Total Eclipse : A pictorial review of the Tradewinds Transatlantic crossing 2015

[tbmrt]

Enjoying your review! Transatlantic cruise is on my bucket list.

 

Alaska and Transatlantic are in the cards or us.

[scubacruiserx2]

Alaska and Transatlantic are in the cards or us.

 

We also have Alaska in the schedule , and a Northern route TA in September that includes Norway and Iceland . :) :D

Edited June 15, 2015 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

I suppose they would need to dredge those channels to make sure there is consistent clearance.

[perfect match]

I loved the small drawbridge! Also the Bermuda sailaway. It would be easy to forget about dinner for a while with a view like that. Sure hope there isn't much current running, either while trying to sail through the drawbridge, or while sailing through that narrow channel.

[MicCanberra]

I loved the small drawbridge! Also the Bermuda sailaway. It would be easy to forget about dinner for a while with a view like that. Sure hope there isn't much current running, either while trying to sail through the drawbridge, or while sailing through that narrow channel.

 

Wind from the wrong direction may be a huge issue as well.

[scubacruiserx2]

I suppose they would need to dredge those channels to make sure there is consistent clearance.

 

With the speed that we were moving and the sand in the wake , I think that we were doing the dredging ! :eek: I was concerned knowing that they had hurricanes in the previous fall and their effects on the sand in the shallow areas .

[MicCanberra]

With the speed that we were moving and the sand in the wake , I think that we were doing the dredging ! :eek: I was concerned knowing that they had hurricanes in the previous fall and their effects on the sand in the shallow areas .

 

Well we know that storms and hurricanes especially can move / disturb the sea floor in shallow areas very easily, so I am sure that they must have some sort of maintenance program to keep them clear.

[scubacruiserx2]

I loved the small drawbridge! Also the Bermuda sailaway. It would be easy to forget about dinner for a while with a view like that. Sure hope there isn't much current running, either while trying to sail through the drawbridge, or while sailing through that narrow channel.

 

I don't know about the current , but we had a strong wind from the west !

 

 

Wind from the wrong direction may be a huge issue as well.

 

I found a web page that shows the two channels marked on a google map using GPS .

 

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/maps/portmaps.php?mapid=empbda

 

 

The ship's pilot and crew did a great job in some very challenging and changing conditions !! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

Well we know that storms and hurricanes especially can move / disturb the sea floor in shallow areas very easily, so I am sure that they must have some sort of maintenance program to keep them clear.

 

I haven't a clue as to how they do it as we didn't see any dredges . Dredging is a common practice here in the South Florida inlets and there was one actually at work in the Port of Miami as we were leaving Florida .

 

 

 

Anyhow , it's a long ride in the channel , about an hour and a half !

[Tangocherie]

A few weeks ago, the Norwegian Dawn ran agroung on one of the shoals as it was leaving Bermuda. It apparently lost power before hitting the shoal.

[scubacruiserx2]

A few weeks ago, the Norwegian Dawn ran agroung on one of the shoals as it was leaving Bermuda. It apparently lost power before hitting the shoal.

 

With over 300 shipwrecks , it's plain to see why it's been dubbed "the Shipwreck Diving Capital of the Atlantic " .

 

 

 

 

http://www.foreverbermuda.com/shipwreck/

[scubacruiserx2]

After returning to the Atlantic Ocean we could feel a difference as the seas picked up . But the ship a very good design that handled the following sea well . With the new copy of Celebrity Today , we saw that we had to advance our clocks another hour . There were a number of things that we wanted to do but a scheduling conflict meant that we would have to pick and choose .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

;)

[MicCanberra]

With over 300 shipwrecks , it's plain to see why it's been dubbed "the Shipwreck Diving Capital of the Atlantic " .

 

 

 

 

http://www.foreverbermuda.com/shipwreck/

 

Is Bermuda in the triangle, I would think not or you wouldn't see the ship wrecks.:p

[MicCanberra]

A few weeks ago, the Norwegian Dawn ran agroung on one of the shoals as it was leaving Bermuda. It apparently lost power before hitting the shoal.

 

Without power these ships are dead in the water, hopefully there wasn't too much damage to either ship or reef.

[midwestchick]

I'm absolutely loving your review and wonderful pictures. I always love the reviews with lots and lots of pictures.

Where did you take the sunset picture on Bermuda? We're sailing to Bermuda on Sunday and was wondering if I could get a sunset picture while we're on the ship. I'm so happy we have an aft cabin. :D

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. Hope I can follow along to the end.

[scubacruiserx2]

Without power these ships are dead in the water, hopefully there wasn't too much damage to either ship or reef.

 

Haven't heard anything lately but here's the report that we saw while in London after our cruise had ended .

 

http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20150519/NEWS/150519706

[scubacruiserx2]

I'm absolutely loving your review and wonderful pictures. I always love the reviews with lots and lots of pictures.

Where did you take the sunset picture on Bermuda? We're sailing to Bermuda on Sunday and was wondering if I could get a sunset picture while we're on the ship. I'm so happy we have an aft cabin. :D

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. Hope I can follow along to the end.

