March 21, at Sea

We woke up pretty early on Friday morning and went and had breakfast on the deck of the ship. We were talking about how it was likely going to be a long day. Ironically, this day flew by.

After breakfast, we explored the ship some more, and we ran into Heidi and Jeffrey flipping through pictures from the wedding.
We all sat and enjoyed images of the ceremony for a while. When the show was over, Ben, me, Lindsay and Bret headed to the Aquaspa Whirlpool. In contrast to the normal swimming pool, the Aquaspa Whirlpool is a heated pool of chlorine and seawater. On the longer sides of the pool, there are these metal bars that resemble a picnic bench in the way they are structured. You roll your body over these bars and lay yourself out while the bubbles envelop you. On the narrower ends of the pool are a number of faucets in which water streams out with just enough pressure to create a fabulous neck and back massage. We hung out in the spa, then getting some lunch before Ben was going to participate in a poker tournament. He was ready.

He was psyched.

He was the first one out.

Poor Ben. In fairness to him, he was taken out by a four of a kind... a rare hand as it is, especially when you have 11 people playing. Ben typically does okay so it was a bit of a blow to the ego!

We stayed in the casino for a few hours chatting with anyone who would listen, and Ben did a little bit more gambling. No comment on the success factor, or lack thereof. Bret, on the other hand, put $100.00 in the slot machine that Ben kept flirting with and came back with $500.00!

Not bitter. At all. Actually, he deserved it more than anyone since he was sick the entire cruise and was miserable for a good portion of it.

So the last thing that I wanted to do was get a treatment in the spa. I'd read about this amazing "detox" treatment - pulling the toxins out of your body --- and I figured that I'd go for it since it's not something you can find just anywhere.

So I go to my appointment and Frances, my spa person, puts this serum on my arms and my stomach, then explains step by step what's going on. She then creates these mud/clay packs that she covers my arms and my stomach with... then we have the metal plates that are put in the mud. Hmmm... Then we have the controller, in which good ol' Frances starts to amp up the ELECTRICAL CURRENT. Basically, every few seconds, electric pulses would stimulate the nerves in my muscles, causing them to contract. I'm in essence paying to be tazed. All was well and good until I managed to move my arm, resulting in the plate moving and stimulating the nerve more. Out of nowhere, my arm goes FLYING up in the air, and then back down. Again... BZZZZT... arm flies up in the air and shakes a bit, then goes back down. This results in me getting a complete and total case of the giggles because it was such a relex rather than my having any control at all. In addition to the arm flying, my fist is clenching up and I can't control throwing my towel across me. At one point Frances sat down and held the other side of the towel so that I don't throw it across the room. Thirty minutes later and many arms flying, it was over and I was "detoxed".

I came out and ran into Lindsay, who had just gotten a NORMAL massage, and Heidi, who was on her way to get one. The bride was a bit giggly so I definitely felt sorry for the masseuse. I headed upstairs to take a shower and got ready for our final dinner!

Since it was the final night, everyone made sure that they showed up for dinner, no one did their own thing. We played musical chairs and ate with different people, which made it all the more enjoyable. After dinner there was a cruise Talent Show and Emily (girlfriend of Hayden, brother of groom) was participating. Miss Emily is a contortionist (really!) and so we went to cheer her on. We all arrived at the club for the Talent Show, watched Emily contort, and then the show was over! Only three acts!

We left the area and went to listen to Heidi's dad, Juan, playing the piano and singing the songs he wrote for Chauntelle's wedding and Heidi's wedding. he has a sweet voice and the lyrics were extremely heartfelt. After Juan was done, Ben made me play, followed by him playing some tunes as well. Our own mini talent show! We left there to go to the dance club, where Salsa Night was in full effect. After a bit of Salsa Dancing, the troops started to drop off, one by one. We said our goodnights and goodbyes and headed to bed.