For anyone who is unaware, Roger and I cruise for the sheer pleasure of being at sea, spending time together as a break from our busy "real" life, meeting new people, and enjoying some wonderful cuisine.
We began our anniversary/birthday adventure leaving home at 7:30 am, driving towards Miami to embark on a 7 day cruise on board the Eclipse. Living only a little bit more than an hour from the port, we had plans to meet a friend for breakfast, who happens to work on another Celebrity ship. After a few hours of visiting with him and wishing him a safe voyage, we dropped off our car at a parking lot nearby, hopped on the hotel shuttle (through my employer, we are able to take advantage of free parking for the week) proceeded through the check-in process and were sipping our welcome aboard drinks by 1pm.
I'd been on Eclipse for three short nights in November without my husband, so he was pretty much seeing the ship for the first time. I use that term loosely because in Nov. 2008, we were both on Solstice (sister ship almost identical) for 2 night pre-inaugural and he'd only remembered a few details of this class of ship.
Daily fruit-welcome aboard champagne
All kinds of goodies, the weekly planner and invites to various activities...I guess they knew we were coming!
Entering our Aqua Class cabin, he quickly recalled just how much we enjoyed our previous visit and was very pleased to know that we would finally have the chance to experience a full week on board this ship. I always enjoy all the extra little goodies left for us in the cabin. At home, I still wear the shower slippers from 2 years ago and think it might be time to retire them now that I have a replacement pair. I love seeing the first day of activities mapped out on the Celebrity Today sheet left on the bed, and was very pleased to see that they have done away with the grid format as a way to list the scheduled items.
One of my favorite spots in the Solarium
We went off the discover the ship once a gain and grab a quick meal in the Oceanview Cafe...delicious as always and we had no issues finding a seat. A quick visit to Qsine to confirm our dinner reservations, then we popped across the hall to Blu to discuss hubby's food allergy with the staff. All was taken care of, then we continued our explorations of the ship. I am not sure how many times my husband mentioned just how happy he was to be spending a week on the Eclipse and that the ship was "so beautiful"....I couldn't have agreed more!
By 5 pm, we had finished the safety drill (our muster station was Michael's Club), and went in search of our CC group for sail away. It was windy but still sunny enough to stay warm, and we had a nice little turnout from the roll call listing of members. Quite a few of us would meet again at the CC gathering the next morning in Quasar. I firmly believe we always seem to have less than expected turnout, because there are so many things scheduled at the same time. Lets face it, who really wants to be up, dressed and finished with breakfast by 10 am on the first sea day. I am an early riser, and it was a struggle for me. Then again, it may have something to do with the time change, as we were asked to turn our watches back an hour the first night.
Dinner in Blu was incredible as expected, blackened tuna and the forbidden rice which was like nothing I had ever tasted. We shared some great conversation during our dinner, with a nice couple sitting next to us. We actually enjoy having the option of picking our table location, and eating at whatever time suits our schedule. We were looking forward to many more dinners in this venue. They are extremely accommodating with finding ways to work around my husbands food issues and provided the following 2 night's menus for him to make his choices. We would be dining in the MDR at the Captain's table for formal night, and that menu was also available, for him to review.
The show was adequate for a mixture of vocals, juggling and music. I was exhausted and sadly dozed off a few times. We called it an early night and headed back to the cabin to unpack by 10pm.
Next up...sea day
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