#4: Everything You Need to Know About CELEBRITY SILHOUETTE

Welcome back to the Passport Pals podcast. I'm Josh. I'm Olivia and we're the Passport Pals. Happy Monday everyone. If you are tuning in when this drops, this is episode four now. Crazy. Here we are. But let's get right into it. Today we are talking about everything celebrity silhouette. Everything you need to know if you are planning a trip on the silhouette. But before we get into that, should we get into the Passport report? All your travel news. Let's go. What do you got over there? Okay. So this is kind of old news, but new news to me. I just recently found this out and shared with you and you didn't know what it was. I've always applicable. It is. Especially if you're traveling this summer. Yes, especially your traveling this summer. So in case you didn't know, in case you missed it, effective January 8th, 2025. Any US passport holder and others from certain countries need an ETA, otherwise known as an electronic travel authorization to enter the United Kingdom. Whoa. Yeah. I had no idea. I didn't either. And I know what your next question is going to be. What about cruises? The answer is yes. Oh, even if you're not leaving the cruise ship, you'll still need an ETA. If the cruise ship departs from disembarkson or enters the UK as part of the itinerary. We might be doing that later this year. I guess we need an ETA. Yeah. That's crazy. Is there a price? I had no idea. Yes. You can apply for an ETA online through the gov.uk website. It is valid for two years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. The ETA costs around 10 euros, which is about 1275 US dollars. So it's just a one time thing. That's good. For two years. Go in essence, it's a new requirement for US citizens traveling to the UK. Even if you're just going through the airport. Oh. Yeah. Well, good to know. I hope everybody's going to the UK this summer. And if you're leaving in like two days, don't fret. You can expect to receive your ETA within three working days. So maybe fret if you're going in two days. But if you're going in three days, you're good. So yeah, it gives you permission to travel the UK. Okay, I'm getting different information. It's saying on the gov.uk website, it costs 16 euros to apply. So the price may differ. It may differ. And I think the conversion changes very rather frequently depending on what time of year it is and so on and so forth. But yeah. I don't know. You needed one of those. And I was like, wait, what? So what is that? Yeah, again, another thing that I learned from TikTok. But you don't need it if you have a visa. So this is only for like limited travel. So if you're going for anything over, what do you need a visa for? I think I have no idea. I don't know. If you need a visa, you don't need one of these. But if you just have a passport and you're going to the UK for like two weeks, you need this. Even if you're not, even if you're cruising to the UK and not even getting off the ship, you still need an ETA. I guess we better get on that. Yeah, I guess so. Win-win, cough cough. Nudge, nudge. But yeah. Cool. Get your ETAs. Get your ETAs. Go to the UK. Summer, Euro summer. Just got a little bit harder. Just a little bit. But I don't think the process is that difficult. It seems easy. Yeah. It's pretty simple. Pretty straightforward. That's it for me. What have you got to share with us today? I have a lot of news. So I, the cruise news has been crazy this week and I have a lot to share. Do share. Okay. So I have a lot of cruise news. So let's start with a celebrity cruise related news since we're talking about celebrity later on. And this one will be quick. But celebrity cruises is now offering river cruises. No way. They are. I've never done a river cruise, but I would love to. And now that we've been on celebrity, which we love, I'm excited to see what they do. Yeah, what? So celebrity river cruises starting in 2027, you can river the celebrity way. I'm hooked. Now booking will be open in 2025. It's not open yet. So we'll see. But it says they will offer premium river cruising and has signed an initial order of 10 ships. What? Yeah. And it says that the river ships will mirror the quality and sophistication of their award-winning edge series ocean ships. Yeah, wait. So enlighten me. I'm not super educated. So what in in the past? Mm-hmm. From what I've seen, river cruises are typically small and I think very tiny. Yes. So what does that mean? Does that mean they're buying new ships? They're building new ships. And they've ordered 10 new river ships from the shipyard, whoever's building it. Whoa. But yeah, that's really all the info we have. But celebrity will be doing river cruises in 2027. That is so cool. It is so exciting. Maybe that'll be our first river. Hopefully we get almost before 2027, but if not, maybe this will be it. I'm curious how expensive they're going to be because they typically are expensive. That's exactly what I was just going to say because I know celebrity typically runs a little pricier than your average rate. So I wonder just what they're going to charge. I mean river cruises and then cells are expensive. Like you're not getting on a river cruise for cheap by any means. I'm excited to learn more. I