August 10, 2024 – At Sea – Labrador Sea – Cold and Gray

Up early again – harder this time with the time change but I did get some sleep.  The drip has improved – maybe I’m on the other side of this, whatever it is.  The view of the Labrador Sea from the Cabin window indicated how really early it was.

Got a nice window seat in the Oceanview Cafe and witnessed a beautiful early morning sunrise.

As expected, the breakfast was once again terrific - I have started to sub in pancakes for waffles because they tended to be fresher and easier to cut than waffles.  I am also using "to go" cups for the coffee - they are larger and keep the coffee warmer longer.  Constantly improving breakfast.  I had plenty of time to enjoy breakfast before getting ready for another 9 AM presentation.

Today’s 9 AM session in the theater is “Forensics and History: The Search for Jack the Ripper”.  A good turnout reduced somewhat by the time change I am sure.  The AV guy told me that Ana wanted me to shorten my talk a new minutes but I explained that I was finishing up on time.  This had something to do with the Captain announcement and I guess with Mara’s talk following mine.  I don’t understand what it all means but I rarely do (note: I found out later than she didn't want my talk delaying the Captain's Spiel at 9:55 AM but I would have to be seriously late for that to happen).  

Today, my talk finished at 9:43 AM (two minutes early).  Lizzie Williams was the audience’s choice today.  I had a little mind burp trying to explain amelogenin so I will spend just a few seconds at the next session clarifying what I was try to say.

After the talk, Ellen and I spent a lot of time talking to a passenger who had done a very extensive genealogical study of his family.  Very complicated interactions – I told him that he needed to consult a genealogist to help him unravel the connections.

Lunch was in the Oceanview Café, which again was slammed.  I had a hodge-podge of stuff (nachos with cheese and veggie refried beans and some items from the vegan offerings – the vegan meat balls tasted just like meat). There are some nice items at the vegan station.  

We found a nice quiet, place for two on Deck 11 – there are no bands or any loud music going on so this is a perfect place to get caught up on the journaling.  You can’t see outside so you’re missing the ocean and waves – but that’s the tradeoff for quiet and comfort.

Dinner was in the Oceanview Cafe - more, very good pasta made to order.  I finally met the pasta lady - a very nice woman named Ana from Brazil.  We are now ship friends.

We didn't attend the show tonight so it must have been something we've seen or weren't that interested in.  

As we travel north to Greenland, the sunsets are getting later and later.  This photo was taken at 10:13 PM.

Seas are smooth and no time changes tonight.

August 9, 2024 – At Sea – Atlantic Ocean – Mostly Cloudy – 70s

Another early morning at sea.  Calm seas and a little cloudy.

The room was indeed quiet and we have a quiet neighbor.  Even so, I did not get much sleep and the symptoms are getting worse.  It still does not feel like COVID – when I do get it, I do not have a runny nose but I do have a yucky feeling and a wobbliness that was hard to describe.  That's not happening with whatever this is so I'm confident I don't have COVID. Still no fever- I didn't have a fever during my previous tussles with COVID, but I am taking acetaminophen for a scratchy throat. I should mention, whenever possible, we avoid high people density (we are letting full elevators go) so we don't catch something on board. 

I had to rush just a little bit through another breakfast (two eggs and pancakes) so I could get to my second talk on time.  Today’s lecture is “Open Unsolved Cases: Solving Cold Cases Through Genetic Genealogy”.  This is one of my newest lectures and I am still shoring up some sections to make them clearer for the audience in general. My audience was larger than yesterday’s but the early time is certainly reducing the turnout.  My runny nose made it difficult to get through this lecture but I finished at 9:48 AM. 

At 9:55 AM, the Captain gives his daily report – he tends to be a bit verbose and today’s report ran until 11:11 AM causing Mara to get a late start.  The important thing for me is to finish before he starts so I can get all my information across.

