Breakfast at Taste was good! If we had dined here earlier in the cruise, I think we would have come back.

I got an egg and avocado wrap. Much better than breakfast in the Garden Cafe.

After breakfast, we headed to the Park West Art Auction in The Social. The Shinglebells have been cruising for over two decades, and this was the first time we ever set foot in an art auction.

Park West Gallery is the world's largest art dealer. They're based in Miami, and host art auctions on most cruise lines. This isn't a hoity toity art event. Their goal is to make fine art accessible to a larger group of people.

We remembered to bring our raffle tickets from the night before. The raffle tickets got us an additional entry into the raffle. What we didn't know at this time was that the raffle was held at the very very end of the auction, and that the entire auction would take around two and a half hours.

When we checked in, we were given a number sign to hold up, as well as stickers with our number on them.

When we first arrived, there was one row of artwork that was available to view, but the back room was roped off. We sat down and waited for the show to begin. There was a little introduction by the auctioneer, and then they opened the rest of the gallery for viewing. If there's a piece you're interested in, you put a sticker on that piece. That would ensure the piece was brought up to the stage for auction (not all pieces would be). There was also some bit about being one of the first ten people to call over one of the Park West people to get a pre-auction bid price for the piece you were interested in. Supposedly, this was the lowest price it could be offered at.

We got up to roam. I didn't think to take a photo of this... I also wasn't sure if it was appropriate. But it was actually very crowded. There were many people interested in the artwork, and many people who were taking advantage of that pre-auction bid thing.

I enjoyed looking at the pieces, but none caught my eye as something I'd like to bring home. I'm more interested in learning about new up-and-coming artists, and most of the Park West artist works are more mainstream - lots of Peter Max, Britto, and Thomas Kinkade.

After a timed viewing of the gallery, we were directed to sit back down, and the auction began.

They brought a piece to the stage, the auctioneer read a description, and then the bidding period opened. If there was a sticker on it, they brought it to the stage. So you may want to refrain from placing stickers willy-nilly because it could just be a waste of time, prolonging the event.

Stove placed a sticker on a psychedelic dog painting as a joke.... but two other people also place stickers on the piece which generated a lot of interest and led to a bidding war.

The large numbers were used for bidding. It was a typical auction cadence. Hold your number up, and you agreed to the price he was calling. "500 going once. 510, can I get 520? 510 going once, going twice, going three times. Sold! 510 to 35." It was fast-paced, so at times it was difficult to tell what was going on. There were a few occasions where we were pretty sure that someone outbid their own bid. I'm not sure if they were really going to hold them to that bid price, or if they would honor their bid that they then upped for no reason other than confusion.

Earlier in the week, I had asked one of the Park West guys if they had any Autumn de Forest pieces onboard. I've been a fan of Autumn, the child prodigy, since reading about her in American Girl Magazine back in 2011 (no, I was not a child in 2011... but I still subscribed to AG Magazine because it's the best). If I ever become so wealthy that I start collecting original works of art, I would want to own Autumn's (age 9) "My American Girl."

They did have Autumn de Forest's Maslows Hierarchy (2019), numbered edition of 99. Unfortunately, out of my price range:

They also had some fun blind bids. For this blind bid, they brought out four backwards paintings. For $300, if you were one of the first five people to put your number in the air, you would get to choose two of the four mystery pieces. There was a hint... he said the painter is a well-known American landscape artist.... which I think makes it pretty apparent who the artist is.

Landon popped his number up, and Stove did, too. Both were proud new owners of two....

Thomas Kinkade landscapes! (Note: these are numbered editions, not originals)

They did the mystery game again, this time $500 for two of the three mystery pieces. This time, I raised my number.

They turned the paintings around to reveal Michael Godard "She Devil Red Wine," "Halloween 2," and "Red Wine Dance." Gorgeous work, but it doesn't fit my decor style.

The kicker with the Art Auction is that the raffle for free artwork wouldn't happen until the end of the auction. We weren't expecting the auction to last two and a half hours. About an hour to an hour and a half in, we were ready to go.... but should we just wait a little longer for the raffle?

Finally, it was Rachel and Aaron who had had enough. We were wasting our last sea day in a dark room. I got up to leave with them, and Landon and my parents stayed back for the raffle. We didn't win the raffle. But Landon and Stove did schedule appointments later that evening to pick out their artwork (they got to choose two Thomas Kinkades). I didn't set up an appointment, but I did go to the gallery later with Stove and Landon, and the Park West guys took me around the gallery and offered other pieces and art "bundles," but ultimately I didn't buy any art, and they were very respectful of that decision. It did not feel like high-pressure sales.

Finally, time for some sun! The pool deck was poppin. We had to search for chairs and ended up bringing some from the shade into the sun.

We decided to try the waterslides again. This time Stove joined us (errr... forged ahead of us) on the Ocean Loop. I was ready to try again and confident that I could make it all the way through this time.

And I did! Verryyyy slowly over the first hump, but I made it out! We think it may have helped that this time I didn't have to wait in a long line, so I was still wet from the shower when I went down the slide. Also I tried to focus on holding my body stiff and minimizing surface area on the slide (I arched my back up so I was sliding on just my shoulders and heels - keeping your booty off the slide minimizes friction).

We went for a second time, and I wasn't so lucky. This time I made it over the first hump, but got stuck in the tube part. I was able to scoot my way out, so I didn't have to use the hatch.

Aaron and Landon agreed to join us for the Ocean Racers. Rachel and I did this earlier in the cruise and learned that there is a maximum weight for the 2-person tubes. Usually, it's fun to go on a 2-person tube with someone heavy in the back so you can pick up speed. However, they capped the weight at I think 300 lbs. for 2-person tubes. So Rachel and I were able to go on it together, but not with the guys.

While we were waiting in line, we were behind a crew of boys, probably age 8-12. Some of them started spitting on guests below. Rachel asked them to stop spitting on people. Then they mocked her and called her a B-word. Kids these days.

We stayed on the pool deck as late as we could before having to go get ready for Laser Tag.

That's right, we had signed up for Laser Tag earlier in the cruise but needed to move it because Landon had a work conflict (yes, he worked while on this cruise). So today was the day!

Laser Tag is not something that I particularly enjoy or am good at. I'm not fond of warfare, even play warfare, and handling guns in a battle situation makes my heart race. What I have learned to do is use that war-fearing adrenaline to run around like a mad man and throw myself into the game.

There were a lot of rules, and I was worried about remembering all of them. A lot of the rules, while are certainly there for our own safety, make things less fun. No climbing over/crawling under? Lame! No running, jumping, or lying down? LAME LAME!

We checked in and were paired with another family. Our opponents were a bunch of kids. Which was frightening.