LIVE from Eclipse - Penthouse Suite - Jan 22nd - 14 nights

I'm reading your reviews every day! Thank you for being so generous and sharing your fabulous vacation with your loyal fans!![emoji92][emoji483][emoji1303]

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I have been following your posts daily and getting plenty of suggestions for our upcoming cruise in March.

Thank you and continue having a good time!

I'm reading your reviews every day! Thank you for being so generous and sharing your fabulous vacation with your loyal fans!![emoji92][emoji483][emoji1303]

 

 

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Ditto from above comment. We only have 58 more days till we are back on the Eclipse

And as they say in Boston, your reviews and photos are" Wicked Pissa !!!"

Patty& Fran

luvstosail

Boston Ma.

On Wednesday afternoon, after returning from our excursions on St. Kitts, we took up Sylvia the concierge's offer to enjoy the sailaway from the helipad. She was gracious enough to extend an invitation to all 7 in our party without us even asking. (You can see her photobombing one of my selfie photos)There were maybe 50 or so people who showed up. It was a bit windy up there but a very cool experience. A few officers attended but none appeared to be high ranking. No one made a speech or introduction at all which we found odd. There was a free glass of champagne or mimosa that was offered on arrival.

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Thanks for all your time posting this fantastic travelogue.

:We're doing the same cruise in March, so have really appreciated reading about your trip.

:):):):):)

To echo the comments of others, your thread is a keeper! I'll be adding it to my favorites file. We were scheduled on the March 5th cruise and had to rebook.

Thanks for Sharing!

We closed out Wednesday with another enjoyable dinner at Luminae. Photos show: Scallop Chef's treat, Yellow Squash Soup, Pad Thai, Lamb Meat Balls, Seared Five Spice Duck Breast, New York Strip, Spaghetti Carbonara, Caramel Mousse, Apple Tart Tatin

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Here is the daily from Thursday

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Port info for St. Maarten

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Photos from Thursday in St. Maarten. We booked a resort day at the Sonesta Maho Beach through a company called Jaital Tours. They charged $103pp which included round trip transfer from the port and use of all the facilities at the hotel all day including chairs and umbrellas, one towel per person, pool, unlimited alcohol and other beverages, and unlimited food at the outdoor cafe. The hotel is situated along Maho Beach. There is no actual beachfront as the hotel is on a small cliff. You have to walk down a small stairway to get to the beach. Then it's just a short walk to the part of the beach next to the airport runway. Even from the beach chairs area of the hotel you get a clear shot of the planes landing and can hear them taking off and see people getting blown around. Surf was very strong so much so that they put the red flag up. We saw a number of people get totally flattened by giant waves. Because of this we only stayed in the water briefly which is too bad because it was the softest sand and warmest water of the whole trip.

Staff was mostly friendly. Food was okay but nothing special. Drinks were tasty but not strong. Hotel has a small onsite casino and the full casino is across the street. Overall the hotel is mediocre and not that large. You're paying for the location. We overpayed on this as getting a day pass from the hotel directly is only $65. You can't reserve those day passes directly with them in advance though and they may not have space left to offer if the hotel is very full or they have sold a lot of passes through tour companies. We likely would not book this again. Another note when coming to this part of the island. Plan your time appropriately. Traffic was bad on this day. A normal 20 minute trip took 30 minutes on the way out and 45 minutes on the return. We got back to the port at 4 with an all aboard of 4:30 so it was tight.

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This has been a great read, we board in 2 weeks, you have made us even more excited about our cruise. Have a safe onward trip home after your disembarkation tomorrow thanks again

We stayed at the adjacent Sonesta Ocean Point adult only resort this past December. It is the newer part of the hotel. Took many pics from our balcony watching the jets land (and some take off when the winds were right.) We are on the March 5th sailing of this cruise, and when in St. Martin, have booked a four hour tour on the tall ship, "Mercedes" which we saw several times during our stay there. Cab fare into town was $20.00 but the bus return trip was only $4.00....and yes, the traffic in St. Martin is 10 times worse than when I stayed there in 1987.

