Day 7 - At Sea - NCL Joy

​The final day of our cruise is a sea day en route to New York. The ship was pretty rocky last night and the bags were still set up in the stairwells this morning. I woke up pretty early so I hit the Starbucks and went to the casino to let Veronica sleep in. She found me in the casino and we went to the Observation lounge for some coffee and pastries. 

Morning trivia was pretty popular today. We did ok but did not win. The next activity was Battle of the Cake Masters. We watched giant trays of cakes being carried past us. We decided to go for a walk around the ship instead. The weather was pretty overcast and windy. We had a wine tasting scheduled for two so we decided to skip the Vibe today. Plus, we had the dreaded chore of packing 

Lunch was our favorite spot, the Local. We wanted to sample the nachos and get one more order of wings. The food was great. This spot really is one of the shining stars of NCL. It is perfect pub comfort food for lunches and late nights. I missed this spot when I was on Carnival as the the only late night option is pizza. 

We spent some more time in the casino before our tasting. The wine tasting was the black glass tasting with macaroons. I had done this tasting in February and thought it was fabulous. The sommelier gave so much information and we had a team contest to identify the wines. It was a different host and he got the sampling started much faster. However, he did not give as much information nor was there a contest. The wines in February were a bit more interesting too. It was still an enjoyable activity and the macaroons were delicious. I might choose to try the tapas and wine tasting next time to try something different. 

After our wine and cookies, we decided to make one more trip to Vibe. There was only one couple there and all the cushions had been removed. It was super windy. We chatted with the crew and heard about the party we missed up there earlier. I was convinced to have one last drink and found a new favorite, Ketel One Grapefruit with 7-up. I will have to buy some at home for some pool time at my mom’s this summer. 

We continued our relaxing last day with some balcony time. I drank the sustainable drink of the day which was a Sustainable Spritz. It is like an Aperol spritz with rosemary infused vodka. I really enjoyed this cocktail. We brought back some snacks from the Observation Lounge. Our cabin was a great location for us as we enjoyed being close to this lounge. It was just a short walk to get light breakfast, coffees, and afternoon snacks. The balcony was the perfect spot to enjoy happy hour. 

I returned to Maltings for a Whistle Pig Manhattan as my pre-dinner drink. We decided to visit the casino before our dinner in the buffet. The theme of the buffet was seafood. The buffet has lots of variety but we were both not too enthused about dinner. I think a week of eating much different than our norm caught up to us both. We did both try a crepe for dessert and really liked them. 

I returned to Maltings after dinner and met up with Glen. He wanted me to sample another scotch that was his favorite. I really enjoyed chatting with him once again. I would not have crossed paths with him had I not had a problem. I debated not even leaving a note about the issue, but I am glad I did. I hope to sail with Glen on a future cruise so we can talk more cocktails and cruising. 

Our evening ended with a final trip to the District. I ordered one last Chimay to take to the cabin and enjoy while packing up the last of our belongings. We ended the last night earlier as we were still tired from staying up at the Glow Party and dancing the night before. Arrival into New York is early as well which was another reason to call it an earlier night.