Marvy Mare

Tuesday, March 21 At Sea The Spa cafe, like the Cafe al Bacio was another gem that I only discovered on this trip. The Spa Cafe was quiet with healthy choices. I do appreciate that on the ship, unlike in restaurants here in Ontario, calories aren't listed. That calorie listing kills my appetite. The food in the Cafe seemed to be healthy and portions were small, so I chose two - Avocado bruschetta and the turkey wrap. They were both really good. So good in fact that I went back there for another meal. They also have smoothies. I didn't try them. Actually (that word again, I really need to find my thesaurus) I've never had a smoothie, so I really don't know if I'd like them. Smoothies and some of the juice was an extra cost, but I suppose it would be included if you had a drink package. Spring has finally arrived here in Central Ontario, Canada. I will have to finish this soon. I got out my camera for the second time since we arrived home. I really didn't want to get any more photos of ice and snow and it's finally gone. The birds are back in force too. And the water birds appear as soon as the water clears. I think I may have even captured a distant photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle. I digress. I'll just post one photo from this morning and then get back to my report. Well, two photos, so you can see the distractions that I'm dealing with. And a loon just cruised by. Back to the Silhouette. By the time we had our breakfast there were no chairs left in the area that we liked to sit in by the pool. Angus and Lorie managed to find us seats overlooking the Solarium pool. It was actually a good choice. I could swim in the Solarium pool and they could watch me. The Solarium pool is rarely crowded and sometimes I was even able to swim there. Too shallow for flip turns though. That's fine because I never mastered flip turns anyway. I always got water up my nose. Looking across the pool up on the deck above with their backs to us are Ken, Angus and Lorie. Tough to see them, but I know that they are there. Our day was uneventful, but we did had dinner at my favourite restaurant at sea - Murano. The dogs want me outside with them. Back later for dinner. Maris

Had a great time and love the Silhouette! Maris

Thanks for the compliment and suggestions. You are probably right about the cleaner water away from town. All those cruise ships - lol. We were done with excursions for that trip but next time (if there is a next time) we will move further away. I had been warned as well about the traffic in St. Maarten and would only book a private excursion for the morning or a bit later if we had a late sail away. One our last trip to St. Maarten we had an overnight, so did a private tour on day one and the beach on day two. Maris

March 23 Still at Sea I grabbed a couple of photos of our room on this sea day as well. Just like the food photos, I never thought of taking a photo when our room was perfect. Ken made the bed. He did a pretty good job but our room steward always did it better. I loved the shower. So easy to adjust. It was just right. Our veranda was on 'the hump', so bigger than your average veranda. One more of the pool area in the morning. On sea days people started saving their seats early. This photo was taken on a port day. Not one towel covered seat in sight and it was starting to get light. On this particular sea day, I headed up for my walk after taking my photos. No sunrise pictures, so I'm guessing that it wasn't outstanding. I really enjoyed those quiet mornings. It was usually dark when I started on my rounds of deck 14 and 15 and the sun was just starting to rise when I was ready to head back for a shower before breakfast. There was always someone walking before me. Mostly walkers but the occasional runner as well. Lots of room for us with very few if any folks occupying the seats around Deck 14. Later in the day we would watch walkers elbowing their way through the crowds. Some walked at a leisurely pace but a few seemed angered by people in their way. If you want to move quickly around the running track it's a good idea to get out there before 7am. Since we needed to be on the move early to even find a seat somewhere in the vicinity of the pool I decided to try breakfast in the Spa Cafe, rather than the buffet. I even managed to find a menu on line.

Thank you so much. I have done some real estate photography which I really enjoy, but to make a career of it these days you need really specialized (meaning expensive) equipment. The morning is the best time on the ship. You meet great people and get to watch the lawn care guys at work. Maris

Way up to deck 15. I was getting my exercise that morning. The quiet seating area outside the Photography Studio. A bit of the lawn outside the Lawn Club Grill. We did see people sitting around on the lawn on this cruise. The Sunset Bar on Deck 15. It's a great outdoor bar on the back of the ship. I think there was someone sitting up there this morning, maybe having a smoke. I rarely saw anyone up there when I was on my morning deck walk. They didn't want to climb the stairs I guess. One the Reflection the Sunset Bar is on the same level as the Mast Bar and the morning smokers were divided between the two Bars. There weren't as many morning smokers on the Silhouette and they weren't as friendly as on the Reflection. Back in 2020 they'd greet me each time as I went by. Outside the Oceanview Cafe. That's where we sat to eat most of our breakfasts and lunches. The Oceanview Cafe. Mostly still closed. Early breakfast (Continental breakfast) is at 6am and Breakfast is at 7am. Where I got my coffee every morning, sometimes as early as 4:30. There was always hot coffee waiting for me.

