November 14, 2021 – At Sea – Near Cuba – Caribbean Sea – Mostly Cloudy – mid 70s.

NOTE:  The itinerary for this cruise has changed.  Instead of Puerto Rico, St Kitts, and one other island, Apex is now stopping at Puerto Costa Maya, Belize City, and Cozumel.  One sea day at the start and two sea days to get back to FLL at the end.  Our first day at sea was a cool and cloudy one.  But we are still sailing with other ships.

Thanks to my earplugs, the room was quiet – we haven’t quite figured out what the banging noises are.  They sound like carts being rolled around in the Oceanview Café, but they are present at even slow times up there.  No matter, the earplugs do the trick.

Still not a terrific night’s sleep – getting to be a theme.  I also had to be up early to make my 9:15 AM start time for my first talk – “Forensics and History: Search for the Unknown Titanic Child”.  Darren gave me a heads up that the talks would all be in the Club and at 9:15 AM this time round.  He said there was another organization on board, which I found out later was a convention of Travel Agents – easily recognizable by their blue T-shirts.  

I got to the Club at 8:45 AM – the screens on Apex are bigger and crisper than on Edge and they are all over the venue.  You can sit anywhere and still see the slides.  On Edge, the AV used my jump drive and their computer but here, my PC will be driving the presentation.  We set it up and the images are super clear.  The only problem is that the front screen is so high that I have to bend backwards to see what’s on there.  I will need to figure out a better place to stand for the next talk.

My expectations were low for this first talk and at around 9:00 AM, there were about 10 people in the Club.  At the last minute, a crowd entered and when I started, I had maybe 100 or so folks there (the whole first level, where they had set up seats, was filled).  A pleasant surprise.  I had never started a series with the "Search for the Unknown Titanic Child", so I had to reconfigure the slides.  I still ran a few minutes over (because a guest had a question during the talk) and there was another presentation on upcoming destinations after me.  I am going to trim away some slides from this presentation before I give it again.  One audience member (the same one who had the earlier question), who seemed to be pretty knowledgeable, guessed my Colombo slide before I showed it.  A good start.  Just to balance things off, I tripped getting back on the stage to break down my equipment and jammed by hands and back after hitting the back wall of the stage (I took some Tylenol for that) – it could have been worse, but my basic Karate training kicked in and I used my hands to break my fall and not my face.

BTW, the Travel Agents were in the Theater at the same time I was doing my presentation – this doesn't reduce my audience pool (there are over 700 agents on board) since they wouldn't be at my talks anyway.  The pool is essentially what it was for Cruise Number 1.  No issue for me at all.

Opting for a quiet lunch, we went to the Cosmopolitan Restaurant. Even though there are more people on this ship, we still managed to get a window table for four.  We both had deep fried (could have been fried a little deeper) mozzarella sticks and marinara pesto dipping sauce.  I had a strange, deconstructed salad and a veggie burger (I have not been able to finish these V burgers.  (NOTE: After some investigation online, I have concluded that thy are Impossible Burgers (someone posted that fact) and that might explain the size and the lack of odor that I see in my Beyond Burgers back home.).  I had a peach cobbler for dessert, and I think Ellen had the Apple Pie.  I should mention that while we were eating our quiet lunch, the restaurant was invaded and taken over by the Travel Agents.  We finished and searched for a quieter place.

There are so many more people on this ship compared to the last cruise – the elevators are more crowded (we are masked) and there is just so much more foot traffic. I wonder what the unmasked think of us and the few other masked folks.

From the talk, I went to the iLounge on Deck 3 Aft to try and get my Surf and Text Internet to work.  The tech took my phone and signed in exactly the way I had tried several times the night before and, of course, it logged on.  I think he did something else, but we’ll never know.  Now that the app was functional, I set up dinner reservations for the whole cruise – a must considering the sheer numbers of passengers.

It is much cooler outside so the Solarium, in turn, is cooler.  We found some loungers and spent most of the time there – I even got back some of that sleep deficit that I’ve been struggling with. 

