Trip Report: 12-night Holiday Cruise in the Caribbean on the SILHOUETTE (2018)

[effinaround]

Oh wow!  Fortunately, I haven't had to shovel yet this season.  We had a dump in November when I was away and that has been it. I hope it stays that way!

[Decpl]

Linda, we got the same here in Delaware, But you review warmed us up when we got 

in from shoveling. Now get ready for the game, Go Eagles!

Kand J

[chamima]

My husband just remarked about how we haven't had any snow so far (and I told him him to keep his mouth shut and not jinx us!)

Our youngest daughter lives in DC so she probably woke up to what you had.

SO SORRY!!!

I hope it melts by Friday because we're taking them on a Disney cruise and she needs to get out of there.

[SleepingUgly]

Day 4 – St. Croix

 

Let’s not break with tradition and start with today’s Celebrity Today.  We had also received an invite to the helipad for the sail away that evening.  Cool – we are so there!  Sorry but I could not find the invite to take a picture of it, but we got one - I swear!  We didn't crash the party just so we could imbibe endless glasses of watered-down mimosas.  If you want to see the invite, please let me know and I will look for it.  I know we kept the two that we received; they just weren't in the same pile as the dailies.

 

Merry Christmas!  We woke around 8 am to yet another lovely view.

 

We got the girls up right away since Santa Claus would be making his appearance.  The little one, still a firm believer and not having had any conversations with Dear Leader Trump to sway her otherwise, was super excited about this so of course we could not miss it.

 

We had breakfast in the Oceanview Café, like usual, and then went outside to wait for Santa.  It was kind of a confusing experience.  At last night’s show, Sue had told us to be on the open decks to wait for him.  OK, kind of vague, but we’ll try to figure it out.  Then, in the Celebrity Today, it noted that Santa would be arriving and to be on the open decks of 12, 14 and 15 to watch for him, and that he would then make his way to the Grand Foyer.  OK, some more details so that’s good.

 

That morning, we waited on the Solstice Deck for the king of elves to arrive.  By now, we had already lost our middle child, who saw her friends and scampered off to be with them instead.  Hey, it's her vacation too, right?  The oldest and younger (i.e., "ball" and "chain") stuck with me, of course.

 

We finally saw Santa arriving via a small boat a little before 9 am. 

 

Since Santa obviously got on the ship on a lower deck, and the Today had said he was heading to the Grand Foyer after that, we rushed down to Deck 3 to wait for him.  Only to be told by Celebrity personnel that he had gone back up to the upper decks and would be making his way down, deck to deck, and not end up in the Grand Foyer until 10 am.  Well, okie dokie then.  That may have been a detail worthy of being included in the Celebrity Today.  No worries.  We went back up to Deck 12, by the pool to wait for Santa.  I felt like a teeny bopper chasing the Beatles out to their limo after their performance on the Ed Sullivan show, but anything for my children, right?

 

We caught his Pied Piper parade by the pool, and the little one was able to give him a high five for being a good sport and getting all dolled up in that outfit – complete with lumpy pillow and fake beard – and still being able to maintain a smile and not gnash his teeth at all the little grubby-pawed whipper snappers running circles around him.

 

The parade wound its way down to Deck 3, from staircase to staircase.  Santa got to his throne by 9.30 am, so there went that detail of how “Santa won’t be here until 10 am.”  Man, they really need to coordinate better with events like this and the communicate better with guests.  But, hey, it’s Christmas and we’re in St. Croix and I’m next to the passport bar.  Mango mojito, anyone?

 

The little one was able to get a picture not only with Santa, but also Sue and Kate, the director of Celebrity Life Activities.  Both were super nice and accommodating.  Our middle child also was able to get a gift and picture with Santa, posing with one of her new friends she met on the ship.  I wasn't able to get a picture of them but the ship's photographer got one.  All children under the age of 18 were able to get a gift from Santa.  I think the older one got a small backpack and one of those pop-up buttons for the back of her cellphone, and the little one got an insulated lunch bag and a fidget spinner.  Everything had the Celebrity Cruises logo on them, of course.  Not terribly exciting gifts, but I thought it was a very nice gesture they did for the kids.  Certainly made me feel better about having paid thousands more than “usual” pricing for a holiday cruise.

[SleepingUgly]

36 minutes ago, effinaround said:

Oh wow!  Fortunately, I haven't had to shovel yet this season.  We had a dump in November when I was away and that has been it. I hope it stays that way!

