Thoughts on recent Eclipse TA

Please let me preface this post by stating that these are my personal views and I hope that I will not be shot down for some of what I am going to write - however perception is reality!!!!

We had a good time on this cruise - after all it is difficult not to enjoy a cruise!

About me - this is my 13th cruise, I am in my early 60s and am British. I travel a great deal for my job all over the world and am lucky enough to have stayed at some of the best hotels and eaten at some seriously good restaurants.

We stayed in 1667 which is an S2 on deck 11 overlooking the stern. The cabin was spacious and well laid out and we found the bed supremely comfortable. The bathroom, whilst compact was well designed and very user friendly. The decor was perhaps a bit sober but was tasteful.

A word of advice - being high up and right on the stern, this cabin does experience a considerable amount of movement in heavy seas. On this trip there were 4 'roughish' days where there was quite a bit of wobble and roll in the cabin. For us this was outweighed by the pleasure of the large balcony and the views over the wake. Breakfast outside in the warmer weather was a delight. However if you are not a good sailor or the weather is likely to be rough, I would suggest avoiding these cabins

Our Butler, Alex, was simply outstanding. He could not do enough for us as well as being discreet and personally charming. He was a huge asset on this cruise. He has I'm sure a great future in the hotel world.

The ship is very attractive, well laid out and tastefully decorated. It is easy to find your way around. In the main the crew are charming, friendly and eager to please. They obviously work very hard but they smile and are cheerful.

I was disappointed with the food in the Moonlight Sonata dining room. Our waiter Marjon was excellent but since our last Celebrity cruise some 6 years ago, I thought that there had been a marked deterioration in the choice and quality of the food. The food served at dinner was generally rather bland and inconsistent in its quality - a serving of Turkey was so dry as to have been inedible. I realise that they are feeding 2000 people per night but other lines manage to be more consistent.

The Oceanview cafe was well laid out with separate serving areas and the salads were fresh and appetising, however the food was not varied much over the 13 day cruise and became a bit repetitive. The burgers from the Mast Grill were superb!

The extra tariff restaurants were generally good. The food in Murano was perhaps a bit rich but we found Qsine a refreshing new take on tapas type dining. The enthusiasm of the staff for their products in Qsine was infectious. Tuscan Grill produced a first class steak.

The 3 stage shows were excellent and made all the better by an excellent 7 piece band. How much better than the ubiquitous prerecorded tracks. However the other solo acts failed to excite.

The arrival in St Thomas and the subsequent immigration fiasco has been covered in another thread so I will not dwell on it here except for to say that the process of making passengers queue in lines for 3 hours is simply unacceptable for a premium line. Celebrity were either caught on the hop ( surprising as they mainly cruise out of US ports) or someone clearly had not done their homework. To be told by the cruise director after queuing for nearly 3 hours that she has 'sore feet luvvy' did not fill me with sympathy for her. Particularly as on the dock in Nassau she said she did not know whether we would have to do it all again in Ft Lauderdale!!!

A cruise is always a delightful and relaxing experience - in this case we found Celebrity Eclipse a bit like the curate's egg - good in parts!

Thank you for your thoughts on the cruise. It is one of my goals/dreams to be able to do a TA.

I enjoyed your review Mickb.

I was particulary interested in your take on the MDR. We were in AQ (Blu) and share your thoughts on the food. We thought both the food and the service there to be inferior to that of the Millennium last April. Fish was overcooked and the meat tough. However, the appetizers and the salads were wonderful.

Perry Grant was great although he lost his voice part way through the cruise and couldn't sing as much as he usually does.

We were at the top of the ship too and really felt the rocking on the rough seas but it doesn't bother us fortunately.

Thank you for your detailed and informative review

Cheers

We will be in the Same S2 cabin on Eclipse TA in April. I will hope for smooth seas.

Thats my kind of cabin, even though I feel sorry for the folks that get sea sick. I like it alot when the ship is rocking and rolling, have never even gotten sick. On one cruise my best friend and I were the only ones at the bar because the ship was moving so much. You actually had to hold on to the rails in the hall to get back to your cabin.

Loved it.

Norma

We were also on this sailing. We had a 2c cabin 6241 with a very large balcony at the hump near the IT room and elevators. Internet was extremely slow, The only complaint we had was that we could never find a seat at any of the main bars in the early evening. I think the free drink packages had something to do with this. We met some wonderful Brits on this cruise, they actually outnumbered the Americans. We love the TA's and thus was a great one especially having Sue Denning as our cruise director

Ontario Cruiser

Maggie

Have a great time - please pass on our good wishes to Alex if he still the butler. He will make your cruise - nothing was too much trouble for him.

Re the movement - it was strange - there was a jerkiness as well as the roll and pitch. I think that maybe the superstructure is quite light and like aeroplane wings is designed with flexibility.

I think these ships are quite lightly constructed

Any other questions - please ask?

Thanks for your review.

We are on the Eclipse TA next November and purposely chose a 2c cabin for less rock and roll at night. :D

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for your review. :):):):)