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bsdmhutch
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Posted: Thu Jun 22nd, 2006 08:05 pm | 1st Post |
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This is very long.
Wednesday, December 7, 2005 –
Mom flew from St. Louis to Charlotte and then we flew together from Charlotte to Miami. Shared a taxi van with a couple of ladies that were going on our cruise. They were staying at a different hotel, but it was still less expensive than taking two taxis.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn – Port of Miami. It was a nice hotel. Very clean. The staff was very nice. The location across from Bayside Marketplace was great. After we settled in a bit, we walked over and had lunch next to the marina. We walked around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel to rest until we met our Zenith Zingers group at Bubba Gumps.
We met at Bubba Gumps for dinner. I don’t think our poor waiter will soon forget our group. Eight women on a weekend getway. We were having a blast. I had the Bourbon Street Mahi Mahi and it was awesome. We will definitely go back.
Thursday, December 8, 2005 –
We had breakfast in the restaurant at the hotel. The hot buffet was delicious, just a little expensive, but I figured I was on vacation and I didn’t have to cook. We checked out about 10:30 and headed to the dock.
Embarkation was a breeze. We were crossing the bridge to the port at 10:50 and by 11:10 we had mimosas in hand and had already been to see if our room was ready. It wasn’t so we went to take some pictures and then to have some coffee and croissants. When we pulled up in front of the terminal, the porter took our bags, put new tags on them (since we had upgraded to an outside cabin about a week before) and directed us to the doors to enter. A gentleman asked to make sure we had our identification and our boarding docs all filled out. Up the escalator. The lady there made sure we had everything then pointed us to another gentleman. He made sure we had our docs signed (we had forgotten) and then sent us right up to the counter. The gentlemen at check in took our docs, passports and credit cards for our on board account. He gave us our passports and credit cards back, gave us our Seapass cards and our dining time/table number along with a map of the ship. From there we had the embarkation photo taken, went through security, then to the gangway to cross to the ship. Punched our card in, had security picture taken and walked to the staff that were giving out the champagne/mimosas. These were for no charge and were a very nice touch. We didn’t get the staff escort to our cabin, but it was so early.
After the rest of our group made it on board, we met at the aft grill of the windsurf café. This is where I had my first hamburger and fries of the weekend. They were so good. Also had a drink of the day. They do those in souvenir glasses and they are truly glass. They also have the recipes on them of the 3 drinks you can buy on that day. We went back to our room to meet our steward and see if our luggage was there. All of our luggage was delivered by 3:30 and we were unpacked before the muster drill. Our suitcases easily fit under the beds and that kept us from stepping over them all week. We put one of those collapseable laundry baskets in the closet and it worked great for the dirty clothes. Muster drill was fine. Mom and I tried to place ourselves so that we wouldn’t be crushed.
We attended the Martini tasting. It was there I decided that I’m not a huge martini fan. The flavored ones are better, but still not my favorite drink. We had the late seating for dinner and were seated at a table with 7 ladies that played on a tennis team in West Palm Beach. They were a blast. You could always find them because they were wearing reindeer ears the entire trip. Dinner was delicious. This was the night for Crème Brule and it was very good. I believe we headed back to our room after dinner as it was after 10:30 already. We hung out a card for room service breakfast the next morning. Just some coffee and pastries to tide us over until we were ready to leave the room.
Friday, December 9, 2005 – Key West, FL
Got up to get ready for the day. Room service didn’t come. We figured the card must have gotten knocked off. Not a big deal. Certainly didn’t ruin my day. We got dressed and headed down to the dining room for breakfast. Thought we would try open seating to see how it was. Food was okay. Mom and I are picky about our eggs and the scrambled eggs just weren’t done enough for either one of us. The servings were very small also.
We docked in Key West and the weather was beautiful. Mom and I had nothing planned but shopping and walking around. We had to pick up a few gifts and I wanted a keychain as I collect them. We shopped for awhile and walked around. Key West was also hosting “Fantasy Fest” this weekend and things were set up for it. There were some interesting characters walking around and I can only imagine what it would have been like of an evening. We asked for directions to the Keno Sandal factory. It was actually very easy once we knew where to go. After shopping for sandals (and buying a few pair) we walked over to Sloppy Joes. A friend from work suggested it. Mom had the sloppy joe and I had a BLT wrap. Both were awesome. We also shared a piece of Key Lime pie for my daughter as she loves it. We did some more shopping as we headed back to the ship. Once back on board we relaxed and got ready to sail. I made a few calls on my cell phone since we were still in the US. Daughter was home sick so I wanted to check on her. I got some beautiful pictures as we were leaving Key West.
We went to tea this afternoon with our new friends. It was in the Windsurf café and wasn’t a formal tea. They had finger foods and different teas to choose from but you just got your hot water out of the dispenser.
Dinner was formal tonight since we sailed so early from Key West. This was the first cruise that the Zenith had brought back lobster on the shorter cruises. It was good. I’m not a huge lobster fan, but I had some just to say I did. We had pictures taken this evening. I will say that we only bought one picture. Of all the ones they took, most were just okay. It was the price that kept us from buying them. I like to have the pictures for my scrapbook, but at a price of about $25 for an 8X10, I just couldn’t do it. The quality wasn’t that great either. I can do just as good if not better on my little Canon digital camera.
