December 26, 2022 – Panama Canal – Mostly Cloudy – 80F

We are going through the new Agua Clara Locks today, spending some time in Gatun Lake and then through the locks again and docking in Colon, Panama for a short time.  Traffic only moves in one direction in the new locks so we can't go back through until the afternoon sometime.

I was up in the Oceanview Café early and there were people up there already. After my usual breakfast (I did score my usual seat), we watched the transit from various locations on the ship.  There are no locomotives or lots of workers and noise in the new locks.  The ship goes into the locks – the pocket doors slide shut and the ship is raised and released into Gatun Lake. It's almost boring.  

We had lunch in the Eden Café again – I had the salad and gorgonzola cheese again along with the vegetarian avocado sandwich.  I honestly did not know what was in that sandwich.  I did ask for a scoop of tuna and the tuna outside of the pita was really good.

Eden’s Café has become quite popular and the two lines – one for salads and one for sandwiches - have gotten pretty long.  That, coupled with the relative lack of seating makes for an interesting lunch. We usually sit in the semi-comfortable high seats along the window.

In the afternoon, after dropping off some passengers on excursions (via tenders), 

the ship turned around and headed back through the Aqua Clara Locks on her way to Colon, Panama.  

We managed again to get some seats on the Magic Carpet and we had our soft serve cream.  When it's not breezy, the Magic Carpet is a great place to be - it's covered and comfortable.

The ship docked at the "Colon 2000" Cruise Terminal.  We decided to get off the ship and check out the new shopping center.  I really wanted to get a shot of the ship docked.  

The shopping center reminded me of the one in Fuerte Amador.  We didn’t stay long but the passengers were throwing around dollars thinking they had found a bargain. 

No show tonight. The only entertainment is the Canal.  We have discovered that the best place to be on the ship – in good weather – is on the aft deck just outside the Oceanview Café.  You can find a seat against the railing, put your feet up, and, if you are lucky, the screaming lady has turned down her volume.  We did this while docked in Colon.

Late departure from Colon but everyone was on board at big early so the ship pushed early as it set a course for the ABC Islands.

December 25, 2022 – Cartagena, Colombia – Party Cloudy – 85F

It’s a relatively short stop in Cartagena so we opted to stay on the ship – and since it is Christmas Day, it made no sense to even go visit the little shopping mall at the end of the pier.  Other people were getting off the ship because the buffet was packed when I got up there.  I had to sit at a skinny table next to the ice cream parlor to eat my breakfast.  I had the usual combo of waffles, cottage cheese, jams, and scrambled eggs.  There are pancakes but the specialty package seems to be craisin (dried cranberry) pancakes – not my first choice.  The food was good but it was too crowded to stay up there.

I documented our stop in Cartagena.

We had a late breakfast out on the deck in the Oceanview Café in lieu of lunch. I had a bagel with lox and cream cheese and some herring. They have very good lox and herring on this ship and while they can't find the sour cream, the herring was available the entire cruise (other ships run out in the first couple of days).  Bill Fall came over and joined us so that was a pleasant way to spend a morning.

The real lunch was fish and chips in the Oceanview Café – the fish was a little greasy but a nice change.  The chips were good as well.

Bill had a post departure talk in the theater that I went to see. It was about the new locks - I didn't know that much about the new canal so it all was all new to me.

  

Tonight, we had dinner in the Greek themed Cyprus Restaurant.  I had the Taverna Salad (a Greek Salad sort of), Saganaki (different from the last time we had it), a Boston Lettuce and Feta Cheese Salad (that was good), and broiled Salmon (underdone). Service was quick and efficient today.  The orders came right out despite the fact that the place was full.

The show tonight was “The Uptown Boys” - four guys who pay tribute to the music of Billy Joel and his musical, "Moving Out".  Although a musical cousin to "Jersey Boys", it has different choreography, and the songs are some of my favorites.  The four vocalists had great voices and the show was highly entertaining.  Best of all, the dB levels were tolerable, and we could enjoy the show.  Why can't they all be like this?

