Celebrity Silhouette

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.

Silhouette didn’t have water slides or ziplines, but it was a great ship for people who wanted cozy spots to hang out with friends or read a book. There were lounge beds and rocking chairs everywhere, and between decks 7 and 8, there was something called the Hideaway that looked like an adult’s treehouse with funky private "nests" and couches set into the walls. One of my favorite parts of the ship was the live tree suspended over the Foyer.

the Grand Foyer

our balcony cabin

the Hideaway

We watched the cloudy sail away from the Sunset Bar at the back of the ship, then went to dinner in the main dining room. Ron and I both ordered escargot for our appetizers. I love that Celebrity has escargot every night. None of the entrees on the menu excited me so I tried the day’s special, salmon with teriyaki sauce. It was very tasty. We were seated at a table for two, but the table next to us was so close that it might as well have been a table for four. We started talking to our table mates, a couple from Wisconsin, about fun things to do in Key West, then somehow the subject of work came up. It turned out that they work for the same company that we do and knew several of the people at our plant! What a small world.

After dinner, we went to the casino where Ron played the slots, and I played Blackjack. I ended up donating my daily allowance, but I played for a long time and remembered to save a $1 chip for my collection. I’m glad that Celebrity still has ship-specific chips. The last few cruises we’ve been on only had generic cruise line ones. Before heading to bed, we stopped by the Martini Bar for chocolate martinis.

Key West

The next morning, I woke up in time to watch the ship pull into Key West. The sun was just coming up, and I could hear the roosters crowing all over the island. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day!

Since Ron was still sleeping, I made my way down to Café Al Bacio for a latte and some almond croissants. By the time I got back to the cabin, Ron was up, and we went to the Oceanview Café for breakfast, where I discovered the made-to-order Eggs Benedict station. I was very excited about that. :-)

We had signed up for the 11 o'clock Historic Seaport Food and Cultural Walking Tour with Key West Food Tours, so we got off the ship around 10 and made our way to the meeting point. The tour started at Garbo’s Grill, a food truck outside Hank’s Hair of the Dog Saloon on Caroline Street. At Garbo’s, we met our tour guide Corley, the 13 other people in our tour group, and Hank Jr, Hank's golden retriever mascot. We sat around the outdoor tables while we sampled mahi tacos topped with cabbage, mango, jalapeno slices and Caribbean aioli. Yum!

When we had finished our tacos, Corley told us the history of some of the nearby buildings. Across the street from Garbo’s was the Captain George Carey house, the second oldest building in Key West, built in 1834. The house has a guest cottage named for Robert Frost because he spent so many winters there. Next to the Carey house was First Flight, a restaurant housed in the former Pan Am ticket office where the airline sold its first tickets in 1927.

Hank Jr.

Our second food tasting was at the Cuban Coffee Queen, inside the brick shopping mall that used to be the Naval Depot. As we made our way past the Customs House to the mall, Corley had to steer us through a crowd of people who had gathered for Weinerpalooza, Key West’s annual dachshund parade. I wished we could have stopped for a little while longer to see all the cute doggies in their costumes. At the Cuban Coffee Queen, we ate Cuban Mix sandwiches while Corley explained the history of the sandwich and the difference between the Key West and the Tampa versions. (The Key West version has mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato.) My sandwich was delicious, and unfortunately, I ate most of it before I remembered to take a picture, but I did buy a couple of bags of Cuban Coffee Queen coffee to take home.

Next, we made a brief stop at the Rodriguez Cigar Company in Kino’s Plaza. In the late 1800s Key West was the largest producer of Cuban cigars, but in 1886, a devastating fire destroyed most of the major factories. Because of the fire and worker strikes, many cigar companies moved their operations to Tampa, but you can still buy cigars made using the traditional Cuban methods at the Rodriguez Cigar Company. They even offer a tour where you can learn how they are made.

Weinerpalooza

We were ready for some refreshments by then, so we moved on to Duval Street. At the Tiki House, we got to choose between three different cocktails. Ron and I both chose the Zombie, which was made with rum, cinnamon syrup and grapefruit juice and then set on fire. Who doesn’t love rum and fire? We also stopped at Bagatelle, a seafood restaurant inside a Victorian mansion, where we had lobster mac and cheese made with Florida spiny lobster.

From Duval, we turned onto Front Street and walked all the way to the waterfront and around the Harbor Walk, pausing to watch the giant tarpon and passing by Jimmy Buffet’s recording studio, Shrimpboat Sound. We continued on to the Eaton Street Market, where we got to try a couple of the Key West Pink Shrimp. There were many beautiful Victorian homes in this part of Old Town. As we walked, Corley pointed out houses that had porch ceilings painted in blue. She said this was supposed to protect the home from evil spirits, but it also fooled insects because they thought the blue ceilings were the sky and wouldn’t build their nests there.

Our final stop of the tour was at Kermit’s Key Lime Shop on Elizabeth Street for the iconic Key West dessert, Key lime pie. We had our choice of a traditional slice of pie or a chocolate-dipped slice on a stick. I went with the chocolate-covered option, of course. :-)  It was a great tour! We sampled lots of delicious food and learned some Key West history along the way. We will definitely have to try another food tour on our next visit to the Keys.

our tour guide, Corley

After we got back onboard Silhouette, Ron and I watched the sail away from our balcony, then Ron went to see if the playoff games were on anywhere. It was Chic Night, so I got dressed up for dinner, but two hours later Ron still hadn't come back. I finally found him watching the game at the Casino Bar, still in his t-shirt and shorts. So that is why Ron isn’t in any of Chic Night pictures. :-)  We went back to the cabin so Ron could change into some Chic Night appropriate clothes before going to the dining room.

That night we planned to go to the Totally 80s Party, but somehow, we ended back in the casino instead. We played a little more Blackjack, had another martini at the Martini Bar and then headed to bed.

Nassau

Our ship didn’t arrive in Nassau until 11 o’clock so we had plenty of time to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast in the Oceanview Café. We didn’t have any specific plans for the day other than to enjoy some good Bahamian food and walk around town. Since we’d gone to the Fish Fry on our last few cruises, we wanted to try something different and decided to walk to the Green Parrot, a restaurant that overlooked the harbor near the bridge to Paradise Island. It was about a mile-and-a-half from the ship to the restaurant, and by the time we got there we were ready for some cold Sky Juice and a bottle of Sands Pink Radler. We discovered Sands Pink on our Exumas boat tour two years ago. Now we look for it whenever we’re in the Bahamas since we can’t buy it at home. We ate our lunch at the large outdoor bar and enjoyed the view of the yachts and Atlantis while we chatted with the bartender, Jason, who gave me some good tips on how to make Bahamian macaroni and cheese. Before going back to the ship, we took a taxi to West Hill Street to buy chocolates from Graycliff’s chocolate shop.

After we were back onboard, we went to Craft Social to watch the Eagles/Rams playoff game, but the bar was packed! Next, we tried the casino bar. It wasn’t open but the TVs were on and showing a soccer game. Ron snuck behind the bar and nabbed the remote to change the channel. :-)  Pretty soon, more and more people joined us until we had our own little football party. Go Eagles!

When it was time for the ship to leave Nassau, we went to the Sunset Bar to see the sail away. There were six ships in port that day, and one by one they pulled away from the dock until only Silhouette and Carnival Freedom were left. The island looked beautiful with all the lights coming on as the sun went down. Goodbye, Nassau! We’ll be back soon! After one last dinner (and one last plate of escargot), we went to the casino where I won back most of the money I’d lost the first night. I had hoped to stay up for the Full Moon deck party, but Ron was a little tipsy, so we ended up just going back to the cabin to pack up the suitcases.

It was a much-needed getaway. We were really lucky to have two warm, sunny days, and I loved the time in Nassau and Key West, especially our food tour. We definitely ate well this trip! :-)  I just wished the cruise wasn't over so soon. I woke up at 3 AM and couldn’t go back to sleep so I snuck out onto the balcony. Another cold front was sweeping through, and it was chilly and misty with rain. The glow from the Florida coast and the flashing light from the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse welcomed me back to January and reality.