want to see their ships. I want to see the pricing. Itineraries. Everything. I'm in Europe. I do know that, but other than that, I don't know. Perfect. But I was excited to see that 2027. We can't wait to see you. All right, moving on. Margaritaville at sea. Margaritaville at sea has just purchased the third ship to add to their fleet. That's so exciting. We're a big Margaritaville at sea fans over here. They just purchased another ship. Now it is another coast of ship, which their first two ships were also old coast of ships. But this one will be their largest ship ever. It is going to be over 100,000 gross tons. It'll hold about 3500 people. It is a carnival destiny class ship. So if you've sailed on the carnival sunrise, sunshine, or radiance, it's identical. So that might give you an idea of what to expect from the ship. The current ship name is the Costa Fortuna. So if you want to look more into that, that's the ship they bought. And it will be launching in 2026. Wow. I am so excited. I'm also very excited. We love Margaritaville. Yeah. And I think they did a really good job with their renovation on the Islander. And I think the success with the Islander is kind of what is pushing them to do even bigger and better. Because the Islander kind of changed the game for them. The paradise when it launched, which we love the paradise. But it kind of scared some people off. Listen, I am a paradise. Margaritaville at sea paradise, a polygist. That cruise ship is like, it reminds me of like a small puppy. Like, you never know what it's going to do next. But you're having fun. And it's cute. Like it makes up for it because it's cute. Like, you never know what's going to happen next with a puppy. And either do you with the paradise. But you're excited about it. Like, you're looking forward to what comes next. That's a great analogy. It's like a puppy. Yeah, she's so cute and small and fun. She's so cute. She's so cute. But yeah, we also don't know where the home port is going to be or itineraries. I'm calling it now. It's going to be Port Canaveral. And I'm hoping it's Port Canaveral because that's closer to us. But hopefully we can get on the in knock. I'm going to be there. I don't care when, how much where. I might be here. But I'm happy for you. You'll be there too. I hope so. That's the goal. And then last but not least, some royal Caribbean news. So they had previously announced perfect day Mexico, which is kind of like private island destination in Mexico. But they just released a whole bunch of new info on perfect day Mexico. Because we didn't really know much. So it'll be opening September of 2027. It's a lay. And it is in Costa Maya. So royal Caribbean did buy the coast of Maya cruise port. And that cruise port is turning into perfect day Mexico. Wait, what? You didn't know that? No. Yeah, so they bought the pier and it's going to the whole cruise port. Yeah. What? Yeah. Now it's rumored that other cruise lines will still be able to port there, but of course you won't be able to go to perfect day Mexico if you're not a royal Caribbean ship. Oh, okay. Breaking news. But with perfect day Mexico's offering, maybe this will cheer you up. Okay. So they will have double the thrills and double the chills from perfect day at Coco K. They will have the local water park, which has over 30 water slides. It has the tallest family raft slide in the Americas. We all know how I feel about water slides. Jaguar's peak is the tallest water slide tower in the Americas with 10 slides. It's like a big Jaguar. It looks cool. I'll put a picture in here. There will be slides. Oh, so they're have you ever seen those TikToks with people who are like on like really tall water slides like flinging you up into the air and they like do flips off in them. - Thankfully not. - Oh, well, they'll have those type of watersides and people will judge your launch into the air. - What? - Yeah. - I do not want people judging my launching body, flailing in the air. - Will you be launching into the air? - No, I'm not launching my body into the air and like flailing about for people to be like, oh, look at her. (laughing) That's a six. Like, why would I do that? Are you? - Yeah. - I can't wait. 2027 is gonna be a crazy year. We're gonna be celebrity river cruising and flinging ourselves into the air at perfect A Mexico. - In the middle of coast of May, Mexico. - Also, the world's longest lazy crazy river. - Those are two very juxtapositioned words. - Well, it's the longest lazy river in the world, which I'm excited about. I love a lazy river. - You know what, lazy and crazy. (laughing) - But. - Me. - Hidden in this longest lazy river in the world will be a hidden stretch of rushing rapids. (laughing) - Well, I get to like, choose my path. - Well, I think so. I think it's like a diversion, the crazy. Have you ever been in a rushing rapids lazy river? - I. - There's one. - I feel like those are two very different experiences. - There's one of volcano bay. I haven't been. - I haven't been to volcano bay. - But there's also one in Atlantis, in Nassau, which I haven't been to. - Well, I haven't been there. - And it's pretty fun. They make, it's like a safety hazard too. You have to wear like a life vest because it's like a