Host Andy - Almost Live from Eclipse

[CruisinNana]

Hi CruisinNana,

 

Agree on the internet. The first 2+ days were a wipeout, as I could not connect to their wireless network, and I have a dual antenna wireless card - Still nothing. Thankfully, Celebrity came to the rescue and loaned me an Ethernet cable. Things are much better now. My advice, is that if Internet is important to you, and if you are bringing your own laptop, **always** bring an Ethernet cable, and connect directly to the jack in your cabin, by the vanity. It's much better, and I will never leave home without an Ethernet cable again !

 

WOW! WOW! WOW! Great advice, Andy! Who knew????? So glad to know now for the next cruise as there is always a next one even if it is not already booked.

 

Smooth seas!

[Andy]

Hey Andy, hope you and your mom are having a great time. You may have saved yourself some sleepless nights being on a cruise rather than having to sort out the half dozen threads about Captain's Club changes,Yikes!;):eek::D

 

Enjoy you second week, you deserve a rest from us, and of course, more importantly, your real job.;)

 

Hope to meet you and your mom in Febuary.

 

Hi Oville,

 

Thank you for your very kind comments. I've been extremely tired the past few weeks - I'm working all sorts of ridiculous hours - nearly 18-20 hour days and weekends too. It's always challenging for me, but in recent months, my workload is even more than ever. Time management (or lack thereof) has become an issue. I hoped to post more, but I am taking advantage of our relaxing time onboard. I hope that everyone is getting an enjoyable snapshot of our wonderful onboard experience.

 

I look forward to meeting you on Century in February, but it may be our last Celebrity cruise for a while. Now that I have time to relax and de-stress, I'm in the process of making some decisions, so we'll see what happens.

[CruisingChick]

Entertainer Mark Preston (from the Lettermen) performed 2 shows on this sailing. Mark departed the ship in Barbados, but his performances were a highlight of the entertainment, and our cruise. Both performances which I attended, were standing room only, and Mr Preston was given standing ovations from the entire house. What a performer ! It's my understanding that Mark is not frequently booked with Celebrity, and I'd hope to see Celebrity add more bookings.

 

Love, love, love Mark Preston!! So jealous he did 2 shows for your. On our 14 Night Summit cruise he only did 1.

 

Glad to hear you are having a wonderful time.

 

Take care.

 

Anne Maria

[chamima]

Hi CruisinNana,

 

Agree on the internet. The first 2+ days were a wipeout, as I could not connect to their wireless network, and I have a dual antenna wireless card - Still nothing. Thankfully, Celebrity came to the rescue and loaned me an Ethernet cable. Things are much better now. My advice, is that if Internet is important to you, and if you are bringing your own laptop, **always** bring an Ethernet cable, and connect directly to the jack in your cabin, by the vanity. It's much better, and I will never leave home without an Ethernet cable again !

 

Interesting.

We just got the same advice for the new Royal Princess.

I asked my husband and he said he always has one tucked away but didn't know there was a jack on the ship.

[YVRCanuck]

they had it on the eclipse on our september sailing

 

Thank you Jan

 

Hi Jim,

 

I believe the question has been answered, but I will ask at a couple of the bars. Stay Tuned !

 

Thank you Andy. Hope they still do. This will definitely be one of my most favorite cruises.

 

Jim

[Andy]

Hi Andy.

 

Posted on your other thread, but you must be busy having to much of a great time on the Eclipse.

 

Can you tell be if the bars are stocked with Clamato juice to make a Caesar. I prefer Caesars over a Bloody Mary and don't think it will taste the same using tomato juice. Thanks.

 

Jim

 

Hi Jim,

 

I was advised that Clamato juice is available at most bars. If a particular venue does not have it, they will try their best to get it for you. I hope this is helpful.

[YVRCanuck]

Thanks Andy. I'm sooooo looking forward to this cruise. Take care of the Eclipse for me.

 

Jim

[MR_T]

Hi Andy,

 

Thanks for the updates... If you get a chance when you get a minute would you be able to post the main crew & entertainers list currently in board... I know it could change but we board a month tomorrow so I'm sure most will be the same...

 

Thanks

Tony

[Belle2002]

Andy I know that you eat at Tuscan Grill can you tell me how the food was I have been waiting for you to post on this.

