Trip Report: 12-night Holiday Cruise in the Caribbean on the SILHOUETTE (2018)

[chamima]

1 hour ago, SleepingUgly said:

It had been an insanely long day for all of us. When I was booking the excursion, I was like, “Oh, I don’t want to do just a four-hour, half-day tour.  We can take on more than that!  Let’s do a seven-hour, full-day tour.”  While it was fun, it was also exhausting and dh asked that we not plan any more full-day excursions in the future.  I had to agree with him.  (Of course, the damn fool could also do his own research and book his own stupid tours, but do I really want to get into that now?)

 

Linda

I laughed out loud when I read this.

I also do all the planning and I know that "You could try and do it once in  a while" feeling!

(I read this to my husband and even he laughed!)

[Blighty770]

Linda, what a terrific post about your cruise. Your storytelling is wonderfully engaging, candid and so full of humour. It's like hearing a kindred spirit. 🙂 We're on Silhouette in February...2020(!!!)...so I'm totally living vicariously through your review. Thanks for the terrific photos and sharing your experiences and your family. Great to see such loving camaraderie between your daughters. Reading the review I feel like I'm there - especially when I see those martinis.... *sighs*

Tish

 

 

[Sheal]

I have to agree with your daughter, my first thought was Billy Bones?  Sounds sketchy!  But as we have seen you do through research and it sounds like a great day.  We usually just take the that the roller coaster journey to Mullet by taxi then hoof it over to Maho to watch the planes. 

 

Place looked like a ghost town by the time you ventured back out and the trip to the casino.  It reminded me of my little excursion I planned during our overnight stay in San Juan just six weeks after the hurricane last year.  My sister kept saying "are you sure this is safe"?  Sure was and she sure enjoyed the pitchers of sangria  we were consuming just minutes later.

 

Looking forward to your next adventure!

 

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, chamima said:

 

Linda

I laughed out loud when I read this.

I also do all the planning and I know that "You could try and do it once in  a while" feeling!

(I read this to my husband and even he laughed!)

 

Karen - Whenever I tell my husband to plan things himself, it's usually when I'm upset so he'll look at me with stupid, googly eyes and an equally stupid, sappy grin as an apology.  Besides, he knows I love to plan so he gets away with it.  Rats.

Edited January 15, 2019 by SleepingUgly

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, Blighty770 said:

Linda, what a terrific post about your cruise. Your storytelling is wonderfully engaging, candid and so full of humour. It's like hearing a kindred spirit. 🙂 We're on Silhouette in February...2020(!!!)...so I'm totally living vicariously through your review. Thanks for the terrific photos and sharing your experiences and your family. Great to see such loving camaraderie between your daughters. Reading the review I feel like I'm there - especially when I see those martinis.... *sighs*

Tish

 

 

 

Hi Tish - Thanks for reading, and many thanks for the lovely, kind words!  You will love the Silhouette, and it has been fun for me to relive our cruise again by sharing it here.  Hopefully, you and others may find some helpful info as well for your upcoming trips.  And appreciate the comments on our daughters.  Next time they are at each others' throats and snapping at each other for daring to breathe within five feet of the others, I'll take a picture so you know what non-vacation life is like for us. 🙂

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

2 hours ago, Sheal said:

I have to agree with your daughter, my first thought was Billy Bones?  Sounds sketchy!  But as we have seen you do through research and it sounds like a great day.  We usually just take the that the roller coaster journey to Mullet by taxi then hoof it over to Maho to watch the planes. 

 

Place looked like a ghost town by the time you ventured back out and the trip to the casino.  It reminded me of my little excursion I planned during our overnight stay in San Juan just six weeks after the hurricane last year.  My sister kept saying "are you sure this is safe"?  Sure was and she sure enjoyed the pitchers of sangria  we were consuming just minutes later.

 

Looking forward to your next adventure!

 

 

Yes, Front Street and the pier were all dead by 8 pm - I could not believe it!  There's proof that I obviously didn't plan that out very well, but it was still a fun adventure, all the same.  I was hoping there would be something to do after-hours, which is why the ship would choose to stay in port so late, but no.  Maybe it's just another gimmick to sell those sunset-sail excursions.  Lord knows they tried to sell enough stuff to us on the cruise!

