Detailed Photo Review of Celebrity Eclipse 14 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise 3/4/18

[deladane]

I really enjoyed snorkeling at this beach, but I only stayed out there for about 20 minutes so I would have time to get showered and changed before it was time to meet back at the bus. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to use these showers! There were 2 outdoor showers, which would have been fine but the handle was mounted at least 7 feet off the ground, and you had to keep holding it to keep the water flowing. Who thought that was a good idea? It must have been installed by a very tall person! I gave up quickly and just went into one of the toilet stalls to get toweled off and changed. You’d be surprised at the balancing act involved with getting changed in a fairly small stall when you don’t want anything to touch the wet ground or the toilet, and when there are no hooks to hang your bag and the door to the stall is over 10 feet high so you can’t throw stuff over the top of the door haha It was an interesting experience, but I succeeded (even if it took me over 20 minutes!).

 

Now that I was all cleaned off and in dry shorts and a t-shirt, I met up with DH again and he said he found something to show me. There is this wood lookout tower in the back of the parking lot, which looks fairly new.

 

 

We climbed up to the top to see beautiful panoramic views over the beach! I didn’t stay up here too long because it was extremely windy, but it was worth it to take a few photos. Possibly the only complaint I have about the TG-5 is the way it takes panoramic photos. It stitches them together, but you can always see an ugly seam between each section of the photo and I just think it’s not worth the effort to try and take the photos because they never come out good. I usually carry my old Sony underwater camera specifically to use for panoramic photos because those always come out perfectly, but I didn’t have it with me today. Instead, I just took 3 separate photos of each part of the beach.

 

 

 

 

By 3:30pm, we were all back on the bus and ready for the 30 minute drive back to the port. I liked how they structured the tour in that we drove out to the furthest spot first, then gradually worked our way back towards the port so we didn’t have a super long ride at the end of the day. It wasn’t much of an issue for us with an 8pm sail away time, but for people on cruises that leave earlier than that, it is nice to know you don’t have very far to travel at the end of the tour to minimize the risk of traffic or other delays making you miss the ship. Eddy asked us if we wanted to be dropped off at the cruise port or closer to the floating bridge, and we opted for the latter so we’d have a shorter walk to get downtown. Overall, we really loved this tour and both agreed it was one of our favorite days of the 17-day vacation. Eddy really knows how to keep his guests happy and entertained, and the itinerary was a lot of fun!

 

The walk towards downtown is very easy and all on flat roads. We walked down to the end of the street to the Rif Fort. This is an old fort that has been converted into a shopping and dining plaza.

 

 

[deladane]

It’s hard to get lost with signs like this!

 

 

It was really pretty inside the Rif Fort area, with tall palm trees and lots of bright colors!

 

 

Of course, you can buy all the different flavors of Curacao Liquor at many of the shops here- no need to visit the factory if you don’t want to.

 

 

 

There was a young woman who lived in a shoe…

 

 

We kept walking passed all the shops and exited the Rif Fort at a sidewalk along the water. The current was so strong and the water was so rough that it kept crashing up along the walls and I got splashed a few times! It’s a good thing I was using my waterproof camera!!

 

[deladane]

 

We walked further along the water, passed a few vendors intents selling touristy souvenirs, to reach the base of the pontoon bridge. This was that iconic view that I have been eager to see in person!

 

 

The bridge is officially called the Queen Emma Bridge,and was built in 1888. It is designed to open laterally, floating along the water creating an angle against this side of the wall so boats can pass through. It was closed now so we could walk across the bridge, taking our time and admiring the beautiful views.

 

 

This is the Queen Juliana Bridge, and is obviously much larger to allow cars to drive over the St. Anna Bay.

 

 

 

I just loved how bright and colorful all the buildings were!

[deladane]

When we reached the other end of the bridge, we just wondered around the streets of the downtown area. Many of the buildings had an interesting outer façade, and there were lots of interesting stores to check out. You could easily spend a whole day exploring here, with no need to book a formal excursion if you don’t want to.

 

 

 

I’ll bet you mis-read the name of this store at first glance!

 

Don’t you just want to run up and give her a hug? She matches the statue we saw when we first exited the ship this morning.

 

We meandered through the streets until we reached the Mikve Israel Emanuel Synagogue, which is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere. Unfortunately, we arrived just a few minutes after they closed at 4pm so we couldn’t go inside to see the famous sand floors, so a few photos from the outside will have to do.

