BEAUTIFUL SILHOUETTE - East Caribbean - Photo Video Trip Report 3/1/15

Day 7 - Sea Day - Tuscan

Tonight was the final night of our Five Specialty Dining Package. I loved this package and think it was worth every penny of our hard earned money and Yes! I will do it again.

Family Group Selfie before heading out for Dinner.

 



 

Donna Demo'ng Her Riedel Skills

 

Our waiter again tonight is the wonderful Jesse. Before the food started to be served I took an impromptu survey from all and asked them to rank the four specialty restaurants as favourites from #1 thru #4. The clear winner may surprise some.. Lawn Club Grill was the clear winner scoring 4 top #1 positions and 2 #2 spots. Attached below is the results from my survey. My favourite is still Tuscan. How would you rank them and why?

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Day 7 - Sea Day - Tuscan

Food Pics

Starters

 



 



 



 



 

I kind of pigged out a bit on the starters because I order both French Onion Soup and the Minestrone soup. Both were delicious! Then I could not resist having the Chop Salad. Of course this forced everybody to wait for me. LOL!

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Day 7 - Sea Day - Tuscan

More Tuscan Food Pics

Jesse getting a group shot.

 



 



 



 

Bring on the Dessert!

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Day 7 - Sea Day - Tuscan

Dessert

Scott and family were also dining out in Tuscan this evening. Scott insisted that I take a picture of his dessert. So I obliged.

Not many of us could pass up on the Gelato.

 



 

All done!

 

Donna No!

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Is this the name for MDR on Silhouette ?

Is this the name for MDR on Silhouette ?

MDR's

Silhouette - Grand Cuvee

Equinox - Silhouette

Spell check wants to change Cuvee to Curve most of the time for me.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Attached below is the results from my survey. My favourite is still Tuscan. How would you rank them and why?

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Beth and I have only been to Tuscan and Silk. We hope to try Qsine on Silhouette in February. We love Tuscan Grill. It is a most do on our cruises.

Beth and I have only been to Tuscan and Silk. We hope to try Qsine on Silhouette in February. We love Tuscan Grill. It is a most do on our cruises.

Mark,

Like me you love Tuscan. I will guarantee that you will love Lawn Club Grill. Now don't hold a grudge against Lawn Club Grill because it replaced your much loved Hot Glass Show?

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Beth and I have only been to Tuscan and Silk. We hope to try Qsine on Silhouette in February. We love Tuscan Grill. It is a most do on our cruises.

Mark

Sorry to disappoint you but I think you're on the Eclipse (with us :) ) this coming February .

Mark,

 

Like me you love Tuscan. I will guarantee that you will love Lawn Club Grill. Now don't hold a grudge against Lawn Club Grill because it replaced your much loved Hot Glass Show?

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

LOL. I do love the Hot Glass Show. ;)

 

Mark

Sorry to disappoint you but I think you're on the Eclipse (with us :) ) this coming February .

DOH! You are correct. Then Reflection in 2017, where I can try the Lawn Club. I guess Silhouette will have to be 2018.

Loved your review Kevin. We've been thinking about trying Celebrity for awhile now. Great looking family, it's always fun to see who you're talking to.

Loved your review Kevin. We've been thinking about trying Celebrity for awhile now. Great looking family, it's always fun to see who you're talking to.

Thanks for your kind comments. Some Review/Trip Report posters like to keep their identity a mystery not me. :)

Stay tuned almost finished.

Kevin Reid

I think it was more like roller derby. All elbows and knees once you entered the fray. Good time was had by all.

Scott

Day 7 - Sea Day - More Blue Box Frenzy

 

Scott scores in the Blue Box Frenzy

 

 

The Riedel seminar was over so Donna and Adam had to get in on the Frenzy. I had to tell Michele that Louis was successful in his mission and she could stand down on the frenzy.

 

 

Even Nolan could not resist the Frenzy.

 

 

 

Protecting their treasures at check out.

 

 

Wendy and Daniel Happy with Scott's finds.

 

 

Boy! Blue Box Frenzy was hard work. It must be time to eat again?

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Thanks for your kind comments. Some Review/Trip Report posters like to keep their identity a mystery not me. :)

 

Stay tuned almost finished.

