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.
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