Detailed Photo Review of Celebrity Eclipse 14 Night Southern Caribbean Cruise 3/4/18

[deladane]

Promptly at 11:30am, lunch was served buffet style with a choice of jerk chicken (that was NOT spicy at all), fried rice, noodles with saffron sauce, green banana salad (that tasted like potato salad), green salad, and fried plantains. The food was all delicious, even the things that I didn’t think I would like haha

 

 

 

They also had a cooler fully stocked with bottles of water, soda, and beer, and we were free to help ourselves to as much as we wanted. We ate lunch sitting on our lounge chairs, and the guides came around to collect our plates as we finished.

 

Bellies full, it was time to go snorkeling! The last time I visited this beach, I was a fairly inexperienced snorkeler. The friend I was traveling with did not like snorkeling, so I went out by myself, and I was somewhat intimidated by the current and the noise of boats rushing by overhead. Even though I stayed within the buoys, I still got nervous every time I heard a boat speed by, and it was hard to enjoy the experience. Needless to say, after we booked this cruise and picked this excursion, I was very excited to get a re-do since many people have proclaimed this is their favorite snorkeling spot in the Caribbean!

 

If you look back at the photo I posted with the lounge chairs on the pubic side of the beach, you can see that the entrance to the water is very rocky. I would definitely recommend wearing something to protect your feet here! I also opted to borrow a life vest from the guides to wrap around my waist to help me float. The best snorkeling spot is along the far right side of the water (when standing on the beach, looking out at the water), and there is a series of ropes and buoys to make a safe section so swimmers do not get hit by the boats coming to/from the pier. Unlike snorkeling tours when you jump in the water from a boat and there are usually guides available to keep an eye on all the swimmers, on this tour, the guides just hang out on the beach to assist with serving the food and drinks. I did not get the feeling that they paid any attention to the swimmers out in the water, so definitely keep your own safety in mind as you are snorkeling!

 

Ok, let’s go snorkeling!!

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

 

[deladane]

 

My goal for snorkeling today was to take my time. I got in the water at exactly 12 noon, so I had a full 2 hours to spend out here, if I wanted to. I had no reason to rush and I really wanted to take it all in and make sure to cover the whole snorkeling section. Back in 2012, I was afraid to swim too far out, and I honestly had not read many reviews about snorkeling here so I didn’t know what I was looking for. This time around would be different because I have spent the last 5+ years reading reviews and looking at photos of people snorkeling here, and I now know that the best snorkeling is out at the far end of the snorkeling area. My strategy was to swim out all the way to where the ropes ended by staying out in the middle of the water, and then to swim back along the wall, staying closer to the rocks.

 

Oh my, let me tell you, it was definitely worth it to swim all the way out to the end!! I found these funky pink sponges that completely covered the wall of rocks and continued several feet down below the surface of the water. It was so neat and something I have never seen before! Honestly, I think that is one of the things that gets me the most excited about snorkeling… the possibility of seeing something new that I’ve never seen before. I experienced a lot of firsts when we visited French Polynesia (who ever thought I would get to swim with sharks and octopus?!), so I wasn’t sure if I would discover new things on this trip to the Caribbean. So far, I’ve been doing pretty well, between getting to hold a conch shell for the first time yesterday, and seeing this crazy pink wall today!

 

I did my best to capture this in a photo, but it was reallllly challenging. The sun kept sneaking behind the clouds, which meant the colors weren’t as bright as they could have been. On top of that, the current was very strong and it was such a windy day that it was hard to hold still to capture a decent photo. I honestly don’t think these photos do it any justice, but I tried…

 

 

 

 

 

I think this photo probably shows it best… some of the little round pink balls opened up to reveal bright yellow tentacles popping out! I was so mesmerized by this that I could have stayed out here all afternoon… that is, if I wasn’t constantly being pushed toward the rocks from the current!

 

[deladane]

As I started to swim back along the rock wall, I found a little alcove that had a bunch of bigger fish hiding in there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[deladane]

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the snorkeling here was pretty sparse. Yes, I did see some interesting fish, a little bit of interesting coral, and of course, that amazing wall of pink and yellow spongey thingies, but it was all very spread out. I’m not sure if there just weren’t as many fish here today because of the winds and the choppy water, or if it is normally like this, but you really did have to search to find something worth photographing. Other than that, it was just a lot of rocks.

