Moths to a Flame - Part 8, St. Croix

 

Standing on the deck watching the island emerge in front of us in the breaking daylight was different from Nassau or San Juan. I could not pick out where we were going. There was no sign of a city or a pier or any place to dock. We seemed to be sailing toward green, rolling hills dotted with occasional houses with pastures scattered in between. Coming in on the leeward side of the island was a nice change from yesterday’s rough water approach in San Juan, adding to the peaceful, almost pastoral first image of St. Croix. The cruise since leaving San Juan has been slower, less hectic as St. Croix is less than one hundred miles away. By the time I see light traffic on the coastal road, I can see the single finger pier that juts straight out from the seashore. There is an old, unimpressive red fort off to the left side. After San Juan, two cars and a pickup truck is light traffic.

We quietly docked at eight in the morning, a new, single finger pier that would accommodate two ships at once. While the ship went through the arrival process, Ilse and I went for breakfast. This time we ate at the Oceanview café, the buffet style restaurant aft on deck ten. The selections of different breakfast foods is amazing and again, there are more servers than diners. I made a note to try coddled eggs next time.

There were only a few scattered passengers ahead of us on the pier as we walked to the security checkpoint, not anything like previous cruises. The atmosphere was exactly opposite bustling San Juan. As we walked toward the security tent at the end of the pier, I noticed the water was so clear we could see under the boat. Three young girls dressed in scarlet red local costumes welcomed us with bright smiles and maps of the island, and we were disdainfully waved through security with the priceless, limp-wristed motion famous around the world.

The second thing to catch my eye was they drive on the left side of the road. St. Thomas and St John, just over the horizon, also drive on the left even though they are in the US Virgin Islands, not the British Virgin Islands. The traditional beep-beep greeting between the locals is a common language in every Caribbean island, but the first time I heard it here, I turned around to look. There simply wasn’t any traffic. The souvenir shops in tiny Frederiksted – the town has fewer than a thousand people – all had bumper stickers for sale that said “Drive Left!” Obviously they were for tourists who rent cars and are not accustomed to driving in the islands.

Not that there were more than a handful of souvenir or tourist shops in town. With only a few exceptions, they all seemed to be owned by transplanted Americans. We were on the other end of the island from where the cruise ships used to land at Christiansted, a bustling metropolis by comparison of around three thousand people. The population of the entire island, world famous for its magnificent beaches is only 40,000 people. All the beaches in St. Croix are free to the public.

The pretty bay front park is a nice welcome to cruise passengers, and the backdrop to many ship’s photographs. 

Ilse and I have done package tours on previous cruises, but usually we like to see a place for ourselves the first time we visit a port, especially now with COVID restrictions in place on every island. We decided to avoid the little buses or taxis even though we wanted to visit the nearby botanical gardens, but it was too far to walk so we simply strolled around the small, odd little town. We were once warned in Charlotte Amalie about straying too far off the beaten path by ourselves, but here we are at ease. We are not carelessly unconscious as we always keep safety tucked in the back of our minds. I worked in downtown Miami for many years and old habits are hard to break.

The town itself drops in attractiveness within a few blocks, so we head back to the fort at the end of the pier, buying my first cap of the trip on the way. The people we chat with are friendly, but disappointed in the small size of the crowd.

I walked around the clock tower checking all four clocks after I noticed the two sides I could see were completely different. A perfect description of St. Croix: what you see depends on the direction you are looking, all four clocks show very different times.

We headed back to the ship for salad and pizza and my first Budweiser of the trip. After sitting on our balcony, reading and listening to our own music – we always bring a Bluetooth speaker – I glance at Ilse. She is sound asleep, holding her head with one hand and her Kindle in the other. There is no one on the pier except the ship’s staff idly waiting under the Celebrity Cruise logo sunshade. The three young girls dressed in bright red local costumes have abandoned their post and are all sitting in the shade of the security tent at the other end, chatting and laughing.

The helicopter landing pad on the bow is opened for our departure from Frederiksted, so Ilse and I, wearing the required close-toed shoes, climbed the ladder to the Helipad, wondering how they transport anyone who isn’t ambulatory up there in the first place. It is a wonderful view, especially as several rain showers began to move down the hills toward the bay. Drinks are served as everyone begins to ooh and aah at the rainbows that seem to be a departing touch from the local tourist board. The ship quietly turns and heads toward more rain showers off-shore.

