An enjoyable eleven-night Southern Caribbean cruise! Our trip began in Tallahassee on February 17th as we drove to Ft. Lauderdale. We stayed at the SpringHill Suites in Dania Beach (a 10-minute drive to the port) and was disappointed in the hotel as the check-in process was unorganized (a long list of people waiting for rooms) and there was no hot water for our morning shower. The hotel, as well as several others, is in a great location, surrounded by various stores and restaurants. We had a fantastic dinner at the nearby Moonlite Dinner. You definitely will not go away hungry!
For the convenience, we parked at the port - $15/day. Since the Celebrity Reflection was docked at newly renovated Pier 25, we chose to park in the mid-port garage after dropping off our luggage at the pier. We arrived around 10:30 a.m. and check-in was very organized and a pleasant process. We boarded the ship a little after 11:00 am.
Southern Caribbean Cruise
SEE ABOVE.
We alway enjoy coming to Aruba. On this cruise we had an overnight stay in port in Aruba. This was fortunate, as the island was celebrating Canivale’ featuring a big parade in the evening. We arrived in port around 4:00 p.m. and chose to walk into town around 8:30 p.m. to see the preparation for the festivities. Unfortunately, the parade did not reach the port area until around 12:30 p.m., so we elected to watch a portion of the parade from our ship’s balcony. A fun time…
This is our favorite island in the Caribbean. The town is beautiful with the Dutch influenced pastel colors and architecture. The town center is a short walk from the pier. I always enjoy walking across the floating bridge, going to the riverside Fish and Fruit Market, and exploring downtown. There are numerous sidewalk cafe’s with free wifi. If you are looking for souvenirs, the farther you go into town, the cheaper the price gets.
Bonaire is a fairly small island that is somewhat new to cruise tourism. It is easy to walk around town and they have a nice local craft plaza a few blocks from the pier. While we did not do an excursion, our dinner table mates did two excursions, one a dive trip and the other a 4x4 offload excursion. Both said they really enjoyed their adventures.