LIVE: Salt Lifer hitting the high seas! Ascent, April 7-14, 2024

[Salt Lifer]

One interesting thing to note: the last couple days the waves have been around 10 feet, so the ship is noticably rocking.  Personally, I love it when you can feel the ship move so no complaints from me!  But Captain Tasos told us that last night, during the night, the waves got as high as 26 feet!!!  

 

All in all, the ship's stabilizers do a really good job.

 

 

Edited April 13 by Salt Lifer

[kabmab]

Thanks for your Live!  Getting excited for the TA on Sunday and trying to finish packing.  Have a great day!

[hcat]

16 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

Yesterday's St. Kitts excursion was "Small Group: St. Kitts Culinary Experience and Rum Tasting.". I highly recommend this tour if you enjoy food.  It takes place at Fairview Great House and Gardens and you get to watch as a private chef prepares your meal and talks about the dishes they are making.  These are traditional Kittian dishes.  At the end you get to sample a shot of four different flavors of rum. I would gladly do this tour again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Kitts is our favorite island of any we have ever visited.  It is very special to us, so it is always nice to be on a cruise that stops here.  If I were to move to the Caribbean, this would be the place.

 

 

We also enjoy St Kitts..but in Jan had a VERY long walk from where Ascent docked to the port area and the free trams were erratic!  We went over to Nevis which was the highlight of our trip! Tour, beach bar lunch, shopping .and a nice water taxi ride there and back .  Highly recommend !

 

Next year, we are booked on a closer  to port water  excursion to a beach lunch along St Kitts coast with island music ...Sounds like fun!

[hcat]

You def keep busy  on your cruises!

We agree X makes the best soups..My husb has some of the recipes, pared down for regular dining size..  Always a hit!

 

The Fairview House grounds looked lovely,( maybe we can tour them  after our  St Kitts excursion next yr?)   Artist sketch class  sounds interesting as well!

 

 Love live reviews...Always learn new ideas..You did a great review..thanks for sharing thoughts, insights and many lovely photos!

 

Enjoy your last day/ night onboard..safe travels!

[Salt Lifer]

I have to share something very disturbing that happened to us yesterday.  We returned to our stateroom during the day to discover someone had snuck in and left us some nasty hate mail! 

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🙂 🙂 🙂

[spiff2]

16 minutes ago, Salt Lifer said:

I have to share something very disturbing that happened to us yesterday.  We returned to our stateroom during the day to discover someone had snuck in and left us some nasty hate mail! 

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🙂 🙂 🙂

You ain't got to go home but you can't stay here. And number 13 to boot, that;s just mean. 

[TheHawk1]

18 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

I fully get it.  I just like the soup and figure it'll be a year or more u til I can get it again so I might as well enjoy it.  Plus, the serving is rather small so it doesn't keep me from eating other appetizers, too.

 

My husband gets the French onion soup every night, too.  We are creatures of habit. 😉

It's your vacation, so do whatever makes you happy.  Enjoying your review btw.

[spiff2]

18 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

I fully get it.  I just like the soup and figure it'll be a year or more u til I can get it again so I might as well enjoy it.  Plus, the serving is rather small so it doesn't keep me from eating other appetizers, too.

 

My husband gets the French onion soup every night, too.  We are creatures of habit. 😉

Escargot is my weakness. I may not get it every night but I do for the first 4 or 5 nights.

[Salt Lifer]

Another bad sign that I may actually have to actually leave this wonderful ship tomorrow....

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

There are times when you want to see that message and other times--not so much.

 

[Salt Lifer]

Today started out with a healthy-ish breakfast at the buffet.  I always enjoy the buffet breakfast options on Celebrity. 

 

Then we headed to the theatre for a 10am comedy show with Captain Tasos and Alejandro.  They talked about themselves and cruising in general and are just such a hoot to listen to.  They have a great rapport with each other.

 

 

At 11:30 I headed up to the pool deck for a "Fun Latin Dance Class" with Alejandro.  There was a nice breeze which kept the temps down, so it was a lot of fun.  

 

Then it was time for lunch.  Today was the seafood extravaganza in the buffet.  I have never seen the buffet.  I have never seen the buffet so crowded ever on any Celebrity ship.  Every table was filled and people had to circle several times to find somewhere to sit.  You could definitely tell this was a sold out cruise today.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we headed out to the walking path to walk a mile and also watch the 'Guests vs Officers' volleyball match (officers won).  