After the show, we tried the acoustic music in Eden but there was too much Cello tonight and not enough vocals.  

We went to the room for the night.

December 24 – 2022 – At Sea – Partly Cloudy – 85F

Another nice day at sea – slept pretty well.  The fridge was making a little noise so only one earplug was necessary.  

Found my usual seat in the germ-free zone (I hope) of the Oceanview Cafe and watched the Sun come up again - it never gets old. 

It is quieter than usual up here so I guess the screaming lady must be having a later gig today.  Breakfast is still good with a real waffle this time.  After some back and forth about whether there was sour cream out on the buffet, I was able to get one of the server folks to get me some sour cream, but it took so long that I had basically finished my waffle and cottage cheese.  The coffee was not hot this morning for some reason. Hot coffee is an important component of breakfast.  Here's the breakfast of champions.

We had lunch in the Eden’s Café – I remember how good the tuna sandwiches on freshly sliced bread were.  Unfortunately, the tuna was only available in a mini pita, and I did not care for the new version. What was good was the Salad with gorgonzola, beets, and walnuts along with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  Honey cake was the dessert instead of the honey walnut version of the past.  Still the salad was very good.  The place is very popular and fills up quickly – we got there right at opening. They have two lines to get food - the first line is like an assisted salad bar - you tell them what you want, and they assemble your salad.  The second line is for sandwich orders.  Iced tea is self-serve.  They use pagers to let people know when their items are ready.

No lectures again today – it’s a little odd but there are a lot of Christmas activities going on and the theater and Club are probably booked.  So, after lunch, we wandered up the Eden Fibonacci spiral to the hanging swings, where Ellen made herself comfortable.  

We went back to get ready for dinner and I decided to try and take a picture of the "Corridor of Weird", there are heavy metal figures that impede your way from the shop area to the Eden's area.  It's dark and a little tight in there and definitely creepy in an artsy sort of way.

When we got back to the room, we were greeted with a fantastic fresh flower basket.  I am guessing this had to do with our room issues early on.  It was beautiful and it lasted the whole trip and got more interesting as each set of flowers opened.

We had dinner up in the Oceanview Café and things have changed a lot since we were here last.  The biggest change is that the pasta station, my favorite, is gone – there is still a stir fry station but after looking at it, I opted not to try it.  Salad and pizza were the only things that appealed to us tonight.  The pizza is a little strange to in that there is not a lot of tomato sauce on the pizza just a lot of tasty cheese. 

We passed on the Christmas Show tonight in the theater and instead took in the acoustic set in Eden. No viola tonight just Lucy and Dalton.

First port of call tomorrow.  

Seas are smooth.

December 23 – 2022 – At Sea – Mostly Sunny – 85F

Our first sea day; it’s a beautiful day as the ship steams toward the north coast of Cuba.  I slept pretty well last night and I’m ready for my favorite meal of the day – Breakfast in the Ocean View Café.  Even though I got up there at just a bit after opening, the place was crawling with some of the 3000 passengers including a lot of kids.  I got my favorite seat in the far corner of the room where ice cream is served – there was no one in there with me so I could take off my mask, which I wore in the elevator on the way here.  No one else in my immediate vicinity is wearing a mask.  Maybe, Celebrity Edge is a floating herd-immune vessel – I doubt that since most of the passengers got on in the Republic of Florida, a land of anti-vaxxers.

I got a beautiful picture of the sun coming up in the Atlantic Ocean.  As you can see, the sea is like a lake.

 

I had a waffle with cottage cheese and jams plus some very good, scrambled eggs.  I tried to get sour cream, which Edge used to have as a standard item, but that didn’t work out.  The waffle was also kind of wonky, soggy and dark.  I might have gotten one of their “special” waffles (blueberry?) by mistake.

I brought Ellen her breakfast – lox, cream cheese, bread, fruit, and cucumbers. Our routine has been initiated.

The trick on Edge - we found out two years ago - is to find a quiet place – it’s nearly impossible but we started off on the pool deck (we are going to focus on outdoor spaces in case the ship is a COVID super-spreader) – that was OK but too many people talking around us.  So we headed out for lunch.

