Rome – Transatlantic 2009 Day 19 – Atlantic Crossing Day 6
December 13, 2009
Yesterday was the last sea day of our transatlantic cruise from Rome, Italy to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Thus far it has been an absolutely fabulous cruise. The weather finally turned against us as it pretty much rained all day. The temperature remained warm and the seas remained calm at 2 – 3 foot sea state. Actually, I rather enjoyed the rain. It was rather calming and relaxing. It didnt really keep me from doing much and it was rather cool looking to look out from the boat and see only fog, rain or clouds.
Being the last sea day (and day of the cruise), it was also the last day for the hot glass show. Two more shows were on tap and Sean was certainly hopeful of winning one of the raffles for a piece of glass. He really wanted to win the clown one of the gaffers had created. He has really taken a liking to the hot glass show and wants to take a vacation to New York to see the Corning Museum of Glass. The show normally holds a raffle for glass made previously at the end of the show.
After the first show, Sean was still empty handed. But he was still hopeful as the clown was being raffled off after the second show. Fairly early in the second show, they did the raffle. Attendance was down slightly because of the rain (the little show area is outdoors). They normally draw a ticket and you get to pick one of the two or three pieces they were raffling off. So, with the clown on the line, you really needed to be first. When the ticket was drawn, Sean’s hopes were dashed as his ticket wasnt selected. The ticket was actually 2 away from my ticket. The person who one did indeed select the clown. Now, Sean was just hopeful of winning any piece of glass. They raffled off two more pieces but our numbers weren’t called. He was a bit disappointed but settle in to watch one last piece of glass get created.
Shortly after starting, the gaffer doing the play by play came over and asked Sean his name. She then handed him a very nice paperweight they had made between shows and said they wanted to give him something since he had attended almost all the shows. It was a very nice gesture and Sean was pretty happy. When they finished the piece they were working on, they normally would have done one more piece (three gaffers so three pieces in 2 hour show), but time was short with only 10 minutes left. So instead they decided to do one last raffle of three more pieces. The first number drawn was Sean’s. So he was able to select a very nice vase (estimated by the artist to be worth $500 – $700). Boy, was he excited now. So basically, we now had three handcrafted, wonderful pieces of hand blown glassware to get home to Arizona. Think we will fine a Fed Ex in Fort Lauderdale and ship them home.
Sean and I then went to the Martini Bar to celebrate our success while Suzanne began packing up our clothes. It was a very nice close to the cruise.
We then went to our last dinner of the cruise. I enjoyed one of my favorite meals of the cruise. It was a 2 inch thick veal chop. It was very, very good. Suzanne and Savannah enjoyed the beef wellington and Sean had chicken kiev. It was a wonderful last meal of the cruise. Near the end, the Cellar Master came over to our table with a bottle of Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes and poured us each a glass. Oh my, what a great late harvest wine.
After dinner, we spent time visiting all the staff and friends we had met on the cruise and got them to sign our atlas. On every cruise we go on, we take an atlas and have the folks we meet sign their name by their hometown with their position and the cruise name. Its a great way to remember some of the past cruises. Also, since we normally cruise Celebrity, we run across many of the same staff and folks who know some of the previous staff we have had. Its always a great discussion starter.
After dinner and the signature hunt, we retired to the cabin for the night and went lights out about midnight since we had a 7:00 wake up call since we would be off the ship by 8:30 and our wonderful cruise would be over. We have already begun discussing the next one.
Rome – Transatlantic 2009 Day 17 – Atlantic Crossing Day 4
December 11, 2009
Yesterday was the 4th sea day of the Atlantic crossing on this Celebrity Solstice transatlantic cruise. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the weather continues to just absolutely rock. Temperatures were in the upper 70’s with clear skies and continued very calm seas.
After an early breakfast, I headed up to the lawn club to find a comfy chair for more ocean staring. What I thought would be a bit of a gimmick, has turned out to be one of my favorite places on the ship. It’s also quite popular with most of the guests. Who would have thought a huge lawn on a cruise ship would be so cool? Perhaps I should keep more of an open mind on that new mall on the behemoth Oasis of the Sea, which I still don’t really see myself cruising.
When the hot glass show time rolled around, Sean and decided to attend it once again. With every show being different and unique, they are all fun. The area for the hot glass show is also on The Lawn Club. The hot glass show has surpassed Celebrity’s expectations and they are trying make changes to accommodate more folks with better seating and other features from feedback of the glass blowers. With 2 Solstice class ships (Celebrity Solstice and Celebrity Equinox) already having hot glass demonstrations and a third (Celebrity Eclipse) already in the pipeline and launching in April, changes are hard to do and expensive. Still, the glass blowing demo is another winner in my mind. Sean has already told me he wants to go to all the remaining shows.
At this show, one of the gaffers decided to make a clown. Wow, what an intricate and detailed process that was. And the result was outstanding – or at least what we could see when it was put in the annealing oven. The unveiling, after the cooling process, will be this morning and expectations are high. I think part of the reason Sean wants to go to the remaining shows is to try to get the clown in the raffle. If you recall, since the Corning Museum of Glass, who does the show, is not for profit, they raffle off all the glass they make during the cruise. It would be quite a piece to have.
I even managed to stick in a short nap in the afternoon. This has been a very relaxing and restful vacation. I usually hate naps as I don’t sleep at night, but the three or four I have taken on the cruise have done nothing but good things. It is certainly working to recharge my batteries though I had my doubts after our Rome adventures and early port days.
In the evening, Sean and I went to another glass blowing demonstration. The night show, under the lights is slightly less attended due to the conflict with the early seating dinner crowd. This is also the first show where one of the artists actually failed in making their glass and broke it during the process. This was a 30 years experienced glass blowing gaffer. He wasn’t too upset and it explained that working on the glass show for Celebrity was a unique opportunity for them to try new things, to experiment and sort of practice for when they were making pieces for commission or for sale. He said if he had been paying for the studio, the glass, the assistants, etc, he would have been more upset. He said he knows what he did wrong and would improve it the next time. By the time Celebrity has the glass blowing demonstrations on 5 or 6 ships, they will have 60 or 70 glass blowers lined up to support the cruises and demonstrations. The concept is quite popular with the glass making artist community.
Dinner was again smart casual in the main dining room. Savannah had asked if she could go to the dinner party in the fun factory since she hadn’t attended one yet. It was make your own pizza night, so we let her attend. Sean and I enjoyed a wonderful breaded chicken dish with a nice sauce. Suzanne went with a Spaghetti Bolognese and enjoyed it too. So that is another one of the nice things we like about Celebrity, the food is really, really good and the menus are varied throughout the cruise.
After dinner, it was time for the Celebrity Starring You Awards. It’s sort of their Academy Awards for all the various events that cruise guests compete in throughout the cruise. Some awards including joke telling, singing, photography, etc. Suzanne was a finalist in the Singing Star (ie karaoke) competition. The top two singing star performers also got to do another live song in the theater to all the guests. Suzanne performed Cabaret to a rousing ovation. When the winner was announced, it was not her and she took home another 2nd place Singing Star finish.
Next up was the Grand Chocolate showing in the Sky lounge. There were more chocolate and ice carvings than you could shake a stick at. Sean skipped it to hang out in the teens club. Savannah was the only one who actually sampled some chocolate. Suzanne and I just looked.
It was about 12:15 when we headed back to the room to end the day – another fabulous cruise day at sea. Unfortunately, there are only 2 more left before we arrive at Fort Lauderdale and the fun will come to a close – until the next cruise!
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