Day 4 - Cozumel, Mexico

We woke up just as the ship was arriving in Cozumel, Mexico.  As we had been here a couple of times before, we have seen all of the main tourist stops.  This time, we had found a small family- owned and run chocolate factory on the out-skirts of town called KaoKao Chocolate.  

We had to set our clock one hour back last night so it was great to get another hour of sleep after being in the casino late.  We had a 9:00am tour at the factory, so we woke up at 7:00am, just as the ship docked.  We were allowed to leave the ship at 8:00am.  The only problem was that the town was another hour back in time, so it was really only 7:00am we found out.

The tourists’ shops were open so we walked around for a bit and then found a cab to take us to KaoKao Chocolate.  We knew we were going to be early but we thought there might be places around the factory.  The cab driver got lost as she had never heard of this place, but we had been warned to take a map with the address on it and we finally made it. 

They were just opening up when we got there and they let us come in and started us on our tour early.  We were the only ones on the tour so it was just fantastic.   We first met the wife who with her husband owns the factory.  As we were watching a video about the history of chocolate, he came in to start the actual tour. 

We then went into another room with another couple and he proceeded to show us how chocolate is actually made.  We each got to make a small amount of pure chocolate to take back home.

Next we tasted about 12 different kinds of chocolate, which was fun.

Then or course, their small gift shop was open and we bought some chocolate for us and our table-mates at dinner who had asked us to bring some back for them.

The owner called us a cab and we went back to the port and shopped for a while and of course found some Kahula and also some Pepsi to bring back to the ship.

After shopping, we went back to the ship at around noon, ate on the ship and then changed into swimming suits to go out on the deck.

Obviously, it was not as busy as a sea day, so it was very relaxing for a couple of hours and our tans are getting darker.

We then took our nap early and woke up in time to watch the ship leave the port.

Next we walked around the ship, picked up our formal pictures from last night and then sat for a while people watching until we joined our friends at the casino for a short ½ hour session where Ed was up and Barb didn’t play.

After the casino, we went to dinner and of course we had fun and enjoyed dinner.  Then it was on to the casino where Barb broke even, which is great for the slots and Ed did really well.

Tomorrows stop is Grand Cayman Island were right now we have no plans except getting off the ship and waling around.

Night from the sea – on the way to Grand Cayman.

 

Docking next to the Celebrity Constellation

Leaving the ship

Meeting the owner

Washing up with chocolate soap

Making chocolate with the owner

Shall I buy another plate so many to choose from - so little room!!

 

Day 3 - At Sea

I made a mistake last night when I was typing out the blog, it was after 2am when we finally went to bed – 2:35am to be precise.  My laptop had not reset to the local time!!

Anyway, I got up at 8 to get a good spot for deck chairs and Barb slept in until 10:30am.

It was amazing how many chairs were taken at 8 and by the middle of the morning, it was full.

Our friends, Jeff and Vera usually sit by the pool but couldn’t find a space so they managed to find extra chairs and sat by us and we spend most of the day in the sun and talking and talking. 

This was probably the best sea day that we have ever had.  The sun was out strong, the temperature was 83 degrees and the sea was very, very calm.  A wonderful day to sit out, relax and work on our tans.

We ate healthy again in the Aqua Spa but of course we also snacked before eating dinner – isn’t life good!

We came in at three to clean up and then walk around the ship doing some things like booking our New Year’s cruise that we are all going on.  We also found our pictures – got to have cruise pictures!

Then it was a typical evening – time for a nap, walk around seeing people, playing a little short session in the casino and then eating, followed by the casino.

It is our first formal night and Barb looked smashing!!

We did not go to the entertainment but went right from dinner to the casino.

We were very surprised to see the amount of cash back from our last cruise that the casino gave us.  A nice way to start the gambling in the evening.

Barb hit for some nice money on the slots and I was ahead so it was a good evening in the casino.

Tonight we set the clock back so we gain an hour of sleep.

Night for tonight and tomorrow we are in Cozumel, Mexico.

