Just off Eclipse

[bigbenboys]

We have been cruising with X for many years now. Mostly sky suites the last 5 years. This was our 1st time booking a Celebrity Suite. My MIL and her sister booked just before final payment. They booked a V1.

We took the train from Seattle to Vancouver BC and stayed at the Pan Pacific hotel at Canada Place. Our room was available when we checked in at 1pm. The next morning the bellman picked up our bags and sent them to the ship.

 

As we were in suites we were checked in just as we walked in about 11:30am. They checked us and my MIL's cabin. All 4 of us were escorted to a separate line for suites. After scanning of us and our carry-ons we went to a Retreat area with water, coffee and food. Retreat staff said we could board now. So we went on board. I looked for the sparkling wine. No sparkling wine, not even near Café al Bacio. We got our seapass cards and check out our cabins. I surprised my DH with the CS.

We dined in Luminae, Murano, MDR (select section) and OVC for breakfast and lunch. My worst meal was the ribeye in Luminae. The steak lacked taste and was like shoe leather. My best meal was the Prime Rib in the MDR. I ate 2 Prime Ribs. I will say when I get the PR in Luminae from the MDR it is twice as thick as the one I got in the MDR. Over all the OVC was very good. Some of the pork was really good. What I missed was the baked potatoes, minute steak, chicken and pork medallions cooked to order.

Our butler was Ronald. We had breakfast each morning at 7am by delivered Ronald. I told Ronald one time what I wanted each morning (Coffee, fruit, croissants). Ronald saw a birthday card in our suites. He check and saw that my DH did have a birthday in Sept. One night after dinner we had a bottle of wine (4 glasses) and a cake on the coffee table. When it comes to butlers, Ronald is in my top 3. Ronald had 8 suites to attend too. The staff in Luminae were wonderful. We new the Luminae maitre d from last year on Solstice. Also on our sailing was a former Captain's club host that is now a officer. We have known her for 15 to 20 years. So proud of Rose.

 

The ship did have one hiccup. We left from Vancouver BC to San Pedro. We did not have Immigration in Vancouver as we were going to Victoria. So we had to Immigration in Seattle. Celebrity had to zero out Eclipse guests. We met at MC to be escorted down. I was told to wait 45 mins as the lines are long. Well it went from bad to really bad. The 4 of us went back to my suite. We could see the line from our balcony. This is what I was told after we were back on the ship. "Celebrity had been told that US and Canadian citizens could just show their passport and move to the holding area." While waiting in line we were told US and Canadian citizens could just show their passports. So we lucked out. We were not in the holding area very long. X had to bring out water and sandwiches. X was doing what they could. BUT, I heard one guy say he had been their for 4 hours. I'm sure some were there for 4 hours. 

 

Overall our sailing with X was good. I'm hoping in time the new staff will get up to speed. X will add more staff. I did not book another cruise. I'm going to keep our sky suite on Apex for next June. I might try for a CS. It comes down to 2 things. Quality of meat and price of suites. I really think the best deal on X is the AquaClass cabins at this time. Blu is very nice.

 

 

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

The ship did have one hiccup. We left from Vancouver BC to San Pedro. We did not have Immigration in Vancouver as we were going to Victoria. So we had to Immigration in Seattle. Celebrity had to zero out Eclipse guests. We met at MC to be escorted down. I was told to wait 45 mins as the lines are long. Well it went from bad to really bad. The 4 of us went back to my suite. We could see the line from our balcony. This is what I was told after we were back on the ship. "Celebrity had been told that US and Canadian citizens could just show their passport and move to the holding area." While waiting in line we were told US and Canadian citizens could just show their passports. So we lucked out. We were not in the holding area very long. X had to bring out water and sandwiches. X was doing what they could. BUT, I heard one guy say he had been their for 4 hours. I'm sure some were there for 4 hours. 

Thank you for the review. Please forgive me but I’m not understanding what happened here. What was the hiccup?

[bnurick]

2 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

We have been cruising with X for many years now. Mostly sky suites the last 5 years. This was our 1st time booking a Celebrity Suite. My MIL and her sister booked just before final payment. They booked a V1.

We took the train from Seattle to Vancouver BC and stayed at the Pan Pacific hotel at Canada Place. Our room was available when we checked in at 1pm. The next morning the bellman picked up our bags and sent them to the ship.

 

As we were in suites we were checked in just as we walked in about 11:30am. They checked us and my MIL's cabin. All 4 of us were escorted to a separate line for suites. After scanning of us and our carry-ons we went to a Retreat area with water, coffee and food. Retreat staff said we could board now. So we went on board. I looked for the sparkling wine. No sparkling wine, not even near Café al Bacio. We got our seapass cards and check out our cabins. I surprised my DH with the CS.