rapid. - No. (laughing) - No, no, no, no. - So there will be a lazy crazy river. In the lazy river, there's also gonna be three bars along the way. - What? - And there's gonna be spots for you to tie up your tube. So you can like pull up to the bar in the lazy river and tie up your tube. - Oh my God, the on my way to the liquor store. Take talk, it's gonna go crazy. - 2027, I hope that trend is still around. - On my way to the liquor store. - And it is over a mile long. (laughing) And we'll take an hour to complete the loop. - What? - Now there's many stops to get in and out, but if you wanna do the whole loop, it's a mile over mile hour long. - That is like prime girl talk. (laughing) Like time, like in the lazy crazy river. (laughing) - Longest in the world. I'm excited. - I can't wait to talk in it. (laughing) - In my silly little life vest. And then get like, gushed out. I guess, I don't know. - No. - Swashed about as you would say. - Also at perfect day Mexico, there will be six pools, three beaches, 12 eateries, 24 drinkeries, a lot of sombreros. The world's largest sombrero bar. (laughing) - Okay, but you wanna know what I'm already mad about? - What? - They're gonna be like, and we're docking from eight to two. - Mm-hmm. - And then I'm gonna be like, and it's gonna take me one of those hours just to get through the lazy river. (laughing) - That is a fair point. - And I'm not gonna be able to eat at all 24 of the eateries. - I know, I was just thinking when I would go into this list, I was like, I won't be able to do all of this in one trip. So now we're gonna have to go twice, three times. - This is how they get you. - Like how am I supposed to be gushing through the lazy river one hour and then flailing my body in the air and another and get through everything? - Mm-hmm. - And they will also have the Costa Beach Club, similar to the Coco Beach Club at Coco K, and L Hyde Way, like Hyde Way Beach, the adults only area at Coco K. So it's gonna mirror Coco K, but it's gonna have all the offerings and more. - I love how they're like. - L Hyde Way, they're like Coco K, but make it Spanish. - Well perfect. - Well the idea, so they're doing a lot of different new destinations. Perfect day is one idea. So perfect day at Coco K, perfect day Mexico. And then they have the Beach Clubs, which they have the one in Nassau opening, and there's one in Mexico also opening, and then they're doing exclusive destinations, Lábadi, and they just announced another one, Lelepa. Lelepa. (laughs) I don't know what I'm saying there. But it's in the South Pacific. - Lelepa. Wait, where is that? - Like between Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. So yeah, perfect day Mexico. A lot of new information announced, 2027, we're coming for you. - I'll see y'all at L Hyde Way, baby. (laughs) Catch me there. - Oh, but even L Hyde Way. (laughs) - Sitting at L Hyde Way, and in the background someone is flinging. (laughs) Oh my God, I forgot a part of perfect day Mexico. So like they have the Oasis Lagoon, and perfect day at Coco K, there's also gonna be a big, huge pool included. It is three times bigger than the Oasis Lagoon at perfect day at Coco K. - Whoa, and that's kind of a big pool. - When it was built, it was the biggest pool in the Caribbean. Now Carnival is adding a huge pool at their new island, so I think that one took the cake, and I don't know if this one's gonna be bigger, probably not, because I didn't say it's the biggest, but three times bigger than the Oasis Lagoon, which seems impossible. - Mm. - That's crazy. - So they're doing everything bigger and better than perfect day at Coco K, allegedly with all the same offerings. - Yeah, I'm excited. - Back to India. - Oh. (laughing) - But she didn't know I was bilingual. - Okay, well that is it for the passport report. I had quite a bit of cruise news this week, but a lot happened this week. - Yeah, that was crazy. Mine was so boring. Fill out this form if you wanna go to the UK this summer, and then it's like perfect day. You get a new ship, you get a new ship, you get a river cruise. What's going on? I guess another reason why cruising is better. - Hot take. - That is a sizzling hot take. (laughing) - Fine. - All right, well should we get into everything you need to know about the celebrity silhouette? - Let's do it. All right, so general info, it launched in 2011. It is 122,210 gross tons. - Wow. - It is 1047 feet long. 121 feet wide. She has thick feet. (laughing) She can hold 2886 people. She spends her winters in the Caribbean and summers in Europe, lucky her. - Oh, that's how I'm trying to be. - For real? What is this 700 million ordeal? - So it costs 700 million dollars to build in 2011. - That's crazy. - Now all the new cruise ships cost a well over a billion dollars. - How much is icon? - A well over a billion dollars. - That's crazy. She has two pools and seven hot tubs, and one of them is exclusive. - So yeah, basically she's a mid-sized ship, about 15 years old. But we just sailed on her and I think she's holding up. I thought it was a good size. - Yeah. - It didn't feel 15 years old. - It did not. And we were just recently talking about it. And I was like, that ship felt way bigger than it sounds. - Yeah. - When we were on it, I felt like we