Celebrity Eclipse?

[Laszlo]

Wife and I have done 12 cruises all on NCL. We want to go to Bermuda next June and are really thinking about booking the Celebrity Eclipse. From what I can watch and read the Eclipse seems to be the same size of NCL Jewel class ships like the Gem. Those of you who have sailed both give me a couple pluses and minuses of both. How crowded does the Solarium get? we plan to spend sea days there

[foodsvcmgr]

Eclipse is considerably larger than Gem - 123,000 tons vs just over 90,000.

[doghog]

3 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Wife and I have done 12 cruises all on NCL. We want to go to Bermuda next June and are really thinking about booking the Celebrity Eclipse. From what I can watch and read the Eclipse seems to be the same size of NCL Jewel class ships like the Gem. Those of you who have sailed both give me a couple pluses and minuses of both. How crowded does the Solarium get? we plan to spend sea days there

Sea days and especially if the weather is under the weather than it will fill up early and stay that way most of the day. And yes, chair hogging even happens in the Solarium.  

[cruisestitch]

3 hours ago, Laszlo said:

Wife and I have done 12 cruises all on NCL. We want to go to Bermuda next June and are really thinking about booking the Celebrity Eclipse. From what I can watch and read the Eclipse seems to be the same size of NCL Jewel class ships like the Gem. Those of you who have sailed both give me a couple pluses and minuses of both. How crowded does the Solarium get? we plan to spend sea days there

The size of the Solarium crowd is as unpredictable to predict as the weather😉

Edited September 16, 2023 by cruisestitch

[phoenix_dream]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

The size of the Solarium crowd is as unpredictable to predict as the weather😉

I'd give a yes and no response to that.  If the weather is bad, and it is a sea day, the Solarium will be crowded.  I've never seen otherwise in many, many cruises (unless perhaps the seas are really rocky).  If it's nice outside, the outside pool area will probably be the worst.  

[Psychobueller]

We have sailed on the NCL Gem and loved it. We're booked on the Eclipse in July '24. I'd say they are going to feel similar even though the Eclipse is slightly larger - it's not going to be a huge difference. Based on videos I've seen, the Eclipse has plenty of seating and also an area to the rear of the buffet where you can dine outdoors, similar to the "Great Outdoors" area on the Gem. We LOVED that so we're excited to try it.