Trip Report: 12-night Holiday Cruise in the Caribbean on the SILHOUETTE (2018)

[SleepingUgly]

Subtitle: My (not so) short and (not necessarily always) sweet trip report on how we not only survived, but actually managed to thoroughly enjoy, 12 nights on a cruise ship packed with large (and sometime unruly) families, some questionable food (when did scrambled eggs come with au jus), and ridiculously tight slot machines (possibly a blessing in disguise as our 19-year-old is now completely disgusted with gambling).

 

Well, we did it. Or, maybe more accurately, I did it.  After planning for more than one year – and changing cruise lines, dates and itinerary in the midst of all that planning – we finally took our first cruise as a family of five.  And I survived to tell you all about it.  And since this board was tremendously, insanely helpful to me during my days of manic planning – as well as the days when I wanted to start my vacation NOW so I just ended up doing nothing at work except read trip report after trip report – I thought I would return the favor and post a detailed photo trip report of our two-week vacation.  As with all other trip reports that I’ve read and learned from (shout-outs to Bimmer09, deladane, harryfat1, mitsugirly, Noreen411 and gambee for being my inspirations and for having kept me entertained for so many hours these past months), I welcome any / all questions and comments, so please feel free to jump in anytime!

 

OK, so let’s get started …

 

WHO and WHY – First, a bit about us and how we ended up deciding on a cruise for our next big family vacation.  We are a family of five – my husband is not a planner and kind of goes with the flow.  In other words, if I leave it up to him to decide on our next vacation, we’d go nowhere.  I am the opposite – I plan everything like General Eisenhower planning the invasion of Normandy.  I also not-so-secretly think the research portion of our vacations may be more fun than the actual trip itself, so I spend tons of time before any vacation reading up on where we will be going and what we will be doing.  We have three children: Our oldest daughter is 19 and a sophomore in college; our middle daughter is 16 and a junior in high school; and our youngest daughter (the “oops” or “surprise” or “what the @#$%^?!?!” – take your pick) is an eight-year-old third grader.  Yes, my poor husband is stuck with four females at home.  Even the dog is a bitc … er, girl. 

 

So, back to our vacation.  How did we get here anyway?  Well, it all began in early 2017.  Our oldest would be graduating from high school that spring and she wanted to go to Paris or Hawaii for her graduation trip.  My husband and I laughed and laughed and laughed – starting in January when she came up with the idea up until March, when we stopped to take a breath and asked her to pick a location that would not force both / either of us to sell a kidney in order to afford it.  Now, before you start feeling sorry for this already-entitled post-millennial (Gen Z?), consider that she has already been to Europe almost 10 times in her life, traveled to Asia, been on one Celebrity cruise, taken three trips to Disney World, been on a handful of vacations to Mexico, and taken various trips around the US with the most awesome family ever.  Yeah, don’t cry for her, Argentina or anyone else.

 

So, she ended up picking California for our family vacation that summer instead.  That was much more doable for us.  I started my usual anal planning and had everything set – a two-week trip that would start in San Francisco for a few days, then a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway to southern California, where we’d finish up with time spent in Palm Springs and Los Angeles.  It was gearing up to be a pretty cool road trip. 

 

Then, the doo-doo hit the fan at my husband’s work and he could not take the entire two weeks off in late June / early July.  We had two options – I could take the kids on my own on this two-week vacation, or we could all go but cut our trip down to just six days.  I thought about it for all of half-a-second – did I want to fly across the country with two teens and a six-year-old and drive the length of California all by myself, with no help from another adult and with three kids in tow, or did we just want to do a relaxing, albeit shorter, vacation with all of us together as a family.  I obviously, being of sound mind and body, chose the latter, which is why I am still sane and sober today.

 

 However, I did put the serious guilt trip on my husband.  YOU RUINED MY SUMMER VACATION!  YOU OWE ME!  Being the good husband that he is – and truly frightened for his life that he slept with one eye open for a few nights – he told me our next vacation could be whatever I planned and he would go along with it.  Really?  Whatever I planned?  Hmmm … #famouslastwords …

 

 So, after we got back from our almost-week-long vacation in San Francisco – which was fab, thank you very much, even though it was 65 degrees and foggy pretty much every single day despite it being FRIGGIN’ SUMMER – and once the kids were back in school and we had shipped our oldest off for her first year of college, I started planning our summer vacation for 2018.  I asked the kids what they wanted to do and, among the tons of ideas tossed about, one comment from our youngest daughter stood out: “How about a cruise?”  Her sisters joined in … “Yeah, why can’t we go on a cruise?”  “That last one we did was GREAT!”  Hmmm … a cruise.  Interesting concept.  We had gone on a Celebrity cruise more than 10 years ago – on the GALAXY!! – when we were still a family of four and the two oldest ones were 7 and 4 years of age.  It was my husband and the two kids’ first cruise; it was my third.  For some reason, after that cruise, I had never given it any further thought as another vacation option for us; not really sure why because we had all loved it.  However, better late than never, and an idea was born for our 2018 family vacation … 

 

Linda

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SleepingUgly]

WHERE and WHEN – So, since all three kids are in school, I figured the best time for us to cruise would be summer.  The Caribbean was out of the question, due to it being hurricane season.  So I looked across the pond, towards Europe.  The two older girls and I have wanted to visit Greece for quite a while.  My husband, being from Europe, had been to Greece already several times so pooh-pooh to him.  Anyway, I started researching cruises to the Greek Isles but unfortunately didn’t find many itineraries that intrigued me.  And, interestingly enough, even though I was planning about 10 months in advance, a lot of the ideal cabins on certain ships had already been booked.  Talk about advance planning!

