Was awake early but didn't bother to get out of bed until about 8 a.m. Per our plans, we headed to the Pinnacle for breakfast (another perk of the suites - no cover charge for breakfast but breakfast is only available to those in the suites). Noticed there weren't that many people out and about this morning. Figured all the newbies on board found the rough seas a bit much for their first night on board.

After breakfast we headed back to the room to pick up the laptop and cameras. Plus we gathered laundry for our final laundry service. Didn't need all our clothes clean for going home but did need to get some things washed. And wanted to get it in today to insure it would be back tomorrow in time to pack. While in the room Mom showed up. Dad was definitely dealing with a head cold and she was waiting for the infirmary to open up to check on the cold medicine he could take that would not interfere with his medications. Told her we would be spending the morning in the Explorations Cafe updating the journals, downloading pictures, and sending e-mails. Mom left and we followed a short time later. On our way past the Neptune Lounge, our wine steward Rey, serenaded Jill with "Happy Birthday".

The nav board in the atrium displayed the ship's course throughout the trip. Green LEDs showed where we had been and red LEDs showed where we were going. Yellow lights indicated our ports of call. This was a sad picture, as the trip was almost over

Being Jill's birthday, the crew had affixed balloons to the door of our stateroom. They were visible along the entire length of the passageway.

The Explorations Cafe was crowded and we finally found some available seats on one of the couches. Wasn't there for very long before Katie and her Mom (two ladies we've talked with many times before and Katie is a regular at the Piano Bar in the evenings) stopped by. While talking with them Mom showed up. The latest report on Dad is he is doing okay. Mom mentioned the cold medicine available and he remembered that he's taken that brand before while in the hospital so it would be fine to take with his other medications. However, he told her to leave him alone in the room for a few hours and don't worry about returning with the cold medicine until later today.

Jill updated the journal while Mark listened to some music on the ship's listening station (similar to those found in the back of Barnes & Noble stores). Mom read until she started to nod off, so we sent her to our stateroom to nap while Jill and Mark downloaded pictures and composed emails.

Mom woke up as we entered, so she left to check on Dad. Naptime, then Mark showered and changed and we headed down to the Wajang for the cooking class.

The class was fun, but we had skipped lunch and found ourselves feeling a bit light-headed by the time we finally got to sample our creations. After having a couple of crabcakes each, we felt better and enjoyed the rest of the class. In addition to the crabcakes, we helped make salmon with a cilantro-ginger pesto served with sauteed watercress, and a mixed-berry cobbler that we ate piping hot from the oven. Yum. The class ran over its alloted time slot, probably because Petr had never made these recipes before. We went away pleasantly full and with complimentary aprons and toques (although I doubt the hats will last until we disembark. Tom, the Cruise Director said at the beginning of the class that they would stay snugly on the head for about 5 minutes, and he was quite precise in his prediction.)

Jill showered while I dozed a bit. This was our last formal night, so it took longer to get ready. After Jill was ready, she went to the cafe to check email, while I got dressed for dinner. We headed up to the Crow's Nest where Mom found us a few minutes later. Being Jill's birthday, we had reservations in the Pinnacle for 7:00, an hour earlier than our normal seating in the Rotterdam. Dad was doing better, but still not up for being up. We ordered room service for him, and let him know it was coming. We had a leisurely and very tasty dinner. Got served a very yummy chocolate mousse cake for dessert, but unfortunately, due to the code red, they couldn't allow us to take the leftovers back to the stateroom. They said they'd make another one for us tomorrow. We'll see.

Had more time to kill before hitting the Piano Bar, so walked around the ship and popped out to the seaview pool for a brace of fresh air. Mom checked on Dad, who was watching TV and had eaten all of his dinner. We rendezvoused at the PB, and hung around listening to the canned music for a few minutes before the regular crowd rushed in. Had fun with the Broadway singalong part 2 and the now-standard "family hour" afterwards. Randall tormented Jill with his rendition of Happy Birthday, which seemed to be common knowledge aboard the ship by then. To bed about 11:45.