Today we had lunch in the Moonlight Sonata Dining Room (Deck 4) because they had broiled salmon.  The salmon was perfectly cooked and I also had the chef make me some Pad Thai without shrimp – also good.  Even the salad with French Vinaigrette, not a dressing I would normally have, was good. We both had key lime pie for dessert – probably, the best lunch we have had on board in a while.  And the service was quick, as well.  

I am hanging out in the cabin until I feel better.

Dinner was pasta with tomato sauce and veggies up in the buffet.  Not as good as usual. The dish quality depends, as you might expect, on the sauce and the sauce is quite variable.  Sometimes, it is simply marinara and other times, it is very sweet.  Today, it was sweet and not to my liking.  

Tonight’s Headliner is vocalist – Lauren Jelencovich, who has quite a resume.  

She won Star Search about 20 something years ago and was one of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People.  She’s performed with Dolly Parton and has been in a lot of opera’s (she a trained opera soprano).  Even though her voice is not as strong as some of the singers we have seen she was entertaining despite her adolescent approach to interacting with the audience (she is in her 40s).  She did a nice Disney medley and did a good job on “I Will Always Love You” and “The Prayer”.  It was a nice show – not loud and the songs were familiar. Always nice to get a show you haven't seen before.

After the show, we caught Next Stage in the Foyer.  An entertaining group.

Tonight, clocks move forward an hour.  So between the lingering jet lag, the bug I have, and the three time changes, I am a wreck.

August 8, 2024 – St. John’s, Newfoundland – Partly Cloudy – 70s

It's a beautiful day in the Canadian Maritime Province of Newfoundland.

And for me, it's another early morning and rushed breakfast (the breakfast is still good with all the items).  It was so early that I caught a beautiful sunrise followed by a dramatic sail in (featuring a picturesque lighthouse).

I was still dealing with my "cold" but I did get to the theater only to find that Shorex had sold my spot to a passenger and had also sold Ellen’s spot later in the day.  It would have been nice to get a heads up on this so we wouldn't have to get up and out so early.  Normally, we would just walk off the ship and look around the town but I did not feel up to it.  Ellen decided to get off the ship and take some pictures and see the town.  The last time we were here, it was on a road trip.

So while I hung out on the ship (going through my next lecture and logging this trip), Ellen took some nice pictures of St. John's sites.  I was able to identify some of them using Google Image Search.  Of course, the first photo would be of Eclipse docked at the cruise terminal

and another one of Eclipse from the town, giving you perspective on how big this ship is.

Ellen got a nice long shot of the St John's downtown area.

Some of the sites she saw included the St. John's Courthouse

and the Gower St United Church.

Ellen got back in time for lunch. 

I had a veggie burger from the Mast Grill on Deck 14.  Usually, there is a 10 minute wait for them to cook the burger but on this cruise, the veggie burgers (and probably everything else is already cooked and kept in a drawer).  The burger was Ok – I ate it in the Spa Café where Ellen had the Caprese Salad and Tuna Puck.  We didn’t stay there long because of the chlorine fumes.

Since the weather is perfect (warm and no wind), we found nice seats on Deck 5 just outside of the Theater.  

From there we got nice views of the St. John's Bay and the City.

We had our usual dinners up in the Oceanview Cafe (fresh pasta and whatever Ellen settled on).  I took a break to get a shot of a rare sunset ( the cruise will wind up close to the Arctic Circle where the Sun sets very late) during the sail away.

We passed on Showtime tonight and headed to our new room to wind down.  Still nursing the sniffles and whatever that is.

We moved the clocks another 30 minutes forward tonight.  Strange.

August 7, 2024 – At Sea – Atlantic Ocean – Partly Cloudy – 70s

A pretty nice day at sea as confirmed by the view from our cabin.

Didn’t sleep all that well – jet lag plus travel craziness. I was up in the Oceanview Café when it opened. At that hour, I didn't have any trouble getting a table with a view.

