parrothead1

7 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

Taking a step back in time to report on my day in Bonaire yesterday.

 

I booked a half day snorkeling excursion independently on the Lady Bellais.  I’d seen the company in a few social media ads and though they didn’t have a ton of reviews on Google or trip advisor, the ones that were there were glowing so I figured it was a safe bet to try.  

 

It turns out the limited number of reviews is because they’ve only been in business for about 7 months. I’m going to be giving them very well deserved plugs everywhere because they do a fantastic job!

 

It’s a family owned and run business.  Mom was checking us in at a tent less than a 5 minute walk outside the cruise port before a short bus ride to the marina.  The dad is the seaman who bought the historic wooden schooner, sailed it 21 days from Brazil to Bonaire and restored it.  Their son was on the crew helping out with sailing and snorkeling and making sure everyone used the rope swing safely (more on that in a minute).

 

During this high season I paid about $85 per person which included the snorkeling with all equipment provided (I used my own mask and snorkel but the provided flippers to save packing space) and open bar and lunch.

 

We were greeted on boarding the boat with small welcome mimosas. I partook figuring it was such a small portion and worst case it probably wouldn’t hit my system until I was almost done in the water anyway…a decision that may have played into my fate later on.

 

We had about a 20 minute sail out to the mooring for snorkeling then had 45 minutes in the water to snorkel.  If you’re only going to snorkel/dive one place on an ABC islands cruise, Bonaire is the place to do it.  The reefs are in incredible shape and the water is so clear you can see to the bottom even from the boat.

 

I saw tons of fish and corals of all sizes and colors.  At one point I found myself in the middle of a school of fast swimming small fish.  I didn’t have the presence of mind at the time to consider that when a big group of small fish is around swimming quickly, there’s probably a much larger fish chasing them.  When I saw the silhouette of said larger fish coming towards me, this daft woman thought “oh! That big fish is about to swim right under me! How cool!” Seconds later I realized my sub par depth perception had struck again and the fish (either a marlin or swordfish, not sure which) wasn’t going to swim under me, he was going to crash right into me pointy nose first!  I turned myself sideways and dove down more to swim away just in time, but Jaws grazed my leg hard.  I won’t be that girl who posts pics of her battle scars, but I’ve now got a brag worthy bruise coming up on the right side of my knee.  That’s what I get for coming between a marine carnivore and his buffet.

 

After snorkeling it was time for the open bar which was stocked with name brand spirits (so often these open bar cruises have well alcohol) and a big cooler of iced down coronas for the beer folks.  

 

The crew then opened the boat’s rope swing for those who wanted to try.  It looked like fun but when it comes to my body, I have zero confidence in my bow’s strength and ability to hold on to the dead weight of my much heavier stern while in pendulum motion, so I stayed in my lane and stuck to enjoying Corona and rum punch in the sunshine.

 

Lunch was another high point of the day.  It’s another place where all inclusive snorkeling cruises tend to cut corners so I wasn’t expecting anything impressive, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The crew served up the captain’s own recipe Caribbean chicken stew served over beans and rice with sautéed veggies on the side.  As my 11 year old would say, that chicken was bussin.  It was so tender and juicy it fell apart with a press of the fork.  We were offered seconds if we wanted and pretty much everyone onboard took them up on it. 
 

For an after lunch aperitif, the crew passed out shots of a local liqueur made from fermented Caribbean cactus.  

 

While we ate and drank we had a sailing tour around the island with some party music playing but not at an obnoxious volume.

 

I think Lady Bellais will be my go to plan for Bonaire going forward.

 

After the excursion I headed back to the ship to do some work and take a much needed nap before dinner then headed to lawn club grill.

 

I had the same server Franklin that I had for my lunch there. If you’re sailing soon and going to LCG ask for him. He’ll take very good care of you!

 

For dinner I started with a smaller size of the sausage and pepper pizza (so much better than it was on Silhouette) then had my usual LCG turf & turf of the ribeye and a half portion of the lamb chops with a side of the lobster Mac n cheese.  

 

Where’s my girl @lola2013 at?  The warm chocolate chip cookie dessert was everything we love!  When I finished it, Franklin offered to bring me another one and I actually considered it for a few seconds.

 

After dinner I decided to stay outside enjoying the beautiful evening and met my Irish MDR table mates for a couple of drinks at sunset bar then headed to bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the great review of the Lady Bellias.  I had some concerns about booking this, but I have the same booked for my Equinox trip in 2 weeks.  Looks and sounds like you had an amazing experience and now we can't wait.

Ok, I am going to ask a very dumb question.  What is this World Class Bar and where is it?  Sounds like a place I want to miss, but only been on M Class ships since Covid.

Thank you in advance.

Just got off the same cruise and my thoughts are very similar to yours.  We booked another Summit cruise for Feb 25 last week while on-board.

Only negative, this made me realize why any cruise less than 9 or 10 days isn't my cup of tea.  We did this as it was a better option than what we were planning, but this is the shortest cruise I have ever taken and just left me needing more!!  🙂 🙂

I'm a 44 year old who still loves the idea of getting dressed up. I bring my tux all the time on cruises. With the laid back world of today, it is refreshing to see people still getting dressed up.

As a previous poster said, my host requests formal, I dress formal. It's not that big of a deal in my opinion.

Parrothead: where's Deptford? I'm in Bergen County.

Gloucester County, just outside Philly. We live about 3 miles south of Exit 3 on the Turnpike.

Ok, I have a question. I'm on Millie in the Med next summer with my kids (6, 10, 12) as well as my siblings and their spouses that don't have kids. We've booked late seating dinner as that's the preference of my sibs. I'm very happy to oblige and will figure out how to handle the kids once onboard. They may very well want to join us at that late time, but I'm curious as to my options. Perhaps someone has already figured this out.

 

I notice some have mentioned kids dinner, but that's at 6pm. Does that run late as well? I guess I'm asking for comments from anyone who has brought kids on Celebrity and chose late seating. Thanks in advance.

Hi RickYak - My DW started this thread back in March, and I can tell you that our son (4 at the time) ate with us every night at late seating and we had no problems at all. He did have dinner one night with the Kids Program while DW and I went to Ocean Liners. I think we paid $6 and hour (don't quote me on that fee), and it was only for two hours. He could have stayed later, but by the time we got back he was the only one left and we figured we would give the counselors a break/early night. He had a blast. He passed up beach time, and he loves the beach and ocean, to be with his new friends in the Fun Factory. We always take late seating, and we even have a little tux for our son. We are going back on the Constellation in March, and he can't wait to get back to the Fun Factory.