Greetings from Celebrity Eclipse PH heading for Norway

[chemmo]

Greetings from the Celebrity Eclipse PH heading for Norway.

 

We have looked forward to this trip for some time. Although regular RS cruisers on the S Class and PH cruisers on the M class, this is our first S class PH experience. We found out much about this cruise and the room by researching on this site and hope we can repay by answering any questions you may have.

 

Boarding in Southampton we found different from when we have cruised from the US and Australia. We were through security and check in really fast but then, instead of the 'red rose' and personal escort to Michael's we have become used to, suite guests were seated and then in groups taken to Michael's Club. No big deal but rather than wait for others to arrive (nearly 30 minutes) and then move as quite a large group I think next Southampton cruise we will miss this 'perk' and just make our own way to Michael's Club!

 

Thanks to the Shore Side concierge our bar set up and several other small requests had been sorted by our butler, our luggage arrived quickly and we were sorted before muster....Project Gal, if you are reading, I took your advice from a blog long ago and brought a box of my favourite chocolates to place on the piano! The room really is beautiful and very spacious. Our adult son is cruising with us and the two room, two bathroom set up is excellent for family cruising.

 

We dined last night in Tuscan, it was wonderful to be sat by the window watching the coast of England slowly begin to fade into the distance....I know there have been some less than perfect reviews of the meat quality in Tuscan recently, all I can say is that both the food and service we received last night were excellent!

 

We have had some issues with IT (both with packages and internet speed in the rooms) fortunately they now both seem to be resolved and I can now start my report.

 

At present I have a mobility issue and I am using a mixture of crutches and a wheelchair so if any of you have any queries regarding physical challenges on board I will do my best to answer.

 

Today is a sea day and we are presently resting and relaxing and allowing our Luminae breakfast and Bellini to settle before wrapping up warmly and taking a turn outside. The sun is out, the sky is clear but it is cold...The butler has brought me some outside blankets and I have even brought my hot water bottle with me so I can still enjoy the fresh air and the balcony...

 

Dinner tonight is in Murano's....

[Project_gal]

Chemmo

 

Apologies, I missed wishing you Bon Voyage before you set off.

 

I hope the S-class PH lives up to your expectations. I shall be watching your reports.

[HAM]

Enjoy your cruise. I'm looking forward to your comments.

 

George

[chemmo]

Thanks Sue,

 

We did toast the health of you and Richard with champagne on boarding. You did inspire us to try the PH and so far we have not been disappointed. I remember you mentioning the suite had a good flow, I now know what you mean. We are also pleasantly surprised with the size of the balcony....it had looked narrower on videos.

 

Thanks again for the good wishes...

[chemmo]

Enjoy your cruise. I'm looking forward to your comments.

 

George

Thanks, Ham!

[Project_gal]

Thanks Sue,

 

We did toast the health of you and Richard with champagne on boarding. You did inspire us to try the PH and so far we have not been disappointed. I remember you mentioning the suite had a good flow, I now know what you mean. We are also pleasantly surprised with the size of the balcony....it had looked narrower on videos.

 

Thanks again for the good wishes...

 

Glad that you have not been disappointed.

 

Thinking of you drinking Champagne.

[Muushka]

I always enjoy reading your impressions of suites and dining and cruising in general.

 

Enjoy!

[groryjm]

Hi Chemmo

 

We are doing a similar itinerary in Sept 2018, though only in an RS, so very interested to get ideas for our trip.

 

Your embarks experience and having to wait before going to Micheals en mass seems a bit of a let down, especially when in a PH. We have always had a personal escort in the Med either from a butler and once from the MCC. Hope this is just a temporary glitch.

 

I'm interested to know how connected you manage to stay especially when in the fjords.

 

looking forward to following along.

[BMT]

Hi - Bon Voyage:champagne-toast:

 

Do you know who the Captain is? We are on the 21st May and miss Capt. Manetas - but all the other Captains have proved to be very sociable and turned up for the M&M.

[chemmo]

Glad that you have not been disappointed.

 

Thinking of you drinking Champagne.

Thanks, Sue, we will keep drinking the Champagne, just for your benefit, of course!

[chemmo]

I always enjoy reading your impressions of suites and dining and cruising in general.

 

Enjoy!