Ensemble Lounge 5th floor. We stopped there a couple of times this trip. On our Reflection Cruise it was our before dinner go to bar. Always fairly quiet music playing. During this cruise there was a duet. One young woman on the guitar and another on the violin. It's always fairly dark in this Lounge. When I walked up with my camera, the fellow cleaning up offered to turn on the lights. They didn't make it much brighter but they were colourful and I thought he was very nice. Being very nice seems to be a theme on Celebrity. I suppose other cruise ships are the same. A quiet corner in the Ensemble Lounge. Cafe al Bacio - The best coffee and treats and very enthusiastic staff. Looking down from the 5th floor and across to Sushi on 5. Caged bird videos! Interesting. Sushi on 5. Ken doesn't eat seafood. Supposedly there are other choices. We never went there but maybe I'll do a solo meal next cruise.

Tuesday, March 21 At Sea (cont.) The Grand Foyer - 3rd floor. There is entertainment here throughout the day. Guest Relations - 3rd floor. All went according to plan on this cruise and we didn't have to make a visit to Guest Relations. Even this area is pleasing to the eye. Doors that will be forever shut to me. 3rd floor. Unless they have a bring a friend day!😁 Downstairs at the Grand Cuvee. 3rd floor. I'm just not too sure about that carpet. Look up, look way way up.

Thank you. I meant do that earlier in my cruise and I should have noted all the places I wanted to capture. Hind sight!

Lol! I have to agree with you! Maris

Thanks Norris. Yes, it is a beautiful space. My favourite, but on this trip, we stayed outside as much as possible. I followed your advice for the WB. Maris

After I redid the post that I lost it was 'restored'. Because I'd moved on I unrestored it. A few more pictures and then I should clear my addled brain. I used to blame my addled brain on menopause. I'm way beyond that now. Oh, oh! It's also because I am just a little bit scattered at times. Trying to do too many things at once. Craft Social again - on 4. The Casino - also on 4. Stores on 4. The Martini Bar on 4 - You couldn't get near it in the evening. I think the entertainment by the bartenders was at scheduled times. Didn't see them on this trip but we had enjoyed their shows in the past. The Grand Cuvee - aka the MDR. This is the 4th floor. On the 4th floor was the scheduled dining. Two seatings. We sat upstairs where you could reserve your preferred dining time.

There is interesting art work all over the ship. Difficult to take photos without reflections. Looking across to the tree and the Hideaway on the 7th floor. Back up to the 8th floor. The Hideaway again. Maybe my secret wine drinker hid in the Hideaway in one of the cool chairs. Close up of a great place to Hideaway. I think the Hideaway had a coffee centre too. It did on the Reflection. I didn't think to check on the Silhouette, but on the Reflection, it didn't open until 7am. I was done with coffee by then. I wanted to sleep at night. 😁 Back down to the 7th floor for one last Hideaway photo. See how I get so many steps in. By not being organized. My favourite art on the on the ship. I tried getting photos with different lenses and my iPhone but could never get a good one. I saw her every day. Not my favourite, but I felt like I was getting to know her. Craft Social on 4. It used to be the Cellar Masters and was almost always empty. The Craft Social as a Sports Bar was very popular. Quiet at 5:20am though.

DAY 9 CRUISE, Tuesday, March 21 At Sea Oops, I did it again. I posted a number of pictures with captions and then went to look for something else. Didn't 'Submit Reply'. You'd think that I would have figured that out by now. Our trip back to Miami consisted of two Sea Days. I was up early as usual and thought I'd contribute to my step plan (21,000 in St Maarten) and get some interior photos of the ship while all was quiet. First stop, The Library on our floor - 10. I really love the look of that space. Can't say that I spent much time there. I wanted to be outside as much as possible. I do love libraries and books in general though. It runs in our family. I'll never forget taking our then 5 year old daughter(who continues to be an avid reader) to Chapters in Toronto. At the time, we didn't have a Chapters in our small city of Peterborough, ON. She walked in smiled & said 'Oh Mommy, it smells like books.' Upon retirement I first volunteered in my old school, but it felt a bit too much like work. After that I became a volunteer at our local library. It is a beautiful space too, but not quite like this. Looking down at the library from the 11th floor. This space was well used on hot sunny afternoons. I would often see people curled up in a comfy chair with a book. A quiet reading corner on the 11th floor overlooking the Library. Note the glass of wine. Now this was at 5 in the morning. Someone must have been enjoying the solitude late last night. I don't think many people drink wine before breakfast. Or maybe a secret drinker, and when they saw me coming with my camera, they made themselves scarce. Ken sometimes says that I 'read too much.' Never, but I do enjoy mysteries and thrillers when I don't want to tax my brain. There's a mystery. I know the night time cleaning staff does an amazing job. I often meet them on my early morning travels. They couldn't have missed this, or maybe they did. The staircase we travel up and down each day. My knees have just recovered 3 weeks later. I was never lost on this cruise. I'm not sure if it was this sign, but on a sign at the top of our hall our room number 1243 was the first listed. Does anyone know why the rooms are numbered the way they are. We were on the 10th floor. Last one. Off to explore the rest of the ship before everyone wakes up. I should post this before I lose it again.

