Day 13--At Sea, November 9

The last day; the morning after Scarlet Night. Which is worse?  Oh, and guess what? The clocks also went back again! So not only had we stayed up late, we couldn't even sleep in and take advantage of that "extra" hour because your body has no clue it can sleep longer. Everyone said it would be easy with the time changes, no jet lag when we got to Miami. Maybe no jet lag, but we were pretty tired! 

In the day planner, I circled the Knit Happens, and I know I went! Chris the Charmer was hosting again, and at one point, he asked me what I was doing that night. Ummm? 

He handed me two cards, for a "secret event". I had heard about these from YouTubers and never thought shy me would get invited! I was so excited!! I was told to keep it quiet.

For some reason, all the furniture and decorative features (in the Dock House and Social Club at least) were glued down. He was curious about this little stool and while examining it, he managed to pop the top off. 

Can't take him anywhere!

I have no pictures from the afternoon. I believe we actually went in the pool, not just the round pool but the other one. It was finally warm enough. We probably packed, maybe I enjoyed another fig sour at The Dock? We watched a couple movies over the two weeks, maybe we watched another one. 

Dinner was at Gunbae again, same time as the other two nights. We were up on deck, and enjoying the sunset which we rarely get to see on cruises. We were hoping that if we were later to our reservation, rather than prompt, maybe we'd get a different "chef". While admiring the sunset, I spotted two large ships.

I checked the cruise mapper and indeed, that bit of land is Coco Cay (Royal Caribbean's private island) and the two ships were Allure of the Seas, and Oasis of the Seas. Having been there when there was just one Oasis class ship, I can't imagine two at the same time!

I had to really zoom in with my camera, but you can tell it's an Oasis class, and below, that it's Coco Cay. 

Finally we went in and....ended up at the same table with the same chef/server! How?! 

I feel funny taking food pictures, especially when there's others close by. I have nothing written down about this night. This might have been the night we the cool couple who had lived on a commune in northern BC during the 70s. This restaurant reminds me of the main dining rooms, where you meet other couples and it can either be really awkward, or a lot of fun. I wish I had taken more notes, and photos!!

At 8:00 we went to The Grounds club to await our adventure. Chris didn't show up, but The Foodie did only his fedora wasn't really yellow. We seemed to be a very big group. As we were walking towards the bow, we passed another large group coming the other way. The Foodie joked about them "not going to or from a secret event" LOL. We were led downstair and down the stateroom corridor past the spa. At the end of the corridor, we were told we were going into crew territory, and to stay very quiet as crew work and sleep at all hours. It was strangely smelly but so cool. We went down halls and to a little room. We were instructed that we had to put our phones into locked pouches, so no pictures! I did have my camera with me but it wouldn't fit. They said it was okay but that I must not take pictures. So I didn't! 

We were led into a little bar/club area with seats, right at the very bow of the ship! Like, there's the port side and the starboard side touching. Unfortunately we ended up at the back of the group and didn't get a seat. We stood at a bar table, and my ankle was starting to hurt!

Chris came out and put on a great magic show! It was so cool! I can't say more. I was just so thrilled to be there. At the end, they led us back to the Spa and we dispersed--we didn't walk back together like the other group. Maybe they were going to a different secret event?

I really wanted to go to the theater show--Persephone and it started at 9pm, so we didn't have a lot of time--but it is a small ship, with no crowds, and we only needed to go up a deck. We missed it earlier and heard that it was spectacular, and unique to Resilient Lady. This ship didn't have the Dual Reality show which I had heard great things about, but I hadn't heard about this show. 

We got to the Red Room and discovered it's a standing show. You actually stand IN the show, actually. 

It's a story about Persephone. It is an interesting show! Good vs evil, expectations vs destiny. Warning, like Lola's Library, the show is geared to an adult-only audience!!

Photos are actually in reverse order, so below was while we were waiting for it to start, I believe. 

Shows are not long on Virgin, but very action filled. My ankle was sore and I'm glad we didn't have to stand longer. It ended at about 10pm, and I was determined to go to Stargazers at 10:30pm.  We probably had pizza while we waited LOL.

