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

[scubacruiserx2]

After Spain was our last full day at sea and so it seemed like a good day for some early morning photography . The first stop was the main dining room where we had enjoyed so many fine meals .

 

 

 

The view from upstairs

 

 

 

 

Downstairs

 

 

 

 

In this photo you can see , on the left where the gold star is , the wall of the new VIP dining area .

 

 

 

 

 

Facing forward now , the gold star is now on our right

 

 

 

 

Our next most frequented dining area was the Oceanview Cafe .

 

 

[bama4cruisin]

Joe, I am enjoying my "free" cruise so much. It brings back wonderful memories of our TA on The Solstice in her maiden season; a few of the same ports and a sister ship. It's also a tease of the ship as we'll be on Eclipse next March for a 14-night Southern Caribbean. I'm looking forward to the remainder of your review. If only my photography came close to yours.

[scubacruiserx2]

It's a computerized Texas Hold 'em poker table, I think...

 

Pat

 

Thanks , we've never seen one before as we don't usually game .

[scubacruiserx2]

Joe, I am enjoying my "free" cruise so much. It brings back wonderful memories of our TA on The Solstice in her maiden season; a few of the same ports and a sister ship. It's also a tease of the ship as we'll be on Eclipse next March for a 14-night Southern Caribbean. I'm looking forward to the remainder of your review. If only my photography came close to yours.

 

Oh , you made it . We thought that the ship was going to leave without you ! Was your TA on the Solstice in the Spring of 2009 ? We were on the Constellation then and saw the Solstice in several ports . We only have 2 ports left on this TA , but we may include our post cruise stay in London and St. Petersburg - 2 of our favorite ports ! :) :D

[bama4cruisin]

Oh , you made it . We thought that the ship was going to leave without you ! Was your TA on the Solstice in the Spring of 2009 ? We were on the Constellation then and saw the Solstice in several ports . We only have 2 ports left on this TA , but we may include our post cruise stay in London and St. Petersburg - 2 of our favorite ports ! :) :D

 

It was indeed spring of 2009, and it was a wonderful cruise. Since reading your review, I want to do another TA. SO RELAXING!

 

I hope you do a similar review of the westbound this fall as I would love to have all the busy ports first followed by the relaxing days at sea, but I've been concerned about weather at that time of year.

[scubacruiserx2]

From my understanding , one of the makeover items completed in the dry dock prior to our sailing was a suites only dining area .

 

 

 

 

We think that our friends Gracie 115 dined there and perhaps they could fill us in on the sweet life . Anyhow , here's a few photos :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice , very nice indeed !

 

 

I found some photos of their food on another thread and I hope that Ma Bell doesn't mind if we link her photos . Click on the red link below for her photos .

 

 

Here are some photos of Luminae food.

 

http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/mabell85255/library/Luminae%20food%20photos?sort=3&page=1

 

 

 

I think that the suite life includes Michael's Club and that it's now private .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

Just outside of Micheal's Club sat this watchdog . I suspect that he is actually a plainclothes , undercover service animal . ;)

 

 

 

 

The Ensemble Lounge seemed to be the busiest bar on this cruise . And with live music , especially at dinner time . :cool:

 

 

Edited July 23, 2015 by scubacruiserx2

[Gracie115]

We were indeed lucky enough to be in a suite on this cruise.....we booked BEFORE the new suite benefits were announced which also QUADRUPLED the price we paid for our stateroom....:eek: Luminae was wonderful..... Celebrity has done that right. The food and service were the best we've ever had on an X ship...far better than even Murano's ... because we were in a suite we were given 2 spec dinners which we did use, one with the big group at Qsine and one at Tuscan but we would have been more than happy to stay with Luminae those nights too.... We didn't take full advantage of the perk as we ate breakfast and lunch there very infrequently....it was good when we went but we like to be very casual during the day and NOT eat ourselves into a coma :eek:(at least not often...lol). Michael's Club is now a suite bennie for suites at the CS level and better.....

 

Although we were lucky enough to get the deal on Eclipse.....with the prices we are seeing for suites now we most likely will be back in Aqua for most future X cruises!!! Which is fine as we really like Blu too!:)

 

Oh and here's a vote that you continue your review right though your stay in St. Petersburg......:D

[Issyalex]

Wind turbines everywhere, :D

If only our government would see the way of the future is renewable energies.:(

 

My husband hates the wind turbines. He says they waste our Scottish landscapes.

[Issyalex]

Thanks for your concern. After a few days of tearing my eye was fine. They tend toward dryness normally so I wasn't too bothered. I will try to remember to bring moisturizing drops on my next trip.

Denise

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

If this happens again. Get some boiled water, add a pinch of salt, let it cool, bathe or irrigate your eyes with the cooled saline (salt water). If you cover the container the saline will last 24 hours.

[scubacruiserx2]

It was indeed spring of 2009, and it was a wonderful cruise. Since reading your review, I want to do another TA. SO RELAXING!

 

I hope you do a similar review of the westbound this fall as I would love to have all the busy ports first followed by the relaxing days at sea, but I've been concerned about weather at that time of year.

