Newbie just off Eclipse - Med cruise (mini review) - questions welcome

Hi,

Many thanks for all your help before our cruise to the Med 7 Sept - 14 Sept... just back and would welcome any questions on the ship or itinerary.

This was our first cruise and as Newbies we had a few concerns before going - sea sickness, enough to do, minuscule rooms, snobby, edible food, cleanliness, drunkenness, dress code. would the ship be big enough, too big.

We are English and previous to this we had mainly done long haul holidays to the Far East and America. Normally, where budget allows, we try to stay in the better hotels such Mandarin Oriental, Shangri La, Ritz carlton, Four Seasons etc. We normally do 4-5 nights and move on. So 14 nights at sea with same 2800 guests and 1200 staff was always going to be a VERY different holiday.

The cruise was 14 days Southampton - at sea x 2, Gibraltar, at sea, Ville France Sur Mer, Rome, Florence, Genoa, At sea, Malaga, Lisbon, at sea x 2, Southampton and in port we did a mixture of ship arranged tours and some self-guided wondering around (the latter with mixed success).

We booked a guaranteed Balcony stateroom and was pleased to find out we were upgraded to an 8th floor room portside - aft. About as far away from the lifts as possible but still very easy - the less mobile would probably prefer a room nearer the lifts.

SWMBO and I had a wonderful time and loved our time aboard the ship and the cruise. Here's a quick review I'll try and do a full review in due course when we've recovered.

key points -

First impressions at Southampton were amazing - the ship looks stunning. I'd recommend ABP parking at the port - you park right next to the ship and your luggage is collected right by your car. Embarkation was straight forward. we boarded the ship at 1.30pm and our stateroom was immediately available.

No sea sickness whatsoever - most of the time you'd struggle to know you were at sea it was so calm - even through the bay of Biscay. There were a couple of slightly bumpy times and we heard a couple of people didn't feel great but we were fine.

We found the other passengers on board very friendly, down to earth and sociable. We had excellent dinner companions at our fixed time dining in the MDR. If there were snobby people on board we didn't bump into them.

In our early to mid forties we were certainly in the younger age bracket on the ship (which was full) the majority of people I would guess were over 60. As the cruise was during term time there were probably less than 30 children on board the majority of which were very young. Not surprisingly the majority of the passengers (about 2/3) were Brits - followed by USA / Canada - with a sprinkling of virtually every other nationality.

We really enjoyed the food on board - extra veg was always available in the MDR and within reason you could mix it up how you wanted. Each night you had a different menu, as well as selection of favourites (the mains on these were ona 3 day rotation). Our enjoyment of the food was no doubt helped by the fact we had lovely dining companions and excellent waiters and we didn't feel the need to dine in specialty restaurants. We did eat in the other no fee restaurants at various times as well. the buffet was very good - with a very extensive selection of foods (not in mini portions as some Celebrity Ships may be now doing). Whilst it was very good we have been perhaps spoiled by some of the buffets found in hotels in Asia and it probably wasn't quite up to those standards.

We did hear one person moaning that they thought the ship was looking tatty. We found this unbelievable. Everywhere looked in excellent condition and very clean. In addition, at every food venue there were automatic anti-bacterial gel dispensers as well as staff dishing the stuff out. Most guests seemed to clean there hands with the stuff, as did we, whenever they passed by one and we heard of no incidents of norovirus.

There was plenty to do on the ship with a different act every night in the main theatre. Each show lasted about an hour and was run twice each night. There were additional shows during sea days of different acts as well as small shows in the ship's smaller theatre - Celebrity Central. Some of the free activities, such as Galley tours, were linked to trying to sell you something at the end, like the specialty restaurants. One slight criticism would be that the progressive competitions weren't explained to us early on and if you miss day 1 you really have no chance after that. So if you want to play in a progressive tournament you need to attend each one on a sea day from the first sea day!!

Our stateroom was much more spacious than we expected - very clean and always made up when we expected it to be.It was very comfortable for 2 weeks for 2 people. Cabin stewards were very attentive and friendly, as were all staff we encountered - we decide to pre pay out gratuties in advance. The bathroom was always well stocked with toiletries but Celebrity doesn't offer shower gel in regular cabin which is a mistake in my opinion - even a 2 star Premier Inn provides shower gel. The TV service was OK - a lot of News channels but not much else. There was a reasonable selection of free and paid for on-demand movie channels. Oddly, by far the biggest selection of movies appeared under a category called XXX - strange as no one ever watches these channels.

