Fort Lauderdale

Embarkation

We drove down to Fort Lauderdale the night before our planned cruise and stopped at J. Alexander's for a french dip and Mr. Jack's Chicken Finger platter before crashing at a local hotel. The next morning we drove to the port. It was surprisingly uncrowded so we were early so Janie dropped J. R. off with the bags and parked the car. The porters came and we met up at the entrance and were the first people through security. We sat until around 11 and then boarded the Celebrity Silhouette.

Celebrity Silhouette

It was our first time aboard the Silhouette so we took some time after lunch in the buffet to explore the ship, but found it was very similar to the Reflection except for some changes in artwork.

Martini Bar

We stopped by the martini bar for our first drinks of the day and then decided to go to Future Cruise to book a trip to Spain and Portugal that would align with our trip to Africa.

World Class Bar

We went to our room to drop off the free bottle of wine we got from Future Cruise and our luggage was already there so we unpacked and then watched the sailaway from the deck. After that, we went down to the World Class Bar so Janie could get her favorite drink, the Double Piquant.

On Broadway

The evening show was "On Broadway", which was a collection of Broadway and West End song performed by the production cast and dancers.

Murano

Our dinner tonight was in the specialty restaurant, Murano. We split the Chateaubriand for Two as our meal and it was as delicious as always.

Day At Sea

Sushi Making

We had our sushi making class in the morning. J. R. and Rebecca had done this on another cruise and it had not gone well but ours was much better. Their rice fell apart trying to make the rolls but the rice here was perfect. We made a tempura roll as well as some nigiri. The odd part was, the Ship Excursion host told us we could not take any food out of the restaurant but when we finished, the chefs brought over take-out trays and told us to pack up our food as we couldn't eat it there. We took it to our room and finished it off.

Martinis and Mixology

In the afternoon, we had two of our tasting events. We actually had a third, the Food and Wine Pairing, booked for Thursday but Celebrity moved it to Tuesday so we would have been going from Martini Masterclass to Food and Wine to Mixology 101 in a row and that was not going to work, so we cancelled Food and Wine. Celebrity offered to book us for the World Wine Tour at twice the price and we declined. The Martini Masterclass was the same as we had done on our last cruise, but it is still a fun time to interact with the bartender and fellow guests. The Mixology 101 surprised us as we were treated to some new drinks we had not made before.

Shine The Night

We went upstairs to the Shine the Night party and danced to the DJ music for a bit. They had 'technical difficulties' of some kind so the party started late. We are not a fan of this new party as it is basically for the entertainment staff to show off their dance moves along with a cameo from the production cast and dancers so it is not really a dance party for the guests but a performance piece.

Nightcap

The music turned to club music at the party so we decided to go to World Class Bar for a nightcap before bed. We had our drinks and went back to our room around 11PM to find the toilet nearly full with water and the flush button not working. We called Guest Services who said they would send a plumber. 20 minutes later a stateroom attendant showed up and said she would call the plumber. At 11:45, we called Guest Services again and after them not answering twice, finally got through to someone who said the plumber was coming and could fix the problem from outside the room. No one ever showed up so we had no toilet all night.

Cozumel

Persian Garden

We were awakened at 6AM by the sound of rushing water in our bathroom. At first we thought it was the plumber coming to fix the toilet but after 15 minutes, J. R. checked and found water flowing from behind the toilet and covering the floor. We called Guest Services and a frantic woman wearing an officer's uniform came and began yelling into her radio for assistance as she started bailing water into the shower. A stateroom attendant arrived shortly thereafter to help, at which time the woman in stripes interrogated us on what happened. J. R. explained we had called twice last night for the plumber and no one showed up and we had spent the night without a working toilet and woken up to a bathroom flooding and we expected some form of compensation and the woman turned and left the room. The attendant said the plumber was on his way. Janie had to change in the closet and J. R. behind the curtain as she needed to get ready for her excursion.

We grabbed breakfast at the buffet and went to the Solarium and J. R. realized the spa was open and we could use our free day in the Persian Garden for Elite members since it was a port day so we went there to relax for an hour before Janie needed to leave for her excursion.

Snorkeling

Janie had booked a snorkeling excursion which took her to two different locations near Cozumel where she tried out the GoPro camera she got for her birthday.

Craft Social

Celebrity replaced the under-used Cellar Masters from the other S-class ships with Craft Social on the Millenium and it is a great upgrade. There is an actual bar and comfortable places to sit during the day. J. R. stayed on the ship while Janie was snorkeling and relaxed on the pool deck and down in Craft Social with an Old Fashioned and his Kindle.

Helipad Sailaway

We were invited to the Captain's Club sailaway on the helipad so we gathered on deck 6 and walked out to have mimosas or champagne as the captain steered the ship out of the port. Janie decided to leave early, which turned out to be a big mistake, as she slipped coming down the stairs from the helipad and injured her ankle. A staff member came and got J. R. and we went down to the medical center. We were less than pleased with the treatment as they took Janie to get an x-ray and left J. R. to fill out paperwork. The attendant asked him several times how she was injured and who it was reported to, and he had to tell the guy multiple times he was not there when the accident occurred and had no idea what happened. The doctor said the x-ray was negative and left her with a compression brace and had her taken up to the room without ice or painkillers. Luckily, we had Advil and Tylenol with us. Janie would find out when she returned home and had an x-ray that she had broken her tibia at the ankle.

Second Day At Sea

Day At Sea

Janie's injury meant most of our day at sea plans would change. She decided to join J. R. for breakfast, which meant a slow painful walk across the ship to the main dining room. Service was slow and J. R. had to go up and get his own coffee refill. Janie went back to the room to rest and J. R. brought her down some ice and said he was going to the Solarium. She decided to join him there so we spent most of the morning relaxing. J. R. booked Sushi on Five at noon so we went downstairs for that. Janie went back to the room with some more ice and J. R. headed to Bacio and then Ensemble for a drink. Janie joined him later and then we both went to World Class where we hung out until it was time for dinner back in Tuscan Grille and then bedtime.

Houston

Debarkation and Baby Shower

We went down to Tuscan Grill to wait for our disembarkation time. We sat for awhile and then overheard the attendant saying group 19 had been called to someone at the desk. We were group 12 and no one had called any numbers and the app had not updated. We went to Sushi on Five to get a wheelchair for Janie. While she waited for the elevator, J. R. went to get the luggage. A porter helped him to the pickup point and then he met Janie and went to get the car. Due to Fleet Week, traffic was heavy and it started to rain, but eventually he made his way to Janie and we were off to Miami Airport. Our trip was not fun as we had someone cut us off driving recklessly and then GPS took us off the highway into heavy congested traffic. There was no indoor parking so we had to park outside on the deck and then the elevator closest was not working, so Janie had to walk even further. Luckily we had stopped at CVS and gotten her a cane.

Our flight to Houston was on time and Alex picked us up at the airport. Bethany made pasta for dinner and we talked for a while before bed while watching the NFL draft. The next day was the baby shower so Janie headed off with Bethany while Alex and J. R. went to Willie's for some chicken wings. After we helped clean up the baby shower and bring the haul home, we ordered a pizza. Sunday after church, the Vuyks came over so Bethany could show off her gifts and then the four of us went to dinner. We stayed at the house on Monday so Janie could rest then flew back to Miami and drove home to Orlando.