were on a huge ship. Like there was no way that it was that small. - Yeah. - But I mean, I guess it is, but when you're on it, it doesn't feel small. - It didn't feel small. - By any means. - Yeah. - Yeah, but it was a nice ship. - Yeah. - Okay, now the type of cabins they have on board, so they do have solo cabins, solo inside cabins for all the solo travelers. They do have solo inside and then your standard inside ocean view and they call balcony cabins for anda cabins. So they have your standard ones. Then they have concierge classrooms, which are just your standard balcony room or veranda. But it includes a welcome lunch and specialty concierge service. - A welcome lunch. - Yes, I think it's in the main dining rooms so you don't have to deal with like boarding day, crazy buffet, sold. And concierge isn't typically that much more than a regular veranda cabin. So you don't get that many perks, but it might be worth that extra charge. - Listen, as someone who gets boarding day anxiety, I would love to just hop on and go straight to the dining room. - Yeah. - And then they have the aquaclass, which is a step above concierge class, which again is a standard balcony room, but you have access to the Persian Garden, which is the thermal spa. So that's included throughout the duration of your cruise and you have an exclusive restaurant called the Blue Restaurant. So it's a smaller restaurant, so you're not like in the big main dining room and they have like a more exclusive menu, I guess. And again, aquaclass isn't that much more. You're not talking like sweet prices. So it's a little bit more for an elevated experience. I think it might be worth it. - Yeah, that'd be cool. - And then lastly, the retreat is the sweet class on board celebrity cruises. With that on the silhouette, there is a private sundec, there is a private lounge and an exclusive restaurant, Lumine. - Nice. - Those are all the cabin types you can have or working our way to retreat. - Slowly but surely. - We'll get there. But our inside room was very nice. It was one of the nicest inside rooms I've stayed in. - A hundred percent. - It was so big, so much storage. - Yes, very spacious. We walked in and we were like, we could be in here for eight days to Alaska. The cabins are really spacious on the silhouette. - Yeah, very nice cabins. - Alrighty. So for dining, for included food, we have obviously the main dining room is always included. The Ocean View Cafe, which is AKA their buffet, mast grill, which is poolside burgers, front fries, little fixings, things like that. The spa cafe, which is breakfast and lunch, and there's like light food. health-their bites and that's in the salarium and then they have cafe out Baccio. Baccio? I don't know. Baccio I think. Baccio and it's just like little pastries and coffees and things. Which the pastries were free at El Baccio but the coffee is extra but they had really good pastries. I was I was shocked that they were all included. There's so many options too like three tiers four cross three down. Full cakes, fun pastry. It was impressive. Now I'll save that for the next episode because it was interesting maybe level of service. Yes we'll get into it. Two in on Friday. Yeah to see what happened at Cafe El Baccio. But then for specialty dining on board the silhouette they have Lipeteet chef which is an interesting concept they have it's basically like an entertainment interactive dining experience they have projectors that project on to your table and there's a petite chef who like guides you along and like makes your food on the projector screen. It looks interesting I do it for the gimmick we didn't do it but it is interesting. It looks cute. It's an interesting option that you don't see anywhere else really. We didn't do it because we couldn't really justify the price. Yes it was kind of pricey for what it looked like but if you're looking for an interesting experience that's definitely it. I think it would be awesome to do with like kids. Yeah I think so. I think that would be really entertaining. If you're looking for like a romantic like meal. Yeah. Don't do the lipete. Lipeteet chef. Please do not because there's a little man walking on your plate like docking in the down there. Yeah but it was and unique offering. Yeah I was cute. It would be fun to do. Yeah and then the Tuscan grill which is the Italian steakhouse we did eat there it was very delicious very similar to Giovanni's table on Royal Caribbean I saw a lot of similarities so if you eat in there that's kind of what this vibe was then Marano which is a French cuisine the Lawn Club Grill which is outdoors and it's up on the top deck near the lawn. It's an outdoor grilling experience that has like flatbread steaks fish kebab so grill it out on the lawn that's kind of fun. Cook out. Yeah how fun. Then they also have the porch which is seafood and has a raw bar sushi on fives Japanese cuisine as well as a variety of sushi options and then cafe El Batillo like we said in Gelato Ria the coffee in Gelato is extra but those pastries were included and then two exclusive restaurants like I mentioned earlier blue is for the concierge class and lumine is for the retreat. I do wish that we had done more specialty dining on this ship but we