After dinner we headed to the Sunset bar at the stern on deck ten, our favorite lounge at night. The weather is beautiful and the moon is almost full. Tomorrow is Antigua and a full moon. We can’t wait.

https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2022/01/moths-to-flame-part-antigua.html

Moths to a Flame - Part 7, San Juan

 

Day four starts like the others, I’m awake before daybreak. Once again I’m on deck as soon as I’m dressed. A beautiful, warm December morning due east of Las Galeras, Haiti. Clear skies but the wind has barely subsided, it is still whistling through the railing. I checked my cellphone app for all the technical details that most other passengers couldn’t care less about. We are eight hundred and eighty-five miles from Ft Lauderdale and have only eighty-eight miles to go. We should pass the famous Castillo de San Felipe del Morro sometime around two in the afternoon. The afternoon is perfect as the sun will highlight the side facing the channel as we enter. This is, to me the prettiest and most symbolic port entry in the Caribbean, and this time our balcony stateroom will be facing the iconic fortress as we enter the harbor.

During the day we had the opportunity to chat and joke with our wait staff, shop sales people, and several ship’s officers. Everyone was masked all the time the entire cruise, so we quickly learned to read eyes. The eyes speak volumes, and we saw eyes from Indonesia, Venezuela, the Philippines, Korea, and just about any country you can think of. The eyes all speak the same language. We met another Daniela from Venezuela who now lives in Colombia, and still another Daniela who was from Chile, just west of Bariloche, Argentina, where Dany of Supernova Duo call home. We met Feliz, from Manila in the Philippines, who went to hospitality school in Arkansas. Our drink hostess, who was from Korea, told us all how to distinguish Asian nationalities as westerners are at a loss when it comes to the many different far eastern styles and features. “It’s how we cut our hair,” she said, her eyes dancing at her chance to tease our group. We were as at ease with them as they were with us. With only five hundred passengers on a ship that usually carries over two thousand passengers, everyone a chance to interact with other, passengers, crew and staff with a cordiality we had never seen on previous cruises.

I double checked the battery for my camera as well as our cellphones as we approached the coast of Puerto Rico, the mountains behind San Juan visible well before the port itself. The pilot boat approached on our port side – that’s sailor talk for the left side – burying the bow in the heavy swells. It passes and turns behind us to come alongside out of the wind on the other side of the boat. We’ve slowed considerably to allow the pilot to make the transfer, but seas are very heavy. Being on the leeward side makes it easier, but not by much.

A deep-sea fishing boat, probably in the thirty-two foot range, not more than a mile away, disappears from sight regularly in the deep troughs, only its outriggers visible above the waves. We watched the small boat for several minutes wondering just how much Dramamine it would take to go fishing with them.

Old Town San Juan was a marvelous surprise the first time we were here, and we planned our walking tour to include El Morro, but the sporadic rains started before we disembarked and turned into a constant reason to duck for cover. We did some sightseeing through parts of town in between rain showers, but cut our tour short and headed back to the boat. If you want to find a drugstore, all you have to do is watch for the long lines as it seems that is the first place everyone from the ships go. The Walgreens at the foot of the pier does a bang up business every time a cruise ship docks. The first sign you see when you step onto the pier is a warning sign about the one hundred dollar fine for failing to wear a mask. Everyone in every store we stopped in was masked. The crew and staff of the boat were on a tight leash due to the COVID restrictions, and were restricted to crew members only outings.

We had dinner in the main dining room which was even emptier than usual. Dave, our waiter who has been with Celebrity Cruises for over eighteen years, welcomed us warmly as usual, our preferred drinks waiting as we were seated. The service on the Millennium is superb. To our unbridled relief, this cruise has been the perfect antidote to the last one we took some seven years earlier.

We were back on top by midnight to watch as we departed the brightly lit city. Another Celebrity ship, the Constellation, which joined us earlier along with Carnival’s Magic, shoved off just before we did. The two ship’s Captains did a long tete-a-tete with the ship’s horns to the delight of the passengers on deck. We were disappointed to find El Morrow is no longer well lighted at night and the marvelous structure is no longer dominate in the darkness as we sailed out the channel. No problem, we joined the dance party on the pool deck. Always a way to enjoy the moment. Definitely not a Geritol cruise.

