I Am A Celebrity!

Sunday, June 22, 2025

2013 -1 - "The O'Brien Cruise"

Celebrity Reflection Leaving Port of Miami
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

BY 2010 I had made trips to Virginia, New Mexico, Vermont, Maine,Texas, Chicago and Canada - either as family outings or photography - dedicated trips. My view of travel put cruising somewhere in a long list of different ways to travel and things to do. I knew I would do a cruise (or two) someday, but a regular "diet" of it wasn't really in my mind.

I was lukewarm, for a number of reasons. But game

ONE TRIP was to California to visit my daughter, who lived in San Francisco at the time. During our week there, we spent an overnight up in Napa, doing a couple private vineyard tours. One of them was at The O'Brien Estate Vineyard, where we ultimately became a "wine club" member. We have also become friends with the vintners, Bart and Barb O'Brien and have traveled with them a couple times on their club trips. Their first wine club trip was in 2013, and was a Caribbean Cruise. You can see where this is going.

Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

WHILE WE had thoroughly enjoyed our Ruby Princess Caribbean Cruise, as I mentioned in my final post on the topic, I had a kind of "one and done" attitude about the Caribbean Cruises. I liked both cruises we had done and had no doubt that we would do it again. Someday. But in the summer of 2012 (when we recieved the invitation to join the O'Brien Wine Club on a cruise) I really didn't have that on my mental horizon. Partly, I underestimated my wife's enthusiasm for cruising. I knew she liked it too, but I didn't really appreciate how much. I was still kneck deep in my working career and being an owner in a small business, found I had all I could do sometimes to keep it it. As members of the club, we got quarterly shipments of wine and along with them, a nice newsletter from the O'Briens. This one announced the inaugural O'Brien Estate Wine Club Trip. On Celebrity Cruises. Not only would this be the first club trip, but also Bart and Barb's first cruise. I had always figured we would continue to cruise exclusively on Princess. Looking at the cruise - scheduled for early February of 2013, my wife thought the deal looked like a pretty good one and she signed us up. I have to admit, I was lukewarm, for a number of reasons. But game.

Celebrity Reflection - San Juan, Puerto Rico - O'Brien Cruise
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

LITTLE DID I know at the time, but "game" would become "game-changer." I was - at first - prepared to not like Celebrity as much as Princess. I had already come to enjoy the Princess ships and experience a lot. At the same time, I kept an open mind. Both of our previous cruises had involved family. Indeed the majority of our travel to that point had involved either family visits or travel with close friends and/or family. This would be different. We did not know a soul aboard the Celebrity Ship. We had never participated in any wine club event. It was going to be an adventure. There is a rather fun story behind the choice of the cruise line and ship: the Celebrity Reflection. Rather than re-tell it here, I will link to my post about it: Event Cruising: Tales of A Vineyard Voyage.

THIS TIME cruising out of Miami, we were much more organized, pre-cruise. We arrived in Miami a day before the cruise and stayed at a hotel, not far from the cruise terminal. We wanted to have a true Cuban meal, so we found a restaurant in (or near) Miami's "Little Havana," and "scratched that itch." It was good, by the way. But as an interesting aside, just last February, during our Caribbean Cruise on the Celebrity Beyond, we met some new friends from Canada. They had made a land-based, weeklong trip to Cuba. They said they will never go back. Their biggest gripe: the food was essentially inedible. Much of that may have been related to the food supply, and they were not at a resort or eating in the high-end Havana hotels. Interesting. The next morning we took the hotel shuttle to the cruise terminal and boarded our ship.

