Our Final Day at Sea

After the grandeur of Hubbard Glacier, you would think that the rest of the final day of sailing would be anti-climatic, but, it wasn't!

There was a grand buffet brunch from 10:30 to 1:00 pm, complete with ice sculptures and amazing fruit carvings.  The brunch was open for photographs, and then opened for dining.  We took advantage of the opportunity to take pictures, and then enjoyed an amazing buffet brunch, complete with a chocolate fountain, and every kind of food imaginable!

After brunch, we spent some time relaxing on the ship and saying farewell to some of our favorite wait staff in our favorite places on the ship to hang out.  The end of our cruise was in sight!
Mid-afternoon, we all retired to our cabins and began the re-packing process - very sad!  We had done some "acquiring" on some of our shore excursions, as well as on the ship itself, so we were very pleased when everything went back into our suitcases!
We had reservations for dinner in the Olympic Restaurant at 6:30, so a beautification process was in order, too!   All of this made for a busy last day at sea.

Dinner was amazing!  The Olympic Restaurant is a 5 star restaurant, and it was a new experience for some of us.  The Olympic is a beautiful venue - the wood paneling was originally on the Olympic - the sister ship to the Titanic.

The food was fabulous, and the service was amazing!  I'd never experienced "synchronized service" before, but each course was served, simultaneously, by 4 waiters, and each plate was covered by a silver dome, all of which were lifted simultaneously as well!  It was quite a hoot!!  Lee and I had the fillet mignon, which was fantastic!  I had the grand marnier souffle for dessert, which was out of this world!  What a fabulous end to an amazing cruise!  I could get used to 5-star dining!

Then, it was time for the final packing, suitcases outside the door, and documentation for our transportation from Seward to Anchorage ready.  While it was sad to have the cruise come to an end, we still have 4 days in Anchorage to look forward to.  When we wake up in the morning, we'll be in Seward!

The grand staircase leading down to the buffet

The buffet display.  Billie is in the foreground, in the striped shirt.  I'm behind her, and John and Jo are following
.

Lots of amazing food displays to photograph - the kitchen staff had been BUSY!

Cold cuts, salads and fruit/vegetable sculptures - it was almost too pretty to eat!

Ice sculpture at the sushi table

Bald eagle ice sculptures at the dessert table

You can see the lighting on the ice sculptures - very impressive

Some more handiwork from the kitchen staff

This was amazing!  I can't think of a better way to chill wine and champagne!

Lee and Jo, taking photos

After a lovely brunch, it's back on deck!  We had these wonderful mountains all the way to Seward.

As you can see, the weather was spectacular for our last day of cruising

Also scheduled was a talent show, featuring some of the staff on the ship.  Then a lot of the staff were brought up on stage to be recognized for their part in making the cruise such a success.  I thought that was a really nice thing for Celebrity to do.

Dinner at the Olympic Restaurant

I love this photo of Peter, although I'm not sure that he's going to like it......

John

Peter

Jo

Billie

Bryan

Lee

Jo, John and Billie

Bryan and Peter

What an amazing experience!!  We'd sail with this group, anytime!  Where to next??
Many thanks to Bryan, Peter, John, Jo and Billie for making this cruise so special for us!