were only there for three days. We were only there for three days and like to be honest with you it was all very steeply priced. It was now we probably could have booked ahead of time and it was it is a little cheaper but we weren't really planning on it. Yeah. The Tuscan are go-to but it may have been a little cheaper but it still was steep. Yeah but I like this long club sounds cool. Yeah like I would have done that but a little pricey. Yeah but nonetheless. Now there are bars on board of course there is the Martini bar which tells us more about the Martini bar. Martini bar actually has an ice top and they do Martini shows. This is very a big thing they do on celebrity. I think they have a ice Martini bar in every ship. Don't quote me on that but I think so and it was cool. I had unique Martinis and then I think on the silhouette they only did the Martini show once a night which we never got to see but they do a fun Martini show and it's cool. It was really fun. We had a good time. I went there a couple times. It's fun to have a nice top bar. Yeah. How fun. It was cool. It was really fun. They have the craft social which is the sports bar. They have a passport bar. Like through this one in there just because we're the passport pals. It was just a regular bar in the lobby but how fun passport. They have the world class bar which is like elevated cocktails. And then they had the ensemble lounge which was a unique venue. We didn't really spend much time here but there was live music and it was kind of this like dark place but they call it the gateway to specialty dining and that it was. It was this really dark kind of sultry lounge but then it opened up to this specialty dining so. There was fun in there. It kind of felt like like a speak easy without being a speak easy. Yeah and I guess that kind of leads into how it's the gateway to specialty dining because if that specialty dining is a speak easy. Again we didn't get to spend any time in there because it was only a three night cruise but they did have cool cocktails. I wanted to try something maybe next time. Last but not least they have the sunset bar which is at the top of the ship. They aft. Yeah with great views. Again somebody commented on my TikTok today like oh yeah sunsets at the sunset bar and I'm like I wish we hung out there more too. We spent we went there the first day and there was really cool furniture, great views and we went back to the ship. I do wish we had more time on this ship. Yeah it was a really nice ship. And then yeah they did have of course more bars than that just regular bars around the ship but those are kind of the specialty bars they have. Tell us what we can do on the celebrity silhouette. So things you can do in different venues they have on board so the Grand Foyet is kind of the main atrium of the ship and there was always live music and few of the different bars that we were just talked about were right off of there. Shout out to the band that was there. Oh yeah the band that was all the way from Africa they said they were phenomenal they were all over the ship but they did a lot of performances there in the Grand Foyet. I think all of live music on this ship was pretty good. It was good yeah. Yeah so yeah that was cool a lot they had some parties in there this silent disco was in the Grand Foyet so a lot of just a great gathering place on board and then the lawn club which is real grass on a cruise ship which is cool. Now I have a gripe with this. I'll talk about in the next episode but the lawn club a real glass on a cruise ship how fun then there is the pool deck there were two pools on board the main pool which they had a lot of shade they had those things like on the sides. Oh yeah. With also like cushy loungers you could sit in. It was very nice. It was very nice. So I really do like the pool deck on this ship as well as the salarium which is adults only and an indoor pool like we said there's seven hot tubs on board six of them are scattered between the main pool and the salarium and then one is in the retreat sundaek so exclusive for retreat guests. There's also a casino I love the casino on board it was big they had a lot of fun games. The theater they had comedians and they also had original production shows the hideaway this was a cool venue it was the website describes it as escape to your own private lounging nests and there was an actual like birds nest seating you it was cozy up in there were cool chairs like built it in the wall. Yeah. It's just a cool place to chill out help me read a book. Like two levels yeah but open to all like the elevator atrium there's a live tree right there so it was a really cool place you kind of felt like you were in a nest in a tree like it says. Then there was also a library the sky lounge I really like this lounge too is in the very front of the ship windows floor to ceiling windows around the whole thing so great ocean views they had live music the club was there at night yeah a great place to hang out. Oh my god that was the club. Yeah remember we went dancing almost every night. I could not have told you that was the same place. Really? By any means maybe that's why the ship felt so big to me because I never had any idea where I was. You howard I do place