Host Andy's Update From Eclipse 4/5/14 Sailing

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

[elena7seas]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

Andy, what wonderful, wonderful news for all of you! This must be an amazing relief for everyone, but it must be putting your mother over the moon.

 

Please give my best wishes to your sister and her family, and a big virtual hug to you and your mother!

 

Blessings to all of you.

 

Eileen.

[librarylady19]

For those asking about a string quartet, there isn't one on this sailing. Celebrity is offering a duo (Tango for 2), which is a violinist and an accordion player. From what I was told by more than 1 onboard source, the string quartets are not currently scheduled on Celebrity ships.

 

Tango for 2 were excellent on Summit several years ago. Hoe you are able to find some time to relax Andy!

[ghstudio]

I'm bracing for the one man band which is sure to come. Looking forward to your post on mdr and drink packages....

Edited April 15, 2014 by ghstudio

[UniPac]

As I've been on the previous Eclipse sailing (too bad we missed Host Andy that close) I just wanted to tell something about the limes issue.

 

Yes they were short and later out - no limes anymore. And even lemons were running short then. When I was walking around on one island and went to a local market, I saw lots of Limes and thought Celebrity should come over and buy them :)

 

And guess what? In the evening all the bars had limes again. Barkeeper told me they found a local dealer (guess he had the sale of his life).

Limes available until the end of the cruise! Nice one Celebrity!

 

(not that my cruise would be suffering too much from lime absence ;))

[amberben]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

 

Oh Andy,

 

What wonderful news.! We are so pleased for you and of course for your sister. So pleased you have heard that so now you can really enjoy the rest of your cruise with a lighter heart. You mum must be so relieved as well.

 

Love to you

Brenda xx

[MVPinBoynton]

Hi Everyone,

 

For those asking about Sue Denning, she will be onboard Eclipse through June 7th, when she is currently scheduled to depart for vacation. As always, schedules are subject to change. Hope this is helpful !

 

 

Darn, I miss her again for a second year in a row on Eclipse.:( But the good news about your sister is much more important and great to hear. That should make the rest of your cruise a bit less stressful. Enjoy!

[chamima]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

That's wonderful news!

[chamima]

Im currently onboard Eclipse, and the activity staff was 3, not including the CD (Sue Denning), but is now down to 2. I'm hearing this will be the number for the forseeable future.

 

I must say the activity staff reduction is not seriously affecting our cruise experience, though Sue appears busier than in past sailings. Then again, she's always busy and proactive about everything, so it's tough to judge.

 

We've been very pleased with the entertainment on this sailing, but I'm hearing that big changes are ahead. A telling sign is this : Celebrity has added such "exciting" new features such as Ship Building (making your own ship from onboard items) and an Egg Drop contest - where you build a vessel to hold raw eggs safely when dropped from an upper deck, to deck 3. I can only hope that Celebrity's entertainment department is having a case of temporary insanity.... as if this is where entertainment is headed - it's very concerning.

 

Let's hope Celebrity will re-think this type of "entertainment"... if you want to call it that.

 

 

Of the 2 people left I certainly hope they kept the wonderful young man who taught the origami. it was a really enjoyable and special thing to learn.

If you get a chance to take one of his classes please take it!

[hulamoon]

Great news about your sister Andy, what a relief.

 

As far as the new entertainment that sounds like HAL entertainment. Some people spend days building ships from scraps and float them in the pool. It really isn't a good way to entertain an entire ship. Last I heard they had to temporarily suspend the activities right after Concordia, due to creative guest ship designs.

 

We were told the Equinox was getting a complete internet upgrade during our a Equinox cruise last week.

[TourDeCruise]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

Andy, great news. I know all of you must be very relieved and feel like a big weight has been lifted. A big sigh of relief. I was just getting on to wish all of you best wishes for today and read your good news before I posted. Now enjoyment of the cruise can continue and hopefully you can get more relaxation from the stresses of your sister's health and your very busy work schedule.

 

Kathy

[awhfy]

Stupendous news on your sister. You & your Mom must be so relieved. Hope your work eases off so you can relax for the remainder of your cruise

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[BosoxI]

I'm bracing for the one man band which is sure to come. Looking forward to your post on mdr and drink packages....

 

We'll be on the TA this weekend and I'm taking my washboard, my kazoo, and a Jew's harp. If I'm well received (and I'm sure I will be), X indicates a long term contract may be in order. Excuse me, but I have to brush up on playing the spoons, as it's been a while:p

[cruiseacecat]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

Such great news Andy!!!! I am so happy for all of you. Enjoy the rest of your cruise and try to relax.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

Great news! So happy for her and your family.

[wwcruisers]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

Andy, so glad to hear that you received some good news, on this sailing. Hope that you and Millie can relax and have a good time, for the rest of your cruise. Looking forward to reading your review, when you return! :)

[Orator]

Andy:

Great to hear such wonderful news. Please give your Mother our very best wishes. Now just focus on having a great time together.

[iandjm]

Hi Everyone,

 

For those asking about Sue Denning, she will be onboard Eclipse through June 7th, when she is currently scheduled to depart for vacation. As always, schedules are subject to change. Hope this is helpful !

 

Oh nooooo that's the day I board :(

[iandjm]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

 

Wonderful news Andy :)

[ovrcs]

Hi Andy - thanks for all your info. Could you please advise if Celebrity is still providing drink coupons for the Elite session , or having an open bar as in the distant past. Guess it may vary depending on the number of Elite etc on board.

[Andy]

Hi Andy - thanks for all your info. Could you please advise if Celebrity is still providing drink coupons for the Elite session , or having an open bar as in the distant past. Guess it may vary depending on the number of Elite etc on board.

