Noreen411

Friday 3/6/20 - Disembark Silhouette Fort Lauderdale FL and start the drive home

When we got up we went out on the balcony and watched us getting closer to and docking in Fort Lauderdale.  We showered and got dressed.  We finished packing up our carry on bags.

We thought about going to Luminae for breakfast but since we were docked we decided against it and figured we could get a little snack in the Retreat Lounge and get off the ship sooner and start the ride home.

We went down to the Retreat Lounge about 7:25 and there was a huge line of people waiting to walk off outside the lounge.  In the lounge they were taking people off through a separate exit if you were walking off with all your luggage.  We had to wait a little bit since we don’t pack light enough for that.

They had a nice spread for a continental breakfast.  I had a yogurt and granola parfait.  Scott had a chocolate croissant.  We had a can of coke to drink.

It was much nicer waiting in the lounge than the crowds outside the lounge.  

Diego and Joao were checking in with everyone as they came in to see what their plans were regarding departure.  They told us they’ll come get us as soon as the luggage is taken off the ship and ready to be picked up.  We would be the first group of passengers off (other than those walking off with their own luggage).

We said our goodbyes to Alex, Joao, and Diego.  They all really helped make our trip special.

A little after 8 they came to get us and said they could take us off now.  We were taken out a back door in the retreat lounge and were right off the ship.

They were using facial recognition machines instead of having to show our passports and this was very quick.

We saw a porter who asked if we needed assistance which we did.  He helped us get all our luggage and walked us all the way to the car.   This worked out well as it took a little time to get everything loaded into the car.

We were pulling out of the garage about 8:35.  I put our home address into the Navigation system and it showed that we have 1,291 miles until we are home.

Disembarkation Information

3 hours ago, anniedave said:

Thanks Noreen glad you are enjoying my review, hope you noticed that on page 1 when I spoke about my planning I gave a shout out to everyone on here who's reviews I enjoyed reading and had inspired me to write mine, and that your name was on the list. I think I picked a great first cruise to celebrate my 50th. Hope you enjoy the rest of the review.

Totally enjoying it.  
 

I noticed it and was excited to see my name among the others and humbled by it too.  There are some great writers in that bunch.

Happy 50th birthday!  You picked the best way to celebrate. 

Hi Annie

Your review is amazing.  I am totally enjoying it and reliving the wonderful time we had on Reflection in 2018.

While it wasn’t our first cruise,  we spent our first Celebrity Cruise celebrating my 50th birthday on Reflection to the ABC islands as well.  I wrote a review for that trip also.

Your writing style is fantastic and so easy to follow along and feel like we are right there with you.  I love all the details and the pictures are beautiful.  

Noreen

Thursday 3/5/20 - Continued

After lunch we were walking around the ship and wandered past the Future Cruise area.  Surprisingly, it wasn’t crowded at all.  We were looking at some of the flyers they had.  We already have several trips booked for 2020 and 2021 but saw that they had sailings for early 2022 available.  We sat down with one of the employees and liked that he gave us information, answered our questions, but wasn’t pushy at all.  We booked a Royal Suite on the Constellation for February 2022 leaving out of Tampa Florida for 11 nights to the ABC islands.   He will send the information for the sailing to Brenda (our friend and travel agent).  Scott has always wanted to try a smaller ship where I’m partial to the bigger ships.  One of our 2020 cruises is actually on a small ship but I’m expecting that sailing to be cancelled soon due to COVID19.

We walked around outside the ship since it was so nice out.  We usually sail out of Bayonne NJ in the winter and the first day out and last day back are usually very cold and windy so it’s a nice change to be able to be outside on the way back to Fort Lauderdale.

We spent some time in the casino this afternoon as well.  We normally do more gambling at night when we’re on a cruise but sometimes we play a little during the day.

We went back to the cabin and finished just about all the packing.

We used our jacuzzi on the balcony for the last time this trip.  Then we showered and changed for the evening.

We went to the Retreat Lounge.  We both had the peach bourbon drink we’ve been enjoying; mine was the wimpy version.

We went to dinner at Murano and were at our regular table.

Today’s amuse bouche was our favorite one of the trip.  It was a lobster taco with avocado cream and salsa.

For our appetizers we both had the pork belly.  This is so good.

We were telling Marco (the waiter) how much we enjoyed the amuse bouche earlier and he came out with a few more of them for us.

