Celebrity Silhouette Postcard #13 Venice & Disembarking

A short post this morning before we disembark for the journey home. Having said good bye to our waiters last night we made our way up to deck 14 for one final stroll round the top of the ship.



Lots of activity this morning with fork lifts flying all over the place busy unloading all the cases. It is a much more hectic scene than that of yesterday. We need to be in the theatre at 9:30 for our disembarking and if all goes to plan we will have a taxi waiting at 10:00 to take us to the airport for the flight home via Brussels.





Roll on December............

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Celebrity Silhouette Postcard #12 Venice (the return)

Having sailed in and out of Venice on two previous occasions we had a good idea of what to expect and see. What we didn't anticipate was the delay of about an hour to allow the Royal Princess to come out and give us a enough room to go in.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Royal Princess leaving Venice"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Start of the sail into Venice"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="The Tug waits for us"][/caption]



The sail into Venice has to be one of the cruising worlds best and despite having already got 2 sets of photos already it is still impossible to resist not to taking any more.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Venice from the ship"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Entrance to the Grand Canal Venice"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Venice Cruise Terminal"][/caption]



Arrival at the terminal was due to be at 10:00am and we eventually arrived at 11:00 with apologies from the Captain. We are not disembarking today and will overnight in Venice and then get off tomorrow morning. Having been here twice and also spending a night here prior to the cruise we decided to stay on board and enjoy the ships facilities for one last day. What would we do if we went ashore? Answer; nothing we hadn't already seen and done. In two days time we will be back at work so the eventual decision made the most sense to us.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="The moon from the poolside"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Me in the pool"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Virtually deserted ship around lunch time"][/caption]



After an exhausting morning sitting by the pool we forced ourselves to go and have some lunch where again the buffet was deserted.  I have no idea who they were expecting to eat all the food, perhaps my reputation proceeds me?

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Celebrity Silhouette's Oceanview Cafe"][/caption]



We sat out on the open terrace area and enjoyed the views over the lagoon while eating our last lunch on the ship. The rest of the afternoon was spend back beside the pool getting in and out of it every 20 minutes or so to cool off. 

It just remains now to pack and go to dinner and have our cases out before 11:00. Its always the worst time on any cruise and it doesn't get any easier.



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Celebrity Silhouette Postcard #11 Split, Croatia

Split was our last port before returning to Venice and once again we were using the lifeboats as tenders. We had nothing major planned other than going ashore for a stroll and to see what was there. We caught the tender at 10:10 and headed for the shore, just after we left the ship we heard over the radio that we had 92 passengers onboard. Very surprising as it didn't seem as many as that at all.
The trip took around 15 minutes and I was again surprised at how well the lifeboats handled and how fast they went plus they even have air conditioning! There was also the option to sit up top which we did on the way back. Here are a couple of photos of the interior while on our way to Split.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Celebrity Silhouette Lifeboat Interior "][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Celebrity Silhouette Lifeboat Interior "][/caption]





Once ashore we headed towards the medieval old town of Split. Croatia is still using the Kuna and many of the shops and stores here would only take it as currency. We decided only to exchange some if we saw anything that was a must do or buy. You don't really want to end up with loads of foreign currency which is going to be obsolete if you can help it. Sadly for the local traders we took everything back to the ship with us. 

As a matter of interest the main excursion that the ship was selling was to the Krka National Park.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Outside the walled city"][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Temple of Jupiter and Mausoleum of Diocletian"][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Cafes and Bars inside the walled city"][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Market stalls selling all sorts of produce."][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Narrow passages and tourist shops "][/caption]





Not unlike Dubrovnik or Kotor, Split has an area which is just loads of narrow passage ways and gift shops and bars and after about an hour and a half I am sorry to say that we decided that we had seen enough of this sort of thing on this cruise. We managed to find a few items that were of interest and had this been the first port with this kind of layout then it may have held more in interest.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Outside the Golden Gate"][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Tourist shops in Split"][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="One of Splits narrow passages"][/caption]





For the trip back to the ship we used lifeboat number 12 and sat up top which provided a welcome breeze.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Boarding the tender for the trip back"][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Making our way back to the ship"][/caption]





I don't want to put Split down but this was one walled medieval town too many for us. It is at the end of a cruise and we are just now wanting to enjoy the weather and the ships facilities so like many others we returned to the ship and sat by the pool and soaked up the sun.  Would I get off here again? Ask me again if I ever come back as of right now the answer would probably be no.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Split, Croatia from the ship"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="One of the last tenders back"][/caption]



Next stop our sail into Venice and we will be able to see it all from our balcony. We might even push the boat out and enjoy our breakfast while doing so.



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Celebrity Silhouette Postcard #10 Kotor, Montenegro

We were up early this morning for the sail into the natural harbour where Kotor lies. Absolutely stunning views for the passage which started at 6:00 and ended with us anchoring at just before 7:45. The echo of the sound of anchor being dropped seemed to go for miles and we wondered what it was to start with.
I must have taken well over 100 photos just on the way in so the problem I have is being able to select some of the best to upload here. It really is a beautiful sail in to Kotor and I am glad we got up earlier than usual to see it. 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Entering the Gulf of Kotor"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Approaching Kotor Ban"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Preparing the lifeboats as tenders"][/caption]



Early tendering was by a numbering system and once the rush had died down it reverted to an open system. We ate breakfast and when everything seemed to have calmed we made our way to the theatre to get our tender tickets which were numbered 28 and we must have timed it just right as we had very little time to wait and were soon making our way to the shore.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Leaving the ship"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Celebrity Silhouette anchored at Kotor"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Quay side at Kotor"][/caption]



Upon arrival we followed the rest of the passengers to the gates of the old fortified town of Kotor where we passed through the gates into the picturesque town behind.


