Live but Late from the Eclipse - Thanksgiving (US) Cruise - November 17 - 25, 2023

[zgscl]

43 minutes ago, SouKnoMe said:

Great commentary and pictures. Thank you!

 

Would you mind sharing what you ordered at Sushi on 5? Looked delish! 

It was delicious. 
 

First meal: 

Chicken ginger gyoza

Kobe beef slider 

Scallop & shrimp dynamite 

Baked scallop roll

Second meal: 

Lobster & shrimp wontons

Kobe beef slider 

Lobster ramen 

Shrimp tempura roll (not pictured but very good, particularly if you don’t like raw fish) 

Chicken ginger gyoza

 

The only thing I would not get again is the homemade lobster and shrimp wontons. The filling was sort of ground lobster/shrimp which had a consistency of like tiny balls the size of rice grains. It was just kind of a weird texture. 

 

 

 

[SouKnoMe]

2 hours ago, zgscl said:

 

The only thing I would not get again is the homemade lobster and shrimp wontons. The filling was sort of ground lobster/shrimp which had a consistency of like tiny balls the size of rice grains. It was just kind of a weird texture. 

 

 

Thank you for the suggestions!

[Janedoe2012]

Fantastic review!  Your photos are amazing! 

[maggie.1008]

I will board on Friday and enjoy following along with you. 
Have they started decorating for the holidays yet? 

[zgscl]

4 hours ago, maggie.1008 said:

I will board on Friday and enjoy following along with you. 
Have they started decorating for the holidays yet? 

I did not see any sign of holiday decorations yet. Enjoy your cruise!! 

[zgscl]

Day 7 - Thanksgiving at Sea

 

Lunch in Luminae - the shrimp po boy was great! 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving MDR Menu

 

 

 

Luminae Dinner - I actually had reservations in Le Petiti Chef but wanted to sample a couple of the Thanksgiving items. 

 

 

 

 

Turkey dinner/traditional Thanksgiving meal - turkey and stuffing were good, was not impressed with the green bean au gratin. 

 

Le Petit Chef - delightful as it always is. 7 of the 8 nights had the same menu which was not at all exciting to me, but they had my favorite menu for Thanksgiving so I went ahead and booked. They actually brought me both salads because they had an extra. Everything was perfectly cooked and delicious. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zgscl]

Day 8 - San Diego

We had a scheduled 8AM arrival into San Diego this morning and I decided to get up early to watch the sail in as San Diego is a scenic harbor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by zgscl

[zgscl]

With the early arrival I decided to order room service for breakfast. My butler brought it right at 7 (I requested 7-730 delivery window). He has actually been on 3 out of my 4 Celebrity cruises (although this was the first time he was actually assigned as my butler). He did a really lovely job the entire cruise. I am very low maintenance, particularly when sailing solo. Mostly I like to have the mini bar stay stocked with my preferred beverages, and the laundry taken care of. Both of these were handled perfectly, and I also had the usual assortment of nightly sweets/snacks. 

 

There are also some little touches that were never asked for but were nice. One day they left a fruit plate and when I had eaten all of the grapes out of it they actually removed the stems so that it would look fresh. They also pulled out the tour ticket from the excursion envelope for each port and left it out on the table each night so that it was ready for me the next day. Some of these little touches just really made the whole experience special. 

 

 

Customs in San Diego

I have to give Celebrity an A++ on the whole customs process in San Diego. They gave us a letter with our group number before hand. Once you cleared customs you had the choice to go into town or return to the ship - passengers returning to the ship then had to wait to go ashore until the process was completed. 

 

I was assigned to group 1 and asked to meet in Michael's club to be escorted down. There were probably a total of 30 of us so I am not sure if it was only upper suites, or if a bunch of folks opted to just go on their own. They escorted us down right at 8 as the announcement for groups 1 & 2 was made. We were the first ones off the ship and through customs. For everyone not escorted, they asked people to come to deck 3 midship where they had stanchions set up between the two midship elevator banks so people could line up and be escorted downstairs. We were walked right past that and down to deck 2. 

 

Both of the mid-ship doors were being used to let folks off and your card was scanned twice - I presume once was the scan off the ship and the other was to track who had gone for customs. We then walked into the terminal and through the customs line. Customs took our picture and glanced at the passports (this part of the process is of course not controlled by Celebrity). We then were given a sticker for our key card when exiting the customs area. Again there was an exit to town, or you could circle back to the ship. When returning to the ship we boarded via the forward gangway/elevators and did not need to clear security again. 

 

Celebrity had a lot of crew members helping to make the process efficient. I saw entertainers, junior payroll pursers, IT officers, and a bunch of other folks that they had called out from their various offices to guide folks through the process. Altogether it was less than 15 minutes to go through the entire process. Everyone I spoke with (both retreat and non-retreat guests) were very impressed with the whole process. This was also great because upon arrival in Los Angeles we could just walk straight off the ship and leave with no need for customs or immigration clearance. 