The dress code tonight is Elegant Chic and people will be taking their photos.  We do not have dinner reservations, so we are not changing our clothes and we will be eating in the Oceanview Café.  I had the pasta guy make me Spaghetti Alfredo with tomatoes, broccoli, and onions.  I also had a slice and half of pizza with caramelized onions and goat cheese.  The Café is essentially deserted.  We wanted to eat on the back deck, but it was raining.

We, obviously, are not going to see “Rockumentary” in the Theater and instead opt for the quiet of our room.  We opened the window and it was like being on a real balcony.  I actually watched a few minutes of a football game (on mute) while Ellen was reading on the Veranda.  There are very few choices on the in-cabin TV and I never watch TV in the room on a cruise.

Seas are smooth.

November 13, 2021 – Ft Lauderdale, FL – Mostly Sunny – 83F

Cruise Number 1 is complete.  Successful in weather, seas, cabin assignment, and presentations.  Because, we didn't get off the ship in any of the ports, I never got a picture of Celebrity Apex for this log.  I had to resort to this:

At my early morning breakfast at 6:00 AM in the Oceanview Cafe, I was treated to both a wonderful sunrise trying to peak out from some storm clouds

as well as a view of the sail in - as expected there were many ships here this morning including the newly minted Odyssey of the Seas (which we saw here when he started this voyage).

I expected a huge mob of folks at the Cafe on disembarkation day, but it was relatively orderly and I even managed to get my favorite seat in the corner.  I had the usual waffle based breakfast but there was no sour cream to be found (two of the servers went looking but I couldn’t wait any longer to eat).  I brought Ellen her usual lox based breakfast and we got ready to meet at the Cosmopolitan Restaurant at 8:30 AM – the gathering place for all back to back passengers.  On our way down to the Cosmopolitan I picked up a sweet roll and sugar donut from Cafe al Baccios.  The Cosmopolitan also had sweets and coffee for the passengers. When we got there, the ship’s agents checked our passports and vaccine cards (and photographed them as well).  We also were given new Sea Pass cards with our new rooms.

We had to stay in the restaurant until all of the passengers got off the ship – a process that took over an hour.  We then marched as a group down to the terminal, got scanned by a facial recognition camera, and then marched back to the ship. This gave me the only opportunity to get an exterior shot of the ship (from the gangway as we got back on).

                    

We were then photographed for identification purposes.  Once that was gone, we went to our new room, which is the same room we had on the first cruise but on Deck 12 very aft.  

Our bags were not there yet but we did drop off my computer bag and put stuff into the safe.  I then went down to Guest Services to get my card registered as a BTP speaker.  I didn’t look at the new card carefully enough because the agent had given me a card for the cruise just completed (another trip to Guest Services corrected that).

We are again in a Concierge Cabin so we went to the Tuscan Restaurant for a special lunch.  The salmon and pasta we had were good and the chocolate cake was too good.  We stopped at Guest Services again and made dinner reservations for the next two days with the dining agent.  Tonight we are the Cyprus at 5:30 PM and tomorrow, we are at the Normandie at 5:30 PM as well.  As soon as my WiFi account is set up, I’ll be able to make reservations on the Celebrity app.

When we got back to the room, we did the Safety Review on our TV set.  Our bags and clothes had arrived and Ellen put them away.  We checked in at our assembly station, the Cosmopolitan Restaurant and had our Sea Pass cards scanned.  The lifeboat drill of the future, here now on Apex.

There are many more people on this segment (we were told the ship was full) and a good way to tell is ride the elevators.  On the last voyage, we rode alone in the elevator at times – now the car is full of mask-less people (except for us).  There are a few people who are wearing masks around the ship – I’m guessing that these folks are not from Florida.

We watched the sail away from our cabin – we are on the port side so we got a nice view of the condos and then the shoreline of Fort Lauderdale.  The port was crowded with pleasure boaters so the USCG Gunboats were busy shooing people away from Apex as she started her departure.

                              

We went down a little early for our dinner at the Cyprus Restaurant. We again got a table for four for just the two of us.  From our window seat, we could see the sunset over the coast of Florida.

