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Recent cruise on Eclipse


jjwoben1
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I rarely post but decided to this time. We have taken the same Southern Caribbean 2 week cruise for over 5 years on the Eclipse. Have not been disappointed until this year. The standards of service in the suites was definitely not the same as last year. our butler definitely needed some more training...had to ask for things like laundry bags, shoe shine bags, soap, shower gel and beach towels. Had to request stained shower curtain to be replaced at start of cruise. Cabin was kept clean and requests were responded to within a day or so even though they should not have had to be made.

 

Luminae was great as usual, except for the incredible lack of attention from sommelier. Two are really needed at dinnertime. The few times we dined with friends in the MDR, the result was the same: not much attention from sommelier and there should be at least two or three in MDR to provide attentive service. Meals in Luminae were superb as were the staff, particularly Tony, Nina and Nenad( not sure of spelling but he is from Serbia). No request was forgotten and service was impeccable.

 

Colleen in the Spa was also great; she was quick and knoweledgeable.....did not use other services. Husband had a massage and said he was not overly impressed with service including lack of offering water at end of massage.

 

Captain and immediate staff not overly as visible as before; however, in general staff all over the ship was very friendly and helpful. But we were used previously to having needs anticipated and this time they were not.

 

We enjoyed the cruise...who wouldn't....but were disappointed at the downturn in service and amenities. Nothing major, just small things that add up.

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I'm sorry your cruise wasn't as expected based on past experiences. I know it's unpleasant when your vacation wasn't as you'd hoped. We are cruising on the Eclipse next week in a suite also. We had a great experience in a Suite last year on the Eclipse. I was hoping the experience would be the same or even better since it's a holiday sailing and paid a ridiculous premium. Now I'm not so sure. What class of suite were you in? How was Michaels Club?

 

I'm glad the staff, food and service besides the Sommelier in Luminae were as expected. Last year the Sommelier was Maggie, and we thought she was fantastic. I understand she is no longer on the Eclipse. Our Butler was George, and he was great too. Don't know if he's still onboard. I do know after our sailing last year, he was moved to the penthouse suite.

 

I would definitely voice your concerns, and let Celebrity know.

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We were on Eclipse last week, Concierge not suite. Our sommelier in MDR never let our glasses empty. Two on Premium & two on classic package. Wait service was excellent, if a bit slow. We had plenty of interaction with the officers & thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, only negative was the scarcity of Crown Royal & that bartenders thought bourbon or Jameson was an acceptable option 🤢

 

 

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We have cruised Eclipse twice this year and service has been stunning. Captains Michael and Leo and officers were very visible. We were in suites and well looked after.

 

I do think that butlers sometimes need better communication from the guest to get things right. Remember many suite guests are not interested at all in butler service and can even see it as intrusive.

 

We always on boarding have a conversation with our butler about our regular needs and requests....If I felt service was poor early in the cruise I would in the first instance explain to the butler what I was not happy with and then escalate with the concierge (or suite manager) if I was still unhappy. On a 14 night cruise there is plenty of opportunity for Celebrity to ‘put things right’. Much better to discuss and leave the ship happy....Did you discuss with your butler what was not adequate?

 

One difference we have noticed re butler service is the change in afternoon tea service. In the past, when your own butler delivered it to your room, it was a good ‘touch base’ communication time. You would remember you needed an extra laundry bag, he would ask if suits needed pressing, we would mention we were low on water.....Whilst we could still have our afternoon tea delivered to our suite we did miss it not being our butler. Do you think this could have something to do with your perception of lower service, quite simply not enough interaction time?

 

Our butler on our last two cruises has arranged to collect our afternoon tea debris himself...if we were in the suite at the time we could then converse, if not we would leave him a note of anything we needed. This system worked quite well.

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I was sorry to hear about the lack of attention of the sommelier, when we sailed in September, the sommelier, Enesto, was excellent and always made our meal times very enjoyable. After a couple of visits, as soon as we sat down he would be over with my wife's chosen wine and kept her glass topped up without having to ask. He even joked one evening that they had ran out of her chosen rose due to her consumption levels :D (but to be fair, this was only 2 glasses every evening).