 

Agree, and hoping the same for you!  It's supposed to be a rough weather for us here, but we've had a few easy winters so I guess it's time.

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

34 minutes ago, Decpl said:

Linda, we got the same here in Delaware, But you review warmed us up when we got 

in from shoveling. Now get ready for the game, Go Eagles!

Kand J

 

They had an incredible game last week, although I was rooting for the Bears.  What a finish!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

35 minutes ago, chamima said:

My husband just remarked about how we haven't had any snow so far (and I told him him to keep his mouth shut and not jinx us!)

Our youngest daughter lives in DC so she probably woke up to what you had.

SO SORRY!!!

I hope it melts by Friday because we're taking them on a Disney cruise and she needs to get out of there.

 

Yes, Karen, tell your husband to shut it.  You don't need no crazy talk like that right before leaving on vacation.  The forecast here is just cold this week and the next good chance of snow isn't until the weekend, so I am pretty sure your daughter and her family will be able to escape on Friday with no problem.  I'd love to hear about your Disney cruise when you return - I've heard nothing but awesome things about them!

 

Linda

  

[SleepingUgly]

Day 4 – St. Croix (cont.)

 

After all that excitement with Santa, we got ready to head out to ashore.  Once again, we had no plans for this port.  As it was Christmas Day, I didn’t know what would be open and what would be closed.  If we had our way, we would have taken a taxi into Christansted and done an Alexander Hamilton-related walking tour, as our middle child is a huge Hamilton fan (along with every other person in this country, with the possible exception of dh and me), followed up by some shopping and maybe a closer visit at Fort Christiansted.  However, since it was Christmas Day, the fort – which is part of the US National Parks Service – was closed.  Rats.  And I had emailed someone I found online who supposedly dresses up as Alexander Hamilton and leads a walking tour in Christiansted, asking if he was doing a tour that day, but never heard back from him.  Thus, we decided that we would just do something on our own.

 

Our middle child asked to stay on the ship with her friends; they were going to hang out at the X Club and the pool.  That was fine with us so the four of us prepared to go out.  We left the ship a little after 10 am and got our obligatory pictures taken.  Hey, we bought that photo package.  Dh was determined to get his money's worth.

 

We decided to go to Rainbow Beach for the day.  We had to walk down a loooong pier to get outside of the gate.

 

We were then directed to an area for taxis.  There was a line of maybe around six people in front of us, waiting to buy tickets from a woman seated behind a table.  It cost $6 round trip per person to get to Rainbow Beach, but you could also choose to walk there as well, if you wanted to since the bus ride took only about 10 minutes and the GPS showed the beach was a little over one mile away.  We did see some people walking to / from the beach on our way there and back, but it may have been a bit dangerous with kids as there is no sidewalk so you have to walk on the side of the road.

 

After we purchased our tickets, we then had to wait for a van.  This is apparently how we wait in line these days.

 

The four of us split up into two vans and got in around 10.30 am.  The little one and I got in one van, and dh and the oldest got in another one.  Our driver was funny – she was in a hurry and didn’t have time for the very slow driver in front of us.  She was honking her horn at him and muttering to herself, “C’mon!  Move it!  You drive like a man.”  I am going to have to remember that one and use it sometime.

 

We got to Rainbow Beach about 10 minutes later and was told by the driver that the last van would depart from the beach at 2 pm and to make sure we held onto our tickets.  That was a bit earlier than we wanted to leave, but it’s OK.

 

We walked into the little bar / restaurant located on the beach and spoke with a nice young man about renting loungers and umbrellas.  He told us that chairs cost $5 each to rent, $10 per lounger and $10 for an umbrella.  We at first chose to rent just two chairs, since we thought the sun would be bearable, like the day before in St. Thomas, but after just 10 minutes or so, we realized the sun was much hotter today (even though we were only 19 miles from St. Thomas).  So we ended up renting an umbrella as well.  He set us up in a nice, front-row location.

 

In my opinion, it was great that chairs and loungers had already been set up along the beach, and that the young man would set up extra chairs for you.  That way, there wasn't anarchy in people setting their stuff up around the beach, wherever they wanted to.  I saw him speaking with people who came later who wanted chairs set up in front of others, and he very politely told them he couldn't do that for them.

 

 

[mocruzer]

Very much enjoying your review and pictures 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 4 – St. Croix (cont.)

