2 Sea Days and Home

We spend the next 2 days at sea heading back to Port Everglades in Fort lauderdale.  The seas remain very slight with light breezes out of the North East as we stay on the Atlantic side of all the islands.  Temperatures rise to the mid 80's during the day, and cool to the lower 80's in the evening.  It is mostly sunny all day, the nicest days we have had on this trip.  The sun bathers are out in full force occupying nearly every lounge chair on the ship.

I immensely enjoy 3 more presentations about the "brain". All part of the Celebrity lecture series Beyond The Podium.

There is an officers reception for higher level captain's club members. Wine, Champagne and served appetizers. A scaled back version of what was offered every evening in the Sky Lounge on prior Celebrity Cruises.

In speaking with the IT manager, he confirms the ship will be switching to Star Link in March. Equipment installation is expected to begin in January.

Our table mate, Bob, is missing from dinner. We learn he is under medical care in the ship's hospital. Recovering, but will remain there for the remainder of the cruise. It has already been determined he will be transported directly to a hospital upon docking. A combination of dehydration, low blood glucose, and several other issues. He and his wife were scheduled to continue on the next cruise, but the medical staff told them no way.

We arrive in port just a few minutes late. The shuttle to parking and the drive home are uneventful and by 1:30 the laundry is underway.

Overall I was not impressed with this cruise. My expectations were for Celebrity to be like they were in the past, and to do at least a little bit better than Royal.  They fell short on both counts. The food quality was barely OK, and service was often with a short handed grumpy crew. Freshly made pasta was barely warm as were most dishes that shoud be served hot. Beverage service was lacking.

Home for three weeks and then 7 days on the Oasis of the Seas out of Miami.

October 31, St Kitts

We arrive in Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis under sunny blue skies about 7:00 am. the forecast for today is just a 10 percent chance of rain after 3:00 pm.  The best forecast the entire trip.

We are docked at the newer pier, farthest from the terminal buildings. I believe this pier was under construction the last time I was here.  A few minutes later the Celebrity Millenium pulls in alongside us.  She is smaller and the oldest of the Celebrity ships.

We  have a tour of the island booked thru our travel agent instead of with the ship. We are to meet just past the terminal entrance. Annies Carribean Tours is operated by a husband and wife team. He has been working as a tour guide for 16 years. It shows. The tour was excellent. Covering much of the island with interesting stops at an old sugar mill, a very large 17th century fort high on a hill overlooking the sea. A batik factory, and several scenic areas including a black sand beach, a spot where lava had flowed to the ocean recently and an area where the Caribbean sea mixes with the Atlantic.

Between stops, our guide shared a lot of history from the slave trade, pirate era, and modern independence. 

A very good tour, but a very long day.

Back on the ship by 3:30 it s time to clean up for the evening.  The usual Sky Lounge and dinner in the dining room. Braised short ribs were good.

The production show is "Broadway Cabaret". Personally more enjoyable than some of the other shows.

Exhausted after a long day I retire early. The next two days are sea days to travel back to Port Everglades. Hopefully we will not be stopping anywhere in between. The forecast calls for continued partly cloudy skies with a chance of rain.  Seas are expected to remain under 7 feet, barely enough to impart a slight roll to the ship.

October 30 - Martinique

As we arrive in the Port of Fort De France in Martinique the skies  are overcast. the water is brown from runoff from the island, and there are trees, much trash, and pieces of lumber in the water. They obviously have had heavy rains recently.

Being Sunday most shops and businesses are closed.  Only passengers with passports may disembark and masks are required while off the ship.  All combined. most passengers remain onboard. Showers dampen the decks periodically throughout the day.

The usual choices of trivia games, lounging by the pool, mindless TV and sitting on the balcony occupies most of the day.

Ian is a very good beverage server in the sky lounge, and he has become a favorite. The only appetizers, if you can call them that, are the tiny snacks coated in an egg wash. Mostly tasteless, but crunchy.

The show this evening is a comedian.

While the theater is filling with guests, there are two simultaneous medical emergencies in opposite corners of the theater. Staff, officers, the cruise director, fellow passengers and a nurse quickly respond. Both guests are stabilized and removed. The show gets underway 10 minutes late.

Our next port of call is St Kitts.

October 29 - Bridgetown, Barbados

Again we are the only ship in port. As I step out on the balcony the sun is shining bright with a slight breeze. The air temperatures are in the low 80's. We have a shore excursion booked thru Celebrity. A tour of Barbados and a dive on an Atlantis submarine.

We are to check in at the theater, and then board our bus just past the terminal.  Being a very slow walker, I check in and will head to the bus long before the others.  Just as I reach the gangway to the pier the skies open up. Thanks to complimentary umbrellas my walk is relatively dry.

The bus driver informs us that the tour will be first, followed by the sub dive this afternoon. The rain stops, and we are on our way. In summary the tour was pretty boring.

Some additional guests join us on the boat to the sub. We climb aboard and climb down the ladder.  I have taken Atlantis sub tours before in other ports.  The highlight of this dive is a quick view of a ship that was sunk to make an artificial reef and a few schools of fish. Essentially another disappointing tour.

We exit the sub and board the boat for the trip back to shore. The winds pick up and a heavy rains follows. Shore is not visible from the boat. I am sure the captain of the vessel knows where he is going.

Just as we reach the dock, the rain stops. Saved again form the rain.

Back on the ship we decide to forgo the dining room for early pizza and salad in the buffet since we never had lunch.

The pizza was good but very salty for some reason. It must have been in the sauce as differently topped pizza had the same characteristic.

After a stop in the Sky Lounge, the production show in the main theater. The early show was about 50% full.

I make my first stop at the hot glass venue. Formerly operated by Corning they would do many glass demonstrations to the education and enjoyment of many guests. Now it is a privately run revenue center where all they do is sell personal instruction classes to guests. This evening there is one glass blower working with one guest. There are only 2 other guests watching.

After the show, we listened to a Jazz set  for awhile. The noise level is very high.  Many passengers on this cruiese either have a beverage package, or an all inclusive package. Both offer unlimited drinks all day and evening.  Drinking is quite prevalent, unlike my memory of Celebrity of several years ago. 

Laundry has been returned. In putting everything away I find it impossible to remove the laundry tags from my shirts. Frustrating to say the least.

Seas remain calm, and we head to our next port, Martinique.