We decided to try the Cosmopolitan Dining Room for lunch – it is the only dining room serving lunch (only on sea days, I think). While waiting to be seated, I am still sporting my trademark 4-layer black mask. And yes, they made me lose the cap once I walked in the room.  While, that is a good thing, the dress code was enforced sparingly and inconsistently.  

Ellen had the egg and fines herbs panini, and I had the veggie burger. We both had the crispy mushroom in artichoke sauce (one of the best dishes on the ship).  We both had the Key Lime Salad which was OK.  The cold potato soup was thin and tasteless, and the veggie burger was thin and a little overdone.  It didn’t taste like either an “Impossible Burger” or a “Beyond Burger”.

It is very difficult to find a seat on Deck 14's breezeway - the inner, larger, seats require a fee and a reservation, and the smaller outer ones are always taken. We got lucky today and I documented that with this picture.

From there we went to the Solarium, which was pretty quiet and today had little if any chlorine smell.  I am reading “Colorblind”, probably the only Jesse Stone novel I’ve not read.

We had dinner in the Normandie Dining Room.  Cesar Salad, broiled salmon, baked potato, and creamed spinach for me.  Ellen had the baked brie and broiled salmon.  The Cesar Salad was OK, but the salmon was undercooked, and the baked potato was OK.  I also ordered some sautéed spinach which did not come out as I expected. I'll have to fine tune the cooking instructions next time.

The Central Plaza was hopping as we walked to the Theater.

Showtime tonight featured Alicia Hill, a vocalist who, according to her online background was a Cruise Director on Azamara.  

We never saw her on an Azamara Ship.  She is an Aretha Franklin type of singer, so we lasted about a song and half, and we were saturated with decibels.  I should mention that Alicia Hill is our neighbor, and we can hear her practicing every so often. 

We took refuge again in Eden where the singers are acoustic only.  I like the lead singers (Lucy and Dalton) and the guitarist while the viola played by the fourth member of the troupe is a little grating after a while.  

Headed to the room - another non-working sea day tomorrow.  Could get used to that.

December 22, 2022 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Partly Cloudy - Warm

Embarkation Day

The room was indeed quiet, and I think we both got some sleep. I went down around 7 AM (breakfast was from 6:30 – 9:30 AM) early enough to get a show of dawn skies from the hotel.

Right near the elevator is a really neat photomural of an airplane jet engine.

It was a modest breakfast, but they did have waffles.  I had some Product 19 and a waffle, and I tried a little bit of a chocolate muffin.  The coffee was OK, but the disposable cups were small.  The breakfast was passable.

Checkout was 11 AM but we had that extended to 11:30 AM.  The shuttle do the cruise port was run through a third party and ran $15 a person.  I went with Uber instead.  I called one Uber but as the car was about a minute away another driver appeared on the app.  The ride was $10.12 including a $2 “booking fee”.  Our driver did not get out of the car to help me with the bags so NO TIP.  Port Everglades is really close to the hotel and we were there in no time. We had to show ID to enter the port. Celebrity Edge was docked at Pier 25, but you could see the huge ship before you got into the cruise port. 

We dropped our bags with a porter ($5 tip) and headed to security and check in.  We had digital express passes so our visit with the Pier Coordinator was short and probably not necessary.  She didn’t ask for anything and said we could get on the ship.  We went to the Oceanview Café on Deck 14 Aft for lunch – a salad for me. 

We are in Cabin 3195, the second one from the end of the corridor.  We were in 3197 the last time we were on Edge, which abuts one of the restaurants.  We do have a neighbor in 3197 and we will see how quiet he is.  Cabin 3195 seemed smaller this time round, but this was probably due to the larger cabins we have been in since including an upgrade on the Apex.  Still, it’s a great room with a spacious shower and bathroom.  

It does lack closet space but we don’t usually bring much along so no problem there.  There is no real place for our shoes, so they are out of the way on the floor. 

We checked in with Restaurant Reservations and made 5:30 PM reservations for Tuscany for tonight and Normandie for tomorrow.

