The Straits of Gibraltar

May 1, 2012

Today we left the Atlantic Ocean as we passed through the Straits of Gibraltar. I’ve been looking forward to this transition to a new ocean since we began the crossing over a week ago. Although I’ve been to Europe a few times before I have never been in the Mediterranean and I’ve been excited by the start of this new experience. From the moment I got up this morning I’ve been counting the hours until we passed through the Straits. Sadly, I would have to wait until the evening. I was clearly not the only one awaiting this moment.

From the moment I hit the floor for my evening walk around to meet and greet guests the number one question was what time we would pass through the Straits. The first time the question was asked provided me with a great opportunity to ‘show off’ just a little. I asked the guest for just one moment while I found out for her and pulled out my deck phone to dial the Bridge. Yes, any one of the crew can dial the Bridge for a valid reason, and finding out the answer to a guest’s question such as this certainly qualified. What made me laugh was that the bridge navigation officer on duty wasn’t able to answer the question immediately. In fairness, it was probably an apprentice deck officer who answered the phone. They asked if they could call me back in just a few minutes and so I spent the time chatting with the guest. Moments later my phone rang and the window of opportunity was identified as between 10:30pm and 11:00pm. The guest was duly impressed with the lengths we would go to provide them with what they needed.

The timing seemed very appropriate as our Celebrity ROX! show was scheduled for tonight on the pool deck at 10:30pm. What better way, I thought, to celebrate the entrance into the Med than with this high energy show on the pool deck. However, due to the cool evening temperatures the show was moved inside to the Grand Foyer. So much for perfectly aligned planets. Lavern, Laura, and I decided that we wanted to watch the sail in through the Straits together and so after catching the first few minutes of Celebrity ROX! we headed to Deck 14. The top decks were already heavily populated with guests as we approached the mouth of the Straits. With three officer uniforms on deck we were immediately besieged with questions. The first one I was sadly not prepared for. “How close are the two continents at the narrowest point of the Straits?” Although I knew it was close it required another call to the Bridge to identify that Europe and Africa are only separated by 7 miles at their closest point. The next question was valid but resulted in a disappointing answer. Would they be able to see the Rock of Gibraltar? Unfortunately, at 11pm there is not much light by which to see this small island. To our north the gentle lights of small villages on the coast of Spain glowed. To our south Morocco was ablaze in light. However, the island would only be identified by the absence of light as it blocked any illumination we would have seen from the European coast. Note to tourist agents: pay to have a Hollywood style sign placed on the Rock of Gibraltar . . . someone will make a killing from the photo concession.

Since Lavern is from the continent of Africa and Laura from Europe we decided to stage our own photo opportunity. With the bright lights of Morocco behind them I took a formal picture of them shaking hands as Lavern welcomed Laura to her continent. Okay, it was a bit dorky . . . but fun. We positioned ourselves at the Sunset Bar aft on Deck 14 and watched the passage with far fewer people to obstruct our view than was the case on the bow of the ship. To commemorate the moment we decided to sit and have a drink to toast the passage. This was ostensibly a good idea but the night was turning quite cold. Fortunately, the kind bartender at the Sunset Bar had an answer for us as he would for any guest, bringing pool towels to drape over our shoulders as blankets to fight off the chill. Of course, being a manly officer I courteously refused his offer, but the intelligent ladies had no such qualms. As the clock struck midnight we decided to call it a night. Although my companions decided this was time for midnight pizza! Not wanting to ‘carb up’ so late I told them I would accompany them but leave the eating to them. However, there were a few sweets that decided to call my name so it was late night calories all around.

But we would need those calories to keep up the pace that the Mediterranean promised was in store.

And the adventure continues . . .