Next: St. Croix

https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2022/01/moths-to-flame-part-8-st-croix.html

Moths to a Flame - Part 6, Oh Dark Thirty

It was “oh dark thirty” when I slowly focused on the dim display of the bedside alarm clock. I’m pretty sure the large numbers said 4:40, or something pretty close to it. “Oh dark thirty” was the Air Force way of saying very, very early in the morning. Many civilians don’t know the military says “Oh” in place of the technically correct numeric “zero” when saying twenty-four hour time in spoken English. Trust me, I can make this worse. You’d have to understand that both words zero or “Oh” are redundant. There is only one four-thirty in military time and that comes way too early for most of us. Four-thirty in the afternoon for normal people would be sixteen-thirty in military time. No excuse for somebody to miss a war just because they were sleeping in. But everybody in the military says “oh four thirty” as if they have to define the missing digit. If they didn’t, it wouldn’t be funny to ridicule military time.

I finally found my glasses and confirmed it was far earlier than I expected. It was not pitch black outside despite being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I knew we were three days from the next full moon but that didn’t seem to be source of the odd, dim light. I pulled the curtains back slightly to see outside. Opening the balcony door was out of the question. The ship was balking at leaving its comfortable berth in Nassau and heading into a twenty-nine knot head-wind over twelve hours ago. We turned south after clearing the Northeast Providence Channel and were now in nine-foot seas. Moderate seas, as I hear the Captain say later. We are one hundred twenty miles due east of Port Nelson, Bahamas as we head toward San Juan at nineteen knots, about twenty-two miles per hour. The wind across the deck was a brisk forty-eight knots, about fifty-five mph. The low white light was from the ship’s lights illuminating the periodic, wind-swept ocean spray that seemed to encapsulate the ship. No wonder we were occasionally shuddering and shaking. It didn’t matter, Ilse was sound asleep as were most of the passengers on the ship.

A small, odd, faint glimmer of light caught my eye on the dark balcony sliding glass door. The dim light appeared to be on the horizon. But then it was gone. I tried to find it it and once again it appeared, and just as abruptly disappeared. Was that a ship? By then I was wide awake staring blankly into the darkness when I realized the pinpoint of light was on the glass, not on the horizon. The light was coming from the hallway through the peep-hole in the cabin door behind me. No phantom ships in the Bermuda Triangle to write about after all.

Sleep was out of the question, so I quietly dressed, picked up my camera and slipped out of the room. I had the ship completely to myself. I’m usually wide awake well before daybreak every single day we’re onboard. This day at sea is no different. I watched our early morning arrival in Nassau the day before, chatting with the only two other people on deck as we watched the beautiful sunrise as we pulled into port. They were both walkers, using the walking path through the chaise lounges on the pool deck before the sunbathers even woke up.

The only people on deck are the same two dedicated walkers I met yesterday, but today we are at sea. They press on, both wearing windbreakers and not stopping to chat for long. I had a reminder from the ship’s app to move my time ahead one hour as we had crossed into the Atlantic Time Zone but I didn’t bother. If my cell phone self adjusts, great, if not I’ll just add an hour… maybe. I haven’t worn a wrist watch since I retired.

I stood on the top deck as the wind began to subside and the white caps began to to diminish. Once again, I get to see my favorite part of cruising, the phenomenal, deep blue of the open ocean. The shuddering subsided as the ocean smoothed out. It doesn’t take mother nature much to remind us we are just small humans on her big, powerful planet. Even though the ship weighs more than ninety thousand tons and pushes over twenty-one million gallons of sea water aside just to float, Planet Earth still taps us on the shoulder every once in a while to let us know we are here at her pleasure.

Ilse and I sat in the room and talked about our plans and promptly forgot about the time change. When we went to the dining room for breakfast, of course we were late. It was quarter after nine not quarter after eight, and the tables were being reset for the next meal. Besides, they were having a tour of the kitchen later. When we realized our mistake, we got up and apologized, told them we were going up top to eat at the open buffet, but Maitre ‘d and our staff would would not hear any part of it. To say the service on the Millennium is outstanding would be an understatement. We were re-seated and served a marvelous breakfast as if nothing happened. We decided not to miss the kitchen tour.

