We had reached this point in the trip where everything seems to happen at warp speed. We were not in a particular rush that day. It was a sea day, and we had brunch booked that day. We got up around 08:00 and got ready. Graham had decided it was time to pack. That thought was just too depressing. I grabbed my iPad and my soda cup and told him to meet me at Sound Cellar when he was done. He promised me that he would put the suitcase back under the bed once it was packed so that I did not have to look at it.
I stopped by Sorrento’s to fill my soda cup with cream soda Coke. Then I found a seat in Sound Cellar and read. It was not too long before Graham joined me. Soon it was time for morning trivia. We scored 13 out of 20. The winning score was 17. At the end of the morning trivia, our host announced that Visual Trivia -Ultimate 80s Movie Trivia was next. I was quite comfortable where I was and suggested that we should stay. Graham was not quite sure about this but agreed. We did a lot better than we had expected and scored 11 out of 30 . The winning score was 27. After this, we headed up to the Schooner Bar as Where In The World Am I was about to take place there. The Schooner Bar was absolutely packed, and people were standing and sitting in the corridor. We did not want to do this that badly. Instead, we went to get some fresh air.
When our reservation time approached, we headed to Chops Grille for brunch. This was something that was introduced about a month earlier and I was curious about this. We were seated straightaway. We both had a cup of coffee. Graham had a cinnamon roll, and I had an almond croissant. I do like almond croissants and have one quite frequently. I think this may have been the best almond croissant I have ever tasted. For our starter, we had the cheese and charcuterie selection, which was served family style. This was nice. For our main course, we both had the steak & egg, which was a fillet steak with a fried egg on top. Graham had the roasted baby vegetables with his steak and I had French fries. For his dessert, Graham had the floating island which consisted of silky meringue floating on vanilla cream sauce with spun caramel sugar. I had the cherries jubilee which consisted red cherries cooked in a wine cinnamon reduction and served with vanilla ice cream. I had to laugh. I had two whole cherries. It was tasty though.
We did enjoy the brunch and felt it was a nice treat. I checked out how much this is if you purchase it separately. At this stage, I had the second giggle in quick succession. They charge $47.99 for brunch. To put this into context, this is about twice what they charge for lunch. It is not that good. When we did this, we had this included as part of the unlimited dining package. However, I have since found out that there is now a $30 surcharge for this for people who are on the unlimited dining package. I don’t think that it is worth this.
After brunch, we headed to the Schooner Bar. I had brought some mini resin ducks, and I hid some of them in and around the Schooner Bar. Graham had a couple of glasses of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. I had a desert pear margarita. I suddenly realised that I had not got around to have my second go to cocktail at the Schooner Bar. I put this right and had a Peanut Butter Tropic, which consists of Skrewball peanut butter whiskey, pineapple juice, fresh lemon juice, and Angostura bitters. This was as good as I remembered. After this, we headed upstairs. There were no round loungers available at the solarium, but there was a sofa with a view by the indoor pool. We saw mainly sea birds, but there were also some seals around. At some stage, I hid some more mini ducks, but for the most part, we just had a lovely, relaxed afternoon.
Just before 16:00, we headed to the Sound Cellar for afternoon trivia. I wondered if we had left it a bit late. We did however manage to get some seats. We scored 9 out of 15. The winning score was 12. After this, we went to the cabin for some down time. After a nap, we both had a shower and got changed. Then we headed downstairs to get some photos. This was our final dress your best night. Then we headed for dinner.
Dinner was at Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen again. We had our customary glass of Moscato. Graham started with the Caesar salad and then had pepperoni pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni. I had the meatball gigante with mozzarella, and marinara sauce, topped with parmesan cheese and then I also had a pizza. I had decided on the truffle & egg pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, bacon, eggs, pecorino, and white truffle oil. After this little lot, we were pretty full. However, we could not resist the pistachio panna cotta.
After dinner, we headed back up to the solarium. This time we managed to snag a round lounger. I had a difficult decision to make. There was a very realistic chance that this would be the last time this trip that I would be able to enjoy a round lounger. However, his was also the evening when A Beautiful Dream was shown. Graham asked me what I would regret more, spending less time relaxing on a round lounger or missing out on the show. In the end, the show won. I managed to get a front row seat again and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I had definitely made the right choice.
After the show, I headed back to cabin. Graham was already asleep. I got ready for bed. I read for a while and then I settled down for the night, too.
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