My Bud Pud

Dailies attached for March 1, 2015 sailing. I hope to do a complete review in the upcoming days.

Day 1 - sail away.pdf

Day 2 - at sea.pdf

Day 3 - San Juan.pdf

Day 4 - St Kitts.pdf

Day 5 - St Maarten.pdf

Day 6 - at sea.pdf

Day 7 - at sea.pdf

This was our 1st cruise with Celebrity and 3rd overall. While I may concur with many of the original comments concerning the main dining room as far as portion size, it did not bother us as lord knows if you go hungry on a cruise that is your own fault! We also noticed individuals on multiple occasions ordering multiple appetizers or entrees to get a more "filling experience". At least for us, our meals were quite good and we had no complaints.

Leading up to the cruise we had read numerous reviews of the entertainment that were less than stellar. I am not sure if our standards are different or just lucked out but we felt the entertainment was much better than we expected and experienced on our other two cruises.

Agree 100% on Richard, he was entertaining, energetic and truly an asset to the cruise line. We also found the Captain to be a breath of fresh air as he was engaged and had a great sense of humor

ONE!!!!!!!!!:cool:

16 and counting!

After 30 plus cruises, no doubt - Shop in St. Martin & sight see in St. Kitts. If you are in St. Martin on a Wed or Sat, it may be fun to take a take over to Margot (30 to 40 mins each way - prices are set). Those are the days their market is open (more artsy than most markets) and they have a very well know French bakery just across the market. When we take someone new to the French side we take them to the bakery and order one treat for each person - try it then rotate to the left :) It is fun.

Also, we have used the same jeweler in St. Martin (not cruise ship approved but much cheaper & privately owned so they can make deals) for 20 years. I haven't bought jewelry in the US since we met them. If you like jewelry or watches or... St. Martin is the place IMO!

St. Kitts is not a shopping island, again IMO.

Hope that helps -

Thank you!

If you are trying to decide which island, St. Kitts or St. Martin would be better for shopping, St. Martin would win hands down. We have been to St. Kitts twice and there is not a ton of shopping there, at least not when compared to St. Martin. That said, St. Martin is a much better beach island than St. Kitts. I guess it just kind of depends on your interest.

Sounds like St. Maarten may be the better option for shopping/strolling town and St. Kitts for the sigtseeing via scooter or atv??? Especially since I learned we may be able to find sangsters on St. Maarten!

Smiling. Your two choices are like night and day. They are about as oposite as you could have picked. One is very safe and calm and possibly a tad boring and the other is, well let's say at the very least, an adventure on a busy, hilly island such as St. Maarten/St. Martin. I have seen an accident involving a scooter and I have seen dozens of close calls caused by scooter/motorcycles on the island.

 

What are your interests? Do you like beaches, quiet meal with a great view, catamaran ride, you drive boat to rent and explore the lagoon in, jets landing right over a beach or Ziplining? The island offers all these and more. If you tell us your interests and if there will be children traveling with you then we will be able to help you better.

I would have to classify us as shoppers/sightseers. Beaches are good, but we are not ones to spend endless hours at one. Ziplining is definitly out - not enough alcohol to get my wife to do that. It will just be us - mid to late 40's - no children.

thanks again

Thanks, our March 2015 cruise will be the first on Celebrity.

Booked on Celebrity Summit March 2015. First time to St. Maarten... any recommendations on excursions? we have also considered just either walking Philipsburg on our own (if feasible) or renting scooters and self exploring.

thoughts? ideas?

I posted a similar inquiry on the St. Kitts thread. I guess another question would be if we were going to book an excursion at one and "do the town/shopping" at the other - any ideas on which is better for either?

any info is much appreciated.

Booked on Celebrity Summit March 2015. First time to St. Kitts... any recommendations on excursions? we have also considered just either walking Basseterre on our own (if feasible) or renting scooters and self exploring.

thoughts? ideas?

I posted a similar inquiry on the St. Maarten thread. I guess another question would be if we were going to book an excursion at one and "do the town/shopping" at the other - any ideas on which is better for either?

any info is much appreciated.

We are booked on an Eastern Caribbean on Celebrity Silhouette March 2015 and already looking at options for our next trip. We are interested in a Southern Caribbean - most likely sailing out of San Juan as 7-8 days is probably my max, probably end of Feb - beginning of April 2016 or slight chance of fall 2015.

Any recommendations on lines, ships and itineraries?

Thanks!

Thank you very much! We were hopeful we would be able to find it on one of the islands.

Looking for any help.. I became hooked on Sangster's Rum Cream on our initial cruise in 2012 with a port of call in Ocho Rios.

We are now booked on an Eastern Caribbean next March with stops in San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Kitts. Does anyone know if Sangster's can be purchased at any of these ports of call?

I am sure anyone who has tried it understands my plight!

Thank you Canadarocks... I am restricted to the 7/8 night itinerary due to my schedule.

My wife and I are recent cruise junkies. Experienced our first in February 2012 (RCI Navigator of the Seas - Western Caribbean) and our second July of 2013 (Sapphire Princess - Alaskan Inner Passage)

Our first two were family trips and we have decided to book our next cruise for just "us two". We have narrowed the time to the end of February or very beginning of March but are in a conundrum and looking for any advice/input.

We had narrowed our choices to the RCI Allure of the Seas or the Celebrity Silhouette. A recent contender is the RCI Independence of the Seas.

Here's why we are waffling:

Allure - Ports of call - Nassau, St. Thomas & St. Maarten

Silhouette - Ports of call - San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Kits

Independence - Ports of call - San Juan, St. Maarten, St. Kits, and Labadie

We were already to Labadie, so that is not a draw necessarily. We added the Independence of the Seas cruise to the mix due to the itinerary as it was basically the same as the Silhouette and in our opinion; we preferred it to that of the Allure.

HOWEVER, the Allure is like the big shiny toy in the window that is so hard to resist. Is it worth it? Everything we've read about the Silhouette has been positive with the dining seeming to be a "step up".

We are in our mid 40's, like to do activities, but the rock wall, flow runner, etc. are not a draw. So shops, shows, activities such as trivia, karaoke, movies, etc. are a plus. We are a little nervous about the Silhouette that it may be too laid back.

Advice/thoughts/opinions from anyone who has experienced these ships would greatly be appreciated. Plus, are we right about the itinerary? Or are we crazy and the Allure is worth a lesser itinerary if that is the case.

dazed and confused! :eek:

Thanks!