Life around the ship

I thought I’d tell you a bit about our cabin and our life aboard ship (Celebrity Silhouette; (see http://celebritycruises.com).  We got a room with a deck so we can sit outside, and we chose a cabin (room 1126) on a ‘bump-out’ (angle) so our veranda is a bit deeper than most.   Here are some pictures:

We are SO impressed with the Celebrity cruise line.   The staff are all friendly and seem happy to do a good job.  I spoke with a restroom attendant from Peru, and she said it’s a great job (!) and the company treats her well (and this is not a position where people tip her).  Things are so well taken care of, from cloth hand towels in the restrooms, to everything being so clean, excellent food (!!!) and even a LOT of storage, considering the compact spaces on a cruise ship cabin. 

When we first wake up or even in the middle of the night, we can go out on our balcony and look at the peaceful waters lapping on the side of the boat. It’s so quiet. We’re slowly passing, so silently, with only the sounds of the waters.

We get up depending on the day’s schedule.  If we have an excursion in port, we sometimes have to get up at 6AM (which is 9 or 10PM your time!); otherwise, we’re lazy bums and get up about 9AM.  We can have breakfast in a dining room from a menu, or grab something from a buffet upstairs – everything from scrambled eggs and bacon to kippers, rice, fresh fruit, waffles, bagels with lox and cream cheese and capers, and so on.  Lunch is the same – either restaurant or buffet.  There is a tea-time serving too with special cakes and tarts. 

After breakfast, we either do our scheduled excursion, or go wandering around the port, exploring and shopping.  At this moment, I’m in the room writing and out our balcony I see Rhodes.

Often we’ll play cards with Mark and Catherine.  So far we’re playing Five Crowns, but we plan to do some canasta before the trip is over!  Or we’ve gone to the pool or hot tub – there is a pool for Over-16 only, so no kids yelling and splashing.  There is a library for reading, an iLounge (sponsored by Apple, obviously) for technology things, a Hideaway, and lots of little spaces.  There is food and drink offered all over the ship – some free and some premium.

We have an 8:30 PM seating at dinner, which usually lasts two hours. They offer choices of four or five appetizers, four soups, four salads and maybe eight or ten main dish, plus five dessert options.  We’ve had hummus, tuna tartare, beef borginione (?), leg of lamb, drumfish, … and so much more.  By the time dinner is over (10:30 PM) it’s hard to go right to sleep, so we end up staying up a while… to our detriment in the morning!