First production show was tonight. I thought it was good. I’ve not been to Las Vegas so I can’t compare it to those, but I do like the shows. I thought all the performers did a very good job. By the time the show was over it was after midnight and we were going to be in Cozumel the next day. Tonight we ordered room service on the interactive TV. Very easy to do.
Saturday, December 10, 2005 – Cozumel
We got up just before room service was delivered. They call to tell you they are on their way. It was just what we needed to get us going. We took our time this morning as we were not docking in Cozumel until around noon. Went up to the Windsurf Café for breakfast this morning and it was much better than the Dining room (IMO). A much better selection and you could get as much or as little as you wanted. Also had the buffet for lunch. It was okay. The hamburgers was much better I thought.
Spent some time up on deck watching Cozumel come into view. Again it was a beautiful day and I have some nice pictures of the water color as we were getting close to Coz. We had to tender into Cozumel because of the pier damage from Wilma. We just waited a bit before we went to the Celebrity Show Lounge to get a tender ticket. We didn’t have any excursions planned and figured we weren’t in any hurry. We didn’t have to wait very long. The tender in was okay. Not my favorite thing to do, but I was on vacation and it was the only way I was going to set foot in Mexico. When we got to the pier there were dozens of people there with available excursions. We just passed them all and headed to do some shopping. Our plan was to shop some and then catch a taxi out to Paradise Beach to just sit and relax for a few hours before we headed back to the ship.
We shopped at a few places. Picked up some tequila, some vanilla and some miscellaneous gifts before heading for the taxi area. We found a taxi with ease and it was a set price to Paradise Beach. I believe it was about $14 or so. I must say that riding out to Paradise Beach (about a 15 minute ride) really shows you a lot of the devastation that the island received. However, for every place that looked completely destroyed, there seemed to be people there working hard to rebuild and recover. I do believe that by the time we go back in October, it will be a very different looking area.
Paradise Beach was awesome. We found loungers a few rows off the water. I just wanted a place to sit and enjoy the view. The umbrellas were nice and kept the heat from the sun to a minimum. Our waiter was Freddy and he was unbelievable. We ordered a few drinks and some nachos. They were sooo good. The best nachos I’ve had in a long time. We also had a shot of PB’s famous Blue (sometimes red) concoction. It was actually very good. We sent a request with Freddy to have Tom stop by. We had brought him some Chef Boyardee Mini-Ravioli to help him restock. It’s his favorite and he can’t get it in Cozumel. We had a nice chat with him.
We headed back to town to walk around a little more and to head back to the ship. Once back on the ship, we decided we were not going to do dinner in the Dining room. Mom was very tired and not feeling well from being on the go all day. We ordered room service (again off the TV) and it came quickly and again was very good.
This was the first night I noticed any motion in the ship at all. I tried watching TV for awhile, but the rocking was bothering me a bit. I put some Motion-eze drops behind my ears and went to sleep. Oh, I did order room service for the next morning before I went to sleep.
Sunday, December 11, 2005 – Day at Sea
Woke up just before room service arrived again this morning and again took our time getting ready. We went up to the Windsurf Café again today for the breakfast buffet. With today being the day at sea we just walked around the ship, shopped, went to a couple of the games. I don’t actually remember everything that we did this day. I do know we attended High Tea with our friends. They were Captain’s Club members and could bring people with them. They sat the 8 of us at a table on the other side of the tea area. I wonder if they knew what was in store in advance? We had so much fun and laughed a lot. I don’t think High Tea will ever be the same again.
Tonight was the second production show, but this time it was before dinner. The show was good again. We headed down to dinner after this and said goodbye to our tablemates and our waiters. After dinner we went to finish packing and set out suitcases out. We ordered room service on the TV again and headed off to bed.
Monday, December 12, 2005 – Home
Debarkation was a breeze too. We had our room service snack and then went to the Windsurf Café to have breakfast. We then took our carry-ons and headed to the Celebrity Show Lounge to wait for our color to be called. Once it was called, we headed down a few levels and then punched our Seapass card for the final time. We then went through customs, and went into the warehouse to get our luggage. I took advice I had read and put very brightly colored bath scrunchies on our luggage and it made it sooo easy to find. After we got our luggage, we turned in our customs cards and went out the front door. We had to wait a bit for our friends. They had called a van to meet us to take us all to the airport. The only problem we had after that was they had switched my mom’s flight so many times since we booked it that she couldn’t check in curbside. We had to wait in a very long line to have them check her in at the counter. Once we got up there, they figured out what the problem was and got her checked in and ready to go. She was on a different flight that I was, so I walked with her to her gate and chatted with her for a bit. After she boarded, I walked down to another gate and chatted with our friends that were flying back to Canada. Finally it was time for me to board and I was on my way back to Charlotte. I had a great time but it was nice to see my husband and kids again.
Would I go on Celebrity again. In a heartbeat if the price was right. I would even do the Zenith again.
Pictures are on Webshots:
http://community.webshots.com/album/524445503CCTaIF
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Stephanie
Insulin is NOT a cure....it's LIFE SUPPORT!
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