Last weekend, Ron and I went to Clearwater Beach to see the Pier 60 Sugar Sand Festival. Clearwater Beach is known for its sparkling, soft, white sand, but when Hurricane Helen barreled through last September, it pushed mountains of sand all over the island. Before the sand could be returned to the beach, it had to go through the arduous process of separating, sifting and cleaning. Now six months later, it was back where it belonged, just in time for the annual sand sculpting event.
Fort Lauderdale
Our plane landed in Fort Lauderdale at 11:15 and exactly one hour later, we were stepping onto the ship. It would have been even sooner except for the horrendous traffic getting into the port, made worse by the rain. Go away, rain!
The first thing we did after we got onboard was drop off our luggage in our cabin and pick up our Seapass cards, then we ate lunch at the Oceanview Café. We spent the rest of the afternoon learning our way around. Like other Celebrity ships we’ve been on, Silhouette had a Grand Foyer that spanned three decks with an elegant staircase, glass elevators and several bars. There was an ice-topped martini bar, a sports pub called Craft Social and the coffee and pastry shop, Café Al Bacio.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which was closed for three weeks due to damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, recently reopened with a special exhibit: Aqua Lanterns, a Chinese Festival of Lights. Ron and I have been trying to support the local businesses that were affected by the storms whenever we can, so I was especially excited about this exhibit.
Port Canaveral
Booking a cruise with MSC is a little different than with other cruise lines. You choose one of three different “experiences” - Bella, Fantastica or Aurea. With the Bella experience, you select your cabin type, but your cabin number gets assigned to you. With Fantastica, you get to select your specific cabin. The Aurea experience not only allows you to select your cabin, but it comes with several other perks, like priority boarding, access to the thermal spa, an exclusive area on the pool deck, robes and slippers in the cabin, and most importantly, My Choice Dining. When we booked this cruise, we decided on an Aurea balcony cabin because I hate having a set dining time. It always seems to be an inconvenient time, like 5:30 or 9 o’clock or when we’re in the middle of doing other things. To me, it was worth paying for Aurea just to be able to eat when I wanted to eat.