jam19872016

Thank you for following along! The aviary is such a nice treat. I could go back time and time again and never tire of seeing it.

I'm also spoiled by newer ships. I don't need the newest flashiest toy out there, but this ship was a little older and smaller than what I typically look for. So part of the problem is on me but I loved the itinerary which more than made up for it I think. I was certainly tempted to use a taxi they seemed plentiful! My mom was doing ok she got a nice bench to sit on (and could have sat on her scooter if she had needed to) but we stuck it out. I meant to check times so I could describe how long everything took but in the chaos of the morning I failed 🙂 I would probably still use them again but definitely stick to my plans of being to port early just in case they get backed up like this every time. It's one thing to wait to be picked up, don't make me wait to board 😂

Thank you all for following along with me as I rambled on for three weeks 🙂 Right now the countdown is at 300 before the next cruise 😮 but I will be sure to come back and post a link if I sail away again before that time (fingers crossed)! One other thing I forgot to mention, my mom's scooter. She called about sending it back as it was still under warranty and she was asked to turn it on so they could hear the beeping sound it was making to try and determine the problem. When she did so, it worked just fine. My thought was perhaps it could not get a charge on the ship, but she did not charge it at home at all before turning it on for the scooter people. It seems to be working now but she does not really use it at home so it is hard to really test it out too much. She thinks maybe she had a safety switch cut on. I'm not sure? Hopefully it was just an operator error and she will be able to use it in the future as I think it helped her enjoy her cruise a little bit more.

Service: I was happy with the service I got from my room steward. He was a little odd and awkward in the hallway but he did a great job keeping the room clean and fulfilling our needs. I enjoyed our dining room team although my mom was no longer a fan by the end of the cruise. Service in other areas was always pleasant and while not as friendly as I have seen on other Celebrity cruises where you can't walk past a single crew member without a smile and hello, they were all still very friendly and I had no instances where I was unsatisfied. Overall: Despite the negative tone this wrap up still took, I really did enjoy the cruise. It did not have what I wanted out of the nightlife but I enjoyed the time with my mom and she seemed to also enjoy herself in her own way. I think the scooter helped with that as I could detect a shift in her mood after her day walking around Cozumel. I also loved the longer itinerary and the chance to really get settled into the ship a little better than you do on a week long cruise. I am not sure I will have another Celebrity cruise any time soon though. I will be scaling back my cruising for now and so I need to be more selective. Nothing about the Celebrity product really jumps out at me and that is ok because there are plenty of options for everyone to enjoy exactly what they like. I would still like to try an E class ship, and the quick trips on Reflection to Coco Cay might be nice for a quick getaway. Celebrity is also moving to Port Canaveral soon, that would be a nice new option close to my mom although Princess is also moving there and I still have yet to try them. Other than those options, I would need to see a cruise "priced to move" in order to try them again but they will certainly be a consideration for a nice price and itinerary, and the Elite perks would be icing on the cake since refilling the mobile bar would be cheaper!

