h20cruzer Posted November 7, 2018 #1 Share Posted November 7, 2018 (edited) Even though I have cruised many times, this is my first attempt at a LIVE BLOG. My name is Norma and I am traveling on this trip with my friend Liesa. I retired 2 years ago April and have never looked back at returning to work. I live north of San Francisco in Novato, Ca. I have lived here for 13 years, previously I lived in Beaverton Oregon. I hope that I can follow in the footsteps of ChicagoPaul, Jim_lain and Trainman-2 who is an avid cruiser on RCCL. Unfortunately he has been given a shorter lease on life than he would have hope and its what made me want to do a blog. SO HERE’S TO YOU JIM AND YOUR WIFE JUDITH!!!! The Transatlantic portion of the cruised was booked when we were on the Silhouette TA in 2016. The Med portion was booked in April 2018. The first leg for the Med we are in a veranda 2B accessible cabin, on the TA we are in inaccessible A2 Aqua cabin. My partner in crime needs to use a scooter due to health issues. I fly today from SFO to Barcelona via Paris on Air France flight 083 in Premium Economy. Liesa fly’s from Newark non stop to Barcelona on Norwegian in Premium Economy. We are staying at a quirky hotel in Barcelona, the Hotel Continental for 2 nights. The best part is its on La Rambla. Rooms are clean and we have a small balcony right on La Rambla. I know it can be noisy as I have stayed there one other time but folks its Barcelona!!!! Next issue was luggage all packed but when I went to zip both cases each had an issue, so out I went yesterday to purchase new suitcases. Norma Edited November 7, 2018 by h20cruzer spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 7, 2018 Author #2 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boblin Posted November 7, 2018 #3 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Norma, congratulations on starting a blog! I will be on the Med. portion of the cruise with you and hope to meet you as I'm a friend of Marleen and also travelling solo. Linda (boblin) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavietheScot Posted November 7, 2018 #4 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Hi Norman enjoy the first half of your B2B we will be joining you both for the second stage the TA to Buenos Aires. Hope to speak to you then. Meantime enjoy Barcelona and the Eclipse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
effinaround Posted November 7, 2018 #5 Share Posted November 7, 2018 I'm on board as well! Was thinking of a doing a blog but half the time I have a hard time connecting to this website. Been getting HTTP 400 Bad Request error messages a lot today. Flying out tonight and super excited! Still have a few hours of work left before vacation officially starts! Safe travels everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLJudi Posted November 8, 2018 #6 Share Posted November 8, 2018 Looking forward to your first blog and to joining you on the TA part on 11/23. And a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Judi and Dan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicd1969 Posted November 8, 2018 #7 Share Posted November 8, 2018 Thank you for writing the blog. I'm sailing on the 12/9 cruise and so will be very interested in the latest developments on the Eclipse. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 8, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted November 8, 2018 Yes I am still alive. Flew Air France to Paris and the Joon to Barcelona. Both planes on time. Took me 1 1/2 hrs to get out of the Barcelona airport and into a cab. Food on Air France in Economy Plus was so so, no food on Joon, water available for purchase 2.10 Euros. Cab ride to the hotel was good. My cab driver was from Argentina!! Liesa was already at the hotel as her plane arrived earlier. She said economy plus on Norwegian was good and would fly them again. We then met up with our friend Marleen had wine, well at least they did and then we headed to dinner. It was so good pics to follow. Marleen and Liesa headed to a Flaminco show, I headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow I think we will take the Hoho bus and maybe stop for chirp and chocolate. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skrapngal Posted November 8, 2018 #9 Share Posted November 8, 2018 I will definitely be following. My first Celebrity cruise is on the Eclipse in WAY TOO MANY months. But I'll live vicariously through your cruise in the meantime! I'm also doing an RCCI transatlantic a year from now. What is your itinerary for the TA portion of the cruise? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsgoggins Posted November 8, 2018 #10 Share Posted November 8, 2018 Thanks for doing this. I’ll definitely be following as we left the lovely Eclipse in Barcelona on 1st November after an excellent 12 night Mediterranean cruise. You will have the hilarious Alejandro as CD with you so I have a bit of envy! Here’s hoping that the weather is kind to you. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 9, 2018 Author #11 Share Posted November 9, 2018 On 11/8/2018 at 1:18 AM, FLJudi said: Looking forward to your first blog and to joining you on the TA part on 11/23. And a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Judi and Dan Me can’t wait to see you guys again. We are dining at Gildas tonight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 9, 2018 Author #12 Share Posted November 9, 2018 I was awake at 7:15am and dressed quietly to run for a latte in the lobby. I can confirm neither of us slept well, barking dog in next room. I did call the desk and she said oh no ones in the room. I said maybe no people but definitely a dog!!! The owners of the dog returned, be careful what you wish for the owners were worse than the dog. I was dreaming it was raining, well guess what when I came to the lobby and looked outside RAIN, my friends all know I love RAIN!!!. Today we are planning to go to the market, then for some chiro’s and chocolate (I see I mispelled in a previous post). We are attending a cocktail party that another guest arranged at their hotel and then going to Gilda’s for dinner in the Gothic quarter. Quick picture of my breakfast and the rain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upwarduk Posted November 9, 2018 #13 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Thank you for adding photos, IMO they add so much more than words. Eclipse is our most sailed on Celebrity ship. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbri Posted November 9, 2018 #14 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Looking forward to your review. Great photos! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 10, 2018 Author #15 Share Posted November 10, 2018 Today’s the day we board the Eclipse!!! However let me tell you about yesterday first. Our room is adequate however something smells, not sure what it is, old carpet, cleaning product can’t put our finger on it. Liesa has been adversely affected by it more so than myself (poor girl). Even though it’s a great location would not stay here again. Started off late 11:30 going for chiro’s and chocolate, then off to the market, so much to see. Bought a few things, Rosemary honey for some friends who had bought some when they were here, had it shipped home but never received. We then went to the Hotel Majestic for a private cocktail party arranged by Sharon, I think her screen name is sdwhite50??? Sorry Sharon if I got it wrong. We had a lovely time meeting some of the other roll call members. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Then to our favorite restaurant Gilda’s (Sorry Judy and Dan that you were not here). Food was amazing, everthing. A couple of the highlights already deep-fried Argentinian shrimp with curry ice cream and the carpaccio. Liesa had Cava, Marleen had red wine anD I had a black mojito, it was made with vodka and black vodka. Very tasty, we ended being there about 3 hours. Barcelona really has a great nightlife!!! Having my usual for breakfast cheese, prosciutto ham and various salami. There are quite a few people staying at our hotel that are headed to the Eclipse today. I’m sure they are all as excited as we are. More later once we board the ship. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare abbydancer2003 Posted November 10, 2018 #16 Share Posted November 10, 2018 (edited) I'm on the Eclipse in January, so following. I'm sort of a neighbor, but we're in the South Bay. Edited November 10, 2018 by abbydancer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 10, 2018 Author #17 Share Posted November 10, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 10, 2018 Author #18 Share Posted November 10, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 10, 2018 Author #19 Share Posted November 10, 2018 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 10, 2018 Author #20 Share Posted November 10, 2018 Sorry for the multiple photo entries there is a limit. if anyone has any questions as we board the ship and sail, I will try to answer your questions, No promises to though:):):) I am doing several shore excursions, but it’s really not my thing, so most of my posts will be about the things I like to do. I will also try to post the daily’s. Norma 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare abbydancer2003 Posted November 10, 2018 #21 Share Posted November 10, 2018 5 minutes ago, h20cruzer said: Sorry for the multiple photo entries there is a limit. if anyone has any questions as we board the ship and sail, I will try to answer your questions, No promises to though:):):) I am doing several shore excursions, but it’s really not my thing, so most of my posts will be about the things I like to do. I will also try to post the daily’s. Norma This is a big one, but if you have a chance, can you take and post, a picture of the back of the TV? We're interested in the cabling to the wall, as we want to watch DVDs on our cruise. If not, no biggie. Thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 10, 2018 Author #22 Share Posted November 10, 2018 22 minutes ago, abbydancer said: This is a big one, but if you have a chance, can you take and post, a picture of the back of the TV? We're interested in the cabling to the wall, as we want to watch DVDs on our cruise. If not, no biggie. Thanks. Will do, I can certainly do that for you. Norma 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 10, 2018 Author #23 Share Posted November 10, 2018 6 hours ago, abbydancer said: I'm on the Eclipse in January, so following. I'm sort of a neighbor, but we're in the South Bay. This is all the further I could move the tv , hope this helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 11, 2018 Author #24 Share Posted November 11, 2018 Apparently there were going to be big demonstrations in Barcelona today and some roads would be closed from 11-2 we scurried to get cab and were at the pier and onto the ship in less than 10 minutes. Off to cafe al bacio for coffee, then onto Sushi on 5 for lunch, dropped our carryon bags at the cabin, then onto the Martini Bar where on of our old friends Gede is working. Now headed to the awful lifeboat drill. Looks like uploading picture is not cooperating with me know, will post when available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h20cruzer Posted November 11, 2018 Author #25 Share Posted November 11, 2018 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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