lnuzzo

We shop, sometimes.  I like to find things I can’t get at home.  Last time we were in St Maarten, we stopped at a perfume shop.  They had Guerlaine, which I can’t find at home, only online. And I don’t buy perfume I don’t know online.  So it was a nice treat, and I found a special bottle that reminds me of our vacation.  It’s not about the deal, it’s about the memory.

every piece of jewelry we have bought has a memory attached. I worked in wholesale jewelry, so I understand the costs, and the markups.  Over the 30 years we have cruised, we have bought special things. My anniversary ring, the matching earrings we stumbled on in. different port  5 years later.  The watch we bought on ship, no taxes, that I wouldn’t buy myself, but there was savings.   Everything has a value, and sometimes it’s not how much money you haggled down.

On 9/7/2023 at 4:55 PM, canadarocks said:

Thanks so much for the info! Have you been to this resort by any chance? Is so, did you like it?

We have done the day pass, and felt it was a great value.  We would be doing again in November, but our ship leaves at 3pm, so not enough time to enjoy the property.

we spent the day in the pool, at the swim up bar, all included, and then had lunch at the ocean front restaurant.   For us it was the best option, as we were there on Good Friday, and pretty much everything on the island was closed.

It’s been awhile since we went to harbor lights. But since we don’t dock until 12pm this upcoming November, we felt it was worth booking the front row guarantee, without the lunch, as no point with a late arrival.   Happy to have chairs, umbrella and a good location.  I believe the cost was $35 US for both of us. Plus taxi and beverages.

On 1/20/2023 at 12:20 AM, mlbcruiser said:

Can you recall how long of a walk it was from the ship to where are you board the catamaran? Do you have to walk out of the cruise ship port docks and to a  docking location for the catamaran? 

we did this excursion through celebrity.  Pointe Serphine in St Lucia is fairly small, we met alongside the ship and then walked the length of the port shops to meet our catamaran.  not more than a 5 min walk.

On 6/21/2022 at 10:02 AM, GenerationX said:

This was my first time trying the risotto at Murano and I’m kinda mad now that I’ve been sleeping on this dish.  Did you guys know that garlic foam was a thing?  First project when I get home is to get on YouTube and learn how to make this stuff.  Totally gonna host a garlic foam (dinner) party!

 

The pear in phyllo I wasn’t a huge fan of.  The flavor profile just seemed weird.  I’m glad I tried something new, but won’t be ordering that one again. After a few bites I called it quits on it to save prime real estate for venison and chocolate cake.

 

 

 

at this point  I think I have tried all of the Murano starters.  (this is our favorite Specialty Dining)

The Mushroom Risotto is my favorite, followed by the Mushroom Cappuccino, and the Goat Cheese Soufflé (a recent addition thanks to another review on cruisecritic). my husband loves the Pear in Phylo, but me - not so much.  I love Blue Cheese,  but not warm or hot, so that is the issue I think for me.

our last dinner in Murano I had the Veal Tenderloin, and it was to die for!

if you fold, and then insert, you will struggle a bit due to the extra volume of paper.

I trim the printed tags to just the middle section, getting rid of all the 'informational' stuff, fold in half, and they slip right into the holders.  Yes it's a waste of paper, but I would rather not curse when I am stuffing the tags into the holder.🙂

For us the draw was only committing $$200 for the deposit, rather than the $900 required online.  We received $200 OBC for an 11 night sailing in concierge.  Not a great amount, but not bad either.   The pricing was not great, so I am prepared to regularly check the cost over the next year during promotions 

Usually on boarding day, reduced menu, but you don’t have to fight the crowds at the buffet.   We don’t book for that, it’s usually because of the cabin location.

We sailed the ultimate southern in 2019.  In St Kitts

we took an excursion to cockleshell beach, with views of Nevis.   And incredible beach day! 

