DanAnna

Thanks everyone for all the update information.

I am on a Panama Canal cruise in January and Cabo was one of the ports I was looking so foward to re-visiting since my last Mexican Riviera cruise 30 years ago.

My memories of Cabo are still in my mind....it was one of the nicest ports we visited then.

 

Someone on these boards recommended Medano Beach and a place called Tabascos there.

I was really looking forward to going there....it sounded great.

I will hope for the best.

January is three months away and it appears that things are getting back to normal quicker than expected.

 

Don

For those with Facebook this is a link to photo taken of Medano Beach yesterday. Looks great!

I've been following the recovery since my last vacation there back in August and it looks like things are progressing quite nicely. I've taken three land vacations there over the past year and can't wait to go back.

I imagine that by October 8 when the airport reopens to normal air traffic most of Cabo will be close to 100%. Here is a link with some good info including local businesses that have already reopened as of Sept. 25....

http://www.cabosanlucastours.net/Hurricane_Odile/

"Marina Update

Marina Cabo San Lucas suffered only minimal damage and no structural damage. Most fishing fleets report no damage to their boats, and several are reporting being ready to go fishing. Bisbee's fishing tournament will be running as scheduled on October 17, and many Marina area businesses have already reopened. All fishing tournaments going as scheduled. The manager of the marina is working very hard to get the marina 100% restored "tomorrow", as quoted by Peninsular Digital. Time will tell if that estimate is literal or figurative".

Hey, DanAnna, your photos look like Rastas is on the beach now. Have they moved it across the road or is that just the angle of the photo? Is the Huge Hog still at Rastas. It's been 2 years since we were there, but we watched that mammoth grow from a small pig to an unbelievably huge hog. Always laid in the shade. Great photo op. I will be there on May 6. Can't wait to see it all again.

Definitely on the beach. My first time there so not sure what it was like before. There is a building across the road as well so I assume that is the Rasta's you remember? As for the beach location it sure looks like it's been there awhile. Did not see a hog. Have fun!

Dan

Great review. Glad you had a good time.

Thanks! I know we should be planning a land vacation for next year but after returning from this cruise it sure makes us want to book another Celebrity Cruise instead.

DanAnna thanks for sharing pictures from your recent bar hop!!

 

We are going to be in Cozumel on May 8th and are hoping to do this bar hop. When I checked a few weeks ago there was not enough people booked for that day as of yet. I think I am going to send another email and check to see if they have enough yet.

Hope it all works out. We had a blast! And that side of the island is so beautiful.

Dan

Thanks for sharing! The blue water is so inviting I can't wait until next week now...:D

Have fun!

Excellent review; thank you! We leave on that ship for that itinerary in just a few weeks - your review makes me so happy to read. Question: how did you get to the cove on Labadee? Was there food and/or drinks to be had there? Thanks!

You can either walk to Columbus cove or any of the other beaches or take a tram once you get off the pier. Plenty of food and drinks! Food is catered off the ship and set up buffet style in many locations.

Dan

Just returned from a fantastic 7 day Western Caribbean cruise aboard Celebrity Silhouette. Really couldn’t ask for more on this trip. The weather and sea conditions were about as good as it gets.

GF and I flew out of Los Angeles Saturday afternoon March 8. Our non-stop Jet Blue flight was wonderful leaving on time and offering us free wi-fi and great choice of entertainment. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale late Saturday night and checked into the Hyatt Pier 66. At check-in we were upgraded to a Tower room and given 2 drink vouchers which we promptly used in the lobby bar. I highly recommend this pre-cruise location.

On Sunday we decided to taxi to the ship instead of the hotel shuttle which had a pretty long line. We arrived at the ship around noon for check-in which took us about 30 minutes to get through. Once on the ship for an additional $80 we upgraded to the premium drink package. We booked the 1-2-3 Go package which included the basic drink package.

After a bit of exploring and quick lunch we were in our room by 2:00 pm. We booked a concierge class veranda stateroom port side on deck 10. Room 1219 was in a great location and a big improvement over the balcony stateroom we had last year on the Summit. Situated 5 cabins forward of the “hump” where the library and aft elevators are located. This area was very quiet and super convenient. Below are a few pictures of the cabin and views from the balcony.

I won’t go into too much detail of the ship since Gambee’s review from last year covered it all. We did Select Dining and usually sat for dinner around 8:30 pm. We did not do any of the specialty restaurants.

Monday’s first sea day was perfect. Premium chair locations were hard to fine by the time we went looking. We ended up on Solstice deck which turned out to be pretty nice.

