Celebrity Eclipse

Bob on April 5th, 2012

I'm really not averse to art, despite what my family and close friends might think. I once had a bridge partner named Art. I've even been known to say a prayer that began "Thou art…" And last year when we were on the Celebrity Eclipse, on the top deck in the middle of the Atlantic, [...]

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Bob & Nancy on February 24th, 2012

So much is made of the sizes of cruise ships, isn’t it? Some cruisers think biggest is best. Some think smaller is better because of its intimacy. There is, naturally, no correct answer. In reading about cruise ships, we came across an interesting measurement. Take the size of the ship (measured in “gross tonnage”) and [...]

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Bob & Nancy on October 24th, 2011

Too bad about the Eclipse, isn’t it? The one in the sky and the one on the sea. If they’d been able to get their schedules together next November, they really could have made history. If they had, the Solar Eclipse (that’s in the sky) and the Celebrity Eclipse (it’s on the sea) could have [...]

Continue reading about Total Eclipse Not Quite Total

Bob & Nancy on September 29th, 2011

Of all the items we think about being in a landfill…pillows? That means it’s one more item for cruise lines to consider in their ongoing attempts to being environmentally responsible. So, about the pillows. A cruise line with 25,000 beds uses 50,000…and that’s when the customers don’t ask (blush) for an extra pillow. Obviously, pillows [...]

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Bob & Nancy on August 11th, 2011

On our last two Celebrity cruises, Millennium (above) and Eclipse, the food was exceptional. Evidently, a lot of people feel the same way. Why evidently? Because Celebrity — according to cruise writer Fran Golden, while subbing for Gene Sloan at USA Today — is increasing prices for some of its specialty restaurants. In this economy, [...]

Continue reading about More Than Chefs Cooking at Celebrity

Bob & Nancy on July 7th, 2011

Passengers who cruise on Celebrity ships will tell you, whether you ask or not, that they enjoy the finest food on the seas. There is no validation, of course, because food likes and dislikes are among the most subjective things in life. What is clear is that Celebrity can never be accused of not taking [...]

Continue reading about Celebrity Cuisine’s Changing Tastes

Bob & Nancy on July 6th, 2011

Four years ago, Celebrity hired Jacques Van Staden as its Vice-President of Food & Beverage Operations. He was just 36, a rising star in the culinary world (nominated as such by the prestigious James Beard Foundation), and eager to make his mark on what the general population considers fine dining. On the Celebrity Eclipse, a [...]

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Bob & Nancy on July 5th, 2011

If you’ve read the Berlitz Handbook to Cruising, which has been around since before Maria Sharapova arrived and Roy Orbison left, you may already know what PSR means. Whether you know or not, maybe a refresher course is in order, as it was for us. The object is to tell you which ships are the [...]

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Bob & Nancy on June 28th, 2011

You won’t find the word “solsticizing” in the dictionary, but you will find it in the cruise world. It’s right there under “Celebrity” and it has become a verb for those of us who write about cruise ships. By this time next year, Celebrity will have “Solsticized” (it is a mouthful, isn’t it?) three more [...]

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Bob & Nancy on June 16th, 2011

And this is why cruise lines, as with other businesses, hire companies to handle public relations… Just over a year ago, six months of planning was about to reach a climax with the launch of the new Celebrity Eclipse in Southampton, an hour south of London. Coincidentally, the ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland [...]

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