Just back from Eclipse - any questions?

[FritzG]

Hi,:) the Cruise Director was John Grantham although depending on

when his contract started he might not be on there in March.

 

If you're lucky he won't be there.

[meyerder]

Bummer Lois.....was hoping to meet you at some point. Reality bites doesn't it? Hope you can get on Eclipse seven day in Jan or Feb anyhow.

Good Luck!!;)

 

 

First time cruiser in Jan 2 on the Eclipse.. My wife and I are looking for a guide on many of the good things to do... Would love to team up with you :)

[patned]

If you're lucky he won't be there.

 

 

Without getting into a huge debate about Cruise Director's, our group thought John Grantham was both humerous and very professional. He keeps everyone well informed, throws in some humor, lets the focus stay on the act and not John.

 

Just our two cents worth. To each his/her own. We would love to have him back on our next cruise.

[Lois R]

Without getting into a huge debate about Cruise Director's, our group thought John Grantham was both humerous and very professional. He keeps everyone well informed, throws in some humor, lets the focus stay on the act and not John.

 

Just our two cents worth. To each his/her own. We would love to have him back on our next cruise.

 

Hi Pat,:) they opened the door with that reply so you are more than

welcome to answer. Actually, I agree with you. This was my 2nd time

sailing with John and I like him very much.:)

 

Different strokes.

[smtcan]

We didn't have any strong feelings about John, we have had better and worse cruise directors. For us Carl Pucl had the biggest impact on our Eclipse TA. He led the choir, gave fantastic lectures about the Titanic, and ran the team trivia, with new questions. I believe he left Celebrity when Eclipse arrived in Miami. What a loss to the company. He would have made an amazing cruise director one day.

Sheila

[Infi]

[quote name='patned']Without getting into a huge debate about Cruise Director's, our group thought John Grantham was both humerous and very professional. He keeps everyone well informed, throws in some humor, lets the focus stay on the act and not John.

Just our two cents worth. To each his/her own. We would love to have him back on our next cruise.[/quote]

I agree. Grantham was both professional and entertaining without being over the top IMHO, and others in our group felt the same way. Lois is right - different strokes! This particular poster seems very bitter with their experience on the Eclipse TA, and I hope they choose to write their own review or share their own thoughts on what they liked/disliked in their own post, rather than post one liner potshots on others' threads.

[Classynfun1]

[quote name='andrek']Just wanted to know about disembarking. How was your experience? We need to catch a 1045 am flight from MIA and are carrying our luggage off. Do you think we can make it? What time did the ship dock? Were you stuck in customs? Any information will be helpful. I am glad you had a great trip. Thanks,
Andrea[/quote]

Andrea- I have a 10:45am flight scheduled for December 4th when I disembarked. Carried my luggage off and made the 8:20am flight instead. You'll be fine!

[psyfi]

Infi, thanks so much for all the info and so carefully answering everyone's questions!

[sunor]

Can anyone tell me on what side does the Eclipse dock, Starboard or Port? We are doing both East and West Caribbean.

Thanks
Suz

[andrek]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]Thanks Classy for the info. What time did you leave the ship to make it to the airport so early? Did you have to go to a special room or did you just walk off the ship? Again, thanks for remembering![/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3]Andrea[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Infi]

[quote name='psyfi']Infi, thanks so much for all the info and so carefully answering everyone's questions![/quote]

You're welcome, Psyfi - it was my pleasure. Answering questions, along with writing a review, is a great way to re-live the cruise and muddle your way through the post-cruise depression. :) Hope you have a great cruise next month!

[quote name='sunor']Can anyone tell me on what side does the Eclipse dock, Starboard or Port? We are doing both East and West Caribbean.

Thanks
Suz[/quote]

I can only share Eastern Caribbean, but this is where we docked on our cruise:

San Juan - port (OSJ pier, closest to OSJ and downtown)
St. Maarten - starboard (megaship pier)
St. Kitts - port

Don't forget that these can change based on the number of ships in port, arrival time, and just plain old whims of the Captain. ;)

[bhughey]

Infi: Loved your pictures!!
Quick question, what category stateroom were you in (forgive me if this has been addressed!).

[Jo and Rob]

Could you tell me if the pool is freshwater or salt?
Is there an adult only area and is it complementary?
Where can you get free self-serve ice-cream on the Eclipse?
Did you see the glass blowing show?
What is the best thing about the ship that is complementary?
What was your favourite show?

[sunor]

[quote name='Infi']
I can only share Eastern Caribbean, but this is where we docked on our cruise:

San Juan - port (OSJ pier, closest to OSJ and downtown)
St. Maarten - starboard (megaship pier)
St. Kitts - port

Don't forget that these can change based on the number of ships in port, arrival time, and just plain old whims of the Captain. ;)[/quote]

Thanks Infi.

Suz

[Infi]

[quote name='bhughey']Infi: Loved your pictures!!
Quick question, what category stateroom were you in (forgive me if this has been addressed!).[/quote]

Thanks, bhughey! We stayed in #8275, a Cat 1B on the bumped out section near the midship elevators. Loved the cabin, and it was great being able to see both the front and back of the ship from the balcony. Would definitely book this category/area again.

[quote name='Jo and Rob']Could you tell me if the pool is freshwater or salt?
Is there an adult only area and is it complementary?
Where can you get free self-serve ice-cream on the Eclipse?
Did you see the glass blowing show?
What is the best thing about the ship that is complementary?
What was your favourite show?[/quote]

Hi Jo and Rob, I'll answer your questions in order.

