Scenic Eclipse was the perfect cruise ship for us. I'm not a fan of large ships. Not really even a fan of medium ships. Under 300 guests is my preference so Eclipse's 228 max was just right. I realize you give up some things in order to have a more "yacht like" experience like casinos and large broadway style productions. But I don't care for either of those things so they're not much of a loss for me.

But I do love intimate spaces, small gatherings, personalized, warm and genuine service. Scenic Eclipse has all of that. I was shocked, crew I had not even met, knew my name. I was delighted, sitting alone in the lounge and the Captain strolls by and spends 20 minutes chatting with us. I loved the open bridge policy. There were special moments that occurred daily.

Speaking about food for a moment, it was in one word, spectacular. So many choices on a ship of this size and constantly changing menus made certain we never got bored. Special requests were actually viewed with excitement by the staff. I didn't want sweet breads with my French chefs tasting menu. I said, "how about onion rings" and voile, amazing elevated onion rings. They ended up making many more onion rings in the restaurant that night when fellow diners saw ours. I think they went on the menu after that. Read more