 

Thanks . Sunsets were taken from our cabin , The Oceanview Bar and appropriately enough , The Sunset Bar !! There are 2 things that we wished that we had done , while we were there , that you may want to consider . Go swimming at the beach and take the ferry from the Dockyard to St. George's . It wasn't running when we were there but it should be now . There's a nice snorkel beach there where we had hoped to spend our first afternoon . Oh well maybe next time :) Enjoy your trip and let us know how it goes . OK ? ;)

[scubacruiserx2]

Photobucket has been doing some weird stuff in editing so you may see half or all the Celebrity Today missing as I try to locate the gremlin :confused:

[midwestchick]

Thanks . Sunsets were taken from our cabin , The Oceanview Bar and appropriately enough , The Sunset Bar !! There are 2 things that we wished that we had done , while we were there , that you may want to consider . Go swimming at the beach and take the ferry from the Dockyard to St. George's . It wasn't running when we were there but it should be now . There's a nice snorkel beach there where we had hoped to spend our first afternoon . Oh well maybe next time :) Enjoy your trip and let us know how it goes . OK ? ;)

 

 

Our cabin is right above the Sunset Bar, so I should be able to take pictures from there too. :D. I'll probably have to go up to deck 12 then for sunrise pictures. We plan on taking the ferry to St. George. Hope the weather cooperates.

[scubacruiserx2]

Our cabin is right above the Sunset Bar, so I should be able to take pictures from there too. :D. I'll probably have to go up to deck 12 then for sunrise pictures. We plan on taking the ferry to St. George. Hope the weather cooperates.

 

You should have lots of time to explore and find your photographic sweet spot for sunrise /sunsets. You will probably have some fine weather , but we still got some nice photos - from under the umbrella . Our favorite area on a sister ship was cabin 7199 . DW found it for a $200 upsell in 2011 on the Connie . We spent a lot of time relaxing on the amazing 250 ' balcony , in calm seas near Bermuda .

 

 

[midwestchick]

You should have lots of time to explore and find your photographic sweet spot for sunrise /sunsets. You will probably have some fine weather , but we still got some nice photos - from under the umbrella . Our favorite area on a sister ship was cabin 7199 . DW found it for a $200 upsell in 2011 on the Connie . We spent a lot of time relaxing on the amazing 250 ' balcony , in calm seas near Bermuda .

 

 

 

 

I'll have to store that cabin number for future reference. Looks like a great spot. We have 1140 this trip.

[scubacruiserx2]

We had several things that we wanted to do on Sunday at 10 AM . Brunch in the MDR , a ilearn class for ipad/iphone photos or a Beatles seminar . We had seen photos before boarding of the beautiful brunch and didn't want to miss it . We were told that it occurs usually on the last day at sea . We asked some of the service people and they that there would probably be 2 brunches , including one on the last day at sea . After the Beatles seminar was a Featured Event -The History of Faberge . We didn't know much about Faberge but had plans to see some of the imperial eggs in Russia , after the cruise . We were also Beatles fans back in the day , and so , with hope of doing the second brunch , later in the cruise , we opted for the Beatles and Fabrege . The Beatles presentation were photographs from a photographer who was there in the early days . And judging by the lack of crowd , I think that most of the people were at brunch . At the Fabrege presentation , Catalina shared an interesting story early on .

 

 

 

 

A scrap metal dealer bought an old golden egg with some jewels on it for $ 14,000 which he hoped to melt the gold and sell the jewels for a $ 500 profit . Googleing the name that was on the egg , he found out that it was one of the 8 missing imperial eggs from Russia . It sold for 33 million dollars !! I found the amazing story here :

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/19/million-dollar-faberge-egg-found_n_4995178.html

 

 

Thus began our fascination with Fabrege . After the presentation , we were invited to the ships jewelry store to see a close up look .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's refreshing to find people as knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their work as Catalina is .

 

 

 

 

Being in a jewelry store I felt like a fish out our water . But I do apperciate a good design and workmanship .

 

 

 

 

 

 

[midwestchick]

Beautiful eggs.

When you say brunch, are you referring to the Grand Buffet? They had that on the Silly, but thought those were discontinued.

Love, love, love the Beatles. Many of their songs were favorites when we were dating many moons ago.

Did they only ofer the iPhone/iPad class once during the cruise?

[scubacruiserx2]

I'll have to store that cabin number for future reference. Looks like a great spot. We have 1140 this trip.

 

It look's like you're the top dogs - nice ! Here's another photo from that trip in Bermuda .

 

 

 

 

Our's was just above 6147 a Penthouse Suite . There were only 2 of them across the back , and at the tip of our balcony we could look down at one . Now those were nice ! :cool:

[chamima]

The "a la carte brunch" in the dining room must be new.

Sounds like a replacement for the Grand Buffet but it also sounds like it's served, thus eliminating the crowd issues.

If you end up going please let us all know as it sounds like a great solution .

Edited June 17, 2015 by chamima