!!! SILHOUETTE !!! Western Caribbean- The Ultimate Review & Complete Pictorial Guide!

[FRMPEI]

Once I got back I sat down and my coffee was waiting for there, those white chocolate mochas are fantastic!

 

 

 

Found myself and DW in this Picture. Look above Gambee's knee (Gambe is on Deck 6) on Deck 5. That is also us waiting for Tender Ticket #2 to be called. That is me in the blue white stripped sweater. The zippered sweater was suppose to be for the plane ride not for use in the Caribbean.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[gambee]

I have to say, I am not much a fan of fisheye lenses, but this shot is AWESOME!! I agree with you!! I also LOVED your fisheye video tour! Do you have any more of those! Totally awesome!!

 

Glad you love it, that shot payed for my lens :D

 

Oh no, I dont have any more... :( I am so sad about that, I did however learned from that and now I plan to do all my video tours with it.

 

 

Found myself and DW in this Picture. Look above Gambee's knee (Gambe is on Deck 6) on Deck 5. That is also us waiting for Tender Ticket #2 to be called. That is me in the blue white stripped sweater. The zippered sweater was suppose to be for the plane ride not for use in the Caribbean.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

It is crazy how close you're to everyone in this ships, I wish I had met you earlier.

[gambee]

Ok with the permission/request from Cruising Arizona I have uploaded her New York, New York video and posted it.

 

 

I am really embarraced about this video, I was beyond drunk by then and well my following along does not help along. I have a voice that only a mom can love :p

 

 

This video is back from day one, I am sure all you know by now how many drinks I had that day...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2013 by gambee

[Cruise Arizona]

I apologize mom just made me realize that you do want to see the video. Let me get started at uploading it.

 

The problem with the video is that I sing the entire time and make a fool of myself, so ummmmmm yeah. lol.

 

 

But I will post it anyway :D

 

 

Let me get at it :)

 

I know I ran into you many times, I just didn't know it was you. We were right down the hall from you in 8252 and 8254 connecting. I remember some of your shorts and swim trunks that show up in some of your fisheye pics. LOL.

 

I really have been enjoying your reveiw, and I'm actually writing some stuff up for my personal blog, and if I can't remember some thing I'm using your review to jog my memory. :D

[Xcitdcruiser]

Hi Gambee,

Loving the review. With the turtles, have you ever considered a cruise with a stop in Barbados - you can actually swim with turtles in the open ocean there. It looks to be one of the highlights in our upcoming cruise!

[Cruise Arizona]

Thanks Gambee. I just watched the video. I actually needed some of the help from the audience on that one. The karaoke system that they have doesn't really have pitch control, just up one or down one, and I don't think they lowered it at all. I usually do that song down a third from the Chairman of the Board, but gave it the old "what the heck" try.

[Xcitdcruiser]

GREAT review.

We sailed on the Sihloette last month, and had one problem. My wife is lactose, gluten, and egg free, so she is extremely careful of what she eats.

 

The MDR menus have symbols for vegetarian, lactose free, etc. The second night she selected on of the offered entrees noted as being lactose free....HOWEVER, upon reading the description a little more carefully, she noted that the meat was accompanied with BUTTERED beans...not butter beans, but green beans covered with butter...

Absolutely NOT lactose free.

 

So be careful and read the menu and ask the waiter or headwaiter if you suffer from any food allergies

 

Otherwise, the cruise was enjoyable

 

23 cruises and counting

 

Thanks for the heads up - I'm also unable to have gluten, lactose & egg. It makes travelling interesting to say the least. May I ask which dining venues were most accomodating for lunch & dinner?

[dreamer976]

WOW the Turtle Farm sure has changed since DH and I were there almost 20 years ago! Hell hasn't changed at all! :D

 

I love Grand Cayman! We've been there twice - once on a cruise and once land based. It's expensive, but you can still find some real deals.

 

Hope you don't mind if I hijack your thread for a moment, Gambee, but in response to olemissreb, the Turtle Farm that you see today is indeed not the same one you went to almost 20 years ago. On my first cruise to Grand Caymen, I wanted to do the turtle farm very much, but another excursion won out. Booked an excursion to do it again in 2006, but we missed that port (not the weather - long story), so we booked it immediately on the next W.Carrib. cruise in 2011 and I was shocked to find that these turtles are indeed raised for food (Caymanians LOVE turtle). I had originally been told that the Turtle Farm was a safe haven, of sorts, for Sea Turtles and turtles were brought here that were injured where they would be rehabilitated, if you will, and released back to the sea, as well as little hatchlings that would be raised there until they had a better chance of survival.

 

I came to find out that the original Turtle Farm that I had been trying to see since 2004 had been totally destroyed in a hurricane and they simply didn't have the funds to rebuild it. I wish that this had been explained to me before I booked the excursion to go to the existing Turtle Farm; however, we still enjoyed it somewhat - I, too, got to hold a turtle, which was pretty cool.

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Absolutely stunning pictures!! I had talked myself out of the fisheye lens but now I have to get it... Thanks so much for the great review!

[beachbuddy]

Gambee,

 

That fisheye picture of the aft of the ship and the horizon is awsome!!! It's my favorite too!!! Sorry you didn't have good weather in Grand Cayman. I love GC - the water is such a beautiful clear color and you would have loved Stingray City. Glad you posted a photo of HELL because I never knew what it was...........I see no reason to ever visit HELL now! LOL We were on the Silly when she first came to the states and sailed her 12 nights out of NJ. It's interesting because some of your observations are the same ones that I had. Really enjoying your review as it's bringing back lots of memories from our cruise.

