This is our second to last cruise day and it is a day at sea. We have a nice breakfast at the Windjammer - Sandy and I both had Crabcake Benedict. After breakfast we drop the kids at Adventure Ocean and go see the movie Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts - it was a nice movie. After the movie, we pick up the kids and decide to hit the pool before lunch. While the kids go down the water slide, Sandy and I listen to our audio book - The Girl Who Played with Fire. I lose track of time and end up burning from head to toe, except where I am wearing my sunglasses – it’s a great look for the pictures. After swimming, we have a late lunch at the jammer and then Sandy and I attend a belly dancing class - Sandy does the dancing, I do the watching. Afterwards, we hit the casino.
We pick up the kids and get ready for portraits. At 5.30, we do the portraits, followed by dinner at 6.30. It is pirate night, so the kids eat quickly so that they can participate. After dinner, Sandy and I hit the casino and got caught up trying to win this 50 bill from the coin machine. We get so infatuated that we lose track of time and end up dumping 50 into the machine, and running late to pick up the kids. We also missed the entertainment called the rat pack returns. Once we got the kids, we decided to call it a night. We set the clocks back an hour and a half, so we are expecting a good night sleep.
Day 12
I woke up early and hit the gym. Sandy and the kids take advantage of the extra hour and a half to catch up on sleep, but are up by the time I get back from the gym. I take the kids swimming and for a game of soccer while Sandy hits a stretching class. We group back at the room and hit breakfast in the main dining room. The feature today is everything chocolate. I go for waffles topped with bananas and chocolate caramel syrup.
After breakfast, we drop the kids at Adventure Ocean so that Sandy and I can pack and make preparations for the next few fays. We pick up the kids at 11 and attend the Adventure Ocean talent show. Sydney did the hoola hoop for her talent along with three other girls. JP juggled two balls (with two hands) while walking around three street cones. It was a sight to be seen!
After the talent show, we hit lunch in the main dining room followed by a game of ping pong. We then played a game of air hockey in the game room before letting the kids go back into Adventure Ocean.
They marked down the price of the body wrap therapy by $50, so Sandy went for it.
We did some packing in the afternoon and then hit the casino. We could not keep ourselves away from the coin machine.
We picked up the kids at 5, got ourselves showered and then went for a drink in the Schooner Bar before dinner.
We had our last dinner of the cruise, said goodbye to the waitstaff and then hit the evening show. It was an amazing acrobatics duo.
After dinner, we put the kids back in Adventure Ocean and hit the casino - yes, back to the coin machine. We ended up a dollar ahead – yeah!
Day 13
We woke up back in Dubai. We ate breakfast and then had a smooth departure from the ship. We grabbed a taxi to the hotel, dropped off our bags, and then spent the rest of the day at the Wild Wadi Waterpark, next to the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. It was huge with about 10 water attractions. The kids’ favorite was the artificial beach, complete with wave pool. We went back to the hotel so that we could get cleaned up for dinner. We walked a couple of blocks to the marina. It is a pretty area with boardwalk and plenty of restaurants. We picked out a Lebanese place and had dinner outdoors. It was a perfect evening - the weather was breezy and warm, table by the water, skyline decorated by all the new buildings, all topped off with a great meal. Both kids fell asleep before the main course which meant more food for me.
Day 14
Our last day in Dubai before heading back to Switzerland. We spent the morning doing some shopping. First stop was Mall of the Emirates. This mall is huge! About 4x the size of the Carousel Mall and even has an indoor ski facility, complete with ski lifts. After the mall, we went to the Souk Madinat for some souvenirs. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to eat the leftovers from the night before and to get ourselves ready for the trip back to CH. We relaxed for a little while after lunch and then went on a safari. We went 4 wheeling in the desert, rode camels, had a traditional dinner in a tent and then experienced some belly dancing. It was a great way to end the trip!
