Solar Eclipse : A pictorial review of the Exotic Southern Caribbean

[deladane]

Thanks for writing this! I will be on the Eclipse with nearly the same itinerary this time next year!! :)

[upwarduk]

Joe,

Love the 2 opening photos.:cool:

I will be interested in your opinion of the food in Ocean view, especially breakfast.

There is a very negative thread on the boards at the moment.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2448478

[scubacruiserx2]

Joe,

Love the 2 opening photos.:cool:

I will be interested in your opinion of the food in Ocean view, especially breakfast.

There is a very negative thread on the boards at the moment.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2448478

 

 

Thank you Jackie and welcome to the cruise . We are early risers and did eat most of our morning meals in Ocean view . We really liked the Eggs Benedict and the young man who cooked them quickly and perfectly . There is a much wider selection there as compared to the MDR . We didn't much care for their coffee however and switched to Fields & Select Breakfast Tea .

On the sea days we sometimes ate a leisurely breakfast in the MDR , but mostly preferred the Ocean View Cafe .

[scubacruiserx2]

I have made it throughthat long queue and managed to get myself aboard! I am ready to follow along with you on your journey! :cool:

 

I have been hearing about those fires down your way on our local news. I think the fires we get here in Florida scare me more than the hurricanes! :eek:

 

 

Super , Nancy we're glad that you made it before the ship sailed ! And we will be showing you to your aft view cabin in just a few minutes . We hope that you brought your dive gear ( and camera ) , and thank you again for your generosity which we used to pay for our anniversary dinner in Murando . :) :D

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Great pic of the two of you.

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks for sharing.

 

 

You're welcome , thanks for joining in .

[Gracie115]

 

 

You guys look great!!! Looking forward to seeing this review.....we loved the Eclipse TA 2 years ago so will be good to see how she's held up since.... ugh...the crowd at check in....we usually arrive around the same time, maybe a bit later but have never run into that on an X ship....I guess the CDC inspection just slowed everything down a bit!!!

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks for writing this! I will be on the Eclipse with nearly the same itinerary this time next year!! :)

 

 

You're welcome , hopefully the narrative and photos will answer any questions that you may have .

[scubacruiserx2]

Great pic of the two of you.

 

 

Thanks Mic , the wine put a smile on our faces .

[scubacruiserx2]

You guys look great!!! Looking forward to seeing this review.....we loved the Eclipse TA 2 years ago so will be good to see how she's held up since.... ugh...the crowd at check in....we usually arrive around the same time, maybe a bit later but have never run into that on an X ship....I guess the CDC inspection just slowed everything down a bit!!!

 

 

We did enjoy that cruise with you and J ! And that was conclusion also , but then , there was that Noro cruise before ours last year in the Baltic ! The Eclipse needed to be deep cleaned and the crew did a great job preventing any outbreak on our cruise . ;)

[juanita1767]

Looking forward to your review. We are doing this cruise on March 19th and getting very excited.

[tnfcruise]

Wonderful to see another of your reviews, scubacruiserx2, and with Bimmer09 and MicCanberra already chiming in, I'm preparing for another great virtual trip prior to my actual 3/19 boarding.

 

We're headed to Miami, a week from today, for a 5-night pre-Eclipse stay at Hampton Brickell. Our traveling pals from Ontario have been reading about a rise again in Zika (affecting Miami and the Islands on your/our itinerary). I haven't seen anything about Zika for months on these boards, or from Celebrity --other than general advice to apply insect repellent when on excursions. Can you allay our friends' fears?

 

We're in Concierge cabins and therefore are among the folks invited to the MDR for lunch on embarkation day. This fairly new perk, which Celebrity surprised us with on our Honolulu-Vancouver Solstice sailing last April, is a welcome add to Concierge Class.

 

^Oh, hi, Juanita!^

 

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Edited March 7, 2017 by tnfcruise

[scubacruiserx2]

Wonderful to see another of your reviews, scubacruiserx2, and with Bimmer09 and MicCanberra already chiming in, I'm preparing for another great virtual trip prior to my actual 3/19 boarding.

 

We're headed to Miami, a week from today, for a 5-night pre-Eclipse stay at Hampton Brickell. Our traveling pals from Ontario have been reading about a rise again in Zika (affecting Miami and the Islands on your/our itinerary). I haven't seen anything about Zika for months on these boards, or from Celebrity --other than general advice to apply insect repellent when on excursions. Can you allay our friends' fears?

 

We're in Concierge cabins and therefore are among the folks invited to the MDR for lunch on embarkation day. This fairly new perk, which Celebrity surprised us with on our Honolulu-Vancouver Solstice sailing last April, is a welcome add to Concierge Class.

 

^Oh, hi, Juanita!^

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

 

I will try . The greatest concern with Zika is for ladies who are pregnant or are considering a pregnancy , are they in this group ?

We didn't see or feel any mosquitoes but we did have a couple of sand fleas bite near the cruise ship in the evening while in Curacao because we left the Deet in the cabin . It was only one or two bites , so it wasn't a big deal .

Looking forward to your review. We are doing this cruise on March 19th and getting very excited.

