Up and at it early today as I finished off yesterday's blog update... We lounged in the room until 9:45 and then bolted for the Elite brunch in the Tuscan Room. It ends at 10;00 so we just made it. We met up with another couple that we have socialized with at the Martini bar and chatted about the day so far.
We wandered around the ship and ended up at the closed bar in The Club and did some Sudoku puzzles will a curling competition was held.. yes curling! We had such a late brunch that we were not very hungry. At 12:45 we headed to the casino for the first Blackjack Tournament of the trip. They had about 20 people signed up and after explaining the rules, we ended up playing 4 rounds of Blackjack with the highest seven people going on to the "Final Table". They then played to see who had the most chips after 7 hands. They give you $500 in chips to play with.
Both Kelly and I finished the first round with $375 worth of chips (not real money) and $400 respectively but I was knocked out as Kelly was the last player through at this point. Another round was played and it was clear that neither one of us would get through. After some convincing, Kelly bought in again and had a good game earning enough chips to make it into the final table! Wahoo!! ... The cards were dealt and at the end of the seventh hand, only one other player had close to what Kelly had and he ended up losing to the dealer.... Kelly had won the tournament and received a $500 US prize! She was shaking.. in a good way.
We celebrated with a cool beverage and then grab some snack sandwiches to hold us to dinner. We headed back to the room to shower and prep for dinner tonight in Eden.
Lots of outgoing text to the girls and others to spread the word of the big win!
We met up some friends at the Sunset Bar for some happy hour cocktails and then went to our 5:30 Eden dinner reservation (We need to work on these times as they do interfere with Happy Hour times!)
The Eden dinning room is right at the back of the ship and we had great views of the ocean. We chose the seven course meal that gave us a sample of many of the dishes they serve. It was excellent with the lobster chowder taking top honors from both of us. The beef tenderloin and mushroom risotto were a close second & third :-)
We were both stuffed full and slowly left the dinning area seeking relief from the huge intake of food. We wandered the ship and eventually found ourselves in the casino for a bit of fun. It was a winning evening and so far we are well ahead of our budgeted expenditures. We are basically playing with their money for the next while.
We went to the Will Martin Show in the theater and he blew us away with his vocals and piano skills. He will be doing another show next sea days and we will definitely be attending.
Back in the room at 10 pm to finish up this blog and prep for tomorrow's adventure to Airlie Beach and the Whitsunday Islands for some snorkeling and beach walking.
Alarm set for "early"...... Steps today: 4460
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