Baltic Cruise 2010 - July 26 through August 10

We had breakfast at 10:30, lounged in the room for a bit, then up to back pool deck for a bit. Rick stayed and listened to his iPod while Randy worked on pictures in the room. We had our cocktail party at 4pm and many new friends showed up. In all we had about 30 people attend. At 5 we went up to Lido deck for the Absolut T-dance, where we stayed for a bit. After a disco nap in the room, Randy went up to Lido deck with Jason and Alex. We danced for 20 minutes and decided we weren't really into it that night, so we hung out in their room for a bit, discussing our plans in Amsterdam for the weekend.

Today breakfast was at 9, then around 11 we hung out in a cabana by pool that we had reserved for the day. We chatted with Rich from Atlantis about next year's Mediterranean cruise, could be fun! Randy had his haircut at 12:30 and then returned to the cabana. At 1:30 the six of us had the special privilege of a bridge tour. It was pretty amazing, it's almost fully computer controlled. The bridge affords a great view all around, even towards the rear from the "hammerhead" extensions at the sides. Afterwards we all went back to the cabana, then Rick got a massage. Our ship-board bills showed up and the grand total was >$7000, though it was about what we expected. Drinks and alcohol were actually very reasonably priced (Cocktails were $4-$7, a 750ml bottle of Absolut was only $32!). In the late afternoon Randy started packing since we were leaving the ship in the morning.

After attending a farewell party with the captain and crew, we headed to the Rembrandt dining room for dinner. It's a huge two floor space at the back of the boat and the main dining area, though this was our first and only time eating there.

At 11pm everyone convened in our room, ready for the White Party. For this one, everyone dressed up in white (except Rick, who wore leather). We went up to the Lido deck and danced for quite a while, everyone was in a great mood and having fun. Many of the crew were even in attendance, dancing away. One of the most fun moments was when Randy saw the captain of the ship in the middle of the dance floor in front of the DJ booth at about 1am, having a great time. We kept it to a relatively early 2am since we had an early morning ahead.