Thanks Muushka, we always try to give a balanced view and perspective. Much as we love quality food I do think it is the ambiance and service level of dining that usually is more important to us....feeling well looked after and 'cared about' is such an important part of cruising...

 

Our dining experience tonight in Murano's did not let us down. We once again experienced the quality of food and (flambé) service we have learned to love and respect. An interesting point from tonight is that we enjoyed a brief exchange with some new cruisers who enjoyed watching some of our choices being flambéd. I do wonder if their menu choices may have been a little different if the menu had indicated 'prepared tableside'....

[CruisersTimesThree]

Will be following along and look forward to your comments about the S-class PH, as we will be sailing in one for the first time on our Caribbean cruise waaaay off in the future. Love the M-class and that awesome balcony, so I wonder how this suite compares.

In the meantime, have a wonderful cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[chemmo]

Hi Chemmo

 

We are doing a similar itinerary in Sept 2018, though only in an RS, so very interested to get ideas for our trip.

 

Your embarks experience and having to wait before going to Micheals en mass seems a bit of a let down, especially when in a PH. We have always had a personal escort in the Med either from a butler and once from the MCC. Hope this is just a temporary glitch.

 

I'm interested to know how connected you manage to stay especially when in the fjords.

 

looking forward to following along.

 

During the social meeting with officers tonight in Michael's we were reassured (and received apologies) that our boarding experience in Southampton was not typical...

 

As I said in my first post, it was not that important for us (we know our way to Michael's!). It was more the time wasted that was the issue. We did not ask why the glitch had occurred, we are aware that 'things happen'....

 

Hopefully your boarding (and our next on Eclipse) will be 'normal service now resumed'.

 

Re connectivity, we will let you know how we get on. We did have some initial glitches, which have now been resolved. There is a stop (will name tomorrow) where there are issues...if they let you know in advance then it really does become a non issue....

 

Will let you know how things progress...

[groryjm]

When we were on Connie going along the Dalmation coast last summer the connectivity was pretty awful in Kotor Bay. Whilst not technically a fjord, but rather a ria – a submerged river valley, we were told the high surrounding mountains made satellite connection difficult. I'm hopping the S Class ships are better.

 

Enjoy Norway :) I cant wait to go there too :D but I still have 488 days to wait :(

[BunnyLebowski]

Thank you for posting during your travels. We have enjoyed the PH on M-class ships several times with an upcoming Riviera/Spain trip in 6148 on the Constellation in June (post dry dock).

 

Am interested in your opinion of the mid-ship PH vs the aft. We travel with our 2 tween boys, and also would like to know if your son is comfortable as the 3rd passenger.

 

Thank you, and enjoy your trip!

[Project_gal]

Thanks, Sue, we will keep drinking the Champagne, just for your benefit, of course!

 

Of course!

[chemmo]

Hi - Bon Voyage:champagne-toast:

 

Do you know who the Captain is? We are on the 21st May and miss Capt. Manetas - but all the other Captains have proved to be very sociable and turned up for the M&M.

Our Captain is Captain Michael. We met him last night in Michael's. He is very chatty and social. It was nice to see him, and the other officers, making a real effort to meet and greet as many guests as possible. It was also nice that they were asking for opinions and impressions....a team looking to keep enhancing the guest's experiences.

 

On a similar note we received a 'comment' card in our room last night. Great that they are looking for feedback of any issues (or strengths) so early in the cruise.

Edited May 1, 2017 by chemmo

[chemmo]

When we were on Connie going along the Dalmation coast last summer the connectivity was pretty awful in Kotor Bay. Whilst not technically a fjord, but rather a ria – a submerged river valley, we were told the high surrounding mountains made satellite connection difficult. I'm hopping the S Class ships are better.

 

Enjoy Norway :) I cant wait to go there too :D but I still have 488 days to wait :(

 

Connectivity is now great (nearing Bergen) I will try to let you know how we get on at each port. Ask me again if I forget to comment!

[chemmo]

Coast of Norway just coming into view, about to wrap up warm and enjoy the balcony!

 

Will reply to other queries later!

[chemmo]

We have just spent a magical couple of hours on the balcony watching the coastline....Caesar, our wonderful butler, brought us coffee and pastries. The sky is blue, no wind and the sun was shining on us. It was cold but in our layers of clothing (and me under blankets with my hot water bottle) it was so nice! We could not ask for better weather....We are now moored in Bergen.

