Hidden perks we discovered on our first 25 day B2B on the Eclipse

We are on our first B2B Celebrity cruise, which includes a Transatlantic, and here are some “hidden” lessons learned we have discovered on this 25 day adventure on the Celebrity Eclipse.

1. Standing Orders. We have come to enjoy our morning blueberry and chocolate muffins in the MDR on HAL cruises. However, on the Celebrity Eclipse during breakfast in the MDR, all they offer is the plain and bran varieties. We asked if they offered other varieties like blueberry and chocolate and they told us we could place a standing order and have them made available to us every morning as long as the Chef agreed. All we needed to do was place the order with the maitre d’ and sure enough every morning when we sat down to breakfast in the MDR, they would bring us 2 of each! We also saw this hidden perk used by other passengers, especially at dinner in the MDR in the fixed seating area. One couple had their ice teas waiting for them while another couple only liked dark bread selections in their bread basket. Note: If you are going to take advantage of this option, please make sure if possible you let your servers know if you won’t be there the following day so they don’t have to do the advanced preparatory work for nothing.

2. Hot soup in the MDR at lunch. We usually go to the MDR for lunch, but noticed there was only cold soup listed as a starter on the menu. When we asked the waiter if there was a hot soup, he said he would check. He came back and said, yes, minestrone. From that point on we always asked for the hot soup of the day and it would always be something different.

3. Discount laundry for Select passengers. We are Select level passengers, but never had used the laundry option on previous cruises. So when we were planning our laundry strategy for our 10 and 15 day B2B cruise, we thought the Select discounted laundry bag referred to on the website was the $49.95 special we had heard about. However, this is not the case. After reading the fine print, the Select level perk is only valid on cruises 12 days or longer and the “Loyalty” charge is just $20 per bag rather than $49.95. The “Laundry Challenge” $49.95 discounted bag, which is offered to everyone except for maybe Elite and above was offered on the 6th day of our 10 day cruise and was only good for that one day as it takes up to 3 days for them to return the cleaned laundry. They offered it again on the 6th day of our 15 day leg, but we weren’t interested as our Select perk was a much better deal.

4. Special juices are free in MDR but not up at the buffet. Funny thing, you can get all the cranberry juice you want in the MDR for free. However, if you want a glass of cranberry juice up at the buffet, it will cost you around $3.50 a glass. Not sure why, but just a heads up if you like cranberry juice in the morning or at lunch.

5. Chic night dress code is optional. On the second Chic night of the cruise, we forgot about it and I wore my traditional polo shirt and docker pants to dinner while my DW wore her normal country club casual outfit. We ate dinner, went to the show as usual and then noticed as we were leaving the theater that everyone was wearing their fancy clothes. That’s when it dawned on us that it was a Chic night. The point of the story is that no one really cares if you dress up or not on Chic nights if you want to eat in the MDR. At least that was the case on our Eclipse cruise.

If anyone has any others they know about, please let us know as we still have a couple of days left on the cruise to check them out.

Thanks for the info/tips.

I fondly remember from our HAL cruises the chocolate croissants. Did you see these at all on Eclipse? Think that is something we can have preordered for us the next morning?

Thanks!

Thanks for the info/tips. I fondly remember from our HAL cruises the chocolate croissants. Did you see these at all on Eclipse? Think that is something we can have preordered for us the next morning?Thanks!

The Eclipse had servers walking around with trays of pastries in the MDR in the morning which they offered to diners and they always seemed to have chocolate croissants on the trays. If you find that they don’t have them every day you should be able to put in a standing order with the maitre d’.

Thanks for the tips.

I was really surprised on our last cruise in the last night in the MDR. We were talking to the couple in front of us while waiting to get in for select dining. The male was wearing shorts. No problem. He was escorted to his table.

Do I really care. No. Even though he was a PSU fan. Ironically MSU was playing PSU that night and MSU beat them. I guess there is vengeance for wearing shorts in the MDR. 🙄🤗

Go Green

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

Thanks for the tips.

 

I was really surprised on our last cruise in the last night in the MDR. We were talking to the couple in front of us while waiting to get in for select dining. The male was wearing shorts. No problem. He was escorted to his table.

