Day 18 was one of the 3 sea days on which I purchased the 24-hour internet plan ($30 per day) so I blogged in the morning. We had no breakfast because we were anticipating a large brunch at the Fahrenheit 451 Steak House – the specialty steak restaurant on the Carnival Luminosa – courtesy of the casino. It was a fine brunch. I had a cheesesteak sandwich and Marlene had steak and eggs. We both had profiterole for dessert. And free mimosas. Thank you, casino. Nice to get something in return for our losses.
I did more blogging before dinner while Marlene watched ice carving. We went to the America Rocks show in the theater after dinner. The preshow featured a fake Joan Jett statue (actually one of the dancers). Great show, featuring the band and the ship’s song and dance cast. Great voices, good choreography.
I woke on Day 19 with a cold. Not a bad cold, just an annoying cold. After breakfast I tried my hand at science trivia and did so-so: 13.5 versus a winning score of 19. In the afternoon we crossed the IDL (International Date Line) and instantaneously jumped ahead a full day. I lost at cards in the afternoon (Marlene won both games) and lost at the casino too. Another bad day for games of chance.
We danced a bit after dinner but I went to bed early.
Day 20 began with a trip to Guest Services to retrieve our passports (which we had surrendered at checkin)., then to our caricature appointment. The guy did a good job of capturing Marlene but not so great with me. After lunch we played cards and Marlene continued to whip my ass, winning 3 out of 4. The casino continued to be unfriendly to me, too (down $770) but Marlene had a moderately big win – over $350 on a single spin, no bonus involved. I did get a free drink at the VIFP party for Platinum and Diamond passengers – about half the ship – so the day wasn’t a total loss.
After dinner we viewed the crew talent show – always a highlight of the cruise. Some of the crew are amazingly talented singers and dancers. Makes you wonder why they do mundane work on the ship.
