Eclipsing Northern Europe by cruise : Basic black , and Baltic blues

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your usual dive operator in Cozumel. While I did enjoy my dives with Sand Dollar this time around, they do run large boats with a lot of divers, so you wouldn't get the same, more personalized experience you are used to enjoying. I did have good contact with Dive With Martin before our cruise. I was trying to get on an afternoon boat with them since we would not be in port early enough for their morning boat, but since I was the ony one scheduled for that afternoon, the dive was not going to go. I would have been fine if I had even one other diver with me, but with Barry's injury, I wasn't even sure I was going to make the dive. Dive With Martin is right at the pier, so you might want to give them a try if you want a less crowded dive. Sand Dollar might be able to arrange a private boat for you if you have a group of divers, so you might want to check that out as another option. At least they didn't have that annoying age 65 restriction! :eek:

 

We will find somebody to dive with , but we really do like 2 DM's where we normally dive and consider them as friends . The age restriction on the Princess shore excursions only applies to GC !! :confused:

 

 

I will be in Grand Cayman next year on Princess for our Panama Canal cruise, so it is good to know they have an age restriction on divers now. I was not planning to do a ship excursion there since the shop I have used in GC previously is right near the cruise terminal, between Rackhams and Casanovas, and has been able to work with my ship schedule in the past. Hopefully, they will be able to accomodate me next year when we are there. I am looking forward to diving in Grand Cayman again.

Your diver provider in GC probably won't have a problem , but it's always nice to ask beforehand , just in case . On another review thread we read that a 65 + y.o. was turned down for diving by the cruise ship when he arrived in Bonaire . He said that he could have booked with the dive shop directly but for some reason the cruise line and or dive provider wouldn't allow him to dive , on that day . :eek:

Which is good to know as we just booked a cruise on the Eclipse that goes there . It's always nice to be sure before you go and avoid nasty surprises like that .

On another review thread we read that a 65 + y.o. was turned down for diving by the cruise ship when he arrived in Bonaire . He said that he could have booked with the dive shop directly but for some reason the cruise line and or dive provider wouldn't allow him to dive , on that day .

Sounds like the cruise ship are afraid of litigation!

Sounds like the cruise ship are afraid of litigation!

It surely does ! What I found to be strange is that both Cozumel and Roatan have no such restrictions . :confused:

We are booking this cruise primarily with the hope of diving in Bonaire and we will have to pay in full today , so we will have to get busy today to find some one to dive with .

Hi Joe & Pat-

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!! :)

Don't know if you're aware or not but Celebrity has released their 2018 itineraries for Europe and TA's...

We booked the Eclipse for April 2018 from Miami to DUBLIN!!:D and followed it up with a 10 day from Dublin to ICELAND!!!:D Going to knock quite a few items off the Bucket List with these 2 cruises!!!:D

Hi Joe & Pat-

 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!! :)

 

Don't know if you're aware or not but Celebrity has released their 2018 itineraries for Europe and TA's...

 

We booked the Eclipse for April 2018 from Miami to DUBLIN!!:D and followed it up with a 10 day from Dublin to ICELAND!!! Going to knock quite a few items off the Bucket List with these 2 cruises!!!

Yes we did and we hope that your's was good also !

No , we weren't aware until now , thank you for sharing it with us . That sounds like a great trip ( we peeked at the web site ;) ) .We also like the looks of the Norway leg . So many great cruises out there !!!

On the home front , we did contact VIP divers in Bonaire who agreed to allow us to dive with them ( but I forgot to ask if they give Senior discounts ) !! And so today we paid in full this anniversary cruise on the Eclipse in February - 14 days , with 5 of them , sea days . :) :D

Yes we did and we hope that your's was good also !

 

No , we weren't aware until now , thank you for sharing it with us . That sounds like a great trip ( we peeked at the web site ;) ) .We also like the looks of the Norway leg . So many great cruises out there !!!