We dined in Luminae, Murano, MDR (select section) and OVC for breakfast and lunch. My worst meal was the ribeye in Luminae. The steak lacked taste and was like shoe leather. My best meal was the Prime Rib in the MDR. I ate 2 Prime Ribs. I will say when I get the PR in Luminae from the MDR it is twice as thick as the one I got in the MDR. Over all the OVC was very good. Some of the pork was really good. What I missed was the baked potatoes, minute steak, chicken and pork medallions cooked to order.

Our butler was Ronald. We had breakfast each morning at 7am by delivered Ronald. I told Ronald one time what I wanted each morning (Coffee, fruit, croissants). Ronald saw a birthday card in our suites. He check and saw that my DH did have a birthday in Sept. One night after dinner we had a bottle of wine (4 glasses) and a cake on the coffee table. When it comes to butlers, Ronald is in my top 3. Ronald had 8 suites to attend too. The staff in Luminae were wonderful. We new the Luminae maitre d from last year on Solstice. Also on our sailing was a former Captain's club host that is now a officer. We have known her for 15 to 20 years. So proud of Rose.

 

The ship did have one hiccup. We left from Vancouver BC to San Pedro. We did not have Immigration in Vancouver as we were going to Victoria. So we had to Immigration in Seattle. Celebrity had to zero out Eclipse guests. We met at MC to be escorted down. I was told to wait 45 mins as the lines are long. Well it went from bad to really bad. The 4 of us went back to my suite. We could see the line from our balcony. This is what I was told after we were back on the ship. "Celebrity had been told that US and Canadian citizens could just show their passport and move to the holding area." While waiting in line we were told US and Canadian citizens could just show their passports. So we lucked out. We were not in the holding area very long. X had to bring out water and sandwiches. X was doing what they could. BUT, I heard one guy say he had been their for 4 hours. I'm sure some were there for 4 hours. 

 

Overall our sailing with X was good. I'm hoping in time the new staff will get up to speed. X will add more staff. I did not book another cruise. I'm going to keep our sky suite on Apex for next June. I might try for a CS. It comes down to 2 things. Quality of meat and price of suites. I really think the best deal on X is the AquaClass cabins at this time. Blu is very nice.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the review.  We have a CS on Eclipse in October.  Did Roland provide water in your suite or did you have to visit the lounge to get?  I really prefer the large Evian bottles late at night before bedtime.  Trying to figure out what to expect.  Thank you.

[Cruisin4ABruisen]

We were on this cruise too — first cruise since earning Elite. We thought it was pretty good overall. OVC had a good selection and food was good. We also did the “Wines of the world” event at cellar masters. $30pp but good wine and plentiful. 
 

We caught the tail end of the Seattle mess, probably was in line around 45 minutes. Definitely wasn’t ideal, but it beats standing around in Canada Place for hours, like our last trip out of there. 

[D. B.]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Thank you for the review. Please forgive me but I’m not understanding what happened here. What was the hiccup?

Thank you for the review I

i was on the same cruise in a regular Veranda cabin.

I had booked a pre cruise 3 night specialty dining package and did one night each in Murano, Tuscan and LPC. I guess enough guests said something about the deletion of Filet and Lobster from the LPC menu. Replaced by Ribs! I found out that from the 4th night on Filet OR lobster was Back on the LPC menu!

I told my waiter that Both together were on the menu 6 months ago and she said I could have Both when I told her I had dined in LPC 12 times since Covid.

the Prime rib in the MDR was very good😗

as for the Giant mess in port in Seattle. That was caused by X not wanting to pay for enough DHS agents OR a computer crash depending on Which rumor you believed.

What ever the cause I got caught up in the worst of it both getting Off and Getting Back On the ship and gave up going into town when a Downpour hit when I finally got out of the terminal.

I had not been on Eclipse in 10 years and it is still in good shape.

Boche ball lawn bowling was fun and the Hollywood Hot Glass thing is still interesting.

[bigbenboys]

11 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Thank you for the review. Please forgive me but I’m not understanding what happened here. What was the hiccup?

The hiccup was that Immigration in Seattle was to be about 1 hour. It took 4 hours.

[bigbenboys]

10 hours ago, bnurick said:

Thank you for the review.  We have a CS on Eclipse in October.  Did Roland provide water in your suite or did you have to visit the lounge to get?  I really prefer the large Evian bottles late at night before bedtime.  Trying to figure out what to expect.  Thank you.

