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

[Tiggertastic]

Tom

 

Cheers for the great review. Looking forward to the calabazza trip at the end of the year. Thanks for the trip idea for Antigua too

 

See you on the 26th dec cruise

 

Jan

[prim8keeper]

Is there any way I could get the link to your Bermuda pics? We're heading there in June :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You can find my Bermuda review here.

 

Never thought to visit Nevis from St Kitts, we will be there in Nov on our TA.

 

Celebrity also offers an excursion to Nevis if you didn't want to try and go it on your own. This was the first time we were in St. Kitts from 8 am to 5 pm, in the past it had always been from 7 am to 3 pm and I didn't think that was enough time.

[prim8keeper]

Tom

 

Cheers for the great review. Looking forward to the calabazza trip at the end of the year. Thanks for the trip idea for Antigua too

 

See you on the 26th dec cruise

 

Jan

 

Thanks. It's going to be a great cruise! :D

[prim8keeper]

Also located at the Alexander Hamilton house was a plaque commemorating the founding of Jamestown.

 

 

From the Alexander Hamilton house we passed the Four Season's Nevis on our way to the St. Thomas Anglican church. This is the oldest church on Nevis and it was the first Anglican church in the Caribbean. It was built in 1643.

 

 

 

 

 

The view of St. Kitts from hill where the church is.

 

[prim8keeper]

After spending around 15 minutes at the church we made our way to the hot springs. One our way we also drove through downtown Charlestown with our guide pointing out various points of interest along the way.

 

 

Most people from our tour at least dipped there feet into the hot springs. After going to the hot springs in Dominica I found these to be a little underwhelming.

 

Below are pictures of the original hot springs building.

 

 

 

From the hot springs we made our way up to the Montpelier Plantation and beach. This was were our group had lunch.

 

Donkeys on the hillside next to Montpelier.

 

 

Welcome to Montpelier.

 

 

[prim8keeper]

More images of Montpelier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[prim8keeper]

 

 

We had lunch out on the terrace overlooking the hillside at Montpelier. It was very nice and they had a big table set up for everyone. My only complaint was rather than dividing up the check by couples they just created one check which was somewhat of a nightmare. Since most entrees were priced similarly ultimately we just split the check 16 ways with some having to pay a little more and some a little less. I still don't understand why they did it this way. So if you go on this excursion make sure to tell them upfront you want individual checks at the end of lunch. The other group that was also doing this tour went somewhere else for lunch however they said their food was similarly priced. Either way though I still felt somewhat bad about all of it since I had organized the tour.

 

After lunch we went to the beach for about 30 minutes. We had less time than anticipated because lunch ran long. They definitely run on island time! For me this wasn't a huge loss since I don't think the beaches on St. Kitts or Nevis are all that nice, especially considering compared to some of the other islands we visited on this cruise. However, I know others would have enjoyed more time there.

 

 

 

From this point we took a speed boat back across to St. Kitts which arrived a Cockelshell Bay. It took all of 10 minutes and was a lot of fun. Some people from our group got on the first speed boat back to St. Kitts because they worried about time. We took the last boat back.

 

 

A photo of Cockelshell Bay.

 

[prim8keeper]

Once everyone from our group was back on St. Kitts we went by van back to the port. The other group who had been split off for lunch also rejoined us at the beach/going back to St. Kitts.

 

On the way back to the port they pointed out various sites along the way. I also finally got a monkey picture! It only took 3 visits to St. Kitts.

 

 

 

We got back to port with plenty of time to spare. Overall this was a good tour, but I wasn't happy about the way they did lunch and I also did not like that they asked me to collect all the money for the tour at the end. While I have no problem organizing a tour on the roll call I don't want to have to play tour guide and I don't want to be responsible for any of the money. I only organize the excursions to get a group rate so everyone can save and I don't want it appear any other way.

 

Once back in port we walked around for about 5 minutes and then just decided to get back on the ship. I have never found the shopping in the port area of St. Kitts to be all that good.

 

 

Back on board Eclipse we stopped off at Cafe al Bacio for a latte and then went up to our room to drop off our bags. From there we headed up to the Sunset bar for sail away.

 

 

Another view of Nevis from Eclipse.

 

 

In addition to the Mein Schiff 1 being in port there was also a Costa ship which was docked at the other dock. There was actually a couple from the Costa ship which they asked to add to our tour. Apparently the Costa ship had broken down during their cruise and they were a day late to St. Kitts.

