Southern Caribbean Cruise

SUN., FEB. 18 thru FRI., MARCH 1, 2024

Our pod of 4 (Cheryl, Joe, Gary and I) traveled to Houston on Sunday morning, Feb. 18th, 2024. Gary somehow managed to shoehorn our big truck into an under-sized parking space, and we boarded the off-site shuttle to the airport. Linda & (brother) Andy were already at the airport having flown in earlier from their winter destination in the Rio Grand Valley. We headed over to hang out with them until it was time for them to board their flight to Ft Launderdale. We will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on this cruise!  

Our pod of 4 finally boarded our flight, which left on time. The pilot warned us we would probably encounter turbulence as the weather was stormy in Ft Lauderdale. Great. First part of the flight was fine… and then the fun began. Rain, black skies, and the worst turbulence we’ve ever experienced on a flight. The pilot attempted landing more than once in Ft. Lauderdale. We knew this because you could feel the plane descending and then engines roaring as he went back up again. We couldn’t see a thing out the windows. He was busy trying to land so not giving us a blow-by-blow. Thankfully all the passengers were calm. No screaming going on… except in our heads. Eventually the pilot announced we were being diverted to Tampa for refueling and to wait out the weather. (This is why we always arrive a day early for a cruise.) After sitting on the tarmac for over an hour in Tampa, we eventually took off again and landed in Ft. Lauderdale. L&A had also encountered rough turbulence and had a white knuckle landing in Ft. Lauderdale but arrived before the airport shut down for several hours. 

We finally touched down around 9 pm, about 4.5 hours later than expected. We all clapped when we landed! The airport was packed as everyone else had similar delayed flights. We eventually got to the hotel around 10 pm. L&A had already gone to bed. However, Linda & Phil, friends from Massachusetts who completed our expanded pod of 8 on this trip, met us in the lobby and helped us schlep all our stuff upstairs… including 2 bottles of wine, which we purchased in the lobby! L&P arrived from Boston on an early morning flight so it was raining but not as turbulent as what we experienced. We said goodnight to them and C&J and Gary and I walked across the street to Wendy’s and picked up dinner to bring back to have with some wine. And that concluded our first day. 

The next morning it was time to board our Celebrity Beyond ship and start our 11-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise. We have no where to go but up after this interesting beginning. We’ve been on a sister ship to this one and are familiar with the four main dinning restaurants and stunning art on board this ship that numbers over 4,300 pieces. 

After breakfast at the hotel on Mon., Feb. 19th, we all finished packing and boarded 2 Ubers to get the 8 of us over to the terminal. That all went smoothly. 

After separating to head to our rooms, we eventually found each other in the afternoon and watched the sail away from Ft. Lauderdale. Very pretty. 

The first full day on board ship was a sea day so very relaxing. We were looking forward to Day 2 and arriving in Grand Cayman but just as we had all gotten up early for various shore excursions, we found out that due to high winds the tenders could not operate. Apparently this was a Grand Cayman decision, not a ship decision. All three other cruise ships were in the same boat. Haha. No one was going ashore to Grand Cayman. Sooooo now we have an unexpected sea day. Eventually we’ll get off the ship but not tomorrow as that is another planned sea day. 

Thankfully there’s plenty of fun activities on board ship plus our own game playing and a very fun pod in which to hang with… plus great meals and fantastic shows. Celebrity is known for having outstanding theater productions, and these did not disappoint. Superb! It’s like attending a Las Vegas show. 

On Friday, Feb. 23, we docked in Cartagena, Colombia, known as the Colombian Miami with its distinctive white skyline. The skyline is filled with modern white skyscrapers one after the other… beautiful and practical to repel the sun. Our pod of 8 had varying plans for today. Cheryl, Joe, Gary and I enjoyed a relaxing boat ride viewing the skyline. Afterwards we did a walking tour of Old Town (a world UNESCO site), surrounded by almost 7 miles of defensive walls built during the 16-1700s to protect the city from continual pirate attacks. Old Town features narrow cobbled streets, balconies draped in bougainvillea, and massive churches. 

A few interesting facts:

• The Port of Cartagena is the 4th largest in all of Latin America.
• 70 percent of the world’s emeralds come from Colombia.
• Colombia is one of the largest flower producers in the world. 70% are imported to the U.S. Of the 4,000 orchid species, 1,500 are only found in Colombia. 
• 80% of residents are Catholic. 