 

Then back inside to catch Tom McCormick's piano bar show in the Grand Plaza.  I have really enjoyed his performances.  Tha k you, Celebrity, for listening to feedback and bringing a piano bar entertainer on this ship!

 

And after the show we stopped by the Future Cruise Desk to buy a future cruise certificate.  Now, which cruise should we book next? Decisions, decisions.... (By the way, did you know you only need to put down a deposit for one person to get the OBC?)

 

Then back to the room for some canapes (meh) and packing before heading back to the pool deck for some corn hole and another mile around the track before it was time to get ready for the evening's activities.

 

 

More to come from the rest of the last night....

[Salt Lifer]

I guess I really have to leave tomorrow... 😞

[swigso]

@Salt Lifer fantastic review feel as though we are sailing with you.

There are so many things to do and great feedback about the shows. Thank you.

[swigso]

On 4/8/2024 at 12:55 AM, kabmab said:

Love "my head is exploding" 😆.  Mine too, packing for the Ascent TA next Sunday.  More challenging being our first TA.  Good luck!

We are sailing on the Apex on a B2B, the 2nd leg is a TA. Be great if you can let me know what the weather was like. Thanks in anticipation.

[kabmab]

34 minutes ago, swigso said:

We are sailing on the Apex on a B2B, the 2nd leg is a TA. Be great if you can let me know what the weather was like. Thanks in anticipation.

Happy to!  All packed.  Fort Lauderdale is 79 today.   DH says weather looks good once we get across, but that can change.  He's done a number of crossings with 30 years in the Navy and thinks weather this time of year should be okay.  When do you depart, and where to?

[Salt Lifer]

 Continuing on from last night....

 

The theatre show was "Residency" and it was by far the best of the three production shows, in my opinion.  This show had the best music and energy.  All in all, I think  o. The Beyond last April we had slightly better production shows than those on the Ascent the year, but tonight's show was every bit as good as those shows on Beyond.  The four lead singers specially were amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

Then after the show we headed to dinner.  Bhanwar had a special surprise waiting for me in my menu - the recipe for "the soup!!! Bhanwar had asked the dining room manager yesterday and she (the manager) very coldly said to us that they don't give out recipes anymore, but Bhanwar didn't  give up and asked the Executive Chef (explaining my love for the soup) and he happily printed it out.  That was very kind of both Bhanwar and the chef and is something I will always remember and appreciate.

 

For dinner I had "the soup" plus the eggplant appetizer, which is one of the Tuscan exclusives.  To be honest, that was probably my least favorite food item of the week.  I would not order that eggplant dish again.  

 

 

For my main course I had the spinach ravioli, which I always enjoy.

 

Dessert was a chocolate cherry trifle.  Cherry is not one of my favorite flavors, but I love chocolate and specifically chocolate mousse (which is in the trifle) so I took a chance and was glad I did!  It was a good way to end the day.  Very flavorful but not too heavy.

 

The last event of the evening was a 10:45pm performance by Jesse Hamilton Jr. in The Club.  This guy is such a a talented and energetic performed.  I actually felt this show was even better than his main theatre show from yesterday.  He is a "can't miss" performer if you are on a sailing of his.  

 

 

 

It was a fun and busy last cruise day.  My step count for the day reflected how busy the day was!

 

I love cruising, but I now feel very tired and very full and am ready to return to "real life" to recover from my vacation! 🙂

 

 

 

[Salt Lifer]

Rise and shine!  We docked in Ft. Lauderdale around 6:30 this morning.  I guess it really is 'back to reality' for me.  But my journey isn't over just yet as I have a long travel day ahead of me, with some sightseeing mixed in.

 

First was one last buffet breakfast.  I am especially going to miss the fruit on this ship as it has been extra fresh and tasty.  

 

Then we left the ship.  😞The whole process was very fast and smooth.  It only took us minutes to get off the ship, collect our luggage, and get through immigration. 

 

More to come....

[swigso]

5 hours ago, kabmab said:

Happy to!  All packed.  Fort Lauderdale is 79 today.   DH says weather looks good once we get across, but that can change.  He's done a number of crossings with 30 years in the Navy and thinks weather this time of year should be okay.  When do you depart, and where to?

