Celebrity Eclipse Review
Cruise to Norwegian Fjords; Excellent, with a Couple of Glitches
Rating by category
Additional details
Embarkation from Southampton was fine, though the port slowed things down by only have 2 security channels working out of 4, so longish queues - around 11.30 am. Room ready; luggage arrived around 2pm.
Lunch in buffet not too crowded, and then did a quick refamiliarisation tour (we've been on the Equinox previously) before the sail-away down a cloudy Solent.
Only previous cruise was on Equinox in the Med in October, with AQ cabin, so we were interested to draw comparisons:
Cabin Review
Ocean View 7
Quiet, great for access to MDR and in/out ship. No movement - though mill-pond seas didn't test that!
Port Reviews
Bergen
Private tour up the funicular, and the walking tour at the top. Guide was pleasant but not very knowledgable. Wouldn't recommend. Shuttle bus worked OK, but queues to come back when rain started.
Alesund
Used the HoHo bus from the cruise terminal. Excellent commentary (multi-lingual with earphones) and good drivers. gave helpful intro to the history of Alesund. Great views from the top! Then walked around the town.
Geiranger
Caught the Panoramic Tour bus (90 mins) to two vantage points over the Fjord. Excellent, and highly skilled drivers! Sail out of the Fjord was impressive, despite the rain!
Stavanger
Arrived on a public holiday, so it was very quiet. Still nice was a wander. Took the 3 hour boat trip to Lysefjord, which goes from just next to the cruise berth. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! Recommended - but wrap up well as even on a calm day, it's cold on the top deck due to the speed of the boat. Warm inside, though.