SWMBO doesn't drink and I don't drink much so we didn't bother with a drinks package. Surprisingly, perhaps, we didn't see any signs of obvious drunkenness and what often follows. Paid for drinks were very expensive - I'm used to eating and drinking in London hotels and these were even higher. We were surprised to find that a our drinks bill at a fancy bar in Portofino was actually less than on the ship for the same drinks! The portion size and quality of wine (given the $10 fee) one evening in the sunset bar was very poor - the wine was unmeasured. Better deals were available during happy hours at some bars - happy hours weren't heavily promoted. Free tea, coffee water and a variety of juices were always available in the main restaurants and these were not too bad at all.

Staff were unfailingly polite and friendly. Stewards must get pictures of you as you check in as our steward, when we first met him, said "hello Mr DYKWIA and Ms SWMBO". The staff in the MDR were excellent. Also, a special mention about the young Jamaican man who was the coffee man in the Ocean View Cafe - he was very funny and engaging with his singing and jokes. I'm sure that those of you who have been on eclipse recently will know him.

Dress Code- there were 3 formal nights and most people dressed up for the occasion. Formal dress only applied to the MDR and I would say over half of the men wore a Dinner Jacket and bow tie. I wore a dark suit and tie and certainly didn't feel under dressed or out of place. We didn't spot any obvious complete disregard for the dress code in the MDR. On other nights it was "smart casual" and this was again no problem for us and again the dress code appeared to be followed by all.

As Newbie's We did find some of the cruise ship practices a little bit strange. During the Captain's introduction speech in the main theatre we found it peculiar the whole audience was expected to give a round of applause during a presentation to the most traveled couple / highest status passenger aboard the ship - presumably some millionaire who virtually lives aboard, lucky them. The Captain's formal introduction to senior officers also made us giggle, when we found ourselves giving a rapturous round of applause to .... the Head of Human Resources.

Getting on and off the ship was very easy. During ports those booked on tours were escorted off the ship in an operation the military would be proud of. Security to get back on the ship was tight - with metal detectors and scanners in use at all ports. For all ports of entry including the UK at the end of the tour only a room key was needed; We showed our passport only once and that was to board the ship in Southampton, it wasn't needed on our return to the UK - that surprised us.

Shopping - good selection of shops on board selling some good branded stuff and some not so good stuff (dodgy watches of unknown provenance with supposedly 90% off). Duty Free prices in the shop were keen and cheaper than the one Duty Free Port (Gibraltar).

Casino - we played in the casino a few nights but found the fruit machines very very tight.

Was the ship too big? - for us, no - we loved the bustling, lively, but still comfortably classy atmosphere. Despite the ship being full, we always found a lounger and usually got very quick service. The shows were generally full but you could always get a seat with 5 mins to spare. Service in the MDR was reasonably fast. Only one time was it a bit manic and that was immediately after the muster drill in Southampton when everyone tried to return from their muster stations to their favourite spots for the sail away. 2800 passengers all trying to use the lifts at the same time is never going to be a pretty sight.

Disembarkation - we chose to carry our own luggage off the ship and were off the ship by 6.10am and to our amazement were in our car and on the road by 6.27 am - brilliant!

Would we cruise again? yes definitely. We really enjoyed it. We loved the Celebrity Eclipse - we didn't want a ship with wave machines and flow riders - but we did want good food, nice clean accommodation, a friendly relaxed atmosphere and good entertainment and that's what we got. Drinks are very expensive and the cost and provision of internet is not in keeping with the times in my opinion. I'm still not sure that some practices within the cruise industry are what should be happening in this day and age - but these discussions are perhaps for another time.

I do have an apology to make despite signing up for Cruise Connections meeting we weren't able to make it or the planned sail away party at the Sunset Bar. Maybe next time....

Regards

DYKWIA

Glad to hear you had a great time on your first cruise! It is always nice to hear such a positive review and great observations coming from someone new to cruising. We will be on the Eclipse this December for a 14nt Christmas/New Years cruise and cannot wait!

Hopefully this experience will have you cruising again soon!

Cheers!

