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

[FRMPEI]

I am looking forward to your review and pictures. I used to look at your screen name and call it frempay!! Then one day I looked more carefully and saw From PEI. Duh!

 

I always experience cruise withdrawal a bit and I totally feel sorry for you coming home to another snow storm after leaving that wonderful ship and the nice weather. I do hope your memories will warm you and maybe you booked another cruise on board!

 

The Silhouette is my favorite ship.

 

Hello to the West Coast from the East Coast,

 

 

You are not the first one to not figure out FRMPEI stands for From Prince Edward Island. Our good friends Mark and Beth Pace (Equinox 2014) though it was FRUMPY and Beth lovingly called me that for 10 days. While living in Ontario we wanted a personal license plate and at the time only 6 digits allowed and Donna came up with FRMPEI. We also bought FRMPEI2 for the second car.

 

We sure do need some comforting from this winter because guess what? 20-40 more cms tonight & into tomorrow. Hurrah!:eek:

 

Thanks for the comments please keep tuned in tons more to follow.

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Hi FRMPEI!!

 

Can't wait for your PVTR, as we're sailing on the Silhouette less than a month from now!! :D

 

Hi wencam

 

Thanks for you comments. Have I great time on Silhouette. Let this PVTR just wet your appetite for Silhouette.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Looking forward to your report also. Thisyear we will be taking our first Celebrity cruise!

 

Hello Mom-Rules,

 

So glad that you found this trip report hope it helps you on your first Celebrity cruise. If you don't want to wait for this Trip Report click my Equinox Photo Trip Report in my signature which should also give you good feel of what to expect. But please stay with me on this one.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Kevin,

Looking forward to your report. We were on the Equinox with you in March of 2014. In fact just this morning we commented that we were on that cruise for St. Patrick's Day last year. Hard to believe it has been a year. We cruised on the Reflection last fall and are scheduled on the Equinox in Spain for 2016 and the infamous New Orleans Mardi Gras Cruise in 2017 also on the Equinox. I look forward to seeing your pictures and videos.

Carl (cmalagngl)

 

Hello Again,

 

This St Pat's day last year we were all aboard Equinox in port at USVI. Actually this is the first St. Pat's day since 2010 that we have not been on a cruise ship. I am 6th generation Irish Canadian but St. Pat's day does not mean to much for me. We will be back on Equinox in March 2017 if all things go well.

 

Thanks for clicking the thread and adding your comment.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

We'll be doing the same itinerary on Silhouette on the 29th so I'm really looking forward to your report!

Thanks for taking the time!

 

Hi vplsh,

 

I am sure you will have a great time. Hope this Trip Report sheds a little help for you.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Hi Kevin!

 

Sorry to hear about all the snow...and more to come for you. Shocking the difference coast to coast. We have virtually no snow left. I don't even know if we have had a daytime high that was below zero all month.

 

Snow was in the forecast for Saturday - now it is back out. I'm not complaining though. It has been wonderful, but don't wish the snow on others.

 

You took one of the charters right? Canadian North partnered with Celebrity to go out of four eastern cities. Was hoping they would have chartered here too. A missed opportunity for them. The lovely Celebrity logo plane departed Edmonton many weeks ago...empty. Shame.

 

Looking forward to your review and your pictures. You should post a snow pic from home too.

 

:) Payd

 

Hi Payd,

 

Yes! We took the Canadian North Charter out of Moncton. I will soon add my comments on this. We were lucky enough to fly the logo'd plane back to Moncton and the flight crew was from Edmonton. (The ex-city of champions) So now you figured out I lived in Calgary for 12 years with that comment right?

 

You asked for it so you shall receive some snow filled picture we took yesterday and today.

 

This first picture is of the little snow bank in front of our garage.

 

 

Next picture of Donna standing in our driveway just before we made our attempt at driving to work in Charlottetown this morning. Of course our road was blocked / impassable and headed north for about a 25KM detour instead of 4 Kms.

 

 

Donna works at UPEI and they had delayed until 1:00PM and later cancelled for the day. Donna took this picture with her iPhone when she got back from town, Road had opened up for the return trip. (more like a tunnel than a road)

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

I am excited to read this trip report because we are bringing the Silhouette back from Rome in the fall. We have never sailed Celebrity so I try to read all that I can about this great ship and company.

 

Hello to my friends in Colorado,

 

Thanks for joining in on my trip report. If you guys live in Denver I am sure you can relate to snow dumps. Please come back to the trip report I will have lots to share.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Should have said

"I love looking at others photos, as long as they're NOT snow!"

 

Hi upwarduk,

 

Too late I already posted some snow pictures. Makes me appreciate my cruises even more. As you know I will have lots of "cruise" photos without any snow.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Looking forward to seeing your photos.

 

Hi Susie51,

 

Can't wait to share the photos and videos with you.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[nolman29]

Looking good so far, Dad!

[need2cruisesoon]

Looking forward to your review and photos of the Silhouette, we are booked on a British Cruise on her in mid July. Our first time aboard Celebrity.