We spent the rest of the day after the tour just exploring shops and facilities, and of course back on deck where for the first time ever, we looked down on a rainbow. 

By four in the after noon, the wind was down to around forty knots but the shuddering snuck up on us occasionally.

After another great meal, we worked our way slowly to the theater for the evening show, stopping at several lounges and getting to listen to our friends Daniela and Seba once again. 

It is eleven thirty when we head back to the room after meeting new people who dance socially distanced from each other. The huge beautiful skylight lounge had a five piece band and exactly seven patrons.

We are two hundred and fifty miles from Puerto Rico.

https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2022/01/moths-to-flame-part-7-san-juan.html

Supernova Duo

Several weeks before our scheduled cruise on the Celebrity Millennium, we recorded Jimmy Fallon’s interview with Spanish actress Úrsula Corberó on the Tonight Show. Úrsula is world famous as Tokyo, the villainous female lead in Netflix’s number one show, Money Heist. Ilse and I decided to join the rest of the civilized world and see what the show was about.Only a few seconds into the theme song, we both sat up. We had listened to our friends Seba and Daniela, sing Cecelia Krull’s song, My Life is Going On, on YouTube while the two of them were in quarantine in Bariloche, Argentina, over a year ago. Ilse and I had never heard the song before we heard Dany sing it, but we recognized it within a matter of seconds on the TV show. Daniela the female half of Supernova Duo, absolutely enthralled us with her rendition of the now world-famous theme song.

Through a unique set of circumstances and coincidences, we once again met Dany and Sebastian on a cruise ship seven years after we first met them in 2014. Not the same ship, not even the same cruise line, but they had once again traveled from Patagonia to Florida to accept an entertainment contract, this time on Celebrity Cruises, the same time we decided to once again go cruising.

It is indeed a small world. The first chance we had to chat with them was squeezed into their performance schedule and we only got to say hello. We decided to meet after a show in a lounge amid-ships after we left Nassau.

We watched Dany and Seba as they finished their set and began to pack up their gear. They were relocating to a different part of the ship for their next performance. Two crew members took apart the microphone stands and rolled up cables and power cords.

Dany and Seba were doing forty-five minute segments, as most of the performers on the ship, and after a short break, would resume somewhere else on the ship. The entertainers all played the same locations in the ship, we just didn’t know who was playing where if we didn’t check our cellphone app.

Seba suggested we get together for drinks after they finished their last show, or even possibly having dinner during their one day off while the ship would be in San Juan.

Ilse and I headed back to the ship early in San Juan, our planned walking tour in old town cut short by constant, intermittent heavy rain showers. We laughed and hoped Dany and Seba were having better luck in their precious, controlled excursion to the Plazas las Americas in San Juan. The crews and staff don’t get to go ashore like they did before Corona virus. It is a new, controlled world for all of us.

Ilse and I went up top to watch our departure from San Juan in the evening light and are disappointed the old Moro Castle is no longer lit at night as we depart past on of the most iconic landmarks in the Caribbean. We’ll have to do with the memories of our first visit here,

We met Dany and Seba as we headed toward St Croix and made tentative plans to have drinks after their last show tomorrow. We are all cautious, yet warmly surprised by the same chemistry that drew us together seven years ago. They are oddly enough, half our age, from another continent and speak a different mother tongue, yet we converse as if we have known each other for years.

“We’ve altered our schedule a little bit so we have our last show tomorrow before dinner. Would you like to have dinner tomorrow with us after we finish our last performance?

“Absolutely,” We answered, We decide to meet in the Metropolitan dining room, our regularly scheduled dining room at six thirty.

Ilse and I stood in front of the Maitre D's pedestal at 6:25, so we could greet them and enter together. The gracious Maitre d offers to show us to our table and show them in when they arrive, but we decide we would rather walk in together. Ilse and I move discreetly to the side of the alcove.

Seba arrived some ten minutes later, after Ilse and I have excused ourselves to numerous arrivals who didn't want to intrude on our obvious position as first in line.

