ighten

OK coming to the end.. Again I'll post in a couple of sections to keep in the forums pic limit - cant work out how to transfer the horn battle vid on here though so bear with me...

Fri Nov 12th (day 15) Nassau , New Providence, Bahamas

Clocks back again or was it forward this morning (I'm starting to get as confused as the poor lady on day 2) so we are up and on the balcony at 6.30am watching the sun rise slowly over the Island of New Providence whose name I didn't even know (Excuse my ignorance but I just thought the island was called Nassau). We slip in through the narrow harbour entrance, spin around gracefully 180 degrees and back slowly into the pier. We are followed by 3 other ships a couple more old Carnivals - Elation & Victory - and Disneys Dream which at the moment sounds more like a Tim Burton Nightmare than a peaceful Dream as it seems to be 90% screaming children ; ) on board.

Gemma brings us our final breakfast this morning so we thank her and tip her a little extra for what has been a truly delightful service every morning. By 9.00am its already passing 80c so we decide to head out before it gets even hotter and have a little exploration of the more historic areas of Nassau.

Once free of what seems like a million taxi drivers touting for business we have a look at the Cathedral and the cloister gardens, the Governor's House before then circling back to Parliament square. These areas are quite pretty compared to the frankly grotty high street and the light is superb this early in the morning.

Governor's Mansion, Nassau, Bahamas.

We return back to the ship at a pitch black 5.30pm, its been a full and enjoyable day. The "Ecstasy" has already left leaving just the "Eclipse" at the pier for tonight.

Tonight its the MDR again where Moses (possibly the coolest waiter known to man) informs us it will be 'Evening chic' night tomorrow. He has a wonderful deep Caribbean accent so chic is pronounced as 'chick night' and I'm half expecting a band of steel drummers to accompany him as he describes tonight's recommendations from the menu. There's a lot of beautiful ceviche style scallops and tuna that's just been shown the griddle for a second or two on tonight's menu - its all fantastic.

Thnx for your kind words.. Though DOH again... heres the rest. I really need to stop being so easily distracted.

We have another private trip here with Winsome Transport organised by Pam from Nova Scotia, who put the whole thing together using the roll call feature from Cruise Critic. Debbie (or Socks) is our driver and guide and takes us on a pretty intensive full day excursion that covers what feels like every inch of the islands that make up Bermuda.

The weather stays nice for us and we climb lighthouses, collect glass from beaches, visit historic towns and churches, wander around heaven like golf courses and wade through the crystal clear waters on hot pink sand beaches - though from Jacks reaction I'm guessing the water isn't as warm as it looks.

A late lunch (2pm and we're all starving - if you take this tour have a big breakfast first) and a nice cool beer is taken in Swizzles Bar; after running through the menu we decide on a lovely huge fish sandwich.

Bermuda has just been hit a few weeks ago by a hurricane so a lot of trees have lost their green flush but even so it still looks as beautiful as you imagine and is certainly as expensive as you would expect.

After lunch we head to St Georges where we bump into the Mayoress (who Socks knows - then again I dont think theres a person on the island who doesn't know Socks) before paying a visit to the tiny town hall of this pretty UNESCO town.

Now time for a quick history lesson - If you remember what I said earlier about the reefs that suround the island they played a significant role in how St Georges came to be the first capital of Bermuda. In the 17th Century Admiral Sir George Somers was leading a fleet of settlers over to Virginia from England. They hit a storm and realizing they were about to loose total control of the ships took the decision to deliberately run them aground on the reefs around Bermuda so they could walk on to the Island and from here settled and created the capital here calling it New London.

DOH!

Not sure what happened there.... I'll post in sections again as I think there are to many pics.