 

Kevin Reid

Hey Kevin - Don't mean to be rude, but where's the end?:rolleyes:

Yes, eagerly awaiting the end.:)

Hey Kevin - Don't mean to be rude, but where's the end?:rolleyes:

Yes, eagerly awaiting the end.:)

Sorry Folks for not getting back to this sooner. I still have a little bit more Photo Video Trip Report left in me. I am not relying on memory this time I have good notes. :)

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Day 7 - Sea Day - Last Evening

So after our delicious final meal at Tuscan we returned to our cabins to finish our packing and to put our luggage out into the halls. We also packed the clothes we were wearing and quickly changed into our clothes for tomorrow. Donna and the boys went down to the shop by Molecular bar because they were having a $500 draw which we had ballots entered from our Blue Box Frenzy purchases... We didn't win! Bummer! I stayed back and Put the luggage out. I took a few pictures of the "lonely" luggage out there all by itself... Such a sad picture?

When I took the luggage out I also left my Sea Pass on the counter and locked my self out. I was able to find a cabin stewart and he let me back in. This was the first time that we left our extra tips on the bed rather than give it in person. I don't really remember running into our cabin stewart other than on embarkation day. This was not a bad thing at all excellent service was received all week.

I meet back up with Donna and Boys at Molecular Bar. Donna was having a change of heart and wanted to purchase a couple of photos. Adam liked the group shot of us coming off the pier at San Juan and Donna liked the one of the boys taken in the entrance of the ensemble Lounge.

 

Like I previously stated I like buying the "Voyage in Review" DVD but this time I was a little pissed of and was not going to buy. Until I caught a preview playing and notice our gang standing at the top the Grand Staircase during Celebrity Rox. So I broke down and purchased it. We just watched it about a week a go and hate to say it was the best one so far. We caught ourselves in the DVD more than once.

We finished our evening off by spending a few minute up in Sky Lounge listening to the Live band. Next picture a group Selfie in Sky Lounge.

Looks like this cruise is all but over for our last sea day. Donna and I called it a night and went back to our room. Not sure how long the boys stayed up. Our luggage tags were #9 and we were to meet in the Grand Cuvee deck 3 at 8:00 AM. Set the iPhone alarm for 6:30 AM for our chartered bus ride back to Miami.

Up next the trip back to PEI.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Day 8 - Fort Lauderdale - Sunday March 8, 2015

Celebrity Today

Front Page 1

Back Page 2

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Day 8 - Fort Lauderdale - Disembarkation & Back Home

We are awaken by my iPhone alarm at 6:30 AM. I could see by looking out the curtain we still had not pulled into Port Everglades. I knew from viewing the webcam that we should be soon pulling in around 6:30 to 7:00. Phoned the boys room to get them up. Then I looked at my wrist watch and realized it was only 5:30 AM. My iPhone adjusted for Daylight Saving Time and went off an hour early. Phoned the boys back to tell them that they had another hour. I think I dozed off for the hour but, Donna just read her book. The Alarm goes off for the second time and now it is really 6:30 AM and we are already in Port Everglades and about to back into our spot along side the pier. Ships in with us today:

Allure of the seas

Independence of the Seas

Regal Princess

Eurodam

Nieuw Amsterdam

Early morning Picture of Allure of the Seas

While out on the balcony I noticed that sister Michele's room was still dark so I phoned here room and they had over slept. Up to the Oceanview for one final go at the breakfast buffet. This moment is such a downer. Because you know in just a few more hours a fresh crop of cruisers will be taking your place. I grabbed a couple of bottles of water for the transfer to Miami.

 

Our Final Picture on our Balcony. Sad Indeed!

Disembarkation was very smooth. All the Canadian charters gathered in the Grand Cuvee. It was bout 8:10 AM when group #9 was called. Walked down to deck 2 and to exit Silhouette for the last time.

We found our luggage very quickly and I now see why a spinner suitcase is much better/easier to wheel out of a confined space. There were three US customs agents working the crowd. To get thru US customs only took a few minutes. The US Custom agent looked at our declaration card and the pictures from our Canadian Passports. I would guess it only took about 20 minutes from the time we left the Grand Cuvee to standing outside waiting for our bus transfer back to Miami. So within an other 15 minutes we were all loaded on our bus and on our way back to Miami. Ironic that our bus driver was the same one as our trip down to Port Everglades. We left Port everglades at 8:40AM and pulled into Miami Airport at 9:10AM. That is about 15-20 minutes faster when there is traffic. A RCL rep was there to greet and told us to head for concourse "H" and look for the Canadian North sign.