 

Well, I was just about to throw in the towel when an itinerary caught my eyes.  Started in Venice, sailed to Croatia and Montenegro, then onto the Greek Isles and finished in Athens.  Ten nights, and we could spend a couple of days in Venice beforehand and a couple of days in Athens afterwards.  And the cruise line was interesting – Oceania.  Not the first choice for a family with two teens and a now-seven-year-old, but it was a very port-intensive trip so, really, how much time were we going to spend on the ship anyway?  And, honestly, while I love traveling with my own children, I do not like traveling with hordes of other children.  No, let me rephrase that: I do not like traveling with hordes of parents who think their children are kings / queens of the world and refuse to teach and encourage proper etiquette and behavior.  So Oceania sounded like a pretty good option to me.  I shopped around for a good TA, and found one who was responsive with her emails / phone calls and offered some OBC and prepaid gratuities.  I put a deposit down for two cabins – a concierge-level verandah for my husband and me, and an inside cabin directly across the hallway for the three girls. 

 

Well, we started getting hints almost right away that this trip was not meant to be.  First, my oldest told me she may not be able to join us as she was planning to take Physics at her college that summer.  No, this was not some drunken declaration she made at 3 in the morning.  She was part of a program at her college that paid for her to take one year’s worth of credit in a STEM-related class the summer after her freshman year so she wanted to take advantage of that.  Who were we to say no to that request, especially when she could take the class for FREE and also get to stay in a dorm for FREE?  Then, our middle child started talking about history programs she wanted to attend that summer, including one that coincided with the dates of the cruise.  Meanwhile, I had been emailing / calling the TA with questions about the cruise, but she was being completely incommunicado.  Ruh-roh, Shaggy.  Looks like the gods – Greek or whatever – are trying to tell us something.

 

So, when the whole gang was together for Christmas later that year, we decided to give up on that idea since the dates simply would not work out for us.  While disappointing, we also looked at each other and realized that – wait a minute! – the only time the five of us could actually be together and not have any conflicts with work or school or other activities was Christmas time.  Brilliant!  “Hey, how about if we look for a cruise during Christmas season 2018,” I asked no one in particular because I could care less about their answers.  I was going to plan this cruise, dammit!

 

Anyway, I didn’t want a cruise that was only seven nights long, since that meant spending either Christmas or New Year on the ship.  I wanted to be on a ship for BOTH holidays.  That helped limit my options quite a bit.  There was actually an Oceania cruise, from Miami to Miami, that departed on December 19 and cruised to some great little islands in the Caribbean that the bigger ships usually don’t (or can’t) even consider, but the departure date was cutting it a bit too close as my oldest daughter’s finals in college may go up to December 18.  So I needed a cruise that had a later start date.

 

And that’s when I saw it: a 12-night cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette, from December 21 to January 2.  The dates would definitely work for us.  Now let’s check out the itinerary.  The ship departs from Fort Lauderdale and the first two days are spent at sea.  Then – boom, boom, boom – seven ports, one right after the next – and then two final days at sea (including New Year’s Eve) before heading back to Fort Lauderdale on January 2.  We’d been to about half of the islands on our previous cruise, but there’s got to be other things to do, right? And the ship itself?  Not too big, not too small, so we won’t be overwhelmed with stampedes of people or feel like we are stuck on a floating Mall of America, but at the same time, the kids won’t feel as if they are sailing with Sunrise Assisted Living on the Seas, bored out of their ever-lovin’ minds.  And since our last cruise was also with Celebrity – and we loved the service and laid-back attitude and we got no dirty looks for having two small children on an 11-night cruise – we decided to book with Celebrity again.    

 

Linda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FlorenceItaly]

Enjoying your review!!  Thank you.

[SleepingUgly]

HOW – So I went in search of a good TA (again!), using an online TA “auction” site, and found one who offered really good OBC and prepaid gratuities for the first two guests in each cabin.  Since we were getting two cabins, that meant we’d have to pay gratuities for just one person out of our own pockets.  Also, Celebrity was still offering the two free perks deal, so we went with the classic drinks package for the first two guests in each room and the OBC of $300 per cabin.  When I got the final quote from the TA, this was actually bumped up to $400 per cabin from Celebrity.  Thus, along with the TA’s own offered OBC, we got a total of almost $2000 in OBC for the five of us, with pre-paid gratuities and drink packages for four of us. 

 

The first cabins I booked were two connecting regular balcony cabins, on the mid-ship hump on deck seven.  However, as I continued to do my research, I found there is quite the cult following for aft cabins.  I was piqued by the idea of sitting in the back of the ship, with a unique vantage point of where we had been, and watching the wake chase us to where we will be going.  So I checked to see if any were available.  I wasn’t too hopeful since we needed two connecting cabins – one for three guests and other for two – and I know those aren’t easy to be found.  But – lo and behold! – two adjoining aft cabins were available on Deck 9, concierge level, with the bed configurations we needed for five people.  I snagged them right away, figuring I’d put a deposit on these babies since there were so few of them, and that I could always change my mind later.  (Spoiler Alert: I didn’t change my mind.)

