Travel Log: December 2016

Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Saturday, December 10, 2016 (Celebrity Eclipse Cruise)

Our day started early as we had an 8:00 a.m. flight to Ft. Lauderdale. We left home with temperatures in the upper teens and a huge snowstorm set to hit this afternoon/evening with up to 9” of snow anticipated over the next two days. The plane had to be de-iced before we could take off which consisted of spraying both wings and the tail. We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale to temperatures of just over 70*F and pouring rain.

Upon arrival, we took a shuttle to our hotel, the Quality Inn & Suites in Hollywood and after checking in found a delicious lunch at the Moonlite Diner, a short walk from the hotel. My husband’s parents had flown in the day before and so joined us for lunch.

After settling into the hotel, we enjoyed an afternoon and evening poolside where the temperature was around 73*F and the sky was overcast. Not wanting to leave the beautiful surroundings we ordered Chinese delivery from Hunan Wok. It really was the perfect evening which ended with a curious raccoon exploring the pool area, awfully close to the people. Here is a picture of the hotel pool area:

Miami, FL - Sunday, December 11, 2016 (Celebrity Eclipse Cruise)

Our hotel package included transportation from the hotel to the Miami Cruise Port and so we were on the 9:15 a.m. shuttle, arrived at the port sometime after 10:00 a.m. (in between the downpours) and were boarding the Celebrity Eclipse by 10:50 a.m. after a short wait in the exclusive Concierge lounge. As is typical of Celebrity, we were greeted with a glass of Champagne, Mimosa, or Orange Juice. Here are some photos of the Port of Miami:

A new benefit for Concierge class is a welcome luncheon in the main dining room the first day. This was worth Concierge class alone. We have always hated fighting the lines and finding a table at that first lunch in the chaos of the buffet, especially since you are carting around all of your carry on luggage. Our waiter was Gama who was incredible. Knowing I had allergies, he found me a fruit plate for dessert without me even asking.

After lunch, I enjoyed my first drink from the Martini Bar, my favorite bar of the ship. As part of a promotion, we received the classic beverage package. For $10 a day, I upgraded to the premium beverage package so that I could enjoy unlimited martinis from the Martini Bar and wines beyond the house wines. Buying the entire premium package would not be worth it for me at around $65/day, but the upgrade of $10 was more than worth it. It was also nice that on Celebrity, both people in a stateroom do not have to have the same beverage package, as is the case on many other cruise lines. (My husband doesn’t drink so it is a waste of money for him to buy a beverage package.)

We were able to get into our rooms around 1:00 p.m.

We had the standard mustard drill, except Celebrity doesn’t make you go out to the lifeboat stations. Instead we were assigned to the Eclipse Theater for roll call and a video. This was much more comfortable than when we were assigned to a lounge on the Summit with standing room only.

Here are some photos of our departure:

Dinner was excellent, although our waiter doesn’t look too promising. After dinner, we listened to some music which was not that great by Jessica and Luke: Acoustic Duo in one of the lounges.

The show was a variety show with a taste of Peter Rossetti (pianist/singer), Rich Aronovitch (comedian), and the house band. We enjoyed it.

At Sea - Monday and Tuesday, December 12-13, 2016 (Celebrity Eclipse Cruise)

At sea days are my favorite. You can do absolutely nothing or pack your day full of fun events. I started the day on Monday with a yoga class and Tuesday, my husband joined me for a Pilates class to start the day.

I attended the first Eclipse choir rehearsals only to find out there was not a big enough turnout to do the concert they had planned for the last night in the grand foyer. They usually get 60+ passengers. This week they had less than 20 show up, only 3 of which were guys. It would have been fun, but it wasn’t meant to be.

I then spent a number of hours working on my tan up on deck 14. I checked out a whole bunch of books for my Kindle from the library before leaving home with the intention to get a lot of reading done. So far that is not happening as I get so distracted by all the activity and spend most of my time people watching. Oh well.

We have also spent a fair amount of time on our balcony listening to the waves. The weather in general has been quite comfortable. We even slept with the balcony door open a couple of nights. (The only bad thing about that is that at about 5:00 a.m., the bridge windows get washed and so we wake up to the sound of the spritzing of the washer fluid and the squeak of the wipers on the windows.)

The excellent show on Monday was Topper which was a full cast production staring the Celebrity dancers, singers, and acrobats and was full of energy. After the show we checked out the Comedian Rich Aronovitch who was alright. The show didn’t start until 10:30 p.m. which is late for us and so at one point, I fell asleep. Maybe the dinner and after dinner drinks I had also contributed to that. ;)

The show on Tuesday was a tribute to Bublé which we decided to skip. Instead we listened to some music in one of the lounges for a little while after dinner, wandered the shops, and then went to bed early.

Here are some photos from around the ship: