ECLIPSE REVIEW - Feb. 9 - Feb. 23, 2013

We just returned from the 14-night Celebrity Eclipse sailing, Feb. 9 to Feb. 23, 2013. We booked this cruise over a year ago, and were very excited to try Celebrity. Here are my impressions.

WHO ARE WE? We are an active and outgoing 60’ish couple, pretty well traveled, having cruised mainly with RCI, one Carnival cruise, and numerous land trips throughout USA and Europe. We are Diamond-level on RCI, so that allowed us to sail as Elite on Celebrity, which afforded us a unique first experience with X.

PRE-CRUISE/EMBARKATION: We flew from BWI to FLL three days prior to the cruise to visit with friends in Florida. We arrived at Port Everglades at 10:30 on embarkation day (along with almost everyone else we were sailing with!) and waited on a very long line. However, once things got rolling, everything went quickly and smoothly. We were on the ship by 11:45.

THE SHIP: First impression was WOW!!! The Eclipse is beautiful. She is light and airy, with gorgeous artwork throughout the ship, and she is very easy to navigate and figure out. We had no trouble finding our bearings early on. There are numerous nooks and crannies to sit and relax, and watch the world go by. What we liked the best about the ship was how well designed the pool area was with regards to plenty of lounge chairs in the shade. We never had a problem finding chairs, regardless of the time of day, even on sea days. The Solarium was lovely, but we never used it because the air conditioning was too cold. The Lawn area appeared to be a total waste of real estate. The few times we ventured up there, it was dead. We also did not like that there is not a true Promenade deck that goes around the entire ship. That meant limited walking areas on the Promenade, and limited seating on the Promenade.

FOOD & DINING: We booked Select Dining and that was a fiasco the first two nights. The cruise line overbooked Early MDR seating, and consequently half of the dining area that was supposed to be used for Select was turned over to Early seating to accommodate the additional need. Those of us with Select, who had made dining reservations well in advance, pretty much had to wait on long lines to be seated. After the second night of this, I asked for a private meeting with the Dining Room Manager, and to my surprise, he met with me within minutes of my request. He told me that they were working on a solution, and that he would personally seat us at our reserved time every night thereafter. To resolve the problem, the Early MDR folks had their time moved up to 5:30, which I’m not sure they were happy about, but it did solve the problem. I will give kudos to Surjan (the dining room manager) for meeting with me, listening to my complaints, and offering us a solution. By night 3, everything seemed to fall into place.

Our impression of the food, overall, was just fair. We always heard that Celebrity did a great job with their food, but that wasn’t our experience. Certainly we had some very good meals, but many were a true miss. The menus were not impressive at all, and one entrée in particular, was inedible. However, by no means did we go hungry. We did go to Tuscan Grill and Murano’s, and enjoyed both very much. The service and food were impeccable at both venues. The Oceanview Grill did a good job, considering it was buffet food for the masses. We loved the Mast Grill, which without exception, makes the best burgers and fries. No wonder they had long lines all day long!

ENTERTAINMENT: Overall the entertainment was OK. There were some high spots and some misses. The Celebrity singers and dancers did a great job with their shows. Some of the guest performers were better than others. The CD, Sue Denning, was very good, and she is a very talented performer in her own right. She did a one-woman show that was excellent. The house band, Fully Functioning, was not that good. Individually they were very talented, but it seemed like they needed a lot of practice performing together. Without exception, the best entertainment on the ship was the A Cappella group, Top Shelf. It was a pleasure to hear them sing at different venues around the ship. We thoroughly enjoyed them.

Prior to this sailing, we hadn’t heard of Perry Grant. This sailing marked his Eclipse debut, and he clearly has a long and devoted following of fans from previous ships. This sailing also marked his Reunion Cruise, and there were a large number of Perry Grant fans on this sailing. We went to his show twice to check it out, but frankly, he is not our cup of tea.

PORTS: We sailed to 8 islands, some of which we had previously been to. We took a last minute tour in Granada (with a guide we booked when we got off the ship,) and it very good, and very inexpensive ($25 pp, I think.) In St. Lucia, we pre-booked a tour with Cosol, and in St. Maarten, we pre-booked a tour with Bernard’s Tours. Both were good and well worth the money we paid for them. The other islands we either walked, taxied, or took a bus to a beach.

OVERVIEW: We had a wonderful time on this cruise. Overall, we enjoyed the ship, its attentive and pleasant staff, and especially all the Elite perks. Due to the high number of Elites on this sailing, we were given 3 drink coupons each for every evening, with the exception of the first night, and also the night of the Senior Officers Cocktail party. We liked that we could spend the cocktail hour with our friends who were not Elite.