 

Now, for the flights and hotels.  Thanks to my previous job that I had left in early 2016 – which involved a crazy amount of travel, including almost-weekly day trips from DC to NYC, as well as international trips at least 3-4 times a year that had me flying from DC to London for a couple of days, then onto India for a few more days, then to Hong Kong for 3-4 days, before heading back home to DC … those good folks on BA knew me quite well after a while – I had an insane amount of miles accumulated on both United and American airlines.  We could basically fly to FLL on one airline and back on another using only miles.

 

After working out a bunch of different possible scenarios, I decided the best option was to fly IAD-FLL on December 20, using my United miles.  We had enough to get four tickets but had to buy that last ticket out-of-pocket.  No biggie – the cost for five tickets still came to only @ $425, including all fees.  Not a bad deal at all.  For the flight home, American Airlines has its hub in Miami so we would need to travel to MIA.  However, the options for flights leaving MIA on January 2 using miles were horrendous – there were hardly any direct flights offered and all others required at least one connection but still asked for more than 50K miles per ticket.  For one way!  Not too surprising since I’m sure that’s a huge travel day.  Thus, I made the executive decision that we would spend one night in Miami and fly out the next day – January 3 – and therefore not have to spend so many of my miles for a two-hour flight.  We were able to get five tickets for a non-stop flight home midday on January 3 and paid under $30 in fees, total.  Yes, THIRTY DOLLARS!  Thus, in total, we paid around $455 for RT tickets for five to FLL / MIA and back to IAD / DCA, during Christmas and New Year season.  Definitely a win in my book.

 

Now, onto the hotels.  The stay in Miami was rather easy to find.  Because we were going to need a room for January 2, the rates were still quite high since it was so close to New Year’s Eve / Day.  Thus, I decided to use some of my Hilton points.  By doing so, I was able to snag a water-view, one-bedroom suite at the downtown Hilton, and pay just a $5 booking fee.  I know it’s not the sexiest hotel in Miami, but hello?!?  FIVE DOLLARS!!  Yeah, the downtown Hilton will be just fine, especially since my nerdy children are really into science museums and the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science was only a few stops’ away from the hotel on the free MetroMover.  We could do that in the afternoon, before flying back home the next day.  And the room turned out to be incredible.  Here’s a photo of the living space, with a king-sized pull-out sofa and a really nice view of Miami and the bay.  There is a separate bedroom with two queen beds as well.  And, again, all this for just FIVE DOLLARS!!!

 

  

The pre-cruise stay in Fort Lauderdale was proving to be a bit trickier.  Not that rates were too high or that there was a limited selection; in fact, just the opposite.  Rates were quite reasonable for most hotels and there were a lot to choose from.  Guess no one really wants to spend time in a hotel just a few days before Christmas.  I must have booked / cancelled / changed my mind at least 8-10 times, literally.  I couldn’t decide if we wanted to stay in the 17^th Street area, downtown near Los Olas Boulevard, somewhere near the waterways for access to the Water Taxi, or on the beach.  Our flight was scheduled to land at FLL @ 11.15 am so we ‘d pretty much have the afternoon free, so I did want some place comfortable as we would do more than just sleep there. 

 

In the end, the much-heralded (and much-maligned) Embassy Suites on 17^th Street offered a rate that was just too tempting to turn down.  We could get a two-room suite for one night for the five of us for just $160.  That, of course, includes the evening manager’s reception and the made-to-order breakfast in the morning for all five of us.   Plus, it would be a quick, easy and cheap Uber ride from the airport and to the cruise port.  It was also near the Harbour Shops, where we could just on the Sun Trolley for a very low fee of $1 per person, each way, which would take us to the beach, where we hang out for the afternoon if the weather was agreeable.  Thus, we could save money AND still get some beach time on our first day of vacay.  Signed, sealed and delivered – the Embassy Suites it will be for our pre-cruise stay!

 

With these main details out of the way, it was time to really focus on the cruise itself, and the real countdown could begin!

 

Linda

 

 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

`Great review.   Love to hear of all your planning.    As the one who does the planning I can empathize / enjoy with you the fun of making it all happen.

 

[SleepingUgly]

One Month Before the Cruise ... I am a planner by nature.  I think it's part of my DNA, how I plan things from my outfits for work each day to what genre of books I will read in which order on my Kindle to which playlist I should listen to on the way to / from work ("It's not your turn, Best of the '80s!  I listened to you twice last week already!").  It's not something I'm usually proud of, but for vacations, I not only go a bit nuts with the planning at times but I also enjoy it immensely, mostly because I feel as if I have already started my vacation when the planning begins.

 

For this cruise, the planning began almost immediately, with my reading up extensively on each port of call and what activity options there were for each island, and also our pre- and post-cruise stays in FLL and MIA.  The original itinerary looked like this:

 

• Thursday, December 20 - Fly from IAD to FLL
• Friday, December 21 - Celebrity Silhouette departs Fort Lauderdale @ 4 pm
• Saturday, December 22 - At Sea
• Sunday, December 23 - At Sea
• Monday, December 24 - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (7 am - 5 pm)
• Tuesday, December 25 - Frederiksted, St. Croix, USVI (8 am - 6 pm)
• Wednesday, December 26 - Philipsburg, St. Maarten (8 am - 11 pm)
• Thursday, December 27 - Roseau, Dominica (11 am - 7 pm)
• Friday, December 28 - St. George's, Grenada (8 am - 6 pm)
• Saturday, December 29 - Castries, St. Lucia (8 am - 6 pm)
• Sunday, December 30 - Basseterre, St. Kitts (8 am - 4 pm)
• Monday, December 31 - At Sea
• Tuesday, January 1 - At Sea
• Wednesday, January 2 - Return to Fort Lauderdale @ 7 am; take Uber to Miami
• Thursday, January 3 - Fly home from MIA to DCA