Celebrity Eclipse - Transatlantic Broadway and Boardwalks - Day 12

Wed Nov 9th (day 12) Arriving Bermuda

Awake to a morning of lovely sunshine and it feels very nice and warm. No sign of any land, though its only 7.30am when Gemma arrives with breakfast so we still have quite a distance to go as we are not due in Kings Wharf until around 10.30am. Lie on the sunbeds on the top deck to pass the time - at around 9am the pilot boards and we slow down to a crawl.

Its easy to see now why Bermuda so often gets missed off itineraries at the last minute if the winds are just that fraction too high; as to approach it requires a slow crawl through a channel surrounded on all sides by reefs, very visible today in the turquoise waters.

A Carnival ship (a rather tired looking "Ecstasy") is also in port. She's due to leave later today - we will be stopping overnight. We dock in Kings Wharf port next to the Royal Naval dockyards with its fort overlooking the harbour.

We have another private trip here with Winsome Tour organised by Pam from Nova Scotia, who put the whole thing together using the roll call feature from CC. Debbie (or Socks) is our driver and guide and takes us on a pretty intensive full day excursion that covers what feels like every inch of the islands that make up Bermuda.

Sorry for the delay.. Been away for the weekemd

Anyway on with Bermuda...

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Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Celebrity Eclipse - Transatlantic Broadway and Boardwalks - Day 11

Tue Nov 8th (day 11) leaving NYC

As we prepared to pull away from Pier 88 last night there was some good news and bad news in Captain Mikael's departure announcement as he explained the route to Bermuda. Firstly its going to get a lot warmer as we head south now (so thats good - yay). Now I suppose you could argue that its also bleeding obvious but all is not that simple when Bermuda is on the schedule. Let me explain.

There seems to be some rather odd theories running around the ship when it comes to our next stop (the word "if" always seems preface Bermuda) and it doesn't really have much to do with the Bermuda triangle. It would seem over the years that cruise liners often drop Kings Wharf from the schedule at the last minute.

So you can feel a "but" coming on when the Captain begins his report and in this case it was noticeable that everyone was listening that little bit harder. But it's just the usual we will have to pass through a little bit of a swell tonight and all's well, we will be seeing beautiful Bermuda baby!

Now to be fair its probably about 1am by the time we hit this "little" swell and most people are tucked up in bed after NY or watching the election. I gave it about 10 minutes before boredom set in.

A bit of a rollercoaster of a nights sleep then but its quite amazing how it just becomes the norm. I'm typing this on a quite warm (for us Brits) sun deck watching the front and back pitch up and down like a see-saw whilst the horizon at the side is 100% sea one minute then all sky the next. The sea looks angry but the sky is white clouds with a nice hot sun breaking through every now and again to warm our tired New York feet.

Salmon Cataplana Dinner tonight (its chic night) was in Qsine again - whilst the idea is ok'ish one criticism I would make is that some of the portions are just way to large especially given the richness of some of the dishes. Its easy to find yourself even after ordering the recommended amount ( 5 or 6 dishes) quite full before your half way through as there's no consistency to the size of each of the dishes.

Souffle and Soup Tonight we had the Lobster Escargot (again), followed by a selection of souffles/ soups presented rather like a chemistry experiment, a Portugese salmon dish "cataplana" cooked and served in a copper shell, filet mignon and a "Persian" chicken kebab.(these last two dishes are full size mains rather than the usual tapas scale and following the very rich souffles are a bit too much).

Persian Kebab

Loving the posts. We did this cruise last year and I'm thinking we might again in 2017 fingers crossed.

 

I'll be making a note of the guides in Boston, I'm a bit reluctant to do ship organised excursions if I can find alternatives or do something myself.

 

I love New York and remember the sail in up the Hudson. The top deck was rammed with people. You seem to have managed to do so much in the 24 hours you were in the city! The sail away with Manhattan lit up is awesome too.

 

I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip. The itinerary changed this year, as we went to Port Canaveral in 2015 rather than Nassau.

Can't reccommend Trailblazers enough (Im not connected by the way)

Personally I think PC would be better than Nassau but each to there own. Im yet to write up that day.. Just finished day 11

Before we reboard thes just time to take a closer look at the aircraft carrier Intrepid which is berthed on the next pier to us. Now a floating Museum it opened in 1982 at Pier 86 after Zachary Fisher and his brother Larry, prominent New York real estate developers, and philanthropist/journalist Micheal Stern saved herfrom the breakers yard in 1978. Its a pity that recently they have chosen to put the 'Enterprise' space shuttle (takes its name from Star Trek yet ironically is the shuttle that never went into space) in a rather ugly hangar on the rear end as it just looks like an ugly carbuncle sticking out of its landing strip.

Dusk sail away from New York is even more magical than our arrival; a perfect cloudless golden sunset bathing the glass city in an orange glow before darkness takes over and the same buildings are alight in neon.

Celebrity Eclipse with Manhattan skyline backdrop

Statton Island Ferry glides between us & Lady Liberty

Dinner in the MDR is possibly the best yet with a wonderful ceviche of tuna for Dan followed by a warming tomato and chick pea soup followed by marinated beef flank steak which is perfectly cooked. Jackie has scallops crudo and the baked trout with almonds. All superb.

The show tonight is a tribute to Broadway which is very well done. Just the singers and the big band - no silly costumes and no horrible backing tape. The rendition of Judas' opening song 'Heaven on their minds', from Jesus Christ Superstar is absolutely spot on delivered with as much anger and passion than I have seen on a West End stage - get this lad off the ship and into the west end.

Next ................. Off to Bermuda

Wavertree Liverpool, the world’s last remaining wrought-iron sailing ship, built 1885 Southampton UK

From here we head south through Wall Street and after dragging Jack away from Tiffany & Co. we walk past the Wall St. Stock Exchange and down to Battery Park and Castle Clinton to take in the view of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty across the Hudson. We climbed up inside the Statue of Liberty's spiral staircase last time we were here. Very claustrophobic, with two intertwining staircases that take you up or down.

From here its a short walk towards the new 'One World Trade Center' building. Theirs a great little architectural trick in its design so that when standing at its base it appears to be a giant needle pointing to the heavens (yes I paid attention when watching Michael Portillos visit). The original Twin Towers are now remembered by reflecting pools on their footprint.

We take another subway (why does one of the richest cities in the world have the grottiest subway) north past Washington Square and into Chelsea and climb up to the new Hi Line Park. This is the old freight train route which was in the style of Chicago's L train system in that its elevated a few storeys above ground level.

When it was decommissioned somebody had the bright idea of turning it into another green area, its a calm & pleasant stroll in the middle of Manhattan madness; we walk its entire length which brings us back out on the Hudson side of Manhattan. The time has really slipped away and before we know it its 3.30pm and time to be heading back; eager for a shower to remove the grubbiness of the city. New York will always seem like a city with two faces, the richness and power of the buildings contrasting with its dirty and unkempt streets (and at times crumbling away sidewalks).

TBC

Celebrity Eclipse - Transatlantic Broadway and Boardwalks - Day 10

Mon Nov 7th (day 10) NYC

San Remo Building - W74th Street & Central Park West A wonderful cloudless morning in NY and we are out nice and early for a walk to and through Central Park. Like Boston, the fall colours are still stunning in Manhattan - vibrant reds and glowing oranges all tucked away in the midst of the concrete jungle. New York is as eternally busy as ever so its nice to get into the park where once again Marathon runners from yesterday are comparing their sores and showing off their medals.

It's a long time since we were last here; I can remember being exhausted and walking hardly any distance at all it was so hot & we were very tired after a full day. Jet lag when flying into New York always seems worse than anywhere else as you don't want to waste a moment when you arrive in such a vibrant capital - so you naturally end up extending the day for ever (apologies to Patrick Stewart for falling asleep in what I'm sure was a fantastic play). Arriving by ship into these cities is just so wonderful - an unforgettable way of arriving and no jet lag.