On 6/8/2022 at 11:23 AM, dgoz said:

All of the desserts on the Le Petit Chef menus seem kind of lame (especially for the price of the experience). I know it is possible to pick a dessert off the alternate menu, but has anyone tried to get one of the MDR desserts instead?

 

after 6 cruises with Celebrity, we finally tried Le Petit Chef in November.  the whole menu was definitely not up to par with the other specialty dining options available. very little flavor and just Meh.  and when they brought me my sad, cold brownie, toped with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, I could have cared less.  the only saving grace was the incredible Sommlier who suggested the wine pairing.  yes it was not included in the Premium Beverage package, but it was the only thing that made that dinner palatable. one and Done, never looking back.

I agree with slidergirl.   We have been going on 9+ day cruises since 2017.  I pack 3 dresses, a pair of black capris, and 2-3 dressy tops, repeat each dress, and then alternate with capris and a Dif top. It just my husband and I, he doesn't care if I wear the same thing 2X, and I pack less, and we can fit all our clothes in the teeny tiny closet.

3 hours ago, GenerationX said:

I splurged a little and paid an additional $20 to have the wine pairings (not included in premium beverage package) with each course and I thought it was well worth it.  My sommelier Mila was very friendly and engaging and did an excellent job describing each wine and why it was paired with each course.  I thought the pairings were well selected and, in a couple of cases, the wine actually saved the meal course (more on that in a sec).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did Le Petit Chef too on our 10/29 sailing on the Equinox.  and I have to agree - the wine paring save our dinner.  the best item of dinner for me was the soup.    it was an adorable show, but I didn't feel the food lived up to the animations.  

And a big Thank you for the pics of the bottles of wine!!!!  I have been wrecking my head trying to remember the wines we had.  My personal favorite was the Valpolicella.  Mila was wonderful!  we bumped into her several nights!

So apologies for the delay for my last post.  It has been a crazy week.

Our last day, we opted to self assist walk off ( hubby’s preference until of course we have to deal with all that baggage)

we woke up at 6 and amazingly were not yet docked in FTL.  We spent the morning watching the scenery and getting ready to leave the ship.  we headed to The Theater to wait to leave the ship.  We were almost the first in line, and spent the next 45 minutes waiting for the ship to be cleared.

we bumped into our friends Luc and Earl, said our goodbyes, and eventually disembarked.   Customs was a digital face recognition, and we literally walked to our parking shuttle. Easy Peasy.
 

a recap for the week.

the ship was impeccable, as was the staff.  I cannot remember a cruise where the staff was more welcoming, more enthusiastic, more helpful.  I know that this has been a hard 2 years, our family included, but I was not prepared for the outright joy that I encountered every day during our vacation.  
 

It made me so happy that we had decided not to cancel, and to wait until we could safely cruise again.

was this cruise perfect? No.  There were issues and anxiety before the trip, as well as during.  There were restrictions and uncertainty at the ports when we arrived, as well as during our excursions.  But it was the best vacation that we could have at this time, and for that, I Am supremely grateful.

so for those of you who are hesitant, who have anxiety about what is vs. what was, just do your best, plan and adjust to what the travel experience is right now.   Enjoy! ❤️

Dinner tonight was in Tuscan Grill.  Sadly we were not by the window tonight 😟.  I know, there are only so many seats by the window.  but I wanted for our cruise to end with an great view to sustain us until our next cruise!

our first visit to Tuscan Grill we had Italian, so tonight we had Steak!!  I had a filet, Hubby I believe had a Ribeye, and we each had sides - Spinach and Garlic Mashed for him, Asparagus and Cacio e Pepe for me.

Dessert was Tiramisu for Hubby and Pistachio Creme Brûlée (it had a lovely layer of chocolate ganache underneath 🥰)

Day 9

we decided to spend the day by the pool, but the weather did not cooperate.

After Breakfast in the Ocean View, we headed to the pool, but the rain came, and we left.  