Do You Know Who I Am?,

Thanks for posting. :)

Appreciate your detailed report and that things went very well on your first cruise. Tell us more on your port stops, what you loved most, where you needed more time, any disappointments, etc. As detailed below, we have done parts of the Med and the port options are so many, so great, etc., in this great region of the world.

We are especially interested in Lisbon. What did you do there? Have been to 22 different countries in Europe, but we have not yet been to that historic city and that nation.

Where are you planning for your next cruise?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 184,360 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Mini Port review

Gibraltar - We did our own thing. Strange stop here as it was their national day and they're very patriotic. As a result virtually all shops in this duty free port were closed and every bar and restaurant full with partying locals all in red and white. We had a stroll around the city and took in the party atmosphere. We tried to do the cable car but there was a 90 minute wait. We heard a couple on the ship moaning that the locals should have forgone their national day of celebration in order to cater for the cruise ship. If we were to do Gibraltar again (and we probably would never advise choosing a cruise just to do Gibraltar we would probably try and book a trip to go up the cable car.

Villefrance - Again we did our own thing. A very enjoyable day. Villefrance is a very small and pretty hillside harbour town in the next bay to Nice. This was our only Tender Port and we were on the 4th tender ashore after a 5 minute wait for a ticket. We were due in at 10am I think and were ashore by 10.35am. Lots of tiny charming little shops and restaurants in Villefrance and not expensive. It's a short walk to the train station where there in one direction you travel to Nice and Cannes and the other way to Monaco. Even with our basic knowledge of french we worked out the ticket machines and it was a cheap. 6 mins later and 2 stops and we arrived at Nice main station from where we strolled down a pleasant boulevard to the old town and flower market. From there we had lunch, strolled back along the promenade to the Negresco hotel and then to the station and a quick journey back to Villefrance where we spent the rest of the afternoon on the small but perfectly nice beach. We would definitely go back to Villefrance - charming little town.

Rome We did a ship tour here, The Taste of Rome. About 10 hours off the ship. Enjoyed Rome but it was a hot a tiring day. After a 90 minute drive (a good proportion of which seems to involve driving in the opposite direction to drive past the ship again 10 mins later) we arrived in Rome. We were taken to St Peter's Basillica and given about 45 mins of information by the guide after which we were free to do our own thing for a 3 hours. We went into St Peter's and then strolled over to Piazzo Navona. We indulged in delicious Gelato here before heading to the Pantheon. From here we headed over to the Trevi Fountain which is in our opinion, until the renovations are complete, is not worth the walk. Time was now pressing on so we headed back to St Peter's to meet our guide from an afternoon tour of the Acropolis. A very enjoyable trip, but too much for one day.

Florence. Perhaps the most surprising day. If we're honest we weren't really looking forward to this. We had booked the ship's taste of Florence tour and we were still very tired from the previous day in Rome. We dreaded a day on our feet looking a statues. We were surprised to find that Florence is much more compact than Rome and is very easy to do on foot. Our tour featured a 3 hour guided tour on foot of the main sites (external only). This was followed by 3 hours to our self during which we strolled around eating delicious gelato, shopping and enjoying a couple of drinks in street cafes. Our trip back to the port of Livorno was via a leather factory - as it was Sunday the factory was closed but the shop was open for business - prices seemed very high.

Genoa - We were tempted to go to Portofino by ourselves it seemed doable on the train we were told the station was 20 minutes away and we were still tired from Florence and Rome on the previous 2 days- at the last moment we decided to do a Portofino and st margherita advertised as "on your own" but a ship tour. On your own - what nonsense, there were 7 coaches of us. All trundling through the tunnels of Genoa to the pretty resort of Rapallo and St Margaherita - where we given a mini tour and told to meet on mass for our 15 minute boat trip to Portofino. About 300 of us were on this boat and the boats were leaving every 10 - 15 minutes. Portofino was very pretty and not as expensive as we thought it would be, but it was packed with tourists. We had about 90 minutes to our self after which we shipped and then coached back to Genoa. This wasn't the trip we thought it was going to be. Portofino and St Margherita were both very pretty but we're not sure we'd go back, if we did we would DEFINITELY do it ourselves. Genoa looked nice from the ship but we were told that this is the best view and there isn't much to do there.