“Dany will be late, I’m sorry but we couldn’t alter her on-board appointment and it has run almost two hours longer than we thought.” Seba says. “Please forgive us, I’ll go in with you and Dany will join us as soon as possible.”

We were seated and chatting cordially with Seba, I apologized to Dave, our waiter as I had told him previously we would have guests, but in the anxiety of the moment. I forgot to introduce our guests. Dave smiles, and quietly introduces himself. I felt like I was still in highschool.

Dany arrives with a smile that illuminates the entire dining room. Within minutes, we are chatting and laughing as if seven years had been seven minutes.

The world is indeed a marvelous place.

https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2022/01/oh-dark-thirty.html

Moths to a Flame - Part 4, Nassau, Revisited, Again

 

The sun dramatically rises in front of us as we slowly approach Nassau. The barely perceptible light on the iconic, battered lighthouse flashes dimly in the breaking light as we glide silently, effortlessly past into the narrow Nassau channel.

The 990 foot long, 91 ton ship slows and turns around easily in the narrow channel. She backs into the dock as if by magic. All of the modern ships turn effortlessly within their own length, and they do it every day. The days of tugboats pushing and pulling with ropes and cables faded away years ago.

I usually sleep like a rock, but not on a cruise ship. I’m always awake before daybreak and wander around the top deck looking for opportunities to take photographs. I love to watch the sun rise at sea. Something new or interesting in the morning light usually catches my eye. Besides, I like having the whole boat to myself.

The cruise ships rarely enter port before dawn and this way I get to see when the pilot boats come alongside to allow us to pick up the local pilots who bring the huge ships into port. Ilse enjoys the time to sleep in a little bit, a nice break from the daily routine. And that brings me to another reason cruising is popular with us, time.

Time to sleep-in that doesn’t always happen at home. Breakfast here is just a few feet away, even in your cabin if you want it, and we don’t have to cook or drive anywhere. Breakfast can be just about anything we choose. We always eat in the main dining room the first day as Eggs Benedict are as much a tradition with me as my French Onion soup, and that is one of the few things not found in the informal breakfast line found on the upper decks. The breakfast serving line on deck ten had everything imaginable, but it is no longer self serve. Instead, mask-wearing servers wait patiently to serve what ever you point at, from coddled eggs to custom made French toast and different fares from Asia and the Far East. There are more servers than passengers.

No sooner are we docked in Nassau than another huge ship approaches us head-on as if we aren’t even there. She slows and begins spinning – turning is not the right word – and within minutes the Celebrity Silhouette slips quietly backwards into the dock across from us.

I check on Ilse, who has dressed, and we head down to eat breakfast as the ship’s captain announces disembarking the ship is now open. There are no long lines when there are less than a quarter of the regular passengers to disembark, but we always avoid the initial rush, usually by getting something to eat. We did not sign up for any shore excursions so we had no fixed schedule. We’ll walk into town after the we eat and the crowds have thinned out. We have until 3:30pm so we are in no rush.

We are the only passengers in sight as we disembark onto to the long, empty dock. We take our prerequisite photos next to the ship and wander into town for a nostalgic stroll along Bay Street, stopping to chat with the pigeon man, several police officers, and many clerks and store keepers. The first thing we notice is the bleachers that are usually assembled and in place along both sides of Bay Street this time of year for the Boxing Day Celebration known as Junkanoo, are missing. We are informed by several sad Bahamians that the day after Christmas celebration has been canceled for the second year in a row.

We are immediately struck by the change in attitudes from past visits here. Everyone we talk with is openly friendly. The sharp, usually abrasive marketing atmosphere has mostly disappeared. This is our third time in town, not counting flying in and out of the Nassau International airport where we would fly to Luxembourg, just a few kilometers from my wife's hometown, and the welcome change in the atmosphere seems to be universal. They are obviously glad to see cruise ship visitors back after a year and a half absence, even if there aren’t that many of us.

