SleepingUgly

Day 11 – Sea Day (cont.)

By around 4.30 pm or so, we got off our lazy butts and went back to the cabins to get ready for the last evening chic night, and for the New Year’s Eve festivities. 

We had a 6.30 pm appointment that night at the photo studio on Deck 15 for a sitting, but the photographer was running late, so the kids found other things to do before we headed to the 7 pm show.  We would go back for our sitting after dinner later that night.

Dh, meanwhile, took the time to take some photos from Deck 15 of the sunset.

We then went to see that night’s production show, “Life.”  Can I just say right here that we all thought it was pretty horrible.  The choreography was questionable at times, and some of the dancers and singers really should not be performing anywhere but in their own bedrooms.  But, again, a few of the entertainers really stood out with their wonderful talent, and Sue was fun and lively as usual; she is probably the ship’s best entertainer and a real asset for Celebrity.  Especially when she has such good taste in shoes.  After all, she came up to me after the show and raved about my heels.  Ah, great minds …

Day 11 – Sea Day (cont.)

The pool deck was very busy that day.  The weather was gorgeous so everyone wanted to take advantage of the sun and warmth before we had to deal with the polar vortex back home for the rest of the winter. 

Our middle child, who was with her friends for most of the day, was much more active than we were.  (Then again, a piece of lint would have been much more active than we were.)  She was in the pool for a good amount of the day, and even participated in the teens’ water volleyball game.

Well, I guess we were awake for lunch, which we got from the Mast Grill.  Since our first sea day, we had fallen in love with the burgers from there, and we all fell in lust with the French fries.  They were insanely delicious and we all highly recommend.  You can see that a burger and fries weren't enough for us; we had to get a whole plate of fries separately as well.  #carbsoverload

The little one actually ventured into the pool quite a few times that day.  She absolutely loves the water!  She probably ended up meeting more little friends by just hanging out in the pool, than she did at the Fun Factory (aka, child labor camp).  

Day 11 - Sea Day (cont.)

After breakfast, we went back to the cabins and got stuff that we would need for our super-busy, action-packed, non-stop, adventure-filled day that would consist of pretty much nothing but …

We got to the pool deck around 10 am, and our pool valet got right to work to get us set up.

And then the action began …

And continued for most of the day …

We did move to another section in the afternoon to get some more sun, but someone continued with her busy day ...

Meanwhile, while we may have moved all of 10 feet from our original spot, we continued on with the same exciting activity that had kept us occupied and busy for most of the day.

Day 11 - Sea Day

Well, it's New Year's Eve. Usually, we wake up to ice and/or snow on the ground outside our house.  At the very least, it would cold and there would be no leaves on the trees outside.  One year, we woke up to the bitter cold somewhere in Europe because - silly me - I thought it would have been a good idea to visit the in-laws for the holidays.  This year, we woke up to no trees anywhere near us, but to this view:

Yeah, I'l take it.

We slept in a bit that morning and, as usual, our two shadows - the oldest and the youngest - were also up and wanted to go to breakfast with us.  The little one wanted to try the MDR for breakfast this morning.  OK, we were game.  We'd not done breakfast there yet so figured we'd give it a try.

The MDR wasn't too packed for breakfast and we were seated right away. The table right next to us, adjacent to the window, sat this father with his adorable little girl who didn't look more than 2 years of age.  She obviously had no interest in breakfast whatsoever and just kept standing up in her chair and crawling under the table.  All while Daddy Dearest enjoyed his own breakfast and, every once in a while, would calmly ask, "re you sure you don't want any breakfast, honey?" For crying out loud, your child is undressing on the floor in front of you and other passengers. Methink thou needeth be a wee bit firmer in thy parenting, kind sir.

OK, snark over. And, besides, the poor, bewildered dad and his little girl who ran him ragged had left. Time to eat!  The food served in the MDR for breakfast is pretty much what you can find in the buffet, with one exception: you have to wait for your food to arrive.  The service was prompt and very friendly, and the food was warm and prepared well, but if you are starving and are ready to pretty much eat your own arm - you may want to just head to the Oceanview Cafe so you can eat within minutes of arriving, rather than sitting and waiting to order and then be served.

So, do you think they gave me enough jam and butter for my two little waffles?  Seriously, is Celebrity in cahoots with cardiologists or something?

2 hours ago, parrothead33 said:

Linda, Happy New Year to you and your family!  Again, thank you for the great review.  Enjoying every minute of it.

 

Kym

Thank you, Kym, and hope 2019 is off to a good start for you!  Appreciate your following along!

Linda

10 hours ago, Coolcruise02 said:

Loving your trip report and awesome pics!

 

Thank you!  I will try my best to finish up soon as I'm sure this thing has dragged on long enough.  Life just seems to keep getting in the way ... I need another vacation!

Linda

12 hours ago, BeeMinor said:

Thanks so much for you review--I have been enjoying pretending to be on vacation with you immensely! So glad you enjoyed St. Kitts; we have been there on two cruises and on both it has been our favorite stop. The full-blown tourism economy is still relatively new there, and people have seemed legitimately happy to share their island with us.

 

My husband and I--ages 41 and 38, respectively--own the same small black and white stuffed animal dog that your youngest has. (Hey, it really looks a lot like our dog.) You can imagine the confused looks we got from our suite butler when he noticed it propped up on our table in the morning at breakfast. We eventually showed him a picture of the real dog so we didn't seem like completely crazy people, although he may really have still thought we were crazy people. I LOL every time it pops up in a photo!

We loved St. Kitts as well both times we were there.  It has been an island we think of for land vacations, but the lack of nonstop flights from the DC area have not helped, unfortunately.  Certainly not the island's fault as we love the place and the people are lovely.  

Our little one LOVES her stuffed animals and that one is one of her favorites.  Dh gave him the name "Strokey" because when we first got him, his head was a bit lopsided and he was like, "Why'd you get a dog that looks like it had a stroke?"  She had no idea what that meant but got the idea to call him Strokey.  His big, fat belly (the dog's, not dh's) is her favorite pillow when she sleeps now. 🙂

Linda

13 hours ago, snow bunny said:

Thank you again Linda!  We fly out  on Friday morning so I hope you have the last two sea days posted before then!  So looking forward to being back on the Silhouette as this will be our third time.  First was the Mediterranean when she was very new in 2012!

 

snow bunny

I will do my best!  Hoping the New Year doesn't get in the way.  If you have any questions before you head out, please just let me know!

Linda

1 hour ago, OttawaCountess said:

What is a "taxi bus"?

It's usually a 10- or 12-person van that charges a RT fee to take you to a certain location.  For instance, we went to Rainbow Beach for $6 per person, RT.  You keep your ticket stub and show that to them to get a seat on the return trip.  There are different companies that run these vans so the ticket colors may differ, to ensure you take the same company's van back to the pier.

HTH!
  

Definitely follow the pricing closely on the Website, to the point of recording the "regular" pricing.  When there is a sale, they post only the sale price, not the regular price, so even though it may have the banner "up to 20 percent off", you won't know exactly what discount you are getting.  Plus, as it gets closer to your cruise, you may not want to book certain excursions as the prices online may increase.  For instance, the "behind the scenes" ship tour was going for a regular price of $99 per person most of the time.  During a sale, it went down to $79 per person.  About a month before the cruise, it went up to $109 per person, and then, maybe two weeks before the cruise, it was up to $129 per person!  On the ship, however, I noticed it was posted at the regular price of $99 per person.  So definitely keep track of what excursion your are interested in, and jot down the pricing, so you don't get confused with Celebrity's tricky marketing schemes.