Tuesday was another beautiful day and for Cozumel we chose to do the Bar Hop which took us to the undeveloped east side of the island. I posted a short review and some photos on the Cozumel Ports of Call page (Page 3 of link below).

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2010583

Wednesday another great day and we ended up taking the tender to shore in Grand Cayman around 11:00 am. Taking a number for tender was kind of annoying. By the time we were ready to go ashore we were group number 42. From the time we picked up our number to the time we actually got called took about an hour. Once finally off the ship we took a 20 minute or so taxi ride to Calico Jacks on 7-Mile Beach. Again a few pics and review on the GC Ports of Call page.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2010670

Thursday the ship arrived in Fallmouth JA around 7:00 am. Another beautiful day! We chose to go to the Hilton Rose Hall. Pics and short review on the Jamaica Ports of Call page.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42098723#post42098723

Friday was Labadee, Haiti. Pics and short review on the Labadee Ports of Call page.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42099382#post42099382

Saturday was our final sea day as we headed back to Ft. Lauderdale. Another beautiful sunny day. Surprisingly there were many empty chairs to be had this day as I’m guessing many passengers had more sun than they could handle.

Sunday we chose to keep our luggage and do self debarkation. After showering and quick breakfast we dragged our luggage onto the elevator down to deck 2 and quickly made our way off by 8:30 for our 11:15 am flight. Customs at this point took us about 30 minutes to get through. After a short taxi ride we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. All in all this was a fantastic cruise and we would definitely sail on Silhouette again!

Spent a few hours in Labadee as part of our cruise aboard Celebrity Silhouette. Beautiful day with lot's of sun. Spent most of the time in Columbus Cove. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of space and beach loungers provided. As many have mentioned in previous posts snorkeling is not the best here. Best area from what I saw was off the beach under the zip line but I was told not to swim there. All in all it was a very nice and relaxing day in Labadee.

Spent a few hours in Labadee as part of our cruise aboard Celebrity Silhouette. As many have mentioned in previous posts snorkeling is not the best here. Best area from what I saw was off the beach under the zip line but I was told not to swim there.

Just back from a wonderful 7 day W. Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. Took a 20 minute or so taxi ride to Calico Jack's. Had been on Grand Cayman twice before and did Sting Ray City. This time decided to spend more time on the ship and then lunch on 7-Mile beach. Jerk chicken was fantastic I must add. Here are just a few pictures to give you an idea of distance from ships and beach views.

Enjoy!

Playa Bonita...

And finally Rastas...

Enjoy!

My Favorite...Coconuts

Our Celebrity Silhouette Western Caribbean cruise took us to Cozumel on Tuesday March 11, 2014. We did the Bar Hop which was a blast! Highly recommended! I don’t believe this is offered through the cruise ship excursions. Won’t go into too much detail since there is a really good thread on this “Bar Hop stops reviews” but I will share a few pics which speak for themselves.

Basically 4 wonderful beach bars where you get to spend an hour at each one. Bus ride to the first location Punta Morena was about 45 minutes or so from downtown. From Punta Morena the three remaining stops were no more than 10 minutes apart. Punta Morena amazing beach! Coconuts pretty much my favorite. Great atmosphere and even better margarita’s. Enjoyed a huge margarita and tastey lunch at Playa Bonita. Last stop was Rastas. Amazing views from all locations. Our guide was wonderful!

Arrival:

Punta Morena:

Just returned from this itinerary Sunday. Your review helped tremendously. Awesome ship and the weather was nearly perfect. Did the Cozumel Bar Hop, Calico Jacks on Grand Cayman, Hilton Rose Hall in JA, and hung out at Columbus Cove in Labadee.

Dan

Thanks for review. We're on this itinerary March 9. Can't wait!

Dan

Southern is my favorite. Love sailing out of San Juan and Barbados is one of my favorite ports.

Dan

Thanks for Sharing Gambee. Great to see a different perspective than the usual live cam views. Counting down to March 9!

DnA

My favorite hangout on the ship. Would be unfortunate if they got rid of the live entertainment. Last March we listened to a great guitarist nightly as well as the occasional steel pans. I'm not a smoker didn't have any issues with the smoke.

Try it with Rumchata. Yum!!!

My daughter sent me the link yesterday. I'm thinking about it.

Dan

Fantastic review and photos. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Looking forward to this same itinerary in March of 2014.

Awesome review and photos! We'll be on Summit next week :D

No problem swimming from beach. Here's a pic taken a few years back of me, my daughter, and her friend swimming out to where the turtles were. You can see by the location of the tour boats where the turtles were. The girls wore life jackets. My bad...Just noticed you were asking about Carlisle Bay. We were near Paynes Bay to the north. I'm sure it's similar though.