For our entree I had the chateaubriand (for 1) with broiled lobster tail.  This was cooked perfectly.

Scott had the venison with broiled lobster tails.  His also was cooked perfectly.

For dessert Scott stuck with the soufflé while I tried something different and had the sorbet and gelato.  Both desserts were very good.

Marco wrapped up our little chocolates into a little foil purse for us to take with us.  He said he gave us a few extra for the ride home.

It was hard saying goodbye to the employees in Murano.  They really helped make our trip special getting to know us and treating us so well.  

We went back to the cabin to put out our luggage; all the bags were stuffed.   We kept the KYSS bag (the big beach bag) in the cabin in case we had extra stuff to put in it as well as our rolling carry on bags.

We went to the theater for the 9pm show Euphoria.  We were a few minutes late but had no trouble finding seats.  

After the show we went back to the casino.

I played in the 10pm Farewell Slot Tournament.  I finished 7th.  It was fun to play.

We were in the casino until almost 1am then headed up to the cabin, watched some TV and went to sleep.

Thursday 3/5/20 - At Sea

I went to the gym around 6am.  Scott wanted to sleep a little longer and said he would probably do some more packing.

When I got back we both worked on getting the bulk of the packing done.

We skipped breakfast today since we wanted to go to the Lawn Club Grill for burgers for lunch.  

We used the jacuzzi on the balcony then showered and changed.

We walked around the deck for a while;  the seas were so calm.

We stopped at the Retreat Sundeck and hung out up there for a little while.

We stopped at the photo area to order some pictures.  One of the employees was so helpful.  We were narrowing down our choices and he asked if we were Elite (we are due to the reciprocal benefits with Royal Caribbean) and explained that the 6 pack of photos with the Elite discount would be less than buying 4 pictures.  Since we already bought the boarding photo he said he can include that in the 6 and we picked 5 more.  When we come pick them up we need to bring the boarding photo and he’ll refund it then charge us the elite 6 picture price.  The pictures would be ready later this evening.  There was one picture that we liked but there was a guy texting in the picture that I didn’t really like.  He said he could move the picture slightly so he would be cut off a little so that works.  In case you wanted to go back and check my pictures to see which one it was...it’s Antigua.  You still see the guy texting but not as much as it showed originally.

We went to the theater to watch the Secrets of Navigation with the Captain.  It started at 11:15 and we were a few minutes late.

We went to lunch at the Lawn Club Grill.

I had the WT*** burger and Scott had the DeepEnd burger.  I don’t know why it was different but the burgers were better today than they were yesterday.  We both really enjoyed our lunch.

We shared the chocolate chip cookie with ice cream for dessert.

Celebrity Today for Thursday 3/5/20

And flyers that came with the Celebrity Today

On 4/20/2020 at 6:10 PM, ctbeacher said:

Just a note to say thank you for posting this.  Staying at home during this crisis means we are living vicariously through your posts.  

 

We are booked to sail on Celebrity again in early December and are keeping fingers crossed that a major breakthrough happens so life can return to normal.

 

In the meantime - everyone stay safe!

 

Best wished to all.

Thank you for the kind words.  

I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your December sailing as well.

Stay safe

Hi.

We were on Celebrity Silhouette February 23, 2020 - March 6, 2020 in a Royal Suite.

The robes were in our cabin (plain) when we arrived and the butler asked us how we would like them monogrammed.  We did not have to pay extra for them.

The plain ones were there most of the trip, and near the end of the trip they were replaced with the monogrammed ones.

I included pictures of them on the first day plain in the closet and then later when they arrived with the monogram.

Noreen

Wednesday 3/4/20 - Continued

We showered and changed for the evening.

We headed down to the Retreat Lounge.  We met up with Charlotte, Joe, Tracy, and Jeff.

We were all having dinner together in Murano tonight.  They seated us in a private room (maybe a wine cellar type room since there was a lot of wine in there).

We have our favorite waiter, Marco, taking care of us tonight.  I got him to pose in the picture too.

Since every night I make Scott pose with the menu I asked everyone at the table to do it.  I even was in the picture as Marco said he’ll take the picture for us.

Scott posed with the sommelier who has been helping him make different wine choices nightly.

For our amuse bouche it was a cold fruity soup.  I wasn’t a fan of this one.

Scott and I both had the pork belly appetizer.  I took pictures of our food but didn’t bother everyone else to take pictures of their food.  This was so good.  My favorite appetizer here.