Nassau is undergoing another port reconstruction as well as major building projects along the waterfront area and in town itself. Even though Nassau is one of the most modern, up-to-date cities in the Caribbean, caution is still required when walking along the streets and pathways. One of our fellow passengers suffered a serious head injury just outside the entrance to the dock when he tripped on the uneven pavement and fell, striking his head. His wife joined him in the emergency ambulance as she requested a hospital check of his injury. They pulled away as we were showing our photo ID’s and ship’s room cards to reenter the port.

After we board, I wander off with my camera as Ilse retires to the cabin to do some restorative yoga. I watch as another ship approaches through the channel, but instead of turning and backing in, it charges up to the dock, raucous Caribbean party music blaring obnoxiously from loudspeakers apparently mounted on every square inch of the ship. The Carnival carnival arrives via the Conquest, a twenty year old ship famous for its youth oriented Guy's Burger Joint^™, Red Frog Rum Bar^® and SkyBox^™ Sports Bar and the Alchemy Bar^®. One of my fellow passengers dryly comments the ship is misnamed, he thinks it should renamed the Carnival Sideshow. Its appeal is definitely the other end of the cruising spectrum from the Millenium.

I head back to the cabin as I know Ilse’s yoga has come to an unexpected end. Our room is only yards away from the source of the oddly out of date music echoing between the ships. I take several photos and notice there is also a lack of passengers on the youth-oriented party boat, the Conquest is as empty as we are. The shop owners in Nassau are going to be disappointed.

Departure 3:47 pm - Someone stood patiently on the otherwise empty dock with his luggage for almost an hour. He was allowed to board at the last minute just as the boardwalk was being retracted. The weather was great, even with scattered showers in the distance. They moved away as we headed out past the lighthouse and turned north toward the Northeast Providence Channel that will take us to the Atlantic for our forty-hour trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

We will have a day and a half at sea.

https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2022/01/supernova-duo.html

Moths to a Flame - Part 3, Modern Times

Stepping out of the covered gangway onto the open deck of the Celebrity Millennium was both a nostalgic moment, and a gamble for us. We decided seven years earlier, after our last cruise, not to waste any more money on cruising. Were we wrong to once again to schedule a cruise? A cruise that was to be the longest we have ever taken? I’m sure the Millennium's waiting officers and staff had no idea what was going through our minds as we emerged from the gangway. This was our seventh cruise and we had high hopes.

We experienced a full spectrum of pleasure cruising on our first six cruises. We were surprised one time by huge, orange lifeboats blocking the view from our “ocean-view” staterooms and on another cruise by running out of sugar two days from the end of the cruise. But those issues didn't stop us from cruising. It was the last cruise ruined it for us. It was notorious for its atrocious food and poor service. The cruise line – which we had cruised with three times before – was trying to force everyone to upgrade to the specialty, extra cost restaurants by making regular dining unpalatable regardless of how much you paid for the cruise.

There have been industry-wide changes since our first cruise when we went to the ship’s drugstore and bought liquor to take back to our small room with two single beds and a port-hole. The industry no longer focuses on gambling as soon as the ship is outside the twelve mile limit and has become attuned to all ages of travelers and vacationers. Profit making is no longer an art, it is a science. Our last cruise proved to be too much squeezing for us. It simply was no longer fun or worth the cost. Besides, if we went camping instead, we could always bring our dogs. Cruising was no longer attractive to us. The cruise lines could no longer compete for our money.

But here we were, once again, seven years later. Like moths to a flame.

We were greeted on the deck of the Millennium by several teams of officers and staff, even assisting us with our carry-on luggage. There were no exotic cocktails with little umbrellas and servers immediately asking for your room number here. I was pleasantly surprised, not only by the Millennium greeting, but by my wife as well. She wandered off toward the bow of the ship, pulling her carry-on behind her, engrossed in her own world as I received directions from our greeters to our stateroom. It was all smiles – I’m going by the twinkling eyes here, everyone was masked – and pleasantries from the entire staff as we finally got organized and headed toward the aft elevators together, toward our home for the next ten days. The Millennium would be our first cruise with Celebrity cruises.

Celebrity’s stateroom package included the first level drink package, all tips included, and free, if somewhat restricted, WiFi, so we were apprehensive, at best. We were pleasantly surprised by Celebrity as they unexpectedly upgraded our cabin from Veranda to Concierge just before checking in and we were now a deck higher. The ship appeared to be almost empty except for the ever-present staff. All of the staff were masked the entire time, and most of the passengers we met as well. Ilse and I were the only passengers on the pool deck for most of the afternoon as we waited for our 4:30 departure. And our suitcase, of course, which was placed outside our cabin door well before we shoved off.

