Friday – We start our day by trying to walk the track, but it starts to rain. Uh oh – White night is tonight…maybe!  So off to the gym then breakfast. Same, same, no different.  Then it is onto the trivias.  I stay and “play,” ha! Lose is more like it, while Ed goes to the Dr. talk about dreams.  There is precious little to do the rest of the day, and it is a little boring now that we don’t need signatures.  Haha.

Elle is doing a basic intro to Instagram, but we don’t really need that – so it is down to the cabin for blogging, then lunch and then onto the photo scavenger hunt, but it is the same as last cruise, so we tell Johnya we did it last time and can show her our photos – and we can we just get the stamps?  She’s all in for that!  So we’re golden.

The rest of the afternoon goes as normal, and they actually do have White Night, even with the wind, so we go with our planned Prime C dinner!  Fortunately the food here is still up to normal excellent standards.  The special appetizer is a shrimp dish that is excellent and the tuna tartare is actually a decent size!!!  Shocking.  The fish and lamb are also excellent as usual.  And we splurge and get the Petit fours, which are good and small – and we’re not complaining, because we just wanted a little sweet nibble, but definitely not like before when they were served on a 3-tier serving tray and had a mix of all sorts of delicacies.  This was a piece of sugar lace, a biscuit-cookie of some sort and 3 pieces of chocolate. 

We finished in time to actually go and see the crew parade for White Night, then it was back to the cabin for the evening. The weather is great for sitting out on the balcony, which is how we spend the rest of our evening.  Lovely.

Saturday – Our new routine:  walking on the deck. Especially now that the weather is improving and we aren’t melting. Then breakfast.  No trivia this morning as it conflicts with Marcelo’s Hotel Secrets Revealed presentation.  A deep dive into the responsibilities of a Hotel Director. Quite interesting.

After that? Um. Nada.  Seriously, nothing!  Boredom is setting in. I get to spend the whole day blogging, but Ed is seriously bored. After lunch, he walks on the upper deck, then comes back and actually watches TV!  At least it was educational, a program about Super Aging and then a polar bear expedition.  I sort of watched while I blogged.

The afternoon was the norm – gym, drinks, dinner.  Then up the Sunset bar to chat with Mark.  Gayle joined us later and we spent a nice evening just hanging out and talking.

The show is the mentalist – nah.  The balcony is calling. Can’t get enough of this weather!  Then to bed and, thankfully, our last sea day in this stretch.

Sunday – Almost over!!  Land should be coming tomorrow. We normally don’t mind sea days, but after yesterday’s boredom, well, we’re ready for land.  And today?  Not so different!  We were all excited because there is an Azamara Fair in the Living Room – which Tanya said was like a mini-expo.  We love the expos – it is so fun to talk to everyone from departments that you never even see!  But, um, the Fair is NOT an expo. Not even close.  It is basically the hotel department selling you stuff.  Bar department – sell the package.  Restaurant department – sell specialty dining. Spa department – sell services.  You get the drift.  And it is a massive FAIL.  Maybe a total of 30 people came through the entire time.  Tanya even had to make an announcement about the Fair going on and invite people to come.  They still didn’t.

In a word?  Sad.

This is totally the Celebrity model – we’re pretty sure it is even the same name Celebrity calls their sales fest.  Between this, the lack of guest lecturers, the so apparent cost cutting measures with the food, the price hike on specialty dining….it is a harbinger of what is to come. And it is not good – at least not in our opinion. Alternatives are going to have to be on the horizon unfortunately.

The rest of the day is fairly active – the Sunday Brunch (where I finally find the Pao de Quiejo that Louie was telling me they made), Jewelry making (I got talked into it by Gayle and Sam, one of the singers who does the jewelry), Tony Markey with his COVID cruise presentation, Q&A with the entertainment team, Indonesian buffet and then the Broadway show.  So at least the day is filled.