As we put our clocks ahead last night, I set an alarm just so we didn’t miss our 9:15 continuous cruisers meet up in the theater this morning. This gave us time for a coffee run that Kelly kindly carried out. I took the time to fill out our incoming passenger cards for our arrival back into Sydney on Saturday morning.
Our meeting lasted about 30 minutes and explained how we will be processed as we must "technically" end our cruise and begin another. The process is straight forward and we will have all our stuff packed into suitcases (except anything on clothes hangers) and the cabin staff will move it all to our new room. We just have to go the Fine Cuts Steakhouse and pick up our new Sea Pass card for our return later to the ship. We are also allowed to take our safe items and place them in the safe in our new room (which will not be ready)
We walked around and saw the neat Halloween displays by the Cafe Al Bacio. There were all well done and also included the pastries etc in the display case! Lots of different costumes are on display by passengers.
We went to the Ship Navigation Show in the theater which was put on by the second in command, the Staff Captain. He explained general navigation procedures using the ships modern systems compared to what was done in the past. He also went over the ships systems with emphasis on recycling and fresh water production. It was very informative.
Following that part of the show, the senior officers as well as the captain put on a Q & A for the guests. Some good questions were asked and, as a seasoned crew, they had answers for everything. One of the questions was "why did the ship go way off shore going from Cairns to Port Douglas as this seemed to be a waste of fuel?" The answer was simple in that the ship had been in both Airlie Beach and Cairns for 72 hours and the holding tanks that held grey & black water needed to be offloaded. This water is processed prior to release into the ocean and regulations requires a 12 nautical mile distance from shore but Celebrity takes it out 36 nautical miles. There were other questions about accidents and incidents but the captain, clearly a knowledgeable person, handled it all very well explaining that the human error chain starts long before the actual accident. It is understanding this fact and breaking that chain that prevents these human errors from occurring and becoming full blown accidents.... lots of similarities to aviation safety that I lived and breathed for 40 years.
Next on our agenda was lunch at Eden and we were seated with a great view. The food was amazing and certainly our favorite restaurant so far with several others a close second.
Next up was a cruise through the casino and see what was happening... not much really as we gave a few dollars to the Celebrity kitty. We headed to the 2:30 show featuring The Other Guys and we enjoyed some more oldies from the past.
At 4 p.m. we went for a cabin crawl with Bill & Noelene’s up first on deck 9. (This is close to our next cabin location that we will be moving to for our Tasmania & New Zealand cruises) It featured a front viewing window and looked very comfortable. They had treats from the cafe and some cold wine for us. All very nice. This was followed up by our cabin on deck 8. We didn't have much to offer only some chocolate covered licorice! We will up our game next time! Last on our crawl was George & Avis’s cabin on Deck 3. All very spacious with similar decor. They went all out and had a bottle of champagne served up with chocolate treats and olives as well! It was nice to see what other cabin types were available.
As happy hour was fast approaching, we all headed off to the Martini Bar and enjoyed a drink there but it was crowded so we strolled to the back of the ship to Eden. It was nice & quiet and we enjoyed the views out the back. Drinks came and we then went for dinner in the Cosmopolitan. It was all very good and even had pumpkin pie for desert! George wasn't a big fan after tasting it so Kelly help finish it off.
A little gambling on the way back to the room then it was lights out for this pair.
Steps today 5200
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