We were in 1622. Ronald did say we could drink the water bottle on the counter. I think it was Evian in a tall clear glass bottles and the 2 plastic bottles.

[bigbenboys]

10 hours ago, Cruisin4ABruisen said:

We were on this cruise too — first cruise since earning Elite. We thought it was pretty good overall. OVC had a good selection and food was good. We also did the “Wines of the world” event at cellar masters. $30pp but good wine and plentiful. 
 

We caught the tail end of the Seattle mess, probably was in line around 45 minutes. Definitely wasn’t ideal, but it beats standing around in Canada Place for hours, like our last trip out of there. 

Yes, I have been in the Vancouver mess before.

[bnurick]

2 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

We were in 1622. Ronald did say we could drink the water bottle on the counter. I think it was Evian in a tall clear glass bottles and the 2 plastic bottles.

 

Awesome, they were glass bottles on my last cruise, but this is what I was hoping to hear. After a night at the craps table I usually drink one before bed.  Thank you for responding.

[bigbenboys]

9 hours ago, D. B. said:

I had not been on Eclipse in 10 years and it is still in good shape.

Boche ball lawn bowling was fun and the Hollywood Hot Glass thing is still interesting.

Overall I did think the Eclipse is in good shape. I made 2 glass pieces.

[bigbenboys]

The man is me starting my 1st of 2 PR's in the MDR. I was very full after dinner. It was a great night. The DR did flashing lights and music. The wait staff circled around like they did with Baked Alaska.

While I normally dont gain any weight on cruises. I did lose 1 pound on this cruise.

[dianef]

Prime Rib looks yummy.Going on Eclipsr in a couple of weeks.Always order Prime Rim when offered.Glad it was good.
 

Happy to read the positive remarks about the ship.

[maggie.1008]

We love Rose. Do you know if she will be on the Eclipse on December 1st cruise?

[hcat]

5 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

The man is me starting my 1st of 2 PR's in the MDR. I was very full after dinner. It was a great night. The DR did flashing lights and music. The wait staff circled around like they did with Baked Alaska.

While I normally dont gain any weight on cruises. I did lose 1 pound on this cruise.

decent looking piece of prime rib.. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by hcat

[maggie.1008]

did you do a move up offer or did you book a suite ? thanks 😊 

[bigbenboys]

4 hours ago, maggie.1008 said:

We love Rose. Do you know if she will be on the Eclipse on December 1st cruise?

I dont remember when. She might have gone home Oct 1st. I know she was going home out of LA and not going to South America with Eclipse.

[bigbenboys]

1 hour ago, maggie.1008 said:

did you do a move up offer or did you book a suite ? thanks 😊 

I did not do a move up. My favorite sky suites on S Class were changed to Aqua Sky Suites. So I've started to book SC on the S Class ships. I'm not going to pay for something I wont use.

[Veinless]

No longer Aurica as maitre d? Wonder where she’s gone, she’s great!

[bigbenboys]

3 minutes ago, Veinless said:

No longer Aurica as maitre d? Wonder where she’s gone, she’s great!

I dont know where she went. His name starts with Mar??? He has been with X for years.

[doghog]

Looking forward to getting on the Eclipse this weekend. 

[esstheman]

How was the cruise director for your week?

[D. B.]

3 hours ago, esstheman said:

How was the cruise director for your week?

an American named Rich. OK and did a good job at Liar's Club

[abbydancer2003]

7 hours ago, Veinless said:

No longer Aurica as maitre d? Wonder where she’s gone, she’s great!

Maybe back to the Equinox?  She was maitre d there for a long time, and I was surprised to see her on the Eclipse last summer (she said she wanted to see Alaska).  What we loved was that our assistant waiter from Equinox in 2021 was our waiter on the Eclipse.  He was excellent on both, so a well deserved promotion.

 

And btw, over on FB there's a long thread about the hot mess that immigration was in San Francisco.  Sounds similar. I think because you both went to Victoria, so had to do it at your first US port.

Edited October 5, 2023 by abbydancer

[Veinless]

If you’re talking about Ali, he is the absolute best! I think he mentioned Nino was back as well, sailing the Mediterranean, so that’s great to see. 

[buzz031]

We were on this cruise!  Our staff in early MDR were outstanding. It’s the first time we weren’t in the Blu in a very long time. I did eat a lot of salmon, but at least it was tasty. Shows were good. Beyond the Podium talk on the PNW left a lot out. Was more of a port talk rather than what was advertised regarding geography. Other than bringing home Covid (my first time—knew it had to happen eventually), it was a great cruise!