 

Linda

 

[ipeeinthepool]

5 minutes ago, SleepingUgly said:

 

Yes, Front Street and the pier were all dead by 8 pm - I could not believe it!  There's proof that I obviously didn't plan that out very well, but it was still a fun adventure, all the same.  I was hoping there would be something to do after-hours, which is why the ship would choose to stay in port so late, but no.  Maybe it's just another gimmick to sell those sunset-sail excursions.  Lord knows they tried to sell enough stuff to us on the cruise!

 

Linda

 

 We've been to St Maarten several times before and after the hurricanes and I'll defend your decision to go to Front Street at night.  St Maarten is still struggling to recover from the hurricanes and I think all of the hotels were destroyed.   Until the hotels are re-built, the city won't have any nightlife.  All the tourists leave with the ships.  This is difficult to understand this unless you've been there.

[Marvy Mare]

On 1/7/2019 at 1:53 PM, SleepingUgly said:

One Month Before the Cruise ... I am a planner by nature.  I think it's part of my DNA, how I plan things from my outfits for work each day to what genre of books I will read in which order on my Kindle to which playlist I should listen to on the way to / from work ("It's not your turn, Best of the '80s!  I listened to you twice last week already!").  It's not something I'm usually proud of, but for vacations, I not only go a bit nuts with the planning at times but I also enjoy it immensely, mostly because I feel as if I have already started my vacation when the planning begins.

 

For this cruise, the planning began almost immediately, with my reading up extensively on each port of call and what activity options there were for each island, and also our pre- and post-cruise stays in FLL and MIA.  The original itinerary looked like this:

 

• Thursday, December 20 - Fly from IAD to FLL
• Friday, December 21 - Celebrity Silhouette departs Fort Lauderdale @ 4 pm
• Saturday, December 22 - At Sea
• Sunday, December 23 - At Sea
• Monday, December 24 - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (7 am - 5 pm)
• Tuesday, December 25 - Frederiksted, St. Croix, USVI (8 am - 6 pm)
• Wednesday, December 26 - Philipsburg, St. Maarten (8 am - 11 pm)
• Thursday, December 27 - Roseau, Dominica (11 am - 7 pm)
• Friday, December 28 - St. George's, Grenada (8 am - 6 pm)
• Saturday, December 29 - Castries, St. Lucia (8 am - 6 pm)
• Sunday, December 30 - Basseterre, St. Kitts (8 am - 4 pm)
• Monday, December 31 - At Sea
• Tuesday, January 1 - At Sea
• Wednesday, January 2 - Return to Fort Lauderdale @ 7 am; take Uber to Miami
• Thursday, January 3 - Fly home from MIA to DCA

In the end, after much research, I decided on a mix of relaxing beach days and active excursions for our seven days in port.  However, if there is one thing I learned from traveling with my family of slackers these past years is that they do not live and die by the planner like I tend to do.  I especially found this out last summer during our San Francisco trip, when in the Uber on the way from SFO to our hotel, I realized I had forgotten my Clipboard of Fun (or, as my kids like to call it, the Clipboard of Doom), that included a day-by-day breakdown of how we would spend our time, as well as the many tickets I had bought ahead of time for multiple attractions.  I was upset, of course, and my family was upset right along with me, but they also were secretly doing fist pumps as we now had absolutely NO PLANS in place for any of our days (with the exception of Alcatraz because I did remember those tickets, thank goodness).  That was the first vacation where I woke each day, not knowing what we'd do, but we simply decided based on our whims / likes that day.  It turned out to be one of our most memorable vacations ever, so I figured a combination of research and planning so we know what to expect and what our options are, but also not booking everything in advance, may give us the right balance on this cruise.

 

Still, the planner in me would not go away, so I created this fun, colorful calendar that I hung up on a wall in each of our cabins with magnets.  This was not only for everyone else's benefit - so they would not lose track of days and know where we would be at each day - but also for my benefit, so I wouldn't drink myself into a stupor from having to answer that question, "Where will we be at tomorrow?" at least a dozen times a day.  This little calendar proved to be very useful in the end as there is also a second page where I list out the activities each day in greater detail.