 

 

On the home front , we did contact VIP divers in Bonaire who agreed to allow us to dive with them ( but I forgot to ask if they give Senior discounts ) !! And so today we paid in full this anniversary cruise on the Eclipse in February - 14 days , with 5 of them , sea days . :) :D

 

 

 

Your Eclipse cruise sounds like my kind of itinerary! Great islands for diving and enough sea days to allow this senior diver plenty of time for rest and recovery! :eek:

The only cruise we have booked at this point is our Panama Canal sailing on the CB, but I've already informed Barry that our next cruise will include the ABC islands. Barry will not love the itinerary anywhere near as much as I will, but we are going to Vegas at the end of April for him, and I'm sure we will find things for him to do while I am diving. Bonaire has been on my bucket list since I was first certified to dive back in 1975, and I have yet to get myself there. That needs to change, sooner rather than later! I'm.glad you were able to find a dive shop on Bonaire that will take you out. I will be interested to hear what you think of them because I will run into that same age restriction as you did when I finally get myself there.

I think I need to go check out those 2017 cruise itineraries! :D

Yes we did and we hope that your's was good also !

 

No , we weren't aware until now , thank you for sharing it with us . That sounds like a great trip ( we peeked at the web site ;) ) .We also like the looks of the Norway leg . So many great cruises out there !!!

 

 

On the home front , we did contact VIP divers in Bonaire who agreed to allow us to dive with them ( but I forgot to ask if they give Senior discounts ) !! And so today we paid in full this anniversary cruise on the Eclipse in February - 14 days , with 5 of them , sea days . :) :D

 

 

 

That's a wonderful itinerary for your anniversary cruise! :) I don't know if you've been to Barbados before but it's one of our favorite islands.

That's a wonderful itinerary for your anniversary cruise! :) I don't know if you've been to Barbados before but it's one of our favorite islands.

We have been to St. Lucia and St. Maarten before , but not the others . But we have heard great things about Barbados and Bonaire , and so we're thrilled !! :) :D

We have began a new thread of our upcoming cruises on Princess this Sunday called : almost LIVE !! - Regal/Caribbean Princesses b²b 12/4/2016 - 12/17/2016 .

It can be found at this link :http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2428277

We have began a new thread of our upcoming cruises on Princess this Sunday called : almost LIVE !! - Regal/Caribbean Princesses b²b 12/4/2016 - 12/17/2016 .

 

It can be found at this link :http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2428277

cool....I've subscribed to the thread very interested to see your comparison of the two ships....we've only been on the Regal on Princess and would love to see more about their other ships since we really some of the itineraries that Princess offers!

Have a wonderful cruise(s)!!!:D

cool....I've subscribed to the thread very interested to see your comparison of the two ships....we've only been on the Regal on Princess and would love to see more about their other ships since we really some of the itineraries that Princess offers!

 

Have a wonderful cruise(s)!!!:D

Thanks Gracie . We probably will not include may photos in that thread since we will be busy taking them , but we hope to after we get back . We did do an extensive thread on both of them which can be found here :

Caribbean Princess - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2094420

Regal Princess - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2320153

Heading to your new thread!

Thank you for your fantastic review - we are following in your footsteps on Eclipse next May and this has been a fantastic starting point for our planning!

Thank you for your fantastic review - we are following in your footsteps on Eclipse next May and this has been a fantastic starting point for our planning!

Hello Betty , and thank you . We hope that you enjoy your cruise on the beautiful Eclipse . We have been and are currently on a couple of Princess cruises in the Caribbean , so I 'm sorry that we didn't get back sooner . We are trying to do a Live review which can be found here :http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2428277/SIZE]

We hope to do a proper review ( with photos ) when we get back this weekend . :cool:

One question re your Baltic experience - how did you manage with the variety of currencies? Did you take an amount of cash in US dollars/ euros/ roubles/ Swedish/Danish krone etc or rely on credit cards?

Thank you!

One question re your Baltic experience - how did you manage with the variety of currencies? Did you take an amount of cash in US dollars/ euros/ roubles/ Swedish/Danish krone etc or rely on credit cards?

Thank you!

€ and $ are widely accepted in Russia, in fact the guides on our SPB tour welcomed them. The only place that we needed Russian rouble was in The Church of the Spilled blood, so we didn't buy souvenirs there.

