November 11, 2021 – At Sea – Atlantic Ocean – Partly Cloudy – 80s

Didn’t sleep well due to the shimmy/shutter of the ship; the ship was also creaking (I thought creaking was an issue with older ships but Apex is brand new) and I did not put in my earplugs because the evening was quiet up until then.

I have a 9:15 AM Lecture this morning so I was at the Oceanview Café when it opened.  I had my usual waffle and trimmings, which was yummy as usual.  I should mention that the coffee is still good as long as it is diluted by a third with hot water.

Even though it was early, another nice crowd came out for “Forensics and History: Identifying the Famous and Infamous”.  A bit larger than the turnout pre-island hop. The weather outside is beautiful and a formidable opponent for any lecturer.  I was introduced by Darren and I hung around afterwards to chat with passengers.  The actual feedback has been very positive.

Up in Eden, I am still making my way through my book – “One Day Gone” – and am starting to think that this book, while reasonably written, may be a religious book instead of a mystery.  There has been more talk about praying than about forensics and police work.  I will give it a few more pages before I bag it.

We haven’t gone to the Cosmopolitan Restaurant 

                       

for dinner yet because we cannot find enough items on their regular menu.  It took a whole cruise for us to figure out that this restaurant is the only one open for lunch (maybe only on sea days).  They have a lot of interesting items on their lunch menu and it’s walk in.  We got a great table by the window in the corner.  We both had the fried mushroom starter (terrific).  I had a green salad with their super ranch dressing. My main course was a veggie burger, the same ones served up in the Mast Grill but here you don’t have to order and come back to pick up your burger.  The burger was a huge Beyond Burger (my best guess – I asked the waiter to find out but he never came back with any info).  It was super good and it didn’t smell like the burgers I cook back home.  I will have to do some detective work to find out what this burger really is.  Ellen had an egg panini that I think she liked.  Both mains came with freshly prepared fries.  However, the main event was the dessert, a chocolate brownie with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream – easily the best dessert of the cruise so far.  I should mention that Olga, the Hostess, here is very accommodating as are all of the hosts and hostesses on the ship.  It was also nice to have a relaxing lunch with a view.

Ellen has wangled an Art Tour of the Ship.  She came back with all sorts of interesting information on all of the installations on the ship.  Unfortunately, there were no handouts so it was difficult to remember all of them.  One of the most interesting was a large metallic installation on the floor near the Normandie Restaurant.  I thought it was a compass but Ellen said it has something to do with measuring the waves.  Not convinced of that.  In the ceiling several floors up from that instrument was a view of the constellations.

After lunch, we went to Eden and found some nice seats where we could watch the water go by.  It looked like the ship was a full throttle because the reported speed was 19.5 knots.  It’s a long way back to Florida.

While we were there, we caught a rehearsal session of the aerialists who are part of the Eden Cast.

As we were leaving, I decided to take a picture of the Eden sign, which is actually full of plants.  I thought it was different from the one on Celebrity Edge but a check of the log indicated that they were the same.  

Dinner tonight was in the Normandie Restaurant. All through the cruise, in an "abundance of caution" (overused but effective), we have been asking for a table for two away from other people.  That has morphed into a table for four with only two settings.  Tonight, we hit the jackpot, a table for six just for us and by the window.  This required documentation.

After the blue cheese tart appetizer, I tried the spicy plantain soup from the Veggie menu (didn’t like it – spicy with little taste). (It again took a whole cruise to find out that the restaurants had Vegetarian Menus).  I tried to be adventurous and try the Herb Encrusted Haddock but it came covered with some green powder and was undercooked.  I sent that back and settled on a sure thing, the Halibut – it also was different from what we had had earlier in the cruise but it was still good.  We decided to get dessert upstairs after the show.

The headliner tonight was Jason Bishop (a magician) and his assistant Kim (I assume that she is his wife even though he never mentioned it.  We met them both during our pre-boarding COVID testing – she told Ellen that they had a "little magic show" they put on.  I did some checking in my cruise logs and we had seen Jason about 10 years ago.  He may have done three or four tricks during the performance but he filled the time with some funny banter – he would be a pretty good comedian.  When we saw him years ago, he wasn’t so much a comic magician but rather a low-key magic guy.  The audience liked his banter.  He once again put Kim into a tiny foot square box and speared her with three swords.  I couldn’t figure out how he did in the first time we saw it and still can’t figure it out.  Kim must be triple joined or extremely flexible or it might just be "magic".  She and the box were clearly visible at all times.  That’s why it’s magic.  Jason and Kim also did the classic “Metamorphosis” illusion but there are parts of that that I have figured out.  Even with the high-tech screens and cameras it was difficult to see some of the close-up magic.  All in all, a very entertaining show.  The pics are below.

                         

                              

                                                   

Up in room while trying to find something on the room TV, I came across an advert for my next talk from Lauren and Darren. (It also took until the end of the cruise to find out that my talks were rebroadcast on Channel 2 - I had been watching this channel but I guess I just missed them).  The AV was great - a split screen showing me and the slides.  The camera was following me as I walked so someone was actually there.

Seas are smoother.

Clocks move back an hour to put us on EDT.