Sailing, sailing...

Sorry, this one is a little longer read than I had wanted, but it does cover nine days of our travels.

After leaving Sitka, the Celebrity Millenium set off for nine straight days at sea. That was, in fact, the main reason I didn't blog this trip until now. You see, once on board, one settles into a daily routine that varies only slightly based on the activities and entertainment offered. So rather than write a daily article that said essentially the very same thing, here's the Coles Notes version.

With the clock being set back one hour each night as we traveled west across the Pacific, Brenda and I found ourselves wide awake at around 5:00AM every morning.

First we'd hop out of bed and hit the gym for an hour or so. Unfortunately, after a couple of days the sea was so rough we couldn't use the treadmills, but there was plenty of other equipment available to provide a pretty good sweat.

After that we'd shower and visit the breakfast buffet to fuel ourselves for the morning. Overall there were a lot of options for vegans and vegetarians as well as a selection of gluten free options for Brenda. Ee noticed that as the cruise wore on, our fruit options gradually diminished with the more perishable and fast ripening fruits lasting only three or four days.

At 9:00 there was a thirty minute guided meditation session headed by a Buddhist monk which we attended almost every day

Mid-morning offered a "Beyond The Podium" talk that was presented by a variety of speakers, all very interesting and engaging. One series on the brain was hosted by a neurologist, another was on adventure travel, the auto racing series was given by a driver/instructor who works at Silverstone and the Buddhist monk led a series various aspects of Buddhism. None of the entertainers, David Klinkenberg, a virtuoso violinist, have a one of presentation on THE REAL DaVinci code that Brenda and I both found captivating.

For the rest of the morning we would do the daily Sudoku and crossword or participate in trivia competitions or instructional workshops. One morning I won an archery competition and on another Brenda learned how to make Origami flowers.

Around noon it was back to the buffet for more food. There were so many options available it was hard not to overeat.

Afternoons were two rounds of trivia, one musical, the other general knowledge. The latter was a cumulative game where the team of six with the most points at the end of the cruise wins. We had Formed a team with a young man from Calgary, a couple from just up the street from us in Vancouver and a woman from the States. We ended up in second place, only two points behind the winner.

Dinners were usually back at the buffet because of the excellent choices for us, but we did eat in the main dining room a few times when the menu suited us and, of course, for the three "chic" nights.

After dinner we'd check out either the 7:00 or 9:00 show, which provided pretty diverse entertainment, some of which was first rate. We saw a magician, a crooner, an acrobatic couple, aVegas songstress, a very funny and talented pianist, a virtuoso violinist and an excellent Stevie Wonder impersonator.

We entered a couple of slots tournaments in the casino in which both Brenda and I won $50 US to play with. We turned it into $149 and cashed out, walking away with our winnings .

We were usually so tired by 10:00, we'd head back to our rooms, turn the clocks back an hour and pass out.

On our eighth sea day we caught a glimpse of land in the form of Russia off the starboard side.

We saw pods of whales and orcas and schools of fish leaping out of the water to escape an unseen predator.

Our sea days were filled with so many activities, we barely saw them pass by. And despite a couple of days of rocking and rolling with rough seas, we both thoroughly enjoyed the crossing.

Next stop: Otaru, Japan.Read more