I had wondered how this was going to work. It was at The Dock, on deck 7 and much of it is sort of covered. Up on the top deck is that giant day bed and the trampoline net. How would we see anything?

We got there early and got a lounger. This was the view looking up. I was actually surprised how much sky we could see looking out the back of the ship. I had sort of forgotten you could look "away" and not just up!

This is a cool event. The lights are all off, there's piped in nature noises, the two hosts are calm as they tell stories about the constellations. They don't actually point out the constellations, and I forgot to take my star map that I had made sure to pack so that we could see the different constellations while at sea!!

I know this doesn't show much, but we could see quite a bit. Well, Rob did fall asleep of course. I think we stayed out there for a while longer, it was such a nice way to end the trip.

Cruise Day 13--At Sea, Nov 8

This was finally it, the day we'd been waiting for. It was a pretty epic day! It started with a lecture on the Art Deco and other areas of Miami, and then I went to Knit Happens. This time it was hosted by The Hostess! It was a great chance to talk with her, hear her story.  It was her first cruise contract.  She is lucky to have a large cabin, with window, but was worried about all the stuff she's accumulated. She has a lot of luggage--heavy gowns, shoes, make up, even hair dye. She was excited to get to Miami but worried because they had to go through immigration and she didn't know if she would even be allowed in. We also had a great talk about body image and confidence. I was feeling pretty down about my lack of weight loss in the fall despite working hard on it and I had brought a couple outfits I wasn't too sure about wearing.  As soon as we boarded the ship in Barcelona, she was there in a gorgeous backless dress.  She's not slim but she was strutting her stuff. Usually the staff on cruise ships are young, fit, thin, etc. Virgin Voyages makes sure to have a very diverse staff!!

I got to finish off my little octopi! Cute!

 

We heard a lot of complaints about the visibility of signs, especially for the washrooms. Some were pretty typical--near the theater, men on one side, women on the other. But because of the slightly strange layout of the ship, others were a little harder to find. The ones on deck 6 near the restaurants were hard to find if you were coming from the Roundabout area. There's a sign but you can't see the washroom until you turn the last corner.

The signs were also often small, and without the text. It could be hard to distinguish if it was a woman or a man merperson. Some were gender neutral. 
This sign is between the Social Club and the Dockhouse. When you enter, immediately to your left you see this sign:

I just went in here, since it said Women. When you come out of it (or if you looked to your right when coming in to the washroom), you saw this:

It took me nearly a week to realize those black doors WERE THE REGULAR STALLS!!!

And this is the view from the throne in one of the stalls. The rest of the ship in this area is bright and beechy, and this is the bathroom?

The group that had been quilting using recycled plastics put their piece on display! It was awesome. I'm not sure what they did with it. Maybe an auction?

The night before, I signed us up for the Rum Runners class. This was hosted by "The Foodie" with help from "The Charmer" (the magician on board, Chris).

We were given three good sized shots of different rums, a rum punch, and a Cuban mojito (slightly different than a regular mojito).  These were spaced out, of course!

In between the discussions on the history and construction (that's not the word!) of rum, Chris entertained us with stories combined with magic tricks, including one he had just made up. This was also his first cruise contract. He was the one who usually hosted the Knit Happens group.

Three very different rums that were all knew to me. I preferred the two on the right. The Mount Gay one was a little sharp going down.

Rob had no problem getting them down though he wasn't as keen on the pretzel, which was fine because I was happy to finish it off  LOL.

The class was a lot of fun. The curly haired guy next to me was The Foodie's boyfriend. He had been on the dance crew on a previous contract and met The Foodie. This time, he was on board as a guest. They were a cute couple.  There was also another Canadian couple at our table, from Whistler. Between them and us (or...me), we knew most of the trivia answers!

The class went a little longer than we expected and we had to skedaddle down to the other end, to Extra Virgin for dinner, feeling pretty lit LOL.

We had decided we'd get our bottle of champagne that was included with the Splash of Romance package during this dinner. We "shook for champagne" and it made its way to us (it seemed a bit slow and we were getting close to the end of the dinner). Tableside service.

I was still feeling the rum class LOL.

For dinner, Rob combined the meatball appetizer with the Bolognese pasta. Apparently, that's pretty common. I honestly don't know what I had. 