"Game" would become "Game Changer"

THE BOARDING process was probably as quick and efficient as we had experienced (and in my view Celebrity continues to have this process well in hand). Like all ships on boarding days, there was "organized chaos" once on board. Like always, we had dropped our primary luggage off with the porters outside the ship and had small carry on stuff only with us. It was mid-day and the primary place to get something to eat was going to be the buffet. That is always the suggestion when boarding. Back in those days, you would wait on board (usually in a bar or the buffet) for an announcement that your stateroom was ready. You were given your keycard as part of the boarding process, but asked not to go to your stateroom until it was annouced as ready (usually a block of rooms). For those who haven't currently cruised, that has all changed these days. At least it has for Celebrity and Princess. Getting on one of the elevators to get up to the buffet was obviously going to be a challenge. As we stood waiting for a break in the crowd, we overheard some folks talking about a restaurant on Deck 5 called "Bistro on 5" that was open. We were close and went directly there and were immediately seated. In 2013, the bistro served essentially only crepes: savory and sweet. For a $15 upcharge (we thought that was pretty reasonable) you chose a savory and then for desert a sweet choice of crepes. They were very good and our table by the window was nice as we could watch the continued boarding process. We liked Bistro on 5 so much that we were back there again during the week. There is still a Bistro on 5 on most Celebrity Ships, but they now have a wider menu. I don't know whether they have crepes or not these days.

THE SHIP was clean and modern and our stateroom was quite nice. The Princess ships are kind of traditional cruise ship nautical. The bathrooms in the balcony staterooms are about the same size, but the Princess ships all have full bathtubs. The Celebrity Ships have showers instead. But they are generous sized (and I prefer them anyway). The stateroom decor is decidely more modern. The Reflection was pretty new at that time (it is the newest/last in line of the Solstice Class of 5 ships) and had some pretty cool amenities.

The Lawn Bocce Court - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

THE SOLSTICE class ships added a feature that was a first at sea, on the top deck at their stern, known as "The Lawn." This was a broad area across the back of the ship that had actual natural grass (cut like a lawn). That area extended around the aft stack on both sides and is used for croquet and bocce. Very cool. There is seating on both sides of the ship, and then at the back the Sunset Bar and more seating. It is aptly named and we have watched many a sunset from there.

the Celebrity buffet not only had a better variety, but the food was better

ONE BIG difference was the setup of the buffet - always a large and central feature of a cruise ship. Princess (and we learned years later, Holland America as well) have a kind of traditional design where the kitchen area is in the middle and the buffet serving areas line the outside of that on both sides of the ship - almost cafeteria style. Celebrity's design is much more open and "modular" feeling with the middle area housing different "stations." I think that from an efficiency standpoint, it actually works better because people can move around all sides of a particular station that has food they want. I still preferred the Princess buffet from my memory, not so much because of the layout but because of the variety of food offerings. But my view was myopic. I mostly ate in the buffet for breakfast, preferring to dine in the dining room for dinner, and either the buffet or the grill for lunch when we were on board during the day. for many of our cruises in the future, we were off the ship at lunch time. I felt that the breakfast offereings were better on Princess. What I later learned was that you could get all the same things on Celebrity by going to one of the made to order stations. I also learned over time that for lunches and dinners, the Celebrity buffet not only had a better variety, but the food was better. By a magnitude.

Celebrity Reflection - "Opus" Main Dining Room
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

IN 2013, the mainstream cruise lines (with the notable exception of Norwegian - who probably pioneered the concept of "flexible" or "any time" dining), were still primarily doing "set times" and assigned seating. The O'Brien group had a few reserved tables and we were assigned an 8-top for the week. Our tablemates would be the same - just as in the other cruises we had been on (in Alaska, we had an 8-top - on the Ruby Princess in the Caribbean, however, for whatever reason, we were just the 4 of us traveling together at our own 4-top).

THE O'BRIEN cruise had a few scheduled events - primarily during at sea days and when we were onboard. For port days, we were more or less on our own. On the first evening there was a "welcoming" reception featuring some light hors d'oeuvres, and (of course) O'Brien wines. We stopped and said hello to Bart and Barb, but it seemed like there were groups traveling together and we felt a bit disconnected, so we left. Later, in the dining room, we met our table mates. I always like to introduce some levity here in the form of a funny ancecdote when one fits the narrative. We were the first to arrive at our table and were seated, when 4 of our eight arrived: Penny, her mom and her boyfriend, and another friend of Penny's. They introduced themselves and Penny apologized for her husband, Lou and their other friend who would be along later. It seems they didn't believe the dress code, showed up at the dining room in shorts, and were immediately turned away. Sent to the principal's office, so to speak. I wondered what we were getting ourselved into.

