Celebrity Eclipse Review

ECLIPSE in the Med – good but not great

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Celebrity Eclipse
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mike222
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Sep 2014
Cabin: AquaClass 1

We've cruised with Celebrity 3 times before; always on the ‘Millennium’ class ships and from overseas ports and had a great experience each time. We decided that this time we’d like to try a Southampton departure so booked Eclipse’s Western Mediterranean cruise over 12 months ago. In July this year my hubby and I were lucky enough secure a Cruise Critic ‘in port tour’ of the Eclipse and it was stunning. Beautifully appointed all round with a truly modern and impressive ‘MDR’; lots of bars, grouped around the dining areas; and the cabins we saw looked great – ‘real’ shower cubicles instead of the old shower curtain and light, cheerful décor. So, we were pretty excited when we boarded on 7th September. First thing to say is that the embarkation process was one of the slickest and quickest we've experienced- albeit, we were in Aqua class which maybe gave us a shorter waiting line but other folks with whom we travelled to Southampton and boarded as a group seemed to make it through in good time too. Access to the cabin was reasonably swift so from coach arrival to first sight of the cabin was probably less than an hour overall so full marks there. From that point, it becomes a bit of a mixed review, I'm sorry to say. But first let’s get to the many positives of this cruise.

DINING - we had Blu to go at – and we used it on most nights. It was, unfortunately always quite crowded and involved queuing - a victim of the success of Aqua Class I expect – but the staff and food are excellent; the menus are interesting – hubby found them a little limited but he’s not exactly a healthy eater by choice! – and it is a nice, less overpowering environment than the MDR. But to be fair, we found all the evening dining options we tried to be excellent. We had the 3 choice speciality dining package and so tried all 3 speciality restaurants and all were good in their own way. Qsine was interesting, with more than ample portions of ‘quirky’ takes on international dishes but it has to be said, better tried with a group so you can share lots of the numerous choices. But it is an ‘experience’ albeit, for us, once was enough. Tuscan Grill was great service and food. Again, ‘American ‘ sized portions and good choices of Italian slanted dishes ; but Murano, we all agreed was spectacularly good- the best dining any of us have experienced on a cruise. So, good though they all were- for ambience, service, food and wine, Murano was way ahead. Whilst on the food front, we tried the MDR on a formal night; again, lovely service, good food (though we thought we noticed a slight cut back on Celebrity’s portion allocation here). The buffet in the Oceanview café unfortunately was the main problem area. Because the ship was absolutely full, trying to get breakfast or lunch here at peak times was a nightmare. We gave up on breakfast before 10 30 – (fortunately again, Blu was open for breakfast until 9 30am on Sea Days so we used that but not many others had that option )and after two days of battling the hordes, we rarely lunched before 2 30/3 pm , by which time the café choice was somewhat reduced.

ENTERTAINMENT – we saw 3 shows during the cruise- all good, and all well attended. The two comics were excellent; the London Show round-up was also pretty impressive but a lot of the audience for the quasi ‘Cirque Soleil’ show left early. I think this was due in part to the, shall we say, elderly demographic of most of the UK passengers... and I say this as one of a group of 60 something’s! My friend and I attended some of the ship tours and day time demonstrations –not stunning but an ok way to spend ¾ hr of a sea day. The daily entertainment programme, for us, seemed to lean towards Karaoke and quizzes a bit heavily but there seemed to be a lot of demand for what was going on so it must work for most people.

Cabin Review

AquaClass 1

Cabin A1

Cabin position good and fairly quiet.Poor layout compared to other Concierge/Aqua class cabins we've experienced. Bed by the window, so access to balcony impeded and table crammed in to corner. Poor quality wardrobe doors and narrow hanging space and décor a bit dull but the refit may improve these features. Very comfortable bed. Bathroom ok - proper shower cubicles at last! Well serviced by stewards but don't fall for the 'free water' issue which seemed to be a common complaint- the large Evian is NOT included in the package and will cost you $6 if you use it.

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