Up and at ‘em I was in order to enjoy coffee and a muffin by the window in the coffee shop before a busy day. Yep, there is such a thing on a cruise. First up was Brent Nixon’s presentation. We attended all his presentations during our Panama Canal cruise, so when I learned he was on this cruise I decided to work my morning around him. Anyway, he talked about dolphins …they are matriarchal, have no bones in their tails, are not the same as porpoises, and count orcas as their biggest family members… the previous sea day and today his lecture was titled Aurora. Even though rock art from 30,000 BC illustrates what is believed to be auroras, a name for them did not come into use until Galileo decided on auroras in 1619. If these dancing ribbons of light occur north of the equator they are called borealis and south of the equator australis.

Mary Amanda Fairchild presented after Brent and was received just as enthusiastically. Get this: after she won a renowned harp competition years ago she was invited to come to Japan to teach jazz harp to the empress! For real…she has pictures. She lived at the palace for six month. I digress. Today she spoke about Japan’s famous visual arts, iconic food, and the cultural importance of saving face—one’s own as well as anyone else’s. Geisha and the fact that they are considered a national treasure are of particular interest to her. These traditionally turned out (in kimono) performers of dance, fans, multiple musical instruments, and vocals train up to five years and are called upon to perform at the most prestigious government functions as well as private events. In the past year they have been targeted and harmed because of the misconception that they are sex workers. For that reason the geisha districts in Kyoto and Tokyo have been closed off to tourists and curiosity seekers.

With two lectures under my belt I rushed to the movie—The Railway Man—being shown in the outdoor theatre on deck 12. It was warm in the sun, but the breeze was a few degree past light/refreshing which I remedied with a couple of blankets.

Next up was a light lunch, writing, reading, chatting with fellow cruisers who are completing back to back Japan cruises, and finally a divine short rib dinner.

… A Little About Our Ship …

This very ship used to have a room called Olympic. The beautiful paneling in this dining room
came from the ocean liner Olympic which was a sister ship of the Titanic.

Celebrity Cruises operates 15 vessels.
On average the line comes out with a new ship every two years,
and it typically keeps vessels in its fleet between 20 to 30 years.

Our ship, Celebrity Millennium, is the oldest Celebrity ship at 23 years old.

Inaugural date: June 17, 2000 / Refurbished: 2019

Number of full decks: 11

Passenger capacity: 2,218

Registered in: Malta