Lou and Penny - O'Brien Cruise - Celebrity Reflection

THE UPSHOT of all that is that Lou and Penny have become wonderful friends, who have visited us at our Florida home a couple times and with whom we have traveled back to the O'Brien Vineyard and stayed together in a VRBO in Napa for some additional wine tasting on our own. We keep in regular touch and I am sure will continue to see each other - and maybe travel together again soon. We spent some fun dinners with them and Penny's mom and boyfriend (their friends were mostly "MIA" during the dinners due to other events coinciding with that time period, so we never really go to know them).

Martini Bar - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

CELEBRITY SHIPS, as we have grown to know them, all have certain consistent features. One of the central and primary such features is their "Martini Bar." Although changes over time have benn slightly controversial among some cruisers, they certainly remain the "entertainment - central" feature of celebrity ships. Celebrity currently maintains 3 classes of ships, the oldest "Millenium" class, the "Solstice" class and the currently newest "Edge" class. On the Millenium and Solstice Class ships, the bar has been set in its own space, to one side of the ship with a large, somewhat intimate seating area forward of the bar and a small alcove area with feature gins and vodka on ice to the rear. The bar itself was traditionally an ice-toped elongated oval with bar stools all around. At times - usually before and immediately after dinner hour, it is a very popular (and hence, crowded) spot. But havving seating all around the bar made the space seem large, and conducive to a crowded situation. The drinks are good. But the real show is probably the bartenders who juggle bottles and go through an eloborate and amazing to watch preparation of "flights" of martinis sometimes number as high as 15 all at once. We have found it a great spot to gather for a before dinner cocktail. The Edge class ships brought some major changes to the Martini Bar, but it remains a very popular spot on the ship. I will talk more about that as we travel forward in time.

Martini Bar - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

AS POPULAR as the Martini Bar is, my personal favorite is the Sunset Bar. I have personally spent the majority of my on board time there over the years, especially on Solstice and Edge ships. On the Millennium ships, the sunset bar was almost an afterthought on the back of the buffet. It was still a nice place to watch a sunset and relatively popular. But the Solstice and her sister ships brought a complete new design and with it "feel" to the Sunset Bar. Placed a deck above the old Millennium location, it was away from the buffet deck and on its own. They are flanked by those "lawn" areas I spoke about earlier. On the port side is a smoking area. Importantly - for me - really the only place on the ship where cigar smoking is allowed.

The Sunset Bar - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

ONE OF the reasons the O'Briens selected Celebrity was the connection with the name "Reflection" (see the link above). Hand in hand with that, though, at that time Celebrity held itself out as a very wine-centric cruise line. The main dining room (MDR), on all he Solstice ships feature a 2-story wine tower. At one time (still in 2013) that was a central feature of the dining room and the line received awards for its wine offerings. In addition, there was a dedicated spot on the ships called Cellar Masters, which had a sommelier and an excellent selection of wines. For whatever reasons that focus seems to have dimmed in recent years, with Cellar Masters being replaced on the some of the ships with their "Craft Social" bar and/or gastropub offering. The wine offerings on board today are generally limited and somewhat "pedestrian" - at least for the connoisseur. But in 2013, they were still full-bore wine-centric. One of the things we signed up for on board was a Reidel glass tasting. Before I did it I would have said it was pure "B.S." But the key isn't the brand of the glass. There is some real science to the shapes and sizes of glassware in directing the tastes and aromas to the right places. I have found this to be the case with whiskey tasting also. The Reidel tasting was kind of cool. We each receive a coupon for 4 Riedel glasses as well as the tasting itself. The glasses were shipped to us at home. I still have them. We also got a tour of the wine tower which was kind of cool.

Wine Tower - Celebrity Reflection
Copyright Andy Richards 2013 - All Rights Reserved

BY THE time we disembarked in Miami at the end of the cruise, I had become a convert. As time went on I grew to believe that although I still liked Princess, Celebrity was just a bit above and beyond it. My next cruise - a Princess Cruise - would cement that feeling. But not to get the cart in front of the horse. The next few posts will cover the rest of our Celebrity Reflection cruise. I will say, though, that we have cruised on The Reflection several more (5 total) times and it is my own personal favorite cruise ship.

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Turks and Caicos

Grand Turk Cruise Port - Turks and Caicos
Copyright Andy Richards 2012

THE TURKS and Caicos are a collection of islands - much like The Bahamas - that are technically not in the Caribbean. Just off the Greater Antilles and northeast of Cuba and north of Haiti and The Dominican Republic in the Atlantic, they are, neverthless, popular as a tropical paradise. Particularly on the southern side of the larger islands, there are beautiful, white, sandy beaches.

Grand Turk Cruise Port is one of the shallowest Caribbean Ports - part of the reason it is so conducive to salt collection
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

A BRITISH commonwealth "automonomous territory," the Turks and Caicos were, like all of the "Caribbean" lands, once inhabited by "indigenous" tribes (in this case the Lucayan and Taino people, of Arawak origin), were presumably discovered by Columbus during his 1492 exploration voyage (the information I was able to find on this is conflicting, with one account saying Colombus landed there in 1492, and others saying the first European sighting of the islands didn't come until 1512). The islands were alternately claimed by various European nations, but eventually came within the control of the British Empire. Originally ruled from the Bahamas, they became an autonomous British Territory when the Bahamas gained their own independence in 1973. Prior to European control, the indigenous people were known to be peaceful, and lived by farming, fishing, and salt raking.

From our Ruby Princess Ship you could see the salt retention ponds
Grand Turk - Turks and Caicos
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

TURKS AND Caicos, some time in the second half of the 16th century, became known (and exploited) by their substantial salt deposits. There are still large salt lagoons just onshore in Grand Turk. They can be seen from the cruise ship and are also very close to the village of Grand Turk. for a hundred or more years, the Bermudians and Bahamians fought over the rights (to exploit) the salt deposits in Turks and Caicos. Eventually, the islands have shifted away from salt production and toward tourism. The history of all of these Caribbean Islands is fascinating and well beyond the scope of these blogs. If you are interested in the history of the Turks and Caicos, I link here to the Wikipedia page as a good start. For an engaging and historically accurate fictional account, I highly recommend reading "Caribbean" by James Michener.

Memorial of the "John Glenn Friendship 7" Capsule
Grand Turk - Turks and Caicos
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

THERE IS one other historical facet, though, of Turks and Caicos, which should be of interest to American readers. From 1950 to 1981, the United States had a missile tracking station on Grand Turk. In the early days of the American space program, NASA used the station, also. The first man to orbit the earth in a spacecraft, John Glenn, left his print on Grand Turk, when following his three earth orbits in 1962, his spacecraft, Friendship 7, successfully spashed down in the Atlantic nearby and was brought back ashore to Grand Turk Island. While the actual spacecraft resides in Washington, D.C., there is a nice memorial to the event just outside Grand Turk, near the JAGS McCartney International Airport. We had an opportunity to visit it.

Governor's Beach - Grand Turk - Turks and Caicos
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

THE GOVERNOR'S mansion, pictured here just behind Governor's Beach (thought to be the nicest beach on Grand Turk) is the official residence of the Governor of Turks and Caicos. As you can see, it is flying the Turks and Caicos flag.

did I mention that in the shops area there were at least two swarthy, bearded, camo-dressed military-looking guys with military rifles?

I HAVE promised to, from time to time, publish a humorous anecdote here on the blog. This one is - in my view - one of the most memorably humorous to me (though it could very well be one of those "you had to be there" stories 😆). Remember that we were relatively new to cruising at this time. This was our second cruise. We were not the "experienced cruisers" that we think we are today, with our drink packages, "status," and other things we now take for granted. We had been surprised (though not shocked) at our bar bill at the end of the Alaska Cruise. Like many service industries, cruise ships make a substantial amount of their profits on beverage sales and they are pretty expensive. Of course, you are not allowed to BYOB aboard (except for some very limited quantities of wine). Our "needs" were fairly simple at that time. We drank gin and the occasional bourbon. On line, my wife found some some bladders that purportedly "tricked" the scanning systems (they worked) coming aboard the ship, and we brought our own, which we mixed in our stateroom and often enough - drank on our balcony. NOTE: I am neither advocating nor recommending this practice and today, we wouldn't even think of it. Even back then, the magnitude of savings was probably negligible. These days? We just put our heads down and buy the drink package.

BIG bottles at the Grand Turk Duty Free Store
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights Reserved

ANYWAY, BACK to the humorous anecdote. By the time we reached Turks and Caicos, we had depleted our "private" supply of spirits. We knew that there was a large, duty free shop right at the cruise terminal and we determined to re-stock. So when we disembarked the ship, we took two of the bladders with us in separate backpacks. We bought a bottle of gin and walked out of the store, away from the cruise terminal, into a large area with shops. We had already determined that we couldn't fit a single bottle into just one of the bladders, so my wife went first - into the ladies room to "fill her bladder." 😕 A couple minutes later, she came out and we - as surreptitiously as possible, moved the bottle to my backpack, and I headed into the mens room to complete the job - disposing of the "evidence" as I came back out. Here we were, a couple in their 50's sneaking booze onto a cruise ship. Now, there is nothing inherently illegal about transferring the contents of a bottle into the bladders. But did I mention that in the shops area there were at least two swarthy, bearded, camo-dressed military-looking guys with military rifles? The probably didn't even notice us, but we were sure we were being surveilled and would find ourselves in a hot, sweaty, interrogation room! I felt like a nervous high school kid sneaking a cigarette (or worse) in the woods behind the school. Like I said, maybe you had to be there. 😅 I have since, always marveled at those huge bottle of spirits in those stores. We walked back through the duty free store, and back onto the ship to put our "contraband" away.

Grand Turk Cruise Port - Ruby Princess and Carnival Glory
Copyright Andy Richards 2012 - All Rights

AS THIS was our first Caribbean adventure, and only our second ever cruise, we really didn't know much about many of the stops we made. My brother-in-law and his girlfriend were interested in snorkeling and similar excursions. We really weren't. On Grand Turk - other than our "deal," we didn't have much of a plan, so we walked off the ship and through the port area and hired a "taxi" (a golf cart - type arrangement) to take us "into town." In later years, I have gotten much better at researching (before and after our trips) the areas we have visited, learning at least a small amount about their history, geography and cultures, and my wife has become expert at finding excursions. The only "town" on the island where we docked is Cockburn Town. In 2012, it was tiny, and mostly older, local tourist - oriented establishments. In a way, it may have been the most "authentic" place we ever visited in the Caribbean. The little shops (there were only a very small handful of them) I photographed here are the sum of what there was for shops.

AT THE same time, there was obviously a (however small) residential population. As we drove toward the town center, cows, goats and chickens wandered across the road and all around the town. As rural as I have ever experienced. But the is a Masonic Temple there! Interesting.

THE TOWN (indeed the whole lsland) showed some signs of wear and tear - and poverty, almost as soon as you got away from the commercial cruise port and governer's beach/mansion area. There is little doubt that the relentless sun and hard weather takes its toll on dwellings and buildings in the Caribbean. Cockburn Town, in addition to being very small, was a pretty good case for that. That was 2012 and there was some ongoing construction of what looked to be the beginnings of a nice resort type hotel. Looking on-line today almost 15 years hence, you can see that it is substantially more developed than it was then, which retaining its essential, "Caribbean rustic" look. There appear to be numerous food and drink establishments along the waterfront, and many more shops. I like that it isn't "modern" with all the EFFY and jewelry shops (though they are certainly there back at the cruise port.

AT THE same time, there was evidence of commercial growth beginning to happen. I later learned that the Grand Turk cruise terminal is solely operated by Carnival Cruise Lines - which means in all probability only Carnival, Princess, and Holland America regularly stop there (though Carnival also owns Cunard, P&O, and Aida - so perhaps they have some traffic there, too). We have not cruised on a Princess ship in the Caribbean since, which may explain why we haven't been back to Grand Turk. But a little bit of internet research makes it clear that other cruise lines (MSC, Celebrity) also stop there from time to time. What really strikes me, though, is that Grand Turk is a tiny fraction of the Turks and Caicos. It is really solely a beach, bars, and related activities destination. Yet Turks and Caicos is known to be a very popular vacation spot over on its main islands where there are several all - inclusive resorts and high - end hotel chains. We didn't know that. Nor did we see any of it. No cruise ships port there.

IT WAS a nice, quiet, afternoon though. We bought some conch fritters (Turks and Caicos are also known for conch - having until only very recently, the only organized "conch farm" in the Caribbean), walked around a bit, and eventually headed back for the ship. This was our final destination stop on this cruise, though we would still have one more "at sea" day before arriving back in the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal. We came in very early in the morning, and I was up and watching as we moved toward our berth. I tried to make some handheld photos of the area, without much success - but I did make a couple of them into painting-like images, to hide the lack of sharp focus. 😊 As we disembarked and headed toward the Ft. Lauderdale airport, in my mind I thought we probably got that Caribbean cruise under our belt and probably wouldn't be repeating it. Fun. Now lets move on to the next thing. Surprising how wrong I turned out to be, as the very next year, we had another - completely different - opportunity to cruise in the Caribbean once again. And this "cruising thing" began to "get some legs with us."

Next up: The O'Brien Cruise.

Sunday, June 8, 2025

St. Kitts and Nevis

I DIDN'T know about Nevis at the time. In fact, I think the cruise line simply designated this port of call as "St. Kitts" on their itinerary (which is accurate, because the cruise ships always dock on the island of St. Kitts). The tiny, independent, island nation consists of the two islands and is officially designated The Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis. Everybody knows it as St. Kitts, however. As of this writing, we have visited the St. Kitts cruise port 5 times (and still going, with a 6th and 7th visit planned for 2026 and 2027). The commercial - touristy part of the port has grown since our first visit there in 2012. Our first visit may have been our most educational and eventful. Since then, I bought a watch and a t-shirt. 😑

NEVIS IS perhaps best known as the birthplace of American Colonial "Founding Father," Alexander Hamilton. But the tiny nation has more history than that. Situated in the West Indies, it is one of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. It was the first place that was colonized by Europeans and the place of the first British and French colonies in the Caribbean. It is widely thought that Columbus first sighted one of the islands in 1493 and named it St. Christopher (hence, St. Kitts). The smallest nation in the western hemisphere (just over 50,000), it is today a part of the British Commonwealth - currently under King Charles III. It gained its independence as a sovereign nation in 1983, and is currently administered by a Prime Minister.

I bought a watch and a T-shirt 😀

FOR OUR first visit, my amateur travel agent - wife found us an island tour with a small vehicle around the capital city of Basseterre, where we learned about the seat of government, the local currency (the Eastern Caribbean Dollar - currently equal to about $0.07 American), and the primary industry of the country other than tourism (light manufacturing of electronics and, offshore banking).

WE WOULD return to St. Kitts the very next year. Those first couple stops in St. Kitts will be always etched in my memory. At that time, other than some trips through Canada on the way somewhere else, I had never been out of the U.S. So this was my own first touch of new parts of the world. In a short time, we would ramp this travel up significantly, traveling numerous times to Europe, the Mediterranean, and parts of Asia, and those adventures would out do these. But for then, it was something of a new and different adventure. In the coming years, we would visit the Caribbean multiple times and I would develop a comfortable, but relaxed, malaise about Caribbean Cruises.