Malaga We did our own thing, previous holidays to this area meant we had seen many things already and decided to spend the day strolling around the pleasant port and streets of Malaga. Lots of nice shops and bars made for a pleasant day.

Lisbon Again we did our own thing and this was probably a bit of a disappointment. The journey in to the port by ship is interesting under the bridge and past Tui's Mein Schiff ship which was in port (This we think is the ship that featured in BBC's The Cruise and used to be the Celebrity Galaxy - again "we think!"). Perhaps we needed a guide here but Lisbon seemed to lack a wow factor for us. We went on the much heralded no 28 tram - it was rammed and trundled through a few non-descript streets before reaching a graveyard. Most people got off, look bemused and then queued up to go back to the city. Shopping here wasn't as interesting or varied as elsewhere on our tour but there were a few nice street cafes. We probably didn't do this city justice - two of our dining companions had an organised tour and enjoyed it and perhaps if we went back that's what we'd do next time. Word of warning this was the only port we were aware of crime. Two people on the cruise were robbed of not insignificant sums of money whilst in the port by pickpockets.

Southampton We didn't do anything here - we're from England and just used the port as a start and end point. The ship pamphlet said that the City of Southampton is known as the most happening place on the South Coast and it also known as England's most environmentally friendly city. Presumably, if you ignore the shipping port and oil refinery :-) . I'm VERY suspicious about both of these claims for the city!

Lisbon Again we did our own thing and this was probably a bit of a disappointment. The journey in to the port by ship is interesting under the bridge and past Tui's Mein Schiff ship which was in port (This we think is the ship that featured in BBC's The Cruise and used to be the Celebrity Galaxy - again "we think!"). Perhaps we needed a guide here but Lisbon seemed to lack a wow factor for us. We went on the much heralded no 28 tram - it was rammed and trundled through a few non-descript streets before reaching a graveyard. Most people got off, look bemused and then queued up to go back to the city. Shopping here wasn't as interesting or varied as elsewhere on our tour but there were a few nice street cafes. We probably didn't do this city justice - two of our dining companions had an organised tour and enjoyed it and perhaps if we went back that's what we'd do next time. Word of warning this was the only port we were aware of crime. Two people on the cruise were robbed of not insignificant sums of money whilst in the port by pickpockets.

Appreciate this overall port info and especially your experiences in Lisbon. That port is on our future "to-do" listing. But, next up is a Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo back-to-back sailing over 26 days. Got to escape the Midwest winter cold at this time of the year.

THANKS for your sharing! Keep up the good work with this information and background. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 78,716 views for this fun posting.

Wonderful report!

And very glad you found that the day to day negative vibe of some post's here on CC, are not the experience you have once on a Celebrity ship.

Thank your for your great review.

Wonderful report!

 

And very glad you found that the day to day negative vibe of some post's here on CC, are not the experience you have once on a Celebrity ship.

The vast majority of people we met loved the cruise and were big fans of Celebrity. There were a few people we heard making formal and informal complaints to guest relations and others about either trivial or crazy issues - some of my favourites we heard

- a person complaining to Guest relations she didn't like the little bottles of toiletries and wanted the big squeezy bottles attached to the walls "like they have in proper hotels" - really?

- the person saying that the people of Gibraltar should cancel their national holiday because the ship was in

- A British person moaning that she's not a fussy eater but she could never find anything to eat in the MDR, this person went onto say that the entertainment was aimed too much at the British on board and that there was no way anyone from the USA would understand or enjoy such rubbish (well our dining companions from the USA loved it)

- Someone moaning that the ship was in a very tatty condition (nonsense)

did find it bizarre this was a holiday and no one made these people come on board - I felt like saying "you can get off and go home you know"

We do share a small gripe with quite a few reviewers of recent Eclipse cruisers, the house band The Spitfires did seem to be a bit lackluster and the male singer did seem permanently off key. We didn't let this spoil our enjoyment however.

Hi, thanks for the review, did you have to pay vat on your ship purchase and drinks

...did you have to pay vat on your ship purchase and drinks

No, the cruise was VAT and Duty Free throughout - others may be better able to explain why - might have something to do with Gibraltar being tax free or that we sailed far enough out into the Atlantic

Great insight into the Eclipse DYKWIA

We are Celebrity newbies as well (although cruised once before on Ventura in the Med) We're on the Eclipse in 5 weeks and have opted for select dining (anytime) to give us flexibility with shore trips and sea days.