Next we head into the murky depths of the subway, boarding at 72nd St across from Strawberry Fields and ride downtown as far as Fulton Street. From here it is a good spot to appreciate the mix of the old mid rise architecture contrasting with the new high rise skyscrapers.

Pop into a Potbelly for a beef flatbread & soup to keep our energy up then head directly east to the newly developed dock areas and views of Brooklyn Bridge from Pier 16. I do like these areas to the east of the financial district, they're doing a good job of retaining the look of old Manhattan. There are some lovely old ships and floating lighthouses in permanent residence here set up as new floating museums.

TBC

Two tugs come along side gently nudging our sides to help with the tight turns this huge ship will have to make to enter the pier and maneuver around the 90 degree right angle as it is. As we arrive the NCL 'Breakaway' backs out looking like a block of flats at sea - we will be sailing on the identical sister ship 'Getaway' through the Baltic to St Petersburg in a few months - I'm suddenly feeling very spoilt by Celebrity. We dock alongside the USS Intrepid with one of the remaining BA Concordes sat next to it.

Check those corners

The huge advantage of this port is it's literally a few blocks walk from the ship to Times Square and we soak up the atmosphere in the square and check out whats showing tonight before heading down 5th to get that great view of the Chrysler building (which obliges by lighting up just as we arrive), then we break our necks looking at the Empire State Building before finally taking in the cathedral magnificence of Grand Central station.

Times Square

Times Square

Grand Central with the Chrysler Building towering above.

The Chrysler Building

All of the barriers have now been removed from this mornings Marathon, however there are plenty of people parading the streets in the warm wrap cloaks and showing off well earned medals. In fact there are so many people wandering around with a medal around there neck I'm slowly coming to the conclusion someone is making a quick buck selling copies down a side street off 5th somewhere. "Pretend you ran the marathon - yours for 10 dollars(plus tax) - it's this weekends new fashion."

We thought we had left all the daily time changes behind us but unfortunately the clocks went back again between Boston and NY not for time zones but because summertime in the US ended; so it's dark pretty quickly and as we leave the Grand Central the last of the evening light has completely disappeared.

Grand Central

The Eclipse will remain docked here for one night and stay until tomorrow evening. The pier is manned for the entire time so your free to come and go all day and all night Chatting to our stewards as we arrive back to change for dinner they are both excited to be heading out into the city tonight as they had not been before.

We swap sides tonight when we enter the MDR just for a change (such rebels). At the table next to us is a Scottish couple who have clearly sat at the same table most of the cruise and have a good relationship with the waiter for this section. The waiter is a young Estonian man who has obviously decided to smarten up his appearance ready for New York. In a lovely Scottish accent that adds a little humour to the situation "Och No...Zoran - what on earth have you done to your hair" - It turns out he handed the cleaner the hair clippers.

Again I'll have to split this day up a little due to the pics.

Celebrity Eclipse - Transatlantic Broadway and Boardwalks - Day 9

Sun Nov 6th (day 9) > New York(Day 1)

Sailing down the East Coast for 300 miles we should arrive in New York mid afternoon. As you can probably tell, when arriving by ship into Manhattan the most important thing is glamour - and lets face it you don't get any better than a shower cap in the sun - just hoping Gemma wasn't too frightened when she arrived with breakfast. We are up early this morning so to be fair there's still quite a few hours to go before we even enter the Hudson River; its sunny though we climb up to pass the time on the top decks.

Its another lovely sunny day and we lie out on sunbeds, blankets at the ready should the wind pick up. Its beautifully clear and by l0am in the distant horizon the cityscape of NY city can be seen on the horizon. It's still a long way off though. Around noon the pilot jumps on board; we are due to pass under the Verrazano suspension Bridge at 1:30pm and should be at the pier for 3.30pm. Hopefully the NY Marathon will have finished by then as it started this morning.