1. The three pools are freshwater.
2. The only adult only area I can think of is the Solarium, which is 16 and up. It has the Solarium pool, two jacuzzis, lots of loungers, and the AquaSpa cafe. It is complimentary and truly adults only, as I saw the pool butlers chasing more than a few parents with kids out of there often. :rolleyes:
3. The free ice cream is in the Oceanview Cafe (buffet). Lots of sorbets and different ice cream flavors. It isn't self-serve, but the staff will be happy to serve you...it's almost always open.
4. Yes, many times. We love the glassblowing show, it's our favorite feature of the S-class ships! If you're cruising an S-class, try to see the show at least once...it's worth a visit.
5. For me it has to be the Hot Glass show - I love it! Other honorable mentions: games at the Lawn club, the interactive parties in the Grand Foyer (very well done), and Bistro on 5. Yes, Bistro isn't complimentary (it's $5pp), but that's a drop in the bucket for the fantastic crepes there! One of the best kept secrets onboard.
6. My personal favorite show was Eclipse, the Cirque style show. Lots of acrobatics and aerial stunts, it's amazing to watch. My second favorite production show was probably Edge...very high energy and great choreography. The only show I felt was just so-so was Ovations, the Broadway show.

Whew, that was a lot of answers. Hope that helps!

[pncmidland]

[quote name='andrek']Just wanted to know about disembarking. How was your experience? We need to catch a 1045 am flight from MIA and are carrying our luggage off. Do you think we can make it? What time did the ship dock? Were you stuck in customs? Any information will be helpful. I am glad you had a great trip. Thanks,
Andrea[/QUOTE]
We had an 8:45am disembarking time and ended up getting through customs @ 11am. We ended up going with the group ahead of ours because we were getting nervous. It was quick to the airport and quick through customs there. Good Luck!

[andrek]

Thanks pncmidland, did you carry your stuff off? Did others leave before you? I heard some people actually walked off around 7am?
Andrea

[Classynfun1]

Andrea -


All those that were doing "Express Debarkation" were told to be on deck 5 forward at 6:30am with our luggage for debarkation. Now, admittedly, I didn't go to bed the night before (really fun group in the bar and all) so we ended up down there at 6am. The crew did a great job lining us up and we were all standing and waiting ready to go. At 6:40am they said, "Go!" and my sister and I were the first two off. Really, really simple. They had three customs lines open and everything. I took awhile at customs (they couldn't find record of me on the ship?) but my sis was down and waiting in less than 10 minutes.

Hope that helps! :-)

[psyfi]

Infi, I heard that Celebrity replaced the midnight buffet with a brunch? (Which is a good plan as we were always still stuffed from dinner!) Was this true on Eclipse and if so which day was it on your cruise?

[airhose]

I can answer a couple of questions, based on the western route:

The brunch was on day 2 (first sea day); there is no midnight buffet.

The docking was as follows:
Grand Caymen -- no dock, so tendering
Cozumel -- starboard, with port side facing the land
Costa Maya -- port, with port side facing land
Roatan -- port, with port side facing land

What a beautiful ship!!!!

[Mrs.Sunshine]

Could you tell me if the valet debarkation service was offered and if so when where you informed and what was the cost? Thanks

[Lew's cruise]

Hi Infi,
I was wondering if you had a chance to post the menus yet. If so please tell me where. Thanks,
Lew


Monarch Sun 8/75
Majesty of the Seas 8/94
Norwegian Dream 4/99
Century 4/00
Galaxy 12/00
Dawn Princess 12/01
Infinity 4/02
Horizon 4/03
Grand Princess 12/03
Constellation 2/05
Constellation 12/05
Caribbean Princess 4/06
Costa Magica 12/06
Oosterdam 2/07
Norwegian Sun 4/07
Crown Princess 2/08
Island Princess 12/08
Independence of the Seas 2/09
Celebrity Solstice 4/09
Zuiderdam 12/09
Crown Princess 2/10
Oasis of the Seas 3/10
Eclipse 2/11
Azamara Journey 4/11

[Infi]

[quote name='psyfi']Infi, I heard that Celebrity replaced the midnight buffet with a brunch? (Which is a good plan as we were always still stuffed from dinner!) Was this true on Eclipse and if so which day was it on your cruise?[/quote]

Psyfi, I don't remember if you're on the Eastern or Western, but on the Eastern the brunch was the day we were in San Juan (Tuesday). It was good timing, as we were still at sea that morning. We didn't eat there (headed for Bistro on 5 instead), but I heard it was better organized and elaborately decorated, a la the midnight buffets of the past.

[quote name='Mrs.Sunshine']Could you tell me if the valet debarkation service was offered and if so when where you informed and what was the cost? Thanks[/quote]

So sorry, we didn't need this service, so I don't know the answer to this one. Hopefully someone else has this info.

[quote=Lew's cruise;27147831]Hi Infi,
I was wondering if you had a chance to post the menus yet. If so please tell me where. Thanks,
Lew
[/quote]

My daughter is the one in charge of the photos, and she said that she's not done with sorting and captioning them yet. Sorry that they're not ready. I will post on a new thread when she's done with them.

[psyfi]

Infi, we are Eastern like you were--thanks for the heads up, we'll plan for brunch that day!

[2theship]

[quote name='smtcan']We didn't have any strong feelings about John, we have had better and worse cruise directors. For us Carl Pucl had the biggest impact on our Eclipse TA. He led the choir, gave fantastic lectures about the Titanic, and ran the team trivia, with new questions. I believe he left Celebrity when Eclipse arrived in Miami. What a loss to the company. He would have made an amazing cruise director one day.
Sheila[/QUOTE]

Agree with you about John, but especially about Carl Pucl. What a guy!!
Can any recent Eclipse Cruisers tell if they are still doing Titanic lectures and presentations? These were truly a highlight of the TA.