 

Also, can only repeat Chemmo's comments that on our sailing all officers were extremely visible, especially Captain Leo, who on most port days, was at the bottom of the gangway wishing everyone a good day.

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I'm sorry your cruise wasn't as expected based on past experiences. I know it's unpleasant when your vacation wasn't as you'd hoped. We are cruising on the Eclipse next week in a suite also. We had a great experience in a Suite last year on the Eclipse. I was hoping the experience would be the same or even better since it's a holiday sailing and paid a ridiculous premium. Now I'm not so sure. What class of suite were you in? How was Michaels Club?

 

 

 

I'm glad the staff, food and service besides the Sommelier in Luminae were as expected. Last year the Sommelier was Maggie, and we thought she was fantastic. I understand she is no longer on the Eclipse. Our Butler was George, and he was great too. Don't know if he's still onboard. I do know after our sailing last year, he was moved to the penthouse suite.

 

 

 

I would definitely voice your concerns, and let Celebrity know.

 

 

 

We are currently on Eclipse and when you Board next week, you will be in for a treat.

 

Sara is the MCC and you will be glad you have chosen Eclipse when you meet her. Sara is exceptional in her role. She is very caring for her Suites clients and you can tell that she is genuinely caring in everything she does. We only wish we could bring her home with us in our luggage.

 

Nenad is the maitre’d in Luminae. He is by far the best person we have ever met in this role. He is professional, from a business perspective but is also very sociable. We were in Murano last night as a table of 6 and Nenad made a special trip to personally cook our entrees and desserts at table side. We will not forget this experience.

 

Our waiter in Luminae is Victor. We’re OK telling you this because you are on the next cruise, but if you were on this one, we would keep his name a secret. He has been marvellous.

 

We have had no problem with our sommelier, Viktor. As you will note, we get the Victor/Viktor show each lunch and dinner in Luminae. Viktor does have a challenging role looking after all of the Luminae guests, but if you ask him for wine recommendations, he really understands his specialty and will not let you down. We have not been disappointed.

 

That’s all I will tell you for now. Just wanted you to get those good thoughts back.

 

Randy

 

 

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We are currently on Eclipse and when you Board next week, you will be in for a treat.

 

Sara is the MCC and you will be glad you have chosen Eclipse when you meet her. Sara is exceptional in her role. She is very caring for her Suites clients and you can tell that she is genuinely caring in everything she does. We only wish we could bring her home with us in our luggage.

 

Nenad is the maitre’d in Luminae. He is by far the best person we have ever met in this role. He is professional, from a business perspective but is also very sociable. We were in Murano last night as a table of 6 and Nenad made a special trip to personally cook our entrees and desserts at table side. We will not forget this experience.

 

Our waiter in Luminae is Victor. We’re OK telling you this because you are on the next cruise, but if you were on this one, we would keep his name a secret. He has been marvellous.

 

We have had no problem with our sommelier, Viktor. As you will note, we get the Victor/Viktor show each lunch and dinner in Luminae. Viktor does have a challenging role looking after all of the Luminae guests, but if you ask him for wine recommendations, he really understands his specialty and will not let you down. We have not been disappointed.

 

That’s all I will tell you for now. Just wanted you to get those good thoughts back.

 

Randy

 

 

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Thank you very much Schmoe. Glad you had a great cruise experience. I'm feeling much better now. Hopefully we can get Victor as our waiter in Luminae. One week and counting for us.

 

Jessica

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Thank you very much Schmoe. Glad you had a great cruise experience. I'm feeling much better now. Hopefully we can get Victor as our waiter in Luminae. One week and counting for us.

 

 

 

Jessica

 

 

 

I forgot to mention Cevrine who is the Luminae hostess. She is an absolute delight. If you happen to get Tony for your waiter, you are also in good hands. We normally get Tony at breakfast as Victor is charged with other duties around Luminae in the morning.

 

Not sure who your staff will be on your sailing, as it appears we may be taking them all home with us.

 

We still get to enjoy them for a few days more as we disembark on December 21st.

 

Randy

 

 

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What about those not in suites? How is the Eclipse faring for them?
Well I hope the service and friendliness of the staff has continued from what we experienced on our recent 15 night TA from Southampton. BTW we were not in a suite.