There's an unmistakable air of excitement as we get nearer and nearer to the city; guests and staff from Sommeliers to Pool Butlers/Dancers & Waiters all mingle together on the top decks as we look for a glimpse of the great lady.

She obliges, gleaming green and gold in the sun as we slowly slide past and enter the Hudson river our horn deafeningly blaring at the orange Statton Island Ferry that glides past us. "They look no different than when I used to ride them 20 yrs ago" says a lovely American Lady we have been chatting to "They're still as grubby and rusty as they were then".

Its exhilarating to arrive into New York this way, especially after having traveled across the Atlantic to make that journey. As we turn into the Hudson a NY gale hits the top deck but in no way does it diminish the atmosphere - you could throw hailstones and lightning at the ship and nobody would want to miss this moment.

As we return back to Boston Joan drives us around the Italian side of the city showing us the areas that have not yet been over commercialized. We finish at the Old North Church on Salem Street where Paul Reveres "One if by land, and two if by sea" lantern signals to the militia was sent from.

Inside the church at regular intervals a volunteer recites the tale of how the war began. As we sit in the pews listening it now really means so much more now that we have visited all of these towns and sites. A perfect way to conclude the day. We have both loved Boston and (even though we have been before) we have seen far more of it and the surrounding area in one day than we did in a few days on our own. And as for the history - this is the perfect way to envelope yourself in it. Well done to Trailblazers

We arrive back at the Eclipse in good time for the sail away. Heading directly South we will arrive in New York tomorrow afternoon.

Dinner tonight is in Murano which is the French restaurant onboard ship. After the amuse bouche of Asparagus soup with a parmesan foam Jackie chooses the Anjou Pear and Roquefort cheese encased in pastry followed by Turbot with a fennel puree and citrus sauce. Dan has the Diver Scallops Wellington followed by Murano Lobster which is flambeed table side. Its all beautiful, the ambience and service is spot on. After a cheese course we have Flambe strawberries & crepe with a balsamic pinot noir reduction and a grand marnier souffle that is as light as air. Perfection.

Diver Scallops Wellington Turbot with a fennel puree and citrus sauce Cooking Murano Lobster

Sorry about the formatting going all over the place.. Not sure what happened.. I still cant get vids to show correctly either

View of the city from Mt Auburn Cemetery Concord and Lexington are looking beautiful in the late fall colours. Two fabulous looking towns I could quite happily move out to tomorrow.

Martin explains the history of what happened here at Lexington common with such flair you feel you can see it happening in front of you. On April 19, 1775, local militiamen emerged from Buckman Tavern adjacent to the common and formed two rows on the common to face arriving British troops, sent out to seize weapons. The militiamen suffered the first casualties of the American Revolution when the two sides exchanged fire. Very hard to imagine now, from the calm & pleasant surroundings.

As we drive from Lexington to Concord Joan pulls in to 'Alcott's - Orchard House' the home of Louisa May Alcott and the place where 'Little Women' was both penned and based.

Alcott - Orchard House At Concord we walk out through the 'Minute Man National Historical Park' to the North Bridge where the first day of battle in the War of Independence took place. The current wooden bridge is a replica of the one that stood in 1775 on the day of the battle.

Old North Bridge - Concord We decide on a seafood lunch: Martin and Joan know just the spot and drive us all to Jasper Whites 'Summer Shack' in Cambridge which is heaven on earth being your traditional New England seafood restaurant - not too fancy but gorgeous seafood. We enjoy spicy meat chowder with some tasty fresh soda bread and huge lobster rolls with sauv blanc most excellent.

Jasper White at Summer Shack

May have to split this one up as we hit land and the photo count rises.. Im sure to break something so stick with me.