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Entrance to the walled town"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="One of many picturesque Kotor street scenes"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Picturesque Kotor with the mountains behind"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="More of Kotor"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="The Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas"][/caption]



Mass was just ending in the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas and the choir were still in full swing when we arrived, it sounded amazing and I heard a guide telling his flock that this choir was one of the oldest in the area.

We spent the next couple of hours wandering round and exploring the narrow passage ways and alleys, stopping briefly for some local beer and a coffee.

Today it has been very hot and not ideal for wandering or touring and so when we had seen enough to satisfy our needs we made our way back to the ship and headed straight for the pool to cool off.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Kotor from the ship"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Poolside with the mountains of Kotor behind"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Celebrity Navigation Channel in Kotor"][/caption]



Back on the ship and in the cabin we looked at Celebrity Navigation Channel to see that the temperature was 37C/99F today and with no breeze it felt even hotter. It was too much for me and so we came back to the cabin where I could stay in the air conditioned cabin and Nicole could sit on our balcony and enjoy the sun but after a while it was even too hot for her and she too came in.

Tonight is the third and final formal night and we will be putting our glad rags on for the last time this cruise. Our waiter Apong, has told us that lobster will be on the menu tonight so I know what I will be having.

Slots Payout this cruise $324,840.88



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Celebrity Silhouette Postcard #9 Sea day

Last night was apparently the Celebrity Silhouette's 2 birthday and to mark the event they had a cake with candles. It was quite amusing that the candles were not able to be lit due to the drafty open deck but the Captain surrounded by his senior offices did manage to cut the cake without too much of a problem.


[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Captain cuts the ships 2nd birthday cake"][/caption]





All this was done shortly before some open air entertainment on the pool deck. Something called Celebrity Rox which involved the house band and production team doing some music and dance alfresco. We didn't hang around too long to watch as it nothing like we had hoped it would be.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Celebrity Rox"][/caption]





 
I did get a nice photo of the moon last night.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Mediterranean Moon "][/caption]





Nothing really significant to report today other than it has been a beautiful day and that we have spent it lying in the sun up on the Solstice Deck. We were up at 7:00 and enjoyed a coffee on the balcony before going to breakfast at 8:00. The only other break we had was to have some lunch and for that we used up my Bistro on 5 birthday voucher. Very nice it was too.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Virtually deserted Oceanview Cafe for breakfast"][/caption]





[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="A beautiful sea day"][/caption]





Tomorrow we are in Kotor and will be sailing in at around 6:45 for what the Captain described as a beautiful natural harbour. Everyone going ashore will be tendered.



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Celebrity Silhouette Postcard #8 Valletta, Malta

A completely different panorama for our sail into Valletta and with the sun just up and it was already starting to feel very warm. There were some quite spectacular colours being provided from the old fortified walls of Valletta.
I can fully understand why some people are really taken by the sail into Valletta having now done it myself.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Sailing into Valletta"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Sail in scene Valletta"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Valletta Cruise Terminal"][/caption]



Off the ship we decided to take the City Sightseeing HoHo bus on the red route. Buying tickets just outside the cruise terminal we wandered along the road to the stop only to find a massive queue.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Queue for the HoHo outside the terminal"][/caption]



So we set about finding the stop prior to this one so we could get on the bus before this lot. We managed to locate it without too much bother and guess what........

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="The queue for the HoHo the stop before"][/caption]



No queue, and when the bus arrived it was practically empty.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Practically empty HoHo bus"][/caption]



When we arrived back round to the terminal we felt pretty smug as there was a stampede by the others to find seats. Anyway sitting on the top of the bus provided a welcome breeze as we wound our way round the route. We had intended to get off at a couple of places but there were never any available seats for people getting on at any of the stops we got to. It would have been nice to see the Blue Grotto but we were worried we may never get back being as the buses only run every 45 minutes and if this bus was anything to go by then we could get stuck. So we stayed on and returned back to Valletta, the whole route taking just over 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Back to Valletta, which on first appearances seemed to be a fortified maze and then turned out to be a very picturesque little town. We set off on foot to explore the old town.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="One of the many Valletta streets"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="Another typical Valletta scene"][/caption]



There is some absolutely fantastic architecture tucked away down the little side streets and I was particularly interested in the bay windows which seemed to be everywhere. We wandered around for a couple of hours up and down the shady streets enjoying the views.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="A Valletta Street with many of the bay windows"][/caption]



Having stopped for a drink outside the library we made our way back to the lift which is free if you are going down but not if you are going up. It does provide a nice convenient way to getting back down to the cruise terminal. I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. I know it begins with a B but that's it.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="The Lift"][/caption]



[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1000" caption="In port with the Costa Favalosa"][/caption]



Back on board time for lunch folowed by a couple of hours in the sun before sailing away just before the Costa Favalosa. Tomorrow is a sea day so I will again try and find something of value to post.



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