In the end, after much research, I decided on a mix of relaxing beach days and active excursions for our seven days in port.  However, if there is one thing I learned from traveling with my family of slackers these past years is that they do not live and die by the planner like I tend to do.  I especially found this out last summer during our San Francisco trip, when in the Uber on the way from SFO to our hotel, I realized I had forgotten my Clipboard of Fun (or, as my kids like to call it, the Clipboard of Doom), that included a day-by-day breakdown of how we would spend our time, as well as the many tickets I had bought ahead of time for multiple attractions.  I was upset, of course, and my family was upset right along with me, but they also were secretly doing fist pumps as we now had absolutely NO PLANS in place for any of our days (with the exception of Alcatraz because I did remember those tickets, thank goodness).  That was the first vacation where I woke each day, not knowing what we'd do, but we simply decided based on our whims / likes that day.  It turned out to be one of our most memorable vacations ever, so I figured a combination of research and planning so we know what to expect and what our options are, but also not booking everything in advance, may give us the right balance on this cruise.

 

Still, the planner in me would not go away, so I created this fun, colorful calendar that I hung up on a wall in each of our cabins with magnets.  This was not only for everyone else's benefit - so they would not lose track of days and know where we would be at each day - but also for my benefit, so I wouldn't drink myself into a stupor from having to answer that question, "Where will we be at tomorrow?" at least a dozen times a day.  This little calendar proved to be very useful in the end as there is also a second page where I list out the activities each day in greater detail.

 

  

 And, because I was bored at work one day, I created this Excel spreadsheet, mainly just to keep myself happy and awake ...

 

Of course, we didn't follow it closely at all, with the exception of planned excursions, but this kept me engaged and entertained for at least a few weeks at work (seeing a pattern here?  I love my job, I really do, and I am NOT in any way, shape or form writing this trip report while I'm at my desk ... at work ... in my office ... with the door closed).

 

I also, thanks to deladane, started a candy countdown for all five of us. Being the cheap, procrastinator mom that I am, I waited until after final payment was made and then decided to implement it.  This is basically a countdown of the days until our cruise, using candy.  Each day, we eat one piece of candy, counting down the days as we get closer and closer to our cruise.  I sent the middle daughter out on a Saturday to get the goods.  She had just gotten her driver’s license earlier in the month so was still at the stage of wanting to drive ALL THE TIME. Believe me, my husband and I milked it for all it was worth, making her run all sorts of mindless errands for us.  So off she went, with her little sister, and they came back with enough candy to feed the entire ship.  (Note to self: Must give teenager more detailed instructions on what and how much to buy when tasked with an errand that involves purchasing candy.)  Anyway, we all got our favorites – hubby got M&Ms, I got Reece’s Pieces, the 16-year-old got herself some candy corn, and the little one chose Skittles.  The oldest daughter, because she was at college so she had no say in what she got, received a variety from all four bags.  And the little one happily ate her oldest sister’s piece for her each and every day ... until she had only one month to go, when she stopped eating any of her candy because she was saving it all up for the last day when she could throw the biggest handful of sweets into her mouth at the same time because isn't that like every eight-year-old's dream come true.  (Second note to self: Call up therapist next time you decide to do anything official with candy with my deranged family.)  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the candy jars with me at work right now - ahem! I mean, at HOME right now - so I will try to post them later.

 

Linda

 

 

     

[SleepingUgly]

46 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Enjoying your review!!  Thank you.

Thank you for reading!  This is my first attempt at doing something like this, so welcome any / all feedback, especially if I am doing anything wrong!

[SleepingUgly]

3 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

`Great review.   Love to hear of all your planning.    As the one who does the planning I can empathize / enjoy with you the fun of making it all happen.

 

Thank you so much, and I very much enjoyed your recent live TA report!  I was not so adventurous to have done a live report, and I"m glad I didn't attempt it as the Wifi was very spotty onboard.  Hopefully, that's not the norm for most people.  

[helen haywood]

I am SO with you in planning, if not being perhaps the best part of a cruise, at least a very important component!!  One year a hurricane was impacting our travel plans and we honestly didn't know if we would be able to make the cruise.  I stopped thinking about the trip because it would have been heartbreaking if we couldn't go. We did get to go at the last minute but the trip felt shorter than usual because it was just the days of the cruise...not the weeks of anticipation in addition.

 

We sail Silhouette in two weeks so I'm greatly enjoying your report and pictures!!

[Sheal]

Great start.  I thought I was looking at my own excel worksheet!  Can't wait to hear about your stops, we were supposed to hit St. Croix and Dominica and Grand Cayman but then Irma happened.  No river tubing in Dominica for our family but we did get Barbados and Antigua as consolation prizes. 

 

I don't have anything planned until 2020 and those excursions are already planned.  But don't cry for me either, I have Belgium/Amsterdam coming up this spring. 

