fisherman0916

We had select dining but we chose to make 7:00 p.m. reservations every night.  Luckily we had the same table and servers.  Food was good in the dining room, probably not outstanding.  The buffet was outstanding in my opinion.  We ate up there every morning.  Then at times for lunch.  Pizza was some of the best.  But our group definitely came home with a few extra pounds. We ate at Le Petit last night.  Very good show.  Some loved their food and some didn't.  The lobster on Day 6 were huge.  Bigger than what I remember being served on a ship.  Food is so tough to judge. You will love this cruise.  We do a lot of caribbean cruises and this one was way different but a good different.  

We found the Whale watching tour by googling Harv and Marv.  This was a new tour of theirs.  This just started this year.  

We just got back from our 7 night cruise from Seward to Vancouver.  What a great trip. 

We flew up 2 days early to explore Anchorage as we rented a car.  We drove down to Whittier.  Great views.  We went up the Tram at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood.  Unfortunately it was very foggy that day and did not have great views.  Still pretty neat to go up the mountain.  Going through the 2.5 mile tunnel was pretty neat as well.  We should have stuck around along the way as they surf on the Bore Tide in the evening.  We saw them getting ready but kept driving.  

We took the train down from Anchorage to Seward.  We did the Gold Star.  Very nice train ride with a decent breakfast.  We saw some wildlife along the way.  It was nice to drop your luggage off at the train station and not see it again until we go on the ship.  They transported it from Anchorage to the Ship.  

Hubbard Glacier:  Wow!  What a sight.  We saw and heard a lot of calving.  The sounds were just amazing.  This is one part of the trip, I was freezing.  It was very cold on our day as it was very foggy and raining.  But this was one of the coolest things about the trip.  

Juneau: We did the Whale and Lighthouse tour by Juneau Lighthouse Tours.  Great time.  Boat was brand new.  We saw many whales and the crew did a great job.  The lighthouse was fun to see as well.  We were able to go up and have some great views.   I would book this tour again in a heartbeat.  After our whale/lighthouse tour, we did a Segway tour.  Not worth it.  We rode the segways up a road, got off, did a 1 mile hike, got back on the segways and drove back to the van.  We should have done our research on this one.  We ate at Tracy's King Crab Shack.  It was delicious, expensive and very busy place.  

Skagway:  We did the DIY Jeep tour.  We ended up with Toyota 4 Runners.  We had some confusion with our lunch, we tried to upgrade to a BBQ lunch but that did not work out.  We ended up with a Wrap at the Bistro in Carcass.  We stopped at many places along the way.  The Yukon Suspension Bridge costed $9 pp to go in.  Well worth it.  What a beautiful site.   We stopped at Tutshi Dog Sledding.  We were the only ones there and it was a nice stop.  Charged us $25 for all 8 of us to enter.  I would recommend doing this as it was very remote and saw some beautiful sites.  Getting through the border crossing was super easy.  

Icy Point Strait:  This port was one of my favorite and we already planned a Bear Search Tour.  What a bummer that we did.  This port was small and had some stuff to do but we were on our "Bearless Bear Search".  We were only in port until 3.  We booked through Hoonah Travel Adventures.   We saw 0 bears.  Now, they do not guarantee to see one but all we did was drive down gravel roads looking for one.  Not what I expected and wish I would have done our homework on this one as well.  

Ketchikan:  Nothing planned.  I did some fishing from shore and others walked around.  Nice area.  We ate some crab at Alaska Fish house.  Good crab.  It was dungeness. 

Vancouver:  We got off the ship and went straight to the airport by Taxi.  $38 Canadian Dollars. 

Weather is uncontrollable but it was on the chillier side.  Mid 50s. 

Great trip and will be doing this cruise again in about 4-5 years.     

We just got off the Explorer yesterday.  Was one of our best cruises.  Great staff.  They work hard.  We hit all four ports ABCs and St. Maarten.  We were able to do all our excursions on our own.  Food was awesome and the boat never seemed overcrowded.  

This is what we did at each Island stop.

Bonaire:  Rented Golf Carts ($95) through Bonaire Cruisers.  This was fun.  We did the south loop and stopped at various places.  Eventually stopped at Bachelor Beach to eat and swim.  It was a great day.