The rest of the day was spent wandering the ship, shopping,  and several sittings in Il Baccio.  just for the record, we were regular guests in Il Baccio.  Pretty much every afternoon we ended up in the coffee shop, with either Lattes or little pots of tea.  this was one of our favorite spots in the afternoon to perk ourselves up after a few too many adult beverages. 😂

Days 8 and 9 were Sea days, thankfully.  basically a repeat of days 3 and 4.

Breakfast was in the Ocean View Cafe.  during this trip I had omelets, Fried eggs, and a few Benedicts (very few, I was trying to be good!!!)

Day 8 we found a lounger and spent the day by the pool.  Lunch was our first trip to the mast grill which was an easy choice if you are poolside.  as long as you are OK with hamburgers and hotdogs and fries.  for me, I would rather go to the Ocean View, but Hubby wanted something easy and accessible.

Dinner tonight was another visit to Murano!  The Amuse Bouche was - wait for it - The Salmon Mousse!!!! (apologies if you are not a Monty Python fan)  As starters, I had the Mushroom Cappuccino, Hubby had the Scallops Wellington, we shared the Chateaubriand, John added the Flambéd Lobster, and then we shared dessert (I don't remember - ugh). I did however take photos tonight!!!!

20 hours ago, cheriberi said:

We are taking the same cruise next November & have booked a cabin on the hump on deck 9 with an extended balcony as well. Could you please let me know your cabin number? I’m hoping we are booked in the same cabin because the balcony looks awesome!

our cabin was 9292.  I think if you choose the last cabin on either end or side of the hump, you should have the same balcony experience.

Dinner tonight was at Sushi on Five.  I have read multiple comments that this restaurant is not a good choice if you have the dining package, but we love it anyway, and it was a must do!

We each had dumplings as appetizers - hubby had the lobster, I had the chicken.  and then we each had a roll.  My husband had the Shrimp tempura with spicy tuna on top, I had the Green Roof Tuna - Spicy Tuna topped with I think avocado and cucumber.  then we shared a vegetable roll.  Oh and Sake and Wine🙃

Day 7 - Bonaire

We had booked the Ocean Oasis Chill excursion through Celebrity, which gave us a tour along the southern side of the island, dropping bus off at a beach bar/restaurant to relax.

We exited the ship, and were immediately told by the Bonaire authorities to don masks (even though we were outdoors).  Vaxx cards were shown upon exiting the ship (the same for Aruba and Curacao) as well as to the Bonaire authorities outside of the ship.

We walked to our bus, and again - we were on a bus, loaded shoulder to shoulder with other passengers.  this was the closest I had been (except for the bus in Aruba) for our entire trip.  honestly, I do not know what Celebrity is thinking, yes we were masked, but we were packed into their excursion busses like sardines!

Janet our tour Guide was lovely.  She is from the US (Pennsylvania) and has been living in Bonaire for I think she said over 15 years, since she met and fell in love with a resident of the island.  We toured the island along the southern side,  looked for flamingos (saw quite a few) visited the colonial slave huts, visits the salt flats, before being dropped off at Ocean Oasis (a Beach Resort)

The information provided by the cruise line was that water shoes were recommended.  I believe it should have said REQUIRED!.  my husband had on Teva 's which could go in the water, but I had only my Birkenstocks, which could not.  The area around the resort was a ledge of coral rock, slippery, and uneven.  There was no going into the water if you did not have water shoes, and so for me, as many of the others on the excursion,  it was a very hot day, unable to cool off.  Even my husband in his sandals, entered the water and had issues with the unevenness and slipperiness, losing his footing multiple times.  It was not easy to walk along the  water.  in the end, he gave up, since if he fell, there would be a good chance to face injury from the sharp coral rock in the water.

We did have a lovely lunch and adult beverages (not included with the tour) and then headed back to the ship.  

Today's all aboard was early - 3:30PM.

After returning to the ship, we headed to our cabin to cool off (it was very hot) and change so that we could walk around the port area.  

