We chose the Eclipse for the Baltic itinerary with the overnight in St. Petersburg and the capital cities included which were all new ports for us. We chose Celebrity for its value and quality and we really enjoy the size of the Solstice class ships., By coincidence, we had just sailed on the Eclipse to the Southern Caribbean in February 2016 so returning was like "coming home". Many of the February cruise staff members were on leave for this itinerary, but we found several familiar faces who actually remembered us. We continue to be pleased with the level of service that Celebrity provides, especially with the dining room staff. We also love that we can pre-book specific times for Anytime Dining at a table for two. We were especially pleased to have Damian as our Cruise Director again on this sailing as he is an excellent host and so welcoming all over the ship and in port. We also have never seen so much of the captain as we did on this sailing; he really was involved with ship activities and was very comfortable mingled at our CC Meet & Greet.

We had seen all of the Production Shows in February but attended again as they were quite entertaining. We skipped several of the other theatre entertainment nights as we opted for quiet music in several lounges. We especially enjoyed the piano soloist and the strings duo. Some of the interactive games and contests were new this time and quite a lot of fun to watch. It's great that entertainment is currently changing.

The drink package costs had increased significantly since our February sailing, but we had booked earlier and enjoyed what we had expected, but at larger per item costs. Celebrity is obviously encouraging the packages now as paying per item could be disastrous after 14 nights on the ship! We found the quality of wines to still be very good and the choice of cocktails very extensive. We especially enjoyed the Café de Bacio almost everyday for our Aspen Coffees which were awesome. We had excellent service there and at the martini bar. Often the Sky Lounge and the Oceanview Café bar would be overcrowded and not adequately staffed during peak times. Read more