 

 

[deladane]

 

 

It was late enough in the afternoon that most people had come and gone so there weren’t many tourists walking around. I imagine it looked very different a few hours earlier!

 

 

We spent about 30 minutes walking around and checking out the shops, and then tried to walk back across the bridge to get back to the cruise ship but we arrived just as it was opening. They open the bridge as needed for either 10 minutes when it opens halfway, or 30-40 minutes when it opens fully to allow larger ships to pass. Luckily this was only a 10 minute time, so we got to see the whole process but it didn’t delay us too long. There is also a ferry to take you across the water if you don’t want to wait for the bridge, but it is not worth it when the bridge is only open for 10 minutes.

 

 

 

[deladane]

If you happen to be on the bridge when it starts to open, then you get to go for a little ride! I wonder if they will let people off at the other end or if they are trapped there and have to wait for the gates to open?

 

 

The bridge opened just enough to allow this boat to pass through, then it swung back the other way to close.

 

 

 

While we were waiting, I noticed this heart next to the bridge. Many bridges around the world have had trouble with people hanging locks and then tossing the keys into the water for good luck or romance or whatever, and it is causing damage to those bridges. I thought it was clever that they had this giant heart sculpture for people to safely place their locks without damaging the bridge. It even makes for some pretty urban art!

 

 

 

After about 10 minutes, the gates lifted back up and we were allowed to walk across the bridge. It was very interesting to watch the whole process so I’m glad we happened to be there at that time.

 

[LisaLeone]

Dana, I really appreciate your use of purple font for the review...it makes it easy to get right to the meat. Excellent job!

[chamima]

 

 

 

We walked further along the water, passed a few vendors intents selling touristy souvenirs, to reach the base of the pontoon bridge. This was that iconic view that I have been eager to see in person!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bridge is officially called the Queen Emma Bridge,and was built in 1888. It is designed to open laterally, floating along the water creating an angle against this side of the wall so boats can pass through. It was closed now so we could walk across the bridge, taking our time and admiring the beautiful views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Queen Juliana Bridge, and is obviously muchhttp://

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just loved how bright and colorful all the buildings were!898/39231862890_5b48ec6321_c.jpg[/img][/color]

 

 

 

Did you get to see the bridge at night?

We were there overnight in February and it was SO beautiful.

It continuously changed color.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[deladane]

Dana, I really appreciate your use of purple font for the review...it makes it easy to get right to the meat. Excellent job!

 

Thank you! That's why I use the purple font, so you don't have to read all the side comments and can just read the review itself :)

[deladane]

Did you get to see the bridge at night?

We were there overnight in February and it was SO beautiful.

It continuously changed color.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Unfortunately, no, we didn't get to see it at night :( All aboard was at 7:30pm, and with sunset being at 6:30ish, it wouldn't be fully dark outside until too close to sailaway time so we didn't want to take the risk. Thanks for sharing your photos... it does look beautiful!

[deladane]

We walked around the Rif Fort for a few minutes, looked in a few of the shops, then walked back to the ship. We were back on board by 5pm, so we went upstairs to deck 14 so I could try to take some better photos. As predicted, the sun was at a much better angle and I was able to take some beautiful photos of the port area and all of Willemstad.

 

 

 

 

Wow! Look at those waves crashing up against the seawall!! The strong winds from the last 2 weeks continued today, and I heard a few people had their snorkeling tours cancelled. I was glad we booked a land-based tour today and not a boat tour so at least we were not impacted as much.

 

 

 

[deladane]

When I was planning our dinner reservations for the cruise, I debated about what to do for tonight. All aboard was at 7:30pm with an 8pm sail away time, so I considered pushing back our dinner reservation to maximize our time in Curacao. While it may have been nice to spend a little more time walking around the town, I decided it was better to keep with our consistent 7pm dinner reservation to increase our chances of always sitting with the same wait staff. As it turned out, I think I made the right choice because Pinto and Jose only have 6 tables in their section, and it was always roughly the same group of people seated in their section each night. Each night, we all arrived between 6:45 and 7:15pm, and we finished eating between 8:15 and 8:45pm, so had I made us 8pm dinner reservations for tonight, there wouldn’t have been a table in that section for us. I think the hostess seats people as they arrive into a section with the same wait staff so the waiters can keep all the tables on the same courses at the same time to minimize how many times they need to run down to the galley. Showing up for dinner at an off time would probably mean we would be seated with a different wait staff whose tables are synced with that later dining time, whereas a random couple who did not make reservations would be seated at our normal table.

