Celebrity Cruise Vacation 2/18-25

Tammy and I took our first vacation of consequence in twelve years and our first air flights together ever this February. We flew from Houston Hobby to Atlanta where we connected with our Delta flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to meet our sojourners for a week long cruise on the newly refurbished Celebrity Summit, a three thousand plus person capacity vessel with over a thousand crew included.

We departed late due to a huge line of rain that delayed our take off, but the time was made up in flight and we arrived slightly late at the massive Atlanta airport where we had only about 40 minutes to find our departure terminal and gate. It took 25+ minutes, but we boarded and had no problems getting to San Juan on time where we took a taxi straight to our ship located about 20 minutes north and close to Old San Juan. Other friends had already flown in to San Juan days earlier for a stay with excursions in San Juan that included seeing the Arecibo Telescope and nearby caves as well as the Bioluninescence Bay and Old San Juan itself. But, we boarded and very soon thereafter met our companions at the daily six p.m. dinner together. The above photo was taken as we boarded the ship by their photographers. Below is our first night at dinner.

Sunday was a sea day and gave us time to get acquainted with the ship and activities. I had not slept since Friday, staying up all night Saturday since we departed the house by 5:15 a.m. Our boys were up with company in house, so activity was happening, too. Tammy managed to get a few hours sleep. So we slept in late Sunday. Sunday evening was one of two formal nights and I got to wear my new Italian Geno Valentino suit for the first time. The food was excellent as the menu allowed a standard selection nightly along with new menu items on the right side that changed every night. It was always a hard decision to choose, and sometimes I ordered two appetizers or desserts. I was not the only one! After dinner we had theater entertainment and everyone sat together.

Monday we arose early for our first excursion of two we planned, the first Monday and second one Tuesday. Monday we were in Barbados and toured through a garden of beautiful flowers and vegetation on our own in a small group that included some of our friends and new acquaintances. Rum punch was served, as it was all over Barbados, and it was tasty. Our excursion continued with a swim with the turtles at one of the beautiful beaches where we went out on a boat. Turtles were plentiful and tame. I snorkeled with the turtles and also observed fish and coral formations.

Tuesday we arrived at St. Lucia and began our second longer excursion. This excursion had problems that delayed us an hour and a half during the outing. First we took a shuttle bus through the countryside to see sites and the Pitons, the largest mountains of the islands, and then toured through another garden with a guide to a waterfall. We then ate at a local restaurant. This is where we had to wait until the late arriving catamaran docked nearby. Finally we took the sea leg of our excursion to a private beach where the three buses of us on the boat could either drink rum punch or swim. There was no fish or coral to see, and snorkel equipment was only available from the boat people who surrounded our boat selling and renting their wares. We stayed on board for the 45 minutes. Then we continued our boat tour as all the shore sights were pointed out, arriving back at the ship dock with over an hour to spare before the Summit departed St. Lucia.

Wednesday we arrived at Antigua where we were greeted by several rain showers that had us scurrying under a provided umbrella from the ship to the local town. Our intention was to see if there were any taxis that could take us to a local beach, or if we could even walk to a beach, but we felt uncomfortable being taken somewhere and left with the promise of being picked up later. So we shopped some and returned to the ship. That afternoon we took advantage of the hot tubs, pools, and therapeutic value offered on board. After the previous two long days of excursions this was a welcome relief.

Thursday we docked in St. Maarten where we took a water taxi that was available for $6 a person and unlimited use back and forth to the beautiful town and free beaches. That morning we shopped and came back to the ship to eat lunch, and then changed to our bathing suits to take the water taxi back for relaxing swims and lounging under the beach umbrella we rented for $10 to stay out of the blazing sun. The water was cool at first, but very refreshing and perfect for swimming and floating. Tammy reluctantly came in with me during my second swim. This is the perfect place to spend a day without any excursions.

That night was our second formal dinner. Everyone began to show the effects of the sunny days as our skin tanned and blushed. As usual we went to most entertainment shows, only skipping one evening. Rest and sleep were premium commodities and we took advantage when we could.

Friday we arrived at St. Thomas, one of three of the fifty Virgin Islands with a substantial population. Shopping here for high end items, as well as souvenirs, is the highlight. We took an open shuttle into the nearby town's shopping area and found some bargains.

Saturday we disembarked for the long day getting back home. We had the remainder of the morning to view the local sights so I asked our Taxi driver if he would show us Old San Juan before taking us to the airport, for $20 extra. Thomas, a young native boy, was agreeable and not only drove us to the highlights, he parked several times so we could walk to and through several points of interest you will see in the pictures. It was a wonderful trip and we had a terrific time with friends. Cruising out of Puerto Rico is a great way to see islands that are not ports of call from New York, Florida, or other cruise ports, too. We flew over a thousand miles to get there, but it was worth it. A fantastic experience that Tammy and I highly recommend and can get you in touch with our travel agent so you can make your own arrangements for your trip. Pictures.  VIDEO