I had my usual waffle, cottage cheese, sour cream, jams and scrambled eggs.  I also had some oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar to start. The breakfast was certainly familiar and good.  I actually look forward to this breakfast every day.  Everything was here except for the sour cream.  Because I was up here early, I did have a nice relaxing breakfast including a good seat at a window.

I went down to the Theater at 8:30 AM to set up.  The AV guy was there and set up took just five minutes.  Eclipse has a new headset that is made of soft material and not wires like they used to have.  It also rests on the top of your ears and not wrap about them, which was unstable and uncomfortable. It was so much more comfortable to wear.  

My first talk – “The CSI Phenomenon: Forensics and Television” started with no introduction.  The AV set up was quick and easy.  The only issue is that the projector is optimized for the show graphics so the lecture graphics are a little fuzzy.  The audience was pretty good for 9 AM – maybe a couple hundred people of so (Eclipse Theater capacity is 1113. I spent a few minutes chatting with passengers.  One passenger wanted to take a picture with me (why not) so his wife took one. Now, that's what I call a good start to the lecture series. The talk itself was OK - it all depends on how many passengers are fans of forensic shows.  I don't think there were a lot of them in this bunch.

I finished right on time at 9:45 AM and the Destination Speaker, Mara Unkefer (a Marine Biologist) set up for her talk on the animals of the region.  As I was leaving the theater, I ran into Ana Dulce, who handed me a post it note with an new cabin number, 3132 – outside stateroom Midships.  We checked out the room and it was perfectly set up and strategically located.  I sent Ana a thank you note.

Today’s lunch in the Oceanview Cafe was semi-special – A "Taste of the UK" so we had fish and chips.  If you got the fish fresh it was very good as were the chips.  Since the ship is running at capacity, the Oceanview Café is slammed at lunch and it is difficult to find a table.  We lucked out and did find a place to sit. The plan is get up here a bit earlier and stake out a table.

We visited Shorex in search of Escorting opportunities.  After some discussion, we both got escort spots – mine was in the morning and involve beer and rum tasting – downside, I had to be in the theater at 8:45 AM.  Ellen was escorting a walking tour of St John’s in the afternoon.  It sounded like a score.

We found some window seats in Cafe al Baccio and hung out there for most of the afternoon.  

We had dinner in the Oceanview Café – I had veggie sir fry made fresh with rice instead of noodles. The cook and his assistant did a great job tonight - delicious.  

I don’t know if it was the jet lag or the lack of sleep but I developed what felt like a cold – pretty sure it’s not COVID (no fever or aches) but I do have a runny nose and a little cough.  I think it’s due to the cleaning materials they use on the ship. 

We passed on the show tonight – “Amade” – we had seen it before.

We did get some good seats in the Foyer and watched and listened to "Next Stage".  The lead singer is very good and has a distinctive look - pink hair.  Not too loud - songs that we know - just right for easy listening.

The new room is pretty quiet – there is a "ship noise" that sounds like the stabilizers are being deployed.  However, as ship noises go, this is pretty benign and won’t be an issue.  It only comes on rarely or not at all.

We moved our clocks forward 30 minutes (yes 30 minutes) to put us on Newfoundland time.

August 6, 2024 – Halifax, Nova Scotia – Cloudy – Cool – High 60s

We didn’t get much sleep (getting in late and all wound up with the delays) even though the room was very comfortable and quiet.  I went down early and had a nice breakfast - some cold cereal, some eggs, a bagel, and coffee (to the best of my recollection due to extreme jet lag and fatigue).  Ellen came down later and I had some more coffee.  

We took an Uber to the port of Halifax.  The ride through the countryside took about an hour – 44 km and CAD$83.72 (about $61).  Our driver decided to give us a little tour of the downtown area, which was a good idea except that he got behind a tour bus that was constantly stopping.  That little tour took almost an hour. 

