phoenix_dream

We were just in a corner aft Sky Suite, deck 9.  People on the decks above us could see us if we were by railing.

17 hours ago, jwlane said:

There's one dress code---the one YOU decide to wear.

So you feel it's completely ok to wear whatever the heck you want to, even though you booked a cruise with a line that has specific rules about what you should be wearing?  That the rules may belong to other people, but not to you, or they can just be ignored because who cares about rules?   Wow.  That's a very interesting attitude.  Do you feel that way about their other rules?  Ok to smoke if you decide to do it?  Ok to roller skate down the hallways if you decide to do it?  Ok to bring bottles of alcohol onboard if you decide to do it?  Sorry (not sorry) I just don't see the difference.  Rules are rules.  You can't just decide which to follow and which not.  That's all I can say without getting booted off of Cruise Critic.

I am sorry for the issues you faced, especially the toilet one and how it was  handled.  I appreciate the balanced review you are providing. I agree contacting the Hotel Manager is a good idea. He seemed to be a very personable guy who seems to take his job seriously.

As to sailing Eclipse in general, just got off of her Sunday after a b2b of 14 days total. We had zero issues of any consequence. We were in two separate cabins, a Sky suite on 12 and a corner Sunset Sky on 9. We had some noise issues with the first one - carts rolling from around 3 am on. Luckily not loud enough to cause us to lose sleep, but a bit annoying. Our stream Wi-Fi was not as good as we’ve experienced on some ships, but not that bad. We had a lot of fog on our 2nd cruise which might have worsened the reception.  Service and food overall were great. We ate in Luminae with an occasional stop at the buffet for lunch. We noticed some wear and tear here and there but we felt she was overall in good shape. We dined in both Tuscan and Murano and enjoyed both. 
 

I am writing this mainly to ally concerns of future passengers. Not denying at all the issues mentioned, just saying I think they were more the exception than the rule. 

I'm on Eclipse now in the California coastal area and IMHO the ship has been very cold all cruise. In the Caribbean I usually bring a light sweater as I tend to get cold easier as I get older. For comparison,  in Florida I am often in shorts while locals are wearing down jackets so keep that difference in mind. 🙂

I think we need to keep in mind that many of these bookings might be from FCC during the shutdown.  Or is that timing past? Will be interesting to see what next year's capacities look like with so much bad publicity about MDR food, taking away dedicated butlers for sky suites, and on and on. Couple that with the reinstitution of student loan payments, as well as credit card debt shock from so much overspending and we'll see what happens. I know I have fewer Celebrity cruises booked for next year than I usually would. 

As regards tipping in general,  that is how the ship’s payment/salary process works. So whether your country does or does not customarily tip should have zero impact on whether you should tip onboard.   As to extra tipping, I feel that is a personal decision.  My view is that these staff work way harder and longer than I ever did for far less money (and I worked hard, for often long hours!) So I will always tip even more for the excellent service I normally get. I don't vary extra tip amounts by size of room or amount paid, but rather by service provided. 

On 10/16/2023 at 12:19 PM, Dolebludger said:

When did you cruise? SS no longer have butlers, as I understand it. The SS have overworked “Retreat hosts” that work in rotation among the suites.

Onboard now

On Eclipse now, in two different sky suites on a b2b. On each segment the head butler arranged to have our minibar cleared out and stocked with the soft drinks and water we like. I know it's not an official perk but in sky suites we've always had butlers willing to do it. Can't say they all will, but pleasantly surprised this trip after all the cuts.

On 10/10/2023 at 3:07 PM, DaKahuna said:

@mizLORInj  You commented

 

"Celebrity app did not work on Android phone the entire cruise.  Kept getting error messages.   iPhone had no issues with the Celebrity app."

 

Just so you are aware, it is a much reported fact that the Celebrity App no longer supports Android based devices.  it's been mentioned here on CC a number of times.  There have been posted work arounds but I would not look for Celebrity to address this issue anytime soon. 

 

 

DH and I have Android and no issues with the app - onboard Eclipse this week 

6 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

 
I think your dates are ok but in recent years, there were some hurricanes that hit Eastern Canada in September (Fiona 2022 and Lee 2023).

 

We had a neighbor that just did this cruise and Lee caused one of the ports to be skipped as a result.

 

Not really something to worry about or something you can do something about but fall is hurricane season and doesn’t only affect the Caribbean 

 

We’ve not done this itinerary but would like to do it in the next few years and look forward to your review

 

 

We were on the cruise affected by Fiona. Missed 2 ports, but added overnights in Quebec City and Portland which were nice.  Seas were actually very calm. Service and food on Summit in Blu were some of our worst ever strangely enough as usually it gets good reviews.  And then we came home with Covid.....But there was a lot to love about it. Our favorite was Quebec City and sightseeing in Boston before we sailed. On Eclipse now and really enjoying the cruise. Not revolutionized but in good shape and staff is very good,  as is the food (we're in Luminae). 

On Eclipse now. Haven't noticed any changes in the Luminae menu.  Didn't do a before and after comparison but they seem to be the same as before. I can't speak to specific items but everything I was used to ordering was there. Food has been generally good to very good, and great service. 

On 10/9/2023 at 6:36 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

There are pills for that 😁

Pills only work so well. I can vouch for that. But intolerance is way different than allergies and the like. At most eating some dairy might cause some unpleasant digestive tract issues, but not put me in the hospital like an allergic reaction might.