A snack on the deck at 5:00pm

Our first formal night

WOW! What a date!!

 

Day 1 - Spring 2014 – Celebrity Silhouette, Day 2 - Sailing Day

Day 1 was an uneventful day getting to Ft. Lauderdale.  Barb was all packed before Saturday and Ed finished packing Saturday morning and we boarded the plane from Bloomington for a 2:30pm flight to Ft. Lauderdale.

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale at 9:15pm and took the shuttle directly to the hotel.  They upgraded us to a king suite which was nice, but we were going to be there less that 12 hours.

Sleep came quickly and we awoke to a beautiful day in Florida.

Day 2

We took a shuttle bus to the airport and checked in quickly and were in our cabin by 11:00am.  We met David and Barb from New York at the hotel as we were getting on the shuttle.  Once we got to the check-in line, we met Jeff and Vera, also from New York and all boarded the ship together.  We left everything in our rooms and went right to the Aqua Spa to eat.

The last time we were all together was in Europe in October 2013, so it was fun catching up on families and talking about old times.

After lunch, we headed for the deck and laid out for a couple of hours – it was so nice to be in 80 degree weather after the terrible weather we have had in Illinois.

We also met friends from Virginia, Tim and Barb who are both retired Air Force.  We had met them on our November 2013 cruise.

After that our luggage was at our room, so we unpacked, showered and went to the 5:00pm cocktail party that the casino was giving for about 50 casino guest.  We met the casino staff and both the Manager and the Casino Host are new to us.  We found friends from Canada, Steph and her husband Rob who had decided to join this cruise when I told them about it a couple of months ago.

This is going to give us a great table to play blackjack as all of us play basically at the same level – what fun – and hopefully a successful cruise!!!

 Back to cabin we went for a nap for about an hour, got cleaned up and right to dinner where it was time to meet Jeff & Vera and David and Barb for dinner at 8:30pm.  Dinner was wonderful as always.

 After dinner, we went to the show and the entertainer was very good.  He had recently won the Entertainer of the Year award and a million dollar contract with the Hilton in Las Vegas.

Then it was time to go to work in the casino where after two hours we had just lost a very little and built up some time, so it was time to go to bed.

It is now 1:00 am and time to go to bed – night from our first day at sea. 

Tomorrow is a relaxing day at sea – wonderful.

 

Going to get some sun

Police patrol

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale



View from our deck at 6:00pm

Going out for our first evening

 

Day 8

Today was 81 by 9:00am, but the only problem was that it was cloudy by 10:00am.  So we sat on the deck for a while, and then went to the Aqua Spa to eat.

After that we cleaned up and and went to a new matinee show – the first time we have been on a ship where they had a production show in the afternoon, so it gave us something different to do.  It was a wonderful show featuring the singers on the ship.

After the show we came back to the cabin and got our packing out of the way.  We then went to the casino where Ed hit for a great streak that put him ahead. 

Back to the room for a short nap before dressing for dinner.

Our new friends from Washington DC joined us for dinner with our original dinner partners from Rhoad Island and we had a good time enjoying each others company.

Then it was on to the casino where Barb lost a little and Ed gave back some of his afternoon winnings.  The good news is that we ended up almost even and built up a lot of time to qualify for our next cruise.

All-in-all it was a relaxing trip and we are ready to get back home and get ready for Christmas.

See everyone soon and this is our last blog for this trip.

Night – on our way to Miami and home.

 

Singers at the afternoon show



Tim and Barb from Washington DC

Arthur and Karen from Rhode Island

Ready to go out for the evening

 

Day 7

Our last of 2 sea days and Ed, as usual got up early to get two good deck chairs.  The weather was perfect with a slight breeze and we stayed out on the deck until Noon. 

Then we went to Aqua Spa for lunch and back up on the deck until 1:00pm when it was time to clean up and go to the Blackjack tournament.

Ed qualified for the finals but, for the first time in three cruises, did not win.  The winner was an individual who we met playing blackjack and ate with last night!  A nice couple from Washington DC.  So we just have to start a new streak for next year.

After walking around a little, we went back to the room for our daily nap and get ready for formal night.

After getting ready, we had our pictures taken and we wanted to play a session in the casino but there was nobody there to play, so we sat and listened to the band play.

The show was early tonight so we went to a great production show at 7:00 pm.  The format of the show was exactly the same as we saw in March last year, but of course the cast was different and it was a fun show to see.

Tonight the casino took us to a fabulous specialty restaurant (which is an extra charge restaurant) called Quisne.  Its claim to fame is that is has great food prepared and served in uncommon ways.  The food was great and the preparation and service was fantastic – it was a wonderful meal.  Also great was that the casino paid for it. 

After eating we went to the casino and both Ed and Barb were up – so it was a great evening.

Then it was time to go to bed and tonight we game an hour of sleep so that will be wonderful.

Night from the sea – heading home – one more day on the ship – too short of a cruise but we have lots of things to do for Christmas.

 

Going out for the afternoon

Our second formal night

9 types of vegetables, 2 filets and 6 more vegetables with the filets!!

The view from our balcony

 

Day 6

Another beautiful day in paradise.  We got up early because we wanted to get to Orient Beach before most of the crowds and also it would be a little cooler.

St. Martins is actually split into two countries, one Dutch and one French and it is a beautiful island that we love to go to.  It does have a lot of the same shopping as St. Thomas, but just on a smaller scale, but our real love is the beach on this island.

After breakfast, we walked off the pier, hopped on a shuttle and we were on the French side of St. Martins at Orient Beach in 15 minutes.

We basically spent the entire day on the beach and lunch was a grilled sandwich and a drink– life is good here.

Pictures are not allowed but you can go on the internet and see what a wonderful place this beach is.

By 2:00pm we had been in the sun long enough so we took a shuttle back to the ship.

The shuttle we took back to the ship was neat because the shuttle driver was giving the other couple a tour of the island, so we listened to their tour as we were driven back.

It was then time to clean up and then take a nap.

After our nap, we walked around the ship listened to music and then went to dinner with a couple we had met in the casino.  He is a retired Colonel in the Air Force and works for a government contractor in Washington so we had fun talking at dinner.

After dinner we went to the casino where we lost a little.

Tonight we are heading back to the United States and will be at sea for two days – just relaxing and enjoying.

Sorry there aren’t more pictures, but we weren’t anywhere to take pictures.

Night from the ocean.

 

Heading to the beach

The back of the ship

Repair store!!
 

Going out for the evening

 

Day 5

What a wonderful view we had when we woke up – the yachts of the island of St. Thomas.  This view sure beats looking out over the corn fields from our bedroom deck!

The main attraction of St. Thomas is shopping as it is the number one island for shopping!!! 

We both slept in for a little and were finally up and off the ship by 9:30am.  It is a short shuttle around the harbor to the town and then it was walk, walk and walk more into lots of shops – just fun.

After being in town, we caught the shuttle back to the port and walked around the port shops.  Across the street, we went to a jewelry store that has always had some good deals on bracelets and rings that Barb likes and Ed likes because that are not as expensive as some places.

Barb bought 4 bracelets, a scarf and a ring – life is good!!

Then it was back on the ship for a short nap and then a 5:00pm departure.

We then went to the early show before going to dinner.  The show was a great show by the cast.  This group is probably one, if not the best of any we have seen on Celebrity.

Dinner was just fine and then it was off to the casino where Ed won finally and Barb was done a little.

We played our allotted time and were able to get back in the room before midnight, a first for this cruise.

An early night tonight and tomorrow is our last island, St. Martins and its famous beach, Orient Beach and we are looking forward to the day.

Night - Night

 

The view from our deck the yacht with the dark hull cost 161 million to build and is for charter.  The white yacht is the 49th largest yacht at 228 feet and is owned by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas NBA team.

You have to just love shopping!!

One of the many alley ways in downtown St. Thomas

Barb's new ring on her little finger and the new bracelets