Celebrity Eclipse Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,949 reviews

Worthy of their reputation

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Celebrity Eclipse
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bambam
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Apr 2018
Cabin: Concierge Class 3

This was our 15th Cruise, 2nd on Celebrity. The Eclipse is exceptionally clean, well maintained, and has a crew that appears to be happy and helpful.

The Oceanview Cafe by far was the best designed “buffet” we’ve experience, bright, roomy, and with many many options to choose. The staff were constantly clearing tables and getting drinks, and the food servers were polite and gave portion size based on request.

The dining room, the Moonlight Sonata (deck 3) also was brightly decorated, but with some of the worse chairs. If you sat up, you had no back support, and if you leaned back, you slouched. However, the food was consistently some of the best meals we’ve ever had on the high seas. Salmon and beef dishes were perfect, time after time. Appetizers and Desserts were different and very tasteful. Unfortunately for us, we had a server team that was one of the slowest ever; we found out on the last day that our main server was quitting and it reflected in his service. The poor assistant was learning and appeared confused most of the time. Simply stated, their service “dance” was not in sync. On the plus side, our sommelier was amazing, a walking smile and happy happy guy. I wrote him up as the best crew member on the ship. We don’t drink alcohol or wine, but I gave him an extra tip, because he earned it.

Cabin Review

Concierge Class 3

Cabin C3

A very nice balcony cabin designed as a king bed set up. The closet was a little cramped, and the cabinets over the bed were roomy, and different. There is a lack of drawer space, so Pebbles used the ones in the cabin and I used the ones in the bathroom. Probably the most spacious bathroom we’ve had, so many shelves that several were left empty. The shower was a roomy circular shower with sliding doors, an adjustable shower head, and plenty of shampoo, conditioner, body lather and body lotion. The balcony was roomy with a table, two adjustable chairs and footstools. Loved having morning breakfast and evening relaxation times listening to the ocean. Sigh.... see my main review to hear about the exceptional cabin steward.

Port Reviews

St. Maarten

We went to the shops by the pier and bought some items we probably didn’t need, but wanted to help the locals as best we could. It was sad to see a few of the buildings downtown still covered with blue tarps. So sad. My fav port, but couldnt do the 12-meter yacht race because the three sloops were destroyed by the hurricane.

Antigua

We went to Jolly Beach All Inclusive Resort. The facility was nice, but aged. The staff was very nice. Unfortunately, the entrance to the water on the beach had a significant “dip,” causing many folks to slip and fall, including Pebbles, who hurt her knee and shoulder. Otherwise, a good day and nice location, but not worth looking at for a weeklong vacay.

Barbados

We went to the Hilton, and bad luck continued as the resort had the red flag warnings up due to high/rough waves and riptides. It was a Hilton, excellent beach, very nice pools, and the meal service was very good. But it was not an all inclusive: they gave us vouchers for 1-main course and 1-drink. But a nice resort!

Bonaire

What made this stop nice was we had planned on a break from the all inclusive resort search. So Pebbles relaxed on the ship while our dining room sommelier went with me to show me a public cove near the ship that had some decent snorkeling. Spent 90-minutes snorkeling with him and it was all he talked about in the dining room. A class guy!

Curacao

Probably our best island visit in a while. We met two couples (Arizona and Canada) who were looking for a third couple to go to Blue Bay Beach Club. It was about 20-mins by taxi, and when we got there, we realized we had been there years ago. Absolutely a lovely beach, easy in and out of the water, lounge chairs and umbrellas for $8.00 per person, and reasonable food and beverages nearby. Excellent snorkeling in the cove with some great pictures. The best!!

Aruba

Let’s just say it was a case of misinformation. We went to the Amsterdam Manor Resort (on Eagle Beach). When we got there, the counter gal told us they couldn’t let us use the beach chairs, so they gave us “a $10 credit for the chair rentals.” So we went to the beach, got a couple of chairs, and a few mins later, a chair hawk shows up and kicks us off the chairs. Back to the office, a few words later, and we got a complete refund with a cab ride back to the ship. Seems none of the hotels are allowed to rent beach chairs, a relatively new law. So on Eagle Beach, 2-chairs and an umbrella will cost you $45. On day two in Aruba, we did some shopping for last minute gift items and went back to a quiet ship.

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