20260118 Celebrity Constellation Western Caribbean Day 8 - The end of the trip

Celebrity Constellation Western Caribbean Day 8 – Back home again

It was another dark morning get-up. We were up at 6:30 this morning because we needed to clear the room by 7:30. 

We always get a kick out of cruises. "Thanks for sailing! We loved having you! We hope to see you again! Get out!  Get out now!" Ha!

We met Tom and Donna for a quick breakfast, returned to the room, brushed our teeth, tossed the toiletries into our suitcases, and met them again at the elevators. Since we didn't have much luggage, carrying our own bags off the ship was a lot more convenient than having the crew take the bags the night before. There's no finding your bag in the sea of bags, or waiting for others searching for their bags.

We rode down to deck four and walked outside to the exit.

There was a long line from both directions, but it moved quickly

We walked up the gangway, down a couple of escalators, and to Customs. We expected a line, based on the number of people ahead of us. To our surprise, as we rounded the corner, we saw four facial recognition cameras with no line. Why? As soon as you walked up to the camera, the light turned green, and the screen said to walk out. No passport, no talking to anyone. It literally took five seconds. Nice! That line was reserved for people with passports, so folks traveling with only a RealID or birth certificate had a much longer line.

We walked across the street to the parking ramp, rode the elevator to deck 3, and then quickly discovered that our truck was on 4. Whoops! We got back in, rode to four, loaded the truck, and drove out. The Tampa traffic was nonexistent early on Sunday morning, as was the I-75 traffic. We left the parking ramp at 7:52 and were in Tom and Donna's driveway at 9:16. We drove around the corner to our house, and were fully unpacked before 9:40 with a load of laundry in the washer before 10:00. Cruising from close to home is awesome.

So, let's wrap up the trip.

The main mission for this trip was to see Chichen Itza, and that was a resounding success. We had terrific weather, the place was interesting, and the architecture was impressive. We're looking forward to our visit to Rio next February to see Christ the Redeemer and complete our tour of the seven modern wonders of the world.

The snorkeling in Belize was top-notch. Standing among the rays and nurse sharks was also a big bonus. It was another day with picture-perfect weather.

Costa Maya was nothing special, especially due to the crowds, but we still enjoyed our walk around the port, again with perfect weather.

The three sea days were fun, and we did come away with a trivia win. The weather on the way back was a little cool, but nothing to ruin the day.

The part we had not planned on was our friends, Tom and Donna, coming along. That happened late in the planning, back in November. Traveling with friends adds another dimension of fun to a trip, and this was no exception. We didn't spend every minute together, but we did share at least one meal and some activities every day, and it was great.

The cruise itself was good, not great. We've been spoiled lately, cruising smaller ships where the service is impeccable. It's not fair to expect that on a mainstream cruise line like Celebrity. As a rule, the crew was friendly, welcoming, and provided good service. The food was good, and occasionally great. The activities were plentiful and fun. The ship was nice, albeit old. It was well-maintained, but it lacked modern conveniences such as multiple power outlets and USB ports in the rooms. The weather was overall good, and the seas were smooth. If I had to rate the trip as a whole, I'd call it 7.5/10. 

The one thing that turns us off is the constant selling on the ship. The stores having special "sales" that aren't really sales. The art auctions. The photographers. The casino. The Deal or No Deal card sales. We can do without that. But most of that can be avoided, and it obviously appeals to a large number of people.

So that wraps up our Celebrity Constellation trip. Time to start looking forward to our next adventure, a pair of back-to-back Viking Ocean cruises, In Search of the Northern Lights from Bergen, north through Norway to Tilbury, England, and Viking's British Isles Explorer from Tilbury, through England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, back to Bergen. We'll take the train to Oslo, so Arlona can see what she missed on our Viking Homelands cruise when she was in Covid jail on the ship. That's coming in March 2026. We'll see you there!