 

 

Hi Ovrcs,

 

It varies with each sailing, but drink coupons are offered on our sailing. Please check my following post for additional details.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are having a wonderful time on Eclipse. The weather has been fantastic, and virtually everything is perfect. I cannot say enough good things about the officers and crew of Eclipse. They are outstanding, and work very hard to provide an incredible cruise experience. We've encountered a couple of very small items here and there, but overall, the cruise has been everything we hoped for !

 

The onboard entertainment continues to be outstanding. Guest Performers, various bands, the Celebrity orchestra, and Cruise Director extrordinare - Sue Denning, are all top notch. Perry Grant is the highlight of our evenings, though it seems that Cellar Masters is a bit small for the amount of guests who wish to see Perry perform. I'm hearing that a huge amount of Perry's fans are onboard the Transatlantic sailing this Saturday, and I have no idea how they will all be accomodated in Cellar Masters. I hope it all works out well !

 

For the most part, the cuisine is excellent, though we are having some minor issues in the MDR. Over the past 4 nights, the beef entrees featured briscuit of beef, short ribs, beef cheeks, and meatloaf. I tried all of them except for the meatloaf, and they all ranged from mediocre (short ribs) to inedible (beef cheeks). To be fair, I was rescued by the Sirloin of Beef on the everyday menu, which has been excellent... but when you re-order your main course, and wait a while for a replacemement, the meal isn't very enjoyable. I'm also puzzled, as to why 4 of the weaker dinner menus were offered consecutively. IMO, they should have scattered them throughout the 14 day sailing. This way, it wouldn't have been so noticeable.

 

Another item of note, is that MDR service is spotty. To be very clear, it's NOT the fault of our Waiter or Assistant Waiter. So what's happening ? Most everyone has a drink package these days. The Bar Servers have been removed from the MDR, and the Assistant Waiters are now filling soda and alcoholic beverage orders. From my vantage point, it's monopolizing their time, which in turn, is affecting the Waiters service. I do not see this issue as serious, but it is slowing down the meal service, and must be noted. I truly appreciated that I mentioned our concerns to our Waiter, who passed it along to our section Maitre 'd, which was followed up with a phone call and brief meeting with the Food & Beverage manager (Cemal), with his commitment for improvement. Kudos to Celebrity for being proactive. Nicely done !

 

I hope that Celebrity will re-evaluate the removal of the Bar Servers from the MDR, OR... consider having the Sommeliers (who do not seem overly busy) share the drink service with the Assistant Waiters. IMO, this should resolve resolve any potential service shortfall.

 

Random Thoughts :

 

Pizza : HUGE improvement. It's round again, and just the right amount of cheese to sauce ratio - absolutely delicious, and this comes from a native New Yorker who's devoured more Pizza than my wastline cares to admit ! The Pizza is way better than the rectangular pizza we sampled on Century in February. I can tell you it's the hit of the lunch buffet, and there's often a wait. They also have a person rolling and hand tossing the dough, alongside the Pizza ovens. Excellent presentation. I hear the Pizza maker is doing well financially, as he told me he makes a lot of dough. I'm glad, because he kneads it. No matter how you slice it, Celebrity has made a huge change for the better.... though I may be enjoying the pizza too much, as my pants are getting very tight :)

 

Casino : The usual. We totally love the venue, though I'm constantly making donations to Celebrity's profits. Mom has fared better. As long as she's happy, I'm happy ! BTW, 80 new slot machines are being installed in the coming weeks.

 

Drink Vouchers : Yes, they were offered on this sailing. As usual, they are to be used from 5-7 pm at several venues. It's not any drink - it's from a list of about 10-12 items, but more than enough selection for us, and it's VERY much appreciated by myself and our Family. Thanks Celebrity & Captains Club !

 

Eclipse on the Eclipse : I stayed up until nearly 4 am to attempt to capture some Eclipse photos. Unfortunately, the Lunar Eclipse wasn't very bright, so the pictures are not up to my lofty expectations. I captured 1 photo, that came out super cool. I shot it through glass, which contained a reflection of Eclipse's funnel. If you look very carefully, you will see a small brownish dot in the upper right hand corner of the photo, which is the lunar Eclipse. I hope you enjoy today's photos posted on Twitter @HostAndy.

 

I hope you enjoyed my update. I will try for 1 additional onboard report, before our sailing ends on Saturday. Have a great week !

Edited April 15, 2014 by Host Andy

[hcat]

For those asking about a string quartet, there isn't one on this sailing. Celebrity is offering a duo (Tango for 2), which is a violinist and an accordion player. From what I was told by more than 1 onboard source, the string quartets are not currently scheduled on Celebrity ships.

 

How are they? We had a combo like this that played out back where we usually enjoy the guitar player... they were utterly dreadful...could not tell they were playing the same song...each bad at their own instrument...as one who studied violin for some yrs. It was truly painful to observe..

 

.Their clothing was early thrift shop...thought it might be a comedy duo..nope! Hope the ones on Eclipse are not the same duo....that would be a write off.

[hcat]

I'm bracing for the one man band which is sure to come. Looking forward to your post on mdr and drink packages....

 

They already have that when they feature a sole steel drum player....one we saw did not sing but another did...both were good but we prefer an island band

[hcat]

Hi Everyone,

 

We received some wonderful news tonight. The Doctors are virtually certain that My Sister's mass is benign. We will know for certain by Friday - but the doctors told her not to worry. Surgery will be required, but they've opted to wait a while, to see if it increases in size.

 

Thank you again for your many wonderful and supportive posts & emails. It's sincerely appreciated !

 

GREAT NEWS! Hope you can relax some and enjoy the rest of the cruise.