 

Once customs was finished they took in the forward gangway and boarded only via mid-ship. When returning from town you actually went through security in the terminal (commingled with folks from the Crown Princess docked next to us), and then boarded back via the midship elevator with no need to be screened by security. 

 

 

 

I went to Luminae right after clearing customs for a 2nd breakfast as I only nibbled on my room service meal. Luminae was very busy as basically everyone had the same idea to do breakfast right after clearing customs. 

 

 

 

[zgscl]

With Luminae closed for lunch I had one last meal in Sushi on 5, basically a repeat of my favorite items. 

- Chicken and ginger gyoza 

- Kobe beef burger

- Scallop and Shrimp Dynmite 

- Baked scallop roll 

 

 

 

 

[zgscl]

Around noon the ship finished the customs process and we were cleared to go ashore. I independently booked a 90 minute harbor cruise with City Experiences/Cruises (formerly Hornblower yachts). This was a lovely, albeit cold, way to spend the afternoon and we got great views. We went out to the harbor entrance and then back and under the  Coronado bridge before circling back to dock. The tours leave about a block down from where the cruise ships dock, and next to the USS Midway. There were also tours offered by Flagship Cruises. I believe my ticket was around $40. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may look like midnight, but we actually left around 6. It sure gets dark early this time of year!! 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2023 by zgscl

[zgscl]

For my final dinner I returned to Luminae. I can't believe I forgot to picture the menu, but the ravioli was a main dish (I believe beef & cheese ravioli). The other dish was the best thing I had the entire cruise - I think it was a veal chop. Keep an eye out for it on 8+ night cruises in Luminae, it is really good. Multiple people expressed the same thing. 

 

 

 

 

Day 7 Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 8 Program

 

 

 

 

 

[zgscl]

Alas parting is such sweet sorrow. I really had a delightful cruise. I was very glad to see that it felt like the same Celebrity I know and love.

 

 

 

A final trip for Gelato. The strawberry is delicious 

 

A night time stroll around the pool area.

 

 

I had one last breakfast in Luminae before disembarking. I was able to get a porter easily (they were lined up and ready to help folks). Luggage was very easy to find. Last time I returned to Los Angeles they had given us "suites/zenith" tags which were in a separate room that was harder to find. This time we got #1 tags and all the porters knew right where they were because it was a number rather than a separate area. It was really easy to get an Lyft to go to the airport (check Uber and Lyft prices! It was about a $20 difference. I found this to be the case both going and coming although Uber was cheaper the other way). 

 

 

If you have not done it, I highly recommend the glass blowing! It is a lot of fun and they guide you through the whole process. You get to pick your colors and they have pieces ranging from $120-200 depending on how complicated it is. All three of mine came out great and they made it home in one piece (I did put them in my carry on, and it did flag with TSA for extra screening because the glass was too thick for the xray to see clearly). 

 

 

[JDPCruisers]

3 hours ago, zgscl said:

Alas parting is such sweet sorrow. I really had a delightful cruise. I was very glad to see that it felt like the same Celebrity I know and love.

 

 

 

A final trip for Gelato. The strawberry is delicious 

 

A night time stroll around the pool area.

 

 

I had one last breakfast in Luminae before disembarking. I was able to get a porter easily (they were lined up and ready to help folks). Luggage was very easy to find. Last time I returned to Los Angeles they had given us "suites/zenith" tags which were in a separate room that was harder to find. This time we got #1 tags and all the porters knew right where they were because it was a number rather than a separate area. It was really easy to get an Lyft to go to the airport (check Uber and Lyft prices! It was about a $20 difference. I found this to be the case both going and coming although Uber was cheaper the other way). 

 

 

If you have not done it, I highly recommend the glass blowing! It is a lot of fun and they guide you through the whole process. You get to pick your colors and they have pieces ranging from $120-200 depending on how complicated it is. All three of mine came out great and they made it home in one piece (I did put them in my carry on, and it did flag with TSA for extra screening because the glass was too thick for the xray to see clearly). 

 

 

Excellent review and photos. Great your suite experience remains at the high-level X has been known for and hope that is a good sign going forward.  

[asnaleah]

Thanks for your review! We board Eclipse in December and I’m glad to read about your experience in the Retreat. Is The Porch available on Eclipse?

[zgscl]

2 minutes ago, asnaleah said:

Thanks for your review! We board Eclipse in December and I’m glad to read about your experience in the Retreat. Is The Porch available on Eclipse?

It is not, I think Silhouette and Reflection only. 

[asnaleah]

I wondered about that. It’s such a nice lunch venue, I will miss it. Will have to try Sushi on Five.