We would definitely consider sailing Celebrity again. I will be happy to answer any questions.

No questions just wanted to thank you for the review.

Thank you for the review.

Thank you for review - we will be on her in just over five weeks! And we booked almost two years ago...

Can you recall which night they did "The Show" (it's called something like that, if I remember correctly) - that's the cirque type show. Also, on the subject of Perry G. did you happen to notice what time his shows finished and whether they had regular music/dancing after him?

Thanks so much.

Welcome home.

We got off Eclipse on Feb 9th.

So we did the two weeks before you got on.

Perry Grant was on that cruise too.

That was his first go at things, and I am with you!!

NOT MY CUP OF TEA either.

He played EVERY night in the Sky Lounge.

It was to bad, as I couldn't stand things long enough to get to spend any real time up there in the evenings.

I would agree with you about Top Shelf.. they were EXCELLENT!!!

Our dining room experience was some what the same.

We ended up getting a Select Dining Time of 6 pm every night at the same table. We liked the wait staff so we stuck it out.

But I had been told it wouldn't be an issue to be moved down to the main floor with the other 14 people we were travelling with.

Seemed they couldn't get the right hand to know what the left hand was doing.

Too bad that hadn't been resolved by the time you guys got on.

Julio was the dining room manager when we were on...

Glad you had a good time.

Thanks for posting.

Chass

Thank you for review - we will be on her in just over five weeks! And we booked almost two years ago...

 

Can you recall which night they did "The Show" (it's called something like that, if I remember correctly) - that's the cirque type show. Also, on the subject of Perry G. did you happen to notice what time his shows finished and whether they had regular music/dancing after him?

 

Thanks so much.

I think the cirque-type show was the 3rd formal night--but I could be mistaken. After a while, all the nights run together in my head! Of all the production shows, that was actually my least favorite.

Perry's shows were in the Sky Lounge (with the exception of one night when he was actually the headliner show in the main theater.) The first time we saw him, we walked out after 15 minutes, but the second time we saw him, we stayed for the whole show because a comedian was going to perform in the Sky Lounge immediately following Perry--and we wanted good seats. It was during that show that I realized I'd had enough of Perry....;)

Welcome home.

We got off Eclipse on Feb 9th.

So we did the two weeks before you got on.

Perry Grant was on that cruise too.

That was his first go at things, and I am with you!!

NOT MY CUP OF TEA either.

He played EVERY night in the Sky Lounge.

It was to bad, as I couldn't stand things long enough to get to spend any real time up there in the evenings.

 

I would agree with you about Top Shelf.. they were EXCELLENT!!!

 

Our dining room experience was some what the same.

We ended up getting a Select Dining Time of 6 pm every night at the same table. We liked the wait staff so we stuck it out.

But I had been told it wouldn't be an issue to be moved down to the main floor with the other 14 people we were travelling with.

Seemed they couldn't get the right hand to know what the left hand was doing.

Too bad that hadn't been resolved by the time you guys got on.

Julio was the dining room manager when we were on...

 

Glad you had a good time.

Thanks for posting.

Chass

During my meeting with the dining room manager, I told him that we have been doing My Time Dining on RCI for several years and that I was surprised that Celebrity hadn't been quite able to figure it out. He actually agreed with me and said that they were aware that they were having problems with it. OK, then FIX IT!!! None of this is rocket science!

Could you please confirm which nights were the formal nights please? Glad to hear that you had a great time - even with a few issues along the way.

For us on the Jan 12 sailing of Eclipse they were 2nd Sea day, Saturday (Barbados), and final Thursday which is also a sea day.

Could you please confirm which nights were the formal nights please? Glad to hear that you had a great time - even with a few issues along the way.

1st formal night was night 2 (1st sea day)

2nd formal night was the night we were in Barbados

3rd formal night was night 13 (final sea day)

We did have a great time, in spite of the few issues. We're also not the kind of people to allow minor bumps along the way spoil a great vacation. Life's too short.....;):D

I think the cirque-type show was the 3rd formal night--but I could be mistaken.

Thank you! I seem to recall it was towards the end on our Solstice cruise so that makes sense.

I'm not a Perry fan either. Sorry to hear he's monopolizing the Sky Lounge every night :(

Were you able to use your Elite drink tickets at any bar and for any drink? If not, what were your choices? Thanks

Were you able to use your Elite drink tickets at any bar and for any drink? If not, what were your choices? Thanks

We used the Elite drink coupons at most bars. The few exceptions were Molecular Bar, and another bar near the cafe on the 5th deck (I think!) The bars we most frequented were the Bar on Deck 3 off the main lobby, the Martini Bar, and bar at the Ensemble lounge, and also at Michael's Club.

