Review Celebrity Eclipse Jan. 10-24, 2016

[ROWSE]

Thanks for this review. We are first time cruisers going on the 21st February Eclipse sailing and getting all this information really helps. I guess you will get there in due course but I'm interested in your Everglades trip. We have 2 nights in Miami before sailing and I'm trying to wade through the Everglades options !! Any guidance you can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome Chelseadons!

That was the last thing we did, so won't get to it for awhile yet. If you are not renting a car, then the ship's tour that we did would be fun for you. The place we were taken to was called Gator Park. You might want to google it. It happen to be super cold that day for Miami, in the 40's. The airboat ride therefore was quite brisk.

 

I know the one other time we did one of these was up near Fort Lauderdale at Holiday Park which houses the Gator Boys. It was better than this one we went to. Hope that helps a little.

[ROWSE]

I am so enjoying your review. Great pictures. Did you hear of anyone doing a sunset cruise in Curacao or Barbados?

 

We will be on the Eclipse April 3. I can hardly wait.

 

Melissa

 

Hi Melissa,

Thank you for reading! I did not hear anyone talk personally of doing the sunset cruise, but I know it was on the ship's excursion. Sounds like it would be fun especially in April when it doesn't get as dark so soon.

[Chelseadons]

Thanks Rowse that's helpful and will I look up both of those venues. I'm hoping Florida will be warm for us. We are Brits and went to Orlando New Year 2012 when the USA was suffering a major cold spell that even reached down to Orlando ! We are due some better luck this time.

[ROWSE]

Now it was time to kick back and listen to some island music as

we journeyed to our hike at Cayon on the Ghaut River Rainforest area.

 

This was such a beautiful hike. Here are some lovely pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ROWSE]

 

 

Then Javin prepared a large snack for us complete with soap wash up

which I was very happy to have.

 

 

Things were delecious!

[ROWSE]

After our bite to eat, we drove to Timothy Hill which is

an over look that you are able to see both the Atlantic

Ocean (Left) and the Caribbean (Right) at one time.

 

 

The government is building a tunnel just after this view point.

 

 

Our next stop was to snorkel at Whitehouse Bay. Javin has snorkel

gear, but we just used his fins as we had our own masks. I also

forgot to mention that we picked up his cousin after the hike to

watch over everything as we swam.

 

Here are some underwater pictures.

 

 

 

We swam to a ship wreck. It was pretty murky but still

really amazing to see. Odd thing was at one point over

the ship wreck the water became icy cold. It was one

of those, make the hair on your arm stand up, moments.

Odd feeling!!!

 

[ROWSE]

The last part of the day is spent on Cockelshell

Beach. What a fantastic view.

 

 

The island of Nevis is just across the way.

 

It was time to head back to the ship and say

goodbye. We definitely had an awesome

day with Javin and will always remember him.

 

 

Tonights show was a singer, Jesse Hamilton.

We enjoyed him very much.

 

Exhausted from a big day, we were off to bed early.

Edited January 29, 2016 by ROWSE

[ROWSE]

Our last port stop of this 14 day cruise was St. Maarten.

There were 6 ships in port today, but I believe they

can hold 8. Just boggles the mind how this little

place can hold all those people.

 

Our tour today was with Rhino Safari. We needed

to get out to Simpson Bay. We went to the taxi

stand and prices are regulated and if we would

have taken a taxi with the two of us it would have

been $20 total. There happen to be others going

to Maho Beach and Simpson Bay is on the way so

they squished us in. This caused the cab fare to

drop to $15. We had a jolly time with the group

from Australia that we rode with.

 

We were quite early to our destination so we walked around

the area.

 

 

Soon it was time for our tour and after a briefing, we were

on our Rhino Safari Adventure. We met a wonderful Cruise

Critic couple on the tour with us. Here are Tony and Jessica

ready for fun.

 

 

This boat is kind of an inflatable jet ski sort of thing. It

was tons of fun!

 

 

We drove through the yachts and along the coast line. What

an adrenaline rush when we would hit someone's wake.

 

 

 

[ROWSE]

 

 

We passed by several beaches out to Eden Rock to snorkel.