20 hours ago, DENIE said:

Love the pictures of St. Kitts!  Must visit sometime.  Continuing to really enjoy your review.  Noticed one of your kids was wearing an In-N-Out Burger t-shirt?  They are legendary here in the west.  All over AZ!  Looking forward to seeing what you all did on your sea days!  Our November S. Caribbean cruises on Silhouette ended with 2 sea days, and we had a great time.  My wife was not looking forward to them (thought she would be bored), but ended up having fun.  My goal on sea days is to just r-e-l-a-x!!!

We visited San Francisco last summer and went to a couple of In-N-Out Burgers there, and I loved them!  The kids and dh actually thought Five Guys - I think you find those more in the East Coast and maybe the Midwest - was actually better.  I think our daughter got the t-shirt from her boyfriend, who is originally from CA.  I'm pretty sure we got only burgers while we were there, no shirts.

I was worried that we'd be bored out of our mind with two sea days to start the cruise and two sea days at the end, but I now understand the attraction of sea days.  We all ended up really enjoying them!  The goal of relaxation is spot on!

Sorry for not posting anything today but it's just a couple of days before Chinese New Year's Eve, which is HUGE for us so lots of things to do today.  Kids want to make dumplings tomorrow so I had to go out and get supplies, and the Chinese grocery store was a mad house!  That place is usually nuts on weekends, but it was ridiculous today.  Glad I made it out alive!  

Linda

Yes, our concierge cabins from our December 2018 sailing on the Silhouette had the footstools.  

HTH!

Linda

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

Dinner that night was awesome again.  Joseph had placed yet another giant plate of cookies on the table for the little one.  And this plate was much smaller than the one he had set on the table for her the previous night.  I think on that first plate, he had included 10 cookies.  TEN!  I’m not sure how he expected even the five of us to eat all those cookies, but our greedy little girl didn’t complain.  In fact, she didn’t even want to share.  She seriously thought she would have been able to eat all those cookies by herself.  #eyesbiggerthanherstomach

Dinner was quite good that night.  The clam chowder was yummy, the pork schnitzel was delicious, and dh really enjoyed his cheese plate for dessert.  Yuck, I hate cheese.  But, for him, the stinkier, the better.

Dexter was kind enough to cut up the little one's meat for her again ...

Which meant that Joseph had to cut up the meat for our oldest as well.  #sigh #noshame #ivefailedasaparent

After dinner, dh and I putzed around the casino for an hour or so.  We ended up finishing the night down a little bit.  Oh, well.  We went back to the cabin and called it a night.  The little one was still up when we got back to the cabins because she couldn't bear to move all her stuffed animals from their positions on her bed.  You tell me ... how is one supposed to sleep in this bed???

Two more sea days and we would be back home in the States.  But, first … New Year’s Eve!

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

We rested in the cabins for the next few hours or so.  While it was sad that we had just departed from our last port – which meant that the cruise would be coming to an end soon – I think we were also looking forward to going home soon.  Hope that makes sense.  I think if we had been on only a seven-night cruise, we would not have been ready for the trip to end.  However, at 12 nights, it was just right.  We weren’t sick of being away from home, but we also were ready to get back to our routines and sleep in our own beds and back to our normal lives.  I think that’s testament to a great vacation – that we had a wonderful, relaxing time and were now rejuvenated and ready to get back into the swing of things again.

We decided to skip the show again that night.  It was a comedian who I think may be pretty popular with regular Celebrity cruisers, but we really weren’t in the mood to sit and watch a comedian.  We did leave the cabin well before dinner, though, as we wanted to check out some game show in Celebrity Central.  The concept is that your team has to guess what is the most popular answer, what everyone else will say.  For instance, if there are eight teams playing and the question is, “What is the most popular place to take a cruise for your honeymoon?” … you may think the answer is Venice (as our team did), but in order for you to get a point, you had to have given the answer that most other teams gave (Hawaii).  It was an interesting concept for a game, but it would have been more fun had everyone been as smart as us and thought just like our team (comprised of the five of us and another family).  We obviously were the smartest in the room, but too bad no one else could think at our level.  So, we didn’t win. #sourgrapes

The little one was our team's representative to take the answers up on stage after each question.  As you can see from the pictures, most others teams chose a bunch of lame dudes to be their answer runner.  We were a forward-thinking team, giving girls equal opportunity as the boys.  (#childlabor)  As you can also see from the pictures, our middle child ditched us again, choosing instead to hang out with her friends instead.  I take offense at that!  What, we aren't as fun as a bunch of teenagers?  Wait ... don't answer that ...

