Cruising Day 10

Our last full day on board the Equinox.  Wow...time went by quickly but I do admit we felt it was a full holiday and time to go home.  It would take time to adjust to reality and not being pampered and served.  We hoped that we would remember to pay the bill the next time we ate out at home.  It was a dream to just get up and leave the table at the restaurant when you were done.  No bill, no tipping...just go!

We had looked into taking the 'Behind the Scenes' tour of the operations of the ship today but found out it was $150 per person so we decided we would do that in our retirement years when our travelling budget was bigger!

First on the agenda was to visit the portrait studio to select and purchase our formal night picture.

 

 Next we just poked our nose into all the 'hot spots' that we avoided in the evening.  Below is one of the many, many bars on board. 

 Next we went to a chef cook-off which included audience members.  It was very entertaining!

 The cookbook of a lot of the dishes they prepared for the dining room were in this book.  I wasn't interested in buying it but had to take a picture of the cover because it showed the fabulous wine cellar in the main dining room.  We didn't sit very close to it so this was the next best thing for getting a picture.

 

 The 'Quasar' bar was very space-age and this morning they were having a jewelry sale there.  All those old folks would flock to the sales like bees to honey. 

 Today we did something that we had never done before.  We had lunch in the main dining room!  It was amazing.  The salad starter was Key West salad.  Fresh butter lettuce, oranges, avocado, watermelon with a balsamic dressing.

 For the main course, Keith was told by the waiter he should order the lamb shank so Keith took his advice and was given this mammoth piece of meat.  Keith enjoyed it so much he ate every single last bite.  He could not stop talking about how delicious it was.  I don't like lamb so I didn't even taste it.

 I had an Asian noodle dish that was out of the world good.

 After lunch we went to listen to a NASA scientist talk about looking for life forms on Mars.  I know that sounds sort of dry but she was an excellent communicator and it was quite fascinating even if I didn't believe some of what she talked about.  Then we headed to our favorite deck for a few hours of sunbathing and reading.  On the way back from the deck we decided we should try the hot tub at least once!

Then it was time for ice cream.  I loved the ice cream parlor. You could get ice cream, sorbet or sherbet and soft serve ice cream.  Bowl or cone.  Sundae toppings too!  And the flavors changed daily. 

It was a highlight every afternoon to go and look at the menu at the main dining room to see what we could order that night.  I felt like this cruise really revolved around food.  Yep...and that's not a bad thing as far as I'm concerned!

So we got back to our room and started the packing up process as our luggage had to be out in the hallway that night by 11 pm.

Our final dinner was a teeny bit sad.  We said our good bye to our waiters and new friends at the table next to us.

 Our new New York friends.  Mike and Stephanie Kennedy in the back and Linda and Dan Swain seated.  Sincerely the nicest and kindest people I have met in a long time.

 My appetizer was something delicious.  I can no longer remember what was inside but it seems to me it might have been olives, mushrooms and spinach?!  For someone like me who generally doesn't like olives or mushrooms I sure ate a lot of them!

 Keith enjoyed cod for his last dinner.

 Our cozy table for two right by the window.

I had turkey dinner with the trimmings.  It was really good but not like mom's.

 One last pose at the pool.

 Studying the route one last time.  Looking at all the island we would love to visit in the future!

 These signs were located at every floor as you got off the elevator.  We almost always took the stairs for exercise but there were times it we indulged in a lazy ride.

 You could really never get lost with all the signage and after 10 days on board we knew the ship pretty well.

 Packing up the final items.  Oh what a wonderful time it had been!  The next day was not something to look forward to as it would involve an entire day of travelling.