Another wonderful cruise with Celebrity! Like we did on Solstice over a year ago to Australia and New Zealand, my daughter and I traveled alone, but this time, to the Baltic. She is a young adult who is physically disabled, needing to use a walker or a wheelchair to get around. The Celebrity staff, from top to bottom in their interactions with us, could not be more helpful, kind, upbeat. We found the ship to be fully accessible, easily so. Celebrity standards are high and they were reached if not excelled on our cruise on Eclipse. Modern Luxury is Celebrity's mantra, and it is a fitting one.

We stayed in an Aqua Class accessible cabin on Deck 11, cabin 1524. Yes, as you may have heard, Celebrity has been making some changes, but regarding the guest experience, the cutbacks are impossible to notice, and if you didn't know that there had been for instance, nightly pillow chocolates, or an acapella group - you would be none the wiser. So, let's start there - no more pillow chocolates, but one night, everyone received a mint chocolate covered Oreo in a Celebrity-Oreo co-marketing initiative - very well received, and everyone I talked to would love to have more than one per cruise as they are quite tasty! Certainly a win/win for Nabisco and Celebrity. One other night, we did get about a dozen pillow chocolates all at once, arranged in a design on our bed - the same chocolates we received on Summit recently, no longer with the "X" logo, but with a generic half moon design. Also, there is no more towel art (unless people in other cabins got some and I am not aware of it) - no more towels in your room arranged as monkeys or elephants. In Aqua Class, no more daily flowers unless you are a Captain's Club member, and no more pillow menu, at least according to our steward. Also, the once a cruise brunch Grand Buffet has been eliminated. The activities staff has been greatly reduced, but - you would never realize that, unless you have cruised with Celebrity over the years, to know that there now are fewer staff on the activities team.

I can say with certainty based upon this cruise on Eclipse, that the guest experience is excellent - you do not realize that cutbacks have been made. Corporate has done a great job of ensuring continuity of passenger care while attempting to improve their bottom line. There were still zillions of trivia contests including the popular progressive trivia, dancing with the officers, dance lessons with the production dancers; battle of the sexes, minute to win it challenges, the egg drop, flash mob, organized lawn game contests, the hilarious late night Liar's Club, the marriage game, late night comedians, interactive theme parties - the Celebrity Life Activities Team - Maarten and Mark, including the unparalleled cruise director, Sue Denning, did a fabulous job. The activity staff was smaller than before due to corporate changes/cutbacks/reorganization, but the passenger experience is unaffected and remains outstanding. Read more