Celebrity Eclipse Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Embarkation was extremely smooth. As I have osteoarthritis I was directed to a designated help area and I was then helped to the ship - all documentation swiftly and competently dealt with. I was told that this sailing had the most number of wheelchair/mobility aid customers they had had. The help was kindly and considerately offered.
We were greeted on board with a selection of welcome drinks. It was good to be on board for just after 11 am (We had this year stayed in Southampton overnight - the Ibis budget hotel which was perfectly acceptable for the one night - the Boat Show was on so hotel prices had gone up accordingly) We had plenty of time to explore the ship and nowhere got too pressured. The staterooms were ready just after 1pm and ours was lovely.
Overall comments would be - the staff on this ship were excellent. I walk with crutches and the staff in the Oceanview would rush to assist me! I was always approached and asked did I need help. I was brought cups of tea - cutlery if I had forgotten it and nothing was too much trouble I attempted to try and give one waiter a small gratuity which was graciously refused ! I would also mention the staff in the ladies' restrooms - they too on seeing me enter would rush to open doors for me and to offer to help! This flies in the face of other comments I had seen from someone complaining that there was a lack of staff in the buffet area and no one willing to help. This was certainly not so for me. I wish the same could always be said for fellow passengers. I remained speechless at one chap as I was walking on the outside deck on 14. My crutches are not invisible, neither is my walking difficulty and yet he walked right up to me from a good distance away and forced me to swerve from where I was walking causing me quite some pain. Now I am NOT a complainer - I won't succumb to mobility scooter mind set and I am quite independent but his action staggered me as it had no rhyme or reason to it. There was plenty of room and time for him to deviate his pathway slightly. I had to do that enough times to dodge the sun loungers dragged onto the jogging trackway to keep their occupants bodies in the sun! I mention it because I was angry with myself at the time for not pointing out his plain rudeness and unacceptable behaviour. This brings me to my only gripe about the cruise - and this is not Celebrity's fault - but for me there were far too many British people on this cruise with a predominance of people from the southern end too. There was a focus from too many on getting sunbeds on the deck and keeping them for as long as possible. I didn't let it affect my enjoyment of the holiday - I just went elsewhere but if you are an occasional sun worshipper - be warned; there were too many sunbed hoggers. There were very few other nationalities on board and this was disappointing.
Cabin Review
This stateroom lies a few rooms away from the forward elevators. These were handy to pop up to the Aquaspa cafe for a coffee or tea for my OH to bring down to the room. The room was lovely - plenty big enough with the cleverly rounded end bed. I don't know whether all staterooms are the same but the bed head faced the direction we were going in.....so in effect we were "travelling backwards" - not my preferred way but I got used to it. The bed is next to the wardrobe and bathroom with the settee then between the bed and the windows. I am tall so the cupboards above the bed weer ok for me; a smaller person might struggle. the suitcases fitted just fie under the bed - something I never realised when on the Constellation! As it was a home port cruise I had brought more stuff than my OH approved of but it all was accommodated well! the bathrooms are very well thought out with plenty of storage! The room's balcony has good all round unobstructed views. the attendants kept the room extremely well. Sidney was our main steward and he was excellent; very thoughtful and helpful. For the vast majority of the cruise there wasn't a sound at night, but the penultimate night there was noise from above which woke me after 12. It sounded for all the world like a child running around. After quite a while I asked my OH to go up to deck 9 to see if anyone was running around; but no one in evidence. As that stopped a couple somewhere had some kind of shouting time. None of this Celebrity's fault. Next day I asked at Customer relations whether there was a child in the room/ deck above ours but they didn't tell me. they said...rightly so that we should have phoned down. It wasn't repeated the next night so all was well.