 

  

 And, because I was bored at work one day, I created this Excel spreadsheet, mainly just to keep myself happy and awake ...

 

Of course, we didn't follow it closely at all, with the exception of planned excursions, but this kept me engaged and entertained for at least a few weeks at work (seeing a pattern here?  I love my job, I really do, and I am NOT in any way, shape or form writing this trip report while I'm at my desk ... at work ... in my office ... with the door closed).

 

I also, thanks to deladane, started a candy countdown for all five of us. Being the cheap, procrastinator mom that I am, I waited until after final payment was made and then decided to implement it.  This is basically a countdown of the days until our cruise, using candy.  Each day, we eat one piece of candy, counting down the days as we get closer and closer to our cruise.  I sent the middle daughter out on a Saturday to get the goods.  She had just gotten her driver’s license earlier in the month so was still at the stage of wanting to drive ALL THE TIME. Believe me, my husband and I milked it for all it was worth, making her run all sorts of mindless errands for us.  So off she went, with her little sister, and they came back with enough candy to feed the entire ship.  (Note to self: Must give teenager more detailed instructions on what and how much to buy when tasked with an errand that involves purchasing candy.)  Anyway, we all got our favorites – hubby got M&Ms, I got Reece’s Pieces, the 16-year-old got herself some candy corn, and the little one chose Skittles.  The oldest daughter, because she was at college so she had no say in what she got, received a variety from all four bags.  And the little one happily ate her oldest sister’s piece for her each and every day ... until she had only one month to go, when she stopped eating any of her candy because she was saving it all up for the last day when she could throw the biggest handful of sweets into her mouth at the same time because isn't that like every eight-year-old's dream come true.  (Second note to self: Call up therapist next time you decide to do anything official with candy with my deranged family.)  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the candy jars with me at work right now - ahem! I mean, at HOME right now - so I will try to post them later.

 

Linda

 

 

     

 

[Marvy Mare]

Linda

 

I’m loving you’re review. I am amazed at the detail. Where do you find the time?  You must have taken extensive notes. What a wonderful experience for your family. We were in St Maarten last April on the Reflection. We were overnight in port. We only ventured down the pier after dark and everything was closed. I thought that it was because it was Easter.  I guess it’s just quiet there at night. 

 

Maris

[rosewood jo]

Are these the shows on silhouette right now ?   I’ll be going feb 22.   Guessing they will be the same?

 

COSMOPOLITAN

 

https://youtu.be/lMw8YGNnzkg   PEARL 

 

https://youtu.be/uindXdWkHkw     PEARL

 

https://youtu.be/J6j-fn5PUUc    UPTOWN ( HIGH ENERGY)   PRINCE SONGS 

 

https://youtu.be/BhrZk15V8Ss    STORY OF MY LIFE

 

https://youtu.be/_shqEBFoyMA  ROPE/ SILK SCARF  DANCING 

 

also hoping queen & silent disco.      Any dance parties in atrium?

 

thks 

[SleepingUgly]

14 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 We've been to St Maarten several times before and after the hurricanes and I'll defend your decision to go to Front Street at night.  St Maarten is still struggling to recover from the hurricanes and I think all of the hotels were destroyed.   Until the hotels are re-built, the city won't have any nightlife.  All the tourists leave with the ships.  This is difficult to understand this unless you've been there.

 

Agree, but I thought some of the shops in the pier area would stay open a bit later than 8 pm, at the very least, since there were three ships still docked.  Perhaps because it was also the day after Christmas?  We don't regret going to Front Street to check things out, and hopefully, the island is back to 100% very, very soon.  Next time we are there, I hope to spend more time on land!

 

Linda

 

[cruzfiend]

Your review is great. We will be on this itinerary in February on the Silhouette, thank you.

 

[SleepingUgly]

7 hours ago, Marvy Mare said:

Linda

 

I’m loving you’re review. I am amazed at the detail. Where do you find the time?  You must have taken extensive notes. What a wonderful experience for your family. We were in St Maarten last April on the Reflection. We were overnight in port. We only ventured down the pier after dark and everything was closed. I thought that it was because it was Easter.  I guess it’s just quiet there at night. 