We walked through the RIF Fort, and headed towards the pontoon bridge, and walked across to the Punda side of Willemstaad.  Unfortunately for us, it was almost 5PM by the time we got across the bridge, so most of the shops and restaurants were empty, and were starting to close.  we walked around a bit, found a pharmacy I was looking for (Tylenol for a neck ache that was plaguing me) and then headed back to the ship.

Day 6 Curacao

Today was an excursion we did on our own.  We had picked 2 beach day options, sadly both were removed from the available cruise excursions, and we did not like any of the other available options.

So I contacted the 2 beach resort we were interested in - Blue Bay Beach and Cabana Beach via email.  after 2 weeks with no response, I called each directly.  Blue bay was very helpful and suggested the 'Spoil' Package for 85pp - the package included loungers, towels, a palumpa, snacks, water, lunch, and cocktails.  Cabana Beach told me I had emailed the wrong address, provided a new email to contact, but never replied to my second query.  So we booked through Blue Bay.

We exited the ship, and found a taxi.  just so you know, taxi fare was $30 US each way 😳.  But we had committed, so I ran to the ATM for the additional $$$.  upon dropping us off, we arranged for our taxi to pick us up at 2:30PM.

When we arrived at Blue Bay, we were escorted to a lovely shaded set of loungers, with a separate table and chairs, bowls of fruit salad and water on ice.  we enjoyed the water as much as possible - it was intermittently sprinkling, and running back to the cover of the palumpa until lunch at 12:30.  we were able to order anything off the menu, and were given a bottle of wine to share, along with bottled water.  since we were leaving early (2:30) our afternoon snacks were offered to us as starters for lunch.  

I had a lovely Teriyaki Chicken Bowl, and my husband had an incredible Tempura Shrimp Sushi Bowl, and we shared a bottle of Chardonnay.  By the time we were done with lunch, it was close to our pickup time, so we sat and had our included cocktails, before heading to the cab.

16 minutes ago, lnuzzo said:

Day 3 and 4 were again slow

I forgot to mention - Day 3 was Halloween.  we had never sailed on a cruise that included a holiday, and the staff did an incredible job decorating the ship! we even had an appearance from the crew of the SS Minnow 🙃

Day 5 - Aruba

We have never sailed this itinerary, so in the past year I put a lot of time into researching options for each port.  However, due to the ongoing changing requirements for all Caribbean ports, we agreed to try to schedule cruise excursions where ever available to limit the potential for having to stay on the ship should the island requirements change at the last minute.

For Aruba, I had looked at several option, but we ended up choosing an basic excursion that offered an island tour that dropped off at a beach, and then returning to the ship via catamaran.  Sadly, the excursion was not what we expected.  The bus was a bit crowed, there was no way to distance, the beach sadly was only a walk across to a pier to take a boat back to the ship.  The boat was not a catamaran, and we decided to head up top so that there was more room to space out, only to have to move back down to the first level for the last 30 min due to 'regulations' and sitting shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the guests. 🤨

Day 3 and 4 were again slow -  sleep in, head to breakfast, find a lounger at the pool, find lunch, have some adult beverages, rinse, repeat.

At home I never get to sleep in (we have 2 four footers who wake me up at the crack of dawn) so while in the past I would wake up early, and watch sunrise from the top deck, instead, I slept in, and let the day dictate what it would.

Our next dining night was a favorite - Murano.  I had the Risotto (try it - it is incredible!) as a starter, Hubby had the Anjou Pear and Roquefort, we shared the Chateaubriand for 2, and hubby added the Flambéd Lobster.  Dessert was Grand Mariner Soufflé.  No pics, sorry, but I did take phots on our second dining at Murano 😉

Dinner night 3 we ended up in the MDR, which was not as bad as I remembered from our last cruise on the Reflection.  we had planned on just hitting the buffet for our non specialty dining nights, bu instead we ended up having dinner in the MDR for the balance of our cruise evenings (minus the 6 night dining package) and had incredible service every time.