Interested to know if the main Theatre shows are on at the same time each night i.e. 7pm and 9pm or do they vary ? Just trying to gauge if we pre book dinner reservations each night so not to miss both shows .... Or do they vary each night ?

Thanks

Stuart

Was Sue Denning the Cruise Director?

We were on this cruise and I'd like to heartily agree with everything the OP has said. The cruise was fantastic, ship in tip top condition, food excellent, we didn't hear any whinging, but the odd comment here and there never surprises me!

I'd also like to thank the OP for his port reviews. We nearly did the Portofino jaunt, and decided it looked too much like herding sheep. So glad having read the review that we did our own thing.

Villefranche and Pisa were our highlights. Loved them both.

We had a drinks package but didn't utilise it anywhere near enough to justify paying the extra celebrity want for the same next year. Instead we are booking an inside cabin as the £2k price differential to ocean view which includes the package isn't worth it. No way our bar bill will be £2k!

One final, and sadly sobering point. Lisbon. A favourite city of mine since I first visited as student 20 years ago. Our return this time was marred by the terrible state of the city, graffiti, weeds growing up through the pavements, generally dirty and derelict buildings and, worse of all, five mins outside the port, hubby had his rucksack opened and rifled through. Thankfully, his valuables were hidden deep down in an inner pocket, but on turning round to confront the individual, the alleged thief 'posed' with his girlfriend as a tourist, reading a map, and when hubby went to say something, suddenly scarpered.

Never happened to us anywhere before now, and an experience that for us, at least, ended with no real harm done.

Was Sue Denning the Cruise Director?

yes, seemed to do a great job - appeared to be well liked by those who had experience of other CDs.

Great insight into the Eclipse DYKWIA

 

We are Celebrity newbies as well (although cruised once before on Ventura in the Med) We're on the Eclipse in 5 weeks and have opted for select dining (anytime) to give us flexibility with shore trips and sea days.

 

Interested to know if the main Theatre shows are on at the same time each night i.e. 7pm and 9pm or do they vary ? Just trying to gauge if we pre book dinner reservations each night so not to miss both shows .... Or do they vary each night ?

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

We dined at 6pm each evening and it fitted in well on most days.

Shows on all but the last night were at 8.30pm and 10.30pm - and lasted 50-60 minutes each - so early diners generally would go to the early show and later diners the later show.... except the last night when the first show was 7pm and the last 9pm - so I guess most people swapped shows. The last show ran for about 80 minutes.

Hi.... was on this cruise and agree with most of what you say. Sorry you didn't make the sail away, some did , some didn't...nice of you to comment though:) it was lovely to meet such nice folk and great to be able to catch up with them and hear their views around the ship. Was lovely to meet the folk from both sides of the Atlantic. Hope everyone arrived home safely and for those still travelling..... hope it is as good as the Eclipse part!

I would give special mention to the staff. I have always found them to be a great asset to the company and this time they even surpassed previous experience. The MDR experience was the best ever. The top chef last night menu was wonderful, our sommelier on select dining, Nikolas, was really good - effective, attentive and efficient, the best I have seen on the ships. The buffet was as always - I dispute what some people write on the forum about the staff being slow in there. The staff never stopped cleaning and clearing tables. They were also very helpful to me. In fact I met with a great deal of courtesy and helpfulness and it was much appreciated.

Sue Denning was thankfully back as cruise director as was Perry Grant who played to a full and appreciative venue.

We did dine in Quisine and found it fascinating and very good; thoroughly enjoyed our evening in there but I do have to say the service and food in MDR were excellent. Something new in the Oceanview was a Spanish and Portuguese evening and that was an unexpected treat with a couple of ice sculptures and oysters which my daughter loved ! The next to last sea day saw the creative buffet in there too and the inventiveness and creativity of the catering staff is marvellous to appreciate.

We had the drinks package and probably didn't approach drinking its cost but then we could taste whatever we fancied - and we certainly did in the Cafe Al Bacio! It was nice to be cashless and chitty-signing less.

I disagree re Gibraltar - the shops on the main street were open.....alas as the cigarettes I bought for hubby were dearer it turned out than the ship's prices! The only shop I wanted to visit was a perfumery so I missed that. There were minibus taxis at the port for 20+ Euroes we had a small tour of the Rock, our driver being acquainted with the alph male ape who came and at on his knee in the bus for a photo opportunity!

I always like to stay in Villefranche. It is a lovely port with the little market to browse in and its harbour-side restaurants. We swam in the sea and could see fish beneath us as we swam - just great!

We did a shuttle bus ride from the port entrance to Rome and that worked well. it gave us time to ourselves in Rome which the mild ship's tour didn't. We used the HOHO off bus which worked well for us and we had near 2 hours to spend in St Peter's. I think ne couple inexplicably missed the return of the shuttle. Everyone met at the agreed point and the guide directed us across the road to wait in the shade for the remaining people. When everyone had checked in she escorted us to an underground bus park - somehow 2 people managed to detach themselves and didn't contact the company by the emergency phone no given. After a wait and a hunt the guide's bosses said the bus was to leave. It caused us to have a 20+ min wait but noone really objected - just hoping the missing 2 would turn up but they didn't and the guide was obviously worried about the situation. I have no idea what happened to them.

The Pisa panoramic trip was fine and I finally managed to view the town properly as it had been affected by a downpour the whole trip last year!

I agree totally about Portofino ship's tour. It was a disappointment. It is a trip I probably would not wish to repeat. The coach journey there was interesting.

The weather affected what we did in Malaga - we had planned a nice day on the beach but the overcast weather and early drizzle put paid to that Instead we ordered smoked sardines from a beachside venue and then went to the side of the beach to feed the large number of very lean stray cats!

I like Lisbon. The ship's tram and tour was fine - well quite good really. the problem was the guide lectured us on the coach on a hot day for 35 minutes with us unable to understand why that couldnt have been made shorter and been in the fresh air! In fact she moved us very quickly around the church in 20 mins after that 35 min uncomfortable lecture. We also had 45 mins+ at the Bellem tower area which was somewhat dead time. The tram trip was good though and we really enjoyed it. I agree there is graffiti and weeds about but the city is lovely.

We selected the shows we wished to see. Mike Doyle is very personable and funny.....Nicola the violinist was also very good. The surprise hit for us were the watercolour painting classes. We were hooked and made it to the additional time the organiser gave each session on the sea days. We both intend to keep on painting :)

I like the Eclipse because of its indoor pool. It is possible to swim for fitness in it. I did notice the music more this trip - but it didn't irk me except for when I spent ages trying to locate the bird I thought I could hear..... it turned out to be on the darn tape !

I feel the ship is in very good condition. Yes there are some signs of wear and tear especially n the arm chair type seats in the Oceanview. the ship is kept in immaculately clean condition though and the staff are to be congratulated.

Highlight of the mornings was the captain's broadcast after the Mike Doyle evening show when our captain had been imitated! He took it in very good part and continued the joke re the depth of the water underneath the hull being "very deep.... very very deep" We still giggle at that.

All in all a great cruise, with great staff and many many friendly people.

...."very deep.... very very deep" ....

yes, very funny!!

Mike Doyle surprised me, it was a great act and he engaged with audience wonderfully - SWMBO and I can be a bit too cool for school sometimes and when he came on I thought "I'm going to hate this" - but then I decided"just go with it" and we both ended up loving it, singing along, waving the arms and so on. I wouldn't buy the album but on holiday and in the environment we really enjoyed his act.

My personal favourite was the Chinese magician's face mask trick- I have never seen this before and it was amazing - my only disappointment was that he didn't repeat this part of his large repertoire on the last show - but then that is one of the two rules of magic.

Thank you for taking the time to review your cruise. We are on Eclipse soon and was pleased with your comments about the food and service.

Wonderful to here you had a great cruise. We were on the Eclipse 3 weeks ago and would agree with all of your comments. Staff were just fantastic and Sue is a great cruise director.

The "coffee man" in the Oceanview Cafe is Zievron from Jamaica (incase you wanted his name for the guest survey). He always put a smile on our face in the morning.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Forums mobile app

What great reviews. We thoroughly enjoyed the latest news about Eclipse and others have said it was refreshing not to have a lot of negative comments. We're on the 19th October cruise which calls at Lisbon - thanks for the warnings.