 

After 30 minutes of snorkeling, I was getting tired and decided to swim back towards the shore. This is when things got interesting. Holy moly! The current was reallllly strong! No matter how hard I swam towards the shore, I just kept getting pushed further out into the water. I have never swam in one of those endless pool swim spas that I always see commercials for on TV, but I would imagine this is what it must feel like haha It was so frustrating to swim and swim and swim, but not get any closer to shore. At one point, the water was so churned up that I couldn’t see anything in front of me. It was just total darkness, and I started to freak out a little bit because I didn’t want to get thrown into the rocks if I couldn’t see where they were. Eventually, I did make it back to the shore (…obviously, since I lived to finish the cruise and come home to write this review for you to read lol), but I was so exhausted that my legs were shaking and I could barely walk back to our lounge chairs!

 

I spent the next hour and a half just relaxing on my lounge chair and drinking Piton beer. Originally, I thought I might go out snorkeling again, but I was way too exhausted from round one to even consider attempting round two!

 

Drinking Piton beer with a view of the Piton!

 

 

There are free bathrooms and a shower available to use on our side of the beach, so we took advantage of that as our time at the beach was nearly done. Promptly at 2pm, our boat returned to pick us up for the final leg of our tour.

 

[Morgeuse]

This was one of our guides- she left the mud mask on from the baths so it would work a little better. She must have wonderful skin if she applies a mud mask every day she visits there with a tour group!!

 

It's my beautiful Penny!!! She was my guide for this tour and I just fell in LOVE with her. She took such good care of me and had such a wonderful personality. She made an awesome tour even better! So good to see her again.

[deladane]

This was one of our guides- she left the mud mask on from the baths so it would work a little better. She must have wonderful skin if she applies a mud mask every day she visits there with a tour group!!

 

It's my beautiful Penny!!! She was my guide for this tour and I just fell in LOVE with her. She took such good care of me and had such a wonderful personality. She made an awesome tour even better! So good to see her again.

 

I am terrible at remembering the names of the guides on my tours! Half the time I don't even hear them introduce themselves because I am too busy getting settled in the van/boat. Penny gets all of the photo credits for our time at the mud baths :)

[Mike981]

While I do enjoy visiting St. Lucia, I can't say I found it to be a particularly well off island. Sure, there's lots of tourism and high-end hotels, but the locals seem to live pretty modest lives from what I could see.

 

I'm basing 99.9% on my time in Jamaica. I'm sure it depends on what you see. I stayed at a resort and there was a long shuttle ride from the airport where I got to see a lot of the island and talk up the driver. He could have probably gone another way and I might change my opinion.

[deladane]

Remember how there were 2 different boats at the start of our day, each with people from both of Spencer’s tours? Well, now we had to go back in our original boat. This was a little tricky since the two boats are nearly identical, but we just stayed with our original guides and that worked out okay. The last part of the tour is a tour of St. Lucia from the sea, and the guides made several stops along the way to point out various landmarks and towns.

 

First, some final views of the famous Pitons

 

 

 

Spencer driving our boat with both Pitons in the background

 

 

Speed boat selfie!

 

 

 

This was another really fancy hotel where every room has their own infinity pool! From this angle, I thought it looked more like a parking garage, but I am sure it is very pretty from inside the hotel haha

 

[deladane]

 

Notice the fish image on the side of the wall?

 

 

 

Another fancy resort, and it looks like lots of tour boats stop at this beach too

 

 

 

a pirate ship!

 

[deladane]

Approaching Marigot Bay

 

 

The long white building on the left is Doolittle’s Restaurant and Bar

 

 

There were some beautiful yachts anchored in this bay

 

 

Marigot looks like a fun town with little restaurants and bars all along the bay

 

 

 

[deladane]

We really got an interesting perspective being able to tour the bay from a boat. Spencer took us all the way to the back of the bay, then around the side of this mega-yacht before returning out to the sea.

