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

[chicagopaul]

Someone mentioned bar menus. No worries on that, I’ve already started collecting. I’ll grab Martini tonight and will probably get Ensemble tonight as well. Here are the menus from the famous Bacio earlier today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

One more page!

 

 

 

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[RotaryMike]

Thanx Paul for all your info, we board in 7 weeks.

Jane, thanx for the service club posting, do you know if these events are listed on the daily papers also, or just on that board. I wasn't quite able to read the detail of the Rotary info - (time to get the tri-focals checked). Thanx, Mike in Bloomfield. Go Huskies !!!

[upwarduk]

The balcony looks too tight to navigate!

 

So glad we have one of the larger ones off the hump, but of course we don’t have the hot tub.:evilsmile:

[JaneStarr]

thanks Jane,

I'm assuming elite is also welcome in the captains lounge altho it says elite plus

Yes; when we were E last Feb, our letter included "Elite”

[chicagopaul]

The balcony looks too tight to navigate!

 

So glad we have one if the larger ones off the hump, but of course we don’t have the hot tub.:evilsmile:

 

 

 

Yes! The extra two loungers are not standard. I’m having one removed today while we are out at dinner.

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

I will be working on my mid cruise review before dinner. We are getting ready to head to the “blendique” class. For those of you who do not know what this is let me explain. This class allows you to blend different wines to essentially create your own wine. They’re able to calculate the exact mix and you can order bottles to take home or have shipped and they’ll create a label for you. It seems fun and for $35pp it’s a nice afternoon activity. I’ll take some pictures and let you know how it goes. I was told at lunch today 24 people have signed up. Has anyone else tried this?

 

Lunch today was in Luminae as we are a sea day. It was quite nice. I had the pea soup and the Branzino. Check out the photos below.

 

 

 

 

 

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[chamima]

I will be working on my mid cruise review before dinner. We are getting ready to head to the “blendique” class. For those of you who do not know what this is let me explain. This class allows you to blend different wines to essentially create your own wine. They’re able to calculate the exact mix and you can order bottles to take home or have shipped and they’ll create a label for you. It seems fun and for $35pp it’s a nice afternoon activity. I’ll take some pictures and let you know how it goes. I was told at lunch today 24 people have signed up. Has anyone else tried this?

 

 

 

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I read about this last year but could never find it offered.

How did you find out about it?

(In the Daily? Special flyer? )

 

Also, does the $35 include any bottles to take home?

 

Thanks

[JaneStarr]

I'd be interested in how you are enjoying your RS, and in particular the balcony. I know you mentioned have 2 loungers, do you feel there is plenty of room out there with those, the table & chairs, and the "hot tub"? What if you had a couple other people over for a sail away or some other gathering, would it begin to feel small? We're booked in a CS on the hump so I'm trying to gain some knowledge to compare the two and decide if an upgrade to a RS would be in order.

 

Look forward to all your updates, thanks for taking the time to give us all this info, it's time consuming and hard to do, but you always to it so well!

I’d like to chime in on this. We had a CS on the hump on Equinox last February and an RS this cruise. We find the CS balcony a better use of space. To us, the jacuzzi on the balcony is more of a novelty that we rarely use. It’s not really a ‘hot tub’ and takes up a lot of space. The RS already has a jacuzzi in the bathroom.

Jane

[JaneStarr]

Jane - We were not told this so thanks for commenting. I’ll ask Sara tonight. If Dry Cleaning is included I’d love to send some blazers out this week prior to disembarking (do I dare utter that word?!).

 

 

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VERY impressed with the laundry service!

We put the bag of laundry on our bed before leaving for diner last night.

I came back before lunch and found a basket containing clean underwear and socks on our bed. The t-shirts, DH’s button-down shirt and my skirt were hanging nicely in the living area closet. Definite improvement over past experience. Nothing came out shrunken or wrinkled.

Jane

[garyl62]

Here is what we have. The large lounger on the right is the regular one included...