Thank you very much for posting our preview of our upcoming cruise in ? (Oh my gosh, it's only four weeks away) Yaaaah!!!

We closed out Thursday with a dinner at Murano. It was Tina's birthday so I had requested to have the Wine Cellar room reserved for us prior to sailing. It was great to be in that little room tucked away from the rest of the diners as it was much quieter. Murano has not been a favorite of ours in the past mainly due to the overly pretentious and often snotty service from the maitre'd and staff. Once again this year the maitre'd and his second were both charm-free. The second was actually overtly rude to one of the staff. Our beverage server came to the table and was clearly a bit nervous (she was likely new) as she stumbled over her words a bit when asking us what kind of water we wanted. Before she could even finish her sentence the rude asst. maitre'd cut her off, finished what she was going to say and wouldn't let her speak again. She returned a short time later to take drink orders and was extremely friendly and personable, even offering to take a photo of our group. Thankfully Mr. Rude did not visit our table again. Our server Henry was friendly enough. Things went south though when he was taking the dessert orders. He moved around the table to females first and then males. As he came around towards me he took my husband's order next to me and then instead of coming to take my order he rushed over to where John was sitting (he had gone to the restroom) and was very distressed by the napkin John left in the table. He said he must get a fresh one immediately before John returns. So he rushed out of the room without taking my order. We all assumed he'd take the order when he returned with John's fresh napkin. But not so. He brought the napkin back and then rushed off again. After about 5 minutes of him not returning, Mike got up to go find him but had to tell another server to get him to come back to the table. It took at least another 5 minutes for him to reappear. With no apology and some bizarre explanation of a computer foul up in the kitchen ( what did that have to do with him forgetting to take my order?) he took my order and left. The rest of dinner continued normally. I had asked for a birthday cake for Tina through the butler earlier that day and the server presented it right before delivering the desserts.

The food was good. We all had chateaubriand or lobster. I would put Murano and Luminae food on par with each other overall. Photos attached show: Chef's treat, Spinach and Frisée Salad, Lobster Bisque, Cheese selection, Goat Cheese Soufflé, Scallop Wellington, Phylo Baked Anjou Pear, Chateaubriand, Lobster, Mini dessert selection, Soufflé

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Here is yesterday's daily

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For our Friday sea day our group scattered across the ship. We all slept in and I had a deep tissue massage at the spa at 10am. This was my third treatment at the spa during the cruise. Compared to previous cruises I noticed that the service this time was less personal and friendly. We had prepaid for all the services for all three of us which meant no signing of payment forms at each treatment, which also meant no additional gratuity being added on after each one. (There is an automatic gratuity charged up front) I wondered if that was the reason for the detached attitude. My deep tissue was one of my least favorites from 5 Celebrity cruises. The masseuse was sniffling and clearing her throat throughout so I wondered if she had a cold and was just not into it. Neither she or the masseuse from my previous massage a few days ago addressed me by name at any time. Just overall left me feeling cold.

The rest of our day was basically just relaxing, eating and gambling. The ladies in our group attended the Hot Glass show and said it was interesting. Sharing just a few photos of our day at sea.

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Friday's dinner was back to Luminae. Photos show Chef's shrimp treat, Seared Scallops, Truffle Risotto, Iceberg Wedge, Poached Lobster, Herb Crusted Lamb, Baked Alaska and Chocolate Bar

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Here is today's daily.

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Our final day at sea today was just more relaxing, eating and a little gambling. We woke around 8 so we could make it to Luminae for breakfast.

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Final dinner onboard tonight was at Luminae. Photos show Baby Spinach Salad, Kataifi Shrimp, Spring Pea Tart, Canneloni, Vadouvan Chicken, Fettucine with chicken, Passion Fruit Soufflé, Milk Chocolate Brownie

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