Celebrity M/V Galaxy
Southern "Deep" Caribbean
11.18-25.00

We opted to fly down and stay the day before the cruise. We wanted to see the Rain Forest and other PR sights we haven't been able to see before. Plus we wanted a buffer. This was a great decision.

The AA flight was comfortable (yes, there is 2-3 inches more leg room), on-time, and with frequent and quality cabin service.

I took a cab ride to Avis, picked up a Grand Marquis and hooked up with everyone at the arrival curb. No hassle. The ride west down Rt 3 was long owing to construction and heavy traffic… about an hour.

The Westin was a impressive sight as we drove up. Unfortunately I'm told no Valet service (convention) so I had to schlep to a lot. Got back to the main hotel to find out that we have to stay in the Ocean Villas. Schlep back to the car. This time there was valet service. They do the towel and cool drink business when a van shows up… nice. The Villas had just opened this week and the bosses were there, fun to watch. Service and facility were fine. It's on the beach and has it's own golf course, and is very scenic. Recommended.

The Rain Forest is completely recovered from the hurricane. Summary is that if you want to devote the time to hike the trails with a Ranger, it's probably awesome. We didn't have the time or inclination so my opinion is inconclusive.

Dropped everyone off at the pier terminal about 2 p.m. Was able to park car there easily. There was about a 20-30 minute crowd. Janet grabbed a porter, found the Captains Club representative, and we were escorted directly to the CC check-in. We had all our documents in order, which is highly recommended. Curb to gangway less than 10 minutes, Celebrity really takes care of its CC members. The non-CC passengers were moving quite well, and by 3 p.m. there was a very small line. We walked around the setup for the OB pictures. Love the rush you get walking into the ship! I drove the car to the Airport/Avis about 30 minutes later.

BIG POINT. If I had not dropped 8 bags and people off we would have had to wait for a cab to pick us up at Avis and would have paid a premium for a "call". Or we would have had to schlep everything to the airport shuttle station, loaded it into the shuttle, unload at the airport and load it into a cab for the ride to the pier. It was a minor pain for me but it made it a lot easier for our party.

Both couples had Category 2 Verandas on deck 10 (Promenade). We were all the way forward, which I prefer, our other couple were almost aft on the other side. This is an advantage because we were able to hang on whichever Veranda was pier side for cast-off cocktails. Galaxy is as beautiful and well maintained as I remembered two years ago. By the time I had returned, Jan had everything stowed in her typical logical fashion, plenty of room.

We were missing a table on the Veranda and Silvia, our Cabin Attendant said she'd notify engineering. Sometime later as I was getting a GPS reading the engineer came with the table and I showed him the various GPS pages. He liked that. On the way out, noticing that I was having a drink asked me if he could fill the ice bucket for me. Five minutes later he returned. This folks, is what is referred to as World Class Service.

We departed 1000 hrs, which became typical since the Casino was open to 2 a.m.

The women shopped in the port town of Frederiksted while Mike and I walked around. About noon we decided a drink was in order and popped into "Mike's". He is a former US mainlander who came there eight years ago "and never left". He runs this small bar/Internet Café and bike touring business, St.Croix Bike and Tours (340-772-2343, stcroixbike.com) Seems like something I'd want to next time, but you have to take the early tour around 9:00 a.m. US35 pp.

This time a week ago, green lush and warm. Today in NJ it's brown, cold, dreary drizzle…. Sigh.

There is an advantage talking to the local barkeeper. Despite what the ship excursion said, Christiansted was 40 minutes away by cab, not 20, and on Sunday, half the shops would have been closed. We were joined by the ladies and relaxed until we had a late lunch back OB. Both couples purchased bottled goods at the local duty free and carried OB, no hassle. Ship departed at 4:00 p.m.

We found our first "Driver" for this cruise after looking around a bit. I listen to the pitch, look at the van and decide if I want to devote the time and money with this driver. Peter Abbott, Courtesy Taxi Association, turned out to be absolutely excellent and was far more attentive than the tour we took two years ago. Fees are fixed, $50/2hr tour + tip. He took us to a high point on the island where a college is located. There a local guide showed us the vista and had much to say about flora, industry, the college and life in general. He was happy to get a $5.00 tip for about 20 minutes. We then saw the Eudovic Art Studio (and Restaurant). I spoke to Vincent Eudovic after the tour and he explained his apprentice program. There were several apprentices working and it was fascinating to say the least. His work in hardwood is traditional/contemporary and very unique. I'll have pictures and more on my website this week.

We drove back on the Millennium Highway, completed this year. Although built for container trucks, it's modern, wide, and a fast way to get back to Castries from the mountains. I found St.Lucia very much improved since two years ago. The roads are exceptional and the island is very safe.

We decided to have lunch at the Green Parrot (thanks Dan Overland!). It's on a hill overlooking Castries about 10 minutes and $7.00 from town. Peter was more than happy to re-meet us at the ports impressive mall (completely new) about 1:00. He was there but my wife wasn't so the three of us conducted a search. No wife anywhere. We decided to go to the Green Parrot and we'd hook up with her later. Peter went back to the dock and actually looked for her. Realizing she was at the wrong spot, she found the taxi stand. When she asked the other drivers "Where's Peter" seemed like they all had the same first name! Anyway, Jan and Peter hooked up and we all had an excellent (albeit a bit pricey) lunch at this premium restaurant. Peter met us about 3 p.m. and drove us to the ship. Needless to say, he made a great tip.

Another decision to take a tour with a Driver. According to Tourist Information is $20/hr/couple. Wrong. After a bit of a tough search I spied a driver that looked good. He said $75/couple flat fee for the "day". After he laughed at what I was told, he explained that there are drivers that take you to a mountain top restaurant where you drink banana daiquiris for an hour and then you wind your way back to the ship… end of "tour". What Roger Beckles ( rosromeo@hotmail.com) did for us was a comprehensive well thought out tour that included some of the new real estate being built there, "Spring Hill"(our request to look), mountains, "the yacht hurricane hole", a drive down the windward coast, and The Andromeda Botanic Gardens. We passed on the caves, no time or energy left! Roger said his company's mission is to "show you the real Barbados, however long it takes". He was personally thrilled that we had a great time. Much more…. Again, on the website.

Comment: Driver/Van -vs.- Bus. On one of the hilltops a bus was there with about 25 passengers. They were there when we left. Point is that we were able to spend just as much time as we wanted whereas the bus has to wait until everyone has seen everything. We also personally designed our tour as we went along instead of getting a canned tour.

As I understand it Celebrity doesn't "officially" offer tours OB. If the Master wants to allow them then the hotel staff offers Bridge and/or Galley tours. Captain Ioannis Papanikolaou offered both and I'm very pleased that he did. Needless to say the Bridge tour was a highlight of the cruise. If I took anything away from this it's this. It's obvious after the tour that Celebrity has the most or among the most, safe, comfortable and state of the art ships in the industry. This is a brilliant PR concept for Celebrity. Everyone who we talked to (men and women equally), found the Bridge Tour an extreme value-add.

Some highlights…

1. "Don't touch, but feel to take your time looking around, feel free to ask questions."
2. The ship can steer itself to within feet of it's destination, automatically. They opt however to use the computers as advisory and bridge officers decide course and speed for maximum passenger comfort.
3. 12,000 hp total thruster power (equivalent to 12 tugs) controlled by the captain using a joystick from the bridge wings.
4. Galaxy can stop from maximum speed of 24 knts to 0 knts in 3.5 minutes.
5. Ship is composed of 5 "modules" that are built in a huge assembly hall and then joined in drydock. All are completely water tight, deck 1 to deck 12, from each other.
6. Celebrity is the only CL that has the technology and commitment to voluntarily record and "code" the weather and then transmit to NOAA in Miami.

Much more and pictures will be on website.....

Fun watching Zenith docking as we left ship about 10 a.m. We didn't get to see the real St Johns, Celebrity literature states that it's a mile from the pier and what we saw within A few blocks was not "Quaint New Orleans charm". I thought I'd never agree to a Jolly Roger cruise having seen people come on board from prior cruises. But they wanted to go. A perfect illustration about perception. The crew was absolutely wonderful, the demographics of the passengers were consistent with the makeup on Galaxy, and you did not need to get drunk to have fun. I worked on some vodka and OJ and stayed away from the "Rum Punch". What was REAL impressive was that during the initial greeting, in addition to the usual safety stuff, they actually suggested that you "go easy" on the punch.

All drinks were free and they offered vodka, rum and beer as I recall. We did the rope swing into the pristine water in the cove but passed on the gangplank or the trip to the beach. They did the whole pirate thing and it was quite amusing. The crew was very interested in talking to passengers. Kenny, the skipper, was an especially fascinating person. One person I spoke to was a skipper in real life and at his wife's request they let him steer back to port where he handed off for docking. As a sailor myself, having steered old wooden designs, I appreciated his "feel" for the rudder. Just a great afternoon and highly recommended.

This was the highpoint for the wives and one of the reasons we did this itinerary, which included St.Croix that we hadn't seen 2 years ago. As we all know St.Thomas is the "Jewelry Mecca of the Caribbean". So the men were to "get lost". Mike and I were initially going to ferry over to St Johns but we decided to find a Driver and tour since neither had done that here before. On the dock I found the taxi broker and explained what we were looking for. I though he got it but he apparently didn't. Next thing we know we're getting hustled by a Driver who I realize isn't going to do it for us. So, amid "I lost a fare talking to you…", we left him and found the first cab going into town for $2.50 pp.

This is where "LUCK" plays a very big part of this. During the ride in, Denise Ferland (delefe@hotmail.com) was telling another passenger that she is a 30 year veteran teacher on the island and runs tours. So after the other passengers departed Mike and I discussed a tour and price ($20/ pp for 1.5 hrs + tip). She is quite a character and definitely knows everything there is to know about the history, culture and points of interest of St.Thomas. Absolutely the best. Running out of steam here so I'll leave particulars to the website.

I'll give Celebrity an A- on this one, mostly very minor issues. I really need to try other CL's but the problem is that Celebrity continues to exceed my expectations. We were extremely "busy" on this trip and had wonderful cruise mates.

Other than the Bridge tour, St. Thomas was the highlight, and a destination I could never grow tired of. The other intangible, which makes cruising fun, is small unexpected "moments". One was this 91 year old women who told us the funniest jokes I've heard in a long time while we were trying to eat lunch between fits of hysterical laughter. Then there was the Green monkey that one of the "Rostas" would let you play with (for a buck) that Roger included on our tour.

I'd like to thank Tom of "Tom and Linda" for requesting that we "do a review and post to RTC so that we can all share the experience". I hope it was worth your time.

Look for more at http://www.millerweb.com/cruise in about a week.

Greg