phoenix_dream

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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)

You must have been in a high level suite?

Which is what it takes with any cabin. We always come in several days ahead of our cruise so quick laundry turn-around in the beginning is important to us. A small thing in the scheme of things, but when many, many small things happen that becomes a big thing!

(I read through your whole post, but kept just some of the wording so as not to clog up the postings here.) Anyway, I disagree with a good part of it. My PERCEPTION (why are we shouting LOL?) is that I will get what I paid for. My perception is that I will get the perks that were promised to me, in writing, when I booked my suite. My perception is that I will get the same kind of service I have always gotten in Sky Suites. Yes, it is an entry level suite. Also an entry level suite that I am paying $8-10,000 for. It has nothing to do with how many YouTube videos I watch. I've sailed a number of times in Sky Suites and know what the butlers have done for me. Yes, some were a little more diligent than others, but overall I got really good service and a lot of attention. Do I expect the same level of service I got on my one and only sailing in a Royal Suite (heaven knows I could never afford one now!)? Of course not. But I do expect to get what I paid for and was promised. And for them to promote this as an improvement in service is so disingenuous to alone really annoy me. If it was such a big improvement then why didn't they institute it for the highest level suites?