For the price we paid, I am not sure how they can provide the quality of food, level of service, lodging, transportation, entertainment, etc and still make a profit.
We brought the kids to the entertainment that night, a production called "Absolutely Fab". It once again featured the Legend of the Seas singers, dancers, and orchestra. It was a lot of singing and dancing, but based on more modern artists. It was actually kind of a tribute to some artists of 80's and 90's like Elton John, George Michael, Queen, etc. Sydney was especially fascinated and was singing and clapping throughout. After putting the kids to bed, we went to the casino and took another beating. It was the worst gambling day on the cruise. Hopefully, it was the last and we can make it up tomorrow.
We finally come to the last day of the cruise - day 12. We had our last land excursion to the ancient city of Pompeii, completely covered and almost perfectly preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 96 AD. The city is absolutely amazing. It accomodated a population of 20,000 people. We saw apartments, houses, store fronts, bakeries, bars, the central market area, theaters, and even a brothel, which had a "menu" above the entrance way to each room. Pompeii was a port city with many visitors. Like most cities today, there are signs directing visitors to places of interest. The sign directing visitors to the brothel is very funny - see the picture. Each home in the city had lead pipes that provided running water - amazing.
After the tour, we went back to the ship, and spent the rest of the afternoon with the kids playing mini golf, ping pong, and swimming. It was a very enjoyable afternoon for the whole family. We had washed up and had our final dinner of cruise. It was a fairly unimpressive menu for the last night, but some spectacular desserts made up for it. It was a sad goodbye to our waiters - they took great care of us and the kids really enjoyed them. The evening entertainment was a magic show to which we had high hopes of bringing the kids. We had a little time to kill before the show so we played some blackjack. We did pretty well so we decided to come back again after the show. The magician was very good, but the stage and theater were very dark so the kids passed out half way through. We took them back to the room, did our final packing, and hit the casino for the last time. Unfortunately, our luck had changed and we lost it all. I felt like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest. As they say in Mexico, you can never have both good luck and be lucky in love. I guess we must be lucky in love, because our luck in the casino is horrible.
We had a decent night sleep, but were awaken early to the sound of various groups being called to leave the ship. Two days before, you fill out a form indicating when you need to leave the ship. Passengers are then sorted into groups based on their departure time. The night before departure, you receive a color and a number corrsponding to your group. We were purple 7. We got dressed, went up to the restaurant to have breakfast and our number was called right on time at 8:15.
In retrospect, it was a great cruise. We saw 7 incredible cities, ate 35 fantastic meals, rested, gambled, went to shows and seminars, played mini golf and ping pong, swam, and met a lot of great people from around the globe. Cruises tend to be expensive, but you get a tremendous value for the money.