 

[SleepingUgly]

One Week Before the Cruise ... DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!  One week before we were to depart on our long-awaited-for family vacation that was more than one year in the making, I was on my way home from work and was rear-ended pretty badly by - of all people - a drunk driver.  In a work van, to boot.  I was pretty much stopped in the right lane, having just slowed down due to the traffic in front of me; we were all waiting to get off at the upcoming exit, when all of a sudden - WHAM! - I was slammed into from behind.  My car was pushed into the vehicle in front of me and my airbags deployed.  It ended up being a six-car pileup, and I found out later the guy who hit me was going 70 mph.  Drunk.  I was taken to the hospital by ambulance and was diagnosed with a serious concussion and a neck injury.  Because of the concussion, I had to spend the night in the hospital and had to wear a soft c collar the entire time.  Morphine and vicodin were my best friends during that time.

 

Upon leaving the hospital, I was ordered to wear the c collar for the next three weeks as much as possible, preferably at all times as there was some injury to ligaments in my neck.  Which meant that I had to wear that ugly, stupid thing for pretty much the entirety of the cruise.  I could have cried (and I think I did ... or perhaps wailed would have been a better description).  The doctor must have felt really sorry for me because he told me to definitely wear it 24/7 for the next week, before we left on our trip, and then, I could wear it just at nights, when sleeping, and in the privacy of our cabin.  I could have kissed him (and I think I did ... or was that the morphine doing that?).  Anyway, C collar or no C collar, good news is that this was the worst that happened.  Apparently, when you are hit by a work van at 70 mph on the interstate when you are completely stopped, your injuries are supposed to be much, much worse.  Luckily for me, my car was built like a literal tank.  Unluckily for my car, she was totaled so I had to say good-bye to her, my dream car that I had worked so hard for and that I had wanted to keep forever. Since the car in front of me was a big SUV, had I been in a lesser / smaller vehicle, I probably would have had at the very least broken legs.  So I am so very grateful that I not only was able to be carted away conscious from such a serious accident, but that I was still cleared to go on my cruise. C collar and all.  I have my car to thank for that.

 

Here's my poor little car, right after the accident and the next day, at the tow lot. 😞

 

 

 

 

Thus, because of the accident, I was not able to get any last-minute planning done as I was impacted by the concussion for the next few days and was really of no use to anyone.  And this is why you don't procrastinate, kids!  Good thing that I pretty much had everything completed and checked off, which was a blessing since I had to deal with insurance companies and all that jazz all that next week, all during our day in Fort Lauderdale, and right up until a couple of hours before our ship left port the next day.  I had never been happier to be disconnected than when I finally lost cell service a bit after we sailed into the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Linda

    

 

[SleepingUgly]

41 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

I am SO with you in planning, if not being perhaps the best part of a cruise, at least a very important component!!  One year a hurricane was impacting our travel plans and we honestly didn't know if we would be able to make the cruise.  I stopped thinking about the trip because it would have been heartbreaking if we couldn't go. We did get to go at the last minute but the trip felt shorter than usual because it was just the days of the cruise...not the weeks of anticipation in addition.

 

We sail Silhouette in two weeks so I'm greatly enjoying your report and pictures!!

From reading CC, I have found that there are many like us.  The vacation definitely starts with the planning!

 

I hope you have a great time on your cruise.  We loved the Silhouette, and especially the people working on her.  They are an incredible, hard-working bunch of folks.

[SleepingUgly]

27 minutes ago, Sheal said:

Great start.  I thought I was looking at my own excel worksheet!  Can't wait to hear about your stops, we were supposed to hit St. Croix and Dominica and Grand Cayman but then Irma happened.  No river tubing in Dominica for our family but we did get Barbados and Antigua as consolation prizes. 

 

I don't have anything planned until 2020 and those excursions are already planned.  But don't cry for me either, I have Belgium/Amsterdam coming up this spring. 

 

Will you be doing a river cruise in Belgium and Amsterdam then?  I wasn't so keen on Belgium when I visited around 20 years ago, but loved Amsterdam.  That sounds like a lovely trip!

[SleepingUgly]

Day 0 - Washington, DC to Fort Lauderdale

 

Finally, the day has arrived!  The two older ones are done with their semester finals, the little one has her Christmas break assignments in hand, and I've told off people at work that I won't see ya, and I don't wanna be ya.  Oh, wait ... I'm still returning?  I didn't win the lottery?  Well, rats. #awkward

 

Dh and I set our alarm for 5.07 am (I like those odd / prime numbers, and yes, I know that "507" is not prime, but "5" is and so is "7" so good enough for me).  Surprisingly, I slept most of the night; I generally am not able to the night before any vacation.  Anyway, we got up and got dressed, and finished packing up last-minute things and then woke the girls up.  The little one bounded right out of bed, of course, whereas the two older ones acted like we were waking them up to go ice-fishing in 20-below temps.  Which I know some of you may find enjoyable, but not our family.

 

Anyway, I had ordered an Uber the night before to arrive at our house by around 6.20 am.  We live about 15 minutes from Dulles Airport but it was a weekday (Thursday) so I didn't know how traffic would be.  Any little accident and we could be backed up for miles.  Our flight was for 8.35 am so I figured we'd have plenty of time.

 

Our luggage all lined up in the garage (where my poor little car should be ... sniff, sniff), waiting for the Uber to arrive

 

Thee UberXL arrived on time and we were off.  We got to Dulles with no problem but once there, I was glad that dh had insisted we order the car for earlier than 6.45 am (which was my idea).  The line of cars leading up to Dulles' departure doors was insane!  I had never seen anything like it before.  I regret not taking a photo but, believe me, it was packed like it was 2 pm on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I had read that December 20 was supposed to have been the busiest travel day for the holiday season, but I thought that wouldn't necessarily apply to anytime before 8 am.  I was proven wrong.