Welcome to the Millenium

There were scattered passengers around the top deck as we departed busy, cosmopolitan Ft. Lauderdale headed for our first stop of the cruise, the seemingly mandatory stop in Nassau. We feel like old hands at Nassau. Watching the preparations for Junkanoo is always fun and our timing was right on for the third time.

We struck up a conversation with another couple on the top deck as we waited for departure and everything seemed normal except for the odd lack of passengers. We stayed on the deck until Florida began to fade in the distance and setting sun as we were once again seduced by heading toward the open ocean.

We selected early dinner, served at six pm at the Metropolitan dining room on the 5th deck as we love the service of a wait staff that knows our names. We later found the second seating had been eliminated altogether as there were not enough passengers to warrant it. The Metropolitan dining room on the 4th deck served as an open dining room until 11:00 pm. The first night is always casual as we found on past cruises, not everyone gets their luggage delivered to their cabin in time to change for dinner.

At berth in Ft. Lauderdale

Ilse was disappointed when we were taken to our table for two, which turned out to be two tables, pushed together, side by side. The Maitre d’ had the two tables respectively separated and the wait staff immediately removed any vestige of seating at the adjoining table.

The couple we had met on deck as we departed Fort Lauderdale walked up just as we were meeting our waiter, Dave, and his ever-smiling assistant, Luh. The couple asked if we minded if they joined us. We did mind as we had different visions of our first dinner on ship, but never-the-less, we graciously, if somewhat reluctantly, invited them to join us. We inadvertently created problems for the wait staff as they now had no choice but to add the settings back to the table they had just cleared. They only dined with us that first night and did not return for any more dinners, but their settings were in place each night should they return.

As far as the dining was concerned, I had no choice but to perform my French Onion Soup analysis. My analysis has become the benchmark by which the rest of the cruise shall be measured. I never turn down the opportunity to order the soup and although I ordered it on the Millennium with great trepidation, my fears were unfounded. The French Onion soup on was delicious. So were all the meals we ate in the Metropolitan dining room. Score a big one for Celebrity Cruise Lines.

We spent the evening exploring the ship and taking in a little of the evening show. As we headed around the central staircase – I won’t call it an atrium – we heard familiar voices coming from the entertainment podium. It was Daniela and Seba, Supernova Duo, who we met back in 2014 during their very first contract. We walked around the corner and Seba recognized us. We have been friends on Facebook and have followed each other for several years. We chatted and laughed and made plans to meet when they had a break in their schedule. A really great surprise and definitely a highlight of the trip.

Ilse and I returned to our cabin where we made short order of our complimentary sparkling wine, sitting in the lounge chairs on the balcony enjoying the ocean and wondering where all the other ships were. There are usually several other brightly lit ships on the horizon, headed for Caribbean ports unknown, but there was only one other ship and we soon lost sight of it. The usually busy channel between Florida and the Bahamas was eerily dark.

By 11:30 pm, we were 90 miles from Ft Lauderdale and the weather was wonderful. We found out there were only five hundred passengers on board our ship with a capacity for over two thousand! With over nine hundred crew, it was like having our own giant, private yacht! Great us, but not for the industry. No wonder the ocean was dark.

https://piddlepaddler.blogspot.com/2022/01/moths-to-flame-part-4-nassau-revisited.html

Moths to a Flame - Part 2, Not The Millennium Falcon

It did not take long after boarding the Millennium to realize the ship was exactly what we were looking for, or rather, what we had missed on our last cruise some seven years ago. Launched in 2001, she is the oldest ship in the Celebrity Cruise Line fleet, but you would never know it. The mid-size ship was completely upgraded and modernized in early 2019, spending over a month in dry dock and 60 million dollars being refitted and modernized. After spending most of 2020 and early 2021 waiting out the COVID 19 at San Diego, the Millennium was one of the first cruise ships to reenter service in late 2021.

