We awoke Monday morning in the port of Nassau, Bahamas. We had no desire to go into the town - didn't need to shop or go to one of the large casinos. We had been to Nassau about forty years ago, and didn't feel any urge to revisit! So, we explored the ship and learned about our environment for the next two weeks.
The Captain made his daily announcement at 10 AM. He is Greek, as are all of the major officers. We were accustomed to the Dutch officers on Holland America!
There are so many venues with food and beverage - bars and lounges with music going on all the time. And a stunning sky observation lounge. It is a beautiful ship.
The first evening we went to a show in the Eclipse Theater - a group called Horizon, who did "Motown" music. Afterward we went to the sit-down dining room, Moonlight Sonata. It is very nice and offers a varied menu.
Tuesday (April 18) we were at sea.
That evening we went to another show - Euphoria, basically acrobats in a "wannabe" Cirque du Soleil. Here is a blurry photo of Ron's "white hair" shot.
Looking at the heads of the audience gives you an idea of the age of the passengers. Although Celebrity is known to have an average passenger age about 10-15 years lower than the other main-line cruise companies.
Wednesday around 11:15, the pilot boarded the ship to guide us along the coast of Bermuda. We were pleased that we were now leaving the infamous "Bermuda Triangle" where so many ships and planes have mysteriously vanished over the years! We docked at King's Wharf at 1 PM. Bermuda has about 70,000 residents, and is the third most densely populated country on earth. It is also very wealthy, with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Its economy is based on financial services (primarily insurance) and tourism.
We had planned to go into Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, and Ron suggested we wait until later in the afternoon and have dinner there. He knew if we went in earlier, I would end up exhausted and wanting to return to the ship before dinner time. Unfortunately, we didn't pay close enough attention to the ferry schedule. Once we made the long trek from the ship to the ferry dock, we discovered the last ferry returning from Hamilton was at 5:15 PM. We had no desire to take a 1 1/2-hour bus trip at $39 per person each way, nor a $100 taxi ride - on top of what we knew would be an expensive meal (everything in Bermuda is expensive). So, we wandered around the King's Wharf area, and took a small "trolley train" around. Went into a cute pub, Frog & Onion, and then walked back toward the ship.
That evening we decided not to go to the show (magician). We pretty much followed our routine - casino, visiting with people at the Martini Bar which has an ice surface, and then dinner (or vice-versa).
The Oceanview Café was offering Thai food in addition to their usual enormous selection, and we were on our way there when we were stopped (or shall I say hi-jacked) by an employee I will describe as a "shill". Someone is always "selling" something onboard ship, and this person asked if we would like to sample one of the specialty restaurants at a reduced surcharge. He offered us the "deal" for $50 total instead of $45 EACH. We had not planned to sample any of the specialty restaurants since food choices were so abundant, but we were too easily persuaded. We ended up going to Qsine, where we had several courses, including lobster escargot, a goat cheese tart, and filet mignon. None of it did we particularly enjoy, nor was the ambiance anything special. Glad we didn't pay the full supplement price!
The ship remained in port over night, but had an "all aboard" at 12:30 PM Thursday, so again we didn't want to make the long trip into Hamilton. We had a leisurely morning, including Bailey's coffee at the Lawn Club (Deck 15)
The Captain made his daily announcement at 10 AM. He is Greek, as are all of the major officers. We were accustomed to the Dutch officers on Holland America!
There are so many venues with food and beverage - bars and lounges with music going on all the time. And a stunning sky observation lounge. It is a beautiful ship.
The first evening we went to a show in the Eclipse Theater - a group called Horizon, who did "Motown" music. Afterward we went to the sit-down dining room, Moonlight Sonata. It is very nice and offers a varied menu.
Tuesday (April 18) we were at sea.
That evening we went to another show - Euphoria, basically acrobats in a "wannabe" Cirque du Soleil. Here is a blurry photo of Ron's "white hair" shot.
Looking at the heads of the audience gives you an idea of the age of the passengers. Although Celebrity is known to have an average passenger age about 10-15 years lower than the other main-line cruise companies.
Wednesday around 11:15, the pilot boarded the ship to guide us along the coast of Bermuda. We were pleased that we were now leaving the infamous "Bermuda Triangle" where so many ships and planes have mysteriously vanished over the years! We docked at King's Wharf at 1 PM. Bermuda has about 70,000 residents, and is the third most densely populated country on earth. It is also very wealthy, with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Its economy is based on financial services (primarily insurance) and tourism.
We had planned to go into Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, and Ron suggested we wait until later in the afternoon and have dinner there. He knew if we went in earlier, I would end up exhausted and wanting to return to the ship before dinner time. Unfortunately, we didn't pay close enough attention to the ferry schedule. Once we made the long trek from the ship to the ferry dock, we discovered the last ferry returning from Hamilton was at 5:15 PM. We had no desire to take a 1 1/2-hour bus trip at $39 per person each way, nor a $100 taxi ride - on top of what we knew would be an expensive meal (everything in Bermuda is expensive). So, we wandered around the King's Wharf area, and took a small "trolley train" around. Went into a cute pub, Frog & Onion, and then walked back toward the ship.
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Our big outing in Bermuda
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That evening we decided not to go to the show (magician). We pretty much followed our routine - casino, visiting with people at the Martini Bar which has an ice surface, and then dinner (or vice-versa).
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| The Ice Bar |
The Oceanview Café was offering Thai food in addition to their usual enormous selection, and we were on our way there when we were stopped (or shall I say hi-jacked) by an employee I will describe as a "shill". Someone is always "selling" something onboard ship, and this person asked if we would like to sample one of the specialty restaurants at a reduced surcharge. He offered us the "deal" for $50 total instead of $45 EACH. We had not planned to sample any of the specialty restaurants since food choices were so abundant, but we were too easily persuaded. We ended up going to Qsine, where we had several courses, including lobster escargot, a goat cheese tart, and filet mignon. None of it did we particularly enjoy, nor was the ambiance anything special. Glad we didn't pay the full supplement price!
The ship remained in port over night, but had an "all aboard" at 12:30 PM Thursday, so again we didn't want to make the long trip into Hamilton. We had a leisurely morning, including Bailey's coffee at the Lawn Club (Deck 15)
That evening we enjoyed the show - Jeri Sager, a vocalist who has appeared on Broadway, and sings the Broadway tunes I love. To our ear, she has a terrific voice! We had seen her a few years ago on another cruise line. We plan to see her matinee performance later in the week.
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