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

[abbydancer2003]

Hi Neighbor! Hope you're staying warm this weekend :) A cruise around South America sounds fabulous!! Thanks for reading :cool:

 

Actually it's chilly and windy where I am. We're on our way from LA to Alaska on Princess.

[deladane]

I took a photography class an you should pose with your hand on your hip! It does take pounds off of the flattened arm against the body!!

Thanks for another great review!

 

haha that's too funny! So at least that proves it's not all in my head and that it really is a flattering position :halo:

[deladane]

Actually it's chilly and windy where I am. We're on our way from LA to Alaska on Princess.

 

Oh my! How wonderful! Have a fantastic cruise!!

[deladane]

Day 11: Sunday, March 11 ~ Sea Day #3

 

 

 

 

 

Today was a much-needed sea day sandwiched between 2 sets of 4 port days in a row. Even though we did not set an alarm this morning, we still woke up at 8:15am. At least we got over 8 hours of sleep! We took our time getting ready, then went to the Oceanview Buffet for breakfast. It was nice to add some variety after eating basically the same thing for breakfast for the last 5 days (how ironic considering I eat the exact same thing for breakfast every morning at home! Haha)

 

[deladane]

We spent 2 hours relaxing on our balcony, watching the waves go by, with me writing in my trip journal while DH read a book. Since our cabin is on the starboard side of the ship, we were facing north for today’s journey west. We had shade all day on our balcony, which was great! There was nothing else to see but water because there aren’t any islands in this part of the Caribbean Sea, but maybe people on the port side balconies could see Venezuela?

 

 

 

 

At noon, DH wanted to get some coffee from Café al Bacio, so I joined him for a walk downstairs. While there, I noticed they were playing archery in the Grand Foyer. It was really a neat set up- they had an inflatable target area and 4 cone-shaped nozzles blowing air straight up so there was a ball hovering mid-air. The contestants had to knock the ball down, either by hitting the ball directly with their arrow, or by hitting the cone so the air stream was blocked and the ball would fall. It was fun to watch, and the players were actually pretty good at it!

 

 

Eddy was hosting a game of music trivia name that tune at the pool, so we went upstairs to give it a go. Today’s theme was “Names” so every song title had a name in it and we had to guess both the song title and the artist. They played 15 songs for a total of 30 points. We only got an 18 out of 30, so we didn’t stand a chance because the winner scored a perfect 30! I did think it was fun that they picked songs from the 50’s through the 90’s to appeal to a wider audience, but that also means we are less likely to win because we don’t know most of the older songs.

 

It had been several hours since our last feeding, so we went upstairs to get something to eat for lunch from the buffet. The theme of the day was Mediterranean food, and they had a specialty station with made to order schwarma. I wasn’t in the mood for that, so I opted for a random assortment of carbs (as usual!). The dumplings from the Asian station were delicious!

 

 

For dessert, I went over to the Slush Bar and ordered the Mint Cookie drink. This is by far my favorite drink from this bar, but it is very filling so I only let myself have it one time on this cruise. It’s totally worth it though!

 

[deladane]

Watching the wake on a lazy sea day

 

 

We spent some more time relaxing on the balcony until 2:45pm when we made our way up to the Sky Lounge for another round of music trivia with the CLA staff. Today’s theme was songs from movies, and we had to guess the title of the movie, not the actual song name. They had 20 songs for this game, and some of them were much harder than others! We teamed up with a pair of ladies which did help because we knew the answers to different movies from them, but we still only scored 14 out of 20. I think the winners scored a 17 or 18, so again, we didn’t win, but that’s okay because we made some new friends and we had fun trying!

 

Next, we went down to the World Class Bar for the mixology class. DH had a great experience with this class on the Equinox, so he wanted to do it again as long as the bartender was teaching about different drinks. The class was taught by one of the World Class Bar bartenders named Marius, and we ended up having a private lesson because we were the only people that showed up!