 

Do I really care. No. Even though he was a PSU fan. Ironically MSU was playing PSU that night and MSU beat them. I guess there is vengeance for wearing shorts in the MDR.

 

Go Green

 

Happy cruising

I love the vengeance.

Go Blue.

Oh, and the last night might possibly carry relaxed rules.

Thanks for the tips.

 

I was really surprised on our last cruise in the last night in the MDR. We were talking to the couple in front of us while waiting to get in for select dining. The male was wearing shorts. No problem. He was escorted to his table.

 

Do I really care. No. Even though he was a PSU fan. Ironically MSU was playing PSU that night and MSU beat them. I guess there is vengeance for wearing shorts in the MDR. 🙄🤗

 

Go Green

 

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

Love it! Go White!

unfortunately not a good day for our Spartans. :(

The Eclipse had servers walking around with trays of pastries in the MDR in the morning which they offered to diners and they always seemed to have chocolate croissants on the trays. If you find that they don’t have them every day you should be able to put in a standing order with the maitre d’.

Great - good to know. It has been a couple of years since our last Celebrity cruise and I couldn't remember if they had them or not. One of my indulgences when I'm on a cruise if I can find them!!

I love the vengeance.

 

Go Blue. Friendly rivalry🤢. It is all good. It is hard for others to understand our love hate rivalry and still be united as Michiganders.

 

Oh, and the last night might possibly carry relaxed rules.

Just a subtle way of adding another “unknown” tip. Wish that I was wearing shorts because after dinner we went back to our cabin and changed into the clothes that we were going to wear for embarkation. We had to do that to pack the clothes that we were wearing into our luggage that had to be placed outside our cabin.

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

Love it! Go White!

 

unfortunately not a good day for our Spartans. :(

It disappointing but on the bright side who would have ever expectected the turnaround from last season?

Dantonio is the best. They have the best overall record in the Big 10 since he was the coach.

Next year will be the one and will be for many years because of all the young players. Dantonio preaches we promise hope and deliver results. He plays the best players, not those that feel entitled and that makes everyone play harder because they know that he will use those that produce, that is hope.

No shame in losing to OSU this season. MSU is exceeding all expectations.

GO GREEN

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

Don’t know how this thread got onto football and you all have some good teams I might add. But when it comes to college football, I’m all in for either Auburn or Alabama unless they are playing in the Iron Bowl. Then the only words I can think of are WAR EAGLE!!!! Oh, by the way, did you notice who knocked off Georgia today?

Don’t know how this thread got onto football and you all have some good teams I might add. But when it comes to college football, I’m all in for either Auburn or Alabama unless they are playing in the Iron Bowl. Then the only words I can think of are WAR EAGLE!!!! Oh, by the way, did you notice who knocked off Georgia today?

Love it. Great Win. Great Mascot. Second to Sparty

Always liked Alabama because of Bear. He had class along with the coaches he “produced” such as Tom Landry.

Also being a MSU fan I still like Saban as he was our coach but left for basically political reasons. It all worked out as Dantonio is Spartan Football.

Always like good rivalries especially when the underdogs wins. Love college football as it is always exciting and “upsets” are always possible.

Happy cruising 🌊🛳🇺🇸🌅

Thanks for the info/tips.

I fondly remember from our HAL cruises the chocolate croissants. Did you see these at all on Eclipse? Think that is something we can have preordered for us the next morning?

 

Thanks!

I have had chocolate croissants every morning on Eclipse in the OVC. There are several other types of croissants available as well. In fact I have enjoyed them on every X ship I've sailed.

The Cafe al Bacio has chocolate, almond and Nutella croissants. And in the Buffet there are often extra juice selections at the cereal island. Sometimes you had to ask the attendant and sometimes there were containers out of different juice selections. I'm sure if you ordered the juice at the bar in the Buffet there would probably be a charge.

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I love the vengeance.

 

Go Blue.

 

Oh, and the last night might possibly carry relaxed rules.

Go Orange!

On all of our X cruises the last night has never been a chic night because people were busy packing and when we went to dinner at 6 pm there were already bags outside the rooms.