Only negative to the city? The constant barrage of vendors. 

On the way back to the ship we stopped briefly at Port Oasis, a bird sanctuary located at the port. Such a find!

Once back on board, we reunited with the other pod members for drinks, dinner, and the evening’s entertainment which included an illusionist in the theater and acrobats performing practically above our heads in a smaller venue afterwards. 

Saturday, Feb 24th, we cruised into Aruba in the afternoon. Just in time for our pod of 8 to enjoy a 2-hour sunset cruise on a catamaran. Delightful!  

On Sun., Feb. 25, while our ship was still docked in Oranjestad, Aruba, we opted for an off-road jeep tour. Six of our pod were in the same jeep. It was very off-road, extremely bumpy, and we had an 18” climb to get in! A ton of laughs. Some of us enjoyed it more than others! Gary & I thought it was fun but we have a warped sense of fun! 

We made 4 stops… 

First was Ayo Rock Formations where we had a brief but strenuous walk up a steep flight of stairs and through a narrow passage to see ancient petroglyphs. We also saw monolithic rock boulders formed from a single piece of rock dating back thousands of years. And we saw Crested Saguaro cactus, similar to what we’ve seen in Arizona. Aruba is actually a desert climate.

Our second stop was Blackstone Beach, the only “black sand” beach in Aruba although the beach was comprised mostly of black rocks rather than black sand. It was beautiful! Located near that was Tripod Bridge or Three Bridges… an all natural formation. 

Our third stop was an abandoned gold mine and our last stop was Mangel Halto Beach, where Linda 2 (not to be confused with Linda 1) & I were able to enter the beach thru a secluded grove of mangroves. So lovely. 

Then it was back to the ship for another fun dinner with our pod of 8 and a fabulous theater performance by “Uptown” singing Motown music. We capped off the night with a walk on the top deck under the stars.

On Mon., Feb. 26, our port of call was the island of Curaçao, which is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As you can imagine some islanders are happy about that and some want their independence. Apparently no place in this world is happy with their government. lol. 

Cheryl, Joe, Gary and I opted for a tour of Hato Cave. Unlike other caves we’ve visited that are located well below ground, this one was 60 ft above sea level and hot and humid. We’re used to caves being a constant 72 degrees. This one was definitely not that! Interesting formations and well worth a visit! 

Afterwards we did a guided walking tour of downtown where we perhaps learned more of the island’s history than we had bargained for, but enjoyable nonetheless. The Inner City and Harbor are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We saw the Governor’s Palace. Apparently she’s quite approachable and will sometimes stop and say hi to the tourists. However, not the day we visited. We saw the Queen Emma Pedestrian Bridge, which is the oldest and longest floating bridge in the world at 548 ft long. It floats on 15 pontoons and swings open 30 times a day to allow boat traffic thru… thankfully not when any people are walking across. We saw the gigantic Punda Love Hearts… made up of locks. You can buy a lock and seal your love with your partner. We didn’t feel the need… we’re good. And we enjoyed all the pastel colored architecture and beautiful murals on the buildings. So pretty!

We learned some tidbits about Curaçao culture and language… there were several Chichi sculptures on display. Chichi is the “loving household name” for the eldest sister in the traditional Curaçao family structure. We also learned Dushi means sweet in the local Papiamento language… for example, it could be sweet as in your significant other or a piece of cake!

Did I mention it was hot?! 

Then we had a late lunch back on board ship, followed by a dip in the pool. We met up with our entire pod of 8 for drinks at the Sunset Bar, then another fabulous production show in the theater. This one was entitled Arte. It was an immersion of visual effects, dance, acrobats and singing. Stunningly well done! Afterwards we had a late dinner at the French restaurant Normandie, where we once again were the last ones leaving. And that completed our day.

Tue., Feb. 27 was a Sea Day. Three of us did a Galley Tour. That was interesting… a few fun facts: A total of 14 various Chefs work under the Exec. Chef and there are 167 cooks and 81 cleaning personnel. Food & Beverage (bar, restaurants, and galley) has 670 crew members making it the biggest department on board. On an average day at sea, 19,000 dishes are prepared for guests and crew. 

