Eclipse Photo Review - Feb. 15, 2015 Exotic Southern Carribean Cruise in Aqua Class

[macaroni]

Prim8keeper.

Did I miss it...did you say what camera you used for these underwater pictures??? Amazing! We will be doing this next February..now I really can't wait.

[prim8keeper]

 

We could see the salt flats as we sailed out to sea. You can get a much better idea of how big they really are from above.

 

 

 

 

Next stop Barbados!

 

 

You can find additional photos of Bonaire here.

 

After sail away we went down to change and get ready for dinner. From there we decided to grab a drink at the Molecular bar, surprise, surprise, I know. In a way it was fun though since by now we knew the bartenders and had meet some other couples that frequented the Molecular bar regularly as well. This is also when the bartenders started to offer us their own off the menu cocktails, which we now know is because of the fact that X is not renewing their contract with Junior. I promise you eventually we go to the Martini bar. After all I still had to try the 25th Anniversary martini. As usual we then went to dinner in Blu with our friends.

 

 

After dinner we stopped at Cafe al Bacio and wondered around the ships shops and casino. We ended up back at the Molecular bar with most of our friends. We had planned on staying up later tonight since the following day was a sea day, but as you can imagine after several days of go, go, go we were tired. We ended up bailing around 11 pm when things were starting to get crazy. I was really looking forward to sleeping in...

[prim8keeper]

Prim8keeper.

Did I miss it...did you say what camera you used for these underwater pictures??? Amazing! We will be doing this next February..now I really can't wait.

 

The photos I posted from underwater were actually taken by the photographer for Woodwind. We took photos with our underwater camera as well but they didn't turn out well so I didn't post any.

[upwarduk]

Amazing underwater shots, thanks for posting for those of us who don't snorkel.

[black forest]

Thanks for this wonderful review with extremely fine pictures. Do enjoy reading your review very much!

[prim8keeper]

Amazing underwater shots, thanks for posting for those of us who don't snorkel.

 

Since those aren't my photos and thus I don't have to edit them I've uploaded 41 more images of the snorkeling trip into the album.

Edited March 15, 2015 by prim8keeper

[chamima]

Hi Tom

I can't get the link to your Woodwind album to work.

I'm curious to see what the boat actually looks like.

We sailed with Compass this year but we're thinking about what to do next year.

I heard Woodwind has no protection from the elements and as our morning this year started out VERY rainy that would have been really uncomfortable.

 

Delete that- it works now.

Still no pictures of the Woodwind boat - anyone on the morning snorkel that day have anything to say ?

Edited March 15, 2015 by chamima

[prim8keeper]

Hi Tom

I can't get the link to your Woodwind album to work.

I'm curious to see what the boat actually looks like.

We sailed with Compass this year but we're thinking about what to do next year.

I heard Woodwind has no protection from the elements and as our morning this year started out VERY rainy that would have been really uncomfortable.

 

Hey Karen! It should be fixed now. Originally I embedded the wrong link. It should open with a photo of Bonaire Vista tours but if you scroll through about half way it will change to the Woodwind photos. You have heard correctly that you are up on deck with no protection from the elements. We kind of lucked out and sat on the side that had shade from the sail on our way to Klein Bonaire and then coming back when we were wet we lucked out and were on the side with the sun. It was also late enough in the day at that point it wasn't terrible. It is definitely worth doing if you like to snorkel. If I could do it again I would just make sure I took a hat and wore a long sleeve rash guard to help protect most of me from the sun. The photo below isn't mine, but it shows the boat.

 

[chamima]

Hey Karen! It should be fixed now. Originally I embedded the wrong link. It should open with a photo of Bonaire Vista tours but if you scroll through about half way it will change to the Woodwind photos. You have heard correctly that you are up on deck with no protection from the elements. We kind of lucked out and sat on the side that had shade from the sail on our way to Klein Bonaire and then coming back when we were wet we lucked out and were on the side with the sun. It was also late enough in the day at that point it wasn't terrible. It is definitely worth doing if you like to snorkel. If I could do it again I would just make sure I took a hat and wore a long sleeve rash guard to help protect most of me from the sun. The photo below isn't mine, but it shows the boat.

 

 

 

Thanks for the picture Tom!

I got the link to work. :)

(Don't they have a cabin down below where people could go if it were raining? I see a window!)

Edited March 15, 2015 by chamima

[cruise47]

To the Op thanks for sharing your awesome vacation pictures.

[prim8keeper]

Thanks for the picture Tom!

I got the link to work. :)

(Don't they have a cabin down below where people could go if it were raining? I see a window!)

 

Yes, but I didn't see anywhere to sit down there. I just remember two bathrooms and a kitchen area/equipment.

[SharonK]

Hi Tom

I can't get the link to your Woodwind album to work.

I'm curious to see what the boat actually looks like.

We sailed with Compass this year but we're thinking about what to do next year.

I heard Woodwind has no protection from the elements and as our morning this year started out VERY rainy that would have been really uncomfortable.

 

Delete that- it works now.

Still no pictures of the Woodwind boat - anyone on the morning snorkel that day have anything to say ?

