Grand Cayman doesn’t have a cruise terminal, requiring ships tender (take small water shuttles) from the ship. Some see this as inconvenient, but it’s also makes for a scenic way to arrive. I went to bed last night hoping the weather would hold so that tender operations were able to take place, and in the final hour of our arrival, the sea smoothed out nicely.
Sometimes we travel to explore and see new things, other times we travel to return to what is familiar and comfortable. When the places that are familiar and comfortable are also beautiful, it’s all the better – and that’s what made this stop great.
You don’t know how a car drives until you’ve had it on the highway and in the rain. You don’t know how a cruise ship handles crowds until you’re hanging out on a sea day. While Celebrity generally shines bright on sea days, there was a different feeling on this sailing, but it didn’t slow us down one bit...
Waking up to a phone call letting you know that breakfast is on the way is a great way to start the first full day of the cruise. What made it all the better? Our infinite verandah. Reaching over to my phone and pressing a button to open the blackout curtains, revealing a floor to ceiling view of a very sunny Key West was such a nice experience that for a moment, just a moment, I forgot I was hungover.
Today kicked off the first day of our third cruise on Celebrity Edge. We don’t often repeat ships so quickly, and while ship preference depends on circumstance and is highly subjective, you can absolutely take this as a sign of how much we enjoyed our past Edge experiences. From the moment we booked this sailing though, we looked very forward to seeing what was different – an interesting game anytime you see a new class of ship from her very first sailings through to a more refined experience...
On the last day of a cruise I often feel stuck - unable to commit to any plans because some part of my brain dedicates too much thought to wondering how I could just stay on the ship for one more cruise. On this cruise though, while I certainly didn't want it to end, the day also carried a very different tone as we sat off the coast of hurricane ravaged Freeport. Still we were able to enjoy our day, lay out in the sun shade, and take the in the final hours of our vacation...
I love sea days, and the agenda today had a few interesting things in the earlier hours, and while the day ended up being as relaxing as one could hope, there was an unexpected change in our voyage plans that serves as a reminder of just how lucky we are...
