LIVE!!!!! From the ECLIPSE 14night Southern Carib!! - CHICAGOPAUL -

[countess5]

So sad to see on the daily “luggage velvet”and airport transfers! :rolleyes:

 

Have a fantastic day and thanks for sharing.

[chicagopaul]

So we’ve eaten in Tuscan Grill the past two nights. The first night was just a regular night but last night was the senior officers dinner. Let us start with the regular night in Tuscan.

 

Here is the regular menu. I know it might be a bit hard to read because of the lighting.

 

 

 

I’ve always liked Tuscan but I’ve never loved it. There were some aspects of it I loved but I always felt each meal something went missing. Either the service would be a miss and the food great or the opposite.

 

This time everything came together. The service was outstanding. From our waitress to the sommelier. For food we started with their cheese and meat board which was excellent. Three different cheeses that were fresh and of good quality. Their prosciutto and salami was great.

 

We then followed our waitress recommendations and had the crab cake and the calamari. Both were well prepared. The calamari seemed chewy when I went to cut it (they’re large rings) but it was very tender when you actually ate it.

 

We then split the lobster pasta Alfredo and the porterhouse dry aged. The porterhouse dry aged was extra, even for us with unlimited specialty through the Royal Suite. Is it worth the $18 up charge? Hmmm that is subjective. What I can tell you was the steak was cooked perfectly, excellent flavor, and coming from someone who almost eats exclusively in steak houses in Chicago, I was happy. The cut was not as thick as I was hoping for but the quality did not disappoint and that is what is most important. The lobster pasta was very tasty with some good chunks of lobster. There was not a lot, but there was more than I was expecting.

 

We finished with some tiramisu, limoncello, and double espresso.

 

For wine our sommelier (I forget her name but she is a tall woman from Romania I believe) made a couple good recommendations. We were prepared to slender extra ($9 more per glass) but she recommended a standard option that was wonderful.

 

Overall we were very happy with our meal. It was timed well. Food was cooked great. Service could not have been better and I can’t always say that about Tuscan.

 

Photos to come below

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Our first Tuscan Dinner on this ship photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

So sad to see on the daily “luggage velvet”and airport transfers! :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Have a fantastic day and thanks for sharing.

 

 

 

Ugh I know! It’s still 7 days away but I loathe seeing that in the Daily.

 

 

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[wrk2cruise]

Remember they waive the fee for Luggage Valet for your suite. I'd also like feedback on the MCC and suite manager as well as the bar service in MC.

[chicagopaul]

Remember they waive the fee for Luggage Valet for your suite. I'd also like feedback on the MCC and suite manager as well as the bar service in MC.

 

 

 

Yes they do! Thank you for mentioning that. We are signed up and ready to go. Flying AA back so we’re glad to not have to deal with the luggage and relax in one of the lounges since we have a later 4pm flight.

 

We haven’t been in Michael’s much. I cannot speak to the suite manager Anton but Sara is our MCC and she’s been terrific. We have our regular chats with her and she always seems to seek us out. She handled our luggage valet booking for us. She is organizing a bridge tour for us and a couple others. We haven’t asked for much but she’s been more than available and we’ve seen her regularly twice a day.

 

Our experience with bar service in MC has been good, though we haven’t been in much. What I’ve appreciated is unless it is truly peak hours when the piano player is there the lounge is never busy. But even when the player is there seats are still easy to find.

 

 

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[garyl62]

I'd be interested in how you are enjoying your RS, and in particular the balcony. I know you mentioned have 2 loungers, do you feel there is plenty of room out there with those, the table & chairs, and the "hot tub"? What if you had a couple other people over for a sail away or some other gathering, would it begin to feel small? We're booked in a CS on the hump so I'm trying to gain some knowledge to compare the two and decide if an upgrade to a RS would be in order.

 

Look forward to all your updates, thanks for taking the time to give us all this info, it's time consuming and hard to do, but you always to it so well!

[chicagopaul]

I'd be interested in how you are enjoying your RS, and in particular the balcony. I know you mentioned have 2 loungers, do you feel there is plenty of room out there with those, the table & chairs, and the "hot tub"? What if you had a couple other people over for a sail away or some other gathering, would it begin to feel small? We're booked in a CS on the hump so I'm trying to gain some knowledge to compare the two and decide if an upgrade to a RS would be in order.

