Just Back from the Eclipse

[katiebeth]

We just returned earlier in the week from the 11 night Canary Island Cruise that departed Southampton on June 1st. My husband, two teenage children (ages 14 and 16) and myself were on the cruise. Overall, we had a wonderful time. The Eclipse is really stunning and the design in terms of furnishings, carpet, glass tile, bathrooms, lighting fixtures, art work, etc. were by far the nicest we have experienced on any ship. (very sophisticated) The ship is as nice as any 5 star hotel, in terms of interior design, bedding, amenities, etc.

 

The service was outstanding and you would never know the ship had only been sailing for a few weeks. The food in the main dining room was very good and the food in the speciality restaurants was exceptional. We dined in Qsine, Tuscany, and Murano and all were fabulous. Qsine was quite fun and different and our children really loved it. We ate there twice and the only problem was we ate way too much both times.

 

Our fellow passengers were 95% British. (very delightful, I might add) We are from the United States and all of the other European cruises we have done (all on Celebrity) had a more diverse mix of people from a variety of countries. We were told that Celebrity marketed the Eclipse heavily in the UK as many can drive to the port. (less hassle than flying). Also, the Canary Islands are a very popular destination for residents of the UK. It was a much older crowd than the other cruises we have taken, but I think it was because it set sail on June 1st and many children are still in school.

 

Because a large percentage of passengers from the UK had already been to the Canary Islands, I think that the ship itself was the destination, as the pool area and ship was still very full, even on port days. It appeared that many stayed onboard at the various ports. We did notice, that particularly on sea days, the Ocean View Cafe was very crowded and we had a hard time finding seats. The food in the Ocean View Cafe was very good and well presented. Also, this is the first cruise we have been on where we have had a hard time finding seats in the theater for the shows. Many of the shows were standing room only and the seats were all full 15 to 20 minutes prior to showtime. The shows were excellent and very enjoyable.

 

The Elite perks were great and we really enjoyed the 180 minutes of internet access and 60 items of laundry (washed and folded) between the two of us. The Elite lounge was nice as well, with free cocktails from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. most every night in the Sky Lounge.

 

We did hear some of the fellow passengers remark that the verandah staterooms seemed smaller (maybe due to the larger bathrooms) than on the Millennium class ships. We also heard that storage was more limited than on the Millennium class ships, as well.

 

The itinerary was very nice and different than we have done in the past. It was not our favorite, but still very enjoyable. (it is hard to beat the Med.). The shore excursions seemed more limited and not as good overall as other itineraries such as the Med., British Isles, and Baltics. We took a ship sponsored excursion in every port and thought they were good but not great.

 

We would sail the Eclipse again without a doubt, but do think we may prefer the smaller ships of Azamara which we sailed in 2008. However, the pricing on the Eclipse was had to beat and overall a GREAT value for the money.

 

Finally, my husband and I really enjoyed the Martini bar and always had one before dinner. The bartenders are fantastic and very entertaining and the bar itself is very "cool", (literally) as it has ice on the bar itself.

 

Overall, it was a terrific and very enjoyable cruise.

 

Happy Sailings,

 

Nancy

[tally10]

We just returned earlier in the week from the 11 night Canary Island Cruise that departed Southampton on June 1st. My husband, two teenage children (ages 14 and 16) and myself were on the cruise. Overall, we had a wonderful time. The Eclipse is really stunning and the design in terms of furnishings, carpet, glass tile, bathrooms, lighting fixtures, art work, etc. were by far the nicest we have experienced on any ship. (very sophisticated) The ship is as nice as any 5 star hotel, in terms of interior design, bedding, amenities, etc.

 

The service was outstanding and you would never know the ship had only been sailing for a few weeks. The food in the main dining room was very good and the food in the speciality restaurants was exceptional. We dined in Qsine, Tuscany, and Murano and all were fabulous. Qsine was quite fun and different and our children really loved it. We ate there twice and the only problem was we ate way too much both times.

 

Our fellow passengers were 95% British. (very delightful, I might add) We are from the United States and all of the other European cruises we have done (all on Celebrity) had a more diverse mix of people from a variety of countries. We were told that Celebrity marketed the Eclipse heavily in the UK as many can drive to the port. (less hassle than flying). Also, the Canary Islands are a very popular destination for residents of the UK. It was a much older crowd than the other cruises we have taken, but I think it was because it set sail on June 1st and many children are still in school.