Just as a side note: There is a limited list of drinks (meaning mixed drinks) that are allowed for the coupons. Not sure what others' experienced, but after a couple of days of bartenders recognizing me, and appreciating the fact that I gave them a tip with each drink order, we started to order other drinks that were not on the list and they happily obliged. I almost always drink wine--Cabernet, but DH enjoys mixed drinks too.....he liked their daiquiries and Tom Collins. I also enjoyed their Sour Apple Martinis.

Thank you for your great review- it was very interesting to read. I hope their food compartment is not on the downpath. For me - well my next cruise will be QM 2 again. I thought to give Cunard another go!

Michael

Were there any special brunches or buffets? If so, when were they held?

Thanks.

How pleased were you with your cabin space? Have heard many pros and cons...

Thank you for your informative review, keywestK.

I have a question regarding moving the early MDR folks to 5:30. We will be on the Eclipse soon and like the usual 6:00 dining time. On your cruise, was the original early dining time 6:00? We feel 5:30 would be too early; Celebrity should not "overbook" the first seating. That is why you had the problem that you did.

How pleased were you with your cabin space? Have heard many pros and cons...

After I posted my review, I realized I neglected to address the cabin itself. It was smaller than on other ships we sailed on, with weird storage space. There were 5 small drawers, an OK sized closet, and two large storage bins over the bed, which we used for casual clothes--shorts, t-shirts, bathing suits, etc. The bathroom was the BEST we have experienced on any ship. DH and I were both able to be in there at the same time. I never saw a cruise ship bathroom with so much storage space!

Thank you for your informative review, keywestK.

 

I have a question regarding moving the early MDR folks to 5:30. We will be on the Eclipse soon and like the usual 6:00 dining time. On your cruise, was the original early dining time 6:00? We feel 5:30 would be too early; Celebrity should not "overbook" the first seating. That is why you had the problem that you did.

Yes, the original Early MDR time was 6 p.m. It was pushed up to 5:30 in order to free up table space by the 7:00 to 7:30 Select dining time that many of us had already pre-reserved. The dining room manager was aware that X overbooked the Early MDR time, yet he was the one left to deal with the fall out from that. He admitted to me that X has yet to figure out a better system.

Were there any special brunches or buffets? If so, when were they held?

Thanks.

There was one special brunch held on the 4th sea day from 10 am. to 1 p.m. in the MDR. It was a beautiful layout, with wonderful presentations of all the different food offerings, and gorgeous ice sculptures. I also vaguely recall there might have been a buffet one night up on the pool deck, but we never made it.

Thank you for your great review- it was very interesting to read. I hope their food compartment is not on the downpath. For me - well my next cruise will be QM 2 again. I thought to give Cunard another go!

Michael

As I stated in my review, we were a little disappointed with the food, but there were many really good meals. I suspect this trend could be industry-wide as cruise lines look to save money. We have an RCI cruise coming up in August, and I would not be surprised to find changes there as well.

I wonder if the menus were the same as the other Celebrity ships. We sailed about a year ago and loved the menus. I know food is subjective but what is actually listed on the menu isn't. Anyone know if Eclipse menus are different than the ones in the past on Solstice? I haven't seen new menus mentioned anywhere?

PS Thank you for the review, excellent

I wonder if the menus were the same as the other Celebrity ships. We sailed about a year ago and loved the menus. I know food is subjective but what is actually listed on the menu isn't. Anyone know if Eclipse menus are different than the ones in the past on Solstice? I haven't seen new menus mentioned anywhere?

 

PS Thank you for the review, excellent

DH was VERY disappointed that there were no escargot on any menu during the entire cruise. They were replaced with a very nice appetizer of mushrooms smothered in garlic cheese. While they were good, escargot they weren't!:(:o

Thanks for sharing your review and answering our questions.

I heard (but don't know if it's actually true) that there is a shortage of escogot this year which is why it is not on the menu. A friend of mine said that she was able to get it one night by asking for it (it was not on the menu). Other nights when she asked it was not available so I don't know if they were rationing it or if they got one shipment and she happened to ask when they had some available. I guess it never hurts to ask. They can only say that they don't have any.

I am just wondering why people are posting reviews here and not on the members review section. There have been no Eclipse reviews on the members review section for ages. Are CC not using the review section anymore?