Entertainment: Phew, I seem to recall saying I was trying to not be too negative in my summary 🙂 I'm not succeeding thus far, and this category is not going to change that tone. I think I touched on most of my points throughout the review but I do wonder where the fault lies here, Sue, whoever plans the activities, or the passenger demographic? I kind of feel like part of it is one of the first two. Looking at any given night, at 6-8 when this age group is enjoying their early bird dinner, there would be 3-4 musical acts performing as well as a show in the theater for the late dinner folks. This was very much a traditonal crowd that loves to do dinner and a show, or a show and dinner. Then after 8, there was literally nothing going on. I mean nothing, anywhere, except sometimes a movie outside and a sales pitch in the shops. This is the time most people are done with dinner and are looking to be entertained, and there is nothing going on until the 9 show. Then the late show starts and the traditional dinner and a show crowd is happy. That is not me and it takes a pretty good show to hold my interest. So I would like to go see one of those musical acts, of which 3-4 were playing earlier, except none of them have an evening set except the party band and they don't go on again until the 10:15 party of the night. Occasionally another act would do a set at 11, I only went one time to check that out, and in fact the venue was empty and there was nobody playing. That might be on the crowd though, if nobody showed up maybe the band closed down. I have never really heard of ship performers only doing two sets a night, but if that is a thing, wouldn't it make more sense to stagger the sets? Instead of them all performing at 6 and 7, maybe half perform at 6 and 8, and the other half 7 and 9? Most of the music was not to my liking so maybe I still would have been bored but I could attribute that to the demographic on board, by simply not having anything on the schedule at all, that feels like poor planning. Most of the 10:15 parties were not to my taste, but some were more enjoyable than I expected, especially the St. Patrick's day party. The nightclub was dead by opening at 11:30 and they did not help matters with the songs they chose to play. By the end of the cruise nobody even bothered showing up. I would show up to an empty venue. The karaoke night I was not ready to give up and tried again at midnight, and they had actually closed down since nobody showed up. I loved silent disco. Three times in 12 days was kind of poor compared to the three times on my six day Reflection trip, but still way better than the one time in 26 days on Carnival Magic. Karaoke was an unexpectedly good time. That was a fun bunch. I wish they had come to the club. I went back down and they were all still hanging out there in the now closed venue instead of bringing that energy up to the club which was now also shut down since nobody came. I think that was the general theme of this trip, it was meant for people in large groups who enjoyed sitting around with a glass of wine enjoying each other's company. It was not really a group looking or needing to be entertained. I would have been quite content with a decent selection of on demand movies, even for a fee, but that was not on offer either. If you love 50's and 60's music, this may be a great ship for you. Sue was trying to sell the 80's party (on the last night so I couldn't stay up for it) and started by asking how many in the audience were over 80. Thunderous applause. No wonder the music was not geared to me 🙂 She followed by saying "and forty years ago you were listening to Freddie Mercury so don't tell me that you are too old for 80's rock." I wonder if they really were? My 67 year old mother was most definitely not 😂

Public Spaces and Cabin: The ship was very well maintained for an older ship. I did not really notice any wear and tear that you would expect on a ship this age. The only issues I noted were the elevators which I previously documented and they seemed to be working again by the end of the cruise. The other was the temperature inside the ship. It was slightly warm in many of the public areas. As I tend to run hot I would often think, ok it's not that warm, it's just me. Then I would walk into the next section of the ship and be blasted with cold air and go nope, this ship is a little too warm. The only spot that crossed "warm" and into "hot" was Reflections Lounge. During the daytime it was too hot to sit in there for more than a couple minutes. Then by the end of the voyage I went in there and it was an absolute ice box! So who knows? The design of the ship was a little clunky. The biggest spot I noticed it was the pool deck and inside the buffet. Instead of buffet stations it was mostly one big line and no real clear start point so it was not uncommon for people to just butt in. On the pool deck you could not cross from side or the other without climbing through the pool area which was of course always slippery. Then there was the pool bar in the middle of the walkway on the port side that you had to squeeze past, don't bother trying to cut across because you will need to cross through the pool. That said, as there are not a lot of people onboard, it rarely felt too crowded but you can definitely see where ship designs have gotten smarter as they have increased capacities. The cabin I can't really find anything nice to say. Other than the Majesty of the Seas, I can't recall ever having a more cramped stateroom than this one in all my travels. It was tiny and non functional at every turn. Very little storage space even considering how light I pack and I would not call my mom an over packer. The AC worked well, which is very important to me, so it did have that going for it.

