Three weeks ago on December 1st Kelly and I were nervously waiting to take off on the runway at Pearson Airport in Toronto. The flight was delayed for 40 minutes while we were waiting for connecting passengers to arrive – they didn’t – and had to undergo de-icing for 20 more minutes as an ice storm was approaching. We found out later that we were one of the last flights to take off before all other flights for the day were cancelled. Three hours later (two of them extremely bumpy due to turbulence) Kelly and I were in Fort Lauderdale waiting to get a shuttle to Miami to board the Celebrity Silhouette. Originally the Silhouette was supposed to be sailing from / to Fort Lauderdale but a scheduling error caused the company to set up free shuttles to Miami and back for passengers flying into the Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood airport. Free is good – a 35 minute drive to the Miami Cruise Terminal, 15 minutes going through security and check in, 5 minutes to drop our carryon bags in our cabin, and by 2 o’clock we were sitting up at the Sunset Bar (aka ‘The Grassy Knoll’) with some new acquaintances (Norwegian, of course – always seems to be Norwegians that we meet first). We were on the Silhouette for the first time a year ago and it felt like we had never left (Actually we got on exactly a year to the day that we had last got off). We went to our mandatory emergency muster station at 3 pm in Quisine – and while we were there took advantage to book our specialty dinners (we had a $300 shipboard credit, might as well spend it on great food) – Lawn Club, Murano, and Le Petit Chef. After the drill we went back up to the Sunset Bar and finally caught up with our friends that we were going to be on the cruise with, Larry and Nancy. We had met them back in 2012 and this was going to be our 5th time travelling with them – it was a hoot. We had a great time and met great people – passengers and crew that we had run into before … and a whole new set of Americans, Canadians, Dutch, and Norwegian. Kelly and I met a great couple on the first night, Tony and Clara, while we were watching dancing down in the atrium. When we first went to the main dining room the table that was reserved for us was way off in the corner … and empty. We had passed Tony and Clara’s table and they told us that there were two empty places at their table – so we arranged to switch tables. The other couple at that table were Anna and Ross … very nice people from Michigan. The dinner service in the main dining room (Grand Cuvee) was unfortunately not as good as on previous cruises (head waiter was an idiot, sommelier not much better) – but on the first day on board we signed up for 3 specialty dinners – Murano, Petit Chef, and the Lawn Club. Murano’s as always was outstanding, the Lawn Club fairly good (if you like tons of grilled meat), and the Petit Chef – we had done that the previous year when it first came out (brilliant video show and menu), and we were fortunate to try out the new menu and show that had just debuted . We ordered room service every second day and had our breakfast out on our balcony. No extra charge and it’s very relaxing. There was a fair mix of nationalities on board but I only got to practice my Norwegian with some of the other guests and Indonesian and Spanish with some of the crew. Bar service is usually pretty good on Celebrity, but I find I get even better service when I order my blue martinis in Indonesian 😊 The staff at the Sunset Bar were also outstanding – A.A. from Indonesia and Sandip from India – we never had to go to the bar, they always came over and refreshed our drinks.
St. Croix was our first stop – Kelly and I had been there last year so we knew where to go – a little beach about a 10-minute walk from the ship – there were more bars and food trucks than last year – it was good to see that they had almost completely recovered from Hurricane Maria in 2017. We took a bag of beer with us (we have this procedure down pat for any beaches we go to), rented chairs and an umbrella for $15 U.S. a couple and relaxed. We walked around for about an hour afterwards and checked out the stores along the main street. Our next stop was at Antigua – one of our favorite islands in the Caribbean … it was Kelly’s first stop on her first cruise back in 2006 … and where we got married on the beach on that cruise. Now this was our 15th cruise together and about our 6th time in Antigua. We (Kelly, Larry, Nancy, and I) planned on taking a taxi to Turner’s Beach, but the taxi driver said the surf there had been rough the last couple of weeks and suggested Valley Church beach instead. As it turns out, we had been there 7 years before with some other friends, and Coco’s Beach … where we had gotten married … was right next door. A beautiful beach, turquoise colored water, and you could see the island of Monserrat across the channel. Our next two stops were St. Lucia and Barbados – we have been there so often Kelly and I usually treat them as sea days – we stay on board, relax, and have the ship, the bars, and the pools to ourselves. In St Lucia this year we took a little side trip – they now have a ferry service that goes across the harbour over to the other cruise terminal – so for $5 return we went to the far side, checked out the stores, and had a few drinks up at Chef Robbie’s up on the second floor. Then we went back and had a few drinks over at Rum Therapy before heading back to the ship. Our next stop was Grenada – Kelly and I had been there 5 times before, and as it was Sunday, and almost everything closed, we took a taxi ($20 per couple return) over to Grand Anse Beach ($15 per couple for two padded beach chairs and an umbrella). An amazing, beautiful beach, very relaxing, with a nearby restaurant and washrooms. We stayed there for about 3 hours before returning back to the cruise terminal to browse through the shops (one of them, Columbian Emeralds, still has our picture from the wedding cruise – we were the first people to ask for free drinks while we were shopping – well, relatively free, I did buy a $1900 dollar emerald necklace). The next day we were in St Vincent – we had stopped there 10 years ago, but had spent the whole day taking a catamaran trip to Bequia – and never really got to see Kingstown. We had heard from other visitors that there was nothing to see in St Vincent, but on walking out of the cruise terminal, we were offered a 3-hour excursion for $20 a person, and we decided to take it. Well, we had thought that Grenada and Domenica were extremely hilly, but compared to St Vincent, not so much. Twists and turns, up and down hills at fairly high speeds made for an interesting and sometimes over exhilarating drive around the island. They are just starting to get into supporting tourism (apart from some of the other islands in the Grenadines such as Bequia, Mopion, and Mustique), and have a way to go, but it is a lovely island.
St. Kitts was our last stop – went with our friends Larry and Nancy to Cockleshell Beach – thirty-minute drive by taxi ( $7 per person each way – island set rate), walked over to Loxs-een’s Beach Hut, and since we had been there before – got 2 chairs and an umbrella for $8 for each couple, you can’t beat that price. Or we could have paid about $25 at the other bars, you pick. Had a great time … we spent 4 hours on the beach, had some cold drinks, swam in the warm ocean, and just relaxed. We did have a brief downpour of rain, about 3 minutes … but this is what I don’t get … there’s people in the water, the rain starts, and they run out of the water to get shelter in the bar!! Hey, people … spoiler alert … you’re already wet!! So, if you go to St. Kitt’s … be sure to go to Cockleshell Beach … it’s beautiful, the water is warm … and you can see Nevis across the channel. We took the shuttle back to the cruise terminal, did a little shopping and went back on board for the next two sea days. The weather was great, got lots of sun up on the Knoll and relaxed in the Solarium, spent money in the Casino, got dressed up (again) for the last formal night (they call it Chic now, but for me it will always be formal dress – nice to pretend you’re rich) and bought some ships photos. Okay, we don’t normally buy photos, but Kelly outdid herself this time … I think the ships photographers took about 30 of her … she was their favorite model … so I picked out and bought what I believed were the best 8 of the lot.
Out of the 19 cruises I have been on, I would rate this one in the top 3 – the weather was excellent, people extremely friendly, staff (with exception of our table in the Main Dining Room) outstanding, beautiful beaches … everything went so smoothly that we have booked the same cruise (but different ship) for next November!
It truly was an amazing trip … all our cruises on Celebrity have been fantastic … so, 339 more sleeps until the next one on Equinox!!