the airport, but allow me two rants: **** you to the dude and his wife acting like COVID and Norovirus aren’t a thing and were just grabbing food in the buffet with their bare hands. So awesome how you touched like five pieces of bread to grab the one you want to put in the toaster, instead of using the tongs that are RIGHT THERE. I am not a fan of the Lord of the Rings survival of the fittest elevator situation on disembarkation day. No letting people in wheelchairs or walkers go first, no letting people waiting the longest go next. Just a madhouse.

Day 7 daily Bliss MR Day 7.pdf

Friday in Cabo recap We woke up early to the rumbling of the anchors as the Bliss got settled in the waters of Cabo. And to the melodious sounds of sea lions barking, which I find charming in Mexico and annoying as **** when I’m camping in Howe Sound. Noisy mother****ers. I grabbed some Starbucks for mom and Red, got mom out onto the balcony for some fresh air, and then headed out to the Manhattan Room. This may be my new favourite Platinum perk. I was met at the Manhattan Room by a CruiseNext rep, who walked me directly to the tender. No waiting. Amazing. Once ashore, I walked to Starbucks for an iced Americano (since I wouldn’t have been allowed to bring one off the ship), and then headed to Walmart. Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but mom needed a few things to make her more comfortable on the last couple of days and on the flight home AND my pre-trip research insisted that Mexican Walmarts might carry a wine that’s no longer sold in Canada and which my mom wanted more of… and lo and behold, I found it! Made a couple more stops to pick up souvenirs that mom wants to bring home for various people. Sent her this picture and asked if I should get one of these “Mexican stone carvings” for the neighbours who have been keeping an eye on the farm. Mom thought they were carvings of cowboy boots! 🤠 It was hot and the shopping was heavy, and I was so glad to get back to the tender. Was back on board the Bliss and dropping off my liquor by 10:15am. I met up with the ladies and headed to The Local for brunch. It was delicious, and we lingered over our coffee and mimosas just long enough for the switchover to the lunch menu so we could share the raspberry brownie cheesecake thingy. After that, we headed up to the thermal spa. We got momma settled in a comfy chaise with a view, and then I went for my aroma stone therapy massage; and then we switched so Red could get the port special bundle. So good. Between spa services, I popped out to the pool deck bar for BBCs and Blue Hawaiians, and caught a bit of Siglo’s set. I fell in love with their sound and style on my first Bliss cruise, and wish I’d had more opportunity to hear them this trip. They were playing Simple Mind’s Don’t You Forget About Me and a bunch of us near the bar were singing along with the hey hey hey heys and doing the fist pump at the appropriate moments. We stayed in the thermal spa for sailaway. We had excellent views of El Arco, which was the main thing mom wanted to see in Cano. AND THEN! So. Many. WHALES! Humpbacks everywhere. Spouting. Jumping. Splashing. Splooshing. It was ****ing awesome. I didn’t even bother trying to take photos or videos, I was just so happy that mom got that experience. (We paid a freaking fortune to go whale watching on a miserably rainy day while on a Princess Cruise in Alaska, and didn’t see squat.) So now the Fox figures we should make a cruise to Cabo an annual thing. 🤣 After we’d had our fill of whales, we got changed and headed up to the buffet for a light supper. And saw more whales! We then headed down to the theatre for Jersey Boys. This is my fourth time on the Bliss and first time seeing it. (First time, performers got COVID and the show was cancelled; second time was a short repo cruise and it wasn’t offered; third time, the Fox and I bailed in favour of the thermal spa.) It’s not my style of music, so I wasn’t a huge fan. Fine, not horrible, but not something I need to repeat. Unlike Six, which I will watch any chance I get. But mom was tired so we bailed after 30 minutes or so. Red stayed for the duration and enjoyed the show. Around 9pm, mom asked if the cruise had cookies and milk. 🍪🥛 And of course, having seen the ongoing where are the cookies thread, I tried to manage her expectations but headed up to the buffet. Alas, no cookies. Asked the staff, they just shook their heads and said “no cookies.” So sad about that. So I just got momma a glass of milk. Random observations At one point that afternoon, a dude was vaping in the thermal spa. Seriously, what the **** dude? Sailaway was late, due to long queues for the tenders. The Fox and K were on a ship excursion (which they loved) and reported that the tender line to get back took them over an hour. I can’t believe this is the second time I’ve had to say this, but under no circumstances should you point to your wife when someone asks if you’ve see any whales. Why are men?!?! Such poor theatre etiquette at Jersey Boys. Someone broke a glass on the stairs and didn’t seem to notify anyone. People stayed in theatre with screaming babies. Taking photos with flash. Letting kid play on laptop. Using phone flashlight to eat a bowl of pasta?

Last night around 9pm, my mom — who fractured her ankle the first night of the cruise and NEVER asks for anything — asked me for a glass of milk and a cookie. I should have just called room service but I went up to the buffet to ask again if any cookies were available, but no. And then this morning, I caved and just bought a cookie at Starbucks because I felt so bad that I couldn’t fulfil her request last night.