 

We got out at one of the doors for United and lugged all our luggage out of the SUV and into the terminal.  There, the mass chaos and pandemonium continued.  I had checked us in online already the previous day, but had to get luggage tags for our bags.  Luckily, the lines for the kiosks weren't too long, but could those luggage tags take any longer to print out?  I swore I heard that dot matrix printer working its little heart out inside that kiosk machine, just chugging out luggage tag after luggage tag, one every five minutes.

 

Once we got our luggage tags on our bags, we dropped them off at the counter.  We had used our travel scale to weigh all of them at home so knew we were around 45 pounds with one bag and only 40 pounds each with the four other bags.  So no overweight charges for us - even traveling with two teenage girls.  Yay!

 

Then we went to tackle the security line.  We all have Global Entry, so got TSA Pre-Check for this flight.  We know the routine at Dulles, from having traveled so often.  We always get in the line way to the left, even though it looks the longest, but the turn to enter the security gate is immediate, whereas with the other lines - they may look shorter in the cordoned off area but you also have a lot longer length to walk before you get to the TSA dude checking your ID.  So we were through security in no time.

 

Then it was off to the trains to take us to Terminal C.  We were at our gate one hour after having arrived at the airport, so around 7.40 am.  This worked out great for us as it gave us time to run to Subway to grab something for breakfast (not the best choice but it's early morning so beggars can't be choosy) and get to the bathroom before boarding started.

 

Here is our little one, waiting to board the plane, finishing up her breakfast.  Not sure why she looks like she has Size 13 clown feet in this picture ...

 

Anyway, we boarded the plane shortly and it departed on time.  Always a good way to start vacation!

 

The 16-year-old proceeded with her imitation of "drunk college student passed out on desk during lecture" as she finds that to be the most comfortable position to sleep in on the plane, while the oldest and youngest (19 and 8 - an 11-year age gap, mind you) proceeded to bond over downloaded episodes of Nailed It! on Netflix for the next two hours.

 

Linda 

 

[Sheal]

Only cruising this time is around the canals of Brugge and Amsterdam.  I have my excel workbook done up but I am only going to give it a review at the start of the day just to be sure I don't forget my tickets.  It was jam packed for our trip last year to Ireland and I promised my daughter, again, that it won't be as busy as our last trip, or the trip before that, or the trip before that.  I suffer from "wannaseeitall" and have found relief by booking trips.  In doing so however, I am forced to read endless reviews which then make me aware of even more exciting places to go which then get added to my list.  Its a tough condition to deal with but I am coping. 

 

That accident was horrible, you were very fortunate not to have been hurt more seriously.  That car is a beast and loved you so much that she took a bullet for you.  I was in a similar type of accident at Christmas time about 15 years ago.  Guy trying to beat the red light hit the pickup behind me which then hit my car.  Fortunately the stiff neck was cured by a couple days worth of muscle relaxants. 

[micheleata]

I also love to plan!!!   Our cruise is 9 months away and I am planning like crazy!!!   I also do a detailed itinerary for our Vegas trips,  but for a cruise I just detail the getting there and the getting home.   I will put port plans on it,  but for the most part we just play it by ear.   Can't wait to read more!!!!

[SleepingUgly]

Day 0 - Arrival to Fort Lauderdale

 

We landed in Fort Lauderdale a few minutes earlier than scheduled and proceeded out of the plane and onto baggage claim.  We were pretty fortunate to have found all five of our bags fairly quickly, and one right after the other.  The worst feeling is getting all excited because most of your bags came out on the carousel early, only for that one last pathetic, little bag that puts along at the very end, when the lights have all been turned off at the airport and they're ready to sweep you out the door.

 

Once we got our bags, I ordered an Uber.  Our driver was going to be Daniel and, according to the app, he would be arriving in about eight minutes.  We went out the arrival doors, turned right and walked to the section where the shared rides waiting section is.

 

We waited for Daniel.  And waited.  And waited.  People came after us and got in their cars and left.  Dh and I tried not to stress because we were on vacation and standing around in super-comfy 75 degree temp, but I wanted to call, just to see what was going on.  Here I am, in all my C-Collar glory, trying to find the number for Daniel on my Uber app without my reading glasses.  I look like I'm taking a selfie, but really, I'm just old and can't see.

 

Daniel didn't pick up the first two times, so by the third time, I was ready to have his head on a platter.  Except when I got through to him, he was extremely apologetic as he had to stop to get one of his back windows fixed.  He said he was sorry over and over again, and said he was now on his way and would be there in five minutes.  We had already waited almost 25 minutes for him so figured we'd wait a bit more.  Besides, he really was very apologetic about the whole thing.

 

He did end up getting there in under five minutes, jumping out of the car and apologizing again over and over.  We told him not to worry about it.  His car was clean and he handled all our luggage for us and he was super friendly, and it really was unavoidable, so we didn't let it bother us.

 

We got to the Embassy Suites on 17th Street in no time.  Again, Daniel helped us with all our luggage.  I went to the front desk, thinking that we'd just ask if they would hold our bags for us for a few hours, but they had a room ready for us already at 12.30 pm!  I had checked in online via my Hilton app earlier and had selected a certain room.  That room was not ready for us but another one was, and would we mind switching?  Heck no!  Sign us up!