Quite a big line up in front of us for the Canadian North check in. No big deal we were in no rush. My only comment here is that the agents did not do a very good job assigning seats and broke up people travelling together. My new friend Scott "Rocking_Rev" had made a request that at least he or his wife be seated with their son Daniel. Nope! they assigned them all to different seats. Our group of six had four seats in row on row 23. I offered Scott our 3 seats in row 23 so they could sit together as a family and we sat in Scott's scattered seats. No big deal for us to be separated. I was able watch an episode of Justified, The Blacklist, and started watching the movie Interstellar. I should also mention that we flew back to Moncton on the Celebrity Logo'd airplane. I got a picture of just the engine from the Miami waiting lounge.

For the flight back to Moncton Canadian North served a complimentary choice of two hot meals: Lasanga or Chicken. I took a chance with chicken... Well lets say it was no Celebrity meal that we were use to for the past week. LOL!

The flight left Miami just after 2:00 PM (eastern) and arrived in Moncton at 7:05 PM (atlantic). Canadian customs were a breeze but we did have to wait a bit for the shuttle back to the Hotel to pick up the Honda CRV. We left the Tim Horton's parking lot at 8:08 PM and arrived back home to HUGE snow banks at 10:00PM.

So that is it! Our 2015 Cruise is over and marks my second attempt at a Trip Report here on Cruise Critic. I did say at the beginning of this Photo Video Trip Report that it would take me a long time to finish. I didn't think it would take this long. But life continues and stops for nobody. Thanks for your comments and reading my trip report.

Next Up:

Final Summary. No! you are not going to see any scoring. So please stay tuned. I hope to do a couple of more videos and I will post links to them here and create a new Vimeo Album link in my signature.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Happy to see you are back at it Kevin...we missed you!

It really is too bad that travelling companions were separated by Canadian North. Gotta wonder why. I was always a good flier, then had one bad day (a near miss landing in Denver and then same day departing from Denver the worst turbulence I have EVER EVER experienced-so bad that flight attendants were ordered to be seated and belted throughout the flight-it led to my one and only ever panic attack), and I now can have some anxious moments. I feel for the stranger that would have to sit with me. Though I travel with Ativan I haven't taken it for a couple of years. I'm pretty sure that my "unease" is evident at times though. Only my family should be subjected to that :(

Looking forward to your final summary. And of course, looking forward to videos.

Hello! Its Me Again - Conclusion

It sure has taken me a while to finish this Photo video Trip Report up? I started this thing at the end of March and here it is the first week of June. To be honest I think I could just cut and paste my summary from last year's Equinox Trip Report and be done with it. I make no apologies for still being a "Fan Boy" of the Celebrity product and will continue to spend my vacation money and time with Celebrity Cruises. Donna and I don't sweat the little stuff and refuse to allow the little things that may go wrong ruin our vacation. Live for today, don't wish for tomorrow, and don't live in the past.

I enjoyed composing this my second Trip Report on Cruise Critic and will mostly likely try my hand next year detailing our 14 day Eclipse March 2016 Cruise. I think I learned a good lesson from last year and that is to take good notes at the end of each day and do not rely on your memory. I tried my best to purge and pick only the best photos to share on this trip report to tell our story. As you know by now I call this a Trip Report and not a review. I might give my opinion on things but it just that an opinion. Really why would anybody want to listen to me give things a rating or a scoring against other things? I form and create my own opinion on my experiences not others.

I was going to list our cruise highlights in this summary but, I don't think I will do that because I spent to much darn time already detailing that in this Trip report.

Like last year I started this Trip Report buried in huge snow banks and when finished all the snow finally disappeared. Our Canadian Maritime Winters make us appreciate our fantastic warm Celebrity Cruise vacations in the Caribbean. Donna and I are already planning for next year's cruise and even 2017's. Thanks for coming along on our journey it was fun. I will leave you with my favourite cruise photo.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

I will update the thread with any new video I post to my Vimeo Channel.

Very well done and nicely written. Thank you for sharing

very well done and nicely written. Thank you for sharing

ditto. :d

Kevin,

thanks for this thorough and thoroughly entertaining and informative report!

Great photos and videos made the narrative jump off the page.

I look forward to your 2016 cruise. Thanks for bringing me along on this one.

Kudos!

Norris

Kevin,

Thanks to you and your family for letting me come along on your trip. Loved the detailed day-by-day explanation of your adventures and your great photos. Look forward to next year.

Susan