I ordered the Taverna Salad (it was different this time as it came with dressing and giant chucks of feta cheese on top – I used some of the feta as a spread on my French bread) - really good overall.  We both had the Mushroom Soup, which was OK but a little thin.  I had the broiled salmon, and it was a little undercooked, but the Hollandaise sauce was good as were the mashed potatoes.  Ellen had the spinach and ricotta ravioli, which were a bit watery inside.  I had a really good dessert – a chocolate cherry trifle with devil’s food cake.  Ellen had the apple pie with no ice cream (OK).  I actually had two cups of decaf coffee as we were not intending to go to the show tonight (Jason, the magic man is back).

We went to Eden to hear Ge Luz play guitar and sing.  Pleasant enough.

Final stop of the night was our room for quiet and peace.

The seas are smooth. 

November 12, 2021 – At Sea – Atlantic Ocean – Partly Cloudy - 85 F

A good night's sleep, I think.  The seas look a little bumpy and the weather looks a little ugly as we make our way back to Port Everglades.

Another 9:15 AM talk in the theater, so another crack of dawn breakfast in the Oceanview Café.  This morning: Plain pancake with the fixings and scrambled eggs – I wanted a fried egg but there was a line.  I’m guessing that some folks didn’t move their clocks back so they think it’s 8:00 AM instead of 7 AM and thought they were late for breakfast.  I brought Ellen her usual breakfast of lox, cucumbers, soft/hardboiled egg, and fruit along with hot tea.

My final talk – “Forensics and History:  Identifying America’s Fallen Heroes” – pulled a very nice audience (the biggest of the cruise and estimated at about 250 – 300 – based on the fact that the Theater holds 900 passengers).  Good round of applause at the end and nice comments from attendees.  I did get one constructive comment from a Vietnam vet and that was that the conflict didn’t officially end until 1975 (I had a graphic in my talk that I got from CILHI that had the ending date at 1973).  I’ll make sure I correct that the next time I give this talk.

After the talk, we went to the Cosmopolitan Restaurant not to eat but to get tested for COVID-19.  Continuing passengers were required to have a negative antigen test before being allowed back on the ship.  The tests were scheduled via smartphone (using a QR code sent to us by Apex) so there was no waiting.  We showed our Sea Pass cards and then showed the testing crew each of personal QR codes containing our personal information.  The test, Abbott BINAX, takes only a few minutes to run and we both got our negative results via email within the hour.  Very smoothly run process.  We found out later than only one passenger came up positive and they were not from the US.  That person was tested because international passengers needed a negative test to fly home. 

We went to the Oceanview Café for lunch and were surprised to find that it was a special buffet today (there was nothing in the Program).  Ellen was able to get freshly sliced lox right from the fish.  I had a nice salad along with some pizza but we both went a little crazy and tried many of the decorated cakes.  

I should mention that the salad bar on this ship is really good and moves along well despite (or maybe because of) no self-service. 

After lunch, we found nice loungers in the Solarium – I opened the window near us and we were treated to a wonderful breeze for the whole time we were there.  Just like being at the beach.  Maybe because of distancing, etc., only a few passengers have approached me to tell me they liked the lectures.  But the guy in front of us did and he also said the best I did today was to open that window and let some fresh air in.  

Tonight, dinner was at the Tuscan Restaurant.  I had the cheese and spinach turnover (small but good), the Tuscan Minestrone (OK but different), and the Tilapia Putanesca (it was OK).  The service was a little slow tonight so we passed on dessert and went to the Theater early to get our favorite seats for the final Production Show – “Crystallize”.  The theater was packed for this show – I think people went to the early show because they had to pack later.  The show was filled to the brim with special and lighting effects. The show used a second reflective screen in the shape of a tube that was lowered from the ceiling. It also featured a number of aerialists.  The story was difficult to follow and the songs were actually taking a back seat to all of the lights and effects.  We stayed until the volume got too loud for us.  Here are the pics from the show.

We went to the room to get packed so that our room attendant could move us to our new cabin up on Deck 12 – 122247. 

It didn’t take long since the hanging stuff would not have to be packed.

We relaxed the rest of the evening because I had to be up at 6:00 AM to get ready for our disembarkation.

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.