Good morning everyone and TGIF!! It’s been a busy week, writing and otherwise! NaNoWriMo started yesterday and although I’m not actually participating this year, I am trained to do the work this month from my previous years, so I’m committed to writing 1000 words of something, anything this month. I will track my own word count each day of all the pieces I write and if anyone cares, I will share that with you. Any others participating this month? It’s a great exercise and/or chance to start that novel you’ve always wanted to write. Click on the link above to learn more about it. You can even do like I did the past couple of years and be a REBEL, someone who writes for word count only, no matter the material.

Ok, Let’s get on with today’s Snapshots and Stories, shall we? I was actually glad for a day of doing whatever the heck we wanted to on board, no time table to adhere to. We started the day by sleeping in, lol! I think we made it to 7:30 🙂

Two of the evening’s highlights for me was a production called “In the Air” featuring dancing and aerialists by Royal Caribbean stars and an adult comedy show by comedian Tim McTigue, who we had previously seen at the family show. But first, there had to be breakfast, shopping, (window shopping for me), and weeklong plans to lazily hang at the pool and/or hot tub. Those hopes were quickly dashed when we walked outside to find super windy and cool, cloudy conditions. 😦  On to Plan B!

We joined a crowded Windjammer for a leisurely, late breakfast, then returned to our room to regroup and see what we wanted to get into next. There was a message from Vicki on the phone inviting us to lunch with them at the Rembrandt dining room. I was determined to get in the hot tub while Kaye chose to go try her luck in the casino, so I changed in went to the Solarium, thinking it was covered and maybe out of the wind. I was wrong. It was covered, yet the ceiling was open above the hot tub, so it was still windy. I got in anyway, enjoyed a beverage and quickly returned to the room to change again. 😉

Somehow we managed to eat again when we met our party for lunch, then we set about making every minute of the rest of the cruise count. We went to the Jewelry Boutique to oooh and ahhhh with everyone else who were really shopping, not knowing they were giving away a 1 carat loose Midnight Sapphire! We got it! Somehow Kaye learned the info and shared it with me, I didn’t even ask for mine before the ambassador was handing me one. I think she asked for me! 🙂 From there we made our way to the win-a-cruise-bingo, but I was unable to purchase cards, so we went to see what was happening at the Piano lounge. Turned out they were playing some trivia games like general knowledge and later Micheal Jackson trivia.

Talented chefs and beautiful dining rooms

It seems at one point, I returned to the room for something and found this cute little guy I dubbed “Goodbye Towel Guy” that our helpful room attendant had left for us.

Goodbye towel guy

Later on it seemed we just went from one show to another taking in everything from Big Band music to the cirque odyssey of Up in the Air to the adult comedy show. Watching others play in the casino wasn’t as fun as playing ourselves, so we spent a few more dollars in there before finally calling it a night. Of course then it was time to pack it up and go over our departure instructions and set that dreaded alarm clock again.

Parting shot of the sun shining on a gorgeous gulf

All in all it had been a great day at sea and although I was sad to see it end, I was ready to get back to my hubby!