 

Again we used our mask and snorkel and their fins. There

was quite a current and it was such fun swimming and then

against it and then letting it slowly wash you over the snorkel area.

 

 

 

[ROWSE]

 

 

 

 

 

 

After snorkeling it was my turn to drive.

 

[ROWSE]

This bay area was definitely where the rich and

famous keep their yachts. I guess some are worth

150 million plus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were all too soon back at the tour start point. What a wonderful

time! The price for this tour was $69 per person plus a $3 per person Marine Park Fee. Well worth it in our opinion!

 

So after chatting with a few people I realized how to recognize their public buses. They were vans and had the word bus on in the license plate. I

saw so many pass by Rhino Safari that I was determined to take one

of those back to Phillipsburg rather than a taxi.

 

They have the name in the window of where they are going. We flagged one down after about a 10 minute wait. It was $2.00 a person. They only

stopped about two times to let others off so it was quick and easy. I

asked the driver to leave us off at the end of his route that would be

closest to the cruse ship. We happen to be the last people to get off so he told us he had to go get gas and that was on the walk back to the cruise

ship so he would take us there with him. SO NICE!!!

 

There were lots and lots of people walking in to town on this same road, so it was easy to see where to go. Had I to do it again, we would walk in to town and catch these little bus/vans instead of taking a pricey cab.

 

It was maybe a mile walk or less back to the ship. There was quite a lot

of activity at the ship area with so many people.

 

[ROWSE]

Once back on our balcony we got a wonderful

view of the RCCL Allure of the Seas.

 

 

 

That is one big ship. As we set sail it was quite a song of

ships horns between all the vessels. Such a fun way to

end our port time.

 

We had an amazing sunset to watch that night.

 

 

As we got on the ship earlier in the day we walked by Murano and

I asked the price. It is $50 a person. That is way too much in

my mind but they told me the could give me a special for $35 a

person. Well, we still had quite a lot of on board credit, so we

took it for that night at 6:30.

 

The following pictures of our time there are rather dark, and I

apologize, but hopefully you can get the feel of it.

 

 

[ROWSE]

The service was not nearly as good as Q'sine, but

the food was delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ROWSE]

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a wonderful time here, but somehow it was

just not as special as Q'sine had been.

[ROWSE]

After dinner it seemed like the ship really started

rocking. Up until this point sometimes it was

hard to know we were actually on a ship, but

tonight we knew.

 

We went to the show A Hard Day's Night, which was

a tribute band to the Beattles. They were okay

and not the best, but maybe it was because of

the rocking as near the end of the show the young

man that was playing Paul, had to bolt from the

stage as he was sea sick. Poor guy!!!

 

At bed this night we were rocked very heavily to sleep.

[swigso]

Thanks Rowse that's helpful and will I look up both of those venues. I'm hoping Florida will be warm for us. We are Brits and went to Orlando New Year 2012 when the USA was suffering a major cold spell that even reached down to Orlando ! We are due some better luck this time.

Hi

I know this isn't the itinery but these guys do great reviews,

The Eclipse is fantastic and the ports are wonderful,

Hope this gives you an insight to he ship.

 

http://www.thepreismans.com/spain14.htm

See you on. Board

[LuvCruzn4Evr]

 

 

 

As we got on the ship earlier in the day we walked by Murano and

I asked the price. It is $50 a person. That is way too much in

my mind but they told me the could give me a special for $35 a

person. Well, we still had quite a lot of on board credit, so we

took it for that night at 6:30.

 

 

 

We ate in Murano's for our first time ever in January while on the Eclipse. We loved it. The Murano Lobster was amazing...very, very rich in flavor but worth every calorie! Next time I'm going to try the dover sole which looked so yummy. We had Luis as our waiter and he was fantastic.