every night. I totally thought that was like a totally different shot the front door. What? Yeah. Okay I'm officially impressed. Okay anyway. Um Quasar now the website says this was the nightclub but on our sailing the nightclub was hosted in the sky lounge so maybe originally when the ship came out Quasar was the nightclub but uh me thinking I was in Quasar. But Quasar it seemed like what they were doing it was mostly a karaoke lounge every time we walked by there was karaoke or live music so that was just a different lounge. Oh. We're like right outside the theater. Oh they should move into the sky lounge baby that was fun. That was a beautiful venue. Yeah. I did not want to be in that karaoke lounge to clubbing it up. Yeah. So it's a good thing they moved the club up to the sky lounge. Yeah. They should keep it there forever. Yeah. So I think they hopefully they have but on our sailing at least it was there. Then celebrity central was kind of a small just other lounge they host movies in here so there was kind of movie theater seating but they also did game shows and stuff in there. We didn't watch a movie but could they offer that on board? We walked in while one was playing and then we walked out. And then the entertainment court is like a smaller H Dream right outside the theater. It's two stories it's kind of home to where celebrity central and Quasar that karaoke lounge is. They also hosted game shows right in there so it's just another gathering place on board. They also have a spa with a salon and a thermal spa, a gym and then kids and teens clubs. So yeah that's pretty much everything you need to know about the celebrity silhouette. I think it's a great mid-size ship. Definitely would recommend. Yeah we had a blast on this ship. We did do specialty dining. We hit every single venue on this ship. All the food was good. Obviously we'll tell you more on Friday but we've got a lot to talk about. We have a lot. Just in just three days we covered a lot of rounds. We had a lot of fun on this ship. So stay tuned for Friday's episode to hear our in-depth thoughts and experience on board the silhouette. Great ship. - Bye. - Alrighty, with the-- - That, the moment you've all been waiting for, wish we had known. - What do you wish we had known? - So, kind of on theme with UK travel. I wish I had known about little plastic bags. If you know what I'm talking about, you already let out a sigh, okay? These little baggies were the bane of my existence. And so we went to Europe last summer, and when you travel through the UK, he throw Gatwick and there's one more that does it that's really well known for it. Honestly, just like taper cautions if you're traveling to the UK because I think that the major airports do this. So when you are going through TSA, I, and mind you, I had heard about it, but in my silly little girl head, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, it's not that serious. It won't happen because here's the thing about TSA. At least in the United States, and this also might just be Florida, to be honest with you, like MCO, I don't know, maybe it's just our home airport, but I feel like I take nothing seriously in TSA at MCO. Like, everything changes every single time you go, one time you'll go and they'll be like, all electronics need to be out of your bag. And the next time you go, the person is like, just leave it in your bag. And then the next time you go, they're like, take off your shoes. And then another time you'll go, they'll be like, leave your shoes on. And I don't know if that's all airport TSAs or just MCO because MCO is like, I feel like the crack head airport. So I was like, nah, I'm gonna get lucky. And they're just not gonna do that this time. In my mind, I was like, it's like leaving a laptop in my backpack. Like they're just gonna let me do it this time around. Wrong. If you're traveling through any of the major UK airports, correct me if I'm wrong, they give you a little. A court size bag. A court size, which is not big. Plastic bag. To put any and all of your carry on liquids in. And yeah, it took, it was a lengthy process. Imagine if everybody had to take them out and fill this tiny bag. And that was the most miserable part, okay? Had I known and had you like had them outside of the actual process, things would have been much smaller. If I would have been checking my bag and someone would have handed me a little court size baggy and said, make sure all your liquids are in here. If they're not, put them in your carry on. Or put them in your check bag. A little more efficient, we agree? Yeah. No, listen, they had you check your bags, go through pretty much all security. And then all of a sudden they're like, okay, more security, put all your liquids in this tiny little bag. Yeah, it was pretty good. And if you didn't have room in the bag, guess what? Goodbye. Tutorials straight into the garbage. Pardon? Now if I had known, maybe I would have put it in my check bag. Hello. So just keep it in mind that your liquids must fit into this tiny court size bag. And prepack them in a court size bag, maybe to save you some time in house. Oh, I was gonna say, it was utter chaos. There are people everywhere with all of their belongings spread out because obviously everyone's trying to get to the same goal. People are rushing to flights, obviously. It was like, there were so many people all with the same goal. And I'm like, okay, let me like dig into my carry on and find my toiletry bag. And also don't forget about your little hand sanitizer that's tucked away in a random little pocket. Okay, forgot about this. Because who left their hand sanitizer, tucked away in a random little pocket in their carry on bag, and was like, avidly searched. Yeah, that was me. Like, I'm talking, took 15 to 20 minutes because it appears as though everyone had a tiny little hand sanitizer tucked away in their little bag. 