Constellation 11.16.07 - 10 night Caribbean cruise R/T from FLL. We were in a CC Aft cabin 7208 for our 27 & 28th cruise. Captain Ioannis Papanikolaou was the Master. He remains one of the most outgoing Captains we've sailed with.
Airfare was inexpensive this time because we used points for the 1st time. We had an 830 flight out and a noon fight home.
We were traveling with our friends, Joan and Al , from south NJ. We met them at the airport in FL.
We boarded the ship around 12:30. This immaculate ship was taking us to Barbados and the "Saint" islands of Lucia, Kitts, Thomas and Martin. St Martin is where we did our most shopping damage. We purchased a camera and earrings, both at Boolchands. We also had four wonderful days at sea on this sailing; two at the head and two at the tail.
We were invited to Captain Papanikolaou's table on the 1st formal night. As you may remember, he remarried us two years ago aboard Constellation for our 25th Anniversary. He is still the same emotional and outgoing man to both his pax and crew. He was the only Captain who invited wait staff on stage with him at the officer's party. When we told him we visited his Metuchen Inn, he smiled all the more. Dinner was wonderful and he invited the table to be on the bridge for sail away at St Thomas. We have been on the bridge many times before but never while docking or leaving port. Dusk provided a wonderful view of the blue lights in the harbor and the lit hills of Charlotte Amalie, was just breathtaking!
That night we dined in the wine cellar of the specialty, Ocean Liners Restaurant with Joan and Al. Dinner and service was top notch. It's nice to do once in a while. After time passed, I felt excluded from the ambiance of the main room of the restaurant.
Our waiter in the San Marco restaurant, Alfredo was good but we felt he was working much harder because his assistant, Peter, was not pulling his weight. Sasha, the matre'D was just average. We never asked for much at the table but he never provided my Greek meal that I requested.
One of the nicest things about the concierge cabins is the extensive breakfast menu with specialty items like the granola berry parfait. Yum. Our steward, Analisa was very good but was upset that she was mistakenly blamed for a problem on our tray. She seemed relived when we straightened it out for her.
Some of our old crew friends were on board. Bar server Wayan, was serving up drinks in the Martini bar. Touch is now Hotel Front Manager. We were able to have drinks with him on the last evening. Sudi who was our assistant waiter in '05 was now promoted to waiter. His old waiter, Nicolas, was on board training personnel for Azamara, but we didn't get to see him. John Howell , from NY, was our cruise director again.
There were many positives on this cruise including much needed relaxation and warm weather. Randi won a couple hundred dollars on joker poker. We had a wonderful view from an aft cabin and we had some good conversation from our table mates Paul and Bea, who had 41 Celebrity Cruises. They were traveling with Marty and Stella. Both couples were from Tamarac, Florida. Our table 436, was a nice location, just at the base of the stairs but 6 people probably would have fit more comfortably. But there were some negatives; our good friends, the Butterworth’s were not there. That is probably why antics on board were kept to a minimum. We missed them a lot. Secondly, the food quality, especially the beef, was not up to past Celebrity standards; a possible result of Michelle Roux’s departure from the Celebrity culinary services.
All in all it was another fine cruise leaving us looking forward to the next one, which will be Alaska next June and July aboard Millenium.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Monday, March 5, 2007
Galaxy021207journal
Galaxy 02.12.07 So.Carib R/T San Juan
Sailing #26
Master: Captain Anastassios Lekkas
Cabin 9157 mid aft verandah
Cabin steward: Nolan
Waiter: Tony from India
Asst. Waiter: Sudi from Indonesia
Madre’D: Dorian
Ports: SJU, Sea, Aruba, Curacao, Sea, Grenada, Barbados, St.Lucia, Domenica,
St.Kitts, Tortola & SJU
This was another fun time with Table 33 members: Rob & Michelle; Lori & Mike; and new members, Ralph & Donna; Ron & Darlene, all from Rochester, NY.
But before meeting up with them on Monday, Randi and I spent the day and
night prior in El Convento in Old San Juan celebrating our 30th Valentines Day together. El Convento is an old, quaint and rather expensive hotel that Randi
always wanted to stay in ever since she and Michelle popped in years ago
to go to the bathroom.
I surprised her with a rose petal turndown on the bed in the shape of a
heart, 3 chocolate covered strawberries celebrating 3 decades along with 3
candles. Our songs were playing on the CD player. She really enjoyed the
surprise.
