Solar Eclipse : A pictorial review of the Exotic Southern Caribbean

[scubacruiserx2]

We had no sooner gotten our Mimosas after boarding when we were approached by someone hawking the dining packages. I declined the offer, being intent on getting to the MDR for lunch. But then he offered the 50% Murano discount for that night, and we grabbed it.

 

And I'm SO glad we did. Finest meal we've had in a long time.

 

 

We're happy that you took the offer and enjoyed your meal ;)

 

 

We are all about splurging on specialty dining on the first night!! We would have done it as well! Plus, 50% is a great incentive!!

 

 

 

 

Agreed 50% is a great price point for a great meal . We usually dine in the MDR to meet our servers for the trip and do the specialty dining as a high point on a sea day . But we will change that if the offer continues .

We enjoyed our dinner at Murano the first night!

 

 

 

 

That sounds like that is the way to go . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

I loved the sailaway pictures, but I especially loved the Miami pictures from back in the late 60's! Brings back a lot of memories even though I was in CT, not FL during those years.

 

I'll take that prime rib meal exactly as it was served! :D Hope it tasted as good as it looked!

 

SeaLife is planning to visit Epcot Flower & Garden tomorrow for a practice run. The battery is charging!

 

 

We try not to stroll down memory lane too often , but it's hard not to sometimes !

When I first took Pat to Coral Gables and I told her all about their great High School football teams she told me that her High School also had a Nation Championship . When she further shared that they were undefeated , untied and unscored upon , I thought that she was just pulling my leg .

But here it is from Wikipedia

The 1973 Arthur Hill Lumberjack football team, coached by George Ihler, is still the only Class A high school football team in Michigan state high school history to complete a season untied, undefeated and unscored upon and outscoring its opponents 443–0.

So glad to hear that you are taking the Sealife out for a walk at the beautiful Epcot Flower & Garden event . We love EPCOT and with it variety of dining opportunities , it reminds us of a mini cruise . :) :D

[heathermk57]

Hi. Thank you very much for your review. We were also on the cruise and this is bringing back some lovely memories now that we're home and I'm back at work :(

We missed the CC get-together unfortunately as we had pre-booked an Inside Access tour which clashed. We toyed with the idea of rescheduling but then decided to stick with it. It was very interesting, but now I understand why the Captain wasn't on the bridge. :) I'll continue following your thread with interest. By the way, we were in SV cabin 6315, two decks below you on the aft.

[scubacruiserx2]

Hi. Thank you very much for your review. We were also on the cruise and this is bringing back some lovely memories now that we're home and I'm back at work :(

We missed the CC get-together unfortunately as we had pre-booked an Inside Access tour which clashed. We toyed with the idea of rescheduling but then decided to stick with it. It was very interesting, but now I understand why the Captain wasn't on the bridge. :) I'll continue following your thread with interest. By the way, we were in SV cabin 6315, two decks below you on the aft.

 

 

Good morning and welcome to the thread !

And please feel free to contribute your views from across the pond . We do love our aft balconies , especially if it's cool outside like our last years summer cruise to the Baltic from Southamption . However we did have our oldest grandson with us and traded the wake view for an FV with a separate bedroom for him .

And so like you we had to make a choice , but that's something that we value on a cruise . Freedom of choice . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

We tend to be early risers and there was an overnight time change moving the clocks forward one hour like we have to do this weekend . And like many Americans this time of the year we enjoy American coffee before sunrise .

This is the coffee that they serve 24/7 and it tastes like it - Yucky ! :p

 

 

 

 

We had to wait until 7 AM to get a decent coffee and as you can see , the photo is as out of focus as my vision was until the caffeine kicked in .

And with both focal planes now restored we could look forward to our first sunrise on ship .

For the duration of the cruise it would be English Breakfast Tea for the morning and afternoon cuppa .

We were sure missing the 24/7 International Cafe found on Princess at this point .

[Gracie115]

This is the coffee that they serve 24/7 and it tastes like it - Yucky ! :p

 

 

 

 

.

 

I just will never understand why Celebrity can not figure how to make a decent cup of coffee........the one thing I remember fondly from our short Carnival cruise a few months ago was that the coffee was actually good......when I am on a longer cruise on Celebrity I pretty much stop drinking it entirely....it tastes like mud more often than not.....

[scubacruiserx2]

I just will never understand why Celebrity can not figure how to make a decent cup of coffee........the one thing I remember fondly from our short Carnival cruise a few months ago was that the coffee was actually good......when I am on a longer cruise on Celebrity I pretty much stop drinking it entirely....it tastes like mud more often than not.....

 

 

We both asked that question independently and also about the high price of water and the answer almost always stayed the same " buy the drink package and you will have unlimited water and coffee at Al Bacio " . That would cost $ 500 for the 2 of us !

We don't drink that much coffee or water . This bottle in the stateroom cost $ 6.49 with gratuity , which is about what we paid for a case of water on our Princess cruise in December .

[scubacruiserx2]

The sea was very calm

and it was a beautiful sunrise and start to a new cruise .

We had a leisurely stroll back to the stateroom to plan the day .

Something that we had seen the night before had piqued our interest .

A sushi demo at 11 AM .

[LuvinSunNSand]

I was also on this cruise and am enjoying your review so far. Something I discovered a few days into the cruise is that the bar at the entrance to the Oceanview Café, listed as Destinations Bar in Celebrity Today, opened at 6 a.m. and has an espresso machine so I didn't have to wait until 7 a.m. to get my caffeine fix!

