Updated for Goofy Mom - Mini-trip report from our Celebrity Cruise About This Page:

[Courtney]

Hi guys! Frank and I went on an 11-night Caribbean cruise on the Celebrity Summit in December of 2004 for our anniversary. If I did a trip report for all 12 days, we'd be here forever, so I thought I'd just do a brief overview.

During the cruise, we visited Key West, Cozumel, Costa Rica, Panama, Aruba, and Curacao. We embarked in Fort Lauderdale, in the fastest embarkation I've ever had in my life. Our room was all the way forward, which wasn't exactly the best in terms of ship movement, but to make up for it, we had about 50 additional square feet of space, which was REALLY nice. Our window faced forward over the helicopter landing pad, instead of to the side, and had a little shelf area that was big enough for us to sit in and watch where we were going.



And our cabin location...



On the first day, I asked our cabin steward - Juan - for some extra mattress pads, because I had bad leg cramps during my first trimester, and that night, we had three inches of padding on our bed.

He also would do this funny thing...would find our clothes and fold them up and leave them on the couch. Even if they were dirty. We found out that not all of the cabin stewards were doing this, and would crack up when we came back to the room and had folded clothes. (Yes, we left a BIG tip at the end of the cruise!)



At dinner, we had a large table that sat 12, but there were only 8 of us there. Because this was a long cruise and in a sort of off-season (early December), there were only 12 children on the cruise, and the average age was somewhere in the 50's/60's. Our table was a table of 20 and 30 somethings, including another couple with a pregnant wife - Kim (and Alec) - and we ended up practically attached at the hip for the entire cruise (and they are coming on the Bermuda cruise with Kelly - kv3291 - and Jeannine - PrincessJ9 - and I this year.)

Below is a picture of our waiter - Miguel - and our asst. waiter - Savio - who were both FABULOUS!



More on the way...

[Courtney]

The first place we stopped was in Key West...here are a few pictures of that -




My FAVORITE place in all of Key West -


For Maureen -


The Southernmost Point -


We actually walked all the way to the Southernmost Point and it was HOOOOT in Key West that day.

When waiting for the tender to take us back to the ship, Celebrity hands out chilled towels. (Actually, they did this in every port, and Key West was the only one we tendered in.) Here is a picture of Frank, happy with his towel...



More coming...

[MontiMouse]

Courtney -

I am glad to see you are feeling better and back posting on the boards! Your trip sounds great. I can't wait to read more about it!

[GoofyMom]

Those are some terrific photos! I'm loving the ones of you guys with those Photo Posing Tourist thingies!

[Tara O'Hara]

Wow! 11 days!! What gorgeous pictures!!

[crystalloubear]

I think the Summit was my favorite ship ever. We did the Eastern Itinerary , but it was a great experience. Thanks for sharing your trip - can't wait to hear more. I love cruising.

[statelady01]

Thanks for my little shot of paradise even if it was missing the cheeseburger part.

[Courtney]

We didn't take any pictures of Cozumel...sorry. We got off the ship there and went shopping. We were in Cozumel in October on a different cruise, and went to Paradise Beach, but felt like doing something different this time. We've decided to do the baby's room in a circus/clown theme, and found a TON of papier mache clowns in Cozumel, so bought a couple of those, and then just headed back to the ship.

My doctor advised me not to go to the rainforest areas in both Costa Rica and Panama, because the CDC recommends malaria and yellow fever shots, and he would prefer that I not run the risk of catching either. So, in Costa Rica, there is a small shopping area just off the pier, which we mulled around in. Frank bought some Cuban cigars. (He and Alec spent many a night in the aft outside dining area smoking cigars together.)

They also had a little internet station, so I bought a 100 minute card for $3 (yes, $3!), and got on Yahoo IM to talk to my mom, Jeannine, and Maureen, and answered some emails. Frank snapped this picture of me -



In Panama, there was a shopping "mall" at the pier, where we bought my grandmother a frog figurine for her bathroom for the HUGE price of $4. And this is where we found out that in Panama, it's apparently a BIG DEAL to be pregnant. I was wearing just a tee shirt and shorts, not even a maternity outfit, and a woman who was helping us in one of the stores said, "You're pregnant! That's great!", and all of a sudden, I became Miss Popular. They explained that pregnant women were treated VERY well in Panama, because it is seen as a beautiful, wonderful thing, which I thought was pretty neat!

Next was Aruba, and hands down, our favorite port. Frank and I rented a Jeep, got a map, and headed out. The Jeep's top did come all the way up, but didn't latch, which we learned when it started to rain. A local saw us trying to get the top up, and said, "You don't need to do that, it will stop in 5 minutes." It didn't look like it planned to stop in 5 minutes, but low and behold, it did. And it was like that all day...a few hours of sun bearing down, and then a quick thunderstorm.

Here are a few pictures from our tour of the island...

California Lighthouse (and our Jeep!)


Our lizard friend, who we "met" while at a chapel, and who followed us around.


An inscription on the gate of a garden we visited


We climbed to the top of a rock formation, and then snagged this picture of a formation and more of the island below


There is a beach in Aruba, where locals and tourists alike make stacks of rocks. Nobody knows who started this, and nobody knows WHY anyone does it, but it is just an entire beach of stacked rocks. So, of course, Frank and I had to make a stack.


And this is a natural bridge, created by the waves crashing against the coastline.


And here is just a picture of Aruba's beautiful coastline. Frank and I already decided that we definitely wanted to go back there someday.

[kimdisneynut]

Great report

Kim

[DopeyGirl]

Frank seems like a character . . . I was cracking up at the picture of him "chilling" with his towel!!!

Great pictures of the cruise so far and I am looking SO forward to seeing more!!! (and hearing all about it too, of course!!! )

[LizardCop]

Great Mini report Courtney!!!

Really good pictures!!!

Love the "Key West" look, though I don't remember that look when I loved there!!!

[BritDisFan]

Your pictures are fab Courtney, I'm looking forward to more.

Karen

[GoofyMom]

Wow - those photos of Aruba! Thanks for sharing them! That is one place I've dreamed of visiting ever since I leaarned it existed!

[OffKilter_Lynn]

Given my dreary, cold, rain-soaked day, your pictures are FABULOUS!! Makes me want to say 'Ahhhhhhh!' Glad you had a good time.

[CruiserGuy]

Sounds like a great time. Some of my favorite ports.