Curacao:  We got off and walked the town.  Then jumped in a Taxi for a 2 hour tour.  He showed us all kinds of locations including the restaurant on the hill of Fort Nassau.  Then we swam with the Dolphins at the Dolphin Academy.  This was a blast.  The dolphin swim was one of our highlights of cruising.  

Aruba: We rented UTVs through Georges for four hours and went to the lighthouse, the north side and then back to town.  This was fun.  Then we did an evening segway tour.  It was a good time.  

St. Maarten:  We went to Moho Beach.  Great day.  So cool watching planes land and take off.  Also had some good nachos at Sunset Bar.  

We had a 4:45 pm flight yesterday so we rented a room at the Sheraton in Old San Juan to store luggage.  We walked around and had a Drink at Bachinnas and then ate at Tijuana's. 

We had an awesome cruise.  Can't wait for our next one.  

D

We checked our luggage the night before.  My wife and I both had a bag (I had a backpack with IPAD, Passports, etc...  She had handbag with her IPAD, magazines and purse) with us at all times.  When we met downstairs at the Passport Bar, there were folks with all of their luggage.  Once we got to the terminal, all of our luggage (Everyone that was doing the ESP) was on a few luggage carts.  The luggage cart was put into a seperate secure room at the port area.  That became an issue when we left at 1 vs. 1:45 as they had to find our luggage instead of us going to go get it.  We kept our bags (Backpack and Handbag) with us as we got back on the ship.  So even though the form said nothing could be carried back on, we did as well as others did too.  But no luggage was brought back on with anyone.  Just handbags.  Also, clearing customs at PE was super easy with facial recognition.  

Here is the information we got when we signed up.  Sorry the pics are sideways.  

From my memory, the Mast Grill, Oceanview and Sushi on 5 ($$$) were available.  Tonight when I get home from work, I will pull out my paperwork from it and scan it in and upload them.

We just got off the Equinox and did this.  It costs $79.  You could stay in your room until 9 am.  We met at the Passport Bar at 9:15 til about 10:10.  Then we exited the ship, went through facial recognition and made sure our bags were there.  Then we were escorted outside the terminal, then back through the check-in.  We sat until about 10:40 inside the terminal.   At about 10:40ish, we were able to walk on and have free reign.  Most of the bars and and Oceanview did not open until shortly after.  We left at 1:00 as we had an earlier flight but others were able to stay on until about 1:45.  For the cost, it probably was not worth it.  But it was nice to lay around the pool deck with little people around.  We did get free drinks.  They have some issues to workout such as luggage and the timing of things.  Our flight left at 3:45 from MIA so it worked well for us as we would have paid $160+ on Uber, food/drinks @ restaurant.    However, with saying that, not sure I would do it again.  A bit of a hassle and sitting around.  Was kinda cool talking to the new passengers as they were getting on the ship.  

We ate at Gone Fishin last Friday in Nassau. Great place. We had lobster tails and they were awesome. $25 per tail. As for the beach, there was a life guard on duty right there and were people swimming on the beach. That part of the beach looked better than the rest. We had a great view of the ships in port while we were eating. Great times.

Just returned form the Silhouette NYE cruise. We had a blast. There were 6 of us from our party.

We flew in on Dec. 26th and stayed at Riptide Hotel in Hollywood. Very nice place. Clean and right on the beach. It is in a great location as you can in either direction on the boardwalk and find something to do. This place was much cheaper than just about every place. It was our first time staying there and would stay there in a heartbeat again.

We got to the terminal at 10:30 on Dec. 27th. We were on the ship by 10:50. It was amazing and never had it so easy and quick. We had the classic beverage package through 123GO promo and upgraded to the premium. We thought it was worth our money as we drank quite a few drinks. Also, we were able to try new drinks that we would have not tried if we would have had to pay for them individually.

The ship is outstanding. Very nice and classy. Easy to get around. We really thought the Oceanview Cafe (Buffet) was the best we have had on a cruise. The buffet had great variety and enjoyable food. They had cotton candy on the last sea day.

We ate in the MDR 6 of the 7 nights. The service as excellent. We ate at table 357 with Richie (waiter), Lucie (asst. waiter) and Natalia (sommelier). Food was very good. We had lobster on NYE and it was excellent. We ate at the Lawn Grill one night and found it to be awesome. I had 2 steaks that night (Filet and NY Strip). The flatbread is awesome. We had the cookie for desert and it was the best.

