Hi everyone, and thanks for the nice welcome home, it is very much appreciated..This cruise did start off as a Cruisemate's cruise as Sarah mentioned, but in hurricane season, sometimes some ships sell better then others, so Off I went hosting my only guest....hubby Bruce!
This was the 2nd time I cruised with Celebrity, I sailed the Mercury 2 years ago. with Celebrity's drastic changes for the year 05, and maybe beyond, it may be a while before I get to sail them again, so I will just give some of my observations, the good, bad, and the ugly.
We stayed 2 days at the Renaissance Hotel on 17th St, and it was fabulous, we had dinner with some chat friends at Houston's and lunched at the home of one of them the next day..that was very special, as we have chatted since 96, and each meeting is a memory I cherish.
Embarkation was a breeze, we were on the ship, by noon, and ready to rock and roll, or so I thought..This condition that swells my foot, reared its ugly head, and was in full speed by Monday..It's so odd this waits a couple of days to kick in, so it did slow down my activities, and my desire to really check out more of the ship....
I found that the Lido buffet was mediocre at best...not surprising really..food combinations that challenge the tongue, cold food, bacon that could stand up and salute it was so crisp, and sometimes it was in like 2 inch pieces...
waiters willingly helping you to the table, such a nice touch. We never ate breakfast or lunch in the dining room, and Bruce ate lunch mostly from the poolside grills...
The dining room, was nice, we had a large rear table for 10 in the corner, and was able to see amazing sunsets from this vantage point. The table ended up being for 8 since the the 5th couple opted for late seating instead...better really, easier to chat...the other couples were VERY nice, but, did not follow through with the dress code every night, and I just cannot understand this, but that's just me...
The waiter Venu, was probably the best one I ever had..pleasing everyone with ease,and his charm...Celebrity has a real gem in this man, others I am sure were as great...the asst waiter has a ways to go, midweek, pouring me coffee, instead of tea...but he was very sweet..
The pool area, what can I say, lacked of ANY beauty or charm at all...the one good thing I thought was the permanently covered area for the poolside band to play, and to stage games from...The band was amazing, fantastic, but had no cd out...
Throughout the week, I saw 8 people fall, 3 in this pool area..make it 9 people fall, if I count Castro, falling on tv....These people fell ,and fell hard, and I cringed and felt so bad.. and one girl who fell, got up, and quickly went into the pool..the security man/ woman, [remember PAT from SNL?] sauntered over to the wet spot, and put a cone there, and then, casually looked around the pool for the girl....I stopped her and asked if she was alright..she haultingly told me, she was in the pool, so she MUST be alright, if she wasn't she would have been taken to the DR....I knew that, but her lack of caring to actually talk to the child to show some compassion, bothered me..This was seen again, when one night as I was trying to find tea near the pool..we heard this crashing banging and hissing....we all started to run [ me sort of ] to the noise..to find this keglike box, from the bar..going skidding and hissing across the deck spillling its content...trying to help was this pool waiter who took such a hard fall, I had to look away...there was crew member in a suit, who was walking by, and I told him that his coworker just fell badly, should he go check on him, and he uttered the same thing, the security man/woman said....: he looked okay, if not he would see a Dr..I wanted to smack his lack of compassion...
Okay, my fingers are numb
I will tell more later
Post Edited (10-24-04 16:01)
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