The GRAND TOUR of Celebrity Eclipse & S-Class Ships in Pictures and Video - Part 2

[luv4cruises]

 

 

Be careful walking in this corridor...

Celebrity Eclipse

 

 

 

 

Promenade Deck Summary

The lack of promenade deck is a huge design flaw of Celebrity S-Class ship.

 

 

 

To be continued...

 

Agree with you 100% about what a proper promenade deck is. Again, I thank you for the presentation of design facts on S class ships! Whatever your opinions, they are supported by your careful analysis.

[Wine-O]

1106 on the Silhouette (picture) is located in the same place as 1614 on the Reflection (in relation to the hump). You'll have a strut on your balcony.

1614 on the Reflection overlooks lifeboats the same way but it will be one deck higher (Reflection has one extra deck added).

 

9306 is far enough from the overhang.

9306 overlooks lifeboats (not too close though).

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

 

The OP has some sort of anal fixation of where the life boats are located in relation to your cabin. I can understand that if one had a stateroom on Deck 6, but there seems to be a problem with a stateroom and balcony if you can't look straight down and spit directly into the water. God forbid there be a life boat in your way. :eek: Who the heck does this, anyway?:confused:

 

Who gives a fig. This has nothing to do with cabin location, balcony size, whether there is a service closet in the vicinity, is there a smoking section nearby, yada, yada, yada.

[cruisetrail]

Celebrity S-Class Ships - Which One to Choose?

 

Major Differences

 

The Solstice (2008) and the Equinox (2009) are basicly twins.

 

The Eclipse (2010) shares the same design, planning and features with a notable addition - Qsine specialty reastaurant.

That novelty replaced Silk Harvest restaurant on the first two ships.

The S-Class family reached the peak with the Eclipse and then turned downhill with the introduction of the Silhouette in 2011.

 

The Silhouette has lost two most distinctive features that Celebrity had been proud of the most: free open grass lawn (replaced with extra charge cabanas) and free The Hot Glass Show (replaced with an extra charge dining venue).

The number of passengers was increased from 2850 to 2886.

 

The Reflection (2012) pulled the family further down introducing more drastic changes into the ship design and planning.

The number of passengers was increased to 3046.

 

All ships have minor differences in decor.

 

Now more details and pictures.

 

1. From the Eclipse to the Silhouette

 

An extra lifeboat was added (more obsructed balconies, less open space on the boat deck)

 

 

 

 

6155, 6157, 6156, 6158 balconies on the Sihouette (and the Reflection) got normal sizes.

They were smaller on the Solstice-Eclipse (picture):

 

 

The major losses the Silhouette suffered in the grass lawn area.

 

The Eclipse:

 

 

 

This is what happened on the Silhouette: extra charge cabanas instead of free open pubic space.

 

 

 

 

The Hot Glass Show is gone.

Another extra charge restaurant on the Silhouette (same on the Reflection):

Edited January 28, 2013 by cruisetrail

[cruisetrail]

 

 

 

 

"The Porch"

 

 

 

A boy brings his drawing to the glass show masters.

What happens then - masters take his drawing and make a wonder: the image from the paper takes its shape in glass!

 

What a moment!

 

Compare this to the banality of a round face chewing "the best steak ever" in an extra charge restaurant.....

 

 

Now let's have a look at the stern.

 

The Silhouette and the Reflection have the superstructure extended aft.

All changes can be seen below:

 

 

 

The Reflection has the aft part of the upper deck redesigned (Meyer Werft costruction photo):

 

 

To be continued....

Edited January 28, 2013 by cruisetrail

[mrsmagnolia]

:confused: Hello, I have been reading your posts, and hesitated asking what you think of the cabin I chose for our first time on Equinox, or any of the S class ships, now i fear i need to ask....you mentioned the dreaded deck 6...I am in 6136..please make me feel better about this cabin, please....hahahahaha...tell the truth, either way, i am sure I will have a great cruise in March, thanks for a wonderful thread!

[Tampa Jim]

We have 7248 on the Silhouette and 7242 on the Equinox. Our TA selected them as "highly stable" (pitch and roll), on the non-smoking side, convenient to elevators but not "too close" and a balcony for "personal fresh air".