We have a 7 night cruise 01 March 25 and then the TA calling at Bermuda, the Azores Cadiz Valencia and ending in Barcelona. We love sea days and have done a TA the other way a few years ago in November. Luckily we have the same cabin 😎👍

 

[swigso]

@Salt Lifer safe journey home

[kabmab]

Safe travels home!  We're on board.

[lv2cruisgrl]

On 4/11/2024 at 2:45 PM, Salt Lifer said:

Okay, now on to entertainment options from yesterday. This is where Celebrity really fumbled the ball. Badly.   

 

After we got back from the excursion and had lunch I decided to hit the pool for some laps and then an aqua exercise class at 2:30.  That was a lot of fun! 

 

Following that was supposed to be ladder ball on the resort deck at 3:30.  Well, 3:30 came and went and no ladder ball was to be found!  I decided hit the walking bath and walk over to the rooftop garden, just in case it was there (remember the day before they had a dance class scheduled at the rooftop garden but they actually held it at the pool deck).  Nothing.  So I continued on the walking track back towards the pool to make sure I didn't miss it somehow, but it was not happening.  Since at this point I had walked a full lap I decided to do 4 more and make it a mile.

 

So I went back to the cabin to change and meet my husband to head to Eden for a game of tower toss (which sounds like some version of corn hole) at 4:30.  We got there and no tower toss was to be found!  I asked one of the activities guys who was finishing up a trivia game and he checked his schedule and it appeared that, while the activity was on the daily schedule, it was not on the employee schedule. I suspect the same was the case for ladder ball.

 

Celebrity really needs to do better keeping the app accurate.  When 2/3rds of the activities I want to do in the afternoon are bogus, it effects the guest experience!

 

Now it was time for the evening show. This is where things went from bad to worse.

 

First of all, I am not going to go into a lot of details about what the show was who who the performer was.  I don't want the poor guy to Google himself and read this.  What I am about to say is not his fault. 

 

Basically, the show was not well received on the ship.  By the end, probably half the audience had left.  I question if the show was appropriate in scope as an evening theatre show, but especially not on Celebrity sailing where the average age of cruisers is too old to understand or appreciate the type of show he had.   It probably would go over better on a Royal Caribbean sailing with a lot of teenagers on board.  

 

Frankly, I was really disappointed in my fellow cruisers for their rudeness to the performer.  People goy up in large groups and just walked out all during the show, not even trying to be discreet in doing so. This guy was sharing his talent and, while it isn't most of our cups of teas, he still deserves some basic kindness and respect. 

 

The blame for this huge fail falls entirely on whoever booked this act.  That person doesn't deserve to have a job for so badly misjudging the audience.  Frankly, 3000 people got cheated out of a night's entertainment.  

 

The only thing that saved the day was the 10:45 late-night comedy show by Steve Caouette.  He is the absolute best! He will be joining Captain Tasos for another late-night show in the theatre tonight and I can't wait!

 

 

We were on the same cruise and yes this show stunk.  We saw the cruise director as we left and told him so.  He agreed.   

Also food on this ship was hit or miss.  We have done many Edge class cruises and this was the most disappointing in the food category. 

[Salt Lifer]

We made it home last night (late)!  I'll try to wrap up this LIVE later this week with the adventure from our travel day as well as a few other misc items from the cruise, itself, which never made it into the daily reports.  

 

It does appear I have gained 5-6 lbs!  Yikes!!!! I am hoping some of this gain is water weight and will fall off quickly.  I ate much more carb-heavy than usual and I could feel swelling in my legs and fingers at times, which is very unusual for me.  

 

All in all, it was such a fun week.  I am glad to be home and see my kids and return to a normal routine, but I miss the fun of being onboard, too.

 

 

[Ciaranaman]

I finally get caught up and you're home already 😂.  Glad you're home safe 'n sound.  Thank you for sharing your trip with us!  You sure are one busy woman on a cruise ship!

~Bernadette

[peanut head]

What a wonderful review.  I will definitely have to give those chocolate tarts a try the next time I am on board.  

 

Just out of curiosity, was it difficult getting a seat for any/all of the shows?  

[horseymike]

Great review. Thanks so much.