Anyone taken the Eclipse on 14night Caribbean Cruise???

[Clydesmom7865]

We've got the Eclipse booked for 3 April 2016 (yikes, good thing we've got a couple of Cruises booked in 2015). We've been to all the ports except Bonaire. We are looking forward to visiting Bonaire.

 

If you are not scuba divers you will be sorely disappointed. There is NOTHING there. Bonaire is a scuba diver's paradise but other than that there is absolutely nothing to do or see on the island.

[upwarduk]

If you are not scuba divers you will be sorely disappointed. There is NOTHING there. Bonaire is a scuba diver's paradise but other than that there is absolutely nothing to do or see on the island.

 

We took a taxi tour, saw hedges made of cacti, pink flamingos and salt pans.

[swigso]

Hi

I have done this itinary about 5 times, it is a great trip but

for the best prices book early and if you can use a TA in the

USA,you will get better deals and can cancel without penalty

unlike the UK and I believe Aussie.

The S class ships are fantastic, but here's the thing,

For about the same money you can do a B2B on the

Sister ship Equinox which takes in the Panama Canal

and also does some great Island Stops.

Either way you will have a great time.

I usually travel Feb March but late January can have great deals,

But I find this too soon after the Xmas break

Edited October 13, 2014 by swigso

[BSinPNS]

We have done this trip a couple of times and were disappointed to have Curacao replace Bonaire on one. If you are in to snorkeling, you may want to reserve with Woodwind. Dee does a great job even with beginning snorkelers. HAVE FUN!

[Lsimon]

We've done the Eclipse cruise in 2013 and did the same itinerary on the Constellation a couple years earlier as well. This is one of my favorite itineraries and a great cruise. We were scheduled to do the cruise again this past March but had to cancel this year.

 

We've also done a similar itinerary a few years earlier on Celebrity ships sailing out of San Juan on 10 or 11 night cruises but they've discontinued those when they started the 14 night cruises from Florida. They did the same islands but the cruise was shorter due to the additional days needed to reach the area from Florida vs. San Juan. The nice sampling of islands from the Virgin Islands area to Aruba can't be beat.

 

If you are a snorkeling enthusiast then pick one of the few cruises that stop at Bonaire if the timing of those works for you. As BSinPNS said in the post above, the snorkeling in Bonaire was fantastic. Too bad they can't stop at Bonaire on all of these cruises.

 

The other options for a nice long Caribbean cruise would be to do two back-to-back cruises on ships that alternate between the Eastern and Western Caribbean such as the Equinox 10 and 11 day itineraries (21 days total), or the 7 night itineraries on Reflection or Silhouette. The only drawback of those cruises is that a lot of the menus and entertainment repeat on b2b cruises and there is the day spent on turnaround at the home port in Florida.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Lsimon

[BosoxI]

If you are not scuba divers you will be sorely disappointed. There is NOTHING there. Bonaire is a scuba diver's paradise but other than that there is absolutely nothing to do or see on the island.

 

That's my feeling, too, that it's solely for scuba divers. A good day for staying on board.

[jagoffee]

If you are not scuba divers you will be sorely disappointed. There is NOTHING there. Bonaire is a scuba diver's paradise but other than that there is absolutely nothing to do or see on the island.

 

And snorkeling IMO.

[davekathy]

If you are not scuba divers you will be sorely disappointed. There is NOTHING there. Bonaire is a scuba diver's paradise but other than that there is absolutely nothing to do or see on the island.

 

Thanks for sharing your opinion of Bonaire. We realize some islands offer more than others. Regardless we are looking forward to visiting Bonaire and will make the best of our time there.

[tispwisp]

We've done this itinerary 4 times. Once each on the Grand Princess and the Celebrity Constellation. Twice on the Eclipse. We liked it so much that we are booked again on the Eclipse this coming March! It's fantastic! Would definitely recommend!