'Cause I had a whole bunch of camera equipment that sometimes gets flagged for looking like a weapon. So I was like, oh, that's it. And they check everything and they're like, no, what is it? What is it? And then they find this little hand sanitizer and they're like, oh, yeah, you needed to put this in your little baggie. Like a tiny Purell bottle. Not even like-- It was like one out, crazy. Because it wasn't in the baggie. Separated in the bag, yeah. Where did it go? The garbages. Yes. They took it. It did take it. They let it fall. And all of my stuff was everywhere in the middle. Yes. And they ripped his suitcase apart. Su-case and backpack apart for the white and tins. It's miserable. Absolutely miserable. And it was chaos. It was utter chaos. And I will never forget it. Because if you have any form of like TSA anxiety, which literally who doesn't, there's people screaming at you. And you never know what's coming next. And you might have to take your shoes off. You might not. Who knows? Like, it's nerve-wracking and anxiety inducing. And then when they're like, surprise, unpack. Like, imagine. Yeah. Imagine you're getting ready to like, board your little flight with all your cute little toilet trees packed away. And they're like, guess what? Unpack. Yeah. Crazy. It was crazy. It was very crazy. So just keep that in mind. I will say though, the court size liquid rule is a pretty standardized airline liquid rule. However, I have never seen it enforced like it was in London. Again, I am really used to my silly little MCO lifestyle. OK. But again, everybody was caught off guard by this. Like, I've never had to separate my liquids in my court bag. I did probably know at some point that you're only allowed a court size bag of liquids. Well, yeah. I mean, I'm not like lugging on gallons. But I have never had to physically take out my liquids and separate them into the bag. Well, and like in my mind, I'm like, it's all consolidated already into a toiletry bag. That's true. You couldn't just put your toiletry bag. It had to fit in the court size plastic bag. It had to fit inside. So if you've got like a silly little toiletry, like you have your little hang up one, yeah. You would have had to unfold, said toiletry, hanging up back. Unpack everything that had been packed through it. I had to unpack my silly little toiletry bag because we were traveling internationally. It was like a nine hour flight. And I wanted my toiletries with me. You never know what's going to happen. What if we had, you know, I don't know, a crash landing. And I needed my mascara. I don't know. You never know. But it wasn't even like I was carrying on like shampoo's or, I wasn't carrying on anything crazy. It was like lip gloss and perfume and like a silly little hand sanitizer and toothpaste. Like it was insane. It was insane. And maybe I sound like a complainer. Don't get me wrong. Thank you, TSA. Thank you to security for keeping us safe. I don't know, but it was crazy. And I forgot that I left my hand sanitizer in there and had to get searched. Literally searched. Your stuff was everywhere. Yeah, it was crazy. And then we had to repack your bag like off to the side awkwardly. Thank God we were there early. Yeah. All right. So wish we had known London Airport, your liquids needed being a quart-size bag. Yep. And everybody in the airport was equally as unprepared as us. Big pilot. Potentially even more. Yes. Like I had it in the back of my mind. Like I definitely knew it was coming. But people had like water bottles. They were dumping out and they said that it was-- People had some crazies down going on. Like and the trash bins were full. So full of people just tossing things that they didn't need. Yeah. What do you wish you had known? Wish we had known kind of related to celebrity cruises since we talked about that today. The drink prices on celebrity cruises are very high. Very expensive. Muay expense, either. Every drink was-- I won't say every-- but I'd say 80% of the drinks on board were between $17 to $19, which is crazy. I would say even higher. Well, but that's the pre-grituity price. But then they charge the 18% gratuity on every drink you purchase. So then every drink I purchased came out from 20 to $24 a piece. Oh, which is just crazy. On most other cruise lines, maybe $16 all in with the gratuity, which like you're-- I know you're on vacation drinks are going to be expensive. But $24 for a drink at the pool, I was not expecting that. At all. And for just a mimosa, I got a simple popsicle mimosa, $24. A watermelon margarita at the pool, $24. Crazy. Like, it was crazy. And I