[hurwitz5]

We had a wonderful time on this ship, but we enjoyed the cruise in a very different way. We are not at all adventurous like the OP - kudos to her and her husband. I enjoyed reading about the zip lining, hiking, snorkeling, etc. We cruise to escape the cold weather in the Northeast, relax, see shows, receive great service, meet interesting people, attend lectures, eat good food, take walks in each port, read, and play Mah Jong (my DH enjoys the casino). The Eclipse did not disappoint, except for one area. We look forward to the shows in the Eclipse Theater every evening - especially the production shows. We have taken many Celebrity cruises and were excited to hear that there were 3 new production shows. Celebrity spent a lot of money on Topper, Chandelier, and Rock On. The performers were very talented and executed the numbers beautifully in amazing costumes. What made the shows unappealing to us was the lack of Broadway tunes and pop music - in other words, most of the songs we had never heard before. Celebrity created original shows, but they didn't resonate with us. It sounds like the OP didn't particularly like these shows either - a shame since these shows are expensive and will probably be on the ship for 3 - 5 years. Are these shows on the other S class ships?

[eandj]

DH and I were on this cruise and too loved it.

 

Did other excursions, so fun to read about your port days. Thanks for sharing yours. We did Nevis since we've been to St. Kitts 3 times. Fell in love with that little place. Like the nontouristy atmosphere.

 

We too felt the classic drink package was fine for us. Since we had traditional dining, we made "close friends" with the sommelier as he kept my wine glass topped off every night. Didnt need to wait to empty a glass or show our cards after the first night. We had a few mixed drinks along the way too. But found we didn't really drink anymore with the pkg. than when we pay as we go.

Edited January 30, 2016 by eandj

[nutty nurse gladys]

Absolutely loving reading this as we too are about to set sail next week and getting very excited. Will be our second time on eclipse.

many thanks for everyone sharing and have been particularly interested in a couple of threads regarding the evening chic, I too was under the impression that there would be 3 on a 14 day trip, but it seems as if there are just 2.

Am I correct in this assumption? I am sure that we will still dress up as we do love to do so and there are not too many places left where this is still possible. Many thanks again for all the wonderful advice and suggestions, keep them coming.

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review!

[chamima]

Absolutely loving reading this as we too are about to set sail next week and getting very excited. Will be our second time on eclipse.

many thanks for everyone sharing and have been particularly interested in a couple of threads regarding the evening chic, I too was under the impression that there would be 3 on a 14 day trip, but it seems as if there are just 2.

Am I correct in this assumption? I am sure that we will still dress up as we do love to do so and there are not too many places left where this is still possible. Many thanks again for all the wonderful advice and suggestions, keep them coming.

 

Gladys,

Come join us on the Roll Call for this cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2012127&page=168

 

We're a very friendly group and we have lots of activities and excursions planned. :)

As far as dress, there is a large group who are still bringing tuxes for this cruise for the 2 "evening chic" nights.

[spanner14]

After dinner it seemed like the ship really started

rocking. Up until this point sometimes it was

hard to know we were actually on a ship, but

tonight we knew.

 

We went to the show A Hard Day's Night, which was

a tribute band to the Beattles. They were okay

and not the best, but maybe it was because of

the rocking as near the end of the show the young

man that was playing Paul, had to bolt from the

stage as he was sea sick. Poor guy!!!

 

At bed this night we were rocked very heavily to sleep.

 

Oh my, poor chap! Was it very windy?

 

Thank you so much for your great review so far; hoping to book Eclipse next year and it looks wonderful. I'm really enjoying reading your posts. :)

[newfiegirl4]

Rowse,

Omg, loved reading your review and seeing everything from your eyes. Makes me so excited for our turn Mar 20th. We've been to most of these ports before but wanted to go back to a few of them. Just so happened we found them all in one itinerary!! Yay!!!

Great to hear about the "classic Beverage package". That's what we have and was wondering about Martini's and if we could get them....and in the proper glasses!!!! I see that you guys had no problem at all. So happy to hear. Love the look of those mudslides....have to try one or two of those...😜

Just a question, I have some knee problems and stairs can be a little troublesome but loved a couple of the tours you've done. The one in St Kitts and I think St Maarten was the other. Would you recommend?

I'm 53 if that helps. Not as active as you, just may need a little more time to do stairs. Hubby is fine. Won't do and climbing though....lol

Thanks so much for so much info on these ports. One of the best I've read.

Cathy

[Nibby1]

Hi Rowse, Enjoying your review; we are on the Eclipse for the 3/20 cruise, and were wondering if they had the big buffet (breakfast/lunch) on this cruise as they have done in the past. Thanks, Carolyn & John