I couldn’t help but smile as we boarded her. I wondered if this wasn’t also like an old space ship, designed to transport its passengers through space and time, but in luxury and cleanliness as opposed to the worn-out space freighter, the Millennium Falcon, made famous by the 1977 Star Wars movie. In contrast, the Celebrity Millennium carries its 2,138 passengers in contemporary style and luxury.

We joined the Celebrity Millennium in Port Everglades at Fort Lauderdale, Florida two weeks before Christmas, 2021. Our first scheduling attempt didn’t work out, but we were pleased to find our friends Seba and Daniela, the Supernova Duo, were still entertaining onboard as we enthusiastically signed up for an eastern Caribbean ten day cruise. With the fear and anxiety of the COVID pandemic setting the tone for several weeks of concern and worry, about whether or not we would even get on board the ship, the actual process turned out to be beautifully handled. Let’s start at the beginning though, back before our enlightenment.

We knew our required passports were up-to-date, and would not expire within six months of our sailing, so that was no problem. The COVID requirements were no problem, either, as we were both vaccinated as soon as the vaccine was available. We had the booster shot as well. We also had the flu shot, which we do annually. The only problem was having proof of a negative COVID test within 48 hours of departure. Neither my wife nor I had ever been tested for COVID and we simply weren’t sure how to go about getting tested and proving we were safe. While we follow the mask protocol religiously, we still interact with people who travel or could otherwise be carriers. Of the three required items, we had two – the passports and the proof of vaccination – but the negative test caused us grief simply because we did not know what to expect. What would happen if either one of us failed the test?

We confirmed our trip cancellation insurance covered testing positive for COVID-19, which was a financial safety blanket, but the anxiety of being stuck in port as the ship sailed away without us doggedly clouded our enthusiasm. Celebrity made testing kits available for less than one hundred dollars, but several friends told us they had to order multiple test kits as the first kits received were defective. We were leaving on a Monday, so we had no desire to scramble on Sunday to find a testing location. We called several testing companies and made arrangements at a walk-in clinic for testing first thing Saturday morning. Of course that turned into a two and a half hour wait before we were presented with our certificate of a negative COVID test. With our priceless certificates in hand, all we had to do was get to the boat some 200 miles away.

We have used Cruise Connection, run by the ESCOT bus line, several times in the past to travel to and from the ports of Ft Lauderdale and Miami. Easy and convenient, the service picks up customers at local locations along Florida’s west coast and brings them directly to the port terminal. They bring you back at the end of your cruise as well. Our problem was the bus line was just restarting as were the cruise lines themselves and there was some confusion on whether they would run a bus on the days we needed transportation. Running a first class bus service from Florida’s west coast to the ports depends on customers, and when we called for reservations were first informed they weren’t servicing our area for Celebrity cruises. After several phone calls the situation changed and we were in business. Neighbors graciously agreed to take us the local bus stop and everything was in place.

Perhaps the pressures and constant conflict about the COVID pandemic just wouldn’t let us relax. We were concerned about every little thing, especially after we later missed a call from Cruise Connection asking us to call them back as soon as possible. This was on the weekend prior to our departure and did nothing for our nerves until we found out they had simply moved our scheduled pickup time back an hour. That made it a little easier for our wonderful friends, at least.

The huge, cross country tour bus had seven passengers when we got on, and we stopped only once to pick up two more for the ride to Fort Lauderdale. An indicator of things to come. The trip across the Everglades is always fun when you don’t have to drive, and I don’t mind letting someone else do the task while I sit back and watch traffic.

Port Everglades, the name of the port in Fort Lauderdale, was under a massive rebuild the last time we were there and I had no desire to fight the madness, but all that is in the past. The port is modern and easy to negotiate, I could have driven and parked in the parking garage almost across the walk-way from the terminal. Personally, anything to ease getting on board is my choice and using Cruise Connection is one less thing to worry about. 

Five minutes after arriving, we were in the terminal showing our passports and COVID papers and test results. We were slightly ahead of our scheduled arrival time but it created no problems. After receiving our cruise identification cards and passing through several staging areas, we were walking up the gangplank to our next cruise adventure.

We were surprised by how empty the terminal was. It appeared COVID had dampened everyone's desire to cruise. We would soon find out.

More to come 

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