Dining: Dining is my favorite part of a cruise, obviously 🙂 and it was honestly a mixed bag. I remember before I took my first Celebrity cruise what a big selling point the food was and how completely let down I was. I have adjusted my expectations since then and am generally happy with the product I receive. My biggest gripe would be the variety during the daytime. Unless you pay, you are stuck with the buffet or hamburgers and hot dogs. With the exception of St.Patrick's day, the buffet was very weak and consisted mainly of mystery casseroles and stews, cheap non descript fishes, and inexpensive filler starches. I was mostly happy with breakfast here, except the fried bread which I have always loved. This just tasted like stale crunchy bread to me. Overall, I found the buffet to be poor. The winner during the day time was Al Bacon and I enjoyed many yummy treats here throughout the cruise. This is definitely the way to go for desserts or a mid day snack. The only thing I did not care for was a gluten free dessert, but all of the full sin treats were simply Devine! Lunch in the dining room was good and with five sea days I did get to enjoy a nice lunch a number of times. During the four day stretch of ports, my mom and I were both really missing having something good to eat during the day and began looking at options in the ports. Instead we just over indulged at Al Bacon 😂 I have read that room service is included again and actually started on our cruise. That was not advertised and I did not notice it or I think I would have ordered that for lunch most days and opted out of the buffet. Also not advertised was the tea time in the buffet. While it is not a tradtional tea time, the foods that were served here were quite delicious. The only problem was they were mostly desserts, with a small selection of two sandwiches daily, and the sweets were already covered at Al Bacon, we needed some food food during the day. A very nice option though. Dinner was good and I enjoyed almost everything I ordered. I have never felt like the appetizer selection was very good. Eliminate the soups and salads, and you are left with the everyday options, and something odd like tuna tartar or a pate. I would eat those, but those are two bites and done. The one exception was the BBQ spring roll which was delicious, but again two bites and done. Not an appetizer so much as one of those finger foods that get passed out at cocktail parties. And that brings me to the entrees. Never done did I order something and think "wow what a generous portion". Almost everything was good but comically child size in portion. Yet, they could not do a pasta in a starter size so I could have an appetizer I enjoyed. They would bring it out in a smaller plate but the portion would be the same. I felt bad essentially ordering three entrees, but I think next time I will order the pasta each day as a starter as it really was not a lot of food still. The desserts were also mostly very good (not you beggars purse, bleck) but again too small. I miss the cheesecake being served everyday, that was one of my favorite desserts but I was glad to see if offered one night at least. Overall I most certainly did not go hungry on this cruise and managed to gain plenty of weight, but for dining, Celebrity is not my favorite. Perhaps on an E class ship with a bigger variety I would be more impressed.

Final Thoughts: I sort of struggled with how to write up my final thoughts for this cruise. I try not to be too negative, but I also want to provide an accurate overview of my experience. When I review something, something I take into consideration is how much a product costs. I would not buy a Kia and expect the same quality of product that I got from a Rolls-Royce. But if I bought the Rolls, by god it better be amazing and the smallest detail will be scrutinzed. Now I am not saying Celebrity pretends to be a Rolls, but it does market itself as a "premium" cruise line. That example was merely to illustrate that based on what the product costs, I would critique things a little more strongly. Another less extreme example would be dinner in the MDR vs going to a specialty restaurant. A meal that was good in the MDR would not cut it. If I am paying for the upgraded experience, I want a meal that blows me away and simply being "good" is not going to be good enough. So how do I review this cruise, this product, fairly for the price point Celebrity has pegged itself at, without being too negative and implying that it was a bad cruise, when in fact it was a great cruise? I can't. For one, I did not pay a premium. Because the market does not agree with the price Celebrity asks for this cruise, I could get basically any sailing on this ship comped on a casino rate. Mostly I only qualify for insides on short cruises, here I could get an Ocean View on 9 and 12 day cruises, and if I had had the time available, there were enough certificates going around, I could have strung them together for one heck of a long B2B2B2.... So let me just say this, if you are looking at a premium price tag to book this ship, and can find something similar on a mainstream cruise line, don't book this. I can't say that anything stood out to me as "better" than a cruise on Royal Caribbean when taken as a whole. The only time I thought "oooh I couldn't do this on Royal or Carnival, how nice" was when I ordered a lobster on chic night with my pasta. Carnival would have charged me, since I had three entrees technically, and Royal will not serve two entrees together. That was quite literally the only time all week where I felt a difference. Beyond that, nothing really sets them apart from much less expensive cruise lines. IMHO and YMMV. So I am going to give my review based on what I would expect from Carnival and Royal as my two main cruise lines because I think that would be a more accurate assessment of how I enjoyed the cruise while still noting some deficiencies.

