LIVE!!!!! From the ECLIPSE 14night Southern Carib!! - CHICAGOPAUL -

Hello everyone! Well it is time for another live blog! I hope you enjoy following us on our next journey which will be the Celebrity Eclipse, November 26th, 14nt Southern Caribbean cruise. Please follow along and ask any questions you'd like. My goal is to post a minimum of 10 photos per day. I will also post additional photos on my Instagram account so feel free to follow along. My instagram is PaulKBlackburn - If you see a profile page with a bunch of photos of martinis and Chicago then you've found the right instagram account!

My partner Edward and I are flying out very early tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 5:30am to FLL. We then have a car picking us up and taking us to Miami where we will spend the night and then join the Eclipse in the morning.

I know many of you have followed us before, but for those who do not know who we are here is a quick background. We are both in our 30s and from Chicago. This will be our 13th cruise on Celebrity. We sail all types of cabin classes from Verandah to Suites. It just depends on the itinerary, pricing, and how cheap or rich we're feeling at the time of booking.

We're very excited for this cruise as we are sailing in our first Royal Suite! We originally booked a concierge cabin on this cruise and as we saw prices come down we kept upgrading. We finally saw a price on a RS that we could not pass up so we jumped on it.

Saturday

5:30am flight from MDW to FLL on Southwest.

Cats Black Car service picking us up and taking us to Miami.

We are spending the night at the Four Seasons Miami. We got an excellent deal on this hotel through Amex Platinum. The total cost of the hotel was $259 after tax AND we received a $100 food and beverage credit to use at the hotel. Since we're going to eat and drink anyway, the cost of the hotel becomes $159. Can't beat that for the Four Seasons!

Below is a link to quick youtube video I recorded earlier today. I am basically explaining the above and I thought it would be nice to put a face to the blog.

If anyone has any questions at all about the cruise, about the food, drinks, etc. please feel free to ask. If I don't know the answer I have 14 days to find it out for you and I would be happy to do so.

Sit back, relax, and thank you very much for following along.

Hi Paul

Looking forward to following you on your sailing!!! We are actually boarding the Eclipse on the 10th, when you disembark. Love reading these reviews leading up to a cruise. Bon Voyage!!!

Devin 😊

Will be following along.

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Thanks to George / HAM who told our roll call ( Eclipse Feb 4th, 2018) that you intended to do a Live!!!!! From the Eclipse Review" I will be following you. Our itinerary is similar to yours. Our Big question at the moment is " Are we calling on St Martin or are we substituting St Kitts

Mary;)"

We were hoping to see you again this year at the Martini Bar on the Reflection TA. It was a great cruise.

Enjoy your Royal Suite, we have one booked for March, 2019 also on the Eclipse.

Thanks for doing the Live From !

I heard that Blu has new menus. If you get a chance could you post some of them please.

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We are on Refelction Dec 8th. Please let us know your observations if you are going to St. Thomas ! Bob

Looking forward to your report have a great time.

Looking forward to your blog. We get on Eclipse Dec. 10 and are also in a Royal suite. This is a first for us also, we normally stay in a sky suite but as you said prices were too good to pass us. Celebrity is our cruise line of choice and we have been on Eclipse before but still looking forward to your observations. Hope you have a great cruise.

Pat

I'll be following this.

Keith

Hello Paul and Edward!! Love your live reports. Will be following along and living vicariously through you. Bon voyage and wishing you smooth seas.

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Can't wait to hear all about it. Sailing Feb. 4th. and so excited. Thanks for sharing.

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Sincere best wishes for a great holiday!

We cruised Eclipse twice in Europe this year (PH, RS) and were spoilt by the fabulous crew! Hope you really enjoy your sweet, suite delights!

We were so well looked after we have concerns that on Reflection next year (RS again) service may be a come down!

I am looking forward to your next blog contribution. May I ask how you note price changes? I have never noticed significant drops in cruise prices for my sailings and always wondered if there was some sort of site that alerts you to price drops. Perhaps I should just be more diligent in checking Celebrity's site for this information. Thanks, Julie

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Have a great cruise! We just got off the Silhouette TA with Sue Denning as the cruise director. We enjoyed her very much. She told us she was going on the Eclispe for awhile following our cruise. Enjoy that Royal Suite!

Thanks Paul: looking forward to following your blog. Enjoy your RS.

Been on more than 100 Cruise: stopped counting after that , so one can tell I love cruising and do many lines but Celebrity is my favourite but very disappointed after this coming year , they aren’t doing 14 day Caribbean itinerary any longer. Love Sue Denning; can you ask if she will be on Eclipse for month of Feb. when we are doing B2B. Also interested if we are going to St. Martin in Feb. and would love to see pictures of any of the effects of last hurricane. My heart aches for people and businesses in St. Thomas and St. Martin. Enjoy and will look forward to your blog.

Looking forward to following. Please verify welcome bottle of champagne for Celebrity Suite and Sky Suite is now Perrier Jouet. Thanks.

Art

Love your blogs . . definitely will be "sailing" along with you both. Fantastic deal on the Four Seasons!! Looking forward to seeing all your wonderful pictures!!

Looking forward to your review and photos!

Following along from Chicago, Paul. Have a great time on Eclipse. We're right behind you, sailing Reflection 12/8.

Great price on Four Seasons...wow! Enjoy!

Hi Paul,

My partner Terry and I are currently on Eclipse but we disembark on Sunday just when you are boarding.

We had a fabulous time. Weather was great and seas were calm.

We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental Miami for 3 days before cruise. American Express Platinum had great pricing.

We also followed the cruise pricing and ended up in a Royal Suite.

I am afraid we are totally spoiled on the Royal Suite and booking a smaller room for future cruises will be VERY DIFFICULT. You will love the Royal Suite.

Hopefully we will be able to meet you and Edward on a future cruise.

Wishing you both a great cruise and safe travels.

Bob (and Terry)

Looking forward to more of this live review!

We left our building around 3:30am. We ordered an Uber Black car and he was waiting for us by the time we got to our lobby. We were at the airport by 3:50am. As you can see from the below photo check in for bags was a bit hectic. Southwest has the majority of Midway airport and it’s a good thing they do! The whole process only took about 15/18 minutes so not too bad.

TSA pre check which should have opened at 4am opened at 4:20am so there was a bit of a wait. Par for the course with TSA. However once we entered the security line things moved quickly.

We had plenty of time at the gate for me to get out a couple last work emails. As I write this portion we are just under halfway to FLL. I’ve already had my first screwdriver and I’m watching the news on my iPad.

More to come once we arrive in FLL. We are using CATA Black Car for the first time to get us to our hotel in Miami. They have excellent reviews on Yelp and booking was very easy so hopefully it’s as good as everyone says it is.

Our flight arrived a bit early and our driver was already waiting for us. Our bags were some of the first to come out and we had 4 total checked bags (thank you Southwest). We’re in the back of the car now. Beautiful and spotless XTS with so far what seems to be a great driver. This is a little more than a taxi and so definitely worth it.

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Subscribed, We are in the March 18 sailing.

Bon Voyage

Will be on the Eclipse in January. I would be grateful if you would post the Daily newsletter.

Thanks and have a great trip.