This was our 32 Cruise overall and our 10th on Celebrity, most of these in the last few years. We had done this same Itinerary twice before, first on the Constellation in 2012 and then on the Eclipse last year where we booked this Cruise for the low deposit and added Onboard Credits. This was also our third time booking a Cabin in Aqua Class and getting to enjoy our dinners in Blu which we thoroughly enjoy. My wife is Gluten Free and even though the MDR does much better now in adapting food for allergies and intolerances, Blu does a far better job of adapting dishes to fit food issues. Prices for moving up to AQ have gone up steadily and are beginning to sometimes be higher than we may want to go though.

We sailed on the Constellation for five days prior to crossing the Port to board the Eclipse. We arrived at the Eclipse about 10:30 and were onboard the Ship by 11:00, a record I think in looking back. This gave us about two hours to reacquaint ourselves with the Ship before the cabins were available shortly after 1:00. We took care of a couple errands on board and then got a light lunch and my customary first Cocktail of each Cruise – a Yellowbird. Some traditions are just too good to stop repeating ;-) We were in cabin 1545 which we had liked when we did a TA on the Equinox in the Fall of 2012. We dropped off our carry-ons shortly after 1:00 and put on swimsuits to head for the pool for the afternoon.

Our Cruise Critic Group was pretty large with 87 Screen names and over 200 people signed up on the Roll Call. We had numerous Tours prearranged within the group as well as onboard events such as a Daily Happy Hour at the Sunset Bar, a Sail Away gathering at the same location, a Meet and Greet Connections Party, Poker Run, Slot Pull, two Pub Crawls, and a Farewell Luncheon. Many of us also were regulars at the Martini Bar each evening. We met a lot of great, fun people and look forward to sailing with many of them again in the future. Read more