Eclipse's first Baltic cruise - any reports yet?

Anybody out there just back with info from this cruise? Really anxious the hear about the port experiences and the ship. Am especially interested in knowing what nights were formal. Also, for anyone who ate in Quisine on formal night - was the dress code formal in that restaurant as well? When I called The Captain's Club at Celebrity, they said that smart casual was acceptable in Quisine on formal nights because it is unique and different and not a "formal" type of restaurant Just wondered what those on board observed in that respect. Thanks.

Hi Ladycruiser, arrived home yesterday after getting back from our Eclipse cruise. I haven't looked yet to see if anyone has posted a review. Still unpacking the suitcase and unwrapping my treasures I purchased.

The cruise was terrific and the ship is stunning. We were lucky enough to have good weather on all of our port days. Infact, St. Petersburg was down right hot!

The only ship excursion we had booked was for Helsinki but it got cancelled due to fog coming in. Our ship was not allowed to dock until it burned off so we were quite late in getting in. Once it burned off though it was a beautiful day. We did a private excursion (Friends of Dave walking tour) in Germany and took an Anasatia tour with other CC friends in St. Petersburg. All other ports we took the ship shuttle into town. We also took the train north in Copenhagen and went to visit Karin Blixen's home on our own.

Formal nights: The first day at Sea (Sunday), 2nd day (it was either Friday or Saturday I think) and the last one was the last Wednesday of the trip. We went to Quisine on Monday night. My suggestion for Quisine is to go with more than 2 people. You will get more out of it and it makes it much more interesting. We talked with many people who went with groups & just couples, and it was defintily the groups that enjoyed it the most to get the whole experience of Quisine. Lesson learned for us.

Ship's staff were amazing. We had great service throughout the trip. Loved our dinner companions and our fellow CC'ers.

Anne

You have booked fixed seatings?

It's also possible to book select dining where you eat when you want --> I think it's better ;)

I did Eclipse first three cruises (all short cruises) and she is a terrific ship. She has her own feel to her even though she is similar in layout to Solstice and Equinox.

The service throughout was excellent.

All the dining venues were good although the Blu was the best - - excellent and creative food.

Quisine is a lot of fun. The food is presented in a clever way - - in boxes, on shelves etc. And they are very creative, blending different flavors and presenting novel combinations. The only problem with the sharing concept is that you have to share the food - - after one bite of each dish, you want to have it all for yourself.

We also just returned from the May 7th Baltic. The Eclipse is a beautiful ship and the staff was top notch as far as service goes. Formal nights were not as totally formal as the Celebrity fashion police had indicated. There were about 1/3rd tuxes, 1/3 suits, and 1/3 sport coat. I even saw 2 people in blue jeans and one in a golf shirt with sport coat. Yes, some were dressed to the hilt and others not so formal at all (the women). And, no one was stopped or embarassed. The food in the main dining room was pretty good. We did not go to the specialty restaurants for dinner but tried Bistro on 5 twice for lunch and it was pretty good. We went to the buffet on one of the formal nights as we are not too into the formal scene and it was really disappointing. Only a small section was open and the selection was poor, unlike RCCL. The port experiences were good ones. The ship was always cleared quickly and off we went. We were delayed by fog, as noted in Cruisin Kayaker's post in Helsinki, but they eventually re-opened the port and the captain gave us additional time there and also opened all of the pay per view movies for free. They did have to cancel some of the tours. It really was a wonderful cruise in all aspects and the weather cooperated and seas were totally smooth except for a bit of waves for a short period on our return where the North Atlantic meets the Baltic. It was hot in St. Petersburg and unfortunately, our mini bus with Anastasia tours, the a/c was not working. The big negative was the the internet cafe with the Mac notebooks which had major issues and the internet was down quite a bit. This was a great itinerary on a great ship and we are booked on her again in Oct. 2011 for the transatlantic.:)

Hi Joyce and Randy

Glad to hear everything is OK with the Eclipse. Got a few questions. Are the staterooms as short on storage space for clothes as everyone says? Did you have a shuttle bus at Zeebrugge (or any other port) and was it free? Did you walk out of the dock yard at Helsinki and if so, was it easy ? (Current info on this is a bit sketchy). Did you use the HOHO boat at Stockholm? If so, where did you pay (before or after boarding) and did it go to the Vasa first or to the city first? How many trivia's did you win and was Sri Lanka an answer!? Did you manage to do Greenwich on your return and did it work out to plan?

