As many of you know, I just recently returned from a cruise on Celebrity. My first cruise since February, 2020! WIth all the changes, I was not sure what exactly to expect. I think this review will help everyone know what to expect on Celebrity, a cruise and in these particular ports!
Boarding and Day 1 - Boarding was an absolute breeze. I had a 2PM boarding time (much to my dismay, I like boarding early) But I arrived at 1, hoping I would be able to get on board. I parked at the terminal parking garage, that was $15 a day and the shuttle had already quit operating, so, I walked. I would have walked anyway, but I wondered what would have happened with some of the older clients that I saw having issues walking.
Once inside the terminal, there was no line. I walked right through security after a quick check and had to go to the desk due to not being vaccinated. After a short wait, Josua from guest services arrived and welcomed me warmly and just wanted to inform about needing a Celebrity shore excursion to go into St. Lucia. Took around 5 minutes and I was on the ramp. From Parking to the ship, it was less than 15 minutes. A great experience.
Once on board I had to check in at my muster station. No longer is there a drill, but you do have to check in. Took about two minutes and I was off to the gym.
The gym was empty, so, really easy to get a quick bike ride in and enjoy the view from the secret verandha that is attached to the gym. The equipment was in good order and the area was spacious.
After that I went back to my room to drop off anything I could and check to see if my bag was there. They were working on the bag drop, I saw my bag in the hall, gave the steward a dollar and asked him to grab it. No problem. Bag was ready and I was able to get ready for the afternoon. I spent about an hour in the room enjoying my balcony and getting cleaned up.
After the live sailaway and zoom, I headed over to the martini bar for an espresso. I had gotten up extrememly early to get to the cruise, about a 5 hour drive. The martini bar is one of if not the most popular bar on board and it was packed. I luckily got a seat at the bar (one left). had a nice coffee drink, spoke with this canadian guy who was also sailing solo on his first cruise. He said it was hard for him to be able to cruise due to a lot of restrictions with Canada.
Shortly after sailaway I headed out to the sunset bar for some great views while we left Fort Lauderdale. A great view and I recommend the Sunset bar for views and there is also one side dedicated to smoking.
Once the ship got to international waters people started lining up for the shows, dinner and ship enjoyment. The next two days will be at sea, so, you can feel the energy. A great night to explore the ship and see some of the entertainment offered. The ship was really well maintained, the layout is good and its easy to get around the ship. Take this time to grab some good food and enjoy your preferred entertainment.
The first full day at sea I woke up late and went to the buffet. I have to say, Celebrity has the best buffet at sea. The choices, display and the quality are great! After lunch, I went to the gym and then the solarium. The solarium is adults only - great place to relax by the pool. In the evening, I wondered around the ship.
After another day at sea, our first stop was St. Johns, Antigua. This was a great port stop! I had been here one other time and went to Nelson's Dockyard, which was just OK. This trip I went hiking to an old fort and the views were amazing. I used Shore Excursions group to book my hike and there were only 3 other people on the tour. The guide was really nice and showed us a great hike. Let me know if youd like to do this in St. Johns and ill get you the same tour!
The next port was St. Lucia. In this port, I had a great hike and catamaran set up and had to cancel it due to St. Lucia having severe restrictions for the unclean. I ended up on a Catamaran and swim wth Celebrity, which was fine. We went to the Petons and a local beach. I enjoyed this tour. The night before Celebrity told me that St. Lucia dropped any restriction, and offered to let me cancel, but I wanted to stay and I am glad I did.
The Next port was Barbados. I have been to Barbados a few times and its not one of my preferred islands. It does have an interesting history, so, I chose the George Washington house tour and Garrison tunnels. The tunnels were very interesting. The house itself was a historical museum which you could easily see quickly and then walk over to the beach. Might be something to check out if you are into historical landmarks, but I probably wouldnt recommend it to people looking for a more eventful day. The guides were great and I did like the tunnels.
The next day we docked in Martinique. I did a kayak through the mangroves. Not really my favorite. The guides were amazing, though. The kayak was on the open bay for a good 20 minutes and it was windy, very tough to get any speed going. The mangroves were uninteresting to me. Martinique is a municipality of France and is very safe, clean and easy to walk off the ship and visit the town. Last time I went, I did a hike, which i found much more enjoyable.
St. Kitts was the last port and I love St. Kitts! I did a rainforest hike and got a bonus island tour. I used Shore excursions group again and no other people showed up so, I combined with two other people and they let me do the entire tour, which I was fine with. The guide was young, but really nice and took me to a great smoothy stand in Basseterre after the hike. It was delicious! I highly recommend doing a cruise that stops in St. Kitts.
Ultimately, I grade this cruise an A. The ship was clean and well maintained. The food was awesome, staff was kind and the casino was fun. I plan on being on the Equinox again soon! Please let me know if you have any questions!