 

 

 

The building with a round shape is George Foreman’s house

 

 

Continuing on with the tour, our next stop was at this land formation that kind of looks like a shoe. I had seen this from up on the side of the hill when I toured with Cosol, so it was fun to see it up close from the water this time around.

 

 

I don’t remember exactly where we were when this happened, but about 45 minutes into the ride, one of the guys asked Spencer if there is a head on the boat. A minute later, Spencer stopped the boat in a little alcove along the coast and told us it was time for a potty break and that we should jump in the water if needed! All day, Spencer and his crew really a great job of reading the needs of their guests and making sure we were well taken care of. There was plenty of Piton beer, soda, water, and rum punch in the cooler on the boat, and they kept the drinks coming as we continued our tour (just be careful not to drink too much, given the restroom options!).

 

At 3:15pm, we rounded a corner and saw a welcome sight waiting for us in the distance.

 

 

 

Not that we wanted the tour to end, but it’s always a good feeling to see your cruise ship waiting for you where you left it this morning! Spencer had promised us at the beginning of the tour that we would return back to the pier by 3:30pm at the latest. As promised, he tied up the lines at exactly 3:25pm! All aboard wasn’t until 4:30pm, so we had no need to worry about missing the ship. Overall, we had a fantastic day in St. Lucia with Spencer Ambrose, and I wouldn’t hesitate to book a tour with his company if I ever return here.

[deladane]

After some quick showers and getting dressed for the evening, we went downstairs for a few pre-dinner drinks. DH got a beer from the Gastro Bar and brought it up to join me at the Martini Bar. I started with a Sunset Martini, made with Grey Goose Le Citron flavored vodka, Bacardi Coconut flavored rum, pineapple juice, and grenadine.

 

 

For round two, I ordered the Fresca Martini, made with Grey Goose Vodka, fresh watermelon juice, mint, lime juice, and simple syrup. I really liked this cocktail- it was very light and refreshing, and made a perfect end to a day in the hot Caribbean sun!

 

 

They have these little jars with something to snack on while we enjoyed our martinis. The only problem is that DH would eat the entire jar and then spoil his appetite for dinner, so be careful with these snacks… they’re addicting!!

 

 

A little balancing act while he made someone’s drink

 

 

 

 

There’s never a dull moment at the Martini Bar!

[deladane]

At 7pm, we went over to the MDR for our dinner reservations, and were happy to hear that there was a table for us in Pinto’s section. Here is tonight’s dinner menu:

 

 

Prosciutto di Parma

 

Spinach Turnover

 

Homemade Gnocchi al Quattro Formaggi

 

Butternut Farrotto

 

We skipped dessert tonight because we had an errand to run. The Captain’s Club host has very limited hours when they are at their desk. It is either mid-morning while we are off the ship in visiting one of the ports, or from 7:15-8:30pm while we are eating dinner. We tried for several days to meet with them, but the timing was never convenient, so finally tonight, we realized our only chance to catch them was to skip dessert. They sit at one of the desks in the mid-ship elevators area of Deck 7. When we got up there, we asked them about changing or expanding their hours, but they said they need to work around the hours of the Elite breakfast and cocktail hour every day. Honestly, I think that was a lame answer because there are lots of Captain’s Club members who have not yet reached Elite status, and we have questions too! There are two of them, so surely it must be possible for one of them to handle the Elite events while the other mans the desk on Deck 7 (even if not every day, maybe they can be flexible and do that every other day?). Or maybe they can have some days when they are at the desk before the cocktail hour, like from 3-5pm? Most people are back on the ship by then considering our all aboard time was 4:30pm every day so far on the cruise, and then it wouldn’t conflict with anyone’s schedules. Ok, sorry, rant over!

 

DH wanted to check with them about his Captain’s Club points and we had a few other questions for them. I was surprised to learn that now that we are married, we have the same number of points. They said that they make our points match to whoever has more points because we will be sharing a cabin and both get those benefits anyway. It makes sense, I just didn’t think about it before they mentioned it.

 

Tonight’s show was a solo performer named Sean O’Shea. The description from the daily schedule was very vague and just said he is a man of many voices and personalities, so we had no idea what to expect. After seeing his show, I now understand the vague description because he has a little bit of everything- 1 part singer, 1 part impressionist, 1 part comedian. DH thought he reminded him of if Jim Carey was a singer because he had that kind of humor. He was quite an interesting character, but I honestly can’t say if I enjoyed the show. Maybe it just isn’t my kind of humor?

