JillMelancon Travel

Headed to breakfast at Taste—pancakes and bacon—then back to CruiseNext desk to get some clarification. Halfway hoped they’d let me out of it.

Sat on the Waterfront a bit, found a Coke Zero, then went back outside to read/crossword a bit and saw Robin (from dinner the other night) walk by.

Tried a third time to understand what I bought.  Everything should be good by Monday after I get back.  Supposedly.

Still pretty choppy sea since last night.  Ate lunch at buffet—a big load of nachos.  Then went to Brewhouse for a strawberry lager.

So many rude people here, taking up a whole hallway while walking  or even the whole staircase.  I miss my kitty.  People are trying to cheat constantly—like dude, we are all gonna get there.  No need to be a dick about it.

Started to rain a bit, but it ended quickly.  Met Kate who uses a mobility scooter, but was a lawyer for years.  We talked quite a bit. 

Finally went to see Choir of Man which turned out to be pretty good.  Before the show even starts, a couple of the cast members come out to “open” the bar that is the set…and they invite folks up on stage to have a beer!  A bit into the show, they bring more beer out to people in the audience—of course I got one of each.   

Headed back to my room and ordered room service—BLT/fries—which came in about 10 minutes!

Got up the next day, and as I was getting ready, they said tenders were ready—about an hour before expected!  Headed to theatre as my excursion ticket got me on the first boat (after grabbing banana bread, of course).

People were already drinking on the island (10 am) and the food wasn’t even out yet.  Some clouds occasionally covered the sun, and I had a nice breeze in the shade where I was sitting at a picnic table waiting for my excursion.

Soooooo hot.   The Swim with the Pigs excursion was great.  They loaded us onto a small boat and took us to Treasure Island where the pigs live.  When we arrived, the pigs came up to the deck to say hello and we got all the instructions about how to interact with them.  You have to be careful so you don’t get bitten accidently—especially if you drop an apple piece! 

We got wooden skewers, and then we fed the pigs apple pieces.  Next we headed into the water and got lots of photos…I held one of the bigger ones and he scraped my leg with his hoof…huge bruise, lol.  We went back up to the deck for more pictures (and the obligatory encouragement to visit the gift shop and bar).  The guys who worked there were very nice.  We learned that some of the pigs were rescued from a butchery!  Very cool.

Back to the island for lunch at the buffet—hot dog, pineapple pizza, couscous salad and tomato/cuke salad for me.  There was also a taco stand and a food truck.  I ate and then walked to the Patron stand for a margarita, then headed back to the ship. 

Took a shower and packed as much as I could in advance for tomorrow morning.  Exhausted, but at least I’m not sweating anymore!  Ordered the drink of the day—bananaruma—which was just okay—most of the drinks I’ve had on board have been mediocre.  Had a Coke Zero (first caffeine of the day), then to the Waterfront to read again. 

Went to Savor to try to get in early for dinner—Mary waited on me again.  Had Stilton cheese soup (ok), grilled chicken salad (not great) and ricotta stuffed red pepper (ok).  The nutella crème brulee was pretty good though. 

Still can’t pin down how I feel about cruising.  Maybe the next one will be better—smaller ship and less activities/ports to keep track of.  I like the ocean and sitting out on deck…but I don’t care for most of the people and most of the on-board activities don’t interest me.  Food is overall pretty good, but nothing spectacular, especially the buffet.  I don’t even want to drink that much.  I wonder if next time will be better because I won’t have as much FOMO to try everything while I’m there and I can just relax… who knows.

Back on deck for one last time to watch the sunset.  Time this week passed very quickly!  I’ve eaten WAY too much. 

Last Day: up early for breakfast in the buffet.  Then as soon as they called it, I did the walk off debarkation so I could go early…and was in the line and off by about 800 or so?  Ran into Pat waiting for our shuttle back to the cars…they were really late and didn’t pick us up until almost 9.  Got back to my car and headed home!