FRMPEI

NORMAL - EOM

ENCORE!

LOVED IT!

Hello Norris,

Thanks for sharing again your wit and photos. I would say video too but, seems like hardly anybody looks at our videos.  I am currently only on page 7 and wanted to say I am here for the long haul. For those reading and can't wait for the summary I offer the following:

"Anticipation" - Carly Simon

"Patience Young Grasshopper" - Kung fu

"Good things come to those who wait" - Heinz Ketchup

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Linda,

Nothing worse then being captive when it is raining on you. Really what else can you do but, smile and take it?  You were all troopers this day.  When reading your story I was thinking back to our wet day in Jamaica 2013 on this very same Silhouette.  Donna and I were on the chair lift going up Mystic Mountain and it started pouring and we got soaked. On the trip back down the mountain we were nice and dry, sun shining, then the heavens open up again and soaked us. It was a very wet drive back from Ocho Rios to Falmouth.

Regards, 

Kevin 

On ‎1‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 3:40 PM, SleepingUgly said:

Day 9 – St. Lucia (cont.)
 

....- the first time I've seen Dr. Pepper (nectar of the gods) since I've stepped foot on the cruise ship.  I knew I loved St. Lucia for a reason.

 

 

 

 

Linda,

Now you have taken this trip report to far with your Dr. Pepper comment. It has to be the nastiest soft drink ever. My Son, Nolan, Loves it but, here is my take on Dr. Pepper. If In the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse and if I was dying of thirst and came across a vending machine with only ice cold Dr. Pepper in it... I would pass.

Still Love reading your adventure.  Keep it coming

Regards,
Kevin Reid

8 minutes ago, SleepingUgly said:

Day 6 – Dominica (cont.)

  

 

 

Great picture of you and your three sisters. 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

1 hour ago, oskarNZ said:

Antigua 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, oskarNZ said:

 

I have almost the same photo from Last March. My wife noticed that it looks like a crocodile in the middle of the photo. Anyone agree?

Regards,
Kevin Reid

1 hour ago, oskarNZ said:

Barbados

 

Love this photo.

Regards,
Kevin Reid

Hi Linda,

Where to start?  I did not want to add a comment until I got caught up. I am only up to the end Christmas Day... now I am behind. Love your trip report style of writing rather than a review. I love trip reports with lots of details and photos. Even though I have been on Silhouette a few times I still feel compelled to keep reading. Love how your girls pose with all the crew in your photos.  DW and I love cruising with our boys when we can afford it.  We are going on same cruise March 3. Like you I am the planner with some help from DW.  

Keep the good stuff coming.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

17 hours ago, sdnich said:

 I am on the same cruise November 2019 and just did some booking of excursions yesterday !We decided to go with Maya Chan in Costa Maya And do a beach day the water in that area does not look Caribbean blue but it sounds like their service and food are fabulous. They get great reviews I just booked it today it was $59 a person and you get your own private palapa with chairs and lounger . It is very laid-back though depending on what you’re looking for it’s right up our alley .  And in grand Cayman we are doing captain Marvins stingray and one snorkel stop excursion . Cozumel we probably won’t do another excursion we thought we would just go into town and see what is there and will have a beach picked out in case we want to spend a couple hours on one . Have a great cruise 😁

Have to agree with your comments above. We (group of six) did Maya Chan in 2012... very relaxing. Unlike other ports Costa Maya really has nothing other than the port if you are one who likes to wander on foot outside of the port on your own.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.  I liked your format.  This coming from someone who enjoys writing the long winded photo laced trip reports.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Here is what I figured out from this thread. IV is infinite veranda and not the Roman Numeral four.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Fantastic, Gorgeous, Amazing, Video. Superbly edited and narrated. Loved it! Give us more!

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Hi everyone,

Before I get back into my delayed Trip Report I want to share a recent family health related story.

Take a study of this photo of Donna recently taken in Fort Lauderdale before our past cruise this March 2018. Focus in on Donna's right arm just above here elbow. Notice that rather large freckle looking spot?

Donna best friend who happens to be nurse noticed this spot on Donna's arm before the cruise and suggested she go get it checked. Shortly after arriving back from our 2018 cruise Donna had her appointment and was booked to have this blemish removed. Within a week she receives a call and the doctors wants to she her this AM to discuss the results of the biopsy. Donna was hoping for the "test came back negative" call. I was already at work when Donna received call so I wanted to be with her. Donna was thinking the worst and so was I as I was making the 60 KMs drive back to Charlottetown from Summerside. Doctor explained that the biopsy did come back positive for cancer but, the good news was on the cancer scale of 1 to 4 it was a zero. The best news we could receive other than a Negative. Doctor booked us right away that afternoon at the local Hospital to have an additional biopsy on the spot to make sure she did not miss anything on the first go (which we were told is normal procedure). Good news was that test came back as negative.

Donna has always been a sun worshipper but you may notice starting in some photos starting in 2017 Donna started to wear a hat for sun protection. 2018's cruise was quite different for Donna there was no laying out in the sun, wore a hat and applied sun screen.