 

Maris

 

Thanks, Maris!  It helps to go through the many pictures we took because that helps to jog my memory, but I did take notes almost every night on my laptop so I would not forget the little details.  Appreciate your reading and, hopefully, the next time when we return to St. Maarten, the island will have completely recovered.  The last time I was there was in 1996, on the Monarch of the Seas for my first ever cruise with my parents so I don't remember much about it, but I do recall how lively and fun it was on the Dutch side, and how refined it was on the French side.  I'm sure the island will be just as awesome as it always was very soon, if not more!    

 

Linda

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by SleepingUgly

[SleepingUgly]

1 hour ago, rosewood jo said:

Are these the shows on silhouette right now ?   I’ll be going feb 22.   Guessing they will be the same?

 

COSMOPOLITAN

 

https://youtu.be/lMw8YGNnzkg   PEARL 

 

https://youtu.be/uindXdWkHkw     PEARL

 

https://youtu.be/J6j-fn5PUUc    UPTOWN ( HIGH ENERGY)   PRINCE SONGS 

 

https://youtu.be/BhrZk15V8Ss    STORY OF MY LIFE

 

https://youtu.be/_shqEBFoyMA  ROPE/ SILK SCARF  DANCING 

 

also hoping queen & silent disco.      Any dance parties in atrium?

 

thks 

 

Oops, sorry, I totally forgot about the Celebrity Todays for you!  I will try to do this tonight from home or tomorrow at work (shhh ... don't tell anyone).  I don't remember any Queen nights, and there were probably around four silent discos planned?  Once in the entertainment court (right outside the theater), once in the grand foyer (that we attended and really enjoyed), once by the pool (my middle daughter went with a bunch of other teens and said the turnout was very good) and once in the Sky Lounge (last night, turnout and music were lame, lame, lame).  There is always a band playing in the grand foyer in the evening and night hours so there is always people dancing there.  They do karaoke in Qasar too some nights.  The Sky Lounge always has a band playing there after 10 pm. 

 

As for the shows, the production shows were Life, Pearl and Cosmopolitan.  We saw only Life and Cosmopolitan; the former was pretty bad and the last was OK.  We did not see Pearl.  We did see Uptown, which a group of three young men singing Motown hits.  They were quite entertaining.  Again, acts may change from cruise to cruise, depending on the entertainers' schedules and when they are scheduled to be on each ship.  You may want to email Celebrity to see if they'll share that information with you before your trip?

 

I'll check the Todays again but hope this helps in the meantime.

 

Linda

    

[SleepingUgly]

9 minutes ago, cruzfiend said:

Your review is great. We will be on this itinerary in February on the Silhouette, thank you.

 

 

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic trip!

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 6 – Dominica

 

Well, today marks the approximate halfway point of our cruise.  We’ve already spent six nights on the ship.  Six more nights to go, four more islands, two more planned excursions, one more evening chic night and a partridge in a pear tree.  Oh, and infinitely more Martinis and mango daiquiris.  Can’t forget those.

 

We were not scheduled to dock in Dominica until around 11 am today, to which I say, PRAISE WHATEVER GOD YOU BELIEVE IN!!  Yesterday had been long and exhausting, and we could do with sleeping in a bit this morning.  Which meant that dh and I slept in until the gloriously, wonderfully, fantastically late hour of … drum roll, please … 8 am!!  Well, it’s got to be 1 pm somewhere, right, so I guess we slept in based on Prague time.

 

We got up and went to the Oceanview Café for breakfast.  There was no waking the kids this morning, after the long day we all had yesterday.  If I had dared to try to wake them, I would be typing this trip report with a few missing fingers, I’m sure. 

 

The buffet was not busy at all this morning.  I’m not sure where everyone was late last night because they certainly weren’t living it up at the Jump Up casino with us wild and crazy kids, so maybe they were just all at a party to which only the cool people were invited.  That’s OK, we’ll take the empty and quiet and ALL-THE-BACON-I-WANT breakfast buffet any day.