 

 

The class was very different from 2 years ago because instead of DH going behind the bar to actually make the drinks, Marius just talked about the process of how to make each drink, and why they use certain shakers or strainers or whatever other supplies. Last time, we learned about 3 categories of cocktails (a Collins, a Swizzle, and a mojito), whereas this time, Marius taught us how to make 4 specific drinks from the World Class Bar menu. Last time, the class cost $35, but it was only $25 this time (plus a mandatory 18% gratuity). We learned a few new pointers and it did give us an appreciation for the art behind making cocktails, but we weren’t sure how useful it was since it’s not like we will ever make these specific cocktails at home. The drinks he taught us were the Kentucky Calling, Celebrity No. Ten, Ketel One Strawberry Fields,and Zacapa Above the Clouds. For the last one, Marius pulled out the fancy smoker machine, which is always fun to watch.

 

 

 

 

The class was about an hour long, and then we went back tothe cabin to get ready for our second Elegant Chic night.

 

Random side thought that I am going to talk about now because this was when I took this photo… Sometimes it can be a bit disorienting when you get off the mid-ship elevators on your deck to go back to your cabin. If you didn’t pay attention when you got on the elevator, then you may not know if you are on the port or starboard side of the ship, and then you don’t know if you need to turn left or right out of the elevator and where you need to go to get back to your cabin. Today I had an epiphany! There are different pieces of art hanging on the walls opposite the elevators, and it is different on every deck as well as on the port vs. starboard side. If you take note of which piece of art is on your side of the ship on your deck, then you will know that you are on the correct side if you see that piece of art when stepping off the elevator (and if you do not see that piece of art, then you are on the opposite side of the ship!). This slice of a tree trunk was the art on deck 10, starboard side:

 

 

If we stepped off the elevator on deck 10 and saw this, we knew we were on our side of the ship. On top of that, if we saw this tree trunk, we knew we had to turn towards the left to walk in the direction of our cabin. If we got off the elevator and did not see the tree trunk, that meant we were on the port side and needed to turn towards the right and cut through the library to get back to our cabin. It sounds silly, but it really made a huge difference in feeling like we were “home” and knowing our way around the ship! Thank you Celebrity for posting so many different pieces of art to make this solution possible!

[deladane]

It became a game for us to seek out spots around the ship that gave a nice background for a photo when we were all dressed up for the evening. Elegant Chic nights are even harder than casual nights because there are more ship photographers to contend with, but we got creative tonight and took some photos in the library.

 

 

 

When we arrived at the hostess stand for dinner, Cervine greeted us by name and knew our cabin number and preferred table number without us even speaking a word! I think this is one of the (many) benefits of a 14 night cruise. We spend such a long time on the ship that the staff really gets a chance to know us, whereas on a 7 night cruise, the cruise is over before you get a chance to form a routine and know the staff. Dinner was delicious as always, especially since we were seated with our favorite waiters, Pinto and Jose!

 

Dinner menu

 

 

Wild Mushroom Vol-Au-Vent

 

Traditional Steak Tartare

 

Classic Chateaubriand

[deladane]

Moroccan Spiced Ahi Tuna Steak

 

Dessert Menu

 

Dessert Drinks Menu

 

Tonight, we decided to try some dessert wines, and we both liked them so much that we asked the sommelier to bring us the bottles so we could take a photo in hopes of buying a bottle to drink at home!

 

Frosty Ice “Bombe”

 

Tonight’s show in the main theater was called Amade. There was no real plot to this show, but the best way to describe it is a combination of Lady Gaga and Mozart. The costumes were incredible, and we really enjoyed the dance numbers to modern music. Personally, the highlight for me is always when the aerialists perform because they are extremely talented, especially considering they perform on a moving cruise ship!

 

[deladane]

I apologize that these photos are so blurry. We always preferred to sit at the back of the theater so we could make a quick escape as soon as the show ended, but that meant I had to zoom in a lot to take my photos and they always came out blurry.

 

 

 

 

 

After a full third sea day, we went to bed early tonight, excited to finally arrive at the ABC islands tomorrow!

 

Step Tracker Daily Total: 6,003 steps; 2.38 miles; 7 flights of stairs

[Marvy Mare]

I apologize that these photos are so blurry. We always preferred to sit at the back of the theater so we could make a quick escape as soon as the show ended, but that meant I had to zoom in a lot to take my photos and they always came out blurry.

 

 

 

 

 

After a full third sea day, we went to bed early tonight, excited to finally arrive at the ABC islands tomorrow!