Celebrity Eclipse - Transatlantic Broadway and Boardwalks - Day 8

Sat Nov 5th (day 8) Boston

Its almost halfway through the cruise and at 5.00am we slide gracefully into Black Falcon Pier; the first land we have seen since leaving Southampton all those days ago. After breakfast on the balcony courtesy of Gemma we dress and set off to go through immigration. Its a long queue that snakes through the MDR but I have to say its not the horror story we had read about. The line's very well organised & keeps moving and the Border staff (of which there are at least 8) are polite and efficient.

Sue (& her husband Colin, from Exeter, via CC forum) organised a private company Trailblazers for a historical tour of Boston, Cambridge for Harvard, Lexington and Concord. The company's run by a husband and wife team - Martin and Joan McEntee, who meet us at the port & load us into two comfortable six seat vans. If all history lessons could be conducted in this fashion everyone's knowledge of the world would probably be improved tenfold. Saying this however I do need to point out any historical errors from now on are entirely my own fault. Or Wikipedias

We spend some time in Harvard. Of particular interest to our small group of Trans Atlantic travellers is the Widener Library. A Harvard graduate Harry Widener was from his youth an accomplished collector and bibliophile. Inside is one of the best examples of the few remaining Guttenburg Bibles - though poor Harry was never to set eyes on it. His grandfather was to surprise him with it when his ship docked in New York - unfortunately the ship was the Titanic and Harry was lost with it.

Joan (our driver) is very personable and easy to listen to - Martins enthusiasm for the subject brings everything to life as between them we get the low down on the American Revolution against the British and the development of Boston as a city - Joan has lots of extra info and historic pics and maps ready on an Ipad to help illustrate all she is describing. Very helpful in showing how much of this city is built on reclaimed land.

After Harvard we spend some time looking around areas of Boston and checking out some of the beautiful New England Architecture. To say its now the start of November we have been very lucky in that the fall colours are still beautiful due to the milder weather. To fully appreciate this we are driven out to Mt Auburn Cemetery that has a great overview of the city.

cont....

This is fantastic. I love the pics. I was wondering if you could say more about what activities you are seeing during the days at sea. We have only slightly considered a TA cruise but are concerned that there may not be enough going on during the days to keep the doldrums at bay.

are there movies and dance lessons and other things that are going on?

Thanks again I am loving the blog.

I'll try to complete the blog with some copies of the dailies.. I have to admit we didn't take part in a lot as we wanted to soak in the fresh air. We both found the 'just relaxing' good enough.

However from the top of my head in the morning we had lectures "NASA" based I think. Celeb life had put a choir together - painting etc etc. Yes there were ballroom lessons - they were fun even if I was hopeless. We had afternoon main theater shows of which we missed a lot).

I think as I mentioned - My main fear was that we had never done so many continuous sea days in a row- we had even bought a full set of "breaking bad" DVDS - it remained unbroken and sealed because that fear was never an issue for us , however I appreciate everyone is different.

I think that letter about not appearing in bathrobes was from the cruise director, not border patrol. I laughed about it and she told me that some people have gone to passport control in dressing gowns in the past, believe it or not! Go figure!

I can believe it as well to be honest :rolleyes:

We recently did a TA to Canada, so I'm enjoying your report.

How have you attached your photos; a much better display than the small thumbnails that you all too often see on these boards.

I'm just copy and pasting from my blog to be honest. Only problem I do get is I have to remove a few pictures/vid as the forum always says there are too many even when there is less than 7.

Fri Nov 4th (day 7)

Breakfast in the room again (you never would have guessed!). The swell has died down but the wind is still a bit wild and a little nippy - pretty much what I expected the whole journey across the Atlantic to be so I guess we can count ourselves quite lucky that we did get some great weather to start. Quickly up and dressed for the usual morning joggy/walk.

