Celebrity Summit ~ Part 9: Day 7 at Sea

December 4, 2010 deladane Leave a comment

December 4, 2010

Friday 11/19: Sea Day

On the sea day, I really intended to sleep late, but of course woke up by 8:30am. I spent an hour or so packing so I wouldn’t have to waste time packing later in the day, and then I went to the big brunch in the MDR at 10am. Celebrity apparently did away with the midnight buffet and they replaced it with brunch. They set up the room with food stations at a few different tables, and used ice sculptures as the centerpieces. Before taking a plate to gather my food, I took some photos:

The staff talent show was scheduled at 10:45am, which was a little early as I felt rushed to finish my brunch, but it was worth going to. 5 or 6 staff members performed magic tricks, singing, comedy, and I can’t remember what else, and at the end they had all of the staff march down the aisles and go up on stage (including all the stewards and waiters too):

The weather was kind of crummy (cold, cloudy, and raining most of the day), so I found a lounge chair in the T-pool room and took a nap. Then I went to the art auction at 1:30 because I wanted to experience the whole thing. They gave out tons of free champagne, and had very reasonable starting prices for the art (although I did not bid on anything!). After that, I went to the pool deck to watch an ice carving demonstration, then I did some shopping on the ship to find the last of my holiday presents for my family. Then I went back to my room to change for dinner, finish packing and put my suitcase outside my room. I went to one last “These Guys” performance before dinner.

I was a little unimpressed with the dinner menu on the last night… maybe it’s just because I was so excited by all the options on previous nights, but I just didn’t think it was as good on the last night.

Spinach Turnover:

Veal Cordon Bleu:

Strawberry Cheesecake (off the every day menu):

After an unusually long dinner, I made my way around the ship to say goodbye to my new friends.

Saturday 11/20: Disembarkation 😦

Sadly, the week had come to an end and it was time to go home. The buffet was supposed to close around 8:30, so I went to breakfast early (this was the only time the entire week when I had trouble finding a place to sit to eat! It was soooo crowded that I was tempted to just bring my food back to my cabin, but I eventually found a seat). Then I went back to my cabin and waited until 9:30am for my time to meet and wait for them to call my luggage tag number. Apparently they were a little delayed in clearing customs because they didn’t actually call my number until 45 minutes later. I got off the ship quickly and had no trouble finding my suitcase lined up under the correct number in the warehouse. Then I got on the end of an extremely long line and waited over a half hour to go through customs at the port. Once I got outside, I found some people to share a taxi with to the airport. I knew it should cost us $19 flat rate, and not per person, but our taxi driver tried to rip us off. We were firm that we would be making one stop at the airport and would only pay the $19 (plus $1 per bag) and when we finally got to the airport we basically handed her what we wanted to pay and walked away. Be very careful with these taxi drivers because they really try to get the most money they can out of you, hoping you don’t know about the zoning prices for fares. I had about a 2 minute wait for the agriculture scanners, and a 10 minute wait to check my bags with JetBlue, and then I was off to sit in the terminal for 3.5 hours until my flight. Luckily, I ran into lots of new friends while I was waiting (we were the only ship disembarking in San Juan that day, so it was not surprising that I saw many familiar faces at the airport!) I only took one photo that last day, so I think it is fitting to end my review with a beautiful view of a full moon over the sunset out the plane window on my flight home:

The End!

Cruise

Celebrity Summit ~ Part 8: Day 6 in Tobago

December 3, 2010 deladane Leave a comment

December 3, 2010

Thursday 11/18: Scarborough, Tobago, in port from 8am-5pm

After a late breakfast at the buffet, I headed off the ship in search of people with whom I could share a taxi to the beach. I went to Pigeon Point Beach ($20 taxi each way for up to 4 people, or $30 if you need a van taxi that holds up to 6 people, plus $3 per person entrance fee to the beach) and it was everything I wanted it to be. I had been waiting all week for the typical Caribbean beach lined with huge palm trees and clear blue water, and Pigeon Point Beach had it all! Here’s a picture of the beach:

When you first arrive, there is a pier with several glass bottom boats waiting to take passengers on a 2-hour snorkeling/swimming excursion. The guy wanted to charge me $20, but thanks to the reviews I had read on cruise critic, I knew the price should be only $15 and he immediately lowered the price when I called him on it. It definitely pays to do your research or they will rip you off wherever they can!