 

Was she incorrect in her assessment?

 

Would you please post a picture of the location, like you have in other threads.

 

Thanks!

[Ugaaucruisers]

We are looking to book a C3 on the Equinox. We will be in the aft section behind the hump. Is deck 9 or 10 a better choice. We will be on the starboard side. Does deck 10 hanve any of the extra overhang from above?

Thanks! Looking at 9314 or 1042.

[jaspersmommy]

Cruisetrail,

 

This has the makings of an excellent thread. The photos that you have provided could have been such an excellent resource for people... if it were done differently, it would have made a great sticky to which people could refer when they were thinking of sailing S-class. All the photos and information in one place were nearly gold.

 

What I can't understand is why you are putting so much time and effort into bashing an entire class of cruise ships, and to a large extent - a cruise line. If I cruised and didn't like a ship (or a class of ships), I would post a review, and maybe start a new thread stating why I didn't like it (and yes, maybe include photos). But I really can't imagine the time and effort that it has taken you to put this thread together. You must have spent hours and hours on it. I just can't comprehend why anyone would go to these lengths and expend the effort that you obviously have, to try to influence what other people do. Thousands and thousands of people sail Celebrity and S-class and love it. Others don't love it. To each his own, but why is it so important to you to do whatever you can to make others see things your way? Why not just vote with your wallet and not sail Celebrity anymore?

 

For the record, I am not a Celebrity loyalist, so it doesn't bother me when I see threads where people say that they enjoy other lines more. I like Celebrity but am definitely open to other lines when the circumstances warrant it. I think your thread would have had much more credibility if you were to just post the photos and the facts, and leave your opinions out. I notice that a great number of the regulars on this board don't appear in this thread anymore. I don't think it's because they dislike seeing Celebrity bashed... it's likely because it's lost all credibility and has become Cruise Critic's version of the National Enquirier.

[MCKC]

"I should worry about" - it depends.

TA and Celebrity Rep have nothing to worry about.

Consumers might have.

 

To be on the safe side I would carefully avoid balcony cabins on deck 6 except a few nice balconies on the front "hump" and possibly aft looking ones (as a kind of a special choice) or accept them as a free upgrade from an inside cabin.

 

6192 on the Reflection will have lifeboats in front of the balcony.

They won't obstruct the whole view completely but they will spoil the view completely.

Another bad thing is that 6192 on the Reflection overlooks the largest lifeboats - tenders that are about twice the size (volume) of the regular ones.

 

In the picture below: 6194 (on the Silhouette) that is located where 6192 is on the Reflection. The balcony will overlook the "cockpit" of the tender and a huge davit a bit forward.

Note that tenders on the Reflection are slightly larger (higher roof) than on the Silhouette.

The insert: tenders vs regular lifeboats on the Reflection.

 

 

Thanks so much for your comments. I have a call into my TA right now to see if a change is still available.

[richsea]

Cruisetrail,

 

This has the makings of an excellent thread. The photos that you have provided could have been such an excellent resource for people... if it were done differently, it would have made a great sticky to which people could refer when they were thinking of sailing S-class. All the photos and information in one place were nearly gold.

 

What I can't understand is why you are putting so much time and effort into bashing an entire class of cruise ships, and to a large extent - a cruise line. If I cruised and didn't like a ship (or a class of ships), I would post a review, and maybe start a new thread stating why I didn't like it (and yes, maybe include photos). But I really can't imagine the time and effort that it has taken you to put this thread together. You must have spent hours and hours on it. I just can't comprehend why anyone would go to these lengths and expend the effort that you obviously have, to try to influence what other people do. Thousands and thousands of people sail Celebrity and S-class and love it. Others don't love it. To each his own, but why is it so important to you to do whatever you can to make others see things your way? Why not just vote with your wallet and not sail Celebrity anymore?

 

For the record, I am not a Celebrity loyalist, so it doesn't bother me when I see threads where people say that they enjoy other lines more. I like Celebrity but am definitely open to other lines when the circumstances warrant it. I think your thread would have had much more credibility if you were to just post the photos and the facts, and leave your opinions out. I notice that a great number of the regulars on this board don't appear in this thread anymore. I don't think it's because they dislike seeing Celebrity bashed... it's likely because it's lost all credibility and has become Cruise Critic's version of the National Enquirier.

 

Well said. And the strange part is that ther are actually people asking cruistrail what he thinks of various staterooms as if he is the authority on all things S class. It's wierd.

Love the photos though!

[Tennant]

So the middle of the lawn isn't open to the public at all on the two newest ships? That is disappointing. We love the hot glass show and the lawn so probably won't sail on the newest two ships anyways.

[Bosjoe]

So the middle of the lawn isn't open to the public at all on the two newest ships? That is disappointing. We love the hot glass show and the lawn so probably won't sail on the newest two ships anyways.

 

It is open to the public, you just surrounded by the cabanas.

[cruisetrail]

Cruisetrail,

 

This has the makings of an excellent thread. The photos that you have provided could have been such an excellent resource for people... if it were done differently, it would have made a great sticky to which people could refer when they were thinking of sailing S-class. All the photos and information in one place were nearly gold.

 

What I can't understand is why you are putting so much time ...

 

Habits and mentality.

People most likely expect cruise vacation diaries on these boards.

They don't expect expert reviews here.

 

This is not my vacation diary (OMG, I had chicken soup on Day 2).

This is a review of the ship.

Why do I spend so much time?

Why do people write books, perform research?

I am an engeneer and a travel professional.

This is my field.

That's why I spend time writing about ships.

This is a research.

It's not intended to please this board regulars.

It's for everyone who is interested in cruise ships and cruise line business.

And of course it's for those who is going to take a cruise on Celebrity S-Class ships.

 

Happy cruising!

[cruisetrail]

So the middle of the lawn isn't open to the public at all on the two newest ships? That is disappointing. We love the hot glass show and the lawn so probably won't sail on the newest two ships anyways.

 

You can be there.

But the concept has changes and this area cannot be used as intended.

There is no enough space for playing games (and it's not safe).

Imagine youself in a $$$ "serene" cabana and the "poor people of Paris" playing games next to you, or vice versa...

[SuperTrooper00]

Habits and mentality.

People most likely expect cruise vacation diaries on these boards.

They don't expect expert reviews here.

 

This is not my vacation diary (OMG, I had chicken soup on Day 2).

This is a review of the ship.

Why do I spend so much time?

Why do people write books, perform research?

I am an engeneer and a travel professional.

This is my field.

That's why I spend time writing about ships.

This is a research.

It's not intended to please this board regulars.

It's for everyone who is interested in cruise ships and cruise line business.

And of course it's for those who is going to take a cruise on Celebrity S-Class ships.

 

Happy cruising!

 

I have so many thoughts running through my head. Thoughts about grammar, the use of the word "expert", engineers who can't spell their profession, etc, etc. But mostly, I just want to see a picture of Chicken Soup from Blu.

Edited January 28, 2013 by SuperTrooper00

[cruisetrail]

:confused: Hello, I have been reading your posts, and hesitated asking what you think of the cabin I chose for our first time on Equinox, or any of the S class ships, now i fear i need to ask....you mentioned the dreaded deck 6...I am in 6136..please make me feel better about this cabin, please....hahahahaha...tell the truth, either way, i am sure I will have a great cruise in March, thanks for a wonderful thread!

 

6136

 

[cruisetrail]

I have so many thoughts running through my head. Thoughts about grammar, the use of the word "expert", engineers who can't spell their profession, etc, etc. But mostly, I just want to see a picture of Chicken Soup from Blu.

 

English is my second language.

Ships is my first language.

Enjoy looking for misprints. I make them frequently.:)

[richsea]

It's not intended to please this board regulars.

It's for everyone who is interested in cruise ships and cruise line business.

Happy cruising!

 

If it's for everyone who is interested in cruise ships and cruise line business, where are is the in depth research on the multitude of ships that are out there? Please don't insult us by calling this just research by a travel professional.

[dan_and_joe]

I have so many thoughts running through my head. Thoughts about grammar, the use of the word "expert", engineers who can't spell their profession, etc, etc. But mostly, I just want to see a picture of Chicken Soup from Blu.

 

:eek::eek:

 

Not every one has English as a first language!