 

 

Thanks

[Piggeldy]

Andy I know that you eat at Tuscan Grill can you tell me how the food was I have been waiting for you to post on this.

 

While I am not Andy... we ate at Tuscan Grille twice during the Eclipse TA and we can nothing but rave about Tuscan!! It was amazing.

 

Everything we ate was wonderful. From the Antipasti (I don't even like prosciuto and thought it was really good) to desserts.

DH is still raving about the Steak Tartar and the Ahi Tuna and Fried Calamari were just as great. The Onion Soup - according to DH's taste at least - was much better than in the main dining room. I had the Saffron Risotto and the Lobster Pappardelle as a second course (loved the risotto, the pasta was nice but not as nice), the second time DH had the wild mushroom ravioli which were nice but nothing special. For mains, DH had the rib eye with a scallop and shrimp skewer (he asked if it was possible to make the steak "surf 'n turf" and they said yes) and the skewer was amazing! I had the Filet Mignon on both occasions and it was delicious!

For dessert I had the Crème brûlée (yes!), DH had the tiramisu once and didn't much care for it. It wasn't bad just not as good as the rest of the food (or the Crème brûlée ;)).

 

However, we both thought the meat was a little more done than ordered on both occasions. Medium seemed to be a tad more than medium, though not medium-well, yet and medium-rare actually seemed closer to medium. On the second visit I ordered my steak medium-rare and thought it was very nice.

This seems to have been the case for both nights we were there as on both occasions medium-rare pieces of meat had to be re-done for neighboring tables as people complained it was more done than they wanted it.

 

The atmosphere was lovely (so warm and relaxed) and service was outstanding! I have extremely bad memory and always think it's a miracle that I remember my own name in the morning... two weeks later and I still remember our servers' names. For me, that tells it all! Jessica, Ana and Ester all three did an amazing job. From food to drinks to atmosphere and service it was just incredible! And our feeling was that we received better service than in Murano.

 

Tuscan Grille was by far our favorite experience on the ship and we pretty much loved everything :D

[TourDeCruise]

I am on board the Eclipse too. To help Andy, here is the list of Senior Officers and entertainers in lounges or Celebrity Central. The entertainers rotated through different areas/lounges unless I specified a specific area. I can provide most theater entertainers and shows too if desired although I forgot to record on my iPad a couple nights.

 

Master: Captain Dimitrios Manetas

Staff Captain: Theocharis Charalampos

Chief Engineer: Andreas Kavouras

Guest Relations Manager: Marisa Rebelo

Hotel Director: Raffaele Bernardini

Cruise Director: Sue Denning (Ben coming onboard around now to replace Sue)

Food & Beverage Manager: Shane Mansfield

Executive Chef: Paul Carroll

 

Who's Carter Hayes: Pop Duo

Mickey llardi: Guitar & Vocals - Ensemble Lounge

Ray Brown Jr. Quartet

West Side Strings, Modern Classical

Perry Grant, Piano Entertainer - Michael's Club (also did one show in theater one night)

Fusion: Party band

James Manners, Guitar & Vocals (as of yesterday vs. Mickey Ilardi)

Celebrity Orchestra also played a few times in Celebrity Central

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[chamima]

I know this is a long shot but if you happen to talk to Shane Mansfield (Food and Beverage Manager) please ask him if he was on the Solstice about 3 years ago as Murano dining room manager. Also, will he still be on the Eclipse in February?

I think I remember a really engaging young man by that name!

[lindy sails]

Piggeldy,

Thank you for sharing your Tuscan Grill experience. Did you have room service

breakfast was it warm and how was the coffee. We have had different experiences on different ships and enjoy having breakfast on the balcony.

Thanks

[MR_T]

I am on board the Eclipse too. To help Andy, here is the list of Senior Officers and entertainers in lounges or Celebrity Central. The entertainers rotated through different areas/lounges unless I specified a specific area. I can provide most theater entertainers and shows too if desired although I forgot to record on my iPad a couple nights.