 

 

After the show, we went up to the Sky Lounge for ABBA night, featuring name that tune music trivia followed by an ABBA dance party. The guests on our sailing were big ABBA fans because it was super crowded up there! We stayed for a little while, until the excitement of a busy day got the best of us and we retired back to the cabin.

 

Step Tracker Daily Total: 4,658 steps; 1.801 miles

[rakes5]

Another fancy resort, and it looks like lots of tour boats stop at this beach too

 

 

 

This is Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountian, where Juan Pablo of The Bachelor fame was filmed according to

The Ultimate Guide to The Bachelor 2014 Filming Locations in Saint Lucia :cool:

 

[deladane]

This is Anse Chastanet and Jade Mountian, where Juan Pablo of The Bachelor fame was filmed according to

The Ultimate Guide to The Bachelor 2014 Filming Locations in Saint Lucia :cool:

 

 

OMG! So that's the location of the famous "It's NOT okay" episode!!! DH and I have made jokes about that for years, every time we hear someone say "It's okay" we reply "It's NOT okay!!!" haha Thanks for the info!

[Lucky TGO]

Nice review and great photos thanks.

Tony

[deladane]

Nice review and great photos thanks.

Tony

 

Thank you Tony :cool:

[KikisDad]

The yacht you posted only cost $50,000,000 in case you want one. Great review, thanks.

[John182]

Really enjoying reading your detailed report. Love the photography.

 

I think this beach used to be called Jealousie Beach, but it is now called Sugar Beach. It is located between the two Pitons and has one of the only white sand beaches in St. Lucia. As we approached the beach, we could see several beautiful white buildings dotting the side of the hill. That was the Viceroy Sugar Beach Resort, a very fancy, high-end resort where rooms run for over $1000 per night

When it was the Jalousie Plantation resort it was amazing and affordable (just). We have stayed there a few times. One memorable occasion we got a helicopter transfer from the airport and the pilot (ex US military) gave us a display which involved getting very close to one of the Pitons. The kids loved it .The last time we stayed there it was in transition between the Jalousie and Sugar Beach. Only half of the renovation was complete and we got lucky and bagged an upgrade from an old room to one of the new swanky villas. It was amazing but the atmosphere of the resort had lost something. Now it is just too expensive for us to warrant going back but we have great memories of the amazing location and people we met. Happy days!

Edited April 25, 2018 by John182
typos

[deladane]

The yacht you posted only cost $50,000,000 in case you want one. Great review, thanks.

 

Somehow that does not surprise me at all! That yacht was beautiful!!

[deladane]

Really enjoying reading your detailed report. Love the photography.

 

 

When it was the Jalousie Plantation resort it was amazing and affordable (just). We have stayed there a few times. One memorable occasion we got a helicopter transfer from the airport and the pilot (ex US military) gave us a display which involved getting very close to one of the Pitons. The kids loved it .The last time we stayed there it was in transition between the Jalousie and Sugar Beach. Only half of the renovation was complete and we got lucky and bagged an upgrade from an old room to one of the new swanky villas. It was amazing but the atmosphere of the resort had lost something. Now it is just too expensive for us to warrant going back but we have great memories of the amazing location and people we met. Happy days!

 

Thank you for sharing! That does clarify the name change. It's too bad they made those changes to the resort, but how lovely that you got to experience it's original charm.

[deladane]

Day 10: Saturday, March 10 ~ Barbados

(Eddy’s pronunciation: BAR – bah – dose)

 

This was my third visit to Barbados and my third trip to the Boatyard Beach Club at Carlisle Bay. It is such a pretty beach with powder-soft white sand, turquoise blue water, and it is close to the cruise port, making it an easy and enjoyable plan for the day. They have a package where $20 USD buys you a lounge chair, a shared umbrella, a cup of rum punch or a beer, use of their bathrooms, use of their water toys on the beach, and free wifi. They also have a bar and restaurant with decent prices if you want to buy lunch. One thing that has changed since our last visit here 3 years ago is that they now also include a short boat ride out to the bay to go snorkeling, whereas we used to have to pay for that separately with a vendor on the beach. We had a not-so-great experience with that last time we were here (see my Carnival Valor review for more details!), so we were happy to have it included with admission this time. The $20 also includes a taxi ride back to the port at the end of the day, but you need to find your own way there in the morning. They open at 9am, so my goal was to leave the ship by 8:30am to get a taxi and arrive there just as they opened so we would get lounge chairs in a prime location.