 

Look forward to all your updates, thanks for taking the time to give us all this info, it's time consuming and hard to do, but you always to it so well!

 

 

 

Great question. We actually have 3 loungers! Some how an extra one randomly appeared. I’ll take a couple photos for you today.

 

Honestly if you’re having people over I’d opt for only the lounger that comes with the suite or maybe have the bigger comfy lounger removed and two standard ones brought in. This will make more sense when I post a picture later

 

We plan to use the hot tub either later today or tomorrow.

 

 

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[JaneStarr]

Yes they do! Thank you for mentioning that. We are signed up and ready to go. Flying AA back so we’re glad to not have to deal with the luggage and relax in one of the lounges since we have a later 4pm flight.

 

We haven’t been in Michael’s much. I cannot speak to the suite manager Anton but Sara is our MCC and she’s been terrific. We have our regular chats with her and she always seems to seek us out. She handled our luggage valet booking for us. She is organizing a bridge tour for us and a couple others. We haven’t asked for much but she’s been more than available and we’ve seen her regularly twice a day.

 

Our experience with bar service in MC has been good, though we haven’t been in much. What I’ve appreciated is unless it is truly peak hours when the piano player is there the lounge is never busy. But even when the player is there seats are still easy to find.

 

 

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We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and conversation with you and HR director, Kim, at last night’s Tuscan Night Out: Great Food, Drink, Service and company!

Chiming in to post information and the flyer for Luggage Valet. We were, unfortunately given incorrect information by the Shore-side “one touch” Concierge about the time constraint for flights leaving from FLL. This is in spite of asking him to please confirm more than once.

 

Don’t believe it if you are told that same-day flights out of MIA must depart after 11am and after Noon from FLL. Correct times are 11:30 AM from MIA and 2PM from FLL.

Our flight departs at 1:55pm, five minutes shy of the 2 pm cut-off.

 

Sara, our wonderful MC Concierge, had the correct info on the tip of her tongue. We would’ve made other arrangements had we known in time. Prefer not to end a relaxing vacation by sitting on our luggage at FLL for a couple of hours before they allow check-in.

Attached is the “non-suite” flyer for Luggage Valet registration. The Suite version of flyer just indicates the service is complimentary for those in RS or higher. (I can try to upload as a PDF later, if the jpg version isn’t legible)

Hope this saves some of you from some disappointment.

 

We are having an amazingly & relaxing cruise. The crew is at the top of their game and very friendly.

Jane

 

 

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[JaneStarr]

Someone asked (either on this thread or maybe my 11/26/17 roll call or The 1/21/18 roll call) thread about service club meetings onboard. Here (I hope) is the photo I just took of the Community Board showing gatherings onboard this sailing

 

 

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[chamima]

Jane

Why don't you ask Sara to see if a waiver can be given for that 5 minutes?

It certainly can't hurt to try .

 

Also - is Sara's last name Romera?

[JaneStarr]

Jane

 

Why don't you ask Sara to see if a waiver can be given for that 5 minutes?

 

It certainly can't hurt to try .

 

 

 

Also - is Sara's last name Romera?

 

 

 

 

Sara has already put in the request through her manager. It’s no longer in her hands, so we shall see what happens.

Sara Gouveia is her name.She’s from Portugal. Very personable and efficient at her job. She’s proactive and really does go above and beyond for her guests. No complaints.

Jane

 

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Edited December 3, 2017 by JaneStarr
Text left off by CC app on iPad!

[chicagopaul]

Last night we had the Senior Officers dinner in Tuscan Grill. We bought this through Nenad in Luminae. The cost was $89pp.

 

Here is the menu.

 

 

 

We sat at a table with one other couple and the Director of HR, Kimberly, from Canada. She was fascinating to talk to as she was also in HR for Four Seasons and then retired. She loved cruising so much she decided to work for Celebrity. The biggest thing I took away from her was her care to update crew areas, increase crew moral, and give them great facilities. As much as some of us talk above penny pinching from corporate on the staffing side it seems like she had no problem being able to spend some money and do simple things like replace the loungers on the crew deck etc.

 

It was interesting hearing her talk about the differences in a land based operation versus a cruise based.

 

Funny comment. I told our sommelier in Tuscan we were coming back for the Senior Officers dinner and she said she would talk care of our wine since we had the premium package and the wine offered in the dinner could be better. She took great care of us.