 

Anyway, after taking photos of the cruise port area from upstairs on the outer decks, we went back to the cabin to quickly shower and change for dinner. Tonight’s dinner menu was another new one for us, and I loved all of the seafood options!

 

 

Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

 

Bay Scallop and Shrimp Ceviche

 

 

Seafood and Lobster Pappardelle

 

This was one of my favorite meals of the week! We skipped dessert (so I don’t have a photo of that menu for tonight) because there was a special show happening in the lobby at 8pm that we didn’t want to miss. I really liked how the production cast performed these little shows in the Grand Foyer throughout the week, like a bonus show in addition to the bigger productions in the main theater. Tonight’s theme party was called Reigning Rocks, and featured songs by British rock bands.

 

[deladane]

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to see, but one of the dancers was swinging around inside of the neon guitar.

 

The costumes for this show were really fun, but be sure to show up early as it’s a popular event but it is standing room only and the best spots are taken quickly! We saw some people riding up and down in the glass elevators to watch the show, so they may have had the best ‘seats’ in the house!

 

[deladane]

Tonight’s show in the main theater was a singer named Jesse Hamilton. Like several other solo performers on this cruise, he has performed on Broadway, most notably as Simba in the Lion King and the Tin Man in The Wiz. For tonight’s show, Jesse performed a mix of soul and pop hits, with a little comedy thrown in for entertainment.

 

 

 

After that, we went back to the Grand Foyer for the Silent Disco at 10:15pm. I have never done this before and we missed a few opportunity to participate in other Silent Discos earlier during the cruise, so I made sure to stay up late enough tonight that we wouldn’t miss out again. They provide you with a set of wireless headphones which can be tuned to one of 3 stations (hence the 3 colors- red, green, and blue).

 

 

Each station has its own theme with one of the ship staff acting as DJ. Cruise Director Eddy played songs from the 50’s and 60’s, Activities Manager Kristine played songs from the 70’s and 80s, and DJ Mace played songs from the last 30 years. You can control your own headphones so you can either stick with one station the whole time, or switch around to hear different songs. It was such a fun event and very well attended, with tons of people dancing and singing along to their favorite songs. It was even fun for people just watching but not wearing the headphones or participating because the DJ’s encouraged us to sing along to the chorus, which created a cacophony of voices singing 3 different songs at the same time!

 

 

 

I only planned to stay for a few minutes but we ended up staying until 11pm! This was the view from the glass elevators as we went back to our cabin.

 

 

Step Tracker Daily Total: 16,486 steps; 6.711 miles

[deladane]

Day 14: Wednesday, March 14 ~ Aruba Day 1

(Eddy’s pronunciation: ARAB – ah )

 

I was really excited that the overnight port on this cruise was in Aruba. Not every Eclipse 14-night sailing stays overnight here, but this is the most commercial of the ABC islands and has the most variety of things to do, so I was glad we had 2 days here to explore. I wanted to do a good variety of activities, so we did a 4x4 jeep tour on Wednesday morning, a sunset cruise on Wednesday evening, and a snorkeling tour on a catamaran on Thursday morning with time for shopping in the town on Thursday afternoon.

 

ABC Tours is one of the top-rated tour companies in Aruba, offering land tours in 4x4 jeeps and UTVs. The UTVs looked a bit too adventurous for my taste, but we have toured in 4x4s before and enjoyed it so we decided to go with that instead. Aruba has a really rugged east coast as compared to the beaches along their west coast, so I used this tour as an opportunity to explore the east coast and booked us on the Natural Pool Safari. The tour is 4.5 hours long, including 4 stops, lunch, water, free pick up and drop off at the cruise port, and costs $86 USD per person if booked online, including a 10% discount for booking 7 days in advance. The only issue I had was that we had to prepay in full upon booking online, which I prefer not to do in case the itinerary changes and then I have to deal with getting a refund. They do have free cancellation with one week notice, so we had that reassurance at least!