 

Thanks cruisetrail for your in depth analysis! Although I don't agree with you on certain points (e.g. your opinion on Blu and the S-Class pool deck) I thouroughly enjoy this thread. In fact, if this thread were a book, I'd be the first in line to buy it!

[cruisetrail]

We have 7248 on the Silhouette and 7242 on the Equinox. Our TA selected them as "highly stable" (pitch and roll), on the non-smoking side, convenient to elevators but not "too close" and a balcony for "personal fresh air".

 

Was she incorrect in her assessment?

 

Would you please post a picture of the location, like you have in other threads.

 

Thanks!

 

The center of buoyancy on cruise ships is slightly aft (not in the middle like on liners).

So speaking of stability, your position is not the best on this ship but still very good.

Yes, it's conveniet to elevators.

Balconies overlook lifeboats (tenders).

 

7248 on the Silhouette

 

 

 

 

7242 on the Eclipse (same on the Equinox):

 

Edited January 28, 2013 by cruisetrail

[SuperTrooper00]

 

Not every one has English as a first language!

 

 

It is obvious English is not his first language. Just as obvious that social manners are not his first concern. I didn't appreciate his subtle shots at others on here.

[jaspersmommy]

"Expert" review? I guess "expert" is in the eye of the beholder. If you have the dual role of "engeneer" and travel professional, I'm surprised at the amount of time you have on your hands (do I smell something?) As a previous poster mentioned, why don't you provide some links to some of your other expert reviews on other ships/lines. That may lend some credibility to this mission of yours.

 

Shame on you for trying to pass yourself off as an expert just because you have a few photos. At the very least, you should take a step back and draw the line at providing advice to newcomers like you're some sort of authority. I've yet to see you refer anyone to the sticky on this board with feedback from people who have stayed in the S-class staterooms. People that have actually stayed in those cabins have far more qualified comments than any you can make. I feel bad for the newcomers who are worrying now about their choices based on the nonsense you're feeding them.

 

And with that, I too am exiting this thread. I tried to stay with it because I enjoyed the photos, but your personal bias and constant agenda have turned me off completely.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Habits and mentality.

People most likely expect cruise vacation diaries on these boards.

They don't expect expert reviews here.

 

This is not my vacation diary (OMG, I had chicken soup on Day 2).

This is a review of the ship.

Why do I spend so much time?

Why do people write books, perform research?

I am an engeneer and a travel professional.

This is my field.

That's why I spend time writing about ships.

This is a research.

It's not intended to please this board regulars.

It's for everyone who is interested in cruise ships and cruise line business.

And of course it's for those who is going to take a cruise on Celebrity S-Class ships.

 

Happy cruising!

[jaspersmommy]

Here is a link to a spreadsheet prepared by a regular poster, Librarylady, regarding S-class ships. The spreadsheet includes feedback for many of the S-class cabins, directly from people who have stated in them:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AtHczoNeooladEEyVmQwWmJhaGItbFZPUFNudTFZcEE&pli=1

[thebutlerdidit]

This is an excellent compilation. It's helped me choose cabins on an upcoming cruise on Silhouette and helped me confirm that my choice of cabin for an upcoming cruise on Eclipse was a decent choice. Prior to this thread I was feeling overwhelmed! I want to sincerely thank you, cruisetrail. It's unfortunate that once you hit upon the design flaws many have felt the need to gang up on you and denounce your efforts. Sorry you have to deal with that, but you've helped out lots of us and I wanted to be sure to thank you. :)

[cruisetrail]

We are looking to book a C3 on the Equinox. We will be in the aft section behind the hump. Is deck 9 or 10 a better choice. We will be on the starboard side. Does deck 10 hanve any of the extra overhang from above?

Thanks! Looking at 9314 or 1042.

 

9314 is far enough from the overhang. No problem.

Deck 10 has overhang from above but not where 1042 is located.

1042 is on the forward "hump".

 

1042 has better views. Theoretically there may be more motion there. In practice it depends on the sea condition.

9314 is closer to the buffet and restaurants.

1042 is closer to the theatre, gym and front observation deck (and elevators!).

Whatever you prefer....

 

I wouldn't say that we have an absolute winner here, but 1042 looks nicer IMHO.