 

Step Tracker Daily Total: 6,003 steps; 2.38 miles; 7 flights of stairs

 

Hi Dana. I don’t know if you’re on Instagram but I posted something & got a like from emmaamander who is one of the aerialists from Celebrity. Disappointingly we didn’t see any when on this last cruise. If you are on Instagram check her photos out. Amazing. Something to aspire to 😂. My husband liked her photos too.

Waiting to read about those ABC islands. Planning to be there in 2 years.

 

Maris

[deladane]

Hi Dana. I don’t know if you’re on Instagram but I posted something & got a like from emmaamander who is one of the aerialists from Celebrity. Disappointingly we didn’t see any when on this last cruise. If you are on Instagram check her photos out. Amazing. Something to aspire to 😂. My husband liked her photos too.

Waiting to read about those ABC islands. Planning to be there in 2 years.

 

Maris

 

Hi Maris,

I am on instagram but I don't use it much and I don't follow many people on there. None of my vacation photos are on my instagram account because I don't have internet/wifi access most of the time when I travel internationally. Thanks for the info though, I'll go follow that account to check out the fun aerialist photos!

 

I hope to start my Bonaire posts later today, or if not, then tomorrow! Thanks for reading along :)

[deladane]

Day 12: Monday, March 12 ~ Bonaire

(Eddy’s pronunciation: bon – EYE – ree)

 

One of the main reasons we picked this itinerary was the chance to visit the ABC islands. Located outside of the hurricane belt in the southwest corner of the Caribbean Sea, the ABC islands offer a very different vibe than the other Southern and Eastern Caribbean islands which I have visited. Bonaire is known for having some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in the world, and ranks #2 for snorkeling in the Caribbean (Belize is said to be #1, and yes, I am secretly hoping to take a Western Caribbean cruise at some point to experience Belize first hand!). In fact, 85% of the people who visit Bonaire are there to see the marine life. They have a marine park that is protected, and I knew I wanted to see it for myself. Woodwind Bonaire is one of the top rated snorkeling tour companies on the island. They were very easy to communicate with online, and I booked us on the 4 hour morning sail which would visit 2 sites in the marine park for snorkeling, and included lunch and an open bar for $65 USD per person.

 

Here is today’s daily schedule:

 

 

 

 

 

While we ate our room service breakfast on the balcony, we could see that we were in for another windy day in paradise. I was really hoping that when we cruised all this distance west yesterday, that we would get into a new weather pattern, but we could already tell that it was super windy in Bonaire today.

 

[deladane]

 

Woodwind sent us detailed instructions on where to meet them the morning of our tour. It was a short 5 minute walk to the right as we exited the cruise port, and we had pretty views of the ship along the way.

 

 

We were instructed to meet outside the Divi Flamingo Casino at 8:20am. It was very obvious where we had to go, especially when we saw this big sign:

 

 

We arrived about 10 minutes early, and the guide was there waiting to greet us. Unfortunately, he came bearing bad news… Due to the extreme winds, he had to cancel our tour for today. He said he had cancelled all of his tours for the last 5 days, and he would probably need to cancel tomorrow’s tour too. I can’t even describe how disappointed I was at that moment. When he cancels a tour, he loses a lot of money, so I knew he didn’t make this decision on a whim and conditions must be really bad if he needed to cancel the tour, but I was so disappointed to miss out on snorkeling here. Not many cruises visit Bonaire and who knows if or when I will be here again. While we did go snorkeling on a few other islands throughout this cruise, I always knew that snorkeling in Bonaire would be the highlight, and now I wasn’t going to experience it. Even now, several weeks later, I am still sad to miss out on that opportunity.

 

Meanwhile, it was now 8:15am and I had no idea what we should to today! I did not research any back up plans because it never occurred to me that the tour would be cancelled. Someone asked the guide if we should take the water taxi to Klein Bonaire to snorkel there off the beach, but the guide did not recommend that because it is a barrier island with no protection from the wind, so the conditions would not be safe, plus the water would be too churned up to see anything anyway. As we walked back towards the ship, we saw a few tents set up with vendors selling island tours, golf cart rentals, and water taxi tickets. In lieu of twiddling our thumbs on the ship all day, we spoke with a few of the vendors offering tours of the island to see what our options were. I really did not like booking a tour like this. As you all know, I am used to doing extensive research, reading reviews on Trip Advisor and Cruise Critic, and making an educated decision on how to spend the day with no pressure. I did not know how to tell if these vendors were a scam, or offering a good deal, or if the tour would be any good. Had this happened in Antigua, we probably would have opted to abort the mission completely and retreat back to the ship haha We were surprised to find the vendors in Bonaire were very easy to work with. They explained what they had to offer with no pressure to book right away, and they didn’t mind when we walked away to think about it and speak with other vendors before committing. We spoke with 3 vendors offering island tours for about 3 hours, costing $25 to $30 USD per person. One had a 12 person van, one had a large open air bus for 15 people (I think?), but we opted for the vendor with a small minivan holding just 6 guests with air conditioning and free wifi for $30 per person. The guide, Justino, said we would visit the whole island to the south first, then to the north, and we would spend sometime at the beach. He showed us these maps to highlight the stops along the tour:

 

 

 

It was only 8:30am and the tour was due to start at 9:30, so we paid for the tour and Justino gave us a receipt and said to meet him back at the tent in an hour. I was wearing a long sleeve rash guard in anticipation of a day on a sail boat with no shade, so we went back to the ship to get changed. The security guards who scanned our seapass cards were quite surprised to see anyone reboarding the ship so early!

 

Back at the cabin, we got changed into tshirts and shorts, repacked our day bag to ditch the towel and snorkel gear in exchange for our cell phones from the safe to make use of the free wifi in the van. We still had about 20 minutes to spare, so we walked around the area near the cruise port until it was time to meet Justino.

 

The Eclipse looks so pretty in the early morning sun

 

[deladane]

This looked like a great photo opportunity, but there was no one in sight to take the photo for us! Just imagine that we are standing next to those flamingos haha

 

 

We returned to Justino’s tent just as he found 2 other couples to join us on the tour, so the 6 of us walked over a block or two to where his van was parked. The van had enough space for the 6 of us to sit comfortably, and we were all happy that the AC was very strong and had individual controls to adjust it. Justino also had bottles of water in a cooler in the trunk that we could have as needed, plus he had space back there to stash our bags for the day. We were on the road by 9:30am, and Justino immediately started giving us lots of facts and information about Bonaire’s history. Bonaire is a tiny island of only 112 square miles, located about 60 miles off the coast of Venezuela. Formerly part of the Netherland Antilles, it became a legal “municipality” of the Netherlands in 2010, when the Netherland Antilles was dissolved and Curaçao and Aruba became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

 

On our way to our first stop, we drove past this brand new resort with brightly colored buildings. I think he said it is a Courtyard by Marriott?

 

 

The colors of the water were so beautiful… too bad we won’t get to swim in it!

 

 

 

Our first stop was at the salt fields. Justino explained that they harvest the salt here by collecting water from the Caribbean into a series of huge ponds, where the sun and wind work to evaporate the water, leaving behind crystals of salt. One of the characteristic features of salt produced by solar dehydration is the size of the resulting salt crystals. Unlike “rock salt” from underground mines, salt obtained from “natural” processes like solar dehydration produces much larger crystals of salt, which can be used in water softeners, swimming pools, dinner table salt, de-icing roads in the winter, and more. There is a special algae which thrives in this salty water, which reacts to turn the water pink in color, making it a really interesting site to see.

 

 

[deladane]

Mountains of salt piled up, waiting to be processed

 

 

Justino found some crystals of salt for us to look at.

 

 

Proof that we were here!

 

 

It is hard to tell because my hair is tied back in braids, but it was extremely windy out here. Justino has an app where he could look up the wind speeds and he said it was 30mph, but I thought it felt like more than that. We had to really brace ourselves and keep a wide base of support to avoid being knocked over!

 

After a few minutes of taking photos and looking around at the salt flats, we piled back in the van to drive to our next stop, just a few minutes up the road- the slave huts. These huts each housed 7 or 8 people (notice the size compared to our van… they were tiny!)

 

 

[deladane]

Justino explained that the slaves used to work at the salt fields all day, and they returned here to sleep at night. They were fed just one handful of food for the entire day of work, so I can imagine how grueling that life must have been, especially in the hot Caribbean sun. We spent a few minutes walking around, looking at the huts, and admiring the beautiful view.

 

Inside one of the huts

 

They used a color coding system to identify the groups of slaves. We were at the homes of the White Slaves, but there were also other groups with other color names.

 

 

This marker on the main road indicated that we were at the section for the white slaves

 

 

Justino lined us up to pose for a fun photo looking through the window and door of the hut

 

 

 

There was no sand on this beach, just beautiful stones and shells that were worn away from the sea.

 

[deladane]

 

 

 

A few other tour groups arrived as we were getting ready to leave

 

 

Once we were all settled back in the van, we drove back the way we came, going north passed the cruise ship, to drive through the downtown area of Kralendijk. We didn’t get out of the van here, but DH and I decided we would come back to walk around here later this afternoon.

 

I thought it was funny that they call their post office the Flamingo Express haha

 

 

We drove along the coast, admiring the views and the new upscale houses and hotels. Everything was very green, and there were tons of cactus in between the trees and bushes.

 

[katysuerx]

 

Tonight, we decided to try some dessert wines, and we both liked them so much that we asked the sommelier to bring us the bottles so we could take a photo in hopes of buying a bottle to drink at home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love most reds and most dessert wines, although ice wines are generally my favorite in the dessert wine category. The Sauternes is a great compromise for quality and price. Only a few more days and we will be back on the Eclipse to get some for myself 🥂[emoji7]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[katysuerx]

Bonaire was one of our favorite stops on our September cruise. I think it was a 10 day cruise though... we rented a car and visited the Donkey Sanctuary and drove all around the island - super fun! Next time we will definitely be doing a snorkeling tour!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited May 2, 2018 by katysuerx

[deladane]

I love most reds and most dessert wines, although ice wines are generally my favorite in the dessert wine category. The Sauternes is a great compromise for quality and price. Only a few more days and we will be back on the Eclipse to get some for myself 🥂[emoji7]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Oh yes, I like ice wine too, but I've never seen it on a cruise ship! My biggest issue with port is that sometimes it burns, but these both tasted great and didn't burn on the way down :)

 

Bonaire was one of our favorite stops on our September cruise. I think it was a 10 day cruise though... we rented a car and visited the Donkey Sanctuary and drove all around the island - super fun! Next time we will definitely be doing a snorkeling tour!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

How fun! I didn't know there is a donkey sanctuary but that would have been a fun stop on our tour. I too will be doing a snorkeling tour if I ever return to Bonaire... or at least, I will book us on a snorkeling tour! Ultimately the weather will determine if I get to participate or not! I hope you have more luck than we did!!

[dolllover]

Sometimes we have to make the best of things since stuff happens. On our recent Caribbean cruise I got a whopping ear infection so had to cancel my snorkling in Bonaire but took an awesome Eco tour thru the mangroves and saw flamingos in the wild. That was amazing. Love your review and photos!

[awhfy]

So sorry you missed Woodwind Snorkel! It was one of our highlights. If they cancelled you wouldn’t have wanted to be in the water there. Our pictures came out well & we did purchase the ones that their pro photographer took, they don’t want to load right now tho

 

 

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[KikisDad]

We took the Woodwind last November. Klein Bonaire was very rough, so I am sure they did the right thing cancelling.

[deladane]

Sometimes we have to make the best of things since stuff happens. On our recent Caribbean cruise I got a whopping ear infection so had to cancel my snorkling in Bonaire but took an awesome Eco tour thru the mangroves and saw flamingos in the wild. That was amazing. Love your review and photos!

 

Yea, we tried to make the best of it, and we got to see flamingos too (I just didn't get to that part yet!) :cool:

[deladane]

So sorry you missed Woodwind Snorkel! It was one of our highlights. If they cancelled you wouldn’t have wanted to be in the water there. Our pictures came out well & we did purchase the ones that their pro photographer took, they don’t want to load right now tho

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Yea, we had several days of sub-par snorkeling from all the wind, so I knew if they cancelled our tour, there was a really good reason for it!