That snow reminds me of my growing up days in upstate NY, dang it would be hard for me to go back my blood has so thinned.

Ron

[FRMPEI]

I am so happy to see the start of your review! My parents are leaving from Ottawa on the 29th of this month on the charter flight to the cruise on the Silhouette. I will be sharing your information with them, and looking forward to the rest of your review. Thanks for posting. We have not had the tons of snow in Ottawa this winter, enough of it for sure, but nothing like what you are all dealing with on the east coast. However it has been one heck of a COLD one here.:)

 

Hi SMSACE6,

 

The advantage your parents will have over us is pre-clearing US customs in Ottawa as opposed to Miami. A word of advice to your parents... travel very light in the carry-on department. Be sure they are not carrying / lugging heavy over the shoulder bags. Why? My sister "the big packer" had way to much carry-on and she wore herself out with the walking we had to do upon arrival in the Miami airport.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Looking forward to your review and photos of the Silhouette, we are booked on a British Cruise on her in mid July. Our first time aboard Celebrity.

That snow reminds me of my growing up days in upstate NY, dang it would be hard for me to go back my blood has so thinned.

Ron

 

Hi Need2cruisesoon,

 

Thanks for joining my trip report. Hopefully the snow/ winter will be over soon and our beautiful summers will be here on Prince Edward Island. Thanks for the comment.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[TeaBag]

Wow, you guys sure do have snow! I won't tell you what it is like in BC;)

[Mcobean]

Lol, Yes Kevin I am a serial lurker trying to come out of the shadows!

[FRMPEI]

So Who Are "We"?

 

 

Left to Right:

 

First: Donna Reid (my DW) ; Second: Kevin Reid (me - 54yrs); Third: Adam Reid ("SavvyAdam" CC user name - 27yrs); Fourth: Nolan Reid ("Nolman29" CC user name - 23yrs); Fifth: Louis Woods (bother-in-law); Sixth: Michele Woods (my sister). See how smart I was by not putting the women's age?

 

Picture taken last night (after Tuscan) of cruise at the entry to the ensemble lounge and Specialty restaurants. Now you will probably hear me saying "the boys" that means me, Adam, and Nolan during this Trip Report.

 

Introduction:

 

Donna and I both grew up on Prince Edward Island(PEI) and we were high school sweethearts. We moved away from PEI to Calgary, Alberta in the early 1980's. Both of our sons were born in Calgary. We moved our family to Newmarket, Ontario in 1996 were we lived until 2006. Living in Ontario is were we fell in love with roller coasters and theme parks. This is also were we learned to travel together. As a family we packed up the Lumina mini van and visited many theme parks in the North East and Mid-West US. 2006 PEI beckoned Donna and I home. Well! Not exactly I got terminated from my job and my severance package made it a very easy decision. In hindsight the best thing that ever happened to us was me getting terminated.

 

Donna and I got the cruise bug back in 2005 and didn't cruise again until 2010. But since 2010 we have cruise every year. Our boys cruise with us for the first time in 2011 (Carnival Valor cheaper when you are paying for four) and then in 2012 on Celebrity Solstice. It was during our 2014 Equinox cruise that Donna said, "wouldn't the boys love this trip?". The plan for 2015 was to do the 10 day Equinox again with the boys. But prices and the Celebrity Canadian Charter changed that decision.

 

I work as a Financial Controller in the Aerospace Industry in Charlottetown. Actually Canadian North is one of our customers. Donna works at UPEI while Nolan also works in Charlottetown. Adam never really lived in PEI because he attended Dalhousie University when we left Newmarket. Adam lives and works in Halifax, Nova Scotia. My sister Michele is on her victory lap. She is about to retire from the Federal Government this June. We can all say boo she worked for CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) which is like your IRS for our American readers. Louis is a retired farmer.

 

Our normal cruise travel partners, Norma Jean & Ken Williams, are not with us this year. Norma Jean being a teacher has to travel during March Break and they are currently aboard the Celebrity Reflection. Donna was Face Timing them today in Grand Cayman. The four of us plan to be back together in 2016 for the 14 day Celebrity Eclipse. Darn Ken will have one up on me next year in that he will have sailed all 5 "S" class ships before me.

 

Donna, Nolan, and I are huge Charlottetown Islanders Hockey (member of the QMJHL) fans. One of Nolan's major criterias for this cruise was not to miss any home games. Nolan runs his own fan website blog for the Islanders Hockey team and also live tweets the games @IslesLive . Hence why we choose this time frame. http://www.islanderscountry.ca

 

Next up how we choose the Celebrity Canadian Charter.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Payd]

Hi Payd,

 

Yes! We took the Canadian North Charter out of Moncton. I will soon add my comments on this. We were lucky enough to fly the logo'd plane back to Moncton and the flight crew was from Edmonton. (The ex-city of champions) So now you figured out I lived in Calgary for 12 years with that comment right?

 

You asked for it so you shall receive some snow filled picture we took yesterday and today.

