October 06, 2021

Day 4 Roatan, Honduras

We arrive on time at 8:00. I have been awake for 30 minutes, but still in the cabin. Not a sound! It is almost unreal. On every other ship there are usually the sounds of the bow thrusters and the winches as the ship is nudged to the dock and tied in place. Not here. The design really is different.

I elect to stay on the ship, as I probably will at every port until we return to Florida. It appears that about a third of the passengers are going ashore, about a hundred to 150 taking tours. Actually more than I expected. There are only a handful of first time passengers, and many of the seasoned passengers have been here many times. There are just a handful of international passengers, not surprising given the hurdles of international travel these days.

This is a special day for the Edge and the crew. Once per year every cruise ship undergoes a vigorous testing of the safety systems and procedures conducted under the watchful eye of an international safety inspector. The USCG does similar inspections for ships that call on US ports. Fire fighting simulations, evacuations, lifeboat launchings, and lots of alarms sounded. I wonder what happens if a ship fails this inspection? I am not concerned.

Having heard many announcements this morning I was reminded of another significant difference here on the Celebrity Edge. Other than the Captain's update in the morning, there are no announcements! No pitches for bingo, the art auction, or trivia. Just soft background music that is easy to ignore.

After the official inspection ends I head out on a quest to answer a question that came up during dinner with friends back home a week or so ago. What is the lifeboat capacity? 

An interesting find. The standard lifeboats exist in two configurations. Something I have never seen on a cruise ship. Four of the lifeboats have a rated capacity of 440 passengers, the ramaining eight, 223. Additionally there are at least 10 inflatable life rafts with a capacity of 150 passengers each.  There may be more that I didn't find. If I have done my math correctly, we have over 1500 extra lifeboats when the ship is at maximum capacity with passenger and crew.  Or for this cruise the extra lifeboats have a capacity to carry all the passengers with room for most of the crew.

I spend a few hours listening to an audiobook. I downloaded several just before leaving home, thanks to sharing a friends library card. It had expired a few days earlier, but still functioned properly. Probably like my local card, expiration dates were automatically extended due to covid.

Weather remains good. High temperatures in the upper 80's with lots of sunshine. Not much different than Florida.

With all of the crew, including the captain, wearing celebrity issued masks at all times, it is most difficult to recognize faces, but their smile comes through when they greet you. One of the bartenders still onboard was the only bartender during total shutdown. 86 crewmembers going nowhere and wondering when life would get back to normal. One benefit the skeleton crew did get was to use guest balcony cabins instead of the more compact crews quarters. A learning opportunity for everyone, the bartender learned many of the other functions of the beverage department like inventory and financial accountability. Make lemonade when you are served lemons.

Dinner this evening was in the fourth themed dining room, Cosmopolitan. I passed on any appetizer or starter and ordered a NY strip streak for an entree.  The steak itself was properly cooked, but the very heavy salt on the outside almost made it inedible. Adrienne ordered the same steak and found the same.

The show in the theater, "Uptown", four male singers accompanied by the house band, was very energetic and well received by everyone. The Captain and about 30 Staff were among the 400 or so guests in the audience.

A brief stop at the deck party on deck 14,. It was too loud for me, time for sleep.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to be in Cozumel.

No comments: