Celebrity Millennium April 21 - May 6, 2023 (Part 1)
Panama Canal - Full Transit Historic Locks
Ft. Lauderdale - Cartageña, Columbia; Colon, Panama; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Los Angeles, CA
Welcome back to yet another wild ride of a cruise! I thought the last cruise was crazy. This one had heat, humidity, covid, and much more! Buckle up, this one is going to be long. Maybe multiple parts.
We started our journey flying out to Ft. Lauderdale from Los Angeles on JetBlue Airlines. We chose to fly out 2 days in advance because we were NOT going to risk missing this 2 week trip. As far as comfortable seats for plus size people, JetBlue feels a little more spacious than other airlines, and you can pick your seats which is a big plus for us. We flew regular economy and felt fine. If you are worried though, economy plus was available for a small upgrade fee and those seats are even more spacious. Once we arrived in Florida, we took an uber to our hotel and relaxed for 2 days before our cruise.
Please enjoy this iguana who was one of many we found in Florida.
Finally it was time to go to the cruise port! Another Uber ride later and we reached the Celebrity cruise port in Fort Lauderdale, this place was really beautiful! We chose the earliest boarding time, and I thought it would be way more crowded than it actually was. It was quick and easy! And while we waited they had super comfy chairs and water for cruise guests. Talk about luxury ;)
Once we boarded, we went to find our rooms and relax for a bit. You know us, of course we booked a balcony room. Because we knew we would be on this ship for 2 weeks, we wanted to make sure we had space and would be comfortable. This ended up being a fortuitous decision, but I’m getting ahead of myself. In the meantime, go watch the room tour video on youtube our channel!
Before we knew it, it was dinner time. Now I should mention we were traveling with our best friends, their dad and sister, and our godkids, in total a group of 8. We had a large round table in the main dining room close to the windows so every night we would be in there for sunset, it was quite lovely.
So, at dinner the first night Bobby mentioned that he wasn’t feeling well so we thought we’d give him the night and see how he felt the next day. The next day was a sea day so we didn’t have huge plans. Our favorite things to do on cruises are trivia anyway, so he said he would stay in the room and rest while I went to play trivia. Well when I came back he had gone down to the medical area because he (being the responsible adult he is) wanted to make sure he didn’t have covid. Well much to both of our surprises, he tested positive. (Thanks a lot, Florida!) Kidding ;)
Every cruise line has a different protocol when it comes to covid, and here is what immediately followed his positive test: I was escorted from the dining room on day 2 and advised to go down to medical to get tested myself. So I went down and did my test, and tested negative. This meant that I was free to enjoy my cruise but I would wear a mask while on ship (which was fine by me). They initially wanted to move Bobby to another cabin but because the ship was mostly full, they did not have any spares. They told us we could stay in the same room. Thank heavens we had a balcony!! Bobby was told he would have to quarantine for 5 days and on day 6 he would be free to go. The odd thing is that he did not have to re-rest but I did.
While he was quarantined, he received free room service, free wifi for one device, a packet of activities including sudoku, crossword, paint, etc. and a concierge he could call on if he needed anything. They also provided medication to treat it, and it was all free because it was covid related. They truly tried to make the best of a bad situation for their guests who tested positive. We found out later that they ran out of the medication because there were a few confirmed cases on board.
Unfortunately, being covid positive meant that he missed the stops in Colombia and Panama. If it weren’t for the balcony, he would not have been able to see the crossing at all so if this isn’t just another point for balcony rooms, I don’t know what is. I will say that Celebrity did refund those excursions for onboard credit, so I did get to do some shopping, which was nice. I don’t think I spent more than $100 of my own money over the 2 week period between everything that was included and the refunds.
Ok on to more positive (no pun intended) things. Let’s talk about the food first. While on board, we tried almost all the food! The ones included in cruise fare are the main dining room, the buffet, the Mast Grill for yummy burgers and dogs, and the Spa Cafe for little snacks and sandwiches. We could also get free pastries at the Cafe Al Bacio coffee shop which we did. Their coconut macaroons are amazing.
The extra pay options that we tried were Cafe Al Bacio coffee and Gelato, Tuscan Grille, Le Petit Chef, and a special Taj Mahal dinner at Sushi on Five.
Of the ones we paid extra for, I will say we highly recommend Le Petit Chef at Qsine. The food was incredible and the show was so fun! We were slightly disappointed with Tuscan Grille. This italian inspired steakhouse just came off as bland. We were truly bummed. The one thing we loved about this cruise was the sheer amount of indian food available almost every day in the buffet. As if that wasn’t enough, we chose to go to the “Taj mahal dinner” at Sushi on 5 too which was delicious, albeit SO SPICY!! No regrets, though. Enjoy some of our food photos!
Because of the amount of on board credit we had, I was at the coffee shop almost every day and the coffee was delicious. Way better than having a Starbucks on board, in my opinion. In fact, they inspired me to try espresso drinks at home so thanks Cafe Al Bacio!
Well I think I’ve rattled on long enough for this one, I wouldn’t want to bore anyone! Stay tuned for Part 2 and thanks for coming by!