We booked transfers into Stockholm and Copenhagen via the cruise ship, so they were added to our on board account.

I then used my Credit Card for entry into museums and restaurants and a canal tour in Copenhagen.

€ and $ are widely accepted in Russia, in fact the guides on our SPB tour welcomed them. The only place that we needed Russian rouble was in The Church of the Spilled blood, so we didn't buy souvenirs there.

We booked transfers into Stockholm and Copenhagen via the cruise ship, so they were added to our on board account.

I then used my Credit Card for entry into museums and restaurants and a canal tour in Copenhagen.

Brilliant - thank you

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One question re your Baltic experience - how did you manage with the variety of currencies? Did you take an amount of cash in US dollars/ euros/ roubles/ Swedish/Danish krone etc or rely on credit cards?

Thank you!

We ordered £ , € and ₽ from our bank which were delivered to our house with the Euro being the most useful currency . It was accepted both in Sweden and Denmark as well as in Germany and Estonia .

On the first night of the cruise we ate in the MDR where we met the Dynamic Duo of Olman and Joseph . They were amazing , fantastic and always upbeat !

 

 

 

The prefer traditional dining and getting to build a relationship with the staff .

 

 

 

Here's the first days edition of Celebrity Today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello I know this might be totally random & out of the blue but I was wondering if you could help me?. On your cruise you had the wonderful Olman as your waiter. I've just got of the Eclipse and he was mine & my family waiter. How amazing is he?. Anyway unfortunately due to my ill health at the end of my cruise I didn't get the chance to thank him for all his help, kindness & understanding in my situation. So here's my question & again totally random & you may not know this but do you happen to know Olman's last name or did you happen to ever have his email address at all?. He said we would swap & keep in touch but because I was poorly & I didn't make it to last night dinner the swap never happened. I do feel a bit gutted I never got to thank him for his help. I know this is a total long shot but thought I'd ask you anyway. Thanks Dillie

Hello I know this might be totally random & out of the blue but I was wondering if you could help me?. On your cruise you had the wonderful Olman as your waiter. I've just got of the Eclipse and he was mine & my family waiter. How amazing is he?. Anyway unfortunately due to my ill health at the end of my cruise I didn't get the chance to thank him for all his help, kindness & understanding in my situation. So here's my question & again totally random & you may not know this but do you happen to know Olman's last name or did you happen to ever have his email address at all?. He said we would swap & keep in touch but because I was poorly & I didn't make it to last night dinner the swap never happened. I do feel a bit gutted I never got to thank him for his help. I know this is a total long shot but thought I'd ask you anyway. Thanks Dillie

So sorry to hear about your health issue and we hope that you have gotten better . I'm also sorry that I can't help you but I don't know his last name or his Email . Can you try Celebrity ? They love to hear good things about their people and they may be able to help you .

So sorry to hear about your health issue and we hope that you have gotten better . I'm also sorry that I can't help you but I don't know his last name or his Email . Can you try Celebrity ? They love to hear good things about their people and they may be able to help you .

Thanks so much for replying. I've now written to Celebrity hoping like you say they like to hear good things about their people hopefully I'll have some luck. Also someone is going on Eclipse soon & has offered to try & find him for me. Fingers crossed. Unfortunately I have ongoing health issues at the moment & had a flare up on the last night. Hoping to feel better soon thanks for asking. 😊

I guess that it's time to Fall back as we had equal day and night here yesterday in South Florida . So in the spirit of falling back we have found my wife's missing SD card from this cruise . We will be showing some new photos from this cruise in 2016 .

The Eclipse in the Baltic under blue skies

Brugge canals from a cozy boat tour

Stockholm 

Statue of  King Gustay Adolph

The Gold Room in the Stockholm City Hall

Our ride

The Old Town

We heard some music down the road

It was the Horse Guards Parade

They were not the only noisy people in town . This truck had really loud music and they went around circling the city .

The ride back to the bus

The rope is your friend , hold on to your friend

A couple of video clips from the sail out of Sweden

From the Lido

The shadow of the Eclipse