On one of our previous trips on the Eclipse, we couldn't be bothered 'dressing up' to go to the MDR, so went to the Oceanview cafe for dinner. I don't know if they still do it, but they had a cook to order steak area with everything from T Bone's to fillets. I had 2 fillets one night...because I could!!...and they were free!! Needless to say, we went back there quite often.:D

Simon

We are on our first B2B Celebrity cruise, which includes a Transatlantic, and here are some “hidden” lessons learned we have discovered on this 25 day adventure on the Celebrity Eclipse.

 

1. Standing Orders. We have come to enjoy our morning blueberry and chocolate muffins in the MDR on HAL cruises. However, on the Celebrity Eclipse during breakfast in the MDR, all they offer is the plain and bran varieties. We asked if they offered other varieties like blueberry and chocolate and they told us we could place a standing order and have them made available to us every morning as long as the Chef agreed. All we needed to do was place the order with the maitre d’ and sure enough every morning when we sat down to breakfast in the MDR, they would bring us 2 of each! We also saw this hidden perk used by other passengers, especially at dinner in the MDR in the fixed seating area. One couple had their ice teas waiting for them while another couple only liked dark bread selections in their bread basket. Note: If you are going to take advantage of this option, please make sure if possible you let your servers know if you won’t be there the following day so they don’t have to do the advanced preparatory work for nothing.

 

2. Hot soup in the MDR at lunch. We usually go to the MDR for lunch, but noticed there was only cold soup listed as a starter on the menu. When we asked the waiter if there was a hot soup, he said he would check. He came back and said, yes, minestrone. From that point on we always asked for the hot soup of the day and it would always be something different.

 

3. Discount laundry for Select passengers. We are Select level passengers, but never had used the laundry option on previous cruises. So when we were planning our laundry strategy for our 10 and 15 day B2B cruise, we thought the Select discounted laundry bag referred to on the website was the $49.95 special we had heard about. However, this is not the case. After reading the fine print, the Select level perk is only valid on cruises 12 days or longer and the “Loyalty” charge is just $20 per bag rather than $49.95. The “Laundry Challenge” $49.95 discounted bag, which is offered to everyone except for maybe Elite and above was offered on the 6th day of our 10 day cruise and was only good for that one day as it takes up to 3 days for them to return the cleaned laundry. They offered it again on the 6th day of our 15 day leg, but we weren’t interested as our Select perk was a much better deal.

4. Special juices are free in MDR but not up at the buffet. Funny thing, you can get all the cranberry juice you want in the MDR for free. However, if you want a glass of cranberry juice up at the buffet, it will cost you around $3.50 a glass. Not sure why, but just a heads up if you like cranberry juice in the morning or at lunch.

 

5. Chic night dress code is optional. On the second Chic night of the cruise, we forgot about it and I wore my traditional polo shirt and docker pants to dinner while my DW wore her normal country club casual outfit. We ate dinner, went to the show as usual and then noticed as we were leaving the theater that everyone was wearing their fancy clothes. That’s when it dawned on us that it was a Chic night. The point of the story is that no one really cares if you dress up or not on Chic nights if you want to eat in the MDR. At least that was the case on our Eclipse cruise.

If anyone has any others they know about, please let us know as we still have a couple of days left on the cruise to check them out.

Thank you OP! We are on a 21 day b2b in 2019 and would love for more people to chime in. Need all the info we can get since I have not sailed Celebrity in over 7 years.

For example, on the b2b do you have to go to muster on the second leg?

How does turnaround day work on Celebrity, have done it on NCL, Princess and Carnival but not Celebrity.

Do they still make fresh eggs benedict at the buffet in the mornings for breakfast?

How is the musical entertainment in the evenings? When we went years ago it was mostly geared towards older people, is still like that? Example, not very lively music ( a guitar player, a piano player and a 40's era band).

I am sure I have a million more questions, and will ask but right now I need more coffee.:D

Thank you OP! We are on a 21 day b2b in 2019 and would love for more people to chime in. Need all the info we can get since I have not sailed Celebrity in over 7 years.

 

 

 

For example, on the b2b do you have to go to muster on the second leg? YES, IT'S MANDATORY.

 

 

 

How does turnaround day work on Celebrity, have done it on NCL, Princess and Carnival but not Celebrity. ON OUR RECENT B2B (MEDITERRANEAN RT ROME/TRANSATLANTIC, WE WENT TO THE SKY LOUNGE THE LAST MORNING AND GOT OUR NEW KEYCARDS. WE WERE NOT REQUIRED TO LEAVE THE SHIP. YMMV, WE WERE IN ITALY.