 

[prim8keeper]

Sailing out of St. Kitts.

 

 

 

After sail away we back down to our cabin to get ready for dinner. While we were down there I couldn't help but go out to onto the balcony to snap this photo. The light was too perfect.

 

 

You find all of my St. Kitts & Nevis photos in this album.

 

As usual around 6:30 pm we went down to the Molecular bar to meet our friends before dinner.

 

 

 

 

After a few drinks at the Molecular Bar we decided to head to dinner in Blu. As usual everything was as good as we had come to expect. We were also quickly approaching the point in the cruise where everyone really ramps up service since they know people will be tipping soon.

 

After dinner we went back to the Molecular Bar until it was time to go to Sue's One Woman Show at 10:30 pm. As I said earlier in the review I was interested in meeting/seeing Sue since I head read so much about her here on CC. I agree with most here, that she is by far the best CD that we have experienced on any X ship. She was very visible and always seemed to be talking to the guests. Multiple mornings she was outside on the dock waiting to welcome us to whatever island we were visiting that day. On the second sea day she came up to me and my DH husband while we were sitting in Cafe al Bacio and introduced herself and asked us how our cruise was going, etc. From that point on she also seemed to remember who we were and would say, "hi." Although I suspect it was pretty easy since we were some of the youngest people on the ship. Overall I thought her show was pretty good. It is clear she can sign and knows her range. We also found her comedy routine to be quite funny. I wish she would have worked more of that into her act. The only thing I did not care for was all the name dropping. She would go on about how she knew this famous person, and this person and how her whole family was in the business, etc. While that is great, I thought it actually detracted from her real talent and found it off-putting. All that said that is just my opinion.

 

After Sue's show we grabbed a bottle of water from Cafe al Bacio and decided to call it a night. Tomorrow in St. Maarten we had another full day planned. We were going to Anguilla!

Edited March 25, 2015 by prim8keeper

[milesfromu]

A ginger mojito, how divine. Sure hope the replacement for the molecular bar has a similar menu.

[prim8keeper]

A ginger mojito, how divine. Sure hope the replacement for the molecular bar has a similar menu.

 

Indeed, it is one of my favorite drinks on the current menu. One of the bartenders made me a hibiscus mojito which was his recipe and it was excellent. I really hope that makes it onto the new menu.

[prim8keeper]

Celebrity Today - Thursday, Feb 26, 2015

Featured Today - Thursday, Feb 26, 2015

Port Shopping Map - St. Maarten

 

Could it finally be? Was today really our last port? The horror! Today we were going with Robinson Tours SXM to Anguilla. This was another tour I organized through the roll cal. In total there were 13 of us. Due to the time it takes to get to Anguilla and maximize our time there this was our earliest excursion. We were all meeting down at the Passport bar at 7:45 am so we could get off the ship as soon as it was cleared at 8 am. Because of that, this morning we just had room service so we could eat while we got ready for the day. It was during this time that I noticed that we were being followed into St. Maarten.

 

[/url]

 

At 8 am the ship was cleared and we made our way to the Chesterfield Marina where we were going to be picked up.

 

 

The marina is a 10 to 15 minute walk from where the ships dock. As promised they showed up around 8:15 am and we were on our way. We were going to Anguilla by speed boat.

 

 

This is the point where I had to put the good camera away. For those who have not been on a speed boat before odds are you will get wet.

 

For those who were curious which M-class ship was following us, it was the Summit. Here is a photo of it in port as we left the marina.

 

 

We made our way around St. Maarten and cut through Simpson Bay along the way. Below is a photo of the draw bridge which is raised and closed so the yachts can enter the bay. The yachts in this bay are some of the biggest in the world. Unfortunately we didn't get any photos as we were too busy gawking.

 

 

After about 45 minutes we arrived at Cap Juluca in Anguilla.

 

Edited March 26, 2015 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

We spent around 30 minutes at Cap Juluca so people could swim or go ashore. It was a beautiful place. If I ever stay on Anguilla this is the resort I would like to stay at.

 

 

 

While we are living in a fantasy world I'll also arrive on my personal yacht.

