Eclipse Mar 17-24 sailing – great way to spend a week!

[redjetz]

Just back from a great week on the Eclipse, first time on the S class (heck, it was only my third cruise – following Century in 2010 and Millennium in 2011). We had SR 1106, Concierge Class, first cabin on the mid-ship bump so a slightly larger balcony, which we really appreciated.

Embarkation was a bit delayed due to a noro outbreak on the prior sailing but once on board we heeded advice from Cruise Critic members and headed to Bistro on 5 for lunch to wait out the rooms being ready – and really enjoyed it. Based on previous reports, I had expected it to be nearly empty and with slow service but word seems to be getting around; by 12:30 it was full and the service was good and the staff very nice. I enjoyed the cowboy crepe and of course had to have the nutella/banana one for dessert (it lived up to expectations J). We went back a couple more times for lunch (to avoid the buffet; see below).

We took advantage of the first night discount and enjoyed Tuscan Grill for dinner – both the filet mignon and the shrimp/scallop dishes were delicious. Very friendly and good service, again. Great start to the week!

Later in the week we went to Qsine and loved it – some of the dishes are more successful than others, but all were good and the presentation is just fun (suishi lollipops, painters mignon, tacos, and disco shrimp being our favorites). The staff in Qsine was fun, too.

As others have posted, the new MDR menus were rolled out on Eclipse last week, with JVS making his swan song appearance, along with head chefs from other X ships for a few days. We found the new menus to be uneven – it seemed that a couple nights there was nothing interesting to choose from among the 3 appetizers, soup/2 salads and 5 or 6 main courses, then other evenings there were appealing offerings in all categories. Regardless, the meals were prepared well, mostly good, sometimes very good.

Cabin 1106 has the bed by the balcony, which I thought would be awkward but worked very well. I do share the thoughts of others that drawer space is a bit lacking; it wasn’t an issue for a week in the Carribbean but I do wonder how we will fare next year when we sail Eclipse for two weeks on the Baltic cruise (we took advantage of the large OBC Celebrity was offering; booked the same cabin).

Even though cabin space was a bit tight for overpackers like us, the bath had plenty of storage. Our cabin steward, Jermain, and his assistant took excellent care of us.

We went to a few evening shows – Edge on the first night, and the cirque de solei- type offering. We found them to be entertaining.

One thing we noticed during the week was the energy level seemed much different from our two previous cruises – and we wonder if was because this was a 7-night cruise and our others were 10 and 12 or just one of those things. But there it just felt like more people were out and about at night, and more energetic. Having music all over the boat contributed to the mood, I think, and staging the bands and dancing in center area on deck 3 contributed to the atmosphere. I do understand that others find the music loud and irritating but we liked it.

We are now members of the Molecular Bar fan club (Dragonfly and Hawaiian Lava, mmmm)! Martini Bar still has its place, of course J.

Speaking of bars, while the passengers seemed livelier and the dining room, cabin stewards and Café Bacio staff were all very friendly and upbeat, the bar staff were less so for the most part. We had found the bartenders to be fun and charming and talkative on Century and Millennium but last week many of the Eclipse bar staff seem aloof and unengaging, which surprised us. And while we had the drink package on all 3 sailings, we also take along a good-sized stack of dollar bills and add an additional tip to most orders. Most of the bartenders seemed surprised by that, so we wonder if the drink packages are resulting in less income for them and thus contributing to some dissatisfaction. They tended to warm up to us as the week wore on.

One disturbing action that we saw repeated all week was passengers ignoring, even shaking off, the staff with hand sanitizer on the way into the buffet, on other occasions we saw no staff at the door – and many people not using the hand sanitizer stations. Celebrity should think about who they station at the buffet – a young, shy staffer is no match for the aggressive lady with the walker who shook her head no and literally brushed her aside and kept going. Walking through the buffet we saw other behavior that convinced us to avoid the buffet for ever more.

We didn’t do much off the ship, this being a week to kick back and relax, but we loved the Segway excursion to El Morro (Segways are a bit tricker than they appear, but it didn’t take long to get the hang of it and it was a fun afternoon.) On St. Thomas we did something completely different – we went to the new Magic Ice attraction. Imaging walking through a subzero warehouse with full size ice carvings of scenes from the Carribbean and Norway, a chapel, an ice slide, having a shot of rum at the ice bar while wearing a hooded cape, leggings and gloves. It was unique and fun.

The few downsides notwithstanding, it was a great week and we enjoyed meeting new friends (shout out to Chicago and Roanoke) and look forward to our next Celebrity adventure.