After the game show, we went to get some more photos taken by the ship’s photographers.  They were a bit different that night … #thephotogshateus

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

We then returned to our cabins to enjoy the rest of the sailaway from the aft point-of-view.  I think I still like this view much better ... just seems so much more peaceful, as if there is no one else around.  A nice, private feeling.

Well ... a nice, private feeling ... until this one shows up ...

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

Once back on the ship, we headed straight to the buffet for a late lunch.  There were still a lot of stuff set out when we got there, but as soon as we sat down with our first plates of food, they started to put things away.  No worries – we still got plenty to eat. 

The ship began departing port @ 3.50 pm.  We went up to the Solstice Deck to watch sail-away from the forward part of the ship.  The only other time we’ve been in this part of the ship for a sailaway was when we were on the Helipad for the sailaway from St. Croix.  Seemed like a lifetime ago!

Look ... we took pictures of each other.  At least we weren't taking pictures of each other, taking pictures of each other.  Or something like that.

We stuck around for @ 10 minutes or so.  I would say the scenery for the sailaway from St. Kitts is one of the most scenic.  Not sure if it’s because it was still broad daylight out, as it was only 4 pm, but it really was very lovely.  Highly suggest you do not miss the sailaway here, if at all possible.

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

Back at the pier, we thanked Leroy "Billy" for his time that day.  He really was a great tour guide - very patient, great with his explanations and descriptions of places and things, and super friendly.  His van was clean, with good, strong AC, and his driving didn't make us freak out and/or feel nauseous.  I was glad we found him to show us his island for the day!

Leroy had shared with us his philosophy for living - "Rush slowly".  Meaning, you should have a purpose and goals in life and do all that you can to achieve them, but also to take the time to really enjoy life while you're doing it.  So, in other words, word hard but also enjoy life.  Sounds like a simple concept to me.

We then spent some time in the shopping area near the port, buying souvenirs and gifts for friends and the girls.  The little one wanted to get her picture taken with a real, live monkey but me - being the crazy, dragon mom that I am - absolutely forbade her from doing that.  So we bought her a stuffed monkey instead.  Fair exchange, no?

The girls had wanted to check out the free charms being offered by some of the jewelry stores, so off we went, to - where else? - Diamonds International, of course.  Wow.  You have not truly grasped the meaning of "pushy" until you've met jewelry salespeople in the Caribbean.  We walked in and, immediately, were approached by a salesman, who then followed us around the store.  Of course, the girls asked right away how they can get the free charms, and were told we just had to browse for at least 10 minutes.  Which meant that I had to do all the work.  So, to kill time, I started looking at some earrings and - wouldn't you know it - those vultures ... uh, I mean salespeople ... sensed my interest (even if pretend) and started pulling out one pair of earrings after another.  It didn't help that dh (just call him Mr. Mouth) had to ask me loudly, from across the store, "Hey, weren't you looking for a new pair of earrings anyway?"  Subtle, he is not. 

So after 15 minutes or so of my going from, "No, thank you," to "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I SAID NO THANK YOU!", we finally escaped and the girls had their charm bracelets with charms.  Good Lord, that was hard work ... all for a few $2 bracelets and 50-cent charms.  Damn kids.  Anyway, who in their right mind goes to the Caribbean and just decides to buy a $5000 pair of earrings on a whim?  And I don't care about your financing plan!  I guess if I had done some research ahead of time and knew what I was looking for, that would be a different story.  But to just decide on the spur of the moment like that?  I'm sure many people do it, but I just can't.