[scubacruiserx2]

We don't drink that much coffee or water . This bottle in the stateroom cost $ 6.49 with gratuity , which is about what we paid for a case of water on our Princess cruise in December .

 

 

A correction

The price of the water on Princess which you can buy as a gift before you go on the cruise is currently $ 6.90 for 12 - ( 500 ml ) bottles of water .

[scubacruiserx2]

I was also on this cruise and am enjoying your review so far. Something I discovered a few days into the cruise is that the bar at the entrance to the Oceanview Café, listed as Destinations Bar in Celebrity Today, opened at 6 a.m. and has an espresso machine so I didn't have to wait until 7 a.m. to get my caffeine fix!

 

 

Welcome to our cruise rerun and thank you for the great tip for future cruises and cruisers . Our caffeine DTs had subsided by then and we had been successful weaned to Breakfast Tea for the duration of the trip . ;)

[scubacruiserx2]

Dublin was definitely one of my favorite places. I could have walked endlessly there for days enjoying all the sites. The Queen of Tarts is a MUST stop!

 

The first post for the trip starts here:

http://crafts-a-lot.blogspot.com/2014/09/ireland-dreams-come-true-2014-days-5-20.html

 

 

Thank you for your great blog and photos . I love free vacations ! :hearteyes:

[deladane]

A sushi demo at 11 AM .

 

I went to the sushi demo on my Summit cruise in 2010 and loved it (photo below), but I don't remember seeing it as an option while on my Equinox cruise in 2016 so I just assumed they didn't do it anymore. Glad to see it's an option on the Eclipse! Although 11am is a bit early to be eating sushi lol

 

[Walt fan]

A small world indeed; I remember many shopping trips with my Mom at Northline Mall. They had a hiring freeze for policemen at the time my DH applied; so San Antonio became home to us, which we love. Thank you for your kind words; your wife knows too well how hard of a job our husbands have had.

 

I have never sailed Celebrity; just RC and Princess; and my bucket list has a 2019 Celebrity cruise on it, since they are showing they will be porting out of Dublin then. DH's family is from Kerry County, Ireland; something we have always wanted to see. I thought we could combine some land time and a cruise.

 

Beautiful sunrise on your cruise; cannot wait to read more! Thank you for sharing.

[scubacruiserx2]

I went to the sushi demo on my Summit cruise in 2010 and loved it (photo below), but I don't remember seeing it as an option while on my Equinox cruise in 2016 so I just assumed they didn't do it anymore. Glad to see it's an option on the Eclipse! Although 11am is a bit early to be eating sushi lol

 

 

 

 

Wow nice photo . We didn't know that they we were doing it back then . The last time we were on the Eclipse they still had the Bistro on 5 and free sushi at the Ocean view . But we didn't see any there this trip though .

[scubacruiserx2]

A small world indeed; I remember many shopping trips with my Mom at Northline Mall. They had a hiring freeze for policemen at the time my DH applied; so San Antonio became home to us, which we love. Thank you for your kind words; your wife knows too well how hard of a job our husbands have had.

 

I have never sailed Celebrity; just RC and Princess; and my bucket list has a 2019 Celebrity cruise on it, since they are showing they will be porting out of Dublin then. DH's family is from Kerry County, Ireland; something we have always wanted to see. I thought we could combine some land time and a cruise.

 

Beautiful sunrise on your cruise; cannot wait to read more! Thank you for sharing.

 

 

And it seems like it keeps getting smaller . Our SIL 's family lives in San Antonio ! And we , like singinalot , have also been to Ireland including the famous and beautiful Ring of Kerry .

Sneem

 

Cork

The Cliffs of Moher

And in Northern Ireland

The Giant's Causeway

and Carrick-a -Rede

A beautiful country with some wonderful people !

[Gracie115]

Oh my....your Ireland pictures have me even more excited about our 1st trip there next April!!!:D:D:D

[scubacruiserx2]

Oh my....your Ireland pictures have me even more excited about our 1st trip there next April!!!:D:D:D

 

Hopefully you will have some time there after the cruise !! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

I read back through it today just to relive it.

 

In addition to my blog link mentioned before, here are all of the pics I took in Ireland:

http://s1379.photobucket.com/user/singinalot/library/Ireland%202014

 

 

Photos like music has that power to bring back the memories . Thank you for sharing yours with us !! :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

The Sushi demo was held at SO 5

where we were given menus to follow along

The three cooks made a starter , a noodle bowl and handmade rolls

Some of the ingredients for the rolls

Udon noodles and seared shrimp

[scubacruiserx2]

When we think of Sushi we think of rolls and this was the part that we really wanted to see

A Shrimp Tempura Roll ( some assembly required )

Wasabi root

The fruits of her labor

This was a demo only and no samples were offered . But we did receive this discount card and an invitation for this evening's dinner in the wall mail slot outside of our door

[Gracie115]

Hopefully you will have some time there after the cruise !! :) :D

 

Yes, we are planning on staying for a few days.

[GordonJasmine]

This thread is making it even harder to wait for our Equinox cruise this May! We were on your itinerary on the Eclipse last year and absolutely loved that ship! Am so much enjoying your writing. And the pics!!!

[Lastdance]

Love all your photos; what camera and what was the process for uploading etc...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Walt fan]

Our small, small world may cross paths some day! Thank you for the photos of your trip to Ireland. It gives me even more incentive (like I need any) to plan this trip.