mean, if you go to a bar nowadays, like a nicer bar. Now, a drink is going to cost you $16. Yeah, but-- Yeah, but-- I just had not had that expensive drinks on any other cruise before in this. This is our first celebrity cruise. And but then the drink package-- so they have an all-in package where if you book at the time of booking, you get drinks in Wi-Fi included. But that drink package only includes drinks up to $12. Now, I didn't see a single drink on a single menu for $12. Now, if you wanted a basic standard well margarita or like a glass of wine or a beer, that was all included. But any cocktail on any menu in any of the bars was over $12. So you can pay to upgrade your package for a nominal fee, which then I think you have to get the upgraded drink package if you're going on celebrity because the basic one doesn't include really anything. Unless you're only getting the drink package because you know you're going to have a glass or two of wine today. That's true. Or if you're going to have a few beers a day. I guess that's true. It just depends what you're drinking. But if you want not even like a specialized cocktail, but just like a. Yeah, we're not talking top shelf. Yeah, we're just talking like the watermelon margarita that's on the drink menu. $20. Which isn't anything special. It's just like a cocktail. Yeah. It's just not normal. Like, even for a cruise. It was outrageous price. Yeah. Not top shelf. You're typically paying like you said, like 16 bucks on a drink. Roe Caribbean, it's $16 including retuity for all the cocktails on the menu. Yeah. But the first bar we stepped foot in, we were looking at a drink menu and it started at $19. Which was just crazy work. And it wasn't like. They weren't crazy cocktails. It wasn't top shelf. It was just like a mango martini. And it was like this big. So yeah, I just wish we had known that the drinks were expensive and if you're getting the drink package, you pretty much should upgrade unless you're just getting a glass of wine or a well margarita because it won't include anything otherwise. Yeah. But now we know. So for the next time. Now we know. But it was pretty sticker shock. Now would you get the drink package? I would. Now, sometimes the all-in package. I don't know the pricing on it, but sometimes when I'm looking at cruises, the all-in package is like not that much more and sometimes like a lot more. So I don't know if they do variable pricing, but I don't think it's a bad deal. And someone was saying in my TikTok comments that you can upgrade for like $7 a day or $10 a day. Which I don't think is that much. Yeah, if you're going to have a few drinks a day, I feel like it pays for itself. Yeah. So to get the upgraded package for $10 more a day, I don't think is that bad, but it is an upgrade you can do. And I think for our cruise that we went on, the all-in package was like $500 more. For two people. So 250 a person roughly, it was probably a little more than that for drinks and Wi-Fi. Wow. For three nights. I consider that kind of steep. Kind of steep. I didn't think it was terrible, but. I think that's kind of terrible. But it included Wi-Fi too. If it was real Caribbean charges more than that for just the drink package. Wow. For a three day cruise. I didn't want to spend that much. I didn't think it was worth it for it, but in the industry, I didn't think the pricing was too outrageous. Now, I assume the answer is yes, but I'm going to ask a stupid question. Just in case anybody else is having the same stupid question thought. So I'm not a big drinker. So if you were to get the drink package, I would also have to get the drink package. Yes. Which is another reason why I didn't think it would be worth it. Because like you said, you're not that big of a drinker. Yeah. So it just doesn't make sense to pay all that much money. So keep that in mind too, if you're not huge drinkers, it might not be worth it. Which you weren't really drinking. No. But I had maybe three, four drinks a day. What? Yeah, but even still, it wouldn't make sense to get the package. I don't think. Really? Yeah. So if I had the package, I would have been drinking more, but like four drinks a day. So I feel like if you're kind of a moderate drinker, it's maybe not worth it. If you're like going on a trip to drink, sure, yeah, I would get the package. But if you're just, you know, going to have a drink by the pool, I might have a drink with dinner. But now then you are going to be paying $20 a drink. So then when you're factoring, so just kind of, so many things to consider. But it's really up to personal preference. But wish we had known. Wish we had known. Well, that is episode four of the Passport Pals podcast. I hope you learned something today about the celebrity silhouette and the new travel news in the world. And hopefully now you're more prepared if you're traveling to London or on a celebrity cruise. Yep. You're a summer maybe. Yeah. She's almost here. Do your research. Mm-hmm. If you're watching us on YouTube, be sure to like, subscribe, do all the things. If you're listening to us, be sure to leave us a review on whatever podcast platform you're listening on. And with that, we'll see you guys on Friday. Thanks for hanging out with us. And where to next.