 

 

 

Our reviews move kinda slow and so if there are any questions that we can help you with please ask away before your rapidly approaching cruise begins . :) :D

[scubacruiserx2]

Like our friend Nancy we prefer the wake view than comes with a Sunset Veranda .

Looking toward the cabin door and empty closet

The bathroom with the storage areas opened

The bathroom is much nicer than on the Regal Princess especially the shower enclosure . But we did miss the removable handheld shower head found on the Regal .

We love the aft balcony

[tnfcruise]

I will try . The greatest concern with Zika is for ladies who are pregnant or are considering a pregnancy , are they in this group ?

We didn't see or feel any mosquitoes but we did have a couple of sand fleas bite near the cruise ship in the evening while in Curacao because we left the Deet in the cabin . It was only one or two bites , so it wasn't a big deal .

D

 

 

Thanks...I guess what I was looking for was any warning you heard or saw (onboard or on Islands) regarding another rise in Zika cases or certain areas that should be avoided. Since you didn't mention, I assume not. And, no, us two women are past that age.

 

Really glad you mentioned the sand fleas. I'm pretty good about remembering to applyDeet, but not necessarily getting it on my lower legs...those ankle bites can be really annoying.

 

 

 

 

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[jennybenny]

Like our friend Nancy we prefer the wake view than comes with a Sunset Veranda .

 

 

 

The wake looks lovely and omg!!! Is that bathroom really that huge or is that the miracle of photography ?!? [emoji15] wow!

 

I'm so used to Princess' tiny bathrooms that a Princess minisuite feels large but your bathroom there looks like more space than we need! (Like I wouldn't want more space?! What am I saying? I would be so happy with that bathroom) lol

It looks like a lovely room [emoji4]

 

 

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[scubacruiserx2]

This was the view from our balcony

 

 

To our south is the Royal Caribbean building and the cruise ship Adonia, which has an interesting history.

It was formerly the Royal Princess and had an engine fire in Egypt. It was then sold to P&O and renamed the Adonia. After a major refit by Carnival in 2016 it was re-branded under the Fathom Line.

On 2 May 2016, Adonia docked in the port of Havana, the first port of her Cuban itinerary for Fathom. It marked the first time in over 50 years that a U.S. cruise line has sailed from the U.S. to Cuba.[9] It was also the first time in decades that Cuban-born individuals were able to travel by sea to or from Cuba.[10] An outbreak of gastro-intestinal illnesses occurred on the initial voyage striking 14 passengers.[11]

In November 2016, Carnival announced that Fathom would discontinue operations in June 2017. The MV Adonia, is to return to Carnival’s P&O Cruises at that time.[12]

From Wikipedia

Edited March 7, 2017 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

The wake looks lovely and omg!!! Is that bathroom really that huge or is that the miracle of photography ?!? [emoji15] wow!

 

I'm so used to Princess' tiny bathrooms that a Princess minisuite feels large but your bathroom there looks like more space than we need! (Like I wouldn't want more space?! What am I saying? I would be so happy with that bathroom) lol

It looks like a lovely room [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

They are nicer and larger bathrooms and I did use a wide angle shot which makes it look even larger .

[jennybenny]

Still a nice amount of space in that bathroom! And a great view from your balcony!

 

Looking forward to hearing more [emoji4]

 

 

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[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks...I guess what I was looking for was any warning you heard or saw (onboard or on Islands) regarding another rise in Zika cases or certain areas that should be avoided. Since you didn't mention, I assume not. And, no, us two women are past that age.

 

Really glad you mentioned the sand fleas. I'm pretty good about remembering to applyDeet, but not necessarily getting it on my lower legs...those ankle bites can be really annoying.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

 

We didn't see or hear any special warnings except what appeared in the Celebrity Today and use common sense if going into the rain forest , which we didn't .

[upwarduk]

The bathroom is much nicer than on the Regal Princess especially the shower enclosure . But we did miss the removable handheld shower head found on the Regal .

Oh dear, does this mean we will be back to a shower curtain on Crown.

[mom says]

They are nicer and larger bathrooms and I did use a wide angle shot which makes it look even larger .

 

 

Laugh if you like (DH did), but the bathroom was probably my favorite part of our cabin. There's just SO much storage in there! My over the door shoe holder stayed in the suitcase. And having doors instead of a shower curtain was a huge plus. The multi function spray head was nice too (concierge cabin)

[jennybenny]

Laugh if you like (DH did), but the bathroom was probably my favorite part of our cabin. There's just SO much storage in there! My over the door shoe holder stayed in the suitcase. And having doors instead of a shower curtain was a huge plus. The multi function spray head was nice too (concierge cabin)

 

 

 

I too am a fan of that bathroom!!

 

 

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[scubacruiserx2]

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Oh dear, does this mean we will be back to a shower curtain on Crown.

 

 

I'm afraid so , but if it's any consolation , the curtains are very friendly and clingy .

[scubacruiserx2]

To the north is the Miami Children's Museum and Chalk's International Airlines in the foreground .

In this photo from Don Boyd you can see why they used to be called Flying boats

Here's a small video clip of one taking off from the water :

And if you didn't bring yours , one would be provided

We had a hard time locating ours . Hint : They are under the bed !

And at the signal , the safety lights were on , but nobody was home

And on the way down we saw the crew's elevators and luggage in transit