We were having a lot of fun at dinner with the group.  I managed to get this goofy picture of the guys being silly.  We had a lot of laughs this night.  One of the ladies convinced me to try a wine she liked.  I gave it a try, it was OK, but I’m happier with my Sprite.

Scott had surf and turf; Venison with broiled lobster tails.  He really liked this.

I had broiled lobster tails.  I enjoyed this a lot.  I don’t know what they did to them but the mashed potatoes and vegetables were really good too.

For dessert I tried the mini sampler.  This is so cute and you get to try a whole bunch of different sweet little desserts.  I didn’t like the liquid one but the others were all pretty good.

Scott had the soufflé and said it was very good tonight

We missed the show (December 63) since we were at dinner until about 10.

We were all having such a nice time we went to the Retreat Lounge to hang out a little longer.  We were there until a little after 11.  Everyone else headed to their cabins but Scott and I went to the casino.

In the casino my card stopped working.  I’m not sure why it broke, but one of the employees said he would look into it and ended up getting me a new one.  Scott told me he had the same problem with his card but he went to Guest Services himself to get a new card.

We were in the casino until about 2 then headed up to our cabin.  Scott was in the mood for a late night snack so ordered room service which he said was good.

Wednesday 3/4/20 - Continued

Making the video of the cabin was harder than we expected it to be.  I know some people are super fancy and add music and all sorts of stuff.  I found it hard enough just to walk through and describe things.  While the final video was only a few minutes it took us over an hour to do it.  We made a few more versions before we were finally sort of happy with what we did.

We did some packing in the afternoon.

Alex delivered our last batch of laundry and dry cleaning.

We also received a delivery of scones.  These are so good.  

We hung out on the balcony for a while.

Wednesday 3/4/20 - Continued

We went back to our cabin and tried making our room video again.  I think we finally have one that is OK.

I haven’t figured out how to post it to YouTube yet, so I’m going to try to attach it here.

Wednesday 3/4/20 - Continued

We went to the Lawn Club Grill for lunch

I had the Signature burger and Scott had the WT**** burger.

Below are pictures of the insides of our burgers.  We ordered them medium.  Mine is way too raw for me so I asked if they can cook it a little longer.

They made me a whole new burger.  

This one was cooked better.

The burgers were OK but not as good as the ones we had here earlier in the trip.

For dessert we both had apple pie ala mode.  Although we love the cookie we’ve had that several times and wanted to try something different.  The pie was good.  The cookie is still our favorite.

Wednesday 3/4/20 - At Sea

We went to the gym about 5:30 this morning.  We like that the gym is open 24 hours.

We also walked/ran the outside track.

Back in our cabin we used the jacuzzi, then showered and changed.

We skipped breakfast today since we wanted to go to the Lawn Club Grill for burgers.

We received an invite to a bridge tour today so headed up to the meeting area.  

You are scanned with a wand before they let you see the bridge.  

I was amused by this window in the floor that you can see straight down.

There was a nice explanation of how things work on the bridge.  

When we finished the bridge tour we headed down to the casino.  The slot pull organized by Jeff & Tracy was taking place.  We told them yesterday we have the bridge tour and we weren’t sure what time we would get to the casino. They said we could be the last two.  By the time we got there they already finished the slot pull and said it was a lot of fun.

We stayed in the casino a little while playing some slots.  

We looked at the pictures on the kiosk and were happy to see a few cute ones that we have to choose from.

Celebrity Today for Wednesday 3/4/20

And flyers included with the Celebrity Today

14 hours ago, vms said:

Thank you for this delightful review! Murano is my favorite of the specialty restaurants as well, and I'm enjoying your enjoyment of every bite.

Thank you for your kind words.

19 hours ago, maggieq said:

Noreen,

 

thanks for continuing this terrific review.
 

I know you like to cruise out of NJ vs FL but wondering if you prefer Celebrity or RCCL and why?

 

hope you are both keeping safe and healthy!

Hi.  

We are doing our best to stay healthy.  Hope you are as well.

I can’t say we really have a preference.  They both are great cruise lines and each do certain things better than the other, but you won’t go wrong with either one.  We have also only sailed twice with Celebrity vs many times on Royal Caribbean.