So would I recommend Quality Inn and Suites for cruise parking? I had two concerns using this company, one of which ended up becoming a problem, and one was not a problem but could have been and just the perception of a problem is worth mentioning and may cause someone to not feel comfortable booking them. The problem was of course the pick up service. I am not sure if this is typical for days there are two ships in port (which is probably most days) and I got lucky going in, but coming back was not great. One shuttle is not enough for two ships even small ones like this. While we had no problem getting a shuttle, in fact we were one of two groups on the shuttle, today the lobby was packed with people waiting and I saw one family give up and call for an Uber when they could not fit on the shuttle that brought us back. Maybe Quality Inn did the right thing and paid for the Uber (I've had hotels do that before when they could not provide a shuttle to the airport that was included) or at least credited back some money for the shuttle. If this was typical, I would not be happy. The second concern was the part of town the hotel is located in. I saw nothing on the property that indicated a problem. There was no loitering, and a fairly secure fence around the perimeter and the property seemed well taken care of and clean. Directly outside the hotel was a neighborhood that could probably be described as "low income housing." Trying to be PC here. As I made my way to the nearby restaurant for dinner, the nearby street corners were filled with a large homeless population. One was picked up in broad daylight at a red light and got into a stylish looking sports car. I can infer what was going on there. On the way home one stepped out in front of my car and I nearly ran her over. She was in a compete daze (drugs, mental health issues, zombie?) and had no clue she was walking in the middle of the highway. Again the hotel seemed to have no problems. The immediate surrounding area? Yikes. Would I use them again? I paid less for this hotel room, and parking, and shuttle, than I would have to park at the port for 12 days. That is a significant savings. If it was for a four or five day cruise, or maybe even 7, I would have to consider the cost at least in comparison to other hotels offering the same. Most only included parking for 7 days and that was a huge advantage to this hotel, which included up to 14 days parking. For more than seven, for a cost lower or close to the cost of parking at the port, I would certainly use them again. The hotel itself was very nice. Quite unexpected for a budget friendly hotel to be in such good shape.

Picking up where I left off on my live. We had some communication issues on exactly how we were going to get off the ship. I could not carry my bags and my mom's scooter and I advised my mom to put a luggage tag on it and send it with her luggage. She was not crazy about that idea and guest relations said they would be able to carry it off for her. I was skeptical because the paperwork clearly states that due to port regulations, they could not assist with that. It took a little bit of back and forth that morning, but we were able to get assistance carrying the scooter off. Everyone we talked with was friendly and helpful, they just were not sure of the procedure as I am guessing whoever my mom talked to did not relay the message to the people we wound up talking with that morning. Of course that assistance had to stop in the terminal as they did not have work visas and so I did end up still carrying an unreasonable amount of luggage. I now had her checked bag, my bags, and her scooter. A porter would have been smart but I don't use porters out of principle (I don't support people who shake you down for tips with threats of your luggage ending up in the water, never been to Tampa so can't say if that happens here but it certainly happens in Miami and Port Canaveral) and my mom did not have any small bills left after taking care of those who assisted her getting off the ship. Once off the ship I set off to find the shuttle for return to the hotel. I found a shuttle that said Quality Inn and stood in what I was hoping was the line. I am not sure if it was or not but either way, the shuttle was full so as he was leaving I asked if he was who I needed and would someone else be coming soon. Unfortunately he did not speak much English, and I did not speak much Spanish and we fumbled to communicate with each other. From what I could tell he was the correct shuttle driver, and the other Quality Inn van I pointed to was not. I could not tell when he said the next shuttle would arrive. I decided to speak to the other Quality Inn driver and he confirmed that he was not going to the same Quality Inn that I needed to go to. I called the phone number I was given to request for a pick up and nobody answered. So I waited. And waited. Then the sky opened up. Thankfully there was a covering so I did not get too wet, but of course personal space was no longer a priority as we all moved to get under the covering. I called again and someone picked up this time but needed to know what terminal I was at. I told her the ship but I had no idea what terminal I was at, why would I? Shouldn't that be something they would know after the first time they picked up passengers from this ship? A nearby passenger heard me and gave me the terminal # so I could relay that information and a shuttle was dispatched. It was the same guy as from before and he had already picked up passengers from Paradise, so it looks like only one shuttle driver was available for both ships because nobody else picked up between the time he left and came back. Traffic going home was better than South Florida traffic leaving Miami, but something major must have happened on I75 as Google rerouted me most of the drive home through some seriously back country highways due to an accident on the interstate. If that was supposed to be quicker, I can't imagine how backed up things were.

It is definitely worth a visit! So pretty and so many fascinating animals to see. An unexpected treat for sure.

Definitely get off next time. Take the shuttle. It is such a nice looking port. I can't speak to the actual town, which gets mixed reviews, but the port area is very nice and the animals are wonderful to see up so close like that. Thank you so much for following along.

Thank you! I have never heard of that but it does look like what I saw.

These birds were not playing nice with each other. I can't believe I got this with nobody in it! I wish my mom had been with me. I never noticed the koi pond before. Heading back to the ship now, as you can see it is an easy walk from the port to the ship.

I think this is a hog, then I thought an anteater because of the nose and plus everyone kept saying they saw an ant eater and I could not find it but the picture of one does not look like this so I really am not sure what I am looking at here. It sure likes rolling in mud like a hog. What are you?

He just won't look at me. Finally got him, even if the fence was blocking us. I really did not want to photograph this next one. It sort of broke my heart and I hope that he is getting the care he needs because he does not look healthy at all. I did not photo it the first day and tried to avoid it today, but it kept following me as I moved around trying to photograph the deer so I gave it some attention. A hog?

I went back out the next day on my own as my mom was having trouble managing her scooter in the crowds so we did not check out the entire area. I was hoping to find the orange squirrel today but I never did. Someone else said they spotted it, so I know it is still here. Day 2 wildlife: This monkey was following me so I stopped to give him some attention. This deer was very camera shy.

My mom spotted an albino peacock. Headed back to the ship now, Connie has a very boxy aft and could use a paint touchup.

My mom wanted some pictures of the plant life as well so some of these are for her.

Sing it with me now, N B C!!!! The next set of photos are taken on the other side of the duty free shop. I got a better picture of this sign later.

Wildlife continued.. My mom petting a bird. Most of the animals here are used to people and do not shy away. I even saw one bird attach to a lady and witnessed her husband trying desperately to get it off her 😂 Be sure to look up and at all your surroundings to take in all the wildlife around you.

Going to get my final thoughts typed up tonight and posted tomorrow to officially wrap up this review. For now I will share my photos from the aviary in Cartagena. This was such an unexpected treat the first time I sailed here and it really still continued to amaze me this go around. Such a cool experience, no entry fee, and conveniently located right inside the terminal area. Stepping off the ship, there are shuttles available to take you to the port area. It is a shorter walk than the pier in most ports so unless you have mobility challenges, there is really no need. The signs said 800 yards and while I did not bring my yard stick, I do think it is longer than that but still a very easy 2 minute walk. Looks like they also have hop on hop off tours available. In port with us the first day was MSC Divina, we were alone the second day. Map of the port area. Divina was docked where the ship is in that picture, with Constellation on the other side, so as you can see, it is not a long walk at all. Once you pass the first duty free store (where they said I could not take pictures) you are immediately greeted by flamingos and peacocks (which make a god awful noise) and parrots. You can see the second duty free shop in the background. This is where most of the good shopping takes place and nobody fusses at you for taking pictures.

I took motion pills as a precaution when I saw how much we were rocking when I got up. Glad I did as I had no issues with all the rocking around we were doing. It is certainly up there for the roughest seas I've sailed through, but what stood out to me was how heavy the rains were. I don't think I have ever experienced rains that heavy for that long at sea before. A Carnival ship that got caught in it had flooding that caused evacuations from staterooms. Another Carnival ship got struck by the lightning we sailed through and caught fire damaging the funnel. The same ship I sailed on to Barcelona last year for a new funnel from the last time it caught on fire. What an odd coincidence. It was a very neat experience but I suspect if we had had the troubles some ships did, or was motion sick, I would not have enjoyed it. I did see some small leaks inside the Ocean View Cafe, and noticed some leaks in the Solarium as well as a couple roof panels that got blown open. I am assuming they were not opened on purpose. My mom has a cold. Of course with no reason to test I can't say it is Covid or the standard case of cruise crud but she has been sick with flu like symptoms since just after returning. She is starting to feel better but still has body aches and the sniffles. She has also lost the ten pounds she gained, as well as two additional pounds. It's the chance we know we take when we cruise but of course it is still no fun getting sick. Hope you feel better soon.

I went on the next to last night at 1145 and there was not a single soul there again. I came back at midnight and they had shut down. Very quiet crowd this sailing for sure.

One more won't. It won't just be one more though 🤣 I did not ask but they were very accommodating so it is possible.