Hopefully you'll do a proper review later. I'll be interested to read it.

Simon

Can anybody just returning comment on the dress code in Quisine on formal nites. Captain's Club told me just two days ago that smart casual was acceptable in that restuarant on formal nights because of the nature of that restaurant. I'd like to have someone who saw this first-hand give me some feedback. Since we are not bringing formal clothes, we'd like to make a reso in Quisine for one of the three formal nights. Our plan is to eat in Bistro on 5 for the other formal nights.

We are scheduled to dock in Rotterdam at 9. Did you get there early and get off early? Was yours a 14 night and with 2 or 3 formal nights. Thanks. M

Hi Joyce and Randy

 

Glad to hear everything is OK with the Eclipse. Got a few questions. Are the staterooms as short on storage space for clothes as everyone says? Did you have a shuttle bus at Zeebrugge (or any other port) and was it free? Did you walk out of the dock yard at Helsinki and if so, was it easy ? (Current info on this is a bit sketchy). Did you use the HOHO boat at Stockholm? If so, where did you pay (before or after boarding) and did it go to the Vasa first or to the city first? How many trivia's did you win and was Sri Lanka an answer!? Did you manage to do Greenwich on your return and did it work out to plan?

 

Hopefully you'll do a proper review later. I'll be interested to read it.

 

Simon

Hi Simon and Jane,

Yes, our cabin was a very tight fit for 3 adults and the storage space was less than what we have had on RCCL. The closet was smaller but the trade off was the (a bit) larger bathroom. As for Zeebrugge, we had a private taxi van from Brugse taxi so I am not sure about the shuttle. I had heard that there was one but that it did not go to Brugges. Can't help you there. For Helsinki, we used the Celebrity shuttle and it was free, but they said it was because when we arrived, the port was closed to us due to thick fog. We had to wait several hours before we could enter. Several tours were cancelled. The captain extended the hours in port and for us, and most things were closed due to it being a national holiday. Our daughter took a bike tour there (through Celebrity) and had a wonderful time. As far as the HOHO boat In Stockholm, we took the HOHO bus which was right at the dock. They told us the HOHO boat did not start until 10:45am, but after reading posts from others who took it, this was incorrect. When the HOHO bus went into town, we had to switch from that bus (yellow HOHO) to the blue line HOHO. It went straight to the Vasa, which was very interesting (and crowded). We paid for the HOHO before we got on. Then we were told by the Celebrity people that the HOHO did not return you to the ship, so we took the shuttle and had to buy a day pass. We found that they lied to us so the shore excursion desk refunded half of the money. The yellow HOHO does bring you back to the ship. Though they had trivia several times a day, we never played. You guys were not there so it was not the same and no Joff! We did not get to Greenwich as I think we were all so tired of sightseeing. Maybe next time. We signed up for the Oct. 2011 transatlantic on the Eclipse due to the 2 category upgrade and the $200 OBC while on the ship. Wish you could join us!

Joyce

Thanks for the info Joyce. If you do a proper review, will you put a link on this post as I'm sure we'd all be interested to read it.

We won't make the TA I'm afraid as we are saving our pennies to go round the Horn in 2012 (see countdown clocks for details!).

Simon and Jane

We are also just back off the Eclipse Baltic cruise. Wonderful ship, superb staff all contributed to a great cruise. Just a couple of points. We also had a couple of people on a formal night who obviously decided it was too much effort to dress for the occasion. He was in jumper and slacks and she was in a skirt, jumper and boots. I sometimes wonder if these sort of people are exhibitionists who like to draw attention to themselves.

We are smokers and always adhere to the smoking arrangements whatever ship we are on. Lots of people complaining that smoking on balconies was not allowed. This was clearly stated in the brochure had they bothered to read it.

We will certainly go on this ship again. Over the years we have always gone P&O and this was the first time with another line. Would recommend it to anyone.

regards

Bilgekeel

As a passenger on the June 12 Eclipse Baltic, it is great to read the comments on this thread.

