mahdnc

Dec 22 2023 Solstice 12 night Singapore to Hong Kong. We also are booked on the Nov 18 2023 Xpedition.

Congratulations. Compared to the one we are on, you pick up an extra port (Malaga, Spain) and an extra night (16 v 15). We originally had the Nov 2023 Constellation sailing booked. When our Dec 2022 Asia sailing (Solstice) was cancelled by Celebrity earlier this year and rebooked for next year, it left us with no cruise for this year. So we cancelled the 2023 TA and booked this one.

It’s possible that it’s a casualty of a European energy conservation effort? Or the light bulb is burnt out.

I didn't have time yesterday to post an account of the full day tour of Cartagena and Murcia. It was a successful small group private tour organized by @Bob29321. Like the full day Palma de Mallorca private tour by the same company, it cost only 69 Euros per person. There were approximately 20 people from our roll call that participated. A good English speaking guide and driver were provided. We were transported in a mini-bus that could hold around 22 passengers not counting the driver or guide. The bus had seating for two on the driver's side of the aisle and seating for one on the passenger side of the aisle. Being a smaller bus that the full size coach that was used in Palma, seating was a bit tighter. The seats reclined which made the space in front of you even tighter. The smaller bus did not have large overhead storage and so any backpacks would have to be carried on your lap. The guide asked that we wear our masks during the bus ride citing a local regulation that required it. This request was not made during the Palma de Mallorca bus tour from the day before. We, of course, complied. The tour was comprised of 3 stops: Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Fuesanta, the city of Murcia, and finally the city of Cartagena. Our guide met us just outside the gate for the pier area. It was a very short walk from the ship. The area of Cartagena located close to the pier had a lot to offer--shops, cafe's, churches, and Roman ruins--which meant that you could explore the port on your own. We piled into the bus and took a ride to Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Fuensanta (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Holy Fountain). This church is located on an elevated area that overlooks Murcia. The bus ride there from the pier took about 45 minutes. There was nice scenery along the way. I found the church to be impressive despite the fact that we had already seen a lot of them in Rome and Palma. I will let you google to find out more about the history of this Baroque style designed church. The church's interior had a spectacular sanctuary with a gold altar, statue of Mary, and a magnificent painted 8 meter diameter dome. There is an active nunnery. The nunnery is connected to the main sanctuary by an elevated enclosed walkway (photo below).

The Big Dipper, standing on its tail, is visible over the Spanish coast.

Another photo of the African coastline

There are 2-3 at balconies with passengers observing the crossing.

The coast of Africa.

We are crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. The Rock is not lit up, but its ghostly outline is unmistakable.

The movies playing on the stateroom television are dreadfully old. So far (of what I have seen) there was: 1. Chariots of Fire (1981) shown last night 2. My Cousin Vinny (1992) shown last night 3. The Entity (1982) showing now It's like Celebrity bought a bunch of VHS tapes from a garage sale at a great price of course.

You are correct. Constellation is an M class ship just like Infinity. In fact Constellation is the youngest of the M class ships while Infinity is the second oldest. As far as my particular experience with walking around Rome and taking the train between Rome and Ostia, we felt very safe. It seemed to be overrun with tourists like us. Our guides did warn us about pickpockets, which worried me because I was carrying a DSLR around my neck during the whole time in Rome.

So when I went to get a pen from Guest Relations, they gave me a cellophane wrapped pen whose outer shell was made of cardboard. And then I found evidence of Celebrity cutting corners on this trip. It was with their playing cards, literally! The playing cards are now round. The woman at Guest Relations giggled at me when she handed me the playing cards. I mumbled something about needing to check out the casino.

I went down to Guest Relations to get an envelope (for the slot pull list for guysdolls66), a pen (with which to address the envelope), and playing cards (for Marcia). When I called for the elevator to go down to Deck 3, the door opened and there were 4 masked people in there--all of them officers. So after exchanging pleasantries, I asked them if any of them knew when we would be passing through the Strait of Gibraltar tomorrow. One of them said "the Captain said 5 o'clock" as if I had not been paying attention in class.

Oh, I forgot about that. Was planning on sleeping in. Hmmmm. I think I will set an alarm.

8166. The starboard corner FV on Deck 8. I took several photos as we entered the cabin for the first time. I will post them at a later time and I will tag you.

We left Cartagena under sunny skies. I had a chance to talk to our balcony neighbors ( @biggerboat47) for a few minutes before my wife and I headed off to dinner. We are now making our way to the Azores (Ponta Delgada) which involves two sea days and two favorable clock changes.

About half an hour ago a medical emergency was called out over the PA system (star code) while we were finishing dinner. The location for the call was port side Deck 5. Hope everything is ok. Meanwhile on the starboard side, we were treated to this:

Wayne, I meant where you were seated. So, Cellar Masters. Thanks for clarifying. See you they're tomorrow at 5pm. You are not required to wear your trademark Yorkshire rose shirt for identification.

I like that feature, too! It's from Speedtest by Ookla

Perfect. So I can get indigestion after dinner watching the game at 7pm ship time.

Waiting patiently to go ashore

Cartagena port information in the Celebrity Today newsletter:

We are pulling into Cartagena, Spain now.

@Tee & Chilli, For comparison, here are the onboard connection speeds I measured on our last two cruises. The Jan 2020 readings were from Solstice while we were sailing on the Tasman Sea toward Sydney. The Jan 2019 readings were from Reflection while she was sailing in the Caribbean. The reading at the very top of the table in the screenshot was taken at an airport lounge.

@Tee & Chilli, The internet connection is "very slow" and, according to the Celebrity newsletter, is about to get slower during the mid Atlantic Ocean stage of our cruise. Having said that, the internet is currently functional which is the good news although my needs are not large. I can attach photos to my Cruise Critic posts and include photos with emails/texts to my family. Most importantly, we are able to see photos of our dog, Daisy, sent by our dog sitter. I also can place voice calls through FaceTime. I haven't tried video calls nor video streaming yet. We have the Premium Wi-Fi package from the start of this cruise so I cannot comment about Standard Wi-Fi performance. I ran a speed test just a while ago for you to see the performance data.