 

This first picture is of the little snow bank in front of our garage.

 

 

Next picture of Donna standing in our driveway just before we made our attempt at driving to work in Charlottetown this morning. Of course our road was blocked / impassable and headed north for about a 25KM detour instead of 4 Kms.

 

 

Donna works at UPEI and they had delayed until 1:00PM and later cancelled for the day. Donna took this picture with her iPhone when she got back from town, Road had opened up for the return trip. (more like a tunnel than a road)

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Oh my ....

 

Kevin and Donna - awful snow photos, but a beautiful property you have.

 

I heard you are on track for another 40cm in the next day or two. Unreal. I am so grateful that for just one winter it wasn't so snowy or unbearably cold. It was 17 here on Saturday. We are going to Hawaii the beginning of April and it won't be to get away from winter this time. We usually book two or three trips away just to escape the grip of winter.

 

And yes - I can tell from the comment that you spent time in Calgary and not the lovely capital city. I grew up in Calgary, have worked all over Alberta and now call Edmonton home. The big debate here is changing our slogan because we aren't the city of Champions anymore. We share a seasons ticket pack here (hockey) and it is depressing that we pay good money to watch those games. But we did beat Toronto this week.

 

Our new slogan might be "We don't do bridges well". Two major fiasco's here on bridge repair, one that this week has closed a major road into downtown for at least the next three weeks (and changing it from a 16 month project to indefinite).

 

If you ever come west, please look us up. Would love to meet you and Donna in person.

 

Looking forward to the review and the many photos that you will share. Your last review was phenomenal!

 

Best to you both!!!!

 

Payd

[BethersD]

 

This first picture is of the little snow bank in front of our garage.

 

 

Next picture of Donna standing in our driveway just before we made our attempt at driving to work in Charlottetown this morning. Of course our road was blocked / impassable and headed north for about a 25KM detour instead of 4 Kms.

 

 

Donna works at UPEI and they had delayed until 1:00PM and later cancelled for the day. Donna took this picture with her iPhone when she got back from town, Road had opened up for the return trip. (more like a tunnel than a road)

 

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Really enjoyed your Equinox review. We sail on her in a month and it was helpful in creating a 'follow along' travel journal for my 6 year old who is staying home. Am looking forward to this review.

 

Spent a glorious week on your island (now my favourite province, sorry Ontario & the others) with my husband & boys last July and although I have seen the pictures, I can't imagine all of that snow.

[PhotoPete]

Whats all that white stuff? I gotta cut the lawn for the first time this year later today. Sister-in-law sailed Silhouette on a TA last year and said the ship is beautiful. Looking forward to your review.

[kayehall]

Looking forward to your review and photos of the Silhouette, we are booked on a British Cruise on her in mid July. Our first time aboard Celebrity.

That snow reminds me of my growing up days in upstate NY, dang it would be hard for me to go back my blood has so thinned.

Ron

 

Where in upstate NY?

[Susie51]

I'm enjoying your photos. The snow bank in front of your garage looks like my sister's this winter. She lives in Iowa.

 

PEI is charming. I was there in 2004 on a cruise with my mom.

[poffles]

Can't wait to hear about the trip. Anything as a diversion from looking out the window into another snow storm. This has been an unbearable winter. I especially can't wait to hear how the charter side of things went. Leaving on ours in just over two weeks and have heard from others and it seems that some have had some challenges with arriving on time and then dealing with chaos from the airport to the ship. Hoping they've been getting things all worked out to make the following trips a bit more seamless.

 

Now hurry and get to the pictures with sun!!!! :D

Edited March 18, 2015 by poffles

[FRMPEI]

Really enjoyed your Equinox review. We sail on her in a month and it was helpful in creating a 'follow along' travel journal for my 6 year old who is staying home. Am looking forward to this review.

 

Spent a glorious week on your island (now my favourite province, sorry Ontario & the others) with my husband & boys last July and although I have seen the pictures, I can't imagine all of that snow.

 

Hi BethersD,

 

Thanks for comments on my Equinox TR. You were here this summer for our 150th anniv. celebration. It was a great summer for the tourists this year. We love having you here.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Whats all that white stuff? I gotta cut the lawn for the first time this year later today. Sister-in-law sailed Silhouette on a TA last year and said the ship is beautiful. Looking forward to your review.

 

Sure Pete rub it in. I don't think I will even see my grass until the middle of April.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[FRMPEI]

Can't wait to hear about the trip. Anything as a diversion from looking out the window into another snow storm. This has been an unbearable winter. I especially can't wait to hear how the charter side of things went. Leaving on ours in just over two weeks and have heard from others and it seems that some have had some challenges with arriving on time and then dealing with chaos from the airport to the ship. Hoping they've been getting things all worked out to make the following trips a bit more seamless.

 

Now hurry and get to the pictures with sun!!!! :D

 

Fellow Maritimer welcome back to my Trip Reports. I will getting to the challenges we face faced with flight from YQM Moncton.

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid