Where are the Eclipse just back-ers?

[mrbocbox]

Looking for some insight into the latest sailing. Did we get the barnacles off? Why did the ship go to Icy Straight Point instead of Sitka? What was the crew situation like??? Anxious to know as we leave in 48 days!!

[Peteymil]

The pier in Sitka has been damaged so they cannot handle as many ships.

[Kikuyu786]

We were on the May 29th sailing. No issues with barnacle growth as we were cruising at 18 - 20 knots. Crew situation: According to our waiter, they have 80% of the crew that they need.

[TeaBag]

The barnacles were cleaned off when the ship was in drydock in Portland week of May 22.  Your cruise should be fine.

[CaptainJF]

For those of you who are just back from the Alaska cruise onboard the Eclipse, how would you rate and/or describe your experience?

 

We read very mixed and not so good reviews from the previous Eclipse sailings. We hope the latest cruise broke this pattern.

 

And any issues or concerns with the dreaded COVID bug? 

 

Thank you so much ! 

[lovecruzin]

We were on the first cruise 4/23 so not as recent as you had hoped but it seems like some people come to cruise critic to voice their displeasure. We had a flooded bathroom on day 1, what sticks in my mind more is how quickly they fixed the issue! But some may see that as a reason to email LLP!

I would go back and cruise Eclipse to Alaska if it weren't for the US re entry testing requirement . The crew was fantastic, any that were inexperienced were great just a little slower 😆 

We wish Captain Leo had made us aware of the covid cases, but we masked in public areas.

We also wish the in stock wine selections had been better but we made due!

Go with a positive attitude and expect to enjoy the ship and Alaska.

Edited June 7, 2022 by lovecruzin

[ashstreet]

Message from ashstreet:

I have already done a review on Cruise Critic, so this is probably redundant.However…..

Did both the April 23 and May 4th ,2022 cruises to Hawaii and back to Vancouver , and I cannot praise Captain Leo, charming Cruise Director Sue, Activity Manager Kristine and the entire crew enough.

What on earth do passengers want?

Many of the passengers did not wear masks until forced to do so, “social distancing” was a foreign phrase to most people, the pandemic is not over, so why the surprise that eventually there was Covid on board?

 

Re the barnacles, maybe someone at head office dropped the ball not dealing with this on time, maybe it was a matter of not being able to get labour to fix this,….but missing a day in Hilo and a day in Maui is not a tragedy.

 

These were the first sailings for the Eclipse in over 2 years….and I wish I ran my life as well as the members of the crew did their jobs.

 

So, everyone doing the 7-day Alaska cruises this summer is very fortunate and should enjoy every minute.

i will think of you all as the Eclipse passes through the Strait of Juan de Fuca .

 

frankie in victoria bc

 

 

 

 

[canderson]

20 hours ago, Peteymil said:

The pier in Sitka has been damaged so they cannot handle as many ships.

A Royal ship, too.  Bet that's going to cost the shareholders a few bucks!

 

https://www.kcaw.org/2022/05/12/damaged-mooring-dolphin-leaves-cruise-ship-terminal-at-half-capacity/#:~:text=The newly expanded Sitka Sound Cruise Ship terminal,a cruise ship struck an outer mooring dolphin.

[Sussex Cruiser]

Probably all still recovering from the extremely large covid outbreaks with zero action by Celebrity to control it.

[lovecruzin]

@ashstreet your review sums it up perfectly! 
Thank you

[nw gardener]

On the Eclipse now and having a wonderful time.  Barnacle debacle is behind them. AI ship internet is slooooow, and I've found my Verizon coverage isn't so great in SE AK,  so will post my thoughts and review after I get home. 2200 or so passengers,  staff stretched a little thin but trying very hard.

 Weather has been great so far but probably rain tomorrow in Ketchikan.  Unknown covid numbers,  I'm definitely in the minority masking . I'm finally back cruising and first real vacation in 2 years and I'm definitely having a #%!@ good time!

 

 

[Airportlimbo]

1 hour ago, nw gardener said:

On the Eclipse now and having a wonderful time.  Barnacle debacle is behind them. AI ship internet is slooooow, and I've found my Verizon coverage isn't so great in SE AK,  so will post my thoughts and review after I get home. 2200 or so passengers,  staff stretched a little thin but trying very hard.

 Weather has been great so far but probably rain tomorrow in Ketchikan.  Unknown covid numbers,  I'm definitely in the minority masking . I'm finally back cruising and first real vacation in 2 years and I'm definitely having a #%!@ good time!

 

 

Glad to hear you are having a good trip, and thanks for the update.

Have you seen chia seeds available for breakfast at the buffet?

 

I will be onboard in a few weeks.

thanks!

[Sussex Cruiser]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:01 AM, Airportlimbo said:

Glad to hear you are having a good trip, and thanks for the update.

Have you seen chia seeds available for breakfast at the buffet?

 

I will be onboard in a few weeks.

thanks!

Chia seeds...? Haha!  Dream on.  This ship had nothing of anything.  They even had to give out plastic bottled crew water as they ran out of cans.  Half the spirits were missing, loads of wines missing, and couldn't even get a coke zero after two days.  Loads of breakfast items were missing.  If there is something specific like that which you need, I suggest you take some with you.

This is by far the worst ship in the fleet at the moment, especially with so few crew members.

[lovetocruise1953]

1 hour ago, Sussex Cruiser said:

Chia seeds...? Haha!  Dream on.  This ship had nothing of anything.  They even had to give out plastic bottled crew water as they ran out of cans.  Half the spirits were missing, loads of wines missing, and couldn't even get a coke zero after two days.  Loads of breakfast items were missing.  If there is something specific like that which you need, I suggest you take some with you.

This is by far the worst ship in the fleet at the moment, especially with so few crew members.

Wow that is sad to see, I hope they up their game for our July sailing, didn't book All inc to have Nothing inc.....

[mrgabriel]

We’re on Eclipse at the moment while it sails south through the Inside Passage on the way back to Vancouver. This is our first cruise since August 2019 and we’ve been really pleased. There’s virtually nothing we’ve looked for that isn’t available. Few people hacking and coughing. We accidentally walked through quarantine land on deck 3 yesterday and couldn’t tell how many cabins were occupied. 
 

Worth noting - you cannot buy an aspirin or Tylenol or even Dristan in the tuck shop. I suspect this is a way to force those who are feeling unwell to put themselves. 
 

We aren’t really show goers but went to a couple. The theatre was not near full. 
 

The weather was glorious except for rainy Ketchikan. I actually got too much sun in Icy Point Strait! 
 

Wifi is dismal in our cabin but good towards the centre of the ship and on the upper public decks. 

[nw gardener]

Back home and here are my observations.  Background,  normally cruise every year to AK,  but last time on Celebrity was on the Century for the same itinerary. Yes,  it's been awhile since I've sailed Celebrity.

 

Good- Cabin was C2 1231 , deck 10 on the hump. Very good but overworked room steward,  loved the very large balcony and was convenient to elevator and stairs, and very quiet.  Dining was early set dining and lucked out and got a window seat.  Good service,  food was mostly very good, and dinner normally took about an hour and a half. I think we fared better than the anytime dining as I heard more complaints about cold food and uneven service.  Entertainment,  enjoyed the evening shows. Cafe al Bacio was excellent for my caffeine fix and extra calorie sweets, but so sad no lemon tarts that I've read are so amazing.

 

 

Just OK - Room service was prompt for breakfast,  but the only thing that ever arrived hot was the coffee.  Buffet was too crowded during lunch and MDR for lunch was hit and miss on service and hot food was sometimes lukewarm.  Mast grill wasn't always open for lunch and guessing it may have been a staffing issue. 

 

Bad- I'll just leave it with if you can only staff at 65 to 70 %, then sell to a corresponding percentage of passenger numbers. If you are consistently overworking your employees cruise after cruise,  in the long run you are making it difficult to retain your employees.  When I look back at how I rate my vacation,  good service always is right up near the top. Staff was trying so hard,  and very pleasant,  but clearly overworked.

And saving the best for last,  tested positive for Covid,  the cruise souvenir no one wants but is rather prevalent. Myself and the friend (who  is also positive) I traveled with tried to be very careful and were some of the VERY few that wore masks throughout the cruise.  Good compliance of masking in the theater,  no compliance on tours.  Don't know where we picked it up other than the ship or a tour, went knowing chances were we could pick it up. Thankfully so far it's only like a bad head cold,  thank you Moderna!  There was a lot of coughing the last 2 days of the cruise so I'm sure quite a few brought home the same souvenir. Internet,  slower than dial up.

 

 

Alaska- We had some nice weather,  and did the following tours.  Icy - private whale watching with Hoonah Travel Adventures on a boat with about 30 people.  Great time,  lots of whales,  highly reccomend them. Hubbard Glacier day,  wow did we luck out with a clear sunny day.  Due to ice field only got within 4 to 5 miles but still spectacular.  Juneau,  tram in the morning,  Mendenhall Glacier and Gardens in the afternoon,  and some shopping in between.  Beautiful weather again and good tours. Ketchikan,  rain and showers and did the Duck tour,  kinda cheesy but fun, and some more shopping. 

 

Getting back to cruising was fun and felt like a return to normal,  but Covid is still out there and will be for some time.  I had a wonderful time even with the unwanted souvenir.  I will try to answer any questions you have.

 

[eltigre]

I did a review you can see as it is posted now. 2550 Pax 997 Crew. Covid stats never announced. We both got Covid & yes we wore masks in halls, casino, theater, buses & being home port no flying involved. Still we had a great time.

