The un-photographed events

I'm not sure why, but it seems that the events onboard the ship went unphotographed. In fact, I don't think we have 1 photo onboard between us all ~ however I may be mistaken. We did get up to a few nights out and this time, I was far more relaxed and available compared to the last time Beth came to visit.

We dined at the Speciality Restaurant ~ where we had an opportunity to gorge on a 4 course meal. Now coming from the Mess food, I am ALWAYS grateful to the dining experience here. Darci managed to select a bottle of wine that a) didn't break the bank and b) everyone enjoyed with the assistance of our sommilier. Boris was also good enough to treat us to the Riedel glasses and a sample of why certain wines belong in specific glasses. As we all sat at the table and mocked the need to put something in a glass that is slightly different, Boris brought out the stemware and we sat there and ate our words after we realized that yes ~ size and shape matter. The food was fantastic on both occassions and I think it is fair to say we managed to roll out of there.

Our other big night out was when Beth and Darci wanted to meet Bryan our Front Office Manager. So we had been attempting for 2 days to meet up. Frist drinks, then coffees, then finally we managed on the last night of the cruise to meet with him and his partner. We arranged to meet at the Martini bar where things started. After a few rounds of various martinis, the boys excused themselves and the girls continued on. This was quite the day as earlier in the day Darci and Beth had attended a Mixology seminar and had a pre-sampler of what the martinis in the Martini bar were like. As Beth caught a glimpse of the Bartender and noted 'he was the one from the class', Beth headed over to say hello. She then insisted that we migrate to the other side of the bar where she could show us her shaker catching skills. It was very Cocktail as she stood in the middle of the bar, slinging martini shakers around and Darci and I just ordered more... By the end of the evening, we realized, hey, they need to pack and I need to get up for embark tomorrow ~ we wandered to get the damages from my bill so we could settle up. I told them to wait. I printed the bill. I came back to find no Darci or Beth. So I checked their cabin, but alas, no answer. So I went home to call Akis. I would catch up with them tomorrow. They put in their wake up call for 7:50am. What I learned the next day however was Darci only left to go pee, and Beth decided that the couch in the Grand Foyer would be a great place to nap. So upon Darci's return to the Foyer, she found Beth taking a wee rest and then got her up and ready to go. The girls went on a search for me, calling my mobile phone from every public phone they could find ~ yes, requesting a call back. It is a good thing I was on the phone with Akis for a while otherwise, I think I would have been calling back the whole ship.

The next day was a bit rough. I ran into Bryan and all I could say was I should have left when he did. He monitors the guests as they disembark and once Beth and Darci left, he said to me, 'Oh, they didn't look impressed.' I made arrangements to meet the girls, Marc and Beth's dad Perry in the pier before they left just to say a quick hello to the boys. Marc, as always insisted on a photo. You can tell it was a quality photo, as Marc had to remove the colour. We look dead sexy don't we....

All in all, it was a great week with the girls ~ it's been a while since we have been able to sit around, drink and giggle. I think the last time might have been a Corona Patio or over some Thai food. Either way, was good to see them again.