First Celebrity Cruise: Eclipse 4/02

[whitshel]

Here are the views from Senior Frogs.

 

 

 

Now back to the ship.

 

 

 

Next, Costa Maya....

[whitshel]

Costa Maya, again we have been here once before pre hurricane. We loved the town of Mahajual then so we wanted to go back and see how it has developed.

 

 

 

We took the bus from the port to the town, it cost $3 bucks each, not too bad. Last time we came we went to the Cats Meow and it was really fun. We got off the bus and the end of town and walked down the boardwalk to see if we could find it again. As you are walking down, no less the 20 people will try to get you stay at there little area on the beach. We walked quite a ways but never found the Cats Meow so we just stopped at another spot that looked like it had a good beach. We paid 10 bucks for chairs and had a waiter for drinks and food.

 

Here is the view from the water.

 

 

Here are some views of the beach.

 

 

[whitshel]

All thats missing is the Corona Bottle. :cool:

 

 

And a baby Sting ray (my dd named him Squirt :)) showed up in the shallow water right by us.

 

 

DD and I did a little bit of snorkeling, which was ok. Nothing great. We did find quite a few conch shells but they had conchs in them so we didn't keep them.

The town of Mahajual has changed a lot. It is a lot more modern now, at least along the beach. It is a great place to go relax by the beach, eat some food and do some shopping.

 

Now back to the boat.

 

[whitshel]

Now the last port, Roatan.

 

This port we have never been too, we really didn't know what to expect. Since we booked the cruise so close to sail date, I didn't have very much time to research. One thing I wanted to know is where we docked, I knew Carnival built a dock so I wasn't sure if we would dock their or some place else. I found out we would dock at Coxen Hole, and I was a little worried not knowing what kind of a place it was. When we pulled into port, my uneasiness was lifted. What an awesome port to be at.

 

 

This was our view from our veranda.

 

 

They welcomed us with a little music.

 

 

And welcomed us with opened arms.

 

[whitshel]

Entertainment, We didn't do a lot of the entertainment. We went to the welcome aboard show which was just ok. We also went to see the magician, Adam Trent. He was really good, the girls really like him. We also went to see him on the last sea day in the Celebrity Central Venue, which is a small setting and great for his type of magic. We hit a couple of the trivia games which were fun, and the music trivia as well. The best part of the entertainment for us tho was the glass show.

 

 

 

The show in the day was really too hot to stay out and watch, but they also had a couple night time shows which were much more comfortable. The shows were like 3 hours, but you could come and go as you please. The guys were really entertaining and funny. I'm sad they are taking this feature off the 2 new Solstice class ships. I get it, no money in it.

 

Final thoughts and pics of the ship.

Like i said this was our first Celebrity cruise after 6 RCCL. We really enjoyed this cruise due to the food, and the relaxed atmosphere. Our hearts are still with RCCl but I will probably look at Celebrity first, then RCCL (unless i find a good deal on Oasis or Allure:D). The ship was immaculate and very impressive. The service was good but I dont think it was as friendly as RCCL, there were lots of time we walked by crew members and never received a hello. Again its been 4 years since our last RCCL cruise but I remember the crew always saying "hi" and smiling. Dont get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the service but just not as friendly.

 

Well, I think thats it, if anyone has any questions, let me know.

 

I will leave with a few ship shots:

The Lawn Club

 

We called "The Tree of Life"

[whitshel]

Pool, and it was pretty crowded on sea days.

 

 

The "Solarium" Nice n relaxing;)

 

 

Some cool seats

[whitshel]

 

The library

 

 

The Sky Lounge

 

Sunset in the Caribben

 

Sunrise over Miami

 

Thanks for Reading....

[CanWeGoYet?]

What amazing photos - I feel like I've been on a mini vacation just seeing them. Actually too mini, now I wish I had a caribbean cruise in my (near) future.

 

Wow, beautiful sunset pictures. Was there only 1 pool? I can see that it would be crowded on sea days.

[zennor]

What a fabulous review. I'm really excited now about our trip but we won't be getting that lovely weather in Ireland!

[whitshel]

There Is one outside pool area, but 2 pools attatched. Also there us a pool in indoors. Seadays the pool decks were very busy.

[jerseygirl3]

What great photos and it brought back wonderful memories of our Eclipse cruise this past February. The only thing you missed that I would have recommended was Qsine. It was unbelievable!

 

We saw how drastically the prices dropped on this cruise, but we were already committed to the April 2 nine night sailing on Enchantment of the Seas from Baltimore with my sister, DH, and their kids. But if we weren't already in final payment, we would have switched to Eclipse in a New York minute. When we were onboard, we booked the Celebrity Eqinox (sister ship to Eclipse) for next year's Transatlantic from Rome. Can't wait for 14 nights aboard this lovely ship!!!

[whitshel]

What great photos and it brought back wonderful memories of our Eclipse cruise this past February. The only thing you missed that I would have recommended was Qsine. It was unbelievable!

 

We saw how drastically the prices dropped on this cruise, but we were already committed to the April 2 nine night sailing on Enchantment of the Seas from Baltimore with my sister, DH, and their kids. But if we weren't already in final payment, we would have switched to Eclipse in a New York minute. When we were onboard, we booked the Celebrity Eqinox (sister ship to Eclipse) for next year's Transatlantic from Rome. Can't wait for 14 nights aboard this lovely ship!!!

 

Yeah, we didn't do Qsine or any specialty restaurants. The area where all the specialty restaurants were was a really neat area too. We wanted to try it but at $30 bucks a pop, a bit too expensive for the 4 of us.:(

 

I would love to do a transatlantic on a Solstice class ship.;)

[Nanny2Trey]

Wow!! Great pictures and great review. We were on Solstice for two weeks last fall and this makes me homesick for what I call "my ship". You did leave off one of my favorite places. The gelato bar was a daily stop for me.

 

Know what you mean about airfare. We are taking the pacific coastal this fall from Vancouver to San Diego. Thought air to Vancouver would be really high. Got a $300.00 rate. From San Diego home was almost $600.00. We decided to go to Las Vegas for a few days instead and fly home from there.

 

Looks like a great trip.

 

Linda

[whitshel]

Wow!! Great pictures and great review. We were on Solstice for two weeks last fall and this makes me homesick for what I call "my ship". You did leave off one of my favorite places. The gelato bar was a daily stop for me.

 

Know what you mean about airfare. We are taking the pacific coastal this fall from Vancouver to San Diego. Thought air to Vancouver would be really high. Got a $300.00 rate. From San Diego home was almost $600.00. We decided to go to Las Vegas for a few days instead and fly home from there.

 

Looks like a great trip.

 

Linda

 

Thanks, we went to the Gelato bar only once. It was good but we didnt think it was worth the 3 bucks when you could get real ice cream in the oceanview for free. Everytime we walked by the Gelato Bar it was always empty:eek:. I cant imagine this is a money maker for Celebrity.

[nancycoop1]

Thanks for the great review. We have booked our first Eclipse for a TA and were lucky enough to get a hump balcony that is on the angle.

[Lois R]

Your review and the photos are terrific:):D:). Sounds like you and
your family had a great time:)