 

We sat outside in the back of the Café to eat our breakfast.  It was shaping up to be another awesome day with great weather.  We really have been lucky with the weather on this cruise, with sunshine and warm temperatures and pretty much no rain each day.  That is, until we met up with St. Lucia later on in the cruise …

 

He does not need more salt in his diet, but what do I know ...

 

If you look at the middle of this picture closely, you will see a section between two of the balconies (three levels down) where the glass divider has been removed.  This was our extended balcony, and we could move back-and-forth very easily.  It helped to make the balcony seem less enclosed and much more expansive, and probably is what lured us to spend quite a bit of time out there as well.

 

The captain must really be booking it today because my phone seems to think I'm driving.  This would not be the first - or only - time that this message popped up on my phone.  The first few times, I thought it was hilarious.  After that, it was just annoying.

 

After breakfast in the warm Caribbean sun – it was 80 degrees at 8.30 in the morning!  In December! – dh and I went exploring around the ship a bit … and ended up in the future cruise office.  How we got there, I have no clue.  No, actually, I do.  I had been thinking of booking another cruise while onboard, and the previous night, I had noticed one particular sailing that was of particular interest to me.  So I thought I’d stop by to ask someone about it.

 

On the way there, I took some pictures of a seemingly deserted ship.

 

 

[SleepingUgly]

Day 6 – Dominica (cont.)

 

At 9 in the morning, there was no one else interested in booking a future cruise, so we were able to sit down and speak with someone right away.  The cruise I was interested in was the 12-night holiday sailing on the Reflection in 2020, visiting the western Caribbean, Colombia and Central America.  I thought that was an interesting itinerary, and the dates worked out for us – departing much closer to Christmas on December 23 and returning on January 4.  That would be the first year we’d have both of the older girls in college (one would be a senior and the other would be a freshman), and I was pretty sure they’d both be done with finals and home by December 22, which is when we would fly down to Ft. Lauderdale, one day prior to the start of the cruise.  And it was a 12-night cruise again.  We were loving this longer cruise as we felt that, after having been on the ship already for six nights, if we had to pack up and leave after just one more night, that would be way too short of a sailing for us.

 

I asked what the perks were for booking onboard.  Since we wanted connecting concierge aft cabins again, we would get $200 in OBC per cabin for booking while on the ship, and also be able to put down just $100 deposit per person, which would be completely refundable until September 24, 2020.  The rate for the third or fourth guest in a cabin was also discounted a bit further.  The agent looked up to see what cabins were available and – what luck – the two connecting aft cabins smack dab in the middle of Deck 10 were available.  One of them has the widest balcony among all aft cabins (besides the Sky Suites, of course), so that will be great.  On the Silhouette, we had one balcony that was regulation-sized, while the other was slightly bigger.  By opening up the divider in between these two cabins made our entire balcony much more expansive and we had so much more room to move around.  With one of the balconies being even bigger on the Reflection, that meant our overall balcony space on that sailing will be even more than what we have on the Silhouette!  Sign us up!

 

We were also able to pick two perks for each cabin.  We selected the $300 OBC and classic drink package for each cabin.  The reservation was supposed to have been transferred automatically to my travel agent, but I still had to contact my TA when I got home.  I emailed her about it, and she sent me a new invoice a couple of days later, pretty much doubling the OBC and also paying gratuities for all five of us.  It really does pay to book onboard and then transfer to a TA, in my opinion.

 

So, as of today, here is my countdown for our next Celebrity cruise.  I didn’t know numbers could get that high.

[jagoffee]

Linda, thank you for the excellent job with your detailed trip report.  Since we will be departing on the 1/20/19 version of this 12 day Silhouette Cruise, it is very interesting and entertaining.

 

Congratulations on your new booking.  The reduced deposit and extra OBC is very nice.  The only thing that bothers me is that the marketing materials imply that the two perks are for booking on board.  As you probably know the same two perks at the exact same price are available if you book from home. Celebrity has been running a special promotion where you can get three perks for the price of two.  You shoukd check, but that might be the source of the free Gratuities that the TA mentioned.

 

I believe the reasons that some cruises occasionally stay late in St. Maarten are related the the Sunset Sailing option. (We booked one some years ago independently).  It was very nice.