 

Our room was on the sixth floor, very close to a set of elevators but down a slight hallway so not a lot of foot traffic.  We were probably lucky that the elevator bank / column blocks our room's angled view of the inside courtyard, which probably helped to block out some of the noise.  We never heard any outside noise from our room, but when we opened the front door, we could hear the echoing from the courtyard on the main level.

 

This is the main living area of the suite.  Don't judge dh and our oldest for their weird positions in this picture - I just captured this at the wrong moment.  We really are an upstanding, non-psychotic, not-on-any-watchlists, socially-acceptable, fairly normal family.  That sofa is a pull-out and, while not the most comfortable thing in the world, the little one slept on it just fine for the one night ... even if she likes to do her imitation of Elaine suffering from an aching back, from that one Seinfeld episode when she slept on the pullout in Jerry's parents' house in Boca. 

 

This is the hallway that leads from the living area to the bedroom.

 

This is the bedroom with two double (not queen) beds, and a small balcony.  The bathroom would be on the right side of this picture, next to the closest bed, and a large wardrobe and dresser are across from the bed, with the TV on the dresser.

 

And the view towards Port Everglades port from our small, sixth-floor balcony.

 

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

29 minutes ago, Sheal said:

Only cruising this time is around the canals of Brugge and Amsterdam.  I have my excel workbook done up but I am only going to give it a review at the start of the day just to be sure I don't forget my tickets.  It was jam packed for our trip last year to Ireland and I promised my daughter, again, that it won't be as busy as our last trip, or the trip before that, or the trip before that.  I suffer from "wannaseeitall" and have found relief by booking trips.  In doing so however, I am forced to read endless reviews which then make me aware of even more exciting places to go which then get added to my list.  Its a tough condition to deal with but I am coping. 

 

That accident was horrible, you were very fortunate not to have been hurt more seriously.  That car is a beast and loved you so much that she took a bullet for you.  I was in a similar type of accident at Christmas time about 15 years ago.  Guy trying to beat the red light hit the pickup behind me which then hit my car.  Fortunately the stiff neck was cured by a couple days worth of muscle relaxants. 

I have not been to Brugge but I've heard nothing to wonderful things about it. I hope you have a great time!  And, yes, I am quite fortunate to have not suffered more from the accident.  I hope you have not had any issues since your accident!  

[SleepingUgly]

28 minutes ago, micheleata said:

I also love to plan!!!   Our cruise is 9 months away and I am planning like crazy!!!   I also do a detailed itinerary for our Vegas trips,  but for a cruise I just detail the getting there and the getting home.   I will put port plans on it,  but for the most part we just play it by ear.   Can't wait to read more!!!!

 

Since it's usually only dh and me who go to Vegas (no kids), I am not so anal about my planning for those trips.  We have not been in a few years - will have to think about that again! 🙂

[SleepingUgly]

Day 0 - Fort Lauderdale

 

After we dropped our luggage off in our room and freshened up a bit, we went in search of lunch because we were all starving, having not eaten a real meal since before 8 am that day.  Besides, traveling always seems to make me hungry.  I had read good things about Gilbert's 17th Street Grill, right next door to the hotel in the Harbor Shops strip mall, so we ventured over there.  Took us less than 10 minutes walking from the room to the entrance of Gilbert's.  It was toward the end of lunch hour so the place was not too crowded.  We placed our order at the counter, paid for our food, and then sat down at a table to wait.

 

 

Our food arrived fairly quickly, and the service was very friendly.  When the little one asked for ketchup for her fries, the waitress brought over a tray with maybe 6-8 different types of dips on it for her fries.  The kids ordered burgers, dh had the seared tuna special and I had a quiche.  Total was around $70, including drinks (including a beer for dh), which is quite reasonable for a family of five these days.  Besides, the food was fresh and hot and the girls fell in love with the burgers.

 

After lunch, we went next door to Publix, a large grocery store that we are familiar with due to our previous trips to Orlando / WDW.  I wanted to get some Airborne for all of us; had meant to do this a few days earlier so we could start taking those before the cruise but the car accident and its aftermath kind of got in the way.  Anyway, we got some Airborne and then went to wait for the next Sun Trolley to stop by.  We had seen one drive past us as we were leaving Gilbert's so we figured the next one would come about 30 minutes after that.  We were in Publix for only about 15 minutes, and so then waited for another 15-20 minutes before the next Sun Trolley showed up.  They don't exactly run on a precision schedule, but having read some stories of how people would wait up to one hour or more for the next Trolley, I figured this was actually pretty good.

 

 

We paid $1 per person to ride the Trolley to the beach.  That is for each trip, not a round-trip fee.  Still, a ridiculously good deal, if you ask me.  The Trolley was never crowded on either of our trips (not sure if that was because it was a Thursday afternoon and it would be more crowded on weekends), but it was a nice drive.  As we neared the 17th Street Drawbridge on the way to the beach, the bridge was up so that was interesting for the little one to see.

 

The ride to the beach took about 15 minutes or so.  It was a lovely way to see a bit of Fort Lauderdale, albeit the touristy side.  We got off near the south end of the beach and ended up walking all the way up to where the Conrad is located.  That was one of my options for a hotel for that night as well, but when comparing the $480 rate for a two-bedroom suite at the Conrad to the $160 rate for our two-room suite at the ES (with breakfast included!) ... well, there really wasn't any competition.