 

We are in the commercial port, some distance from the old port and town centre. You need to get a shuttle bus to the port exit then sort out transport, taxis...from there. There is one minibus running half hourly for wheelchairs. For the number of wheelchair users on board you could end up waiting for quite a while in the cold....We did look at booking a private transfer and funicular trip but the cost was prohibitively high for such a simple trip. We have decided to enjoy our sightseeing today from the ship (we are overlooking the town)....

 

We are aware that X does need to use these commercial ports in many parts of the world for operational reasons. I do feel, however, that they then should offer relatively cheap and frequent shuttles to the town centres....I do understand they can not have a fleet of shuttles for disabled guests but if you could book a time slot that would reduce the risk of vulnerable guests queuing in the cold.

[chemmo]

Thank you for posting during your travels. We have enjoyed the PH on M-class ships several times with an upcoming Riviera/Spain trip in 6148 on the Constellation in June (post dry dock).

 

Am interested in your opinion of the mid-ship PH vs the aft. We travel with our 2 tween boys, and also would like to know if your son is comfortable as the 3rd passenger.

 

Thank you, and enjoy your trip!

 

Firstly our son is very comfortable as the third guest on the bed settee. He is 6' and has plenty of room. He has the bigger TV when he wants it and his game system working on it. Other than checking it is operational I don't think he has used it yet...

 

Early days, really to compare the two types of PH, I will keep referring. The only negative on the S class we have found so far is we need to 'creep' past our sleeping son to go for early morning coffee whereas on the M class you don't need to go through the lounge to get out! Not a big deal!

[BMT]

Our Captain is Captain Michael. We met him last night in Michael's. He is very chatty and social. It was nice to see him, and the other officers, making a real effort to meet and greet as many guests as possible. It was also nice that they were asking for opinions and impressions....a team looking to keep enhancing the guest's experiences.

 

On a similar note we received a 'comment' card in our room last night. Great that they are looking for feedback of any issues (or strengths) so early in the cruise.

 

Thank you - its always nice to be able to meet the senior staff - and even nicer when they are sociable! Always found the Eclipse staff to be exceptional:halo:

[chemmo]

Thank you - its always nice to be able to meet the senior staff - and even nicer when they are sociable! Always found the Eclipse staff to be exceptional:halo:

 

We were enjoying talking to the Captain and the officers so much we did end up arriving a little late at Murano's. We apologised saying 'Sorry we are late we were talking to the Captain', probably the most acceptable excuse on board!

 

Our dining experiences have continued with burger lunch at the Mast Grill. It may not be fine dining but it hits the spot! Service again excellent. It was quite busy as I think many guests had, like us, enjoyed a light coffee and pastry breakfast in the room. Food was served promptly and tables cleared fast...

[Westyone]

I Chemmo,

I am enjoying your posts and reliving our Norway cruise on infinity a few years ago. We were in a Royal suite and we will be in our first Penthouse on Summit later this summer so I look forward to your comments.

 

Enjoy the beautiful views from your toasty warm vantage point. It keeps getting better!

[chemmo]

Will be following along and look forward to your comments about the S-class PH, as we will be sailing in one for the first time on our Caribbean cruise waaaay off in the future. Love the M-class and that awesome balcony, so I wonder how this suite compares.

In the meantime, have a wonderful cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for your good wishes!

 

More comparisons points will come as the cruise progresses but the suites are so different in shape and form it almost seems bizarre they share the same name...a few initial thoughts...

 

S balcony a good size plenty of room for standing and sitting, however four would struggle I think to dine on the balcony, two would be fine...miss the size of the M class balcony and the wake views, we are dining frequently in Tuscan to get our wake view fix...Not used the outside Jacuzzi but it looks a great size.

 

 

Inside jacuzzi a good size but for those of shorter stature you are really stretching to turn on the taps! I have also struggled a bit to get in and out, partly because of my mobility issues and partly because I am small. The shower is fantastic, the bathroom size is just wonderfully over the top, loving it!

 

The light in the S class suite and the massive expanse of glass is stunning...for light and looking at the views from inside the cabin the S class is far superior to the M class.

 

More will follow.....