After a great week in Vancouver, this morning we checked out of the Belmont and transferred to the Edge. Celebrity Edge, that is, an Edge-class cruise ship from Celebrity Cruises, part of the Royal Caribbean Group. She’s the lead ship of her class, launched in 2018, 306 metres long, just over 130,000 gross tons, with capacity for close to 2,920 guests and a crew of 1,377. Her signature feature is the Magic Carpet, a cantilevered platform that moves up and down the ship’s exterior and changes purpose depending on where it’s parked, a restaurant one deck, a bar or pool extension the next.
We jump in an Uber at 10.40 and are in our cabin by 11.30, just an easy and seamless experience, well done to the Port of Vancouver, Celebrity, and the combined government agencies of Canada and the USA. As our Uber takes us underground at the port, we’re guided to the Celebrity embarkation point. There were three ships in port due to depart today, so it was busy, us plus Ovation of the Seas by Royal Caribbean and Seabourn’s Encore. Despite this, as our Uber pulls up a Celebrity porter greets us, grabs our bags, and waves us towards our embarkation point. We breeze through check-in, security, and immigration. Before we know it we’re at our cabin, 10100, forward, starboard, and part of the ship within a ship known as the Retreat. We settle in, meet Katarina, our butler, and head out for some lunch.
Lunch is in Luminae. I have a delicious lobster roll and Mardi has a cob salad. We sit at a window seat with a front row view of Vancouver Harbour. I thought Sydney Harbour was busy. Vancouver is next level. Ferries, pleasure craft, cruise ships, and more seaplanes than you can imagine, multiple takeoffs and landings occurring concurrently around all the watercraft. It’s a mechanical symphony, finely tuned. As we transition from lunch to the Retreat deck the vista doesn’t change, but the sound does. Whilst inside, the seaplanes were silent. On deck, you hear the engine going from idle to full power as they skim the water and then take off. The reverse is true as they land, the splashdown adding itself to the sounds of the harbour. All of this noise is suddenly obliterated as Edge’s horn is blown, catching most of us by surprise. It’s loud. It’s bone shattering. You can feel it vibrating through every sinew of your body. And with that sound, we are off. We’ve watched the other two ships depart, and now we glide down the harbour. We pass Brockton Point lighthouse on our port side before passing under the Lions Gate Bridge. We track east and then south as we enter the Strait of Georgia. This leads us out past Vancouver Island, through the Salish Sea, and out to the Pacific Ocean. What lies ahead is five full sea days.
We move inside shortly after going under the bridge. I’ve got a board meeting and some work to do, which keeps me busy for most of the afternoon and evening. Mardi explores the ship as I stay in the cabin and work.
Once work is done we grab a quick, light dinner before just making it to the late show. Heather Sullivan is the headline act. She performs a number of covers, from the Beatles, Lady Gaga, Elton John, and Alicia Keys, to Roberta Flack. She finishes with a Coldplay hit, The Scientist.
After the show we do a little exploring before calling it a night. Twenty-eight days lie ahead before we hit Sydney.