 

 

 

Do they still make fresh eggs benedict at the buffet in the mornings for breakfast? YES, AT THE POACHED EGG STATION.

 

 

 

How is the musical entertainment in the evenings? When we went years ago it was mostly geared towards older people, is still like that? Example, not very lively music ( a guitar player, a piano player and a 40's era band). WE WERE ON THE REFLECTION. ALL TYPES OF MUSIC, PLAYING AT VARIOUS VENUES AROUND THE SHIP.

 

 

 

 

 

I am sure I have a million more questions, and will ask but right now I need more coffee.:D

Sorry about the all caps, I don't know how to change the font or color.

The Cafe al Bacio has chocolate, almond and Nutella croissants. And in the Buffet there are often extra juice selections at the cereal island. Sometimes you had to ask the attendant and sometimes there were containers out of different juice selections. I'm sure if you ordered the juice at the bar in the Buffet there would probably be a charge.

 

 

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Ken, Thanks so much for this thread..We & our good Friends will be on our first Celebrity cruise on the Reflection for 11 days next month & I'm printing up everyones suggestions which we hope will be the same on our cruise.. Especially hope we can get Blueberry Muffins & HOT soup..I honestly do not like cold soup..

If they offer the $50 laundry bag, are you saying that it takes three days to get it back?

We've been dyed in the wool HAL Cruisers for years & looking forward to our Celebrity cruise..

Thanks again..

Our recent experiences of B2B on Solstice in both Vancouver and Hawaii were simple. We had to leave the ship by 09:30 in the morning and were unable to board again until 11:00 when boarding reopened. We were given 'transit' cards with our names on which we needed to carry with us, along with our passports, when we left the ship. We went off for the morning/day rather than hang around the terminal.

On our return we waved our transit cards and were directed to a short line - usually for Zenith or suite passengers where there was no queue, to collect our new passes and have our photos taken again. Then we were directed to a shortened immigration queue (again for suites and Zenith passengers) where our fingerprints were re-recorded and we were through and able to reboard.

One thing - if you are carrying bags and purchases when you re-board before they announce cabins are ready, you can open the sliding door to the corridor and pop into your room to deposit them. We also chatted to our steward to let him/her know a few days before so they could change the bedding the day before or after as they have so many cabins to turn around.

We are in a regular 2A balcony cabin. Will we have a fridge..If so I will bring a couple of small bottles of cranberry juice, with me? I normally have fresh orange-cranberry juice every morning from one of our local produce places..:cool:

We are in a regular 2A balcony cabin. Will we have a fridge..If so I will bring a couple of small bottles of cranberry juice, with me? I normally have fresh orange-cranberry juice every morning from one of our local produce places..:cool:

Yes...there will be a small fridge in the cabin. Room service can also bring you cranberry juice each morning.

And for the cruiser who asked about attending muster again...yes, it is required by law.

Yes...there will be a small fridge in the cabin. Room service can also bring you cranberry juice each morning.

 

And for the cruiser who asked about attending muster again...yes, it is required by law.

Not sure about being required by law because on Princess and NCL you do not have to go to muster the on the second leg, that is why I asked.

Yes...there will be a small fridge in the cabin. Room service can also bring you cranberry juice each morning.

 

And for the cruiser who asked about attending muster again...yes, it is required by law.

Thank you..

Yes...there will be a small fridge in the cabin. Room service can also bring you cranberry juice each morning.

 

And for the cruiser who asked about attending muster again...yes, it is required by law.

Actually it is not required by law, it is up to Celebrity &/or the Captain to decide if the Psgrs must attend on the second leg..We were sent letters by HAL & advised if we had to attend the second Muster or not..

This is the law & it was confirmed by Cheng KP on the HAL board, who BTW is a Cruise Company Officer.

The law states: Quote The legal requirement is for the muster drill for newly embarked passengers, or once a month, so if your B2B....2B is less than 30 days, they don't need to have you repeat. Unquote

We've been on B2B's on HAL & several times did not have to attend the second time..However, there were times our Captain decided ALL Psgrs must attend..