Cruising through life one cocktail at a time

Many years back, we purchased our house here on the West Shore of Victoria. We moved out of private military quarters (PMQs) into a beautiful west coast style, 3 plus one bedroom home.  And by the time the closing date rolled around, guess who was deployed and no where to be found… yup.  Hubby lol.

Moving out of PMQs was stressful for me.  There was this formal “march out” required and my kid had painted a mural of a sun (it may have been the logo for the band Sublime) in her room on the wall. Seemed ok at the time until you need to leave the room in the same colour you got it.  I believe I painted about 6 coats of primer over that wall and it still wasn’t covered.  I actually recall curling up in a ball on the floor and sobbing from exhaustion over that room.  In the end, the inspector hardly looked at the wall (conveniently hidden behind her bedroom door).  That experience….moving out of a PMQ with my 3 kids and into our new home, earned me a FAT reward.

Have I ever told you that being a military wife offers some wonderful advantages?   Apart from the standard advantages (a job, a pension, military discounts etc.), one of the greatest gifts is that you get to chose your own family with the friends that you meet. They are there for you through thick and thin – like while moving or when you need to paint, or when you just need wine therapy or hot tub Fridays.  But one of the best advantages is that when your hubby goes away, they miss you sooo much that you can pretty much get whatever you want lol.  I have some lovely “fridge magnets” to account for his time away and deployments.  

So I remember that after that ‘march out” experience I told Will he owed me a vacation when he returned from his 5 month deployment.  He was totally on board with that and when trying to figure out where to go, I was shocked that he agreed to a cruise given that as a serving member of the Navy, his life was sailing.  But like I said… absence makes the heart grow fonder and the wife gets what the wife wants (or at least that’s how it worked out for me!).

Our first cruise was just the two of us on a 7 night cruise with Celebrity Cruises  https://www.celebritycruises.com.  And with that trip, they had us hook, line and sinker.  Celebrity Cruises is the perfect getaway for couples. I believe it is considered a premium cruise line.  While I have not been on any other cruise line, I consider it pretty upscale, without being pretentious. 

I totally love the Solstice Class of ships.  For us, when we went searching for the perfect getaway, I was asked what was important to us: smaller in size (no long lines please), outstanding food, a casino and onboard entertainment, and while no objection to children on board, we were not looking for a Disney cruise.  We also indicated on board activities like skating and waterslides was not really anything we were needing.  We were seeking sun and solitude: simply some over due alone time.  So the recommendation of Celebrity Cruises is what we went with, and we were not and have NEVER been disappointed.   I don’t actually know if I could bring myself to try another cruise line.  The Solstice Class of ships carries from 2800 to 3000 guests (give or take), with an approximate 2 to 1 ratio of crew to passengers.  It offers comfortable and tasteful accommodations, a main dining hall, with a stunning two story glass wine cellar, that offers both classic and contemporary food choices, an expansive casual buffet on board, a BBQ pit during the day offering burgers and fries, and multiple specialty restaurants to indulge in, if you so choose (a must for us!).  There is shopping on board, a gym (ah no) and a spa (ah always!), with daily activities and shows, and of course, a casino.  So much to offer with this cruise line!

Since that first cruise in 2011, we have enjoyed another 5 sailings, all varied in length. We knew after the first cruise, 7 days was not enough for us, and we learned we LOVED sea days. And here is the thing, while they may look like the same cruise, all of them offered different ports so we have never taken the same cruise itinerary.

In 2011: Celebrity Eclipse on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean

In 2013: Celebrity Equinox on an 11 night Ultimate Caribbean

In 2014: Celebrity Solstice on a 10 night Hawaii Cruise

In 2016: Celebrity Equinox on a 10 night Ultimate Caribbean

In 2017: Celebrity Reflection on a 11 night Ultimate Caribbean

in 2019: Celebrity Reflection on a 10 night Ultimate Caribbean

WOW, its been since 2019 since we stepped on board a cruise ship, probably most in part to COVID. And I really thought we sailed on the Silhouette, but I guess not. Something to work on. Will says no more cruises until we do Croatia by land. And I am okay with that, but lets not kid ourselves here, I have been looking …. and planning …. behind his back! And looking and planning is extremely hard not to do when you have friends currently on a cruise and you are creeping their itinerary!

There are two, maybe three cruise itineraries (minimally) I still want to do in my life time. Well maybe four, but the last one would need me to win a lottery. I want to do an A-B-C cruise again (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao), I want to do a holiday cruise just once over Christmas and New Years, and I have always said I want a retirement cruise in the South Pacific (Fiji/Tahiti/French Polynesia).  Good thing retirement is in my horizon!  And if I won a lottery — why not a cruise around the world?  Dream big they say!

I have so many wonderful memories cruising over the years. We have cruised alone, with multiple other couples and then there was the epic trip in 2019 where there were 14 of us.  Absolutely amazing — I remember vividly that first night in the Disco with us all dancing our butts off (and I do not really dance), Stephanie losing her purse the first night. All of us doing our own thing for excursions, but meeting up every night in the Passport Bar for drinks followed by the group dining together in the main dining room for dinner, catching up on everyone’s day. Ana on board wine tasting experience.  Swimming with the turtles on Spider Beach in Barbados. A few of us dining at Le Petit Chef specialty restaurant. Darrell trying to teach my often overserved husband how to play craps in the casino. It was truly a wonderful trip, one that you could probably never recreate even if you tired.  Maybe that’s another reason why we haven’t cruised again yet.

And Celebrity with their Solstice Class ships are famous for their Martini Crush Bar. An iced topped bar that is a favorite spot to hang out and watch skilled bartenders serve up classic martinis as well as decadent specialties like the expresso, the toffee apple, the snowflake and the chocolate martini!  And famous for the bartenders serving up “flights” of martinis before your very own eyes!  Check out the youtube link below for a peek at the fun!

This post was originally to simply feature my favourite martini, the Raspberry Lemonade Martini, that I discovered on one of my cruises. It was my go to on that last cruise and it was what I remember drinking as we waited to dine our last night at one of our favorite specialty restaurants: The Murano (to be honest, that dining experience is another post all on its own). I was able to find the recipe to this martini years ago and thought I would share. Maybe we can get together this summer, whip up a batch, sit in the back yard and plan a cruise together?

It is also possible that I am considering selling cruises on the side ….