mahdnc

The lounge was not very crowded. So that means it was easy to find a seat. It also meant that the four bartenders were not overwhelmed. Today it seemed harder to mingle and meet people. Everyone seemed to come and go as a complete group.

We finally made it to the Sky Lounge during the Elite Cocktail Hour. First time we visited this lounge since the cruise started.

i liked them but I’ve never had them before.

We went to the Ocean View Cafe for lunch. I had the lunch that my wife got for me two days ago: spaghetti noodles cooked in butter and garlic with Parmesan cheese added on top. Then I got my drink of the day, just in case: We found a nice spot outside to eat. And we hit the Cafe al Bacio on the way back to our room. I got the lemon tart you all have been raving about. We took our pastries back to our cabin to eat on our balcony as our desserts. While eating them, our laundry gets delivered to our cabin. Is the cruise life good or what? Btw, the laundry had a two day turnaround.

We attended her 3rd of 9 presentations this morning at 10am. “Entertaining at the White House”.

From Celebrity Today:

my Apple Watch dutifully synchronizes itself to my iPhone.

The first thing that I want to say is that you should take the time to read through the entire 185 page (and counting) roll call for this sailing: link I am not trying to punish you with that suggestion! Like many TA sailings, our roll call was extremely active and we covered many of your questions either directly or indirectly. In fact to properly answer your question, I would have to refer to our roll call chronicles. Here are the answers that I can think of to your questions: 1. The weather answer, you know, does not indicate what you will experience. For us, the temperatures were well above the historical average for that time of year during our time in Rome, Toulon (I think), Palma Delgada, and Cartagena. The temperatures got up to the upper 70's and it felt hotter than that in the direct sun. Clothing modesty for churches aside, you would be comfortable in shorts and a tee shirt. In Rome, where we stayed for 5 nights pre-cruise, the evenings got down into the 50's and stayed there during the early morning. In comparison, it was very cool at Ponta Delgada--mid sixties was the high. And our tour for that island took us up to higher elevations where it was exposed and windy. I wore a tee-shirt under a fleece and wished that I had brought my windbreaker shell that I left in the cabin. So my advice is to bring layers of clothes. A fleece/sweatshirt and a windbreaker/rain shell is advisable. You will see the extended weather forecast posted in our roll call for the different ports that we were to visit to give you an idea of what weather we thought we were packing for and how the forecasts changed. 2. I cannot give you a definitive answer on when the cruise appeared on the Celebrity app. I uncharacteristically booked this cruise late--in Apr/May before the cruise. When I booked back then, I believe the sailing immediately appeared on my Celebrity app. The next milestone was when we could formally do the cruise check-in on the app. I cannot remember the exact time, but it is clearly documented in our roll call as CC members announced that they had checked in. I thought the app actually told you the date on when you could first do the check in process. 3. Again, because I booked the cruise so late (6 months or so in advance), I cannot give you the answer you are seeking. I booked my flights thru Celebrity when I booked the cruise. Normally if I am booking on my own, I reserve my air 11 months in advance because I usually book with award miles. So those are not useful answers for your planning. Sorry, perhaps others will give their experience. For me with the hotel in Rome, I decided on booking the Albergo del Senato because of @cruisemom42's recommendation. I wanted a superior double which meant that it had a view of the Pantheon. Those rooms were sold out for the 5 nights I needed when I first got online to book a room there right after booking the cruise (again, 6 months out). So if I were planning another stay at the Albergo, I would find out from the hotel how far in advance you can book out and then circle that date on the calendar and book the room you want on exactly that date. The Albergo del Senato does have a fully refundable rate that allows you to make a reservation with no financial commitment. At the same time they also have a couple of non-cash refundable "pay now" rates that are cheaper--and if you do it now, you are probably locking in a room rate when the Euro is pretty cheap to the US dollar. .

There is a 4 hr time difference between Ponta Delgada (GMT +0) and our next port, Nassau (GMT -4). Although it will take 7 days for us to get to Nassau from Ponta Delgada, the ship's clock is being adjusted quickly--we take the 4 hour time difference, one hour at a time, on the first 4 nights after leaving Ponta Delgada and then no time changes for the next 3 nights. I presume that this means that the ship's clock may not actually correspond to the correct local time on some of our At Sea days?? So then I also presume that this means that in order to match the ship's clock I need to manually adjust the time on my iPhone and not depend on the phone's ability to automatically update the time based on its internal GPS reading? If so, this morning the ship's clock was adjusted to GMT -1. On the iPhone, I only know how to manually set the time by choosing a city or location in the time zone that I want to match. The iPhone does not give you a list of cities in the 24 different time zones to choose from. I had a hard time figuring out a city that was in the GMT -1 time zone, the current ship's time. When googling, I finally came across one--Praia, Cape Verde. So I put Praia into my iPhone and the correct ship's time appeared on my iPhone. When I was standing on my balcony admiring the view this morning, I got into a conversation with another passenger who was two aft balconies away from me. After exchanging "good morning, nice day" pleasantries, I asked him about his take on adjusting the time on his iPhone to match the ship's time. He said that it is done automatically by the iPhone for him. At least today it was. So maybe I have been overthinking this? Can I really just leave my iPhone Date and Time on "Set Automatically"? Is there an easier way to manually set your iPhone's time without having the world map in your head? I am sure this discussion has come up on Cruise Critic, but I have not seen it. Any iPhone/time geeks wish to educate me? We are about to step out to get lunch. I would like an answer when I come back (just kidding).

Good morning on our first of six straight sea days. This is the current view: Our current position on my iPhone: Sea conditions are ok today. There is some pronounced side to side rolling going on but I’m feeling good so far.

I am still working on reporting on it. We went to the Celebrity Theater and the condition seemed fine. For me, a place to really evaluate the condition of the ship is by looking at the interior of the elevators because the materials are rarely replaced. The elevators are in very good shape. Very very few dents and a scratches. We have not been to the Sky Lounge yet. @pcrum

A money shot! If the Constellation were at the end of the rainbow, you could sell it to Celebrity or at least get some free jewelry from their shops.

For those keeping score, the Internet connection was lost for 3 hrs last night for me. Something like 8-11p. This is the second time we’ve had an extended outage.

There are about four window tables for two at the Cafe al Bacio. They usually are full.

“Awake” as we arrive at Ponta Delgada. I’m feeling normal today.

iLounge is out of iPads and won’t get any until we arrive at Tampa.

I will look into it and let you know

There was this singing duo playing at the café

Here are the Cafe’ Al Bacio offerings the last couple of days.

I played in the blackjack tournament two afternoons ago. I finished fourth at my table which is not good enough to advance. The tournament rules are very loose. The first round is played at only one single table. This means that several games are played in succession for the first round. That gives a huge edge to players playing later within a round because they know the chip score from them prior games. To prevent this, usually each round is done with multiple tables playing simultaneously. You get to play seven hands per game. The player who is dealt the first card is not rotated until the final round. By not rotating where the first card is dealt, the player at the third base position has an edge.

The puzzle in the library was finished a couple is days ago

We’re had drinks with @wayneg1 (Wayne and Karen) at 5pm last night. They are a most delightful couple. They are happily retired and do an impressive amount of travelling. It is something for me to aspire to. We went to Le Petit Chef last night for dinner. It was for the earlier of the two sittings. I think the place was only 40% full. @biggerboat47 (Ken and Carol) were seated with a couple of friends behind my wife. The menu and show are built around the four seasons. One season for each course. First was spring Then summer followed by autumn And finally winter—dessert time. I spent an extra $20 to buy the wine pairing for each course.

I have nothing to show you from today. Here’s something from yesterday. We saw putting yesterday. unfortunately this person eventually 5 putted.