 

 

The 2009 was a very nice TA .The passage from Ft. Lauderdale to Nassau had some bumps but it's where we first saw the sollie

 

 

 

And again in the Azores , and here in Lisbon :

 

 

 

 

We had a great , calm passage between Bermuda and the Azores that year and a glimpse into the future seeing the game changing sollie . :) :D

Edited July 23, 2015 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

We were indeed lucky enough to be in a suite on this cruise.....we booked BEFORE the new suite benefits were announced which also QUADRUPLED the price we paid for our stateroom....:eek: Luminae was wonderful..... Celebrity has done that right. The food and service were the best we've ever had on an X ship...far better than even Murano's ... because we were in a suite we were given 2 spec dinners which we did use, one with the big group at Qsine and one at Tuscan but we would have been more than happy to stay with Luminae those nights too.... We didn't take full advantage of the perk as we ate breakfast and lunch there very infrequently....it was good when we went but we like to be very casual during the day and NOT eat ourselves into a coma :eek:(at least not often...lol). Michael's Club is now a suite bennie for suites at the CS level and better.....

 

Although we were lucky enough to get the deal on Eclipse.....with the prices we are seeing for suites now we most likely will be back in Aqua for most future X cruises!!! Which is fine as we really like Blu too!:)

 

Oh and here's a vote that you continue your review right though your stay in St. Petersburg......:D

 

Great score on the suite and it's added bennies . :):) We love hearing stories like this one ! And thanks for the additional info on the suite life and the vote of confidence on the post cruise bonus .

[scubacruiserx2]

DW woke up with the sniffles and they had begun the night before ( Bilbao ) at dinner in Qsine . Poor baby disappeared to the ladies room during the new course that we were trying , Chilini's , and was gone for quite a while .

 

 

 

 

Loss of appetite from her is usually a sign that's she's getting sick , so we left dinner early and headed back to the cabin . We heard some music from the atrium below and saw some dancing so we stopped for a minute , to watch . The seas were starting to get a little bumpy now , and this gentleman did a good of stabilizing the young lady as she was bouncing around quite a bit .

 

 

 

She was feeling better in the morning and we were going to do some preliminary packing and meet with the immigration officer from the U.K. before lunch . We were concerned about weight on our British Air flight to Russia , so we dropped some books off at the library including our book from the chef's table .

 

 

 

We really hated to part with it , but it weights about 10 lbs. And but of course , we took a few pictures before parting with it .

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have never heard of this one before . Anybody ?

 

 

[DKNYC]

Could be where they ggot the name for the Quantum class "Silk". Otherwise never heard of it. Silk was my personal favorite on Quantum.

Denise

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[MicCanberra]

The dog looks like Grey friars Booby in Edinburgh.

:D

[MicCanberra]

Those books do weigh a lot, we have one at home and it was around 5 kilos.:D

[scubacruiserx2]

The dog looks like Grey friars Booby in Edinburgh.

:D

 

Yes it does , it's an amazing story . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

The U.K. immigration process was fantastic . At our appointed time , we were approved to enter the England , before touching the ground , simply amazing . We should learn a good lesson from our friends overseas !

 

 

Our last full day at sea was a formal event , and a great meal in the MDR .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before dessert , music started and we felt like , for a moment , that we were on a Carnival cruise .

 

 

 

Afterwards , we had a special dessert and a chance to thank our servers .

 

 

 

 

Thank you Widani and Felix , for an amazing cruise , all of your hard work , and giving us the chance to get to know you ! :)

 

 

[MicCanberra]

I could go some of that dessert, looks like the bomb.:D

[scubacruiserx2]

I could go some of that dessert, looks like the bomb.:D

 

It was as good as it looked ! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

Our last full day on the Eclipse was also our longest tour day , arriving at 7 am and departing at 9 pm .

 

 

 

 

It was also the greatest amount of sunlight with sunrise at 6:30 and sunset at 9:30 . There were a number of long tours both to the Normandy beaches and Paris , some 3 hours away .

 

 

 

 

It was also the coldest day ! With forecast temperatures ranging from 47 - 59 F. , and windy with a 40% chance of rain . It was a great sunrise , reflected in every glass on the bar counter top !

 

 

 

The port was cold and clear .

 

 

 

 

And a number of people were disembarking here and going to Paris .

 

 

 

But we choose the road less traveled by , and that has made all the difference . Robert Frost

 

 

Edited July 24, 2015 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

I am looking forward to seeing my Mount:p in full pictures.:D

[perfect match]

Thanks Nancy , we're glad that you're still with us and didn't Floataway like some people did ! :rolleyes: That's the main purpose of this travelogue - to take people along with us on a cruise ( and for some people , to remember their cruise ) . Hopefully , we can finish this port today . :) :D

 

LOL, no I didn't Floataway. Actually, I wondered if you did because I haven't seen you there in a while. I was hoping you might show up there with some Cozumel dive pics instead of posting them here so this thread wouldn't Floataway like your CB thread did! :eek:

 

BTW, I do know you have this review to finish, and another TA to get ready for, so no pressure on the dive pics!

 

I still have no idea when our next trip will be, so I'm really enjoying my virtual cruise with you. I also second the vote to include your post cruise time in London and St Petersburg. :D

Edited July 25, 2015 by perfect match

[scubacruiserx2]

I am looking forward to seeing my Mount:p in full pictures.:D

 

 

Me too , but the upload and editing is moving s l o w l y , but like our cruise , it will be worth the wait . ;)

[Gracie115]

Our last full day on the Eclipse was also our longest tour day , arriving at 7 am and departing at 9 pm .

 

 

 

But we choose the road less traveled by , and that has made all the difference . Robert Frost

 

 

 

I look forward to seeing the pictures from this port....if we are there again this is the option we would take also....but for our first time visit we choose a tour with Overlord Tours which took us to the beaches of Normandy and surrounding areas...it was amazing and moving and one of the highlights of our trip.

Edited July 25, 2015 by Gracie115