A Busy Day at Sea

I’m writing this after an exhausting second day (a sea day) on the ship. I feel like we’re finally getting familiar with Celebrity Eclipse and are beginning to settle in. Here’s what happened last night and today.

Tuscan Grill

We had dinner last night in Tuscan Grill, a beautiful ‘Italian’ speciality restaurant. I say Italian; the cuisine is very much American/Italian. The portions are huge and the food just keeps coming – it was all delicious, however.

The main problem is that we’d had such a large lunch in Bistro on Five earlier in the day, and really hadn’t regained out appetite before dinner.

I had a wonderful beef ravioli to start, followed by a very heavy onion soup with cheese topping, then a fillet steak and finally a dark chocolate fondue.

The food was outstanding, and I forced myself to eat as much of it as I could, but it was just too much. If you’re not fond of very large, American-sized portions then I’d avoid Tuscan Grill, or at least avoid the four courses that are on offer.

Probably the highlight of Tuscan Grill (given our appetites) was the fantastic view offered by the restaurants fantastic position right at the back of the ship on deck 5. We had a window table and got to watch the sun set behind the ship. Truly stunning.

Due to our poor timing, we missed the show on Embarkation day, and were so tired that we went straight to the room to relax.

Day 2: Sea Day

Today was our first day at sea, and I feel like we managed to fit quite a lot in!

In the morning we had breakfast in the Oceanview Cafe, which is the main buffet restaurant. The food was fresh, delicious and plentiful, although we both rationed ourselves after last nights overeating! I did notice that the coffee was actually pretty reasonable which was a great surprise as American coffee is normally just dark water!

We spent some time in the Solarium, an adult only indoor area featuring a pool and two hot tubs by the windows. Very relaxing.

We attended a talk from one of the watch officers on board about ships navigation operates. His English wasn’t brilliant, but he had another officer (The Environmental Officer) who was American to help. This was very interesting and quite funny in places.

Hot Glass Show

The highlight of today had to be watching the Hot Glass show on the top deck of Eclipse. This is operated by the Corning Museum of Glass and hosted by three of their employees.

During the two-hour show each member of the team takes a turn as ‘gaffer’ (making a piece), assisting the gaffer, and narrating the show. All three of the gentlemen were outstanding at each task, and between them produced three stunning pieces of glass.

At the end of the show (for those who made it to the end of the two hours of freezing conditions) they have away a piece from a previous show in a raffle. Sadly I did not win, but will be back tomorrow to try again!

Word of warning: it’s bloody cold up there when sailing in cooler climates, so wrap up warm. Also, arrive early as the seat fill up very quickly and it soon becomes standing room only. The seats are benches with no back support, however, so standing may be preferable for some!

Moonlight Sonata

This evening we dined, for the first time, in the main dining room, Moonlight Sonata. We had a wonderful little table for two, one away from the window, so still got wonderful views of the rather rough North Sea.

Thankfully portions were a little more sensible in the MDR, and the food was wonderful, almost as good as that experienced last night in the Tuscan Grill. The service was great and the whole operation felt very smooth indeed.

Show time: EDGE

This evening we did manage to attend the production show, titled EDGE. This was very impressive and featured some good dancing and singing, live music, and even performers performing acrobatic feats while suspended over the audience. Very impressive, very lovely, and great fun!

That’s all for tonight (I’m knackered – we lost an hour last night as the clocks went forward). Tomorrow we visit Molde, and dine in the highly anticipated Qsine!