Glass Bottom Boat:

They piled about 20 people into the boat and we went off shore for 30 minutes to reach Bucco Reef. They gave us life vests and snorkel equipment (apparently for no extra charge, although I had brought along my own equipment), and let us snorkel for about 30-45 minutes. The reef was really interesting, with a ton of coral in different shapes, sizes, and colors. There were a few fish, but not as many as I had hoped. Here’s one of my snorkeling photos:

Then we got back on the boat and went over to Nylon Pool, named because the water is as clear as fishing nylon. The best part about this area is that even though it is very far from shore, it is shallow enough that I could stand (and I’m only 5’2″) The bottom is just soft sand, so we relaxed in the water for about a half hour and it wasn’t tiring because we didn’t have to actually swim! Here is a picture of me standing in the water (notice how far away the shore is in the background!):

After that, we got back on the boat and headed back to the beach. I spent some time walking around the beach and enjoying the beautiful scenery:

Tons of shade from the palm trees:

By this time, I was hungry and ready for lunch so I bought a $6 fried shark platter with french fries and salad from one of the 3 or 4 vendors selling food. The food was great!

There were a few picnic tables under the palm trees where we could sit and eat and relax, so I spent the next hour or so there, then went to go meet our taxi driver as we had asked him to pick us up at 3pm. It was a good thing we planned to leave the beach so early because the ride back to the ship took a full hour (as opposed to the 20 minutes it took to get to the beach that morning!)… be aware that there’s a lot of traffic in the afternoon, so definitely leave enough time to get back to the ship before it sails away!

Tonight was our second formal night, so I went right back to my room to get ready. Since the big theater show wasn’t until after dinner, I went up to Revelations lounge to see the acappella group perform. The group is called “These Guys”, comprised of 4 men in their 20’s, and they are fantastic!! I went to a few of their performances throughout the week, and they sang different songs every time. Their harmonies are on pitch, and they are fun and entertaining, and I highly recommend checking them out if you get a chance. Then I went to dinner, with the following menus:

Wild Mushroom Vol-au-vent:

Salmon Gravlax:

Lobster Melange (it was a really nice touch when my waiter went around and removed the shell from everyone’s lobster tail!:

For dessert, all of the waiters and assistant waiters walk around the dining room with Baked Alaska on Parade, and they make a big to-do about cheering for your waiter. There were no other options for dessert that night, so I guess you are out of luck if you don’t like ice cream cake!

After dinner, I went to the show, which was a broadway production medley. In between some of the song and dance routines, they focused on some specific shows, like Les Mis and Titanic. I’m really not sure who’s brilliant idea it was to perform songs from a show about a sinking cruise ship while on a cruise ship, but sure enough they did it! Probably not one of my favorite parts of the week haha The rest of the show was okay though.

Cruise

Celebrity Summit ~ Part 7: Day 5 in Grenada

December 2, 2010 deladane Leave a comment

December 2, 2010

Wednesday 11/17: St. George’s, Grenada, in port from 8am-5pm

After two action-packed excursion days, I made this day a little more low-key. I slept in a little later, and then headed to the MDR for breakfast. I was a little overwhelmed by the service, as I literally had 8 waiters serving me! One for the water, one for the juice, one for coffee/tea, one serving pastries/danishes… I couldn’t keep them all straight! The menu basically offered the same things you can get a the buffet, only in the MDR they serve it to you so you don’t have to wait on line.

I got off the ship at around 10am and walked over to the water taxi pier (immediately left of where the ship is docked). $8 round trip gets you from the ship to Grand Anse Beach. This is the water taxi pier on the beach:

Grand Anse Beach is a two-mile stretch of beach. It is pretty, with a few palm trees lining the shore, and you can rent chairs and umbrellas for a few dollars.

A little ways down the beach is a big open stall spice market, where vendors sell little wicker baskets with samples of various spices, bottles of vanilla, scented soaps, jams/jellies, and lots of other souvenirs. Some of the vendors can be a little pushy, but if you are good at bargaining, you can get a few dollars off their asking prices.

Unfortunately, it was pouring rain for most of the morning (as you can probably see in the photo above), and when it finally cleared up around noon, I was tired of being there and just wanted to go back to the ship. So I headed back to the ship around 1 and had a late lunch at the Aqua Spa Cafe. I wish I had discovered this place earlier in the week, as the food is great, and much lighter than the dishes they serve at the buffet. I had a grilled calamari salad with artichokes, and whole wheat penne pasta with marinara sauce and sauteed veggies:

After lunch, I went back off the ship to do some shopping at the port. They have a big indoor shopping mall with duty free shops, jewelry stores, clothing stores, and places to buy any souvenir you might want. I had already done most of my shopping at the spice market, but it was good to see the prices. In general, it was cheaper at the market on the beach (especially since you can bargain with those vendors). The port mall also offers free wifi so I used my cell phone to check my email for a few minutes. Then back onto the ship for sushi and to get ready for the evening.