Also it gives some cruisers the opportunity to dine ashore especially on the French side.  I believe the Hurricane has negatively impacted those opportunities and the overall night activity.  I think it is a different atmosphere with the limited tourism at this time.

I like the trend to have one late night in port or even an overnight.  I know the crew loves it as it gives them some extra time ashore. (This might be the number one reason)

 

Great job and thank you.

Edited January 16, 2019 by jagoffee

[RealBatman]

What an adventure this review has been!

 

The opening scene sets the excitement with a car crash, followed with twists and turns as the story line evolves. (The title however, tipped us off with the final direction 😉). As the plot develops, we have mega yachts, low flying aircraft, ridiculously large mansions owned by wealthy, powerful men (who are undoubtedly compensating for less-than-impressive-appendages), sandy beaches and beautiful babes dressed in only bathing suits and bikinis frolicking in the water. As the adventure continues we are dropped into fancy casinos and dark, desolate streets leading to some of them where a sudden turn results in our heroines and hero having to commandeer a local citizen to escape back to the safety of the ship. 

 

This has been a chapter turning, exciting and stimulating ride to be certain! My DW and I have literally sat on the couch with popcorn in hand reading and cheering! We can hardly wait for the upcoming chapters, as we know that a BlockBuster movie always has a sultry, suggestive love scene followed by a high speed chase involving a helicopter - will it be on the high seas, or through the streets of one of the next ports of call? Only time will tell!

 

I am already surmising that the lead will be played by non other than Tia Carrere, but who shall be cast as her DH? Will it be the dashing Jeff Goldblum, or perhaps the solid, non-assuming Dwayne Johnson? 🙂 

 

Best review ever! We are preparing to head to the city to catch a flight to FLL in preparation for our sailing on Silhouette - our appetites now wet for our adventure! And having read todays chapter... we are already looking forward to your sequel when the adventure will find 'our' family in far away places like Cartagena, Columbia and Colon, Panama (a cruise we did recently on Reflection). Keep up the good work! We will pick it up when we return!

 

Bob

[chamima]

2 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

 

Congratulations on your new booking.  The reduced deposit and extra OBC is very nice.  The only thing that bothers me is that the marketing materials imply that the two perks are for booking on board.  As you probably know the same two perks at the exact same price are available if you book from home. Celebrity has been running a special promotion where you can get three perks for the price of two.  You might want to check, but that might be the source of the free Gratuities that the TA is supplying.

 

 

The three perks are only offered with a NON-refundable deposit.

That's great for a cruise in the near future  but hard to swallow for something a year (or two) ahead.

We just re-fared our 2021 cruises with our TA and got the two perks and a $300 reduction in fare but for that far out I'm not willing to do a non-refundable deposit.

 

[jagoffee]

P.S.

Linda, I do all the planning in our family.  Of course my DW has veto power.

I had to laugh at the exchange with your DH concerning planning.

You will probably not be surprised that the same thing does not work with my DW. I get a different look and a few comments about things around the house.

Edited January 16, 2019 by jagoffee

[SleepingUgly]

35 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Linda, thank you for the excellent job with your detailed trip report.  Since we will be departing on the 1/20/19 version of this 12 day Silhouette Cruise, it is very interesting and entertaining.

 

Congratulations on your new booking.  The reduced deposit and extra OBC is very nice.  The only thing that bothers me is that the marketing materials imply that the two perks are for booking on board.  As you probably know the same two perks at the exact same price are available if you book from home. Celebrity has been running a special promotion where you can get three perks for the price of two.  You shoukd check, but that might be the source of the free Gratuities that the TA mentioned.

 

I believe the reasons that some cruises occasionally stay late in St. Maarten are related the the Sunset Sailing option. (We booked one some years ago independently).  It was very nice.

Also it gives some cruisers the opportunity to dine ashore especially on the French side.  I believe the Hurricane has negatively impacted those opportunities and the overall night activity.  I think it is a different atmosphere with the limited tourism at this time.

I like the trend to have one late night in port or even an overnight.  I know the crew loves it as it gives them some extra time ashore. (This might be the number one reason)

 

Great job and thank you.

 

Thanks for your nice comments, and really appreciate your reading and following along.  I hope you have a fantastic cruise and enjoy some great weather!

