October 1 Sea Day #2

Today was Sea Day #2 on the Edge cruising back to Civitavecchia. Just before dawn, small whitecaps were visible on the waves but the waves were less than two meters high, the wind NW30 km per hour. The temperature on the ship’s navigation channel was 20°C and was still that at 4 p.m. You could feel the ship gently rocking up in our Deck 11 midship stateroom and the lower desks, too. The Edge is crossing the Balearic Sea portion of the Mediterranean Sea most of day as it heads toward the Strait of Bonifacio.

We had a full agenda today. Any person who has sailed on a celebrity ship just once is eligible to register to be a Captain’s Club member. I would think over 80% of the passengers would have cruised at least once with Celebrity. At 10:30 a.m., there was a Captain’s Club complimentary wine tasting with just one other couple of a possible 24 showing up. There was a schedule conflict of another Captain’s Club event -Meet the Captain and staff at the same time in the indoor Eden Garden. Ednalyn found out five minutes into the wine tasting, that there would be another Captain’s Club wine tasting at 11:30 for the 20 other passengers who decided to go to the Meet the Captain instead of attending the preregistered wine tasting. The four of us were quite happy to have a private wine tasting with the sommelier from the exclusive Luminaire Dining Room for the Suite guests. Next there was a Rumba dance class at 11:15 in The Club for which 39 people attended. We climbed the stairs from Deck 4 to Deck 15 to walk one kilometre on the two level walking track in the sunshine. We snuck in lunch at the Oceanview Café.

At 1 p.m., there was another Captain’s Club complimentary experience which was a Behind the Scenes tour of the Theatre at which 18 people attended. We met the stage manager, who led the tour, the technical director, some of the dancers, singers and the aerialist. The stage effects were demonstrated, such as the mechanics of the parts of the stage that can be lowered or raised and revolve in either direction. Next the group was led behind the screens to see the back of the stage where the performers and stage manager can view the activity on stage on two screens one on “Stage Right” and the other on “Stage Left”. Then it was up a staircase to the performers dressing room. Each performer has a cubby above the mirror and makeup desk to store makeup and shoes. There is a room where all the costumes are stored with areas for each performers. The sewing room is utilized at the beginning of a six month show by a team that fits the costumes to each performer. Once completed, a cast member is designated at the wardrobe person to keep the costumes repaired and cleaned. We saw the rigging room on the way back to the stage. The rigging room is where the aerialist and the acrobats store their equipment and ONLY they can enter that room. There was a questions and answers time at the end. The performers have an eight month contract which for the first two months they live in Miami and rehearse the shows and mini shows before going to the ship for six months of performances. Most of the time the performers have not met their fellow teammates until they start rehearsals in Miami.

We picked up some coffee to go and returned to the stateroom to finish writing yesterday’s events. Then at 4 p.m., there was a Concierge Class exclusive Slot Tournament in the Casino. Ten people showed up. There are at least 220 concierge staterooms in use over four of the decks on the Edge. The slot machine games were synchronized for a game of one minute where in order to get lots of points, you needed to ignore the twirling “reels” and click on the stars or targets that popped up as the reels spun. One hand on the “Play” button, madly pressing it and the other tapping the screen when stars or targets appeared. It was one minute long. Top prize was $50US, second prize was a 20 cm long model of the ship and third prize was $25US slot credit on the machine of your choice. I claimed third prize! To claim it the Casino manager took us to choose a slot machine – Larry chose Poker at $0.25 per bet, and he played using the $25 credit, as I watched. In order to receive any cash, you have to play and win some of the 100 times ($25.00 / $0.25). Then press the “Cash Out” button for a printout and take it to the cashier for your payout. Our payout was $22.50. We can use the money for staff tips.

When we returned to our stateroom after the tournament land could be seen – it was Sardinia. By 6 p.m., the Edge was passing through the narrowest part of the Strait of Bonifacio, separating Corsica and Sardinia and on into the Tyrrhenan Sea. The captain had mentioned in his morning announcement that the sea would be calmer after the strait.

Dinner this evening was the second dinner time in the Tuscan restaurant. We managed some time ballroom dancing to recorded music before attending tonight’s theatre production show was called “Colors of Life”. It was performed by the full complement of dancers, singers, acrobats and aerialists. The aerialist's performance was within a ring which had rain showering down at the edges, which is hard to see in the photos. It was a high energy show.

After the show we packed our suitcases to place in the hall to be transported to the cargo storage area in order to be offloaded in the morning. We will then collect the luggage in the cruise terminal when we leave the ship after breakfast.

Total steps 12,611 = 7.6 km

Aside: Winnipeg Blue Bombers won against the Saskatchewan Roughriders last evening. The Bombers are in sole possession of first place in the Western conference and the Canadian Football League and are guaranteed a home playoff game.