What I am eagerly awaiting are the full reviews of this cruise. I hope that quite a few will take the time to submit detailed comments about the ship, ports, entertainment, food, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera:)

Cruizin Kayakers covered most of it! The Eclipse is a beautiful ship with a staff who show their pride in her with their attention to detail and passenger comfort. While we didn't dine in Q., table mates did on formal nights because they could dress in smart casual and gave it excellent reviews as a novel and tasty dining experience.

We did not do any of the ship's shore excursions as we are independent cruisers. We did take the ship's shuttle in Zeebruggen since we hadn't been able to find any other means to get into town. Our guide on our shuttle gave inaccurate directions to the driver so we missed the exit and took much longer getting into town than the advertised 20 minutes! That port is a commercial port so it is quite a distance to get from the ship out of the area where the "boxes" are stacked and onto the street and then to the highway leading to Brugges. The town is quaint and interesting.

We took the shuttle into Helsinki also because of the fog delay getting into port causing us to cancel our pre-arranged rental car. We walked to the main sights including the Rock Church with its amazing accoustics as demonstrated by a group of choir members who were rehearsing (apparently.) People on one of the tours might be able to tell you more than we were able to learn. We walked all over Stolckhom seeing the sights and studying our tour guidebooks. In St. Petersburg we had hired Alla Tours with a guide and driver for the two days which we shared with a couple from Argentina. We had phenomenal weather so really enjoyed the gardens and fountains at the palaces. We saw so much--palaces, churches, museums, gardens, countryside, canals, beaches--we really got the feel for this beautiful city. Be sure your tour includes several hours in the Hermitage. We would like to do this cruise again but take the excursion to Moscow. People who did that got to go into the Kremlin and really had a memorable experience, although this is a very long day and night! Also, we walked from the ship into Copenhagen as well as Tallin. In Copenhagen, we rented a car and drove out to the countryside. If you drive over the bridge to Fenen, be aware that the toll is high--about $35.00 US each way! Nice bridge, but a pricey toll! Tallin, Esotonia, is such a quaint city very friendly to the cruise ship passengers. It is much more relaxed than St. Petersburg with it's quaint medevial walled city, delicious chocolate shops, and majestic old cathedral. It was a perfect final port of call for this cruise.

The three formal nights were spread out over the 14 days. Sometimes we ate upstairs in the buffet in the evenings. We loved the views from that level of the ship, especially at sunset. It is much quieter than in the dining room. We enjoy the calm peacefulness without lots of people around part of the time on these longer cruises.

One thing we observed was that local entertainment from the ports of call, when in port into the evening, was not brought onto the ship. On past cruises with Celebrity in South America, local groups come aboard and do evening shows. Not so, this trip. We sort of hoped that there might be some ballet since we were in St. Petersburg overnight. The entertainment was pretty much the ship's singers, dancers and musicians. The various musical groups also performed around the ship at various times and were quite good. A British Comedian and a juggler also performed. And one more thing, that grass lawn up on the top deck is as green and plush as a golf course complete with automatic sprinkler system! Croquet is a bit tricky on a moving ship!

Overall this was an excellent cruise. We've been on 18 cruises with 5 on Celebrity ships and love gaining new experiences every time we set sail.

What entrees were offered in the buffet in the evening? M

Can anyone who has been on both the Solstice and the Eclipse tell me if there are any differences in the Cabins ie: storage, furniture, etc?

Thanks!

What entrees were offered in the buffet in the evening? M

We ate in the buffet on one formal night and were disappointed as there were only a few sections open, unlike lunch (which was pretty good and plentiful). The entrees on that night were the requisite pastas and pizzas. Salad, too, plus just a few entrees. Not like the evening spread on RCCL. I can't remember specifically what entrees were offered, but it was very limited. We did not dine there in the evening again. Just wanted to add that not everyone in the MDR dressed up for formal night. I actually saw some blue jeans on the men and I saw one guy with a golf shirt and a sport coat in our section. We also saw some women that were not that dressed up either. It surprised me because I had read on the Celebrity forum that you would be asked to leave, embarrassed, or offered a sport coat, etc. None of that happened and no one cared.