Dh then wanted to go check out some Cuban cigars so, while he was there in that dark, smoke-infested den of iniquity, the rest of us went to check out yet another jewelry store.  And - hello - what do we have here?  Mikimoto pearls?  Now you're talking.  But, again, I don't care if you mark down a necklace from $7700 to $6500 - I am still not buying it after having seen it for only a few minutes.

Dh came looking for us soon after that, happy that he had found some good Cubans to take home with us.  I think he had spent more than $200 for six cigars.  W-T-F?!?  That Mikimoto necklace is looking more and more attractive ...

It was almost 3 pm and the ship was due to depart around 4 pm, so we headed back onboard.  It had been a really fun day, and the best part was - I wouldn't be experiencing buyer's remorse two minutes after the ship left the dock over a ridiculously expensive jewelry purchase.  And dh definitely is not experiencing any sort of buyer's remorse over those stinky cigars of his.

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

Some more pictures from Timothy Hill ...

There were a few little kiosks / stands here, selling souvenirs and drinks.  Dh bought a coconut for the girls to share.  The two older ones have had coconut like this before, but not the little one.  It was quite the treat for her.

After that, it was back on the van and back to the pier area ...

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

So off we went to Timothy Hill.  Check out how close we were to the wall on the side of the road, as we drove down Brimstone Hill!

So, as most of you know, St. Kitts is shaped like a chicken leg.  Not the actual leg on Foghorn Leghorn, but a cooked chicken leg, like what Colonel Sanders would serve you.  Brimstone Hill is near the fat part of the chicken leg, where all the meat is.  Timothy Hill is the narrow part of the leg.  The port is located somewhere in between those two spots.  So to get to Timothy Hill, we had to backtrack, past the airport on our left, past the pier on our right, before getting to the fancy resort area of Frigate Bay and then to TImothy Hill.  It was not a long drive at all - maybe 20 minutes or so.  And it was definitely worth it.  You can totally tell which side is the Caribbean (calm, tranquil waters) and which side is the Atlantic Ocean (much bigger and obvious waves).

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

We then walked around the interior of the fort a bit.  They had some exhibits set up here, and I accidentally took a picture of one of the rooms before I saw the sign that said, "Hey, idiot!  Can't you read???  Don't take any freakin' pictures or else you may be shot."  Well, the sign didn't really say that - it was much nicer - but you know that's what they really wanted to print on it.

Like I said earlier, we probably could have stayed at the fort a bit longer than the time allotted to us; it really is an interesting place to visit, especially if you are a history lover.  However, it was soon time to head back to the van and drive onto Timothy Hill.

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

We then went to the highest part of the fort, with a very nice, expansive 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains and oceans.  It's obvious why this location was chosen for the fort.  You can literally see all around you.

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

Brimstone Hill Fort was a really cool place to visit, and we were lucky that it wasn’t so packed with other visitors that day.  Probably because we were the only ship in port.  The views from the highest vantage points were fantastic!

Someone, of course, had to do her usual jumping picture ...

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

You’d think after all that excitement with the goats, we would have had enough and called it a day.  Nope, not for us super troopers.  Once my children had thoroughly insulted and offended and scared off as many goats as they could, we climbed back into the van and proceeded onto Brimstone Hill Fort. The drive was very short – maybe no more than 10 minutes – but very hilly as we got closer to the Fort.

On the way, we passed by this little church.  I forget what its significance is – maybe it’s the oldest church on the island? Anyway, it's historical, so I love it.

We then arrived at our destination.

We got to the parking lot, where Leroy stopped the van and said we would have around 40-45 minutes to walk around.  It was 11.30 am, so we were to meet back at the van around 12.10-12.15 pm.  We probably could have spent more time at the Fort but we had also asked Leroy to get us back to the port by no later than 1.30 pm, as we wanted to get some shopping done before heading back on the ship.