When we got to the ship, a Celebrity staff member was there to greet us and expedite our sign in.  We were told that 38 passengers had also joined at Halifax due to weather delays and cancellations. We dropped off our luggage in Cabin 8175 (inside far forward starboard).  Celebrity Speakers are supposed to be in outside cabins but the ship is totally booked and that is what was available. We didn't stay long in the room as it is a little confining.  We are very familiar with the Solstice Class ships so we went up to the Sky Lounge so we could get a view of the city.

From that vantage point I could see the other ship here today - the Emerald Princess.  She's not docked - must be tendering.

We got some lunch at the Oceanview Café. It was nice to get a big salad (Celebrity has very good salad dressings especially the Ranch Dressing). Some tuna salad and egg salad rounded out the lunch. 

We went back to the Sky Lounge in the afternoon.  

You can see the island - George's Island - in Halifax Bay.

I had written to Ana Dulce Aleman (the Activities Manager) earlier and told her we would be joining at Halifax.  She was not on board but called later to say we would meet at 7 PM at Shorex to film a promo video and work out the lecture schedule. 

I filmed the video with the AV guy (in one take - not bad for a very tired person) 

and then waited for Ana Dulce to finish her next day video with Cruise Director Manuel Fragoso (from Mexico).  I should mention that I have never sailed with either Ana Dulce or Manuel before. (Manuel turned out to be quite entertaining - one of the funniest CDs we have seen).  We went to Ana Dulce's office behind Celebrity Central to discuss my talks. I was originally going to present at 11:15 AM each sea day but there was a large group on board (I think they were "knitters") that needed the Theater so now my talks would be at 9 AM each day (YIKES).  That’s going to be interesting.  My first talk was scheduled for tomorrow in the Eclipse Theater.  She also said that she would reschedule the Titanic Talk that I missed later in the cruise.

During our meeting with Ana, Ellen mentioned that we were in an interior room and that the accommodations for a BTP speaker called for an exterior cabin.  I showed her my contract that indicated the accommodations.  She said she would look into it (our previous attempts to get our cabin changed were unsuccessful). 

We had dinner up in the Oceanview Café – I had the pasta lady make me some fresh spaghetti with veggies (pretty good).  Ellen usually grabs a bunch of things for dinner.

We watched the sailaway from the Cafe.

We passed on the show tonight – magician James Cielen - that we had seen before.

We listened to some of the groups on board. A group from the Philippines with a very good lead singer, was in the Foyer.  We will make sure to catch them during this cruise.

We avoided going to the room too early - it's a nice room except for the lack of a window.  Not a good thing for Circadian rhythms.

We also did not unpack the suitcases except for the things we needed for tomorrow.

Hey, it was a mess but we're here.

Celebrity Eclipse – Back to Back – Port Liberty, NJ to Boston, MA – Greenland and Iceland – August 4-28, 2024

We are really looking forward to our upcoming back to back cruise on Celebrity Eclipse, which will visit Greenland and Iceland (on each leg) leaving from Bayonne and returning to Boston. We have never been to Greenland and are hoping to see some Northern Lights on this cruise.  I should note that the Activities Manager on Eclipse, Ana Dulce, has already contacted me via email concerning the talks and the order they should be given on the first cruise.  And for this trip, I even bought a new suitcase - a little bigger than carry on but a size that will make packing easier.

This cruise is complicated by the fact that our condo is being renovated while we are gone and the renovation started the week before the cruise.  So, we had to stay in a hotel in nearby Glenview for that week (separate packing) and bring along the two cruise suitcases. On the day before the cruise, we are going to drop our cars at our kid's place (along with the hotel suitcase) and then head to the airport after checking out of our hotel. It's pretty crazy but we did think it through and it should work.  

Travel Nightmare

I always check the weather forecast at both our departure and arrival airport.  While the weather in Chicago is beautiful, the situation on the East Coast is not.  Our cruise was supposed to originate in Port Liberty (Bayonne NJ) but severe and persistent thunderstorms are causing delays and cancellations of flights.  Nevertheless, our AA App said we were on time so we departed for the airport.  Our aircraft, AA1688, was at the gate, which I took as a good sign.  