The other interesting talk was by the Cruise Director Shawna and was entitled “What You Didn’t Know About Cruise Ship Life.” Fascinating. We already knew the crew work on a contract basis. We didn’t know that crew members are allowed to date one another but it’s a big no-no to date a guest. Also there’s a Zero Tolerance policy if a crew member gets off the ship for some R&R but fails to return on time. They are fired on the spot. Shawna also had photos of crew cabins (small) and the crew night club etc. Fun talk! 

Of course there was Mexican Train to play, more shows to enjoy, more food and more drinks. Plenty to keep our pod of 8 occupied for a day at sea! Plus “smoky” drinks for a few members of our pod… Cheryl & Gary had a Smoky Bull and Joe opted for a Smoky Old Fashioned. The bartender placed each drink in a clear box then lit up a “something” which got smoky and infused the drinks. I stuck with my Gin & Tonic thank you very much. 

On Wed., Feb 28, we had our final port of call in Falmouth, Jamaica. Our smaller pod of 4 did a rafting trip on the Martha Brae River. Oy! Rocky start to this shore excursion. We waited 45 minutes to board the bus to take us to the rafting location then waited over an hour for our rafting trip to begin. Ugh. Luckily the rafting trip was worth it. Very unique experience being on a 2-person 30 ft. bamboo raft with our captain doing all the work. He steered us 3 miles down the scenic Martha Brae River which looked rather Jurassic Parkish. The river is actually about 20 miles long. Each raft has a lifespan of about 6 or 7 months before they have to be redone. I asked how long it takes to build a new raft… our captain said two days or “with friends and a bottle of rum, a few hours.” lol. The depth of the water went from less than a foot to 8 ft. 

Afterwards we headed to Blue Water Beach for lunch, swimming and relaxing. Very windy at the beach! Felt like Galveston! The water was a nice temp but the seaweed swirling around my feet was a little freaky.

All-in-all a fun day. When we came back on board ship we headed to the pool for more relaxation. Then enjoyed another sunset. Early on in our cruise the ship’s captain had said to watch for a green flash as the sun is going down. It’s rare but can happen in the Caribbean. Gary actually saw it during this sunset. (The captain commented on the green flash the next day.)  Tonight we celebrated (sis) Linda’s birthday a week early at Fine Cut Steakhouse on board ship. 

Great couple of days!

Thurs., Feb 29th, was the final day of our cruise and a Sea Day. We listened to a talk by Captain Kate, one of the few female captains on a large cruise ship (3% of cruise ship captains are women)…. she talked about life on board ship during Covid, her daily life as a Captain, and answered questions. Fascinating! It was also the last buffet lunch. The galley staff pulled out all the stops with desserts that were works of art! Even the crew were taking photos of them. Gary and I did an afternoon “Art, Architecture & Design Tour” that was right up our alley. We got the inside scoop on some of the 4,500 pieces of art onboard ship from 700 artists from over 40 countries. Wow. 

Some of the highlights:

• The Chandelier in the Grand Plaza has 8 different light shows programmed and the LED lights would cover a half mile if placed end to end.
• One art installation allowed you to see the underpinnings of the ship.
• There was a solid bronze cast of Lady Normandie. She was originally cast for the ocean liner SS Normandie built in the 1930s. She was found at the bottom of the ocean after SS Normandie capsized and was brought back to life for Celebrity Beyond.
• There is a Peacock outside one of the restaurants made of 28,854 Swarovski crystals and natural peacock feathers.
• One piece was entitled “Vestimentas.” It was meant to pay homage to the artist’s mother who was a seamstress. The art resembles garments under construction. It’s made of canvas, bronze and wire and can bend and mold at will. (See below)

Our pod of 8 played a final round of Mexican Train. We all enjoyed the last theater production entitled “Elements” which did not disappoint. The singers, dancers, acrobats, musicians, amazing costumes and 20-foot-tall 4K LED screen (curving 110 feet around the stage) make for truly mesmerizing performances. Beyond fabulous! 

We had an outstanding time… so many laughs. We dined late every evening and closed whichever restaurant we happen to be at and usually had the servers laughing. We celebrated Linda & Andy’s 50th Wedding Anniversary, and an early birthday celebration for Linda #1. We had just as much fun with C&J on sea as we do on land! And finally, we’ve cruised with our Massachusetts friends Linda & Phil four times now. Each time better than the last! We have been back in Galveston now for a few months but are getting ready to venture off again May 10th (2024) for more RV travels! We are feeling blessed.