 

Karen, I agree with Tom 100%'. Woodwind was wonderful and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. If it had remained on us, would I feel different? I can't answer that question....sorry

[SharonK]

That is supposed to say rained not remained!:o

[dblane]

Hi Tom! Great pics!! Enjoying your review. Wish Donna could have gotten the time off. I would have done a B2B with you guys from our Equinox sail, in a heart beat.

[prim8keeper]

Hi Tom! Great pics!! Enjoying your review. Wish Donna could have gotten the time off. I would have done a B2B with you guys from our Equinox sail, in a heart beat.

 

Hi Diane! Thanks! It would have been great to see the two of you. There was someone on our cruise who did a B2B like that. Oh to have that kind of time...some day! :D

[sunor]

Tom, really enjoying your review and photos, looking forward to the rest.

 

Suz

[chamima]

Hi Diane! Thanks! It would have been great to see the two of you. There was someone on our cruise who did a B2B like that. Oh to have that kind of time...some day! :D

 

Hi Tom

There are SOME advantages to getting old! ;)

[Hollywood Traveler]

Hi Tom

There are SOME advantages to getting old! ;)

 

Let's see, Karen. Advantages of getting old. After we retire we have more free time. We, uh, well, let's see. We remember old movies. We remember when candy was a nickel a bar. We remember Nickelodeons. We remember what a nickel was. We . . . uh . . . we . . . what were we talking about? :eek:

[chamima]

I have a question for all of my fellow Elite travelers on this cruise.

There is a "discussion" on another thread of how many items we were allowed in each bag of laundry.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45951335#post45951335

Our coupons said 20.

What did the rest of you get?

[SeaGams]

Hi Karen, Our Elite coupon had a 20 item per bag limit as well. We each got a set of coupons so I guess you could say we had a limit of 40 items for the cruise. I don't remember if it specified if a pair of socks for example counted as one or two items. All I know it came in handy on or two week Eclipse cruise.

 

Toni

[Hollywood Traveler]

I have a question for all of my fellow Elite travelers on this cruise.

There is a "discussion" on another thread of how many items we were allowed in each bag of laundry.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=45951335#post45951335

Our coupons said 20.

What did the rest of you get?

 

Hi Karen, Our Elite coupon had a 20 item per bag limit as well. We each got a set of coupons so I guess you could say we had a limit of 40 items for the cruise. I don't remember if it specified if a pair of socks for example counted as one or two items. All I know it came in handy on or two week Eclipse cruise.

 

Toni

 

Karen, our coupons had a limit of 20 also. Always before it had been 30. Not a problem for us, but we did notice the difference.

 

Larry

[prim8keeper]

Celebrity Today - Saturday, Feb 21, 2015

Featured Today - Saturday, Feb 21, 2015

 

After three port intensive days we planned to take full advantage of the sea day. The agenda for today was completely empty with the exception of a wine tasting we were doing with our friends at 5 pm. One of our friends owns a winery in Sonoma and we have been lucky enough that for the past two years they have been so generous and brought us samples of their wine to try. Several of us helped carry on the bottles at the start of the cruise as our two bottles. Then we pick a day and get together in someone's cabin and sample the wine. It has been really fun.

 

We woke up just in time to make breakfast in Blu. Afterwards we spent most of the day just lounging around. Originally we had planned to go to the buffet for dinner since we didn't know how long our wine tasting would last, however in the afternoon we decided to go to Blu. The menu for the second formal night was not one we had seen before and I couldn't pass up trying the Maine Lobster ravioli. For this cruise we did not bring any formal wear and just wore smart casual each night. As usual dinner in Blu did not disappoint.

 

I don't really remember anything else all that exciting happening that day so lets continue with our ship tour.

 

Below is a photo of Cellar Masters. While it was used by Perry Grant at night they also held two wine tasting events and one beer tasting event there on sea days. In the photo it is set up for the Riedel wine tasting. If you like wine and have never attended this event I would recommend it. It is amazing the difference the wine glasses make. Additionally, you can book it on board at a lower price that is just for the tasting and does not include the glasses. Several years ago we paid $15 to just do the tasting. I don't know how much it cost now.

 

 

Also located on Deck 4 is the casino. Neither me or my DH are big gamblers so we don't spend much time here.

 

 

One of my favorite things to do on the S-class ships is to wonder around looking at the various artwork. My favorite piece on the Eclipse was the dog that is located right outside of Micheal's Club. It is carved out of wood.

 

 

 

Another piece I really liked was the big piece on the way to the specialty restaurants.

 

 

Edited March 16, 2015 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

Various other artwork on Eclipse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[prim8keeper]

The art that is installed by the specialty restaurants.

 

 

This is the companion piece to the artwork that is installed before you walk into the Ensemble lounge.

 

 

Full artwork album.

 

Another area of the ship I'm always interested in seeing is the atrium.

 

 

 

[prim8keeper]

As you can see I found the atrium a very interesting place to shoot. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I think it actually may be my favorite of the four S-class ships we have been on.

 

 

 

This photos were taken on deck 3 behind the grand staircase.

 

 

 

Full atrium album.

 

On deck 3 you can find the shore excursions desk.

 

 

There are also entrances to the MDR on deck 3 as well. The dining room is called Moonlight Sonata on Eclipse. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of inside. I actually don't think I even went into the MDR on this cruise except for on the very last night to say goodbye to some of our friends.

 

 

Additional MDR photos.