[travlr21]

We are just back from the June 5 sailing. We were told 2100 passengers onboard. For the most part, we thought service was OK. Service of our cabin was inconsistent, some days late afternoon and other times mid morning.

 

We were in a Celebrity Suite with a large balcony, made use of it quite a bit. We had them bring an extra lounger as there was only the one, with a table and 3 chairs. Unfortunately, someone on the balcony below us was a smoker and smoked on his balcony. We called reception twice when we noticed it, they apologized but I am not sure they ever spoke to him. It is amazing even while sailing the smoke wafted up to us, ugh. He was back out there smoking as we were docked in Vancouver, just before we disembarked.

 

We both wore masks except while eating or drinking. We never rode the elevator, quite the hike up to 11 when you board from deck 2 after a day ashore! We enjoyed the shows, tried to sit away from others. The presentations by Milos were interesting.

 

We loved the Liars Club, so funny, but the riskiest environment with quite a few people attending. We popped into Michaels Club for the meet and greet with senior officers but left as it was jammed packed. We tested at home this morning, negative, so hopefully that does not change. We just want to be sure before we meet up with friends.

 

We ate every meal in Luminae, save for the one lunch when it was not open. We had lunch in Sushi on 5 that day, first time for us and we enjoyed it. We had great service from Tarun & Ali in Luminae, and we liked the food. 

[bebe08]

We are just back from June 5th Eclipse sailing.  It was our first cruise since Jan 2020.

 

We had an amazing time and thought the service was excellent all around. We did hear that the June 12 cruise is sold out so be interesting to hear how service is on that cruise in comparison. 

 

The food for the most part was good...some hits and some misses.  Would be nice to see the menus changed up a bit more.  Its been over 2 years since we sailed and didn't see a lot of new dishes.  We ate mostly in the MDR, had one dinner in Tuscan and also did the Elite breakfast twice in Tuscan (we are newly Elite so was a nice perk for us 🙂).  We only ate at the buffet twice.  I was surprised to see that you can serve yourself.  I was hoping they kept it to having staff serve you.

 

We were regulars at Al Bacio and the Ensemble Bar (Loved the entertainment by Jay) ...our favourite venues and just as good as we remembered.   

 

We saw a few shows at the theatre and they were great.   My favourite was the Boy Band Project.  We also enjoyed Milos (the naturalist) at the theatre.  There was also an amazing show featuring various acts from throughout the week in the Sky Lounge on the last night.  We avoided a couple of the shows as we had seen them before which was surprising given we hadn't cruised in over 2 years (ie Topper and a Broadway show).

 

This was our first cruise to Alaska and we really enjoyed it 🙂

 

It felt great to be back to cruising!!

 

 

[Barwick Cruiser]

Glad to hear that for the most part this sailing is going well. I was under the impression from a couple earlier reviews that the naturalist on board was Brent Nixon…is he off on holidays? I was looking forward to seeing his presentations in September. 
 

I’m not sure whether I’ll bother wearing a mask when we sail…so many that have taken all precautions are still testing positive after their disembarkation…I suppose that unless we eat every meal outdoors away from others, which is the one time that others have missed, that all the precautions are really for naught. 🤷‍♀️

[Peteymil]

1 hour ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

Glad to hear that for the most part this sailing is going well. I was under the impression from a couple earlier reviews that the naturalist on board was Brent Nixon…is he off on holidays? I was looking forward to seeing his presentations in September. 
 

I’m not sure whether I’ll bother wearing a mask when we sail…so many that have taken all precautions are still testing positive after their disembarkation…I suppose that unless we eat every meal outdoors away from others, which is the one time that others have missed, that all the precautions are really for naught. 🤷‍♀️

Milos has been on all season. 

[MJL]

Could someone please tell me what nights are formal nights on the recent sailings?

 

Thank you. 

[MJL]

32 minutes ago, MJL said:

Could someone please tell me what nights are formal nights on the recent sailings?

 

Thank you. 

Never mind.  I have the answer.

[kstetser]

We sail Eclipse in late July (first Celebrity cruise).   Is there any word about hiring more staff as the summer progresses or is this what we should expect?    Consistently cold food and lack of provisions is concerning.    I'm really hoping that Celebrity is our new cruise line (after 26 on DCL), but my husband and daughter are already going into this with reservations.   Fingers crossed.

[nw gardener]

Short staffing,  and hit and miss provisions,  are not limited to Celebrity or even cruising. I do believe cruising will slowly recover their staffing numbers. Service from staff was very good,  but I feel for them working 16 to 18 hour shifts to cover the staffing shortages. Go onboard with appropriate expectations,  as we are learning to do for everything from grocery shopping shortages to traveling,  and you will be fine. I would suggest set dining times if you can do it as having the same servers and set time worked well.  Also take into account that the Eclipse actually hasn't been back into service that long. I had a very enjoyable experience overall and have no qualms cruising Celebrity again.  Enjoy Alaska,  it's beautiful.