Entertainments/Shows/Activities - Royal Caribbean is stronger here.  Their ships are bigger with more activities such as bumper cars, ice skating, rock climbing walls, zip lines, flow rider, simulated sky diving, etc.  But it definitely attracts more crowds and children.

Food - Celebrity is stronger here.  When I think about the specialty restaurants, it’s good on Royal Caribbean; but it’s even better on Celebrity.  Some of the types of venues are comparable - Luminae and Coastal Kitchen seem pretty interchangeable.  We didn’t eat much in Luminae but on our Reflection cruise the first night Luminae menu was exactly the same as the first night Coastal Kitchen menu on Anthem.  We even ordered the same things - they were presented differently and both were good.

Ship Overall - Both are clean and well maintained.  There are more bells and whistles on Royal, but more areas to relax on Celebrity.  The decor is classier on Celebrity.  There are a lot more ships in Royals fleet so probably something for everyone (from small, medium, large, or giant ships).

Casino Perks - maybe not important to everyone, but in the past we have gotten some very good deals with Casino Royale (Royal Caribbean’s program) that we haven’t gotten with Celebrity.

Suite Experience - Celebrity treats their entry level (Sky) suites like a suite and includes those suites in Luminae, The retreat lounge, the retreat sundeck, special seating on formal nights, a butler, etc.  Royal Caribbean doesn’t start real suite perks unless you are in a Grand Suite or higher.  Royal’s Junior Suite is basically a larger room with limited perks.  On both lines when you go to higher suite classes you get some extra perks (such as free specialty dining, internet, beverage packages, etc).  We have sailed in different types of cabins on Royal Caribbean but have only sailed in Royal Suites on Celebrity.

Service - We have had great service on both lines.  Celebrity is more refined and it takes a little while for some of the employees to loosen up (I don’t mean this as something bad); whereas Royal strikes a good balance of a more playful attitude while providing great service.  Part of this could also be that we’ve been on Anthem many times and have gotten to know many of the employees so it’s very comfortable.

We will continue to sail both lines.  We sail with Royal more frequently and a big reason is having them sail right out of Bayonne. I know Celebrity has the Summit in Bayonne but I prefer newer and bigger ships.   Royal was sending some different options to Bayonne in 2020 and 2021 so in addition to Anthem we have sailings booked on Oasis, Freedom, and Empress.  With everything going on now I’m expecting some of those sailings to be cancelled due to COVID19.  

Noreen

19 hours ago, calicakes said:

I'm still looking at your posts/meals with longing in my heart.  I want someone to cook for me( and serve me) and then do the dishes and clean up the kitchen.  LOL.

 

We've only ever cruised in Aqua Class, we get a canape plate daily.  On the first day, I ask the room attendant for cheese/crackers daily.  I also mention we don't like blue cheese.  I was surprised on the last cruise we were given saltine crackers.  Next time, I'll bring my own.  They took away the cracker variety from the buffet as well( our last cruise was Sept 2019 on Equinox). 

That’s a good idea to let them know what you don’t like to avoid wasting things.  We didn’t ask for any of the treats left in the room (other than the scones and the set up for the cabin crawl); so it was a nice surprise when something showed up.  

Tuesday 3/3/20 - Continued

The amuse bouche was tuna today - it was very good.

For appetizers Scott had the peeky toe crab and liked it today.  

I had the pork belly.  OMG - this is so good.  That little round thing standing up on top is a dried apple and it breaks the richness of the pork if you take a little of bite of it in between eating the pork.

For our entree Marco remembered we like the broiled lobster tails to make surf and turf.  Scott had his with lamb chops and I had mine with Chateaubriand (they can make this for 1)

Our dinners were both really good. 

For dessert we had the cookie with ice cream from the Lawn Club Grill.  Marco asked if we wanted it; we would have ordered something off the Murano menu for dessert otherwise.  Once he offered we were happy to take him up on it.  This is probably our favorite dessert we have had on the ship.

We were too full for our little plate of chocolates so Marco wrapped them up for us.  How cute is this?  It looks like a little foil purse.

We went to the theater for the show - Dan Wilson.  It started at 9 and we arrived a little after but we were able to find seats.  He was pretty funny.

We went to the casino after the show and played various games until about 1:30.

Tuesday 3/3/20 - Continued

We showered and got dressed.

We stopped at the Retreat Lounge and tried Pomegranate Mojitos.  Someone was drinking it and it looked good so we decided to give it a try.  It was good; very refreshing.