 

Here is the tour description from ABC-aruba.com…

 

If you are looking for a quick get-away from the busy areas and can’t wait to be mesmerized by some serious scenery of Aruba’s jaw-dropping coastline, our half day, four hour Natural Pool Safari is designed for you. We leave ABC’s headquarter in a small caravan and before you know it you will be stopping at the beautiful historical sites on Aruba, such as;

 

-The Natural Bridge

-Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins

-Aruba's Arikok National Park

-Natural Pool at 'Conchi'

 

The Natural Pool Safari tour will take you down the rugged roads of our beautiful island. The best part of this trip is that you will get to experience the Natural Pool by swimming and snorkeling. The pool is formed by a wall of volcanic rock formation that allows a tranquil and refreshing swimming, on a side of the island that is otherwise not possible. While snorkeling, you will be amazed by colorful fishes and coral life.

 

Here is today’s daily schedule:

 

 

 

 

Today looked like a cloudy day. When we went outside on our balcony, it was hard to know if we were docked because we faced out to the water. I know it is luck of the draw and depends on the port and the Captain’s preferences, but overall, the port-side balconies had better views of land on nearly every day of our cruise.

 

[deladane]

After another omelet and bagel with smoked salmon for breakfast on the balcony, we left the ship just after it was cleared at 8:10am. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for, but just after stepping outside the cruise terminal, I ran into a lady holding a sign for ABC tours. She checked our names off her list, then directed us to a 15-passenger bus which would take us to the office to start our tour. We waited a few minutes for 4 other people to get off the Eclipse and join us, and then we set off for the 5-minute drive to the office. We knew we were at the right place when we saw all the jeeps parked out front.

 

 

 

These were the UTVs for a different tour.

 

 

OMG, this part was total chaos! We walked into the small office and there must have been 100 people in there and no one really knew where to go. We found the woman who drove us to the office when she got behind the desk, and she helped us sign our safety waivers and fill out our lunch request forms. The options for lunch were BBQ chicken drumsticks, soup, or a vegetarian dish. ABC Tours offers 3 or 4 tours in both jeeps and UTVs, so everyone had to get sorted out to the right group. The lady told us to stand outside and look for our guide, Rocky. At least we could get out of the tiny office, but it was still a bit confusing outside because no one knew who was on the tour with them and who the guides were so we were all just milling around. They really need a better system for getting the day started- perhaps staggering the start times of the different tours so everyone doesn’t arrive at the same time?

 

Eventually, Rocky introduced himself and gathered up the 18 people taking the Rugged Natural Pool Safari tour. He said there would be 3 jeeps for the 18 of us, but only 2 guides so we needed one person to volunteer to drive the last jeep. DH wanted to volunteer but I discouraged it because I had a feeling the driving would be challenging and it would turn a fun day into a stressful one. Luckily, there was a family of 4 with 2 teenagers and the father volunteered to drive so they got their own jeep, Rocky took 8 people in the back of his jeep, and the remaining 6 of us went into the last jeep with Andrew as our driver. Spoiler alert: DH was really glad he didn’t drive because we were in for a bumpy ride! But let’s not jump too far ahead.

 

It took a really long time to get everything organized and start our day, but we finally left the office parking lot at 9am. Our caravan rode about 10 minutes to the first stop of the day- the Diocese of Willemstad church.

 

 

Rocky gathered up everyone from all 3 jeeps and explained some background about the church, then gave us time to go inside and explore.

 

 

We stayed here for about 5 minutes to see the gold-plated church altar. It was also pretty to see the bright sunlight shining through all the stained glass windows.

 

[deladane]

 

 

 

 

Next, we rode a few more minutes to the Casibari rock formations. This is a very popular tourist site and there were hundreds of visitors when we arrived here (including several excursions from the cruise ships). It is a series of huge boulders where you can climb up a marked path of rocks and stairs to reach an overlook point on top. When we first arrived here, Rocky gathered up everyone from the 3 jeeps to give us a little history about Aruba. He spoke for about 10 minutes, then told us we could have 20 minutes to explore the grounds. Because it was so crazy crowded when we were there, it took nearly 10 minutes to climb to the top of the rocks. The climb as not very hard, but I would recommend wearing closed toe shoes (our tour description actually said no flip flops allowed so we were wearing sneakers anyway).

 

 

[deladane]

Climbing up and through the boulders

 

 

 

Notice the hair on these 2 women… yup, it was another super windy day in the Caribbean!