Tonight’s show was an hour-long concert by Lindsay Hamilton. She has starred in London’s West End productions of Les Mis and Evita, and I thought she was an amazing singer! She sang mostly ballads from Broadway musicals, but she also spoke a bit between the songs, making jokes and talking to the audience. If you get the chance to see her perform, don’t miss it!

Then it was dinner time…

Chicken Spring Rolls:

Saffron Shellfish Broth (I am fairly certain they were STILL trying to get rid of the left overs from dinner two nights ago haha):

Classic Seafood Fettucine:

Passion Fruit Cheesecake:

Cruise

Celebrity Summit ~ Part 6: Day 4 in Dominica

December 1, 2010 deladane Leave a comment

December 1, 2010

Tuesday 11/16: Roseau, Dominica, in port 8am-5pm

For today, I had arranged a tour with Levi Baron of Bumpiing Tours. It cost $47 for a full-day group tour in an air-conditioned 15-seat van, including water, juice, and local beers. I met Levi right outside the port, and he introduced me to the tour guide/driver Gary. Gary was terrific! He answered all of our questions and he was funny and engaging at each stop of the tour. Dominica was my favorite island of the 5 ports I visited, mostly because of how much fun I had on this excursion! Here’s the view of Roseau from atop deck 11:

First we drove up a huge mountain and made a brief stop at Morne Bruce to see the view of all of Roseau (we could even see down to the cruise ship!)

Then we continued up to Titou Gorge. Levi asked us to meet him super early so we would be the first group to arrive at Titou Gorge, and it’s a good thing he did because we had the whole place to ourselves! I had read a few reviews that the water up there is freezing cold, but I honestly didn’t think it was so bad, and I got used to it after a minute or two.

Here’s a photo of me standing in the cold water (notice the flotation belt… no one was allowed in the water unless they wore one!)

We swam into the caves (where Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 were filmed!) and then had to swim against the current from a waterfall to reach a little alcove to stand on. Gary pulled people who weren’t strong swimmers through the current with a life preserver on a rope. Then Gary gave us the option of climbing up a 6 foot waterfall to another pool of water where we could stand under a second waterfall to take pictures:

To get back down, we had to jump off that 6 foot waterfall. It was rather difficult to get my footing through the rushing current of the waterfall, but once I had my balance, the jump wasn’t too hard. Once we swam back out of the gorge, there were a ton of other people arriving and I could see how crowded it must get there later in the day! We went back to our van, enjoyed some cold beers, and then drove off to Trafalgar falls.

To get to the falls, we had to walk through the rain forest for about 10 minutes along a dirt path, and climbed a bunch of steps too:

Along the way, Gary explained about different types of leaves and trees. Once we got to the viewing platform, we could see the two twin falls (also called the Mama and Papa falls) for a beautiful view and photo op:

Then Gary gave us the option to climb down a series of very slippery boulders into the hot springs. This was kind of dangerous but completely worth it as the water felt so nice and warm! We slid between some boulders, and continued climbing until we reached a calm pool of water, where Gary gave us time to swim and enjoy the sites.

These are the rocks we had to climb on in front of the falls:

Next, we climbed back up to the viewing platform and walked back down the stairs and trails to the van. We took a QUICK drive through the botanical gardens, took a quick photo with the bus squashed under a school bus:

and continued on to Champagne Reef for some snorkeling.

The shore near champagne reef was very rocky, so definitely wear water shoes if you have them! Once again, my snorkeling experience was spoiled by the rough current. Gary said it is usually very calm here, but we were rather unlucky as the current was rough and the water was quite cloudy so we didn’t get the full effect of the bubbles.

After a long, but fun-filled day, Gary drove us back to the port, and we were back on the ship by 3pm. I took a nap, got ready for the evening, and then went up to the deck to watch the sunset with my nightly sushi snack.

Tonight was the only time I missed the evening show. I was killing time by wandering around the ship, and as I passed through the martini bar, I ran into two ladies from my table, so I joined them and we talked for like 3 hours straight- right through the show! So my appologies that I can’t review it, but I think it involved more singing and dancing haha After drinks, we headed into the MDR for dinner…

Shellfish and Saffron Risotto (yes, this is the exact same dish as I had for an entree the night before… but it was so good the first time, I couldn’t resist ordering it again!):