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

[blueboro]

Thanks for your thoughts. We were on the 3/10 cruise the previous week but had no idea there was any noro outbreak that week...we never heard about it or experienced it. We boarded about noon but it was 2:30 - 3:00 before we could get into our cabins. We heard they were "fogging" cabins which I assume was for germs. Great cruise and ready to go back.

[gelo7]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[redjetz]

Thanks for your thoughts. We were on the 3/10 cruise the previous week but had no idea there was any noro outbreak that week...we never heard about it or experienced it. We boarded about noon but it was 2:30 - 3:00 before we could get into our cabins. We heard they were "fogging" cabins which I assume was for germs. Great cruise and ready to go back.

 

I am ready to go back, too -- good thing I have 3 cruises booked! I started cruising late, but now I am hooked, like everyone else on this board. I actually owe a big debt to Cruise Critic members. I did a lot of research here before deciding on Celebrity for my first venture (primarily because of the restrictive smoking policies, but also for the sense of style and service and character that I got about Celebrity from reading all these posts.

[MVPinBoynton]

Rredjetz,

Thanks for the review. We are looking forward to cruising the Baltic next year with you. Hopefully the menus are straightened out by then.

[redjetz]

Rredjetz,

Thanks for the review. We are looking forward to cruising the Baltic next year with you. Hopefully the menus are straightened out by then.

 

even if they aren't, Mike, we will have a fabulous time!

[MVPinBoynton]

even if they aren't, Mike, we will have a fabulous time!

 

You've got that right!:)

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review of your cruise. I enjoyed reading it, glad you had a good time.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[emcee207]

Redjetz, nice review, thank you.

 

Where y'all from in Boston? We are in Milton, just south of town. 11 time cruisers here, all Celebrity except for one Azamara cruise back in 2008. A 14 day "Best of Italy" cruise that was fantastic.

 

We love the Solstice class ships and are booked on the 2/9/13 Eclipse sailing.

 

Other than that anxiously awaiting opening day for the Sox and keeping our fingers crossed for the Bruins. Think the Celtics won't have much of a post season.

 

Louis and Margo

[redjetz]

Redjetz, nice review, thank you.

 

Where y'all from in Boston? We are in Milton, just south of town. 11 time cruisers here, all Celebrity except for one Azamara cruise back in 2008. A 14 day "Best of Italy" cruise that was fantastic.

 

We love the Solstice class ships and are booked on the 2/9/13 Eclipse sailing.

 

Other than that anxiously awaiting opening day for the Sox and keeping our fingers crossed for the Bruins. Think the Celtics won't have much of a post season.

 

Louis and Margo

 

we are actually in Boston. The Sox should be very interesting this year for sure! We aren't big hockey fans but love to see the local guys do well - like you, I am not optimistic about the Celtics, need a real overhaul of that team, I think.

[psantho]

Thanks for your review! I have a question on the segway tour--I think the description of the tour shows it is 2 hours long. Considering there is about 1/2 hour for segway "training", did you feel you had enough time in the tour itself? Did you tour more than one fort? Thanks for any information! 10 days and counting until we are on the Eclipse!

[HappyChappy]

Redjetz Good review. I agree with a lot but the bartenders were all ok with me. None seemed aloof. In fact if anything it was the attitude of some passengers towards them I didnt like.

But pity we missed you. We had a great crowd at our table and it would have been nice to meet.

[redjetz]

Thanks for your review! I have a question on the segway tour--I think the description of the tour shows it is 2 hours long. Considering there is about 1/2 hour for segway "training", did you feel you had enough time in the tour itself? Did you tour more than one fort? Thanks for any information! 10 days and counting until we are on the Eclipse!

 

We ended up with about three hours total -- the initial training, the tour around Old San Juan, the visit inside the fort, then the ride back. It was a good amount of time and good value for the money, I thought. It was just El Morro.

[redjetz]

Redjetz Good review. I agree with a lot but the bartenders were all ok with me. None seemed aloof. In fact if anything it was the attitude of some passengers towards them I didnt like.

But pity we missed you. We had a great crowd at our table and it would have been nice to meet.

 

I agree, some passengers are just rude to the staff, not saying please or thank you, which is bothersome.

 

Glad the table you organized from the roll call was fun -- we do Select Dining because we find 6 too early for dinner and 8:30 too late. Nice that we have the options.

[C&F]

Thanks for the review! We get on in 10 days!! Can't wait!!

