Caribbean cruise anyone??
The ship has just been renovated so cabins feel refreshed and the fabulous Martini 'Ice' cocktail bar and the lovely Tuscan Grill Italian restaurant have been added. The ship has a lovely intimate feel and unlike many others isn’t covered with huge open atriums, giving you the chance to hide away at the Bistro or lovely Gelateria, where you can sample some of the best ice creams ever!
We opted for a Balcony Concierge Class cabin, which is mid-ship on Deck 8 and had lots of lovely touches - fluffy towels & robes, fresh fruit daily and champagne on arrival. Balcony cabins are well priced with Celebrity and means not only do you have all the ship facilities to enjoy but you can escape to your own balcony and watch the world go by (Ask for tips on cabin location if you’re after a balcony with sunshine).
We left Fort Lauderdale and sailed for two days, passing the Florida Coastline and Keys, Cuba and down to Dutch Antilles. Aruba, the first port, is quite quiet so get away and relax on Palm Beach, go Kayaking or snorkeling or like us, go horse riding on the beach. On to Curacao where the ship docks 10min walk outside Willemstad but make sure you don't miss this colourful town! We explored the town and visited the Sea Aquarium before heading off snorkeling! The next day was at sea so we enjoyed a relaxing day, got all dressed up for the glamorous formal night and headed to the Martini bar to be entertained with cocktail tricks by the waiters.
Next was Grenada… one of my favourites. A lovely island but St. Georges Port can be very busy so I’d highly recommend grabbing a local water taxis to Grand Anse beach or to explore the island. We also went on an eco safari to do some more snorkeling which was brilliant but we did regret not seeing more of the island. Next, Barbados where we chose an island jeep safari and spent the morning seeing the real Barbados, before collapsing at Carlisle Bay beach.
St Lucia was my absolute favourite - beautiful and again I’d recommend taking the time to explore the island. The La Soufriere sulphur springs and volcano, the botanical gardens, the famous Twin Pitons are all amazing. Antigua was the last 'true' Caribbean island where we visited Stingray City – a fantastic experience in the sea feeding wild stingrays, followed by a kayak around the mangroves before exploring the island a little. Finally, we visited Shirley Heights at Nelsons Dockyard to sample some local rum punch.
St Maarten was a little less ‘Caribbean’ but still fantastic - We booked a full day’s Aquaboat and Jeep excursion and travelled around in a fun convoy before exploring the coastline on two person speedboats. We ate a delicious lunch at the beach and then explored the island en-route back to the ship.
Our final destination was St Thomas (USVI) which was the most commercial of the islands with a huge port area to explore. Magens Beach is lovely but quite busy – my husband sampled the scuba diving and had an amazing morning whilst I went over to St John which was very pretty if you’re up for the ferry journey, which is a real experience!
The food onboard was excellent as you’d expect with Celebrity. We didn't get a chance to sample all the restaurants on board this time although did order the complimentary room service on a couple of occasions as we simply couldn’t muster the energy to leave our room! The weather was so glorious that we didn’t need to visit the solarium but we did make use of both the running track and the gym on several occasions and we were even lucky enough to have a tour of the bridge and engine room.
I always highly recommend Celebrity. Their standards are excellent and they always offer modern affordable luxury. This itinerary is ideal if you haven't been to the Caribbean before as it lets you sample many of the islands first hand. I loved it and so will you – get in contact for more information.