scubacruiserx2

Now THAT is a pictorial review that I can't wait to see/read!!!!:D

We look forward to doing it and sharing it . Please forgive my memory lapse , but have you seen our South American cruise on HAL ? It was my favorite cruise for nature .

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1958814

As this point we are saving money and are considering all of our options . We may do some dummy booking of flights this year in preparation for next year . We are also watching price changes in cruises this year which can be significant if booked closer to the departure date . And so it may be Australia or an Antarctica landing with Seaborne or Australia and circle Antarctica . Thus we will find out next year where we are going based on who's willing to work with us .

I would think logically that it would really depend on the length and itinerary of the cruise.

A 4 day cruise would have a demographic that is much younger than a 7 day cruise, which is much younger again than the 28 day cruise. Likewise for itinerary, transatlantics and such attract older crowds than 7 day island hopping.:D

All of our Celebrity cruises were 2 weeks + , so that's our only point of reference , but all our Princess cruises were 7 days or less . While it may not be generally true of Celebrity with 7 days or less , it certainly was true of all our Princess cruises from Port Everglades .

LOL, I haven't cruised HAL as yet, but I have heard of the reputation for an older set.:D

While we have only cruised twice with them (Caribbean and South America ) the groups which we have seen on Princess ( 5 cruises ) and Celebrity ( 3 long cruises ) seemed to be older then those found on our HAL cruises . :eek:

As our last day walkabout was ending I made a quick stop for a buffet breakfast

The Eggs Benedict station

afterwards I ran into Ruth who had coordinated the CC discussion and the Copenhagen tour .

back in the cabin , it looked like another Earl Grey day

it's really difficult to swim in the Solarium pool for exercise and so we went to deck pool for exercise and a hot tub finish before dinner .

I would love that too...actually I just wish they would change up both east & west bound TA's. We really love those cruises but Celebrity doesn't change the itineraries at all.....

 

We love the Celebrity product and hope that the new Edge class coming out in 2018 will have some new ports, otherwise we find ourselves increasingly looking at other lines. We have the TA next month on Equinox but after that our next 2 cruises are on Holland America.....:eek:

HAL :eek: ?

We loved our HAL cruises , maybe our inner fuddy-duddy is coming out and it's time to shop for some pre-need burial plots! ;)

Breakfast menu for Blu

Qsine

Dinner Menu for Qsine

Outside of the specialty restaurants

We did Australia/ New Zealand in 2008 on Mercury and were away from home for 5 weeks. Before we cruised we had:

3 days in Singapore

5 days in Sydney

15 night cruise

3 days in Auckland

7 days in Brisbane visiting friends.

We returned home on our grandson's 4 th birthday.

 

We have also flown to Hawaii for 5 days pre cruise on Century, which was small enough to dock in Kauai, where we saw the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. The Solstice class ships are too large to dock in Nawilliwilli.

 

I just wish they were not so far away, expensive flights will probably bar future long haul visits!��

Wow , now that's a great trip ! Have a great flight and cruise on the Quest . :) :D

Think about either of those, it certainly is worth the trip.

Celebrity Infinity does cruises to Antarctica from Buenos Aires around February if you don't want to pay for expedition type cruises at 4 times the price.

Celebrity, Royal and Princess all visit Australia for the summer season October to April, with a varying range of cruises, picking up Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. The transpacific's tend to come from the US mainland via Hawaii and Tahiti and go back again. These are very popular as it saves a long haul flight.

 

BTW, we are booked on the Solstice in April 2018, Hawaii to Vancouver, so we can then do some West Coast touring Seattle to San Francisco, once there.:D

We would love to do a NZ cruise including the fjords and a TransPac B2B , with a stay in Oz . This could be done on the Solstice in 2017 . But in 2018 there is 3 weeks between the NZ cruise and the TransPac which is a bit too much .

We have a HAL Noordam 32 day Sydney-NZ- Transpac to Hawaii on the screen that we're looking at , with a stay in Hawaii and a Tahiti layover/stay on the flight over .

And of course this means circling Antarctica instead of landing and no Alaska in May , so many cruises - so little money . :rolleyes:

We loved Luminae on the Eclipse TA but I think your idea for its location would have been even better. Tuscan Grille rarely is very busy and could easily have been split to accommodate one or the other and leaving the MDR alone, avoiding the crowding that occurs in the evenings as people try to enter the MDR from only one side. Good idea, now how do you get them to do it?? :D

Thank you Gracie . Tuscan Grill also has the 'Million dollar view' in the aft of the ship , which should appeal to the Suite Class on Celebrity .

At our last Celebrity Connections group meeting on the Eclipse , the ships officers indicated that they read Cruise Critic . Perhaps they will read this or if other people like yourself spread the idea or write it on their post cruise comment cards , it may help . Or perhaps somebody with access to the ship's officers could suggest it .

