Our cruise left Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday, December 13th.  We spent Monday at sea. Our first port was Cozumel.  We let everyone leave the ship so that we could have it all to ourselves.  Just before leaving, a Mexican orchestra, singers and dancers entertained us. It was one of the better programs we’ve seen.  Next stop, Grand Cayman Island. 

This was an exciting day for us. Normally, we enjoy this port by doing some window shopping and sometimes the real thing. Today, we had booked an excursion with Celebrity for our first ever helicopter ride. We began by the Captain introducing himself. Clearly, he was French but spoke English well. He gave us our safety instructions. 

The helicopter had 7 seats. The captain sat in the starboard front seat with a couple to his left.  Another couple joined us in the back seat. Al sat at the window for the photo shots. Although they advertise this as a 15 minute flight, we all felt as if we were given a half hour’s worth.  The captain assured us that he would take any turns, banking or descending or ascending gradually and would give us a 1,2,3 before making the move. He was true to his word which made the ride comfortable.

We began the tour by going up one coast then over to the north end of the island hovering over a large lagoon where we could see boats, people and stingrays.  These were the excursions where people sign up to swim with the stingrays. We flew over some mansions, a marina, a country club and over beaches and the Caribbean deep waters. We did see a sunken ship where a small boat was anchored with people doing SCUBA diving.

We ended the tour by coming up to the cruise ships that were anchored. We buzzed our ship, the Silhouette, a couple of times. This was a treat and a view we’ve never had during any of our 30+ cruises. It began to rain and but landed smoothly. As soon as we touched ground the rain stopped. We felt the cost was well worth the experience.

From there, we walked the main street ending at about 12:30 PM at Guy Harvey’s restaurant. Someone  in the helicopter team had highly recommended the place. We were not disappointed. We ordered the special, blacked lion fish over a caesar salad. Absolutely delicious!

Our next port was Falmouth, Jamaica.  We docked at a pier that the company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, built 2 years ago. It reminded us a little of Europe with cobblestone streets which were spotless. That day, we signed up for an excursion beginning at 9AM and ending at 3PM.  We took a bus to the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa. Our excursion included a guide who gave us info on Jamaica on the way to the resort then gave us instructions once we arrived. The resort is an all inclusive resort. Our day included access to all the restaurants, bars and other amenities. These included a pool, private beach, long lazy river, water slides, ping pong, table tennis, shuffle board, regular tennis, etc.  We simply found a couple of nice lounge chairs under a tree poolside for the day and turned on our Kindles.

The last port was Labadee which is a private peninsula of Haiti owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Since we had a suite aboard our ship, we had a private beach reserved just for suite guests. There we had our own bar and luncheon buffet. We picked a couple of chaise lounges under a tree for the day. Suzanne spent a good time in the water. She loves floating in that salt water. After a pleasant lunch, we visited some of the shops which are owned and run by locals.

That evening, there was an unveiling of the new Omega James Bond 007 Spector watch.  Just before the big introduction, we looked at some of the watches in the showcase. One that Suzanne said was beautiful was pulled from the case. The salesman asked her if she would like to try it on. Suzanne declined when she saw the price tag showed $44,800!  Then we looked at some others at $14,000, $7,500, etc.  Neither of us need another watch!  After the unveiling, we mingled with the officers. We told the Hotel Director how pleased we were with the new restaurant for suite guests. We told him how much we enjoy cruising with Celebrity. He asked which cabin we had and if we liked red or white wine. I said red. He immediately dialed is cell phone and ordered a bottle of chianti sent to our room. 

The last day, a lazy one, was a sea day. A large buffet luncheon was served poolside where they had two whole roasted lambs along with hamburgers, hotdogs, and all the trimmings. The day before the crew began a huge foyer staircase Christmas decoration.  The following cruise was their Christmas holiday cruise. Ours ended on the 20th.  This was one of the better December cruises we’ve had. While on board, we booked another December cruise for 2017 since we already had reservations for 2016.

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