 

Patty

[cruzccl]

Gambee,

 

The review continues to rock! I am sorry that the weather was a bummer, hope it got better as you sailed.

 

If not a FB page, maybe a blog? You are very talented and have a passion for photo's and capturing the moments. Either way, thanks again for letting us travel along.

 

Bill

[gambee's_mom]

I know I ran into you many times, I just didn't know it was you. We were right down the hall from you in 8252 and 8254 connecting. I remember some of your shorts and swim trunks that show up in some of your fisheye pics. LOL.

 

I really have been enjoying your reveiw, and I'm actually writing some stuff up for my personal blog, and if I can't remember some thing I'm using your review to jog my memory. :D

 

I was waiting to hear you singing the next day. :(

[aquaseeker]

Gambee I loved all the shots of the turtle farm. It is so much bigger than when we saw it. I don' t think there was even a restaurant in 1989, & 1990. You are right they do raise the turtles for food. Many of the restaurants on the island serve turtle stew, etc. Very sad to see it on a menu after going to visit the turtles.

I saw thrilled to finally see photos of the lawn grill, & the menu also. The lawn grill is where we want to be for our first formal night. I could not get the video for the lawn grill to work? Operator error perhaps?

The fish eye shots from the back of the ship were very, very cool. I also liked the video of the tender ride. This is a terrific review. Thank you for all the extra detail.

[sredish]

Gambee...I've decided. You and me have to be bff's. I won't take no for an answer. You cruise, you drink, you've got obvious style, and you make references to Stewie...you're everything I've ever wanted.

 

I'm sitting here with my mouth open and quite frankly nearly peeing my pants with glee over this review. I even squeee'd a few times out loud like a teenaged girl.

 

Your future bff...Stacey

Edited April 10, 2013 by sredish

[RoonilWazlib]

So where is this bathroom that you can potentially get locked in? I want to avoid it at all costs! I didn't know the bathrooms had electric doors!

[Tommy3putts]

Bravo! Agree with all the praise above. Not a fisheye fan but 80% of yours were outstanding, especially the video. Great stuff.

[swim13]

Gambee, Gambee, Gambee. Day 4 took me 2 HOURS!! :eek: I think I looked at each picture at least for 2 minutes! That's too bad you had bad weather, Grand Cayman is one of my families favorite ports!

 

LOVE the fisheye lens & love that money shot of the Disney Wonder sailing away!

 

There was a picture you had of the water coming against the ship while sailing into the bay and it made me want to break out paint and start replicating it onto a canvas!

 

Thanks again for your continued dedication to this amazing review! You will definitely be a huge inspiration for my first review on here after my Allure cruise! Oh and P.S. you are very creative with pictures that have large mirrors in it, I feel like you are a secret agent and we all try to look at every spot in the picture to see if we see you! Maybe we will get lucky sometime in this review! BTW do you have an Instagram?

 

Thanks again Gambee, looking forward to Day 5!

Edited April 10, 2013 by swim13

[Love-to-ride]

Another thumbs up for your fisheye lens. :) Love that picture too...

[MyDogRudy]

OK...so up until this point I had been following the review on my phone. Just finally had a chance to check in tonight on the computer and wow!! these photos really are amazing. I have liked the fish eye photos from Day 4 from around the ship because it gives a much better idea of how it is laid out. And of course the shot of the other ship in the distance looking like it was circling the outside of the globe was cool as heck.

 

As for turtle farms - there is an excellent Turtle Hospital in Marathon, FL (the middle island in the Florida Keys). It is an actual turtle rescue operation which saves injured turtles from the wild and releases them. They show the entire premises and do a lot of education about the various diseases turtles get and how they get damaged in the ocean. It really is amazing and I highly recommend anyone interested visit. I don't even remember if there was a fee or not, I am guessing maybe something minimal, but it went to rehabbing turtles. They had a cute gift shop too, in fact I am wearing the shirt I bought from there right now!

 

Thanks again Gambee...great review. I feel like I am on the cruise right now getting in the groove of the routine but worrying that my 'cruise' is more than halfway over already!

[Cruise Arizona]

I was waiting to hear you singing the next day. :(

 

The Karaoke was at some odd times and usually during dinner or a show we had missed in the previous week. I know I did go during the last night when it was in the Quasar, but can't remember if I went other nights that week.

[bencruzN]

Gambee, my dear friend, I should be doing my homework love. I have a 1400 word paper to write and that's what I should be focused on, but nooooooo, I am fully engaged in your wonderful review.

 

I've never sailed on Celebrity but will be going to Europe next year on the Equinox. You've gotta come, please say you'll come. :D

 

Your pictures are amazing, and I found myself ROTFL at some of your comment (I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you);)

 

OK, I could have been finished by now. So there's tomorrow. Yes tomorrow I will finish my paper! We'll see.

 

Thanks again for your amazing review.

[afto]

Love everything about this review. Thanks for all your hard work in putting this up for all to see. The fisheye shots are great. The video does make me a little woozy but it's useful to look at; gives a better idea of where you are and where you are going than the regular lens would do. I am actually amazed at how steady you were able to the hold the camera as you were walking - and how you managed to keep your toes out of the frame! Thanks Gambee; looking forward to more.

[midwestchick]

Gaaaaaaaa....I'm not getting my E-mail notifications from cc that new posts have been posted....:eek: :eek: :( What's up with that?

[dmwnc1959]

Those fish eye pictures are simply stunning, especially the interior images. :D

[loyalroyal17]

gambee is on FB? I would love to friend him.

I would love to friend him too on FB, but we don't even know his name, lol! Tough to find, and I'm sure he wants to be incognito there, being famous on Cruise Critic is probably enough.