 

Today’s daily schedules:

 

 

 

 

 

As usual, we started our day with room service breakfast on the balcony.

 

[deladane]

At 8:30am, we gathered up our bags and took the elevator down to Deck 2 to exit the ship. I have always been on the only cruise ship in port when I visit Barbados and I have always been docked very close to the cruise terminal. Unfortunately, today there was a P&O ship docked in that spot so we were docked further away from the terminal. There is a shuttle to bring you from the ship to the terminal, but it was not there when we left the ship so we just started walking. It took us 15 minutes and over 2,000 steps on my Fitbit to get from the gangway to the taxi stand on the outside of the cruise terminal! We were walking very quickly because we were eager to get to the beach, so the walk probably would have taken a lot longer at normal walking speeds.

 

We asked one of the taxi dispatchers for a taxi going to the Boatyard and he directed us to a van that was nearly full. Half of the passengers were getting off downtown for $2 per person, and we were charged $5 per person to get to the Boatyard. I guess they don’t have inflation in Barbados because that is the same price I paid in 2012 and 2015 haha

 

We arrived at 9:05am and there were already a lot of people at the beach. Our goal was to arrive early enough to get lounge chairs in the front row along the water, and while we did accomplish that, there were only a few chairs left in the front row, so it’s a good thing we didn’t arrive any later! At the entrance, they explained everything included in the package, collected our $20 per person, and gave us each a wrist band with a pull tab flap to redeem for our free included drink. We went down to the beach and got settled in our loungers, and then realized that they never told us about the snorkeling tour. DH went back inside and put or name down on the list for the 10:30am tour. We didn’t know if this was the first tour of the day, but there were already a few names on the list. I usually prefer to snorkel as early in the day as possible before the other tour boats arrive and it gets too crowded, but the schedule is less flexible now that the tour is included with admission.

 

We spent some time relaxing on our lounge chairs, and then at 10:10am, they made an announcement over the PA system to call several parties by name to go on the tour. This was sooner than we expected so we rushed to get our belongings ready. We took our money, ID, and seapass cards with us in a plastic bag in the pocket of DH’s bathing suit, but we left the rest of our stuff behind on our chairs, including our towels. I am actually pretty sure that they did not allow anyone to bring their bags, towels, or shoes on the boat. It was okay to bring hats, sunglasses, and of course, snorkeling equipment. The reason they called us so early was that everyone was given an inflatable life vest which they put on each of us individually, and they also gave out snorkel equipment if you didn’t bring your own. There were about 25 to 30 people on the tour with us, so that took a few minutes. Once we were all ready, they walked us up the pier and onto the boat. The boat was pretty big, with plenty of seating and shade, and there were cubbies below the seats to stash your hats and sunglasses while swimming.

 

 

 

 

 

We went out a short distance into the bay and then dropped anchor next to the ship wreck. There were already 2 or 3 boats snorkeling at this spot, so the water was crowded with lots of swimmers. The heavy winds continued to follow us through the Caribbean, and the water looked very choppy with a strong current. The guides instructed us to stay directly over the ship wreck and not to swim further away, and everyone was required to keep their life vests on at all times.

 

 

As soon as I jumped in the water, I immediately felt the current. It was really hard to stay over the ship wreck because as soon as I stopped actively swimming and tried to float, I was carried away. Plus, with so many people in the water, we kept bumping into each other and getting kicked. It was definitely not the greatest of experiences, but on the bright side, the snorkeling was wonderful! This was my third time snorkeling over the ship wreck here, and I think this was the most fish I have seen. There were tons of the sergeant major damselfish that I am used to seeing all over the Caribbean, but there were also lots of other fish. The current made it hard to take good photos, but this is the best of what I could get…

 

[deladane]