That's so cool. On our last cruise someone also zoomed in on one of my photos. We never met on the cruise but she is one of a number of people that I have kept in touch with since, probably because of our shared stress on the cruise worrying about the impending pandemic. I think Holland House had better umbrellas. Maris

DAY 8 CRUISE - Monday, March 20 Phillipsburg, St. Maarten (cont.) Our last look back to the port area. Heading back to the ship. Ken with our shopping. The couple that we met at the beach in Nevis the day before had been very excited about their sailing excursion. They said that they would even get to race the boats. We had front row seats from our veranda. I think I see a Canadian flag on the back of one of the sail boats, but it's tough to tell who is winning in a sailboat race. See the Canadian flag. Speaking of Canadians, there were 600 Canadians on the Silhouette, 1600 Americans and that would leave about 600 others. We met a number of people from England, a few from Holland and two from Mexico. We were back up on deck 14 with our friends Angus and Lorie for awhile in the afternoon. The servers weren't too busy earlier in the afternoon. We had a chance to talk to them. Eric, Baba, Kadek and Tianna all were very friendly and hard working. Like almost all the staff that we met on the ship. We had an early sail away - 4pm. No photos of the event. We were just chillin. The sunset was at around 6:30pm. Before our 7:15 dinner. This was the first night that we had to wait for our table in the MDR. The people there before us were taking their time over their coffee. The nerve -😁. We took one of those buzzer things and wandered around for awhile. It was probably about 7:30 by the time we sad down. I was very hungry. Again I think I ordered fish, but I can't remember. No pictures of the menu or the food. Next time. There was a young couple sitting at the table next to us. They looked very young to us and we were very surprised when they told us that their daughter had called them that afternoon to tell them that she had been accepted into Medical school in Ireland. We weren't surprised that she had been accepted into Medical school, but that this couple was old enough to have a daughter who had graduated from university. We actually (there's that word again) have friends who's daughter just became a doctor (and is practicing in Australia). She was in school in Ireland as well. The couple at the table next to us were from Vancouver and of Indian heritage. We learned a little bit about their culture and family. It was interesting speaking to them. After they left another couple sat down. The young man was traveling with his mother. They were from Mexico and she spoke no English. The funny thing was the man mentioned that he had been to "The Big Apple." Not the Big Apple as in New York City, but the real Big Apple that sits off highway 401 between Toronto and Kingston, Ontario. Off to bed early again.

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten (cont.) We walked back to the ship early in the afternoon. This hotel looks just like it did after the hurricane. The fellow standing by the palm tree probably has chairs for sale. Wonderful beach so close to the port. We will be back. I do love St. Maarten. We will check out the French side when we return. We ended up buying our gifts at one of the stores near the port. I think it was the same store where we bought gifts back in 2018. The Edge on the left and the Silhouette on the right. And the Seven Seas Navigator to the right.

DAY 8 CRUISE, Monday March 20 Phillipsburg, St. Maarten One more of the Navigator. The Water Taxi dock. The town of Phillipsburg is a short walk from the Cruise Port. The Water taxi that runs regularly to Phillipsburg is $5. one way or $7 for unlimited rides for the day. This waterfront hotel is still boarded up and the green building behind it has no roof. I guess it wasn't worth repairing some of the structures damaged in 2017. On closer inspection there are some buildings in this photo still haven't been repaired. We decided to save $7 and walk to the beach. There were grandkid gifts to buy and no excursions planned. As we got closer to the beach the chair sellers came out. One followed us for awhile. She kept saying 'Don't for get my name." My memory is short and she was a bit of a pest. We told her that we were going to shop first and we would find her when we were done. I think we told the same story to a number of people. The buildings fronting on the beach are mainly bars, hotels and restaurants. The next street back is where you can find Diamonds International, other jewelry stores and skin care products. On the third street back there were craft markets and stores selling the typical tourist stuff. If was a little sketchy back there, so we made our way back to the beach. When we were in Phillipsburg in 2018 there were only a few bars open on the beach front and nothing back behind there. The chair sellers were out in force again. We stopped for a minute (well Ken stopped longer, he's way friendlier than me) to speak to a bar owner from Calgary, Alberta. It was called the something Bastard or Bastard something. We chose front row seats by the Bastard bar. $20 early bird special for 2 chairs, umbrella and a bucket of beer. Deal. Bonus; they also had a fairly clean washroom and great fries. The view from our seats. The water taxi is in the middle of the photo. I had to get a picture for our children. Ken finally got in the water. He's not a big fan of swimming or even standing in the water. I think the people that he was talking with were from one of the other ships in port. We never saw them again on the Silhouette. But the things you find out, when you are friendly like Ken. The couple was from Hamilton, Ontario. They also have a cottage a short boat ride from our house and know our next door neighbour (a cottager from Hamilton). Small world. Sellers of many products wandered down the beach. Cover ups, hats, jewelry, massages and foot massages. The woman in the pink top and bright coloured hat is giving one of her foot massages. She was very persistent. To encourage her to move on Ken finally said 'I have toe fungus so I don't want you touching my feet.' She walked off mumbling 'F..k off, Toe fungus!' Lol. She lost her smile really quickly. Most of the beach sellers were very pleasant and moved on if you said that you weren't interested.

