If at first you don't succeed...try...try again

Although I was more than a little frustrated not being able to post on Friday morning...I set my IPad down and finally began my day even though it was a bit late. I'd literally been up since dawn to take the sunrise pictures, but did not get to breakfast until 10am. My first thought when I finally realized how late it was--oh crap, is anyone still serving breakfast--silly me, for a moment I forgot I was on a cruise ship...have no fear, they pretty much serve round the clock meals. If you add room service into the equation, I believe you can also get a nibble in the middle of the night.


It's nice to "see" the "sea" on TV, even when you don't have a porthole or balcony--live forward webcam--gotta love it!

A few of my friends were heading into town for a quick look-see into the shops on shore--I passed on their kind invitation and headed up for my late breakfast. I was surprised to see the huge set of mouse ears that partially blocked my view of Nassau, as I looked out of the window towards downtown. There was a Disney ship in port docked right beside us...not a ship I would book passage on, but it was fun to see it up close and personal. There is a very large movie screen on the pool deck showing what I believe to be round the clock cartoons and movies. So, as I sat eating my breakfast I was treated to an old Disney cartoon....not exactly the normal midmorning entertainment I'm accustomed to seeing, but it was interesting none the less.

By 10:30, I found myself yawning uncontrollably, and decided it was a great time to find a quiet spot in the solarium, and enjoy some of that relaxation I'd been looking forward to for such a long time. A favorite spot of mine on the S class ships, is the solarium...a true oasis for the travel weary soul. Now I would not exactly consider myself to have fallen into that particular category at that point. In all fairness, there was honestly no chance of using that term to describe my condition at any time during this trip. I was however, completely sleep deprived after being awake so late two nights in a row and waking up before the sun rose each morning. I thought I'd just close my eyes for a few minutes and then read a bit until lunchtime. Yes, I know I had just finished my late breakfast, but that certainly didn't mean I'd be eating a late lunch. My table mates and I had big plans for a special dinner, which required me to eat light for most of the day, but not to deprive myself completely of food. I'd been having breakfast and now my lunch in the Aqua Spa Cafe, where the selections are very light and quite healthy, just perfect for the day ahead of me.


Aqua Spa Cafe breakfast--fruits and yogurt parfait


The most interesting vegetable and nut muffins with light jams


Quick peek at the breakfast menu--although there is a fee for the smoothies--Elite passengers are offered them at no charge at the breakfast up in the Sky Lounge

The choice of various seating in this secluded little area of the ship, completely lent itself to the indulgence of my daytime nap. Under normal circumstances, I actually find it very difficult to sleep during the day. However, the soothing music piped into the solarium, the passengers sitting in the hot tub speaking Spanish beside me (interestingly enough, if you don't understand what they are saying-it's not as distracting), and the slight motion of the ship, very quickly combined to lull me right off to dream land.


I'm thinking it might be nice to have one of these on my patio...then again, I'd have a hard time converting my kitchen into the Aqua Spa Cafe, and the two truly do go hand in hand


My view...for the few minutes I wasn't asleep!

Imagine my shock when I slowly awoke to realize I'd been sleeping for two hours. I kept looking at my watch, it just didn't seem possible that so much time had passed. The loungers all around me appeared to be empty of all the passengers who had been relaxing, reading and chatting when I fell asleep. It was strangely quiet--and then it dawned on me...it's lunch time! The tinkling sounds of silverware against crockery seeped into my consciousness and my tummy sent me a signal that it was once again ready to strap on the feed sack...even if it was necessary to utilize my mini version for the remainder of the afternoon. I crawled out of my little cocoon, and wandered over to the spa cafe to see what was on the menu for lunch. Wow, it was pretty crowded over there, seems like everyone had the same idea at just the moment I was looking for a bite to eat. Keeping in mind that we were treating ourselves to an eating extravaganza in the evening, I grabbed a small plate and headed back to my seat to enjoy a quiet meal.

As I was walking across the pool area, I heard my name being called out, both Janet and Lisa were lounging by the pool eating lunch and relaxing after their journey into the shopping district on shore. I'd been sleeping, hidden in my cabana, just a few feet from where they were seated for the last hour. The beauty of the seating arrangement in the solarium, you can be in a room full of people and be totally unaware of others around you. If that is not the perfect atmosphere for relaxation, I don't know what is. The following morning, I would use such a scenario to spend my last few hours on board.

We all shared a meal, more interesting conversation, then parted ways to meet up later in the afternoon. I'd decided to attend an art tour around the ship, and they went off to educate themselves at a martini mixology class. We were lucky enough to have on board, Dr. Lori, who is a TV talk show host with the Ph.D. in art history. She had me laughing out loud the previous day during her antique appraisal lecture, so I figured I'd follow her around the ship and see if she could tickle my funny bone once again. I was also very interested in the 6.5 million dollar art collection that is housed on board the Eclipse. Celebrity has an extensive and very expensive array of art on all their ships....I'm always amazed at the broad range of artistic medium they choose to showcase from stem to stern. Also, I'd been thumbing through a book in the cabin that had photos of some of the more prominent pieces with a description of the artist, their location on the ship, and the origin of each exhibit. I sought out a few and was a bit disappointed when I couldn't locate one in particular that I wanted for my blog. I had mentioned it to Dr Lori when I introduced myself and thanked her for the lecture, the night before at the Captain's reception. The following day before the tour began, she sought me out and mentioned that the piece is displayed in the children's playroom...clearly not any place I'd venture into. I never did get over to that portion of the ship, therefore it's on my list of things to do, when we are back on board in January.

Next up.....the eating experience almost impossible to describe...unless of course you have pictures :)