At Cozumel, part of our party did the mini speed boat tour and was very fun. Snorkeling was outstanding. The other part did the Salsa, Salsa, margarita. They had quite the fun. A lot of tequila.

At Jamaica, we used Liberty Tours to do the Blue Hole Tour. $70 per person. This was an outstanding tour. We booked through Ricardo through email. Our driver was Carrlton Smith. He was very good. The drive to the BHT was about 1.5 hours but we made several stops along the way to sight see and stretch the legs. The BHT is outstanding. Our guide there was Ricardo... He was awesome. We have been on several cruises and tours and found this tour one of the best. It is quite intensive but a lot of fun. On the way back to the ship you stop for more sight seeing and stopped at Scotches for lunch. Very good jerk chicken. Lunch was included. Again, one of the best excursions we have been on.

We had a little snafu at Cayman with our shore excursion. We booked the Stingray city, reef snorkel and 7 mile beach. There was some confusion and after tendering to island, we were not able to get on the excursion. We are not sure who's fault it was as when we got back on board celebrity already reimbursed us and sent us a bottle of wine. We ended up doing a taxi to the Turtle Farm, Hell and 7 mile beach at Royal Palms. We really enjoyed the turtle farm and wished we stayed longer. Hell was not much, but at least we can say we went to Hell now. 7 mile beach was busy but with 5 ships in port, it would be expected.

Haiti, we just laid on the beach as we have been there before and already did the zip line.

The shows on the ship were outstanding. EH440, acapella group, were awesome. Very talented. The broadway shows were very well done and had some good singers and dancers.

Disembarkation was simple and fairly quick. Part of our group got off around 7:15 and were at their gate at FLL by 8:00. We got off around 9:15 and the line took us about 30 minutes.

We live in Chicagoland area and it was cheaper for us to rent a car and drive to Orlando and fly out on Jan. 4th. We stayed at the Hyatt at airport. It was the best decision. Got up, took the elevator down and were right at the terminal. We paid $140 for the night, which I did not think was too bad as it was a very nice hotel.

We didnt keep any dailies, sorry. Really enjoyed the cruise. We have cruised on four different cruise lines and find Celebrity the best due to services, nice ships, and great food.

NYE was celebrated on pool deck and had a lot of fun. Rich (CD) was good. He was all over and participated in a lot of things such as pool volleyball (jumped in with his suit on), sang a song with the band, .... Rachel & Sarah, activities, were very good. They had dancing with the captains challenge and Rachel and her partner were quite into it.

Any questions, feel free to ask.

We have booked the Silhouette cruise for Dec. 27th, 2015, which is a New Year's Eve Cruise. My question is what will be the nightlife be like on this ship? We are bringing two young 20 year-olds. We have been on the Constellation for a weekend cruise and loved it. I understand there will be a difference with this cruise. We were on the 8 Night RC Explorer cruise last Dec. for the New Year's cruise and had a good time. We enjoyed our Constellation cruise so we wanted to try the Silhouette as the ship looks awesome and had the itinerary we liked.

Any info would be great on any New Year's Cruise with Celebrity.

Thanks in advance.

Dwain

We did it on the explorer. It was $25 per hour for up to 4 ppl. We did 3 hours worth over three days. It was a lot of fun. We had 4 the first hour and got in 8 holes each. We had 3 of us the last hour and got in 9 holes each. Go for it. Like I said we had a blast. We are not great golfer so most holes we either bogey or double bogey or even more.

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Thanks for all the information. I really appreciate all the feedback on this thread. Thanks,

Dwain

We will be on the Jan. 30th Constellation cruise. We are interested in going on the Explorer of the Seas on Dec. 27th. 1st) Is there any benefits to booking a cruise on a ship? and 2nd) Since Celebrity and RCCL are one, could we book a RCCL cruise on a Celebrity Ship?

Thanks in advance for your replies,

Dwain

I would like to see the recent 4 day to Key West and Nassau.

Thanks in Advance.

Dwain

My wife and I are taking our first Celebrity Cruise on Jan. 30th on the Constellation. We have sailed Carnival and RC in the past. I was able to email the dining room prior to our cruise departure (3 - 4 weeks) to request a table by a window with Carnival and RC. Is this possible with Celebrity and if so, what is the email address?

Thanks for the help and looking forward to our Celebrity Cruise.