After shopping at her favorite store in Old SJU, Dooney & Bourke, for more
pocket books, (apparently a girl can't have enough of them) we enjoyed a
complimentary wine, happy hour at the hotel as we talked with other guests.
The evening was capped with reservations at the romantic "Il Perugino" which
served up the finest in Italian fare a few doors down.
The next day we boarded Galaxy with our travel mates and right away bumped
into an old crewmember friend, Dale "Sydney" Gauthier working the excursions
desk. She and Tush were instrumental aboard Constellation in 2005 where we
renewed our 25 year wedding vows. We also saw Laura, the cruise sales
manager who informed us that Joyce A. emailed her, to look after us. We also
met Melanie Mowat, CC hostess, who was recently promoted to sales Manager on
Infinity which she will begin shortly.
Melanie invited us to celebrate dinner with the Captain on the 1st formal
night. It was very nice. The Captain was outgoing and talkative however
most of our conversation was with John and Bev who sat across from us. We
got a kick out of the Captain's daily messages with the cute sign off, "bye
for now."
Meanwhile, Michelle changed our original table for 10, which was too loud
near the back wall. It worked out fine because we had some of our best wait
staff yet, Tony the waiter from India and Sudi, his assistant from
Indonesia. Dorian was our fine Matre'D who caught on to our antics quickly
and rewarded us with plates of appetizers.
We scheduled a variety of independent or ship shore excursions. In Aruba,
we taxied to Palm Beach, and spent the day walking the beach and playing
volleyball near Howard Johnsons. In Curacao, we walked to town via the
Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge. After waiting for the bridge to close, we
strolled over and criss-crossed the town. In Granada, the spice island, we
found the people to be a bit "bothered," but found our spices while on tour
anyway. At Barbados, the taxi driver suggested we skip "the Boatyard" and
it’s $15 fee and he took us to "the Amaryllis" hotel, 5 minutes more down
the road. The beach was very nice, the chairs were free but I wondered if
we missed anything special at the Boatyard since the crew is known to
frequent it. We'll do it next time. On St. Lucia, we took a ship sponsored
catamaran to the twin peak, Pitons. It was rough going out due to rainy
weather and Michelle didn't feel too well. The only saving grace was that a
dolphin was spotted near the peaks. Although economically poor, Domenica's
riches lie in her geographic beauty and the smiles of her people. We took
one of the best ship sponsored tours ever- an aerial tram ride through the
rainforest. I highly recommend this lush experience with a very
knowledgeable guide. Don't chicken out and pass up the alternate 300'
suspension bridge that is 300' above the water. We weren't going to get off
ship at St. Kitts but decided to stretch our legs in the newly rebuilt
terminal and shopped a bit. Our final stop in Tortola, was another ship's
catamaran ride to Virgin Gorda (fat virgin) which was again rough; so much
so that Randi was glad I had a plastic bag with me. We visited 2 beaches
there. One was "the Baths" which was surrounded by boulders on land and in
the water. It also had some of the highest waves I have ever seen in the
Carib. When one slapped my sun glasses off, I couldn't find them but my
buddy Rob did.
By the way, Tortola was the day I screwed up a new record, 4 times. I
didn’t get us beach towels. I unknowingly threw out the excursion tickets.
I ordered breakfast to the wrong cabin. I ordered the wrong breakfast for
Randi. I apparently, couldn't do anything right. But my valentine
eventually forgave me.
Other trip notes: Rob, Mike and I sang a Beatles tune, "Do you want to know
a secret" at Karaoke. We used the Celebrity valet service for the 1st time
when we reached SJU at a $40 cost. We dropped the bags off at the SJU pier,
like in the old days. Then we went exploring only with our carry-ons. The
next time we saw the bags was on the carousel at Newark. Unfortunately, the
wait there was greater then an hour. Finally, we made it home sweet home.
Next cruise is Connie in November for Thanksgiving.
Sailing #26
Master: Captain Anastassios Lekkas
Cabin 9157 mid aft verandah
Cabin steward: Nolan
Waiter: Tony from India
Asst. Waiter: Sudi from Indonesia
Madre’D: Dorian
Ports: SJU, Sea, Aruba, Curacao, Sea, Grenada, Barbados, St.Lucia, Domenica,
St.Kitts, Tortola & SJU
This was another fun time with Table 33 members: Rob & Michelle; Lori & Mike; and new members, Ralph & Donna; Ron & Darlene, all from Rochester, NY.