Thank you. I’m enjoying sharing my photos and views. 😁 Maris

Wow Norris! That is amazing! I love the reflection of the sky too. We had some beautiful sunrises during our ABC islands cruise, but not like that. Maris

Thank you Reel Love. I did check out the views. Quite a few. That's great. Glad you enjoy those sunset photos. Since we live on a lake facing west, I see beautiful sunsets at least once a week. I don't alway get off the couch to capture them, but there is something about a sunset over the ocean... Maris

So sad! I tried to find pics of the Passaat but I couldn't. It looks like the company still offers sailing excursions but not on such a cool ship. Maris

Here comes the Edge! Due in at 8am, but I think it's a bit early! 6:50am - getting closer. The Nosey Neighbour again. Looking at the Seven Seas Navigator. It looks like they have comfy veranda chairs and blinds that pull down to shade the veranda. I wonder where everyone is? It's almost 7am. I've been up for hours. They can't have left the ship yet; they just got in. Five years later and some buildings are still boarded up. I guess they won't be reopening. 'Edge'ing closer! Breakfast on the Edge! Top deck on the Edge. Cruise port area and the Bridge of the Edge. Almost 8am and no Retreat guests. I imagine the Retreat on the E class ships would be used more as they have pools and hot tubs. I think the Retreat on the Solstice Class ships only has chairs and maybe Butler service.

DAY 8 CRUISE -PHILLIPSBURG, ST MAARTEN Monday, March 20 Our last port on the cruise was St. Maarten. We had been there on the Refection in 2018 and really enjoyed that stop. We had the night in port then too, which was a bonus. Hurricane Irma hit St. Maarten in September 2017 and caused enormous devastation. Cruise ships returned for the first time after the storm in January 2018. We were there in March. Much of the island was still closed. There were still sunken boats offshore, the trees were stripped from the hills and many buildings were boarded up. In Phillipsburg there were only a few bars and restaurants open on the beach front. No stores opened in behind that front row. On that visit, we took Da Party Bus. It was an informative and fun tour. The next day we just walked to the beach. I was awake at 3:30 again and headed up to the buffet for our coffee just after 4. Since we had an early arrival in port (7am) there were a few other people there. I spoke to a woman that said she was awake at 4 as her husband was having dialysis. I had no idea that services like that were available on the ship. She said she hoped that her insurance would cover it. I think I would have liked to have known before I sailed. It must have been a very expensive service. Just after 6am we were approaching St Maarten. I guess all the Retreat guests were still sleeping. Look at the colour of that water. The Seven Seas Navigator was just being tied up as we pulled up around 6:45am. I watched a video the other day. I didn't realize that these Regent ships were so luxurious.

Basseterre in the distance. We enjoyed our excursion, though I think I would have liked it better on calm seas. St. Kitts and Nevis are known for 'cloud-shrouded mountains'. Untying the mooring lines. Sail away was at 6pm. Enchantment of the Seas managed to pull away just before us. Mein Schiff was staying until 10pm. Goodbye St. Kitts I think this was the evening that we decided to check out the Ocean View Cafe for dinner. The menu in the Grand Cuvee wasn't that appealing that evening. I mentioned before that I intended to take food photos on this trip. I managed one. Put food in front of me and all I want to do is eat it. Maybe I should put Ken on the food photo duty next trip. Though he is even worse at cell phone photography than I am. The buffet was more limited than in the past as well. We probably would have been better off in the dining room being served by the friendly staff. I though we could eat outside but it was really hot, so we ate inside anyway.