[MrsKruse]

We were on the same sailing...not sure I'd call the bar staff aloof, but that they were definitely the downfall of the week. We found drinks to be inconsistent...a lot of the bartenders didn't know what they had on their shelves (even basic things like Bacardi 8 or Don Julio...when they were in perfect view)...servers who didn't seem familiar with their menus. The worst was when we sat in Michael's Club for 15 minutes with only two other couples there, and the server just ignored us. We finally just got up and had a drink in the Ensemble Lounge. It was very, very strange - since the rest of the service was top notch!

 

I don't think the drink package made much of a difference...half of our family had it, the other half did not. Comments seemed the same.

 

At least our sommelier in the Moonlight Sonata was top notch :)

[dcinns]

We were on the previous cruise 03/10 and didn't hear about the outbreak untill Friday when we were talking with our room attendant. Apparently there was none on deck 10 (we were 1128 just a few down from you, was Germaine your attendant?) We had a great time as well, did the segway and loved it. Also found the bartenders a little un-friendly by times which wasa odd because most of the crew were excellant! Also noticed how some people treated the crew, especially the poor souls who were giving out the hand sanitizer at the buffett... had too be the worst job on the ship. All & all had a fabulous time and will definatley be back! :)

[redjetz]

We were on the previous cruise 03/10 and didn't hear about the outbreak untill Friday when we were talking with our room attendant. Apparently there was none on deck 10 (we were 1128 just a few down from you, was Germaine your attendant?) We had a great time as well, did the segway and loved it. Also found the bartenders a little un-friendly by times which wasa odd because most of the crew were excellant! Also noticed how some people treated the crew, especially the poor souls who were giving out the hand sanitizer at the buffett... had too be the worst job on the ship. All & all had a fabulous time and will definatley be back! :)

 

Hi. jermain was our attendant, very nice and helpful. Talked with a spa worker who loved the 7-week cruises, said the turnover made time go faster and meant more activity in the spa, but that other crew didn't like the 1week cruises as it made their jobs harder.

 

Agree about the crew who had to be on hand sanitized duty -- we tried to be extra nice to them as a result!

[emcee207]

we are actually in Boston. The Sox should be very interesting this year for sure! We aren't big hockey fans but love to see the local guys do well - like you, I am not optimistic about the Celtics, need a real overhaul of that team, I think.

 

When we downsized back in 2005 we looked at a few places in Boston. But, at the time, we had a small dog and it just didn't work. We found a real nice small place here in Milton and enjoy it.

 

We've never cruised out of Black Falcon but the thought intiruges us. Just no ships or itineraries that excite us.

 

Enjoy the spring, great so far.

[dcinns]

Hi. jermain was our attendant, very nice and helpful. Talked with a spa worker who loved the 7-week cruises, said the turnover made time go faster and meant more activity in the spa, but that other crew didn't like the 1week cruises as it made their jobs harder.

 

Agree about the crew who had to be on hand sanitized duty -- we tried to be extra nice to them as a result!

 

We loved jermaine, we have never cruised before and didn't know what to expect but we actually fely guilty when we called him for something! :)

 

We too were extra nice to the hand sanitizer people...

[redjetz]

When we downsized back in 2005 we looked at a few places in Boston. But, at the time, we had a small dog and it just didn't work. We found a real nice small place here in Milton and enjoy it.

 

We've never cruised out of Black Falcon but the thought intiruges us. Just no ships or itineraries that excite us.

 

Enjoy the spring, great so far.

 

It seems so weird that we can't support more ships from Boston, doesn't it? We would cruise more than once or twice a year if we could leave from here, and avoid flight costs and hotels and having go a day early.just so few options from here.

 

I envy the folks who live in Florida who can just drive to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale! (Not enough to move there, but ... )

[emcee207]

We've been tempted to take one of the fall cruises that originate in Boston or NY and go to Nova Scotia, Canada, Bar Harbour, etc. But, we love getting away in the winter and can only afford so much. I will say we are getting a bit sick of the Caribbean Islands. LOL, tough life, eh??? We are spoiled.:D

[redjetz]

We've been tempted to take one of the fall cruises that originate in Boston or NY and go to Nova Scotia, Canada, Bar Harbour, etc. But, we love getting away in the winter and can only afford so much. I will say we are getting a bit sick of the Caribbean Islands. LOL, tough life, eh??? We are spoiled.:D

 

We are spoiled, but is it too much to ask for a Celebrity option from Boston? I would be all over that!!!!