Delays started almost immediately.  There was a glimmer of hope when we boarded our flight ( (B737-800 with Cabin Extra Seats) and actually pushed and started rolling.  

I could tell something was up when our plane was taking a long time to get to a runway.  The captain came on and said that the plane had been directed back to the terminal.

I was checking the weather radar in Newark and I knew that we were not going to fly today. The flight was indeed cancelled after a delay of several hours and it took almost three hours to get our checked bags back. This was a first for us and I always wondered how you got your bags back once a flight was cancelled. It's a nightmare; they are taken back off the plane and put on a special carousel in Baggage Claim.  A lot of American flights were cancelled so a lot of bags were going to be on that carousel. Ellen had convinced the agent at bag retrieval to flag our bags (that probably got us some priority).

I cheered when I saw Ellen's bag finally emerge onto the carousel. Mine came off a few minutes later.

Since this was a new experience for us, I first contacted my agent who told me to call the Celebrity Corporate Travel Emergency Desk.  The agent was very helpful and cancelled our NJ Hotel and set up a hotel for the night (Best Western Inn and Suites O’Hare) so we could get an early flight tomorrow.  The agent at Corporate did some more checking and finally told us that the ATC mess at Newark would not be cleared up for several days and there were no flights the next day for Newark. That meant that we would miss the ship.  

We took an Uber to the Hotel (the driver was a tad confused - I had ordered a ride to the Hotel but he took us from Terminal 2, the Uber pickup location (a long walk from AA T3, by the way) back to T3 (what?).  After I clarified things for him, he took us to the hotel.  Not a big tip or lot of stars for that guy.  

The Hotel was nice and quiet.  We were in Room 306 and the beds were comfortable.

After breakfast, I got on the phone again with Corporate Travel and she told me that, based on available flights (the ATC system was still wacked out with the storms), our best option was to fly out on August 5 (while Eclipse was at sea) and join the ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Celebrity Travel set up another hotel night for us here and new flights for August 5; United didn't have any flights available so she got us on Air Canada flights (code shared with United).  We would first fly to Toronto with connections to Halifax.  My agent notified Celebrity of the problem and said they would be expecting us in Halifax.

August 5, 2024

At the gate, I watched our plane arrive from its previous location.  

After a weather delay (there was also nasty weather in Toronto), we boarded the aircraft. When I noticed that the flaps were extended in the take off configuration, I felt like this plane was actually going to depart.

We did depart for Toronto on Air Canada 506 and were airborne at 2:40 PM; our aircraft was an A220-200 – my first flight on this aircraft and we had nice seats on the two side and some decent legroom.

This is what I look like when we are finally in the air.

The flight to Toronto was relatively smooth - a short flight over the Lake and into Toronto.

We landed in Toronto about 6 PM local time. The situation in Toronto was predictably chaotic due to weather primarily and after some delays (you can see the water on the tarmac from the rain) and six gate changes in Toronto (thunderstorms again).  I had loaded the Air Canada app on my phone which helped me track all of the gate changes.  We got to what hopefully would be our departure gate to find an aircraft ready to go.

The weather improved somewhat (some blue sky poked through the storm clouds) and we left for Halifax on Air Canada 616 (aisle across on an A321-200 also with decent standard seat legroom).  The passenger in the middle seat immediately went into sleep mode and the guy at the window coughed and hacked the entire flight.  We'll have to keep any eye on any symptoms as COVID has come back and it's pretty tight quarters on this flight.

The flight to Halifax was close to the bumpiest flight we have ever been on – I could not get my drink to my lips because the plane shifted so much.  The seat belt sign was on the whole time - fortunately, I didn't need to leave my seat for the duration of the flight (a little over two hours).

We touched down around 11:00 PM and our bags came right out (whew).  It was very creepy - it was just us and a some folks traveling together waiting for a pick up outside of the baggage claim area at midnight. Here I am calling the hotel to see where the shuttle is.