 

It was very windy on the beach that day so not a lot of people out and about.  For us northerners, we were thoroughly enjoying the warm and sunny weather.

 

 

After walking around for an hour or so, we were all feeling a bit tired due to our early start that day.  We saw a Trolley heading our way, heading north, and we flagged it down.  She stopped immediately.  This was a very nice feature of the Trolley, in that you don't have to look for the next stop; just flag one down and the driver should stop for you.  We told her we wanted to get back to the Harbor Shops, and she suggested we cross the street to catch the next Trolley headed in the opposite direction since she had to go up north a bit more, stop for a bit, before looping back down.  We told her we didn't mind taking the scenic route.  Not sure if she just wanted some time to herself for a while, but she ended up with five idiot tourists on her ride instead.

 

Again, the Trolley back was very empty as well.

 

The ride back took a bit longer, as the Trolley had to head north for a bit before looping back south.  It probably took about 30-35 minutes before the driver called out "Harbor Shops."  That was very nice of her to do that for us.  On the way back, someone took a little, seemingly-uncomfortable nap.

 

 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 0 - Fort Lauderdale (cont.)

 

Once we got back to the hotel room, most of us went down for the count.  It was naptime.  The little one may have watched some TV instead while the two older ones caught up on social media on their phones, but dh and I definitely napped.  Around 5.30 pm, we decided to go downstairs and check out what this "manager's evening reception" was all about.  The 16-year-old decided to stay in the room to read, and the rest of us trudged downstairs.

 

The set-up is pretty basic and simple for an evening reception, but considering that we paid $160 per night for the five of us to stay in a two-room suite, I'm not going to knock it.  They set out stuff like veggies and dip, Gardetto's mix, salsa and chips and popcorn.  There was fruit punch set out by the popcorn, and you could also get something to drink at the bar.  Beer is whatever the basic is they had on tap, which I want to say is Budweiser?  Don't quote me on that, though.  There was already a long line at the bar starting at 5.30 pm and this would not die down for a while.  We ended up getting a few plates of light snacks to share among the four of us and went outside to eat by the pool.  It is actually quite a large and well-designed pool area for a hotel of this caliber.

 

 

 

 

The greenery and foliage really help to block out the noises from the nearby roads and adjacent parking lots / shopping centers. 

 

After we were done with our snacks, we went back up to the room and rested a bit more and caught up on some work.  It probably started pouring outside around 7 pm.  Around 7.30 pm, dh and the kids got hungry and we decided to go down to the hotel's restaurant to see what they had to offer. They were insanely busy and didn't seem like they would be able to seat us for at least an hour or so.  It was still raining then, but not as heavily as earlier, so dh and the oldest ran across the street, back to Gilbert's, to pick up some burgers and salads for dinner.  They were back very shortly, and we set the food out on the four-person dining table in the living room of the suite and all chowed down.  After that, we just rested and got ready for bed.  It was going to be a big day ahead of us tomorrow as our vacation would officially start!

 

Linda

 

[Bimmer09]

Great start to your review!

Thanks for including so many great pics.

Silhouette is my favorite ship to date.

Norris

[parrothead33]

Really enjoying your review, great job.  Can't wait to read more.

[SleepingUgly]

Day 1 - Embarkation Day!

 

 

Dh and I woke up bright and early, around 7 am.  The first thing I did was to look outside the balcony window to see how many ships were in port that day.  Looks like there's quite the line-up today.

 

 

We got dressed and went downstairs for some breakfast, while the girls snored away.  Actually, the little one was awake as well but wanted to wait for her sisters and have breakfast with them.  So dh and I went downstairs on our own.  The breakfast at the ES is quite nice - again, considering how much (or how little) we paid for the room.  There is the always-popular made-to-order omelette station, which was already hopping even at 7.30 am.  I opted for some oatmeal that morning, and there were some nice toppings offered to go with your bowl of oatmeal.  There was plenty of breakfast meats such as bacon and sausage, pastries and toast, dry cereals and fruit.  Service was friendly and quick.  I will have to say, the coffee was horrible, but again, not going to complain.

 

After we ate, we went back upstairs and, while the two older ones slept on in the bedroom, we watched TV with the little one and caught up on emails and work in the living room.  We woke up the two older girls a little after 9 am, and told them all to go down and grab some breakfast while we packed up everything and cleaned up.  By 9.45 am or so, they had returned from breakfast and we were ready to go.

 

The Uber had been ordered for 10.15 am that morning.  By 10.05 am, we were out of our room and ready to head downstairs.

 

Notice how each room has that large picture window that opens out onto the "hallway", which is indoors and faces the central courtyard.

 

All of our luggage, by the elevators, which were just a few steps from our room.

 

The view of the courtyard inside the ES, from the glass elevator.  The breakfast area is on the first / main floor.

 

Waiting for our Uber outside the main entrance of the hotel.  The Uber was on time and, once all the luggage had been stuffed inside and the passengers followed, we were off!

 

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

Great start to your review!

Thanks for including so many great pics.

Silhouette is my favorite ship to date.

Norris

 

Thank you, Norris!  That is a huge compliment, coming from you, as you were one of my inspirations.  My trip report won't have your wicked sense of humor and will involve children (albeit, I'd like to think they are pretty well-behaved), but hopefully you will continue to enjoy!  Again, thanks for the feedback!

 

Linda