Eclipse transatlantic - Eastbound - April 13

[MR_T]

Hi all,

 

We I'm now sitting at home after another wonderful transatlantic cruise, this time on the celebrity eclipse 20th April - 3rd May 2013, and just wanted to post a review on how I found it!

 

Us -

 

We are uk cruisers and are from kent in England and are in our very early forties! Although we found we were among the younger side of the gang this didn't affect how we enjoyed the cruise and we were lucky to meet some really lovely people on board from people our own age to 70-80 year olds and even a few younger,

 

Embarkation -

 

After hearing all the scaremongering regarding the embarkation at ft Lauderdale and recieving the email the day before we boarded regarding the delayed boarding time I didn't quite know what to expect but as we did on our last cruise we headed to the port about 10.30am & on arrival we had our bags taken off us straight from the taxi then was lead to the queue for check in, now although it wasn't open yet we were put in a queue for c/class guests witch was the same queue as suites & aqua, there was about 10 people in front of us already so I was kind of pleased we decided to arrive early! Then after about 10-15 mins they opened up where we queued up inside for about 10 mins extra then we were called through security then straight to check in and lead to a lounge area upstairs where we were sat in order of arriving in the lounge so this ment we were in the first 8 on the ship, now we were sat there for around 40 mins but it was comfy and very well organized and by the time we boarded there were hundreds (or thousands) behind us so I would do the same again! :)

 

Our Cabin 1070 C/Class -

 

We choose this cabin for the deck & location we wanted and was very happy with our choice, deck 10 and pretty much middle of the ship, we found the cabin quiet and we had a great room steward (Jesus), and he looked after us very well and was always there if we needed something which wasn't often but there all the same and we had a few nice chats with him during the cruise, he also made us a few towel animals which was nice to come back to at the end of the night especially as we didn't get any on the silhouette!

 

The Ship -

 

Our limited cruise life of 2 cruises, this one and the silhouette last December which was also a transatlantic so we had loads of time to explore the ships...

 

We found the Eclipse to be just as nice as the silhouette and found all the crew to be just as amazing in every area and we are already looking forward to spending another 2 weeks on her later in the year! But that said I would say I prefer the newer additions on the silhouette rather then the eclipse lawn club as we loved the lawn grill & the porch v's the glass blowing stuff... That was a good show but just not for us!

 

Pool Area -

 

As expected it was busy but never really had a problem getting a bed where we wanted either in the sun or shade so that was all good, there was the usual bed hogs but that's not going to change anytime soon as its part of life for some people/nations!

 

Main Dining Room -

 

We ate in the main dining room on 7 of the 13 nights on board and found the food lovely every time along with good service, I say good because we did feel we didn't get the same level of service as other in the select dining area that had the same table and server every night as we went at different times and opted for a table of 2 we were at different areas each time, I understand that people build up a bit of a relationship with their waiters over the course of the cruise but just felt we didn't get the same level of service as others.

 

Speciality Restaurants -

 

We ate at the main 3 speciality restaurants during the cruise and found the service at each of them to be extremely good in all areas and couldn't fault them, regarding the food we found both Qsine & Tuscan was great but was a little disappointed with murano's as we had the best meal on the silhouette there and on the eclipse we found it to be the worst of them all! :( not just a course but the whole meal... And we also heard this from others on the eclipse as well!

 

Molecular Bar - Alejandro

 

As with the silhouette this was my favorite pre dinner bar on the ship and had a great liquid chef on board that made us amazing drinks every night!

 

Martini Bar - Imade & Putu

 

We did enjoy our post dinner drinks in the martini bar most nights and found it to be busy every night and I guess this was due to the high number of people on board with the free drinks package which like us I'm sure most upgraded so the higher priced drinks were included such a great deal :D I don't think this had a negative affect on the level of service as we got served quickly every time and found the bar men to be friendly happy & entertaining at all times! :)

 

Eclipse Theater -

 

We saw around 8/9 shows on this cruise and found them all to be of a good standard, some more then others but that's always going to happen but over all we enjoyed them all!

 

Captain -

 

We found the captain to be a great guy but we were spoilt by the captain on the silhouette as he was amazing and doubt we will ever get a better captain so I think every other one will fall short slightly! But that said we did enjoy meeting him and found him to be very informative throughout the cruise,

 

Cruise Director - Sue Denning

 

Not to be controversial as we have heard nothing but great things about her and her team but we just didn't warm to her and found her to be far to involved in everything when we would have liked her to maybe take a step back and let others get involved a bit more... Don't get me wrong we found her to be nice on the odd occasions we came in direct contact with her but just had a feeling that it was all a little fake & over the top at some stages... Again maybe we were spoilt again on the silhouette!,

 

Disembarkation @ Southampton -

 

Again after hearing a few horror story's regarding this we were a little concerned about making a 9.30am coach so we booked the later 11.50am one instead but how wrong we were... What a breeze the whole thing was!

 

Around day 5 we were notified that a uk immigration officer will be on board for the rest of the cruise to do that part of the process so when it comes to getting off we just had to pick up our luggage then go through customs then off we go! And it really was as easy as that, we had a disembarkation time of 8.40am and we was in the taxi to the coach station at 8.55am...

 

Summary -

 

Overall another great cruise which has made us hooked even more and we really love the solstice class ships, we would recommend this ship to anyone and I know I have made a few negative comments but this would not affect our decision to book with celebrity again and along with our next cruise which is already booked we have started looking for the one after that! :D

 

I know the above is a little long but just wanted to put as much info as I could as before our first cruise we found all the info on this site very helpful so hopefully someone will find it worth reading,

 

Thanks for reading and I hope you found it informative!

 

Tony :cool:

[gordylad]

Thanks...too short what about the weather? Did you have many pool days?

 

How was the ports on the way over? Would you do it again?

 

Cheers

[drarill]

Tony:

Thanks for the great review and for posting!! Looking forward to our Eclipse cruise in July. :):)

[d4m]

Thanks Tony ~ enjoyed your review! Not too long at all

[Scrappytraveller]

So glad the molecular bar improved drastically after your first drink there, you had me worried.:eek:

I'm sure you weren't too disappointed that the Dawk didn't fall in love with the Captain this time. ;)

 

Interesting about the dining room, I've been wondering if we should do a standing reservation in a particular section on our NYE cruise, like Bill and his gang did on the Silhouette. I remember finding the service in the front section much, much better than the 2 times I was seated in the back section.

 

I want to hear about the weather too, and how choppy it was vs our TA. And what about the islands? Did you enjoy your first Caribbean experience? Did you like east bound or west bound better?

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[missminnie]

Hi Tony

 

Good review. We got off Eclipse as you guys got on (20th Apr) and so glad it wasn't just us who thought that about the CD Sue. We were thinking it was perhaps just us being picky but we totally agree with your comