Voyage of the Vikings Redux - Sea Day

 Cruise Day 35

Friday, August 25, 2023

Today we are sailing from back to Boston where it all started five weeks ago.  The good weather of yesterday was long behind us, and the skies were dark and cloudy.  Everything looked a little eerie outside as the ocean was very calm and the light clouds reflecting on the water made everything seem a bit surreal.

With another extra hour of sleep last night, we got up a little after eight and after getting ready, had breakfast in the Neptune Lounge.  We said goodbye to the Neptune Lounge Concierge, Alexa, as we might not see her tomorrow in the hustle and bustle of debarkation.

We returned to the room and started packing in earnest until our room stewards showed up to clean our room.  Instead of waiting in the Neptune Lounge as we usually do, we decided to head down to the casino to make up for last night.  I actually had some luck for a change this morning and came back with more than I started with, but Val had no luck.

We continued our packing and by lunchtime we had most everything packed up.  We had an appointment with the future cruise consultant to look into a Panama Canal cruise so before lunch we went down and met with her.  The consultant said there were no future cruises like what we were looking for, so it was a waste of time, and we didn’t spend much time there and went straight to lunch.

It was after one when we got to the Lido, but it was still very busy, and we had a hard time finding a table; I guess everyone is eating late today.  Our lunch wasn’t great as the ship seem to be running low on some of the food, but it filled us up.

After lunch, I sat down and updated the blog for the last time until we get home, and then downloaded the rest of our pictures, backed everything up, and then packed up my computer and camera equipment for the trip home.

We relaxed for a while until dinner and then headed off for our final dinner of the cruise.  We said our goodbyes to our nearby table neighbors, Steve and Linda and Corrine and we had a group picture taken.  We have enjoyed talking across the aisle with them every evening and it has made our dinners more enjoyable.  It’s interesting that we met our friends Ken and Mary Beth on our Voyage of the Vikings cruise back in 2016.  There must be something about this cruise that brings people together.

There's Val and I in the front and Steve, Linda and Corrine in the back.

 

After dinner, we made our way to the casino for our last night of play.  Val and I were both having some success tonight and I ended up just a little ahead and decided it was time to cash in.  Before the end of the night, you have to cash out whatever is left on your ship card, so I did that and headed back to the room.  Val decided to stay and play a little longer, so I went back to the room without her.

It got later and later, and Val hadn’t returned, and I began to feel a little irritated as we have to get up early tomorrow and we still had some final packing to do.  Finally, about 10:30 Val shows up and I asked her why she took so long, and she said she just kept winning and ended up with another $1,000 profit for the night, unbelievable!

I have spent quite a bit of time talking about our time on the casino this trip, but on this trip our casino time has been truly unbelievable.  Ship casinos are notorious for having poor odds on their slot machines, but both Val and I have had success on this trip.  My $1,000 win would have been the highlight of any cruise, but not this time as Val’s success was just unbelievable.  Of course, her really big win was the highlight, but she just kept winning more.  She did put a lot back in the machines which normally slows things down, but not this time.  I don’t know what her final total was, but I think she went home with over $9,000.  Her winning streak was the best either of us have ever had either on a ship or on land.  We don’t expect to win as we gamble for fun and we usually lose most or all of our gambling budget, but this trip will be very memorable for us.

This $710 win was the biggest of Val's last evening in the casino, but all total she came back to the room with $1000.  What a trip this has been for Val in the casino!!

All of the luggage except for our carry-on bags has to be put outside our room before midnight to be picked up and we won’t see it until tomorrow in the terminal when we get off the ship.  We still had to do our final packing as you have to make sure you have what you need in the morning.  We didn’t get our bags out until after 11:00 PM so it looks like we won’t be getting as much sleep as we had hoped for tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be a very hectic and long day as we get off the ship and travel home.