 

Master: Captain Dimitrios Manetas

Staff Captain: Theocharis Charalampos

Chief Engineer: Andreas Kavouras

Guest Relations Manager: Marisa Rebelo

Hotel Director: Raffaele Bernardini

Cruise Director: Sue Denning (Ben coming onboard around now to replace Sue)

Food & Beverage Manager: Shane Mansfield

Executive Chef: Paul Carroll

 

Who's Carter Hayes: Pop Duo

Mickey llardi: Guitar & Vocals - Ensemble Lounge

Ray Brown Jr. Quartet

West Side Strings, Modern Classical

Perry Grant, Piano Entertainer - Michael's Club (also did one show in theater one night)

Fusion: Party band

James Manners, Guitar & Vocals (as of yesterday vs. Mickey Ilardi)

Celebrity Orchestra also played a few times in Celebrity Central

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Looking forward to the 28th December!

[ptcellen]

Just need to know if the ethernet cable works on a mini or regular i pad.

 

Thank you.

 

Ellen:)

[mahdnc]

Andy, a few more questions:

 

Where did the tenders dock at St Thomas?

When/where was the CC party?

Can you confirm when the ship time was advanced and later set back during the sailing?

[Hlitner]

Just need to know if the ethernet cable works on a mini or regular i pad.

 

Thank you.

 

Ellen:)

 

One of the big negatives regarding iPads is that they do not have a jack for Ethernet cables. With the iPad it is wireless or nothing.

 

Hank

[TeaBag]

Piggeldy,

Thank you for sharing your Tuscan Grill experience. Did you have room service

breakfast was it warm and how was the coffee. We have had different experiences on different ships and enjoy having breakfast on the balcony.

Thanks

First of all, a big thank you Andy for taking time out of your cruise to post on CC. I hope you are enjoying it as much as we enjoyed the previous sailing.

 

To answer the question asked above, we had room service when we needed to be off the ship really early on the St Thomas day. It was 100% correct, hot and good and delivered on time. The only thing.....they put two breakfasts on one huge platter! (We did say the breakfast was for two). We managed by using the plate provided in the cabin for the aft snacks.

[clvali]

I am traveling on the eclipse in March. Our last port before docking in Ft. Lauderdale is St. Thomas. Is the ship likely to clear customs in St. Thomas?

 

clvali

[gimletgal]

I am traveling on the eclipse in March. Our last port before docking in Ft. Lauderdale is St. Thomas. Is the ship likely to clear customs in St. Thomas?

 

clvali

 

Have been on this exact itinerary many times. You will clear customs in Ft. Lauderdale.

[ptcellen]

Hi Hank,

 

Thank you very much for the answer. Guess we will be taking our regular laptop.

 

Ellen:)

[TourDeCruise]

Correction to my previous post. . . .some entertainment mentioned was in the Grand Foyer, not Celebrity Central! Celebrity Central is the smaller theater where movies are shown and some enrichment talks are presented. I was thinking of RCI's Centrum. Sorry about that. It should be the Grand Foyer.

 

Kathy

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[medfordgirl]

Elite members are given 3 vouchers daily, which have your last name, cabin number and date printed on them. The custom printed vouchers are new, but it makes sense. The vouchers are for beverages up to $8.00 (beer up to $6) to be used between 5-7 pm. It states on the vouchers "For use in bars or lounges excluding Martini Bar, Michael's Club, Specialty Dining, Main Dining Room, and Molecular Bar".

 

 

 

when we were on the eclipse in March we could use our vouchers in the martini bar. Whne did they stop that? I was looking forward to using them there in January. now I am sad… :(

[Ruthk]

when we were on the eclipse in March we could use our vouchers in the martini bar. Whne did they stop that? I was looking forward to using them there in January. now I am sad… :(

 

I agree completely. We used them at the Martini Bar last January and had a great time there every evening. I remember last year reading that they were not to be used at the Martini Bar, but the boys did take them. Well, if we won't be able to this Jan., then we will use them at the Passport Bar, but we will miss the Martini Bar! We will just have to make the best of it, right?

[upwarduk]

when we were on the eclipse in March we could use our vouchers in the martini bar. Whne did they stop that? I was looking forward to using them there in January. now I am sad… :(

 

I agree completely. We used them at the Martini Bar last January and had a great time there every evening. I remember last year reading that they were not to be used at the Martini Bar, but the boys did take them. Well, if we won't be able to this Jan., then we will use them at the Passport Bar, but we will miss the Martini Bar! We will just have to make the best of it, right?

 

The vouchers could be used in the Martini Bar on Infinity TA, but the drinks served were smaller.

Edited November 29, 2013 by upwarduk