 

Here are a bunch more pictures that we took at Rainbow Beach.  This was a pretty small beach, but the vibe was relaxed and enjoyable, and we sat among some fun, nice people.  There were a couple of heavy downpours during the time we were there, but either we were in the water anyway (the girls loved being able to still be in the ocean while it was raining) or we just all ducked under the umbrella and rode out the storm that way.  The rain never lasted longer than five minutes and then the sun would be out again in full force.  #welcometothetropics

 

Here is that nice young man who helped us and many other people that day with setting up chairs and getting drinks.  I'm not quite sure what his name was.  Dh, for some reason, started calling him Noah, but I heard others calling him Danny.  Oh, well.  He answered to anything, always with a smile, and when he told me in the pouring rain that he loved his job, he looked like he really meant it. 

 

Dh took the girls on a short walk past the beach to a rockier area where private homes are located (but the beaches are still public), and he and I walked out there later as well.

 

The kids had a great time in the water, and tried out our new waterproof / underwater camera too.  The water at that beach was a bit murky to get any good pictures underwater, but we were able to get some much better shots when snorkeling later in St. Maarten and St. Lucia.

 

[SleepingUgly]

1 hour ago, mocruzer said:

Very much enjoying your review and pictures 

 

Thank you!  I've very much enjoyed hearing from those who have not posted much yet on CC but chose to post here.  My goal is to not only record our vacation for my own purposes, but to also help others out because I didn't find a lot of recent info on the Silhouette and I really enjoyed reading the lengthy, detailed trip reports from others who have done a much better job than me.  Also, I know there was a lot of interest this past year on what Celebrity holiday sailings are like so thought I'd help out with future cruisers looking to book a trip during the Christmas and New Year holidays.  Thanks again for tuning in!

 

Linda

 

[bluewhite]

Linda, l so loved all your recent pictures. Your beautiful children are having such a good time in them. The pictures of Santa's

tummy are priceless. That belt was having a hard time I  think.

Still eight days of your report to look forward to.

Linda

[Nanjen]

Really enjoying your review, you have a wonderful sense oh humor! Also enjoying the pictures. We will be on her the end of February and this is keeping me excited to get there! 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 4 – St. Croix (cont.)

 

A little after 1 pm, we started to pack up so we could head back to the ship.  We didn’t want to wait around for the last van of the day, thinking that it may be packed.  It was nice not having to drag the lounge chairs back to the restaurant (Rhythms, as we found out its name), as we had to do in St. Thomas.  We simply packed up our stuff, said good-bye and thanks to Noah / Danny, and walked out to the parking lot to wait for the van.

 

There were two other families waiting with us.  After a few minutes, a van showed up but it wasn't the right one for us.  Apparently, we neglected to realize that there was more than one taxi company in St. Croix.  Stupid tourists.  We had to wait for the van that took our color of tickets.  One of the families boarded this van while the rest of us waited for the right van for us, which arrived just a couple of minutes later.

 

It was a quick drive back to the port area, which was good because we were hungry.  We could see the ship our entire way back, and also passed by the little beach close to Fort Frederiksted and next to the pier that you could go to very easily by walking, if you didn't feel like going all the way to Rainbow Beach.

 

Once we were back at the pier, we decided to visit the little kiosks / stands set up outside the gate and do some quick shopping first, instead of going back onboard to eat and then coming back out to shop.  Dh and the oldest bought a few knick knacks for themselves (dh collects shotglasses and we got a key chain for the middle child for her collection, and the oldest got a few things for herself and friends ... the two that she has), and I bought the cutest hand-sewn cat from a lady who makes and sells them, raising money for the local animal shelter.  This crazy cat was wearing overalls and had a surfboard and a purple pet dog ... how can you possibly turn that down?  If you happen to visit St. Croix and want a unique souvenir from this island, look for this lady and her stand.  She was the first one next to the gate, and she and her friends are super nice.  We had a lovely chat with them.

 

Then it was time for the long walk back to the ship.

 

We went to the Oceanview Cafe to grab lunch, and then went back to the room to shower and rest up.  I took a cool picture of the ropes tying the ship to the pier, and then promptly passed out on my favorite lounger on the balcony.  It was an awesome, amazing nap, and speaking as a connoisseur of naps, that's quite the compliment. 

 

[SleepingUgly]

58 minutes ago, bluewhite said:

Linda, l so loved all your recent pictures. Your beautiful children are having such a good time in them. The pictures of Santa's

tummy are priceless. That belt was having a hard time I  think.

Still eight days of your report to look forward to.