 

 

From here we continued to make our way around Anguilla towards Shoal Bay. On our way to Shoal bay we stopped at Crocus Bay for some snorkeling. There was also a very small beach you could swim too. The snorkeling was ok, but nothing great.

 

 

 

My DH in the water snorkeling.

 

Edited March 26, 2015 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

From here we went to Shoal Bay where we were going to have lunch at the Madeariman. For lunch we sat as a group and had drinks and some food, of all things pizza that was actually pretty good. In total we were spending most of our time at Shoal Bay, almost 3 hours. We had to swim ashore, but the water was really nice. After lunch people either walked the beach, swam or sat in a chair and just enjoyed the views. It lived up to the hype.

 

 

 

About 30 minutes before we left I swam back out to the boat so I could take some photos with the good camera. I hope you all don't mind that I'm posting so many photos. It was just so beautiful.

 

This also was where I took the teaser photo.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2015 by prim8keeper

[prim8keeper]

 

 

 

 

All too soon it was time to head back to St. Maarten. We left Anguilla around 2:30 pm. Along the way we passed the Viceroy Anguilla which is supposed to the most expensive hotel in the Caribbean currently.

 

 

Once we were back in St. Maarten we stopped by Maho beach so we could watch a few planes land. We got there right in time to watch the Delta flight from Atlanta and the Air France flight from Paris land. It was really interesting to get to see it from out over the water. Previously we have gone to the beach.

 

[SharonK]

Tom, I've enjoyed reading your review so much and always look forward to the next chapter! Your photos are amazing! So now that we have come to the end of the ports, what would you say was your favorite excursion? I know Calabaza was right up there. Which others would you strongly recommend?

[prim8keeper]

The Air France flight from Paris.

 

 

From here we made our way back to the marina. We got back around 4 pm. All and all it was a fantastic day. I would encourage anyone who has ever thought about going to Anguilla to go! We are already thinking about doing this excursion again when we are back on Eclipse. Even my DH who was very skeptical about it wants to go again.

 

We walked straight from the marina back to the port and got on Eclipse. We had our friends who were not going on an excursion pick us up some rum and chocolate from the Belgian Chocolate Box by Beatrix. If you have never had their chocolates I would suggest trying them next time you are in St. Maarten. There is a small store at the port and their larger store is in downtown Philipsburg.

 

Once back on board Eclipse we went up to our cabin to drop off all of stuff from the day and to change out of our bathing suits. We then headed up to the Sunset bar for the last sail away of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

Farewell St. Maarten! We will see you again in November.

 

 

I didn't take a ton of photos during sail away since we have been to St. Maarten on all but two of our cruises. While I love to take photos you can only take so many of the same island while sailing in/out of port.

 

You can find the full St. Maarten album here.

 

After sail away we went down and sat on our balcony for a little bit before we got ready for dinner. From there we settled into our usual evening routine. The first stop was the Molecular bar for a well deserved drink. As you can see, by this point we had worked our way through the menu and were now repeating ourselves. Below is the Gentle Reflection.

 

 

After spending some time at the Molecular bar we went to Blu for dinner with our friends. From here we sat in Ensemble Lounge visiting with some of our other friends until late in the evening. It was nice to think about the fact that we didn't have to get up in the morning...

[prim8keeper]

Tom, I've enjoyed reading your review so much and always look forward to the next chapter! Your photos are amazing! So now that we have come to the end of the ports, what would you say was your favorite excursion? I know Calabaza was right up there. Which others would you strongly recommend?

 

Sharon my top 3 would be:

 

1. Robinson Tours

2. Calabaza Sailing Cruises

3. Woodwind

 

Honorable Mention: Curacao Actief

 

I wouldn't hesitate to do any of those again and honestly between all three of them its a tie for first. We actually already have Calabaza booked again for two future cruises. All of the island tours were also very good and for a first visit to any of those islands I think they are good choices. That said island tours are generally the type of thing you only do once so I'm not sure we would do any of them again.

 

In terms of what we would not do again it would be the Sunset Sail in Aruba by X.

[LijeBaley]

Tom,

 

We'll be on the Eclipse next Sunday for the similar "Grenada" itinerary. Thanks for taking the time and (great) trouble to post so many photos, with such detailed reviews. Your work has greatly helped in our preparations for our cruise.

 

I'll be using a Nikon D7000 with two zooms, a 16-85 a 70-300, but do not think I'll improve on your photos. They were very, very good.