Rob wanted to re-cork the bottle to save a bit, and he had to shave it down with his steak knife. Then to clean up, he put the shavings in the centerpiece! 

We headed back to our cabin after dinner, and Rob decided to finish it off!

The front of the dayplanner said Scarlet Night starts at 9pm, shipwide. Yet inside the planner, there was a Glam Station at 7pm and then two events of "The Myth of Scarlet Night" at 7pm and 8pm in the Roundabout. I think this was the weird wedding. I had heard before that it was strange. We were up top, looking down and it was hard to follow. The bride was one of the guest artists, Noreda Graves

Not sure who the groom was--possible the guy in the cowboy hat? Or he was the minister?

You can see Noreda with the bouquet. The Roundabout really was as red as that photo. I had seen photos of it but thought they must have used filters. Nope. It's totally RED. It was so weird. Many people were already in their red outfits, but not everyone.

We had a red drink (the Scarlet Night special) at the Loose Canon, but they were out of the red feathers. I did find one later.

The stateroom corridors were also glowing red, though not as intense as the Roundabout.

There were some photo booths set up. A great chance to get a nice photo though I struggled with the onscreen keyboard and putting in my email and understanding the instructions LOL. I still wasn't used to long nails!

At 9:45 and 10:15, the planner said "The Octopus Garden: The Story of Scarlet Night".  I didn't know what it was.

What is was, was a short, 15 minute one lady show about (according to Google's AI): a theatrical, immersive experience where the Red Room transforms into a whimsical garden, featuring a storytelling performance by The Hostess, revealing the myths and tales of Scarlet Night through song, with the Octopus Goddess inviting you into her realm.   

It was SO much more than that. She was on the floor in front of the first row, with the lounge and side table only. It was simple, and absolutely captivating. If you're going, do yourself a favour and don't watch anything about it. Of course, every Hostess is different, but I'm sure the show is basically the same.

It was a story of love and tragedy.  I saw the couple in front hold each other a little closer, and even I teared up. In a 15 min show! 

Seriously, some amazing talent she has. 

The outside of the ship lights up red too.  They can change the colours on the balconies and sometimes spell out VV  💖 "The Port" (where every they are).

Back inside at the Roundabout, waiting for the pool party. 

And oh my! What a party!

It's so cool seeing everyone in red. On ships with formal nights, you get in your formal wear (which is more and more casual), go for dinner, and then change. This was such a different atmosphere!  Everyone in red! 

We moved down to get a closer look at Inky (I'm not sure why Inky on this ship isn't robin egg blue since that's this ship's colour for Inky). I didn't realize we were right beside the Diva until the light came on her. 

The Hostess reappeared to complete the story!

And thus begins the pool party!!

That's The Foodie below, in the centre. All the Happenings Cast is around the pool, dancing. I asked The Charmer about if the Happenings Cast needed to be dancers too (they're involved in a few things). He said "Not exactly, but you've got to at least look like you can do it and not embarrass yourself". 

Speedo Man was also on The Happenings Cast, he was The Hype or the Gamer, I don't know...

The DJs were pumping! I had heard to be on the upper deck so you get a better view, but no one was dancing! There was me and another lady!

This is the outside seating area at the Pizza shop. I'm pretty sure we got pizza.

We walked around the decks. At the back, the day (or a few?) before it had been really windy. Rob was walking around in the early morning and secured one cushion under the ropes they used but this cushion had no rope. It blew away at some point!

See what I mean about the seating? That daybed? Fine to sit on for a bit (once you climb across the cushion), but you can't lean back very well.  Legs get tired being stretched out from the hip. If you're short you could lay down. The blue horseshoe bench was also weird. Above, I'm sitting with my back against the back and you can see how my feet don't even reach the edge. It was not comfortable! But we hung out there for awhile because it was quiet and calm.

This red dress came from my awesome SIL, who was doing a closet clean out during the summer. I got this one because I knew it would be perfect for Scarlet Night! She had worn it as a bridesmaid dress. 

We didn't go to the after party at the Manor. We were pretty tired!! It was a long day but one of the best on the cruise!