 

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The balcony looks too tight to navigate!

 

So glad we have one of the larger ones off the hump, but of course we don’t have the hot tub.:evilsmile:

 

Thanks Paul. I'll agree with upwarduk, even if you remove the extra lounger things could be tight. For us, we like being on the balcony often so not sure we'd be real happy with it. So glad you took some time to post those for us.

[garyl62]

I’d like to chime in on this. We had a CS on the hump on Equinox last February and an RS this cruise. We find the CS balcony a better use of space. To us, the jacuzzi on the balcony is more of a novelty that we rarely use. It’s not really a ‘hot tub’ and takes up a lot of space. The RS already has a jacuzzi in the bathroom.

Jane

 

Thanks for your thoughts Jane. Nice to hear from someone who has experienced both. Sounds like we'd enjoy the CS more since we use the balcony often even though in-suite dining probably has a better set-up in a RS

 

Enjoy your trip!

[JaneStarr]

JaneStarr - Thanks for the Luggage Direct form. I, too, was given incorrect info via a phone call and will now change our flights! If MC Concierge Sara published a list of MC events for your cruise, could you please share that? I’m going to cruise with my 89-year old mother and it’s easier if I have a tentative plan for each day prior to getting on the ship. Thanks.

 

Was your contact named Edwin? Just asking so they can make sure corrected info is given.

 

There isn’t a published list because Sara seems to tailor the events based on guest attendance. There is often a musical duo or piano player in MC before dinner— at least on sea days. It’s a little early for us, so we haven’t attended much. I believe it ends by 6:30.

I’m sure it’s a huge challenge to schedule MC events with people eating at all different times and with so many other activities onboard!

Daily Tea-time is now in MC (instead of ensuite) from 3:30 to 4:30. It’s a very nice chance to relax & chat. Canapés are offered between 5:30 & 6:30, according to our welcome letter. These can also be brought to your suite by a butler.

MC lounge is open for beverage service between 7:30am and midnight.

There was a sail-away from Antigua on the helipad which was very nice.

We received an invitation to join the Sr Officers in MC on the first formal night. I think that was from 5:30-6:30.

There are other activities offered at 11:30 am when available to Sara. I’ll leave some surprises for you to discover.

 

Sara makes sure to seek out her guests at Luminae if she hasn’t touched based during the day. A very nice experience!

Sara leaves messages on our stateroom phone reminding us of what she is offering for the day. We have also receive paper invitations by our door.

Jane

 

 

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[CalgaryJill]

One more page!

 

 

 

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Thanks so much for posting these lists! Is there a price list for bottles too? I'm trying to figure out if a drinks package makes sense for us. :):wine-glass:

 

SaveSave

[JaneStarr]

I read about this last year but could never find it offered.

 

How did you find out about it?

 

(In the Daily? Special flyer? )

 

 

 

Also, does the $35 include any bottles to take home?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

There were flyers in the Celebrity Today dailies. I’ll try to attach photos. The odd thing is that they never mentioned the cost, only to inquire with your sommelier. I assume that limited the interest since it “sounded” expensive. If We’d known the price was only $35, we likely would’ve signed up. Instead, I’m enjoying the Solarium pool.

From today’s Celebrity Today:

From Wed.(Day 4):

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

I read about this last year but could never find it offered.

 

How did you find out about it?

 

(In the Daily? Special flyer? )

 

 

 

Also, does the $35 include any bottles to take home?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

 

I knew about this from advertisements in the past cruises. I asked Viktor, our sommelier in Luminae and he told us the price and signed us up I agree with Jane that they should advertise the pricing more because it sounds more expensive than it is.

 

We just finished the class. It was a great deal of fun and we were paired with a wonderful couple from outside Toronto who were great to work with. You work in groups of four. Now we heard some people complain about this but when we booked this they did tell us about it and in my opinion working with another couple enhanced the experience. Though I realize that wine is subjective but in this case we all had very similar tastes in wine so luck was on our side.

