We started our cruise adventure by driving to Miami from Charleston,SC. We stayed at the Miami Hilton overlooking Biscayne Bay and the port. Due to extensive Hilton travel, we were upgraded to a two room suite with floor to ceiling windows in the living/dining room area and in the bedroom. Wonderful views of the ships coming into and leaving port.
This was our first cruise on Celebrity and first time in a smaller balcony cabin. On Carnival, NCL and Holland America we have had suite cabins. Our Eclipse 9296 Concierge was a bit small inside but the balcony (triple size the regular balconies) made this worth it.
We arrived at the port and parked at 10:45am. After check-in a brief wait and onboard at 11:15am. As recommended we visited the Bistro on 5 for lunch and were not disappointed. My husband's Beef Panini was fabulous and I loved my Spicy Crepe. We enjoyed so much that we visited again on the last sea day.
Celebrity Eclipse 9296 is nicely decorated. Very quiet location despite connecting cabin and the elevators around the corner. The elevator and stairs made this very convenient: 4 decks down for Cafe al Bacio coffee in the morning. We heard little to no voices from the halls. The storage spaces were adequate for two but the drawers in the bed area tiny. The couch takes up too much room so we used for beach items and pillow storage during the day. The curved shower door is outstanding. Storage in the bath area is OK and there is a hair dryer for use at the desk/dressing table by the TV.
The balcony is the best benefit of this cabin. Very large (perhaps 3 times the norm) and there is a nice dining height table and 2 reclining chairs with foot stools. We had sun on half of the balcony for half the day which suited us. We had a nice view to the aft due to the angle of the off the hump balcony.