The shuttle finally came and took us to the Holiday Inn Express Halifax Airport (thank goodness it was a 24-hour shuttle), which was out in the countryside and not really at the airport.  We were both tired but the place was comfortable and almost identical to the HIE we stayed in at ORD.  I honestly don't recall the room number but it was nice and quiet.

Celebrity Corporate Travel Emergency Services (Gladys) did a phenomenal job getting us to Halifax so we can join the ship.

June 24, 2024 – San Diego, CA – Beautiful – Sunny – 80s

Disembarkation Day

Another beautiful day in San Diego.

We are in Group Purple 2.  Our meeting time in the Galaxy Lounge is 8:15 AM for an 8:30 AM departure.

I was, of course, up way early and up in the Marketplace Buffet at 7:00 AM.  I got my usual table and  had my usual breakfast – Ellen came up a bit later.  We were able to get our breakfast in a non-crowded, non-chaotic way.

We went to the Galaxy Lounge at our appointed time, 

hugged it out and said goodbye to Marina Bregles (Shorex), and then proceeded to the busses.  The ride to the airport was short – SAN was only four miles away – and the bus dropped us off at Terminal 2 West for United Airlines.  SAN has a lot of outdoor ticket agents – skycaps sort of.  We got in line for (I had pre-checked our bags online) and inquired about an earlier flight.  He didn’t have that kind of information so we went inside the terminal to a full service agent.

We explained our need to get on an earlier flight and after tapping a few keys and staring at the screen, he said he could get us on the 10:40 AM flight (it was pretty close to 9:00 AM now).  I explained that we have special seats and he said he was able to get Economy Plus seats at no charge (he called it an upgrade but I had already paid for them).  We got exit row seats 20E and 20F (middle and window), which would be just fine. These seats were the last two seats left on the plane - I guess the steep price for these seats deterred people from purchasing them.

The TSA PreChek line was just a few feet away but it was moving very slowly (only two screening lines).  There was also a drug sniffing dog moving along the security line.  We didn’t get through the TSA line until close to 9:45 AM.  Fortunately, Gate 44 was not that far away and we got to the gate just as they were boarding.  We are in Priority Group 2 and we boarded without any issues – my backpack was in the overhead department and I had the window seat (at least for takeoff).  I have a good view of the starboard engine and wing.

United 1840 – a B737-800 – was scheduled for departure at 10:40 AM and pushed right on time. The takeoff is very similar to LAX – the plane takes off over the Pacific and then turns back to start the flight path to ORD. The visibility was good and there was a lot to see.

The pilot said that the first 30 minutes of the flight would be bumpy and asked the flight attendants to stay seated and start their serving process once smooth air was found.  I did not really find the climb out to be overly bumpy.  

We ate the small bagels (lox and a dab of cream cheese) that we got from the Bistro the night before.  I had my usual two cups of coffee and glass of orange juice.  It did the trick. 

I spent the whole flight checking the plane’s route (United provides free Flight Aware information on its app), looking out the window, and generally just relaxing.  The flight took about four hours (including taxiing and ground time).  The flight was generally smooth until we got a little closer to Chicago and then the pilot said we were going to hitting some “Chicago potholes” (aka storm clouds).  The 737 maneuvered around the dramatic storm clouds and kept the plane relatively chop free. 

The flight path took us straight into ORD from the South (no big circle over the Lake) – the pilot didn’t even mention that we were on approach to ORD (I could tell because I was tracking the flight) and the plane landed at about 4 PM.  I actually stayed in my seat the whole time. 

We parked in the C Terminal and had to cross under the tarmac (the New Age lights are still there but the music was off) to get to Baggage Claim.  Our bags came out pretty quickly and the cab that I called showed up in about five minutes.  He took a slightly different route to our building – using the tollway for a lot of the time.  There was no $6 surcharge for this ride. 

Dova and Danny moved our cars to the Linden remote CTA lot, which will help us tomorrow.

Overall, a good cruise – despite the rainy weather.