 

Because a large percentage of passengers from the UK had already been to the Canary Islands, I think that the ship itself was the destination, as the pool area and ship was still very full, even on port days. It appeared that many stayed onboard at the various ports. We did notice, that particularly on sea days, the Ocean View Cafe was very crowded and we had a hard time finding seats. The food in the Ocean View Cafe was very good and well presented. Also, this is the first cruise we have been on where we have had a hard time finding seats in the theater for the shows. Many of the shows were standing room only and the seats were all full 15 to 20 minutes prior to showtime. The shows were excellent and very enjoyable.

 

The Elite perks were great and we really enjoyed the 180 minutes of internet access and 60 items of laundry (washed and folded) between the two of us. The Elite lounge was nice as well, with free cocktails from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. most every night in the Sky Lounge.

 

We did hear some of the fellow passengers remark that the verandah staterooms seemed smaller (maybe due to the larger bathrooms) than on the Millennium class ships. We also heard that storage was more limited than on the Millennium class ships, as well.

 

The itinerary was very nice and different than we have done in the past. It was not our favorite, but still very enjoyable. (it is hard to beat the Med.). The shore excursions seemed more limited and not as good overall as other itineraries such as the Med., British Isles, and Baltics. We took a ship sponsored excursion in every port and thought they were good but not great.

 

We would sail the Eclipse again without a doubt, but do think we may prefer the smaller ships of Azamara which we sailed in 2008. However, the pricing on the Eclipse was had to beat and overall a GREAT value for the money.

 

Finally, my husband and I really enjoyed the Martini bar and always had one before dinner. The bartenders are fantastic and very entertaining and the bar itself is very "cool", (literally) as it has ice on the bar itself.

 

Overall, it was a terrific and very enjoyable cruise.

 

Happy Sailings,

 

Nancy

 

Thanks for your review. We were on the May 7th Eclipse to the Baltic and it was our best cruise yet. She is a beautiful ship! Unlike your cruise, I would say that ours was about 60% British with large contingents of people from North America, Japan, and India. She is a beautiful ship and we can't wait to sail on her again. Glad you had a wonderful time!

[satchiesmom]

I love hearing about the Eclipse, the only hard part is that we don't get to board her until January!

[librarylady19]

Thanks for the review. Don't forget to post your cabin info. on the "Solstice Sticky" as it would be great to get more input specifically on Eclipse.

I can't wait to try Eclipse; will have to wait until one of the Carib. itineraries next year. I do hope they retain the British flavour. I am really intrigued by Qsine - sounds very original.

[katiebeth]

Dear Librarylady19,

 

I hope they maintain the British flavor, too!! The scones with clotted cream and jam served every afternoon in the Ocean View Cafe were amazing!!! They also had a station every morning in the Cafe that had a full English breakfast, including eggs, English ham/bacon, baked beans, tomatoes, and baked beans. My son loved it!!

 

Also, lots of hot tea available!!

 

You will really enjoy Qsine ..I highly recommend it. The fish and chips and kobe beef slider party are amazing!!

 

Nancy

[Solstice23]

Great thing they still Have BLU and the Aqua spa because we like the Lighter more leafy food and fish thats not fried! But I do like the idea of TEA in the staterooms. Just wish they would have a Starbuck's onboard I really have not liked and coffee on any ship I have ever sailed.

[scf1270]

We're looking forward to our December cruise.

[bardstowntraveller]

We sail on the Eclipse next week. Thanks for the tip about the scones and clotted cream. Our friends that are travelling with us love all things English so this will be a real treat

[cadburysmom]

We sail on the Eclipse next week. Thanks for the tip about the scones and clotted cream. Our friends that are travelling with us love all things English so this will be a real treat

Ditto!:D

[mike x ftc]

Hi

There have been a few Eclipse reviews recently saying how expensive the drinks, especially wine, are onboard, I have seen photos of Solstice drinks menu's, can you give me a rough idea of drinks prices? I'm on the Canaries cruise in Oct.

 

Thanks

[Chonga]

Hi,

 

We were on Eclipse at the end of May (Canaries) and for some reason I haven't binned the receipts yet! Here's some example prices from our stay...

Cans of Sprite/coke $2

Shorts/mixer: $6 (often came double strength!)

Cappuchino $4

Heineken $5

Wine (haven't got full names):

Syrah Campuget $40

Sav Blanc Brancott $30

Gewurtz Leon $38

Cab/Pinot $27

Pinot Noir $39

Carmenere $42

Riesling $29

Shiraz Barossa $36

 

It wasn't the cheapest, but all the wine we had was good quality and the shorts were usually very strong so not bad value.

 

Looking forward to being back on board in Sept!!:)

[joandian]

Great thing they still Have BLU and the Aqua spa because we like the Lighter more leafy food and fish thats not fried! But I do like the idea of TEA in the staterooms. Just wish they would have a Starbuck's onboard I really have not liked and coffee on any ship I have ever sailed.