 

LB

[DKNYC]

Hi Prim8keeper

I am loving your review. Will be on the Eclipse TA next month. My first Celebrity. I would love to do a Daytrip to Anguilla at some point from SXM. My grandmother was from there and I have been a couple of times but not in the last 30 years. I am not a swimmer so I want to know about how deep and how far was the swim from/to the boat on your tour? Thanks in advance.

Denise

 

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[SharonK]

Sharon my top 3 would be:

 

1. Robinson Tours

2. Calabaza Sailing Cruises

3. Woodwind

 

Honorable Mention: Curacao Actief

 

I wouldn't hesitate to do any of those again and honestly between all three of them its a tie for first. We actually already have Calabaza booked again for two future cruises. All of the island tours were also very good and for a first visit to any of those islands I think they are good choices. That said island tours are generally the type of thing you only do once so I'm not sure we would do any of them again.

 

In terms of what we would not do again it would be the Sunset Sail in Aruba by X.

 

Thanks so much! I agree that once you've done ann island tour, you've done it! I'm going to tell my Tom about the Robinson tours. That looked incredible! What was Pete's concerns about that excursion prior to going? Also very jealous that you're off to the UK!!

[upwarduk]

You mentioned that a previous Celebrity ship was in St Kitts.

If it was Mein Schiff 1, then it was Galaxy in a previous life.

Mein Schiff 2 was Mercury.

 

A documentry was filmed on Galaxy in the 1990's in UK, which made the name for a British singer Jane MacDonald.

It also introduced me to Celebrity.:cool:

[prim8keeper]

Tom,

 

We'll be on the Eclipse next Sunday for the similar "Grenada" itinerary. Thanks for taking the time and (great) trouble to post so many photos, with such detailed reviews. Your work has greatly helped in our preparations for our cruise.

 

I'll be using a Nikon D7000 with two zooms, a 16-85 a 70-300, but do not think I'll improve on your photos. They were very, very good.

 

LB

 

Thanks! We have never been to Grenada so I guess I'll just have to book this cruise again. :)

 

Hi Prim8keeper

I am loving your review. Will be on the Eclipse TA next month. My first Celebrity. I would love to do a Daytrip to Anguilla at some point from SXM. My grandmother was from there and I have been a couple of times but not in the last 30 years. I am not a swimmer so I want to know about how deep and how far was the swim from/to the boat on your tour? Thanks in advance.

Denise

 

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

The water was not very deep. At the first stop it was probably around 12 feet, but you didn't have to get in there. They also had noodles if you wanted one. In Shoal Bay where we had to swim ashore I think it was maybe 2 or 3 steps before I could stand. That was probably around 8 feet, but with the current you could just ride the waves in until you could stand. They will also help you if you have any concerns, etc. I think they also had life jackets, but with the noodles no one used one. Captain Mike was very responsive and seemed to be able to handle anyone's concerns.

[prim8keeper]

Thanks so much! I agree that once you've done ann island tour, you've done it! I'm going to tell my Tom about the Robinson tours. That looked incredible! What was Pete's concerns about that excursion prior to going? Also very jealous that you're off to the UK!!

 

Sharon Pete was just concerned that by that point in the cruise he wouldn't want to do anything. Obviously since you are chartering a boat it also isn't cheap, however if you have at least 10 people the price is similar to other excursions like that (around $125 pp). I also think he thought Anguilla wouldn't be as nice as it was. Finally, we really like St. Maarten so I think he thought there was no reason to leave. In November we are going to go over to St. Barth's from St. Maarten and I think in December we will try to go back to Anguilla.

 

I can't wait to go to the UK! We will be in London and then we are taking the train up to the University in Nottingham. After we are done with all our work related obligations we are going to Paris for a few days.

 

You mentioned that a previous Celebrity ship was in St Kitts.

If it was Mein Schiff 1, then it was Galaxy in a previous life.

Mein Schiff 2 was Mercury.

 

A documentry was filmed on Galaxy in the 1990's in UK, which made the name for a British singer Jane MacDonald.

It also introduced me to Celebrity.:cool:

 

Thank you! I couldn't remember which ship it was originally. When we got home I looked up TUI cruises and I really like what they have done with the ship.

[dblane]

Anguilla was so beautiful. Caribbean blue, you gotta love it! Great pics, Tom.