We are now about 200 miles from Boston, the pilot will be coming aboard at 5am tomorrow morning and we should be at the pier for 7am. All the benefits of ESTAS and chipped passports dont seem to have trickled down to the sea ports yet as we have to fill in those old green visa waiver cards and take our ESTAS and passports to the martini bar at 10.10am. A rather curt letter from Border Patrol tells us we should not appear in our dressing gown! You do have to sometimes raise a smile at the language of officialdom that the US often employs - it reads a lot of the time like instructions to either a kindergarten class or perhaps a brain dead zombie. Then again looking at the two presidential choices in a few days maybe thats not to far off the mark.

2pm. There is much excitement on the top deck as we have spotted the first signs of life (other than the greenfinches, starlings and thrushes that have hitched a ride and set up camp on the lawn) since we left Southampton. Just on the port horizon the silhouette of another ship can just be made out.

After lunch we brave the lawn garden for a quick game of Boules in an icy gale. The glass blowing team up here have the best job as they have a white hot furness to keep them warm. I have to admit we never watched the glass blowers. Being just old enough to remember the potters wheel on the BBC before the days of moronic 24hr TV - I can't really see the fascination.

Later that evening we return to the stateroom and watch as the sun slowly sets in the West and the pale orange light gently fades away- there's still no sign of land.

Tonights plan is basically to stay awake after eating in the MDR and perhaps even make it past 10pm. Dinner is a lovely little duck confit, chowder and cod for Dan, the vichyssoise and coq au vin for Jack.

Coffee, more dancing, more promenading and more climbing stairs in high heels for the exercise (that's J not myself in case you are wondering).

The rest of the ship seems to have taken an early night as the captains lounge is pretty much deserted other than a group of three Italian couples who (as usual) show us how classy ballroom dancing can be. Eventually tiredness takes over and on this cool evening we slip slowly into the Gulf of Maine to complete the transatlantic section of the cruise. It's finally Boston tomorrow, the first land since Southampton (which probably explains why everyone has taken an early night)

Its never really an issue tbf as most of the in house excursion guests are seated in an area until a specific time (the theatre or a bar) meaning you just walk off past them anyway whenever you want. The only time its more controlled is during tender ports

Celebrity Eclipse - Transatlantic Broadway and Boardwalks - Day 6

Thu Nov 3rd (day 6)

Once again the petit and adorable Gemma wakes us with a light breakfast in bed. A couple of rainbows hang on the horizon in front of the ship as the sun slowly climbs up. The clocks went back again last night (for the fourth time) and I wonder if that little old lady with friends waiting in Boston has finally worked it all out.. I shouldn't laugh I don't even know what day it is - but then again who cares..

The navigation display in the room now shows we have land to the west (Boston/New England) and the north (St Johns/Nova Scotia) but the vast scale of things is very misleading; "Where have we moved to today darling... I think during the night we finally crossed the top of the letter T on atlantic".We still have two more full days to go before we will see any land, we haven't even seen another ship so far and our route must be away from the main TA air routes as we have only seen one plane pass over.

This doing nothing is actually rather tiring. Must be all the clean fresh air, ozone and reading. We have a nice lunch outdoors finding a nice sunny spot at the back of the ship and a couple of cheeky malbecs. Then we huddle under blankets on sunbeds reading for a cpl of hours whilst sipping earl grey tea. Very English and civilised.

Dinner is in the MDR though we are a little later than usual and we find ourselves in a new spot with the quietest, most shy waiter on the ship teamed with a jolly and exuberant sommelier from Latvia who goes from table to table repeating the same one line jokes so that it becomes a comedy sketch in its own right if for the wrong reasons. Not sure where the lambs were sourced for the main course but D ends up with what looks like half a cows leg perched on some mash pretending to be a lamb shank, its delicious if a little overwhelming.

After a dance in the Atrium to the brilliant Trends - who amaze night after night, we wander around before settling back in the Ensemble Lounge for drinks. Now as much as I do enjoy Jessica and Lukes interpretations and music I do wish they would have a little meeting before they start a session and actually plan a set list: rather like our Latvian sommelier they can end up becoming a bit of an unintentional if harmless comic car crash as they discuss what to play next ;)

J."Sorry could you play some elevator music Luke to fill in whilst I find a song"

Dan - thanks again for your review!

