Celebrity Eclipse Review
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First Time Cruiser • Age 60s
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Sail Date: Sep 2016
Celebrity Eclipse Cruise from Southampton to Azores, Madeira, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Lisbon {13 nights}
This was my first proper cruise. I went on the SS Uganda in 1976 with school so I don’t count that! Went in a party of 6, all adults aged from mid-40’s to 53, from Southampton 17/09/2016. This could be quite long as I’m writing it for all first timers. I had no idea what to expect, so here goes:
ARRIVAL - Arrived at Southampton approx. 11.00am, our boarding time slot was 3.00pm. This was not a problem as we just went through the process as normal. Cars drive right up to the drop off area for luggage & passengers. All luggage taken by porters and transferred to ship; you don’t see it again until you get to your cabin. I was the one numpty that left the passports in the luggage! Not a problem. Porter fetched case and took it back down when passports retrieved. I then dropped car off at the collection point literally across the road {I had arranged a drop off/collect at the port by wepark4u on the web. I would recommend this}. Very smooth and efficient system.
Cabin Review
Cabin Stateroom outside cabin
We had an outside room {called a Stateroom} with a fairly large window – deck 3 room 3140. It was certainly large enough for us. On entry there was a fair sized bathroom to the left: loo, sink and shower with enough storage space for our toiletries. In the cabin there was a ‘leather’ settee on left wall with a small table in front, a large flat screen TV opposite. Below was a ‘top’ area with 5 drawers below. Not massive drawers but sufficient for us. Hairdryer in the drawer. Queen size bed with overhead storage. There was a large enough electronic safe – you input your own code for the duration, and a small fridge/mini bar. You are charged for use of mini bar {well we would have been on our package}. There was a large enough double wardrobe with approx. 20 hangers in for 2 people. We had a dedicated attendant {Andrew} who looked after all of our needs – nothing was too much trouble. The room was cleaned/tidied several times a day and bed turned down at night. I would recommend an outside cabin like ours as the large window gave plenty of natural light into the cabin and made it feel large. It was also good to sit and watch the sea go by. We saw numerous dolphins and whales. I peeped into a few inside cabins and they appear to be the same size/layout but obviously no natural light. I appreciate budget plays a part in cabin choice. The only down I can think of is that the air con is on ALL of the time {we certainly never sussed out how to turn it off} and created a bit of dry eyes and throat syndrome. It can be turned up or down according to weather. TIP: take a plug converter as the plugs are either European or US. We also took an extension so we could plug more than one thing in at a time.
Port Reviews
Madeira (Funchal)
very interesting. We took our own open top bus tour {15 Euros pp}, lasted about an hour – very interesting. I would recommend this, you get to see quite a bit. The main town is beautiful. We took the cable car up to the top. Views were beautiful over most of the island. There is a café here – with 2 extremes of weather. Cold up there and HOT by the coast. Weather excellent.
Ponta Delgada
Didn't take an excursion. Foot tour of local area. Very pretty town area with central square near port. Had a couple of beers then back to the ship. We were only here for a short time.
Lisbon
EXCELLENT! Had 2 days here. Beautiful 17th/18th century city, stunning architecture. Plenty of narrow streets and alleys. Plenty to see and do. Built on several large hills so a lot of walking is UP…followed by quite a bit of down. Not suitable for people with mobility problems in my opinion. We took an open top bus tour for 20 Euros each. The stop is directly opposite the entrance/exit to the port, which is about a 2 minute walk when you disembark. More informative than interesting. There were plenty of tuk tuks touting for business. This seemed a good way to see the sites as they can get down the smaller streets – we didn’t use these though. We found a bar called Wine Bar do Castelo {I’ll do a separate review for that} which offered free samples! This city is beautiful and I intend to go back for a longer break. Weather excellent.
Tenerife
If you’ve been before you know what to expect. Purpose built for tourism, not really my cup of tea. When you get off at Gran Canaria turn left out of the port and head towards a tall green glass building – you can’t miss it! Continue past this and you’ll find a lovely beach so take your kit. We were not told about this by the cruise staff – probably because the cruise was trying to sell a 45 dollar trip to another beach. Large shopping centre opposite the docks if all else fails. Weather excellent.
6 Helpful Votes
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