 

The class took a little over an hour and 15 minutes. But time wise budget at least an hour thirty to be safe.

 

You are working with 4 grape varieties (Grenache, Merlot, Cab, Syrah) and a beaker to mix them. You try all different combinations until you come up with your favorite and submit it to be judged and they declare a winner.

 

If you want to buy a bottle of your creation it is $42 for 1 bottle and then a little less the more you buy. I’ve attached a few photos below.

 

 

 

 

 

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[chicagopaul]

Thanks so much for posting these lists! Is there a price list for bottles too? I'm trying to figure out if a drinks package makes sense for us. :):wine-glass:

 

 

 

SaveSave

 

 

 

I’ll see what I can grab from Luminae or Cellar Masters with bottle prices. Are there any specific wines you like to enjoy and want to know the pricing of?

 

The wine selection at bacio is very limited so you’ll see there are many more options.

 

 

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[JaneStarr]

Thanx Paul for all your info, we board in 7 weeks.

 

Jane, thanx for the service club posting, do you know if these events are listed on the daily papers also, or just on that board. I wasn't quite able to read the detail of the Rotary info - (time to get the tri-focals checked). Thanx, Mike in Bloomfield. Go Huskies !!!

 

 

 

Hi, Mike —

My eyes are old, too!

I believe only the friends of Bill W and LGBQT gatherings are listed in the dailies. That was a corporate decision made several (??) years ago, if I recall correctly.

Here’s a bigger crop of just the service club info:

Sea days: 3-4pm @ Passport Bar on deck 3

 

 

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[JaneStarr]

Here is what we have. The large lounger on the right is the regular one included on the balcony.

 

 

 

 

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For comparison, here’s a pic I took of the main part of our our CS balcony on the hump. Sorry that I can’t find any pics of the slanted part right now. Will try to attach a panoramic shot, but I’m not sure if it will help.

 

 

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[aquidneck1]

Paul, You mentioned that you had the premium package - was that the premium wine package or the premium alcohol package. I am curious as to the quality of the wines on the Premium Alcohol Package. Thanks so much.

[chicagopaul]

Paul, You mentioned that you had the premium package - was that the premium wine package or the premium alcohol package. I am curious as to the quality of the wines on the Premium Alcohol Package. Thanks so much.

 

 

 

We have the premium alcohol which covers the wines. The selection is near identical to the wines we’ve had available in the past and we haven’t noticed any major changes. One of my favorites is the Decoy Cabernet which is available for $13 so it falls under the premium package. I’ll take a picture of the wines by the glass menu in Luminae and I’ll see what menus are around cellar masters.

 

 

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[JaneStarr]

Sara has some of the wine lists in Michael’s Club. I happened to scan the Main Dining room “by the glass” list. Note that these are typically very subject to change based on availability.

 

 

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[chamima]

Thanks Jane

 

It looks like the wine has gone up in price by about $2/glass since the last time someone posted.

Many of the wines that were included in the premium package at $13/glass now seem to be $15.

:(:(:(

 

 

EDIT: On second thought - is there any chance those lists are leftover from when the Eclipse was in England?

(The gratuities are included in the per glass price while she sails in England and that would explain the discrepancy.)

[JaneStarr]

Thanks Jane

 

It looks like the wine has gone up in price by about $2/glass since the last time someone posted.

Many of the wines that were included in the premium package at $13/glass now seem to be $15.

:(:(:(

It’s possible that *this* wine list was leftover from a cruise where grats were included in the per glass price.

Edited December 3, 2017 by JaneStarr
Haha...We were editing at the same time!

[aquidneck1]

It is sort of weird that they list wines in an "Above and Beyond" area but include wines above the maximum in the main list. We need some clarification. That said, I am pleased with the list. We will be in Luminae on the Eclipse in January so looking forward to their list as well.