About three weeks before her cruise to Mexico and Belize on the Celebrity Constellation was set to sail, my mom messaged me and said, "Any chance you want to go on a free cruise with me in April?" Free? Absolutely!
My brother and his kiddos were cool enough to pick me up from the airport after they saw the new Mario movie and we went to one of our favorite's - Carmelita's in Largo. I always love visiting Florida, but these little gremlins are my favorite reason why!
After dinner with my brother, Greta, James and Hattie, they dropped me off at my mom's house where she was waiting to take me to the neighborhood dance. They do all kinds of fun things in her neighborhood, like lip sync concerts, dances, and dinner nights. This particular night, her neighbor John was shooting Aunt Sara and my mom with a little rabbit dart gun - it was an all out war!
Everyone got to sit with whomever they wanted (chosen ahead of time) and they had to decorate their own table.
Me dancing with the Easter Bunny (aka: Debbie!) The band was excellent!
This little guy was the source of a lot of fun at this dance!
But in the morning, it was time for the main event! David, my mom's favorite Uber driver literally JUST got off of the Celebrity Constellation where he went on the exact same cruise the week before us with his sister. He drove her home, dropped her off, came by to pick us up and took us to the cruise port!
Boarding was very easy - we had Premium Access so we got there a couple of hours before our boarding time and we were allowed to board.
Time to go find our muster!
Finding the muster was very easy so, within minutes we made our way up to the buffet area for some lunch and a drink. They have these weird vertical portholes where you can see straight down. I don't want my chair over that (said the girl who is terrified of heights!)
It was Easter Sunday, so Celebrity had a lovely Easter dessert display!
After lunch, we walked around a bit and explored the ship. It was still relatively empty - look, there's plenty of seats at the bar!
I had a grandiose plan to have a drink at every bar on the ship but that didn't end well. You always find the bars you really like and you just tend to stick to those.
But this was a tasty little fruity drink!
I walked around a bit more and found this random gorilla holding a fish statue called "A Couple of Differences Between Thinking and Feeling" by Angus Fairhurst.
Just snapping photos of the Celebrity Constellation funnel.
Good news - I would find out later in the trip that the pools were "Colleen warm" - meaning, they were warm enough for me to get in!
Y'all, I can't even. All I see is flood zones here.
The Grand Foyer on the Celebrity Constellation is nice but it's not as pretty as what they've got on MSC!
Is it time for a nap yet? Fun fact: We napped almost every single day on this cruise!
After a quick rest, we went back out before the ship set sail from the Port of Tampa. You always know a Celebrity ship by the big X on the side of it.
The Carnival Miracle and the Norwegian Dawn followed us out of port. But the American Victory did NOT! It's one of only four fully functional World War II ships left.
Adios, Tampa! See ya on the flip side!
We slowly made our way past the industrial ports and out of Tampa.
Let's eat! We ate almost every night in Blu. You get a specialized menu, but you also get access to the main dining room menu. Why not? The more choices, the better!
I think this was one of my favorite moments on the cruise because I had never done this before. We sailed under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge!
Eeeek! We are directly under the bridge!
This bridge is so iconic. On May 9, 1980 (I was only 3), the MV Summit Venture hit one of the support piers of the southbound lanes during a microburst, causing the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge to fall into the bay, killing 35 people. They later built this new bridge which opened in 1987. My parents, brother and I walked to the top on "opening day" that year. This bridge has always seemed SO high to me, yet it doesn't fit Oasis class (or similar) ships underneath.
After dinner, mom and I hit up the Martini Bar - where we would spend time every night on this cruise!
They made - and I'm not exaggerating - the BEST drink I've ever had - a lavender lemon drop!
It's a thing of beauty. The Martini Bar has a thin layer of frost around the bar to keep all of your drinks cold.
The bartenders at the Martini Bar are the best in the biz... this is Edi, who was about to pour three drinks from one set of shakers.
Edi and Andrew were so awesome. Not only do they always remember your name, but they remember your favorite drink as well!
Edi and our man Boom Boom (yes, that's what his name tag says) were a part of the trio that put on an incredible dance show every night, slinging bottles around and pouring drinks.
Our first full day was a day at sea, and I didn't take many pictures. When we woke up, we had breakfast delivered to our room which we enjoyed on the balcony. We liked that the Carnival Miracle was not too far away. They had the same itinerary we did!
And then we went to the upper deck above the pool to get a little vitamin D and enjoy a drink. I had a pina colada, and mom had a Bloody Mary! Cheers to a fun and relaxing day!
I bought some magnets for our door celebrating our 50th and 80th birthdays this year. Although this wasn't super planned, at least we were able to do something together this year!
So before dinner, we decided to hit up the Martini Bar for a drink. Imagine my surprise (my mom said, "Her jaw dropped!") when I saw one of my sorority sister's from across the bar! WHAT??? It was so awesome to see Danielle, who was on an "empty nest cruise" with her husband and a ton of cool friends. I wish I had a picture of her husband's shorts, which had her face all over them. "You know, in case we lose them, we'll be able to find them!" LOL! Both of her girls go to Auburn too! I'm really, really looking forward to an empty nest cruise!
Dinner at Blu was once again amazing! Mom couldn't decide between two meals so our waiter Michael brought her a little bit of both! I also REALLY enjoyed this cabernet - I'm not really a huge wine drinker, but this was really delicious.
Celebrity doesn't have a lot of those Broadway type of shows - at least not on this ship. But they did have one rock show which was pretty good with lots of singing and dancing.
There was even some aerial acrobatics!
I though this was a really good show- I wish they had more like this!
But of course, after the show, it was back to the Martini Bar where Andrew was wearing a bottle cap on his forehead.
So of course, my mom had to do that too!
When we returned to the room to go to bed, we saw some flowers on the table - so pretty! Thank you, Captain's Club!
And we're on to Cozumel!