 

I didn’t take any food photos except desert because we were too engaged in conversation and I didn’t want to be “that” person at the table.

 

The dinner was great. We had the cheese and meat board. Then we had the scallops and mushroom risotto. For our entree we had the filet with shrimp. Filet was cooked a beautiful medium rare and had some mashed potatoes underneath with veggies on the side.

 

Overall this was a wonderful experience.

 

 

 

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[chamima]

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(Doesn't say anything other than sent from I Pad)

[JaneStarr]

Sara has already put in the request through her manager. It’s no longer in her hands, so we shall see what happens.

 

Sara Gouveia is her name.She’s from Portugal. Very personable and efficient at her job. She’s proactive and really does go above and beyond for her guests. No complaints.

Jane

 

I really hope that they go back to using the Ship’s MC Concierge for precruise contact, once they’ve fully implemented the Suite Mgr position

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Edited December 3, 2017 by JaneStarr
Add info

[gerelmx]

Hello Paul, thanks for sharing. Several of my doubts have been resolved with your review. Something that is not published in the daily bulletin is the laundry, what strategy with the clothes you follow? They offered the bag free or with cost?

 

Today there is lunch at Tuscan Grill, I imagine that after the ABC islands it will be available in Murano (I would like to go).

 

Continue enjoying your cruise and take care.

[JaneStarr]

on the next week's dec. 10 cruise and enjoying the review... also question where the elite cocktail hour is held.. if the sky lounge is being used for the :Mediums: or are they giving 3 drink vouchers? thanks for checking..

Happy to be able to help, Host Star!

No vouchers this sailing.

Cocktail Hour is in the Sky Lounge on Deck 14- Forward —

Nightly from 5-7pm, except embarkation day & sr officers’ party day. Will try to attach Elite + benefits letter to this post from my iPad. If it doesn’t work, I have a plan B.

Jane

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Thanks for posting that Jane! Saving me the trouble of going through the large stack of papers I have saved up.

 

 

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[JaneStarr]

Hello Paul, thanks for sharing. Several of my doubts have been resolved with your review. Something that is not published in the daily bulletin is the laundry, what strategy with the clothes you follow? They offered the bag free or with cost?

 

Today there is lunch at Tuscan Grill, I imagine that after the ABC islands it will be available in Murano (I would like to go).

 

Continue enjoying your cruise and take care.

 

This is our first cruise in an RS where we’ve been told the laundry is complimentary. Previously, we were never sure if we were receiving a free bag from our E/E+ perks or RS/CS perk. Don’t know if dry-cleaning is officially included, or limited to a certain number of items.

Jane

[JaneStarr]

Thanks for posting that Jane! Saving me the trouble of going through the large stack of papers I have saved up.

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Happy to pitch in, since you’re being so generous with your time.

Jane

[LadyVol1]

JaneStarr - Thanks for the Luggage Direct form. I, too, was given incorrect info via a phone call and will now change our flights! If MC Concierge Sara published a list of MC events for your cruise, could you please share that? I’m going to cruise with my 89-year old mother and it’s easier if I have a tentative plan for each day prior to getting on the ship. Thanks.

[Host Star]

thanks Jane,

I'm assuming elite is also welcome in the captains lounge altho it says elite plus

[gerelmx]

This is our first cruise in an RS where we’ve been told the laundry is complimentary. Previously, we were never sure if we were receiving a free bag from our E/E+ perks or RS/CS perk. Don’t know if dry-cleaning is officially included, or limited to a certain number of items.

Jane

 

Jane thank you

[chicagopaul]

Jane - We were not told this so thanks for commenting. I’ll ask Sara tonight. If Dry Cleaning is included I’d love to send some blazers out this week prior to disembarking (do I dare utter that word?!).

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

I'd be interested in how you are enjoying your RS, and in particular the balcony. I know you mentioned have 2 loungers, do you feel there is plenty of room out there with those, the table & chairs, and the "hot tub"? What if you had a couple other people over for a sail away or some other gathering, would it begin to feel small? We're booked in a CS on the hump so I'm trying to gain some knowledge to compare the two and decide if an upgrade to a RS would be in order.

 

Look forward to all your updates, thanks for taking the time to give us all this info, it's time consuming and hard to do, but you always to it so well!

 

 

 

Here is what we have. The large lounger on the right is the regular one included on the balcony.

 

 

 

 

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