 

My husband likes Starbucks coffee also and now travels with their packs of instant coffee. It is handy and tastes like the real thing. He likes the Italian Roast -Extra Bold. Maybe try them.

 

We will also be on the Eclipse next week - Hi fellow cruisers! ;) Since I'm an Aussie, I am looking forward to scones and cream and real bacon!.... and baked beans although we can buy Heinz BB in Houston.

 

Jo

[Sparkle 123]

Hi

We were also on the Eclipse June 1st cruise.Really had a wonderful time. We were in Aquaclass and dining in Blu was a real highlight for us.

My review has just been published on in the review section, click on this link if you want to read it:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=68434

 

I have attched a photo of the tea making tray in the stateroom, being British we really liked that!

Many more photos are on this link including Qsine and some bar menus.

http://lisaandystravelmemories.shutterfly.com/celebrityeclipsejune1st2010

 

Lisa

[cynbar]

Abbafan, great pictures and thanks for including Qsine, I'm been reading about it and trying to p[icture what it is like --- apparently words don't do it justice. Could you tell us a little about the main courses?? Are they mainly "groups", like Chinese or Mexican?

[MTElkwhistle]

Looking forward to the scones and clotted cream - is it the real mccoy? Must have missed it in April - is there still sushi?

 

Re the breakfast, there was no Black pudding except one tray the first morning on the inaugural, did you see any, or haggis?

 

We are doing the Canaries in October and not planning to do any excursions, we will explore alone in Lisbon though.

 

How did your teens enjoy the ship - mine will be 16 and 13 come October, they have sailed with Princess P&O Royal Caribbean and Disney but are a bit apprehensive about this one as "friends" of theirs told them Celebrity is rubbish! I went and checked out the teen club in April and it looked great to me.

[Denny01]

I've always enjoyed my stays in the UK, and enjoy trying various dishes, but Haggis??? Please save me!

 

I'd name a few indigestable American dishes, but don't want to turn this into a 'food fight'!

 

We loved Solstice and although heading back to the M-Class and the Mercury, we are fully planning on enjoying All the S-Class ships and would love to cruise out of the UK just for the experience of being amoungst a majority of Brits. Nothing more fun!

 

Thanks for the excellent review - you got our interest peaked even higher. What did you like the most about the Canary Islands visit?

 

Denny

[bardstowntraveller]

I've always enjoyed my stays in the UK, and enjoy trying various dishes, but Haggis??? Please save me!

 

I'd name a few indigestable American dishes, but don't want to turn this into a 'food fight'!

 

We loved Solstice and although heading back to the M-Class and the Mercury, we are fully planning on enjoying All the S-Class ships and would love to cruise out of the UK just for the experience of being amoungst a majority of Brits. Nothing more fun!

 

Thanks for the excellent review - you got our interest peaked even higher. What did you like the most about the Canary Islands visit?

 

Denny

We sailed on the Solstice in August, are sailing on the Eclipse next week and will finish off with the Equinox TA in October. Our cruise rollcall is at least 50% English and it has been a hoot conversing back and forth. Half the time I don't know what they are talking about and I'm sure they feel the same about us Yanks!

[Sparkle 123]

Cynbar

The food is Qsine is unlike anything you have ever experienced before!!

They do have the Mexican, Indian and Chinese selections as well as "sushi lollipops" but also there is the "Painters Mignon" which was a fillet steak served on a artists palette with "paint pots" containing sides such as truffled mashed potato, mac and cheese, mushroom sauce. To be honest even between 8 of us we didn't manage to order everything on the menu although we had a good try!

The waiter would bring the ipad menus to the ladies and ask us to choose 5 small dishes for the table, when we finished those he would bring the menus back and ask us to choose 5 more and so on, when we could eat no more we had to say "stop the journey" then the dessert menu came on Rubiks cube type menus. After we had eaten the desserts he then came along with the "strawberry fields" which was mallow covered strawberries and creme brulee filled "eggs" hiding amongst real grass. It was a fantastic evening all the better for being in a large group.

Denny

Looking forward to meeting you on the Wine cruise in September, I'm sure we will have lots to talk about!

Lisa

[Denny01]

Lisa - should be a great cruise. Looking forward to meeting up! talk on the roll call.

 

Den

[kitkat9438]

Thanks for the great review and Lisa thanks for those wonderful pictures. I can't wait until we sail in December.