Thanks to best friend, Karen, for alerting us and making us book that appointment. These things just don't pop up they have been there for a while. I had to go back to 2015's photos before I could find no evidence of this mark on Donna's arm. So when you get out of the shower check yourself over and have someone look at those spots that are hard to see.:eek:

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on overnight ports of call. We were to have our first one this past January on Silhouette and it was canceled due to changing up ports of call due to the damage in San Juan Puerto Rico last fall.

It is neat to stay overnight in port. With our recent Reflection cruise we also stayed overnight in St Maartens.

Kevin Reid

Aggressive peddlers. The most aggressive of every port we have visited. We thoroughly enjoyed our excursion there, but never want to go back because of the peddlers.

Mark,

It was so bad that we did not even want to venture out anywhere on our second day.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

DAY 6 - CARTAGENA, COLUMBIA - PORT SHOPPING GUIDE

Cover

Inside Spread

Back Cover

Regards,

Kevin Reid

DAY 6 - CARTAGENA, COLUMBIA - CELEBRITY TODAY & INSERTS

CELEBRITY TODAY Saturday March 18, 2017

Front Page #1

Inside Left Page #2

Inside Right Page #3

Back Page #4

Celebrity Today Insert

Celebrity Today Insert

Regards,

Kevin Reid

DAY 5 - COLON PANAMA - EVENING

The late arrivals no welcoming cold towels no cold drinks?

We were all pretty exhausted after this long excursion. The sun and heat was relentless today. I think we all really enjoyed ourselves and were glad that we booked and done it. Donna just wanted to go up to Oceanview for dinner. I explained that I don't like going there for dinner and would rather go to the Main Dinning Room instead. I agreed to go along with the majority decision. So we decided we would shower up and try to show up at Silk Harvest without a reservation. Success! We had no problem getting into Silk Harvest. We had Miake as our waiter again tonight and you could tell that he was super excited about tomorrow because he was going to his home country and able to see his family.

We pretty well ordered the same stuff as our first visit. Silk Harvest had become our favourite Speciality dining this cruise.

We finished up at Silk Harvest just past 9 PM. No show for us this evening after our long day on the canal.

Post Silk Harvest Group Photo.

Before calling it an evening we went up to Deck 14 to get a couple of night shoots. It was windy up there.

This would be a typical early evening for us. We are not much of Late night owls.

Greeted by our laundry. Send it out in one bag and comes back in two. Our favourite Elite perk.

Coming up - The first of two days in Cartagena, Columbia. Aggressive Peddlers and our first overnight stay in a port.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Welcome back. Would love to do the Panama one day but so expensive that it won't be anytime soon. Loving your review and pics!

I think we would also like to do a cruise transit also. This was a good way to at least see the Panama Canal close up.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

DAY 5 - PANAMA CANAL

So after you exit the final lock you technically are not in the Pacific Ocean yet. You enter the Balboa Harbour where you will pass underneath the Bridge of Americas. For our passage the bridge was under repairs and did not allows for the best of pictures. The bridge opened in 1962 and connects the continents North and South America. Celebrity uses this bridge in there promo literature I think with Infinity in the background.

This area also has a sizable shipping container port.

Australian Warship

Canal pilot leaving

Looking back at the Bridge of Americas under repair. There is a third bridge, Atlantic Bridge, being built back near Colon scheduled to open in 2018.

Panama City Skyline

We got back to the area where the buses were picking us up around 4:30PM. It has been a long day already and we still have about a 90 minute drive back to Colon. Thankfully our "Fantastic" bus tour guide was quiet for most of the trip back. Traffic was quite heavy getting out Panama City. We arrived back at the cruise port at 6:05 PM and the crew rushed us on board because we were already one hour late in leaving. That is why you only book a Panama Canal excursion with the ship. Within a half hour off getting back Equinox was on her way to Cartagena, Columbia.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

DAY 5 - PANAMA CANAL - MIRAFLORES LOCKS

Approaching the second stage of Miraflores Lock and the final gate of the Panama Canal. This train bridge technically is the third bridge crossing the canal. I don't think it used much anymore. Correct me if I am mistaken.

Is this thing done yet?

Final Gate Open... welcome to the Pacific Ocean.

The Bridge of America in the distance.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

DAY 5 - PANAMA CANAL - MIRAFLORES LOCKS

Some photos of the first stage of the Miraflores lock your gateway to the Pacific Ocean.

Approaching Miraflores Lock

Tiered viewing stands. I understand that you have to pay an admission for this.

A view of the first stage of the Miraflores lock looking out onto the second stage.

Water lowered to its lowest level before the gates open to the second stage of Miraflores lock.

Look Up

Regards,

Kevin Reid

DAY 5 - PANAMA CANAL

Ken and I touching the canal wall. (good luck?) Hopefully when I get my video together I can edit a neat time-lapse of the water leaving the lock(s).

Lock gates opening

A great view from our vantage point

Gates tucking themselves into the canal wall.

A look back at Pedro Miguel Lock.

So it is almost 1:45PM before we clear our first lock and this is the first time I get to sit my ass down since boarding. We were able to pull our chairs in under the overhang which gave us a nice relief from the blistering sun.

This lock business would repeat its self all over again in about 30-45 minutes at the final lock Miraflores Lock. Which is a combination of two locks. To be honest I think we would have all been happy if we had just did one lock and called it a day.

Regards,

Kevin Reid