Travel Features
Promenade
With the timing of a stand-up comedian he held the attention of passengers aboard the Celebrity Solstice Cruise Ship with wry observations about the ship …
Ray BrastedPromenade

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]]> http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/05/travel-features-promenade/feed/ 0 http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/02/philipsburg-st-maarten-cruise-ship-dock-31-march-2010/ http://www.cruisefan.net/2010/04/02/philipsburg-st-maarten-cruise-ship-dock-31-march-2010/#comments Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:38:04 +0000 YouTube Videos tagged with cruise ship View of the cruise ship dock in Philipsburg, St. Maarten as captured 31 March 2010 from Kroooz-cams.com. In port today Sea Princess, Oasis of the Seas, aidavita, Carnival Dream, Carnival Miracle, Celebrity Solstice, and Emerald Princess.

Leisure centre receptionist Denise, from Polgooth, near St Austell in Cornwall, was chosen as the winner of a competition on Twitter judged by me and Kelly Ranson from the CruiseCritic.co.uk website.

Denise’s winning entry managed to sum up everything about the ship in less than 140 characters.

“With Celebrity close to home, many places I will roam. With AquaSpa, Crush & a lawn at sea, I think Eclipse was designed for me!”

A spokesman for Celebrity Cruises said the entry was picked “for its ability to combine key information about the new ship, its deployment from the UK, and a play on the Celebrity Cruises brand strapline ‘Designed for you.’”

Denise and her husband Adrian, both 53, are avid cruisers. They took three holidays at sea in 2009, and have another three booked for this year.

“We are big fans of Transatlantic crossings,” she told me today. “My husband loves the sea days, and he adores of the Caribbean. We sailed on Celebrity Solstice to the eastern Mediterranean last year which was great.

“My family and I are so incredibly excited. I know what a big deal it is to be part the ship’s first ever trip from the shipyard. This is going to be the absolute trip of a lifetime – I just cannot wait.”

Their daughter is another cruise fan, and has already booked a short-break cruise on Eclipse from Southampton to Le Havre in April.

My fellow judge, Kelly Ranson, said: “It was great to see that so many people had used the competition to try out Twitter, and learn more about cruising within this social network. We loved the clever cruising puns, the knowledge of all things Celebrity Eclipse, and just the general excitement around a new cruise ship. We were impressed with how much entrants were able to say in 140 characters!”

The River Ems trip – termed a conveyance by Celebrity Cruises – takes place in mid-March 2010, over a month before the new ship arrives in the UK for the first time for its inaugural celebrations and naming ceremony in Southampton.

The sailing takes place backwards, and the new ship must navigate locks in the river where there are only a few meters to spare either side. Denise will be one of only a handful of people to enjoy the experience as she and her guest join the Celebrity Cruises management team and a few VIPs for the transit.

Oh, and me as well – look out for my reports, and Tweets, at the time.

Celebrity Eclipse is scheduled to arrive in Southampton on April 20 and will be named in the city on April 24.