[Barwick Cruiser]

We are booked on the Feb 15th Eclipse sailing and are very excited about visiting some of the islands for the first time. We usually choose to vacation later in Feb to give us some time after Christmas and so that we don't have as much winter to go back home to! Weather in the Southern Caribbean is almost guaranteed to be perfect that time of year as well. We booked a year out and the price has only gone up on our sailing. We've done the 7 day out of San Juan on Summit but that seemed over just as it started. We're early 50's and the roll call seems to have some younger passengers so should be a good mix! We do like to snorkel, and DH is a certified diver so Curacao and Bonaire are big draws for us.

[portcbob]

Thanks folks for all your kind information.

 

We are most definitely going to book now, and yes we love snorkeling coming from Australia where we have the majestic Great Barrier Reef.

 

Cheers Bob & Chris.:):):)

[madridgirl]

We did it in 2012 and are going again in December. Awesome itinerary!

[portcbob]

Thankyou guys.

 

We think we will do the 14 day cruise with Bonaire included. Looks fab.

Thanks once again for all your advice. We both really appreciate it so much.

 

Cheers from Australia.:):):)

[The Mommy]

Yes we did it and would defo book it again

 

Hope you enjoy

[Antonintassie]

Hi Bob

 

VA now do direct Brisbane to LAX flights which may help Qld based travellers ,I used to fly with them Melbourne to Lax but they have dropped the flight .

 

Another good option for those in the North is Sydney to Dallas /Fort Worth nice new Qantas A380 and good connections to either FLL or Miami

[portcbob]

Thanks Greengrunt8,

 

Yes, Virgin would be good for us direct flight Brisbane to Lax. We are thinking of doing a couple of days in Memphis and also Nashville on our way to Miami to catch the ship.

This is our plan at this stage, its just a matter of timing now for us.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Cheers Bob & Chris:):):)

[Antonintassie]

Allways wamted to go to Graceland long live the King

 

 

 

Thanks Greengrunt8,

 

Yes, Virgin would be good for us direct flight Brisbane to Lax. We are thinking of doing a couple of days in Memphis and also Nashville on our way to Miami to catch the ship.

This is our plan at this stage, its just a matter of timing now for us.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Cheers Bob & Chris:):):)

[grandma26]

hello, We did this trip last January and loved it so we booked again for January 2014. Ship, staff, entertainment, food, ect was perfect.

Since you are going to travel so far, a 14 day is perfect for you !!!

[A Sixth?]

To the OP, you're going to have a great time!

 

 

(note the Aussie in the back seat... In Bonaire we always find stuff to do like rent a boat and go snorkeling where we want)

 

 

 

[portcbob]

Thankyou so much for the great pics. Loved them. Sure looks like a great ship. Anymore pics of the ship would be greatly appreciated. Really getting excited now.

 

Cheers Bob & Chris.;););)

[A Sixth?]

Thankyou so much for the great pics. Loved them. Sure looks like a great ship. Anymore pics of the ship would be greatly appreciated. Really getting excited now.

 

Cheers Bob & Chris.;)

 

An AQ cabin

 

 

Rif-Raf

 

 

 

 

[A Sixth?]

 

 

 

 

 

[portcbob]

Thanks for the pics.

We are getting even more anxious to get onboard now.

 

Cheers Bob & Christine.:):):)

[upwarduk]

The AQ cabin doesn't look any different to a regular cabin!

Presumably just the facility to eat in Blu?

[Lsimon]

The AQ cabin doesn't look any different to a regular cabin!

Presumably just the facility to eat in Blu?

 

The cabin size and layout for all veranda cabins, from standard to AQ, is the same on S class ships.

 

The primary difference in the cabin themselves is the shower, which has nicer fixtures, and a heated non-fog mirror in the bathroom. There is a small upgrade in the quality of the towels and linens (same as CC cabin) but not really much of a difference and footstools for the chairs on the veranda. There are a couple other pretty minor cabin amenities like bottled water and there is also the access to the Persian Gardens area of the spa if you like that.

 

But the biggest difference for many is the access to the Blu dining room.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Lsimon