Thanks to Sandra Sparks, Travel Agent Extraordinaire, we had $400 cruise credit for this cruise – translate: free money. We spent $89 on internet and Mary has been getting wine with dinner and bought a cute little clutch bag for $10 and two scarves for $7.50 each and I threw $16.80 away on the worst “pilates” class ever, but by yesterday evening we had quite a bit of cruise credit left over. So I decided to get a spa treatment. There was a special offered for today where you could choose three treatments of 20 minutes each for $129. I chose a foot and ankle massage, a neck and shoulder massage and a face pressure point massage. I also found a coupon in a book in our room for an additional 15 minutes, so I got a 75 minute massage for $129, which is a very good price for a cruise ship. The massage was excellent – there was a bit of a hard-sell afterwards of a “prescription” for me. My massage therapist wanted me to buy something to massage my feet for $60, some oil for dry skin for $50 and a ball to massage my shoulder blades for $40. I found the ball especially amazing since you can do the same thing with a tennis ball which costs a lot less than $40. I held my ground and did not purchase any of my “prescription” but I did tip generously.<\/p>\n
After my massage I went into the spa area and spent a little time in the thassalotherapy pool and then the aromatic steam room, which was not aromatic, then the finnish sauna, then the cedar sauna. Both the steam room and the finnish sauna were set up so you couldn’t lie down, so my favorite was the cedar sauna. It was a very pleasant way to spend the morning. I was done about 11:45 and went back up to our stateroom in time to hear the Captain’s address on the tv. He warned us that there would be some of the three-letter F word on our approach into New York. I found mention of the F word quite confusing but eventually figured out he was referring to fog.<\/p>\n
There was a bit of confusion with room service lunch which I had ordered the night before. It was supposed to come at 12:30; earlier in the week I ordered room service for 12:30 and it came at 12:45. So today I waited until 12:45 and then I called to check. They said they had never gotten the order. I said that was fine, I would just go up to the buffet. “Let me check with the restaurant and I’ll call you right back,” the room service guy said. I said okay, but it was late and I really just wanted to go to the buffet, because we had things to do! I waited about ten minutes and then Mary said we should just go so we did. I had to go back to the room to get my phone (because Google Fit counts my steps and I need to get credit for my walking) and just as I was leaving the room a second time I heard the phone ringing, but I kept going because there was no longer any time for us to wait for room service plus I was really hungry. But I felt a little guilty. Mary kept saying to me, “It’s not our problem that they screwed up the order.”<\/p>\n
We had lunch and then went down to the Grand Lobby where there was a sing-along. They called it The Groovy Choir. Many people were participating, including Mary, and it was really fun. Next we went to the theater to see a performance of Pride and Prejudice by graduates of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. We were both a bit skeptical but it was really great and very funny. There were only six actors but most of them played multiple roles and were very good in their differing roles. The woman who played Jane Bennett also played Lady Catherine DeBurg and was so odious (and hilarious) as Lady Catherine and so charming as Jane.<\/p>\n
The play was short, only an hour, and all that hard work sitting and watching made us hungry for tea. Usually we go up to the Buffet for our tea, but we thought we would try the tea in the Queens Room where there is a string quartet and table service. We shared a table with two women, one from Arizona and one from Denver, and talked about cruising with them. I enjoyed my scone but was never offered a second one or any of the other treats that I saw some other people had so we left the Queens Room and went up to the Buffet where I got a second scone and we went outside and sat on deck. I had some difficulty eating my scone because the wind was blowing my hair all over my face so I tied my hair up in my scarf and I believe I looked a bit like a crazy lady but I really didn’t care.<\/p>\n
Last time we were on a cruise with a lot of cruise credit and we had some left over we waited until too late to spend it and I made a mad rush around the ship buying batteries and all the lotions and potions I could find at the spa. This time I wanted to have a little more time. We had about $50 left to play with after Mary bought two magnets, and she didn’t care about spending it so it was up to me to do the shopping spree. Here are the things I considered but ultimately did not buy: a novel by Karen Joy Fowler, a book on Origami and a book of Origami paper, a glass necklace, some Queen Mary t-shirts, some costume jewelry. What I did buy was a six pack of L’Occitane hand lotions for $48.\u00a0 Mary’s response to this purchase was, “Oh no! How stinky are these going to be?” but I promised her that if they are stinky I will not use them in her presence. I really did want to get us some t-shirts but they had none in our size. Also I am hoping that Sandra, Travel Agent Extraordinaire, might like L’Occitane lotions because if she does I want to send her some to thank her for getting us all that fabulous cruise credit.<\/p>\n
After my shopping spree I went back to the room and discovered my room service lunch. It looked quite good but who knew how long it had been sitting out, plus I had just had two scones. I felt quite guilty about it. I had assumed that if I didn’t answer the phone they wouldn’t deliver the lunch. I wanted to have one final walk on the promenade but Mary wanted to rest, so I walked my final mile around the promenade deck on my own. The seas were calm and there was little wind. It was the most pleasant walk of the week. We had our final dinner, which was quite good, and then we went to the Casino so Mary could throw away her winnings from blackjack. Now we are both packed and the ship is moving through very dense F word. We are listening to foghorns, which we both love. I do hope the fog clears by 5:50 tomorrow morning, though, when we are supposed to sail under the Verrazano Bridge and then past the Statue of Liberty. We plan to be out on deck for that and it would be shame to miss it.<\/p>\n
That’s all for now. Time for bed since we are going to be up at the crack of dawn.<\/p>\n