Another idea which I would like to float is a change in their West bound TA's from Europe . I wish that they would include a more Northern itinerary to include Iceland like the Caribbean Princess is currently doing . They sell it out every year on one of their older ships .

:) :D

Essentially Luminae is the same on the Solstice on the lower floor of the Grand Epinay- Deck 3 . However, up on level 5 at the rear end of the ship, as you go towards the rear, you go past Michael's club and then Murano's, then you get Silk Harvest on the starboard side, and in the middle is the entrance to the Tuscan grille for the entire aft area and on the port side you have Blu. Quite nicely set up.

Thank you Mic . We're considering our options for a next Major cruise like Australia/NZ or Antarctica , and so we're considering our options . :) :D

Isn't Luminae on the lower level of the Main Dining Room on the Eclipse?

 

Is the lower level still fixed time dining in the Ecliose? I read somewhere on CC that they were swapping it around, fixed upstairs & anytime downstairs

Yes Luminae is on the lower level and we had fixed dining on that level on our cruise in June . I have not heard about switching anytime and fixed before .

My wife's thoughts were to move Luminae upstairs , with fixed dining on one side and anytime dining on the other side downstairs , which makes good sense to us . Neither one of us are a fan of the 'wall' and the reduced ingress/egress which it has created .

I think the Solstice has set it up better for Blu and Tuscan Grille:D

Will you share the set with us ? We are considering a couple of cruises on her in April . :cool:

Here's the original deck plan before Luminae . The red arrow is the entrance to Luminae and the blue is the only entrance and exit to the MDR , making some very long lines at dinnertime .

Blu , on the left is the seating for aquaclass

I think that this would have made a better place for the suite class - Luminue .

And divided the underused Tuscan Grille , with it's single entrance , into a left and right side . One side Tuscan Grille and the other the new Blu .

What do you think ?

This wall separates the MDR and Luminae and eliminated the second entrance and exit from the MDR . I suspect that this door may be used as a second exit in the event of an emergency , although it's not placarded .

Luminae is the dining room for the Suite guests and it's entrance used to be the second entrance and exit to the MDR before Luminae was added .

But you can see it is marked on the Luminae side as a second exit with the main exit at our back .

Heading downstairs to the MDR

another view of the tree

and outside of the MDR on stairway landing is more writing on the wall

"Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" ... the Queen from Disney's Snow White .

Wine holder pano

Wine holder to stairs pano

pano from the second level

Q: So what rooms are best for seeing a lunar eclipse?

 

 

 

 

 

(answer below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A: The bathroom or the bedroom.;)

:)

I'm just grateful that I didn't see a full moon in the men's room :eek::eek:

More photos from the morning walkabout

The end of the line , stern access denied !

The review has officially gone into the toilet

Toilet trivia for those who can read the writing on the wall ( answer below ) .

A new twist on the tree ( pano stitch)

Love your sunrise pictures.....I always take several sunrise/sunset, full moon(when we're lucky) on each cruise..... great background pix for the computer!!

Thanks Gracie , I must say that I've always loved the Florida sunrises ! It goes back to my first taste of freedom when surfing at sunrise with friends in high school . :)

I agree, all the photos are fabulous whether it is food, ship features, architecture art etc, but the natural beauty ones such as the sunsets or sunrises are most impressive. I wonder if it is a deep down subconscious awareness of what was vital for survival or curiosity of what is out there or if it is a just an inbuilt pyromania.

And thank you Mic !

Our sunsets here are over a swamp , and with the colors during winter - it can be very dramatic and beautiful . But it's hard to beat a sunset into the sea , as viewed from a cruise !

Post sunset at this time of the year ='s the thrill of the grill where I can channel my inner hunter/gatherer . :) :D

6 floors +

level 12

level 12 information station

Oceanview Cafe

No window hogs , yet ....

Oceanview pano stitch

Aquaspa Cafe

Solarium

Hot tub and chair lift

Infinity hot tub

The lights were on , but nobody was home .

No pillow chocolates ?

Our 'Caribbean' like day at sea ended with a Caribbean like sunset from our Veranda

wide angle stitch

but , after all , we were headed South .

I can't find our last day at sea Celebrity Today , but I had planned on getting up early , the next day for a final ship's photo session .

Love them all, but the Soufflé' is the best.:D

We loved them all but our favorite was the bite size sampler for sharing . It's like a Martini Flight of desserts !! :) :D

Does anyone care for dessert ?

Take your pick ! :D

We really like the dark bread and butter found there .

Are you ready for the Main Course ?

Three view of the Venison

Lobster Murano preparation

And flambeed ! :

Bon Appetit