Scott took a picture of me with the interesting fruit background when I commented that I was surprised there wasn’t a photographer here.

We went outside to get a picture of the sunset.

We went to dinner at Murano.  

We have been sitting at the same table with the same waiter, Marco, a few times now.  We like it since we miss having that connection you have when you eat somewhere like Luminae with the same waiter daily; we ended up having that experience here in Murano.  Marco is great; he is very professional and starting to relax a bit more now that he realized how easy going we are.  The sommelier is also very good.  Scott has started branching out and trusting her recommendation for wine when he tells her what he is ordering for dinner.  It’s also become a running joke when they bring my Sprite, the can is presented and they talk about the year being a good one (kind of like you would do with wine).  The host and manager also are great.  We really are enjoying our dining experiences at Murano.

Jen and Mike were at the table near us so I took a picture.

Tuesday 3/3/20 - Continued

We were back on the ship a little after 2 and tried making a video of our room again.

Alex delivered a cheese plate;  we won’t eat most of it - there is too much smelly cheese (like blue cheese) but the grapes were good and we ate a few crackers. 

We washed out our bathing suits and snorkel gear.

We also put together a bag of of regular laundry and a bag of dry cleaning to go out.

We went up to the suite sundeck to watch sail away.  I always find it a bit sad when we’re leaving the last island of the trip even though we still have two sea days on the way back to Fort Lauderdale.

It was really beautiful watching from up here.

We headed back to our cabin.  Scott looked so relaxed and comfortable.

Tuesday 3/3/20 - Continued

We walked down the beach headed back to where our chairs were set up.

We both went snorkeling in the regular beach area.  I was just drifting along and didn’t realize how far out I was.  I wasn’t paying attention just watching what was under the water.  When I did look up I got a little nervous but saw Scott snorkeling near me.   He’s normally diving down and exploring while I just float along the top.  He saw that I was drifting and wanted to make sure I was OK.

We stayed in the water a long time.  We went back to our lounge chairs around 12:15.  I read my kindle and Scott just relaxed watching the water.

Our driver was due back at 1 so I went to change about 12:40.

I know it is normal on the islands to do so, but we don’t like having to arrange when we’re getting picked up when we first get there.  What if you change your mind?  We would have stayed longer if we didn’t have the cab coming back for us.  We usually only spend a few hours and are ready to go back but sometimes you are just having a good time and want to stay longer.  Or it could be the reverse, you are ready to go sooner and feel stuck.  

The driver was waiting for us so we headed back.

We did some shopping at the pier.  We easily found ornaments.  Scott found hats and T shirts; he probably got at least 10 Tshirts.  He also found a sweatshirt.  We got some chocolates from the chocolate factory.

Tuesday 3/3/20 - St Kitts

I went to the gym about 5:45 this morning.  Scott was tired so skipped the gym today.

I saw a beautiful sunrise.  This is taken with a IPhone 11Pro which doesn’t do it justice.

I went back to the cabin to shower and get dressed.

Our breakfast was delivered.  Scott had an omelet and I had yogurt with granola.  I forgot to take pictures of todays breakfast.

We were off the ship around 8

The cab drivers wanted to wait for a few more people headed the same way since the taxis were all larger vans. A group of other people were headed to Carambola Beach Club also so our wait was only about 10 minutes or so.

On the way the driver stopped so we could take this picture from the taxi van (I think it’s where the Caribbean and Atlantic meet).

We got to Carambola before 9; it was relatively empty.  I think they were still setting up for the day.

We got settled in our lounge chairs.  It was kind of nice getting here this early when it was still pretty empty.

We walked over to the lagoon area.  Last time we were here there were snorkel excursions, kayaks, and other things on this side.

Scott snorkeled in this lagoon area out to that rock in the middle that looks like a cave.  You can barely make out his little snorkel sticking up near the cave.  I didn’t snorkel here since I didn’t bring my water shoes and it was very rocky getting in.  He said he saw turtles and all sorts of fish.

Celebrity Today for Tuesday 3/3/20

And some flyers delivered with the Celebrity Today

On 4/15/2020 at 11:22 PM, dreamer976 said:

I absolutely LOVE your Easter eggs, Noreen. They are just too cute!

 

 I hope you both had a peaceful Easter/Passover. 
 

Ellen

Thank you - it was fun making them.

I hope you had a good Easter/Passover as well

Noreen