[Woobstr112G]

We just returned earlier in the week from the 11 night Canary Island Cruise that departed Southampton on June 1st. My husband, two teenage children (ages 14 and 16) and myself were on the cruise. Overall, we had a wonderful time. The Eclipse is really stunning and the design in terms of furnishings, carpet, glass tile, bathrooms, lighting fixtures, art work, etc. were by far the nicest we have experienced on any ship. (very sophisticated) The ship is as nice as any 5 star hotel, in terms of interior design, bedding, amenities, etc.

 

The service was outstanding and you would never know the ship had only been sailing for a few weeks. The food in the main dining room was very good and the food in the speciality restaurants was exceptional. We dined in Qsine, Tuscany, and Murano and all were fabulous. Qsine was quite fun and different and our children really loved it. We ate there twice and the only problem was we ate way too much both times.

 

Our fellow passengers were 95% British. (very delightful, I might add) We are from the United States and all of the other European cruises we have done (all on Celebrity) had a more diverse mix of people from a variety of countries. We were told that Celebrity marketed the Eclipse heavily in the UK as many can drive to the port. (less hassle than flying). Also, the Canary Islands are a very popular destination for residents of the UK. It was a much older crowd than the other cruises we have taken, but I think it was because it set sail on June 1st and many children are still in school.

 

Because a large percentage of passengers from the UK had already been to the Canary Islands, I think that the ship itself was the destination, as the pool area and ship was still very full, even on port days. It appeared that many stayed onboard at the various ports. We did notice, that particularly on sea days, the Ocean View Cafe was very crowded and we had a hard time finding seats. The food in the Ocean View Cafe was very good and well presented. Also, this is the first cruise we have been on where we have had a hard time finding seats in the theater for the shows. Many of the shows were standing room only and the seats were all full 15 to 20 minutes prior to showtime. The shows were excellent and very enjoyable.

 

The Elite perks were great and we really enjoyed the 180 minutes of internet access and 60 items of laundry (washed and folded) between the two of us. The Elite lounge was nice as well, with free cocktails from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. most every night in the Sky Lounge.

 

We did hear some of the fellow passengers remark that the verandah staterooms seemed smaller (maybe due to the larger bathrooms) than on the Millennium class ships. We also heard that storage was more limited than on the Millennium class ships, as well.

 

The itinerary was very nice and different than we have done in the past. It was not our favorite, but still very enjoyable. (it is hard to beat the Med.). The shore excursions seemed more limited and not as good overall as other itineraries such as the Med., British Isles, and Baltics. We took a ship sponsored excursion in every port and thought they were good but not great.

 

We would sail the Eclipse again without a doubt, but do think we may prefer the smaller ships of Azamara which we sailed in 2008. However, the pricing on the Eclipse was had to beat and overall a GREAT value for the money.

 

Finally, my husband and I really enjoyed the Martini bar and always had one before dinner. The bartenders are fantastic and very entertaining and the bar itself is very "cool", (literally) as it has ice on the bar itself.

 

Overall, it was a terrific and very enjoyable cruise.

 

Happy Sailings,

 

Nancy

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.....:):):)

 

Bob

[DebbieMacG]

Looking forward to the scones and clotted cream - is it the real mccoy

 

Sorry no it's not clotted cream, more of a whipped cream sadly. Nice scones though :)

 

No black pudding or Haggis although I did try and persuade a Chef to make Haggis I wasn't successful :D

 

The Eclipse is amazing!

[smtcan]

Hi

We were also on the Eclipse June 1st cruise.Really had a wonderful time. We were in Aquaclass and dining in Blu was a real highlight for us.

My review has just been published on in the review section, click on this link if you want to read it:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=68434

 

I have attched a photo of the tea making tray in the stateroom, being British we really liked that!

Many more photos are on this link including Qsine and some bar menus.

http://lisaandystravelmemories.shutterfly.com/celebrityeclipsejune1st2010

 

Lisa

 

Could you let me have details of the Segway tour in Vigo please. We did one in New Zealand two years ago and really enjoyed the experience. We would like to try again when we go to Vigo in the autumn.

Thanks

Sheila

[Sparkle 123]

Hi Sheila

All I can tell you about the segway in Vigo was that our friends came accross it just by wandering near the marina area. They hadn't pre booked, just joined a tour for 18 euros per person which lasted about an hour.

I googled Vigo segway and could only come up with this e mail

info@segwayvigo.com

Hope this is of help to you

[smtcan]

Hi Sheila

All I can tell you about the segway in Vigo was that our friends came accross it just by wandering near the marina area. They hadn't pre booked, just joined a tour for 18 euros per person which lasted about an hour.

I googled Vigo segway and could only come up with this e mail

info@segwayvigo.com

Hope this is of help to you

 

Thank you. If we can't find info online we will look around when we get there.