But before meeting up with them on Monday, Randi and I spent the day and
night prior in El Convento in Old San Juan celebrating our 30th Valentines Day together. El Convento is an old, quaint and rather expensive hotel that Randi
always wanted to stay in ever since she and Michelle popped in years ago
to go to the bathroom.
I surprised her with a rose petal turndown on the bed in the shape of a
heart, 3 chocolate covered strawberries celebrating 3 decades along with 3
candles. Our songs were playing on the CD player. She really enjoyed the
surprise.
After shopping at her favorite store in Old SJU, Dooney & Bourke, for more
pocket books, (apparently a girl can't have enough of them) we enjoyed a
complimentary wine, happy hour at the hotel as we talked with other guests.
The evening was capped with reservations at the romantic "Il Perugino" which
served up the finest in Italian fare a few doors down.
The next day we boarded Galaxy with our travel mates and right away bumped
into an old crewmember friend, Dale "Sydney" Gauthier working the excursions
desk. She and Tush were instrumental aboard Constellation in 2005 where we
renewed our 25 year wedding vows. We also saw Laura, the cruise sales
manager who informed us that Joyce A. emailed her, to look after us. We also
met Melanie Mowat, CC hostess, who was recently promoted to sales Manager on
Infinity which she will begin shortly.
Melanie invited us to celebrate dinner with the Captain on the 1st formal
night. It was very nice. The Captain was outgoing and talkative however
most of our conversation was with John and Bev who sat across from us. We
got a kick out of the Captain's daily messages with the cute sign off, "bye
for now."
Meanwhile, Michelle changed our original table for 10, which was too loud
near the back wall. It worked out fine because we had some of our best wait
staff yet, Tony the waiter from India and Sudi, his assistant from
Indonesia. Dorian was our fine Matre'D who caught on to our antics quickly
and rewarded us with plates of appetizers.
We scheduled a variety of independent or ship shore excursions. In Aruba,
we taxied to Palm Beach, and spent the day walking the beach and playing
volleyball near Howard Johnsons. In Curacao, we walked to town via the
Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge. After waiting for the bridge to close, we
strolled over and criss-crossed the town. In Granada, the spice island, we
found the people to be a bit "bothered," but found our spices while on tour
anyway. At Barbados, the taxi driver suggested we skip "the Boatyard" and
it’s $15 fee and he took us to "the Amaryllis" hotel, 5 minutes more down
the road. The beach was very nice, the chairs were free but I wondered if
we missed anything special at the Boatyard since the crew is known to
frequent it. We'll do it next time. On St. Lucia, we took a ship sponsored
catamaran to the twin peak, Pitons. It was rough going out due to rainy
weather and Michelle didn't feel too well. The only saving grace was that a
dolphin was spotted near the peaks. Although economically poor, Domenica's
riches lie in her geographic beauty and the smiles of her people. We took
one of the best ship sponsored tours ever- an aerial tram ride through the
rainforest. I highly recommend this lush experience with a very
knowledgeable guide. Don't chicken out and pass up the alternate 300'
suspension bridge that is 300' above the water. We weren't going to get off
ship at St. Kitts but decided to stretch our legs in the newly rebuilt
terminal and shopped a bit. Our final stop in Tortola, was another ship's
catamaran ride to Virgin Gorda (fat virgin) which was again rough; so much
so that Randi was glad I had a plastic bag with me. We visited 2 beaches
there. One was "the Baths" which was surrounded by boulders on land and in
the water. It also had some of the highest waves I have ever seen in the
Carib. When one slapped my sun glasses off, I couldn't find them but my
buddy Rob did.
By the way, Tortola was the day I screwed up a new record, 4 times. I
didn’t get us beach towels. I unknowingly threw out the excursion tickets.
I ordered breakfast to the wrong cabin. I ordered the wrong breakfast for
Randi. I apparently, couldn't do anything right. But my valentine
eventually forgave me.
Other trip notes: Rob, Mike and I sang a Beatles tune, "Do you want to know
a secret" at Karaoke. We used the Celebrity valet service for the 1st time
when we reached SJU at a $40 cost. We dropped the bags off at the SJU pier,
like in the old days. Then we went exploring only with our carry-ons. The
next time we saw the bags was on the carousel at Newark. Unfortunately, the
wait there was greater then an hour. Finally, we made it home sweet home.
Next cruise is Connie in November for Thanksgiving.
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