The 4th May was a little bouncy and we'd gained another hour.  Wind speed had increased to about a force 7 but swells less than the day before and Breakaway was still an angel gliding through it all without a problem.  She had become a bit noisier, however, as her engines at the beginning were a gentle purr.  After another yummy lunch in the Garden Cafe, it was time for a stroll around the deck after dropped some chicken rolls off in the room.  As I was getting into the lift on deck 5, two NCL blokes got out, one saying "I'm anxious to see the ship at full capacity."  The Waterfront is definitely one of my favourite places on the ship and I'm sure it would be great to dine out there in the Caribbean or whatever.  Too many modern ships are sacrificing space to squeeze more cabins in and the connection with the sea by having much inside with few or no windows.  This whole area was such a wonderful idea.  

The Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy hadn't been cancelled so I went down early for the 5.45pm show and the queue was already around several corners!  I was put on a table with two American couples, one of whom said they had no balcony partition for the first few days as many blew off in strong winds between Rotterdam and Southampton.  The woman from the other couple said they were tightening screws that day on hers.  The dinner was a set menu like Epic and basically tough if you were a vegetarian allergic to seafood.  None of us wanted the Surf & Turf, but not because we were vegetarian or vegan.  I hate shrimp, others didn't want that or the beef.  The steak comes medium but I requested well done while three on my table asked if they could possibly have chicken instead of the beef and definitely no surf!  Our waitress was wonderful and the best thing in there.  The costumes were stunning but the show itself, I'm afraid to say, lacked something, and was a tad repetitive and dull compared to Epic's.  It also ended just as we'd been given dessert so only a seventy minute performance.   Since dinner was so feeble despite costing $30 for the whole thing, I went to the Garden Cafe after popping back to the cabin where I found my disembarkation information.  Nothing like a great big hint they want rid of you before you even arrive!  A nice stroll around the deck then an early night.  Despite the hours gained, I was really tired for some reason.

The 5th May was still a little bumpy and we put the clocks forward for the last time so were now the same as New York.  I was awake after 9am for once and something made me get up instead of trying to go back to sleep.  Of course, this was the day we may or may not see the Queen Mary 2, who had been in Brooklyn on the 3rd and was heading back home to Southampton, so I decided to move my bum.  I went to breakfast in O'Sheehan's since I'd always had fab cheese omelettes in there on Epic with a decent size glass of (diluted) orange juice.  A couple of American men came in and wanted lunch - it was just before 10am!  I heard my one and only Captain's announcement (so used to it being at noon) but he didn't tell us anything we couldn't see on the info channel.  I was receiving texts from my dad and friend, Rob Ellerington Parr, informing me Mary was estimated to be about twenty nautical miles away so once I'd finished, I headed onto the Prom deck.  Nothing port but she was a dot on the horizon starboard.  It was great seeing her at sea but I wished she'd been closer.  

When I returned to the cabin, I found the timings for disembarkation.  My time was 9am and with first walk off about 6.15am, it showed how early we would actually be arriving but they hadn't told us.  In the afternoon I met my Facebook friend, Jonathan Gardner, who was the 2nd Officer.  When he said he'd see me onboard, I thought he was a passenger!  He told me the fireworks rumoured to be the final night had actually been last night at Spice H20!  They weren't advertised, announced or anything and nothing had been scheduled in that area at that time.  After grabbing a quick late lunch in the Garden Cafe, it was the British Pub Trivia in Fatcats hosted by deputy cruise director Simon Jukes, an ex-pat who now lives in Canada.  I teamed up with a Canadian and to Germans and we got 9/20.  The winners had 15/20.  My team mates said they'd have done better without me yet some of Simon's answers were wrong (such as how far can the QE2 - he said Queen Elizabeth - move on a gallon of fuel and he said 6 inches and 10 points for the driver winning Formula 1 but apparently it changed in 2010 to 25).  Also I'd write answers they said were wrong so they were changed.  The Queen Elizabeth one was funny though.  So many arguing the toss. "You mean QE2.  There isn't a Queen Elizabeth", "Which one?" or the classic, "Nowhere, it's a hotel in Long Beach!"  This was while we were still being asked the questions.  

It was Burn the Floor in the theatre at 7pm which was billed as 'Ballroom Reinvented'.  The doors were meant to open 45 minutes before the show but they didn't until ten minutes before for some reason but our cards were scanned as we waited.  Maybe I've seen too many shows with dancing on cruises but I found this quite boring until the last two songs - Proud Mary (Tina Turner version) and Ballroom Blitz by Sweet.  A quick bite in O'Sheehan's.  Like on Epic, this was becoming a favourite place.  I'd seen Mark Kennedy with one of the beef hotdogs just before Jonathan arrived and thought I'd give it a try.  It was lovely but I was still hungry so went to the Manhattan Room since I could actually get in!  What lovely food except the steak which wasn't well done as I'd asked (medium to well) and had too much fat.  The gravy was delicious though as was the rest of it.  When I ordered the lemon sorbet, I was expecting the piddly little scoop like ice cream you get on other lines, not a huge glass full.  Yummy!  Now I was tired so decided to go back to the room.  Despite the heating being fixed so more heat came through, the room did keep going hot and cold throughout the day.  It was quite annoying.