 

Honestly, the three perks option was not around when we booked in late December and, like Karen said, that might be for a non-refundable deposit?  I am not one to take that chance.  I have no problem playing the penny slots like there's no tomorrow and buying shoes like I need to wear 20 pairs all at the same time, but the word "non-refundable" is pretty much taboo in my book.  Especially when I'm booking something 700-plus days away! 🙂

 

I did enjoy the late departure from St. Maarten and, you are right - it must have been nice for the crew members to have some extra time ashore and I hope they were able to take advantage of that.  We actually shared the taxi ride to Front Street with a young bartender from the Marella ship, who was happy to have a few hours off.  He was quite chatty and definitely made the night that much more interesting for us.

 

Thanks again for being here and hanging in there with me!
 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

39 minutes ago, RealBatman said:

What an adventure this review has been!

 

The opening scene sets the excitement with a car crash, followed with twists and turns as the story line evolves. (The title however, tipped us off with the final direction 😉). As the plot develops, we have mega yachts, low flying aircraft, ridiculously large mansions owned by wealthy, powerful men (who are undoubtedly compensating for less-than-impressive-appendages), sandy beaches and beautiful babes dressed in only bathing suits and bikinis frolicking in the water. As the adventure continues we are dropped into fancy casinos and dark, desolate streets leading to some of them where a sudden turn results in our heroines and hero having to commandeer a local citizen to escape back to the safety of the ship. 

 

This has been a chapter turning, exciting and stimulating ride to be certain! My DW and I have literally sat on the couch with popcorn in hand reading and cheering! We can hardly wait for the upcoming chapters, as we know that a BlockBuster movie always has a sultry, suggestive love scene followed by a high speed chase involving a helicopter - will it be on the high seas, or through the streets of one of the next ports of call? Only time will tell!

 

I am already surmising that the lead will be played by non other than Tia Carrere, but who shall be cast as her DH? Will it be the dashing Jeff Goldblum, or perhaps the solid, non-assuming Dwayne Johnson? 🙂 

 

Best review ever! We are preparing to head to the city to catch a flight to FLL in preparation for our sailing on Silhouette - our appetites now wet for our adventure! And having read todays chapter... we are already looking forward to your sequel when the adventure will find 'our' family in far away places like Cartagena, Columbia and Colon, Panama (a cruise we did recently on Reflection). Keep up the good work! We will pick it up when we return!

 

Bob

 

Bob - Flattery will get you everywhere ... and right now, it's going to take you to FLL, I see.  Have a fantastic trip and safe travels all around!  Can't wait to hear about your vacation when you return.

 

Thanks so much for following along and the very kind words.  My family are a bunch of nutcases but I wouldn't want them any other way.  As for who will be playing us in the upcoming, straight-to-the-clearance-rack-at-Walmart movie, I'm thinking Jackie Chan in a wig as me, and the lead character in those animated Rio movies as my dh.  For some reason, our waiter kept calling him George Clooney, saying that he looked like Mr. Clooney.  Ha!  Maybe in another 50 years, with another 30 pounds, and with 99 percent fewer assets.  Or you can just cast Chris Hemsworth as my real-life dh and call it a day.  Yeah, I think I like that idea better.

 

Again, have a fantastic trip and hopefully, I'll be finished when you are back! 😉

 

Linda

  

[SleepingUgly]

43 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

The three perks are only offered with a NON-refundable deposit.

That's great for a cruise in the near future  but hard to swallow for something a year (or two) ahead.

We just re-fared our 2021 cruises with our TA and got the two perks and a $300 reduction in fare but for that far out I'm not willing to do a non-refundable deposit.

 

 

Agree, Karen!  Great minds ... 🙂

 

Linda

 

[SleepingUgly]

42 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

P.S.

Linda, I do all the planning in our family.  Of course my DW has veto power.

I had to laugh at the exchange with your DH concerning planning.

You will probably not be surprised that the same thing does not work with my DW. I get a different look and a few comments about things around the house.

 

We wives are very good at giving THE LOOK and having a comment about pretty much everything you men do, no? 🙂  And, usually, with pretty good results.

 

Linda