 

Our sommelier in the MDR was Ana and she was absolutely fantastic. We were on the Premium Beverage package and from day 1 she knew our favourite wine and I can tell you that as soon as we sat down for dinner, the glasses were filled and continually throughout dinner. Our wait staff too were so professional they were fantastic.

 

Throughout the ship from Cafe Al Bacio, Martini Bar, to the World Class Bar, all staff were wonderful, especially in Cellar Masters where Yasna (sp?) the sommelier was also brilliant in anticipating our needs and making wonderful suggestions of wines to try.

 

All staff in the speciality restaurants were fantastic too.

 

Maybe we're low maintenance, but never fear if things don't happen, or if things go wrong, we will speak up. I measure how good a cruise is, by the number of times I have to attend Guest Services in person. Over 15 nights, I visited Guest Services only on 3 occasions! 1 to credit my account with cash, 1 to get a new immigration form because I'd messed up the first one, and 1 to try and find out what time group 9 would be called to present ourselves to US immigration officials when we arrived into Boston. As you can see, not once was I there to report an issue. That's different to previous experiences on RCI and P&O. So I consider this one of, if not, the best cruise, ship and cruise company we've experienced over 13 years and 25+ sailings.

 

Admittedly I saw the Captains Club host once to voice my displeasure over the 'Xcelerate' internet service, and she was my only disappointment as she side stepped the issue and referred me to the iLounge staff. But then again that wasn't spoiling my time on board.

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What about those not in suites? How is the Eclipse faring for them?

 

 

 

We can comment on the other areas of the Ship. The martini bar has not been as crowded as we had expected before we boarded. That has been a pleasant surprise. The World Class Bar is the same...so no real waiting so far. Cellar Masters is absolutely dead except for special tastings. That’s too bad because it could be a real gem, but somehow it seems to have lost its appeal. It is one of the few full blown Cellar Masters still available.

 

Cafe Al Bacio is rarely crowded as well. When we were on Infinity in September, there always seemed to be a lineup.

 

The staff are very friendly so you will enjoy your experience. If you look hard enough, you will always be able to find something that is not quite right. We choose not to let those things ruin our vacation.

 

Randy

 

 

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Do you know how long Victor and Tony will be aboard? We board on Jan 21.

 

 

 

Victor is going on vacation in early January 2018 and our sommelier Viktor is going on vacation January 21/18. We will check with Tony in the morning.

 

Just as an FYI, we did not mean to suggest you will be out of luck if you do not get the wait staff that we suggested. That is not our intent.

 

The Luminae team is very tight on this ship and they are all very efficient. No matter which member of the team you are fortunate to receive, you will be very happy.

 

Randy

 

 

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When we sailed in September, both Nenad and Victor were exceptional. As several people have commented, Nenad is one of the best maitre'd's we have come across and runs a great team around him. Agree always extremely professional, happy to help in any way he can, and always spends time with every guest. We had several good waiters, but Victor was our favourite and towards the end of our cruise always tried to sit in the area he served. On the last couple of nights I didn't even look at the menu and just asked Victor for his recommendations. For us, Luminae was the best part of our cruise, and if we can afford it, will always try to book a suite just so that we have access to Luminae. Even on sea days when we were still full from breakfast, we would still go to Luminae for lunch just for the experience (albeit only had one small course!).

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We can comment on the other areas of the Ship. The martini bar has not been as crowded as we had expected before we boarded. That has been a pleasant surprise. The World Class Bar is the same...so no real waiting so far. Cellar Masters is absolutely dead except for special tastings. That’s too bad because it could be a real gem, but somehow it seems to have lost its appeal. It is one of the few full blown Cellar Masters still available.

 

Cafe Al Bacio is rarely crowded as well. When we were on Infinity in September, there always seemed to be a lineup.

 

The staff are very friendly so you will enjoy your experience. If you look hard enough, you will always be able to find something that is not quite right. We choose not to let those things ruin our vacation.

 

Randy

 

 

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Randy

If you don't mind could you check if Toni in the World Class Bar will still be on board throughout February.

We'll be sailing on the Eclipse for the whole month and last year we really enjoyed having him there. He's a GREAT guy!!

 

You can say hello from Allan and Karen (we were there every evening for a month so he might remember)

 

Thanks!

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