Linda

 

Thanks, Linda, for your compliments!  I feel bad when I look through our pictures and don't see a lot of our middle child, but she's not as much of a camera hog as her sisters (she's like me; she prefers to be behind the lens) and she also spent a lot of time away from us in the evenings, as she went to hang out with her friends.  She met a great group of teens on the ship and they did a lot of stuff together, so I'm sure she still ended up having a great time as well!

 

Thanks again!

Linda

  

[SleepingUgly]

55 minutes ago, Nanjen said:

Really enjoying your review, you have a wonderful sense oh humor! Also enjoying the pictures. We will be on her the end of February and this is keeping me excited to get there! 

 

Thank you, and these next few weeks will seem to drag on, but then a couple of weeks before you leave, time will seem to fly!  Glad to keep you entertained in the meantime, and hope you have a fantastic trip!

 

Linda

 

[KateWes]

Sound like a pretty good Christmas Day

[SleepingUgly]

Day 4 – St. Croix (cont.)

 

A little after 4 pm, dh woke me up so we could get ready to go to the sail away.  We had to be on the helipad by around 4.45 pm as the ship was scheduled to depart St. Croix at 5 pm.  I know a lot of people don't care for this island but we had a really great time.  Rhythms at Rainbow Beach had a nice, relaxing vibe about it, and everyone who worked there was super nice and friendly.  The whole island just had a nice, laid-back feel to it, and not a lot of commercialism, which I really appreciated.  Maybe it was also because it was Christmas Day, but I don't think St. Croix is known for its shopping, which is a nice change of pace from the usual cruise ports.  I look forward to returning someday when it's not Christmas or a holiday so perhaps I can venture into Christiansted and check out some of the more historical sites, or head to Point Udall, the easternmost point of the US.  I like cool sites like that with an interesting claim to fame, so hopefully, we will return soon.

 

Anyway, we got to Deck 6, forward, around 4.50 pm and got in line to proceed to the helipad for the sail away.  We were greeted with a choice of champagne, mimosa or orange juice upon stepping onto the helipad.  It wasn't too crowded, but it was tough to find a spot right next to the balcony.  Still, we were able to get some pretty good pictures, and a rainbow even made a special appearance towards the end.  Remember to wear closed-toe shoes if you are invited to the helipad for a sail away.  Our invite did not mention that (again, rather poor communication on the part of Celebrity) but, thanks to these boards, I knew the kids couldn't wear sandals or flip-flops so we were OK.  Thank God for Cruise Critic!

 

 

[SleepingUgly]

20 minutes ago, KateWes said:

Sound like a pretty good Christmas Day

 

It was indeed, and definitely one we won't forget!

 

Linda

 

[chamima]

56 minutes ago, SleepingUgly said:

Remember to wear closed-toe shoes if you are invited to the helipad for a sail away.  Our invite did not mention that (again, rather poor communication on the part of Celebrity) but, thanks to these boards, I knew the kids couldn't wear sandals or flip-flops so we were OK.  Thank God for Cruise Critic!

 

Linda

I never take any closed-toe shoes on our cruises and have never been turned away from the helipad sailaway. (At least so far. Watch - it'll happen on our next cruise)

I was turned away from the Elite happy hour once (which I still think was ridiculous) but never from the sailaway. I don't wear sneakers so my only closed-toes shoes are heavy winter ones.................

Edited January 13, 2019 by chamima

[jpodds]

Linda. What does your signature ("not Chicago, unfortunately") mean...an inquiring Chicago mind wants to know😃😃😃

[micheleata]

Still loving your report and pictures!

 

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

Great read, really enjoying your review.  

[SleepingUgly]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

 

Linda

I never take any closed-toe shoes on our cruises and have never been turned away from the helipad sailaway. (At least so far. Watch - it'll happen on our next cruise)

I was turned away from the Elite happy hour once (which I still think was ridiculous) but never from the sailaway. I don't wear sneakers so my only closed-toes shoes are heavy winter ones.................

 

Thanks, Karen, that is good to know.  My oldest was bemoaning the fact that her kicks didn't really go with her outfit, and I had to tell her to suck it up an deal with it.  Don't let her know that I was wrong because, really, who would believe that anyway. 🙂

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

1 hour ago, jpodds said:

Linda. What does your signature ("not Chicago, unfortunately") mean...an inquiring Chicago mind wants to know😃😃😃

 

Hi - I love that city.  I went to college in nearby Evanston and then lived in downtown Chicago (near the Water Tower) for a couple of years after that.  I have the best memories of being a single girl in the city - even during the brutal winters.  Which raises the question ... do I love and miss Chicago, or do I love and miss being single?  Hmmm ... 

 

Linda