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September 23, 2018

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    The ship was docked at Cape Liberty cruise terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey, by sunrise.      The dining room was open for breakfast from 6:30 to 8. While eating breakfast there was a light rain shower.  We walked a few circuits around Deck 11 with a view of the New York City skyline under an overcast sky.  The temperature was around 13°C. The ship was docked at the same pier as when we boarded the ship two weeks ago.  The view of Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty was clearer.     We waited in the Celebrity Theater for the call to leave the ship. We collected the luggage in the terminal, where everyone’s luggage was grouped by number. Next was the line for Customs and Border Protection which took about 40 minutes, then we went to the waiting bus to go to Newark Airport for our flight to Toronto. Audrey & David were on the same bus. It was just a 20 minute drive to Newark Airport...

September 22, 2018

      Today was the final Sea Day travelling from Halifax to Cape Liberty.     Overnight the ship cruised from the southern tip of Nova Scotia to east of Cape Cod by sunrise. The temperature was about 15°C, but it was overcast and it looked foggy in the distance.     The waves were about three meters high.     After breakfast, we walked up to the track on Deck 11 where the wind was very strong, making it difficult to walk in one direction and getting pushed by the wind in the other direction.  After 15 minutes we retreated to the sheltered Deck 10 which is enclosed with windows but the center in is open over the pool. After an hour we had accumulated over 7,800 steps.  We met Audrey & David and Carol & Al in the Oceanview CafĂ© for a game of Five Crowns before attending Dominique Lavigueur’s presentation. Her final talk was called “ A Well Known Sailing Route ” about the history of the route that the c...

September 21, 2018

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    The ship arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia shortly after 9 a.m.  The sky was mainly sunny cloudy, a bit of wind and a temperature of 13°C.     In the daily program, a special Internet promotion of $79 US for the last 48 continuous hours onboard was advertised. The regular price is $49.95 for 24 continuous hours.     Since the dock is part of a cargo wharf, the port provided a complimentary shuttle to the Cunard Center about 600 meters away, not far from Pier 21, the Canadian Museum of Immigration. There were three other ships docked – Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas, over 3,400 capacity;  Norwegian Escape, over 3,100 capacity; Silversea Silver Spirit, about 1,200 capacity giving Halifax up to 10,000 cruise ship visitors today.      Our walking tour started with a ride on a pink double decker bus which took our group of 12 up to the Halifax Public Garden.  We dro...

September 20, 2018

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    Another cool morning of about 10°C as the ship docked at Sydney, Nova Scotia. On the pier, just beside the ship, is the iconic 20 meter Big Fiddle of the Ceilidh, officially named  Fidheal Mhor A’ Ceilidh . After breakfast we hurried to the Visitor Center to update the blog and post pictures, before a lot of people arrived and slowed down the complimentary Wi-Fi.  The pictures were loaded at a pace of nine per minute. While we were loading photos, a couple from the Seabourn ship that was cruising from London, England to New York, noticed Larry’s San Diego Padres hoodie. They were from San Diego. During the conversation they offered to send us some information about what to see and where to stay, the next time we visited San Diego (next spring). When we checked the email after the walking tour, Pat from San Diego had already sent an informative email.  Within 30 minutes there were over 150 people on phones and  I pads which made i...