We attended the Chanukah celebration in The Club, which was led by a rabbi from Aventura FL.  We got there at 5:02 PM and missed the candle lighting.  There was a great turnout, and everyone joined in the songs – the rabbi played a guitar.  We couldn’t stay for the latkes and sufganyot because of our dinner reservations. 

As we headed Aft toward the restaurants, I did get a shot of the Central Plaza.  This area is usally extremely loud but it was a bit quiet now and I took a shot of the dance floor.  I was never able to figure out the names of the various bands and groups playing in the Plaza.

The dinner in Tuscany was OK.  I had the wedge salad, but it did not come with much dressing, so I asked for more.  I had the Branzino and it was OK – like Halibut.  We both had the mushroom flan and I thought it was tasty but gooey. We both had apple pie a la mode for dessert. 

The show tonight in the theater featured comedian James Demaris, who hails from Texas. James was introduced by Lewis Power Stannard, the Cruise Director, who, like all CDs has a little shtick he does when he comes on stage (in this case a little pirouette that stops the music).  Before the show started, Lewis shared some passenger information - there are folks from 60 different countries on board. Strangely, there aren't that many Canadians. There aren't as many Americans as you might expect and there are also a lot of non-English speakers on this cruise. There are also 270 kids on board. 

James was pretty offbeat and sported mid back length dreadlocks, which he kept clearing away from his face.  His act revolved around his time entertaining the troops in Iraq.  His humor wasn’t rib tickling, and he was difficult to understand but there were some funny bits, in his act. The theater wasn’t full, but the turnout was OK.

The letter in my room said I was to meet with the Activity Manager, Crystal Ott, at 8:45 PM in her office.  We had some time so we stayed in the Club to watch “True or False” one of the many game shows they run on board. Crystal and her staff ran the game and winner got a Celebrity trinket. Crystal said that she was from Oklahoma – she doesn’t have a trace of twang.

At 8:45 PM, we went to Crystal’s Office (Starboard Side just before the theater entrance on Deck 4).  She wasn’t there yet but Bill Fall, the Priest, and we were all crammed into the small office space. We said hello to the Cruise Director, Lewis.  Crystal finally arrived and spent quite a while with the priest trying to figure out all of the masses and other Christmas events.  When she got to us, it almost seemed like she didn’t know who we were.  That is pretty close to the truth since she did not have any of our information from shore side.  I wound up emailing my topics to her – I don’t know what Bill did.  It turns out that neither of us is speaking on the first two sea days.  There are only three legitimate sea days left in the cruise so who know what kind of schedule she will come up.  I would be happy to just be a quasi-passenger and not give any talks if it came down to that.  I asked her about my travel receipts, and she told me to email those to her.

Out next stop was the iCafe, where my internet was set up.

Back in the room for the night.

The room was not made up for the night.  I called Guest Services and an attendant, not ours, showed up.  He said our attendant was sick – swore it wasn’t COVID – and was unable to do the room – shouldn’t someone be assigned his room until he gets back?  Anyway, we told the attendant that the room was OK for now and he did leave some chocolates. 

Here's the itinerary for this Caribbean Holiday Cruise.

Celebrity Edge – Caribbean / Panama Canal / ABC Islands / Holiday Cruise – December 22, 2022 to January 2, 2023 - RT Ft. Lauderdale

December 21, 2022 – Travel Day

The flights arranged by Celebrity were very different on this cruise.  We are booked on Southwest Airlines 863/662.  Our first flight to Nashville departs O’Hare at 11:25 AM.  The taxi was scheduled for 9:30 AM, which, even though we are unfamiliar with how Southwest works, should give us enough time to get everything done.  We got to Terminal 5 before 10 AM; the Southwest kiosk area was packed but I did get an open station and printed our boarding passes and luggage tags.  We also got our boarding passes for the Nashville to FLL leg (Boarding Group B 14 and 16 – see below for an explanation on how this works).  Ellen’s fair included two checked bags, which would fly with us to Ft Lauderdale.  They didn’t have nearly enough bag drop agents, so we spent about 10 minutes in line before dropping our two suitcases.

We are at Gate M37 – the gates are numbered consecutively so this gate is 37 gates away from the TSA Pre-Check Security area.  The walk seemed interminable and clocked at near 4000 steps.  I was so glad we had checked those bags because they would have seemed pretty heavy by the time we arrived at the gate.  M37 was in a cluster at the end of the M Concourse.  That part of the terminal seemed new as confirmed by the construction still going on.  The agent desks looked new as well and the waiting area was quite crowded with Southwest passengers.  We were supposed to board at 10:55 AM but the agent told us that although our plane - SW863 - was here, the crew was one short, the pilot.  

Another pilot was due to land his plane is about 30 minutes and he would hustle over and fly our plane. 

Since this was our first time on Southwest this was also our first experience with the “unique” boarding process.  There are no assigned seats – only boarding groups and within those groups there are numbers which indicate where in that group you are.  Group A are either elite or are paying a premium to be in that group.  Most people are in Group B (like us) and then there is the dreaded Group C, where you probably won’t be able to sit with your group and be left with a middle seat in the rear of the plane. 

Just 24 hours earlier. Check-in and group assignment is done online exactly 24 hours before departure.  I was on both of our phones on the Southwest App at exactly 11:25AM – Ellen got checked in and when I hit the key, something happened and I had to start over.  So Ellen was assigned B4, and I was in B6.  So that was about the best we could expect.  It costs $30 pp for early check-in, but you will still get in the B group.

The pilot was still not there but the boarding process started.  There are poles and signs set up with number starting with one and going to the 30s.  Group A was called, and passengers gathered next to the sign with their boarding number.  Military, families, and mobility challenged persons got on first.  Then Group A got on in order.  By got on I mean they stayed in that order in the jetway.  Group B, including us, were next.  By the time, we got on the aircraft there were very few seats left – we snared a middle and window near the back.  It was only an hour flight so it would be OK.  The plane was full, and the aisle seats went fast. 

The pilot showed up and got a round of applause.  Two of our flight attendants were apparently seconded from a Comedy Club because they had a routine going the whole flight.  I actually like my flight attendants to be serious members of the crew, so I was not that thrilled. 

Our B-737-700 (no chargers) departed about 35 miles late.  Because our flight was over 170 miles (that's the rule), we were able to get a soft drink.  Southwest did have nice snacks – party mix – that were nicer than just pretzels.  The flight was smooth and the flight to Nashville short.

Our gate at Nashville was very close to our arrival gate.  When we got there, there was no plane at that gate and we were told that that flight was delayed as well.  There is a bomb cyclone and winter storm watch for a lot of the country, so flight delays are all over the place.  The flight (SW662) did come in about a half hour late.  We can’t miss our connection if it isn’t there.

The boarding process was the same and this time we got aisle across seats for the 2 hr 15 minute flight to BNE.  That flight did not have comedian flight attendants.  The flight was smooth.  To our dismay, we realized that Ellen’s phone was not in her bag and must have been left in Nashville.  The flight attendant contacted the agent at our gate, and no one turned one in.  We will have to contact both Southwest and T-Mobile when we get to our hotel.  

Here's the graphic of our flights on SW.

Our bags were among the first to make the carousel (probably put on the plane last from the first plane).  I called the hotel for a pickup and then we walked to the “E” Section on the lower level where Hotel Shuttles operate.  We ran into Bill Fall, who was waiting for his shuttle to arrive – two calls to the hotel and about 45 minutes later, our shuttle “Cambria Hotels” showed up.

The Comfort Inn and Suites Ft Lauderdale Airport was just a few minutes away once you cleared the almost clogged airport traffic.  We checked in pretty quickly and went to our room, 521.  The room was very nice – looked new – with a large bed and a separate seating area.  The bathroom was spacious.  Best of all, we had no adjacent room on one side and perhaps no neighbor on the other side, so it was quiet.

By this time, it was about 7:30 PM so dinner was out.  We ate what was left over from the food we brought on the plane.

The shuttle to the cruise port was $15 pp so tomorrow I will check out an Uber ride.