 

Once we got to the top, the views of Aruba were quite impressive. Casibari is located a bit inland, but we were able to see out to the ocean and even see the cruise ships docked in the distance.

 

 

 

[deladane]

See the cruise ships in the distance?

 

 

Looking back towards the parking area, you can see all the big tour buses and vans. This was definitely a popular stop for tours today.

 

 

We took a few photos, then made our way back down to the ground. Luckily there was a separate staircase to go down so it wasn’t nearly as crowded.

 

 

 

Down on the ground, there is a walking path that winds through the park and is lined by super tall cacti. Aruba is technically in a desert climate, but there is something weird about seeing a cactus and a cruise ship in the same line of site.

 

 

[Marywillowhill]

Hi Dana, I have loved your reviews! They have gotten me through slow nights at work, bouts of insomnia and most importantly through my cruise dry spell. Thanks so much for chronicling your adventures and sharing them with us. Best wishes to you and your Husband. Thanks again, Marybeth

[deladane]

Hi Dana, I have loved your reviews! They have gotten me through slow nights at work, bouts of insomnia and most importantly through my cruise dry spell. Thanks so much for chronicling your adventures and sharing them with us. Best wishes to you and your Husband. Thanks again, Marybeth

 

Thank you so much for your kind words!

[deladane]

 

 

After we all piled back into our jeeps, we headed off to the highlight attraction of the tour- the Arikok National Park. I knew we were in for a bumpy ride over the rugged terrain, but nothing could prepare me for this! Luckily the seats in the back of these Land Rovers had extra cushioning and they are built for driving over rocks and up and down steep hills, but don’t forget to fasten your seat belt tight!! We were bouncing all over the place, so I was glad we only had 6 people in our jeep because I am sure those with 8 people in their jeep were bumping into each other more than is comfortable. Andrew had great control over the vehicle and really knew how to get us excited by speeding down the steep hills and around curves so fast I thought the jeep may tip over.

 

 

 

Things got especially tricky when a bunch of bigger tour jeeps approached in the opposite direction as they were leaving the park. The path we were driving on was barely wide enough to count as a one-way road, but definitely not wide enough for two-way traffic! Andrew handled it like a pro- he just drove off the road! Crisis averted! Incidentally, I was very happy we booked with ABC Tours in this moment as we only had 6 people in our jeep while the people on the tour with that other company (not sure which one) had 16 people in each jeep! It looked very crowded in there and definitely not comfortable for such a long day of riding on uneven surfaces.

 

[deladane]

Anyway, after a while of driving through dirt and rocks with hundreds of cacti surrounding us, we reached the ocean! The steep cliffs and jagged shoreline reminded me a little bit of the California coast. I am not sure how it looks on a normal day, but the extreme winds crashed the waves against the shore, creating an incredible explosion of water. It was like liquid fireworks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

 

When the guides parked the jeeps, Rocky told us all to get out and gather around as he explained what would happen next. This stop was at the natural pool at Conchi and the original plan was for us to go swimming and snorkeling here. The tour description on the ABC Tours website said: “The best part of this trip is that you will get to experience the Natural Pool by swimming and snorkeling.The pool is formed by a wall of volcanic rock formation that allows a tranquil and refreshing swimming, on a side of the island that is otherwise not possible. While snorkeling, you will be amazed by colorful fishes and coral life.” Obviously, this was the thing I most look forward to on the tour, so you can imagine my devastation when Rocky explained that it was too windy and unsafe for us to swim here today. He said that the water is usually very calm inside the pool because the rocks surrounding it create a barrier against the waves, but that today it was so windy and the waves were so rough that they were crashing over the protective rocks and we could get swept out to sea if we tried to swim here today. He said that he would let us walk down to the beach to take some photos and we could stay here for about 20 minutes, and as a replacement, we would go swimming at a different beach for a few minutes at the end of our tour. Yet again, the wind would ruin our tour, but such is life so we just tried to make the best of it and enjoy what we could of this natural pool.

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

Climbing down to sea level was no easy feet (…see what I did there? Hehe) If you take this tour and do get to swim in the natural pool, make sure to bring along water shoes for the hike down there because it would be really challenging to walk down these stairs in flip flops.

 

 

 

These photos do not really capture how incredible this beach was. The wind was fierce and the sun was at a funny angle so it’s hard to show in a photo what we could see in person, but I’ll do my best.