According to Wikipedia (that bastion – haha, pun intended – of undisputed facts and unbiased information), Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It was designed by British military engineers, and was built and maintained by African slaves. The fort is one of the best preserved historical fortifications in the Americas.

The fort’s main complex was constructed on Brimstone Hill, which is extremely steep.  Thus, began our ascent to check it out.  But, first, there were these canons near the parking lot and someone had to get her pictures taken. The view is actually pretty nice - especially if you squint a bit and block her out of the pictures.

I must warn you, the climb is pretty steep to the fort is pretty steep.  This was taken on our way down, but I was standing at the top.  You can get an idea of just how steep the climb is.

Dh and the two younger girls went scrambling up the hill right away, while the oldest and I took our sweet time.  The fort’s been there for a few hundred years; it’ll wait for us.  Once we reached the top, the first thing we see is a huge pile of empty beer bottles.  Who knows how those got there but someone – once again – couldn’t give up the photo opportunity.

Here are my two youngest, posing for a picture that I would be proud to show off to anyone ...

And here is my oldest, showcasing why I think her father's idiotic DNA has taken over her genetic make-up ...

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

Some more pictures of our time at Wingfield Estates.  Apparently, the first crops grown here, starting in the 1600s, west mostly tobacco.  It became sugar after a short while because that was so much more in demand.  Just a few years ago, they discovered a long-buried rum distillery here as well.  Rum was probably produced at this site dating back to around 1681.  So, there you have it – tobacco, sugar and alcohol, all in one location. Ladies and gentlemen – site of the first frat house.

Leroy then came to meet us and took us on a small walk through a path in the forest.  He showed us how to swing on a vine hanging from a tall tree.  Dh and our oldest tried it out as well.  I didn’t plan ahead and purchase extra life insurance, so was glad that they both survived and made it back to land OK.

As we walked back towards the van, we saw the real attraction of Wingfield Estates – goats!  Yes, my children are apparently so enamored with farm animals that they went off, chasing goats and bleating at them as if they were actually carrying on a real, live conversation.  For all they knew, their bleats were insults to the goats’ mothers.  Anyway, to them, this was the real attraction of this stop.  Who would have thunk?

The first sighting ...

OMG, it's a goat!  And, no, it's not Tom Brady (ugh, old cheater goat).

There's more of them!

There's Leroy in the background, shaking his head at the stupid tourists who are so fascinated with goats.

And here we are, being ignored by said goats, who obviously have more class and good taste than any of us.

Day 10 – St. Kitts (cont.)

Leroy “Bill” – whatever his name was – was a super nice, extremely talkative guide.  He had his own little microphone set so that we could all hear him clearly in the van, no matter where we sat.  While driving through Batteserre heading towards Romney Manor, he drove extremely slowly.  And I mean, ssssslllllooooowwwwwlllllyyyyy.  He pulled over and let everyone pass us, including a snail hitching a ride on a turtle.  But all the time, he was talking away, telling us all about St. Kitts history and culture, her people and their traditions, the sights and scenery.  He was obviously very proud of his island – as he should be – and it really showed.  He was a great tour guide.

At one point, he stopped to let us get out to enjoy the view and get some pictures of the landscape around us.  It was a lovely pace for a tour – not too frenetic, with time to actually get out and see things and enjoy where we were.

This was the van we rode in for our tour that day.  Nice, seemingly new and very clean van.

We soon made it to Wingfield Estates at Romney Manor; it was probably around 10.40 am or so by this time.  I don’t think we visited the entire estate because we didn’t pay any entrance fee, but Leroy let us off the van and told us to walk around for a bit, and then he’d meet up with us in about 15 minutes or so.  Had I really wanted to see the entire estate in detail, I would have been very disappointed with this.  However, since our main goal was to get to Brimstone Fort – and I honestly didn’t care about no manor or estate or plantation or what have you – we just went with what he said and enjoyed our walk.