Eclipse Review - Pre-Inaugural Naming Ceremony 2nt Cruise

Well, what a lovely ship...!!

We have cruised on many ships - RCI Navigator, RCI Vision, Celebrity Infinity, Celebrity Mercury, Crystal Symphony, Silver Whisper, Azamara Quest, NCL Jewel, Grand Princess.. and this has to be the nicest ships we have been on. Obviously it is brand new and very high-spec, whereas some of the other ships have been around a bit now, but it's also about the planning and thought that has gone into creating the whole package of something for everyone very tastefully.

The decor throughout the ship is luxurious and well planned,

- great layout and nice choice of areas to drink and enjoy the surrounding events

- excellent staff as always (met a few waiters we have sailed with before)

- excellent acrobatic production show in the theatre - one of the best shows at sea that I have ever seen

- love the on-board "roaming" entertainment

- glass-blowing show really adds something new in terms of entertainment and learning - absolutely fascinating to watch

- all the dining locations offering good quality food - and such a huge range of choice! The food was excellent everywhere including the buffet, which has been a let down on other ships. Particularly like the spacious aft deck on 14 to dine out and sit on the comfy sofas

- How could I not mention the Cafe al Bacio & Gelateria, Bistro on 5...

- nice mix of on-board shops and boutiques

- loved the garden area up on deck 15 with the sofas and chairs, though it did make me smile to see a man mowing the lawn whilst at sea:D

- Loved all the nice relaxing sofas on the pool deck and also above on deck 15

The staterooms are modern and practical with nice touches: (reminded me of the decor on the Azamara Quest)

- loved the nightlight in the bathrooms, plus lots of storage in bathroom

- kettle with tea/coffee in statrooms,

- lovely quality furnishings and patio furniture, but the sofa is a little hard...

I am sure a lot of you have already cruised Solstice class ships so I am not telling you anything you don't know, but suffice to say I would very happily cruise on this ship now:) I am always worried that you have no personal space on large ships with lots of passengers, but this was not the case here, we never felt crowded or had to queue for anything.

Obviously everything was free in terms of food and drinks for us on this 2 night pre-inaugural cruise so I cannot comment on being "nickel and dimed" but I do imagine that if you subscribed to all the speciality restaurants and coffee shops (is the gelateria free?) then your ship board account would be hammered, but at least what you pay for is of an excellent quality.

We ate in the Tuscan Grill one evening and the food was very good. We sampled food from the Murano and would have loved to have eaten there based on that sampling. I think the surcharge is $30pp? but but having tasted the food I would definitely want to book an evening there.

What's new? Qsine Speciality Dining room with computerised menus where you should try to eat with friends in a group. You simply "touch" your choices on the large I-pod style computerised menu and they bring you your food. It's all about trying and sharing different foods in a tapas style environment. I have photos of the menu but I am not sure on how to post them. Will have a go at that later... Again, I would love to give this dining room a trial also.

Wonderful ship!

Linda

Lisa, thanks for your report and I'm glad you eventually made it to see the ship!

Phil

Thanks for your review - so glad you were able to enjoy this trip after all the problems last week. What did your mum make of it all?

Thanks for your review - so glad you were able to enjoy this trip after all the problems last week. What did your mum make of it all?

She absolutely loved it. If Eclipse continues to be based in Southamton going forward, I can see us replacing our annual "girlie" RCI 4 night Med cruise to with one out of Southampton.:)

I just wish the cruiselines in general would include some 3-4 nighters to Jersey/Guernsey instead of Zeebrugge and Le Havre all the time...:rolleyes:

Just a quick comment to add to your Gelato (?)

The Gelato is not free in the Coffee bar/Shop on deck 5 - it is $3 plus tip (15%) for two scoops in either a bowl or a cone and any toppings (M&M, sugar sprinkles, chocolate shavings) you want are free!

Hi Linda,

Thanks for posting your Eclipse review. Sounds like another winner in the S Class! As a Brit who now lives stateside, I hope they keep all the British touches when she sails the Caribbean route.

I am intrigued by Qsine and would sail this ship just to try it. How cool - ordering from ipads! How was the food? Sure sounds interesting. How were the shows if you saw any other than the Cirque production?

Hope you can post your pics and menus. I know there are many of us anxiously waiting Eclipse news.

Glad you and your mum had a wonderful trip after all the delays.

Hi Linda,

Thank you so much for taking the time to post such a lovely review of the ship. Eclipse sounds simply amazing and so well thought out. We have cruised on the M class ships and the Azamara Quest (which we LOVED) ....sounds like we will enjoy the Eclipse just as much if not more!!

We can hardly wait to set sail on June 1st to the Canary Islands. We haven't been on a ship in 2 years and it has been way too long!!

Happy Sailings,

Nancy

Just a quick comment to add to your Gelato (?)

The Gelato is not free in the Coffee bar/Shop on deck 5 - it is $3 plus tip (15%) for two scoops in either a bowl or a cone and any toppings (M&M, sugar sprinkles, chocolate shavings) you want are free!

I didn't think it would be free...;) that was what I was referring to when I said how much nickle and diming is there.

Should it not be included, when you pay a premium for Celebrity?

Menus and photos from the Qsine Dining Room.

I do have better clarity photos, but just don't know how to paste them into this post....

Main Dining Room

Hammock on the pool deck

Kettle in Stateroom 1291

Lovely sofas up on Deck 15

Murano Food Sampling (for the pre-inaugural cruise)

Main Dining Room

Hammock on the pool deck

Kettle in Stateroom 1291

Lovely sofas up on Deck 15

Murano Food Sampling (for the pre-inaugural cruise)

Hi Lbacwith:

Thanks for posting your pictures.

Is that a water pitcher I see on the tray on your desk?

We have heard that water pitchers are being removed. What was your experience?

Thanks for all your posts.

Hi Lbacwith:

 

Thanks for posting your pictures.

 

Is that a water pitcher I see on the tray on your desk?

 

We have heard that water pitchers are being removed. What was your experience?

 

Thanks for all your posts.

No water pitcher - just glasses and icebucket (which was empty on our cruise) and a bottle of Evian water (which I am guessing you would pay for on a normal cruise.

On the kettle tray is a kettle, 2 glass cups, tea & sugar (no milk for some reason...)

You're welcome:)

No water pitcher - just glasses and icebucket (which was empty on our cruise) and a bottle of Evian water (which I am guessing you would pay for on a normal cruise.

 

On the kettle tray is a kettle, 2 glass cups, tea & sugar (no milk for some reason...)

 

You're welcome:)

LOL...I was just posting a thread about kettles when it occurred to me that THAT is what was probably on your tray ;). Thanks for taking the time to answer.

I'm really pleased about the kettle, though. You can't have a proper cup of tea without fresh water, fresh off the boil. Celebrity just gets better and better.

Do you know what brand of tea they were offering? Is it Bigelow in the staterooms?

LOL...I was just posting a thread about kettles when it occurred to me that THAT is what was probably on your tray ;). Thanks for taking the time to answer.

 

I'm really pleased about the kettle, though. You can't have a proper cup of tea without fresh water, fresh off the boil. Celebrity just gets better and better.

 

Do you know what brand of tea they were offering? Is it Bigelow in the staterooms?

They had lovely fruit tea bags up in the buffet which I took to drink in our stateroom.;) It was a brand of tea I had not come across before - they had all the usual breakfast /earl grey etc as well as the fruit ones (mint / mango etc)and were OK so long as you used boiling water....

I agree you need BOILING water to make a good cup of tea!:D