 

I am now caught up through day 5 - and am thoroughly enjoying the read. Very entertaining and encouraging, as I will be on the Eclipse in just about 135 days!

 

Cheers!

Marguerite

Thanks Marguerite.. 6 coming later today I hope - I need to dig snow at the moment though!!

@Ping I didnt use the onboard package so sorry I dont know. I'll check some dailies and see if it says

Celebrity Eclipse - Transatlantic Broadway and Boardwalks - Day 5

sorry I had to remove some pics to fit the forum.

Wed 2nd Nov (day 5)

Awake to the phone ringing gently next to my head. Is it that time aready. The display says "Pantry Midship Staircase" - Gemma is as bright and breezy as ever "Good Morning Sir - your breakfast is on its way". (Note to self - we need a Gemma when we get home). This morning we also have milk to go with the cereal.

[vid][/vid]

Whilst not so much a worry one of the things in the back of my mind when we booked this was would we cope with so many sea days (and sea days for that matter where you see nothing but endless ocean; no land, not even another ship to break the horizon). I have to say that so far we haven't even given it a second thought - you quickly settle into the routine of the ship and just relax into its days with ease no matter what the weather. Theres no clock watching hoping the hours go by till the next "event" - just pure bliss, not a care in the world; a full DVD set of "Breaking Bad" has yet to be broken into.

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Its warm enough by lunch time to enjoy an ice cold beer and a big juicy burger by the pool - Jack sticks with red wine and spme succulent turkey breast and we spend the rest of the afternoon outside by the pool. Later, just as the Captain had described, the wind begins to pick up, the sky starts to become grey and the sea turns from an icy blue colour to an inky black. The rain never appears though and even though the swell has definitely increased it is nothing like that which we saw on the 2nd night.

Tonight we are dining in Qsine, a trendy little restaurant where the food is ordered tapas style on ipads and brought to you in several courses that are presented to the table in a variety of ways. Each dish is supposed to represent a different areas cuisine We order lollipop sushi (Japan), a goats cheese salad (New Zealand - bit of a stretch), Lobster escargot (France), Lava Crab (Alaska) and a mix of curries (have a guess); dessert was tombstone chocolate and something tiny cheescake with coffees and strawberry fields for ever with creme brulee eggs. Have a lovely chat with our waitress Amy who speaks English, Spanish, Japanese, a little Cantonese and the 3 dialects of her home country Indonesia, quite why she isn't working as a translator for the United Nations is a mystery.

Sushi Lollipops

Goats Cheese Salad

Lava Crab (served from the volcano) and Lobster escargot

We do thoroughly enjoy our visit to Qsine however i'll leave my final comments until after our second visit.

I do need to start taking an afternoon nap (comment obviously refers to D - J could dance till morning) from now on as I'm exhausted after dinner so after a little air on the decks (weirdly the starboard promenade deck has a slight drizzle whilst the port side seems to have a micro climate all of its own and is engulfed in a downpour and closed - it's probably the spray from the sea hitting that side)

Later that night (or earlier the following morning - time becomes rather blurred on a TA) the sky totally clears and the stars shine so bright they seem to illuminate the sea - we fall asleep counting stars which sounds lovely and romantic if it wasn't for my snoring.

Wow sounds great .. Tenbys one of our favourite places.

Looks like you 'll have plenty of Cathedrals to visit.

Day 5 coming soon - I have had to redo the you tube videos as the quality was all messed up so I'll re do those. Think I have now worked out how to get the pics on here :)

Thanks, I am enjoying your review. Love the review and photos. We are doing the same cruise in 2017 after a four week driving tour of England and Wales.

That sounds great - We seem to quite consistantly get a nice spell of warm autumn weather around that time now so you should have a blast. Do you have a route planned out yet?