34 minutes ago, Guera53 said:

When we booked direct with Celebrity the agent told us if we cancelled due to Covid, celebrity would fully refund our money and we didn’t need insurance for this. He was pretty adamant and was offering us their cancellation insurance.  I realize that was one agent and it was august. 

That's how it was for awhile when cruising resumed .  That is NOT how it works now.

You're right. When booking a 5 year old ship everything should be perfect. Geez. A few nonremoveable stains on a coffee table. The horror. Bad draining? Yes that definitely should have been noticed and fixed. We agree on that. So should the toilet ring thing but as long as it works OK wouldn't give it a second thought. Not flushing for 15 minutes? That is almost always because some ignorant guest flushed something they shouldn't and it stopped up the vacuum system.  If this summary is not considered complaining I don't know what is. No five year old ship, hotel room, restaurant,  and so on is ever going to be perfect no matter how much maintenance is done. It's like expecting my 72 year old body to look like a 20 year olds. No amount of Botox or exercise is gonna make that happen. If you need perfect, only sail brand new ships. Peg me as a Celebrity cheerleader if you want (Although if you read all my posts they would belie that). But I'd rather say I'm a realist about what is reasonable on a 5 year old ship.

2 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

The ship doesn't sound as if it's in very good shape.  Would you say your comments below apply mainly to your cabin, or was this evident throughout the ship.  Bathroom sounded grungy.  We ARE paying top $.

 

"While this ship shows its age with rust and a lot of wear and tear, sticky buildup on tables, scratched and gouged floors, furniture needing repair or replacement, it is still my favorite class of Celebrity ship.  We got a good deal on this cruise, so this was all ok.  If I paid top dollar, I would not have been happy. "

I'm on Eclipse now. I don't see a lot of rust or wear and tear anywhere. Our cabin has older furniture but overall in good shape. Some minor scratches and so forth but I'm definitely not seeing a lot anywhere onboard.  Overall service has been good.  We are in a suite and Luminae has been very good with great service. Lunch at the buffet is similar to what I've seen for years. Entertainment so far has been better than average.  Have not seen a production show yet so don't know about the singers and dancers. Overall so far so good.

5 hours ago, Smmessineo said:

Thanks for posting these! I remember referring to  them before every cruise , I'd always be so excited before a trip!

Most of the items in these menus were available and free in the MDR  right through December of 2022. The snarky responses on this thread ,that imply we are complaining over nothing  or asking for extravagant choices,  are unwarranted.  

 

Agree. Much higher price.  Much lower quality and quantity of offerings.  And we're the ones being criticized for not being happy with that equation??? Where's the logic in that?

1 hour ago, ECCruise said:

I think part of the disagreements here stem from the fact that some of us who have been sailing with Celebrity for a number of years (us, 30+ since 1998) have an established "mean" of what we have experienced in dining.

Those who have only sailed recently or never on Celebrity have a different "mean" of what they have experienced.

 

Neither is right nor wrong, but it is fairly obvious that the difference in experiences (and expectations) is pretty evident. 

I get your point.  But what is wrong is the signicant increase in price coupled with the significant decrease in quality or level of offerings (meaning, for example,  less steak and a lot more chicken, pasta, and cheaply priced fish) and number of options.

53 minutes ago, omeinv said:

Not if it's a/the bottle given by Celebrity.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

Agree. 

I haven't seen much in the way of onboard discounts on recent cruises.  Sometimes midcruise you can check in with one of the restaurant Maitre'ds and if bookings are low they might negotiate a deal for you, especially if you are flexible with times. With the elimination of suite OBC going forward you might see bookings decrease but that will take awhile to present itself. 

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

Our room steward has always told us that the deadlines don't apply if you are B2B and they would collect our last bag in the morning 2 days before the end (e.g. Disembarkation Saturday bag out Thursday morning).  Changing cabins might affect this. Best advice is to follow the Cabin Stewards advice.

It definitely is different if changing cabins, especially if you have a different room steward. In fact, sometimes they are re-assigned to different cabins which could also affect things.  I sail a lot, often on b2b, and I really don't see the issue with following guidelines.  

12 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Who's running the casinos? That may be a more complicated question than some think. I've heard that casino operations on some cruise ship casinos is subcontracted. I suppose I could find a definitive answer to this, but I'm too lazy and not interested enough. 🙃

 

I agree with you on the craps pass line odds here. I think it's better and makes more sense for all involved to have odds at the same rate for everyone.

The casinos are contracted out on Celebrity.  Not sure to whom. 

On 10/4/2023 at 6:40 PM, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think you hit the nail on the head.  If I recall from talking with crew about arrival of Transatlantic and they indicated they have to go through a Coast Guard Inspection, Health and Sanitation Inspection and all Crew have to do face to face with CBP

Agree. And we even had a recent cruise that had to do the same routine inspections even though it was not just back from a TA. It just happened to be time for the inspections. 

The Hilton will shuttle you to the Carnival port for free.

2 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

 

curious. do they size you up for the pjs. or just a one size fits all. ive gotten more..muscular in my old age

They run very small FYI. I could wear the xl top but the bottoms were not comfortable at all. The idea is nice but for us larger size people they often don't work (and I am not all that large - a woman's xl or xxl depending)

10 hours ago, FlyingCruiser2 said:

You tell them what you want.  We asked for Mezcal, assuming it was something they normally stocked on board.  When we got on board, they had put 2 nice-brand bottles in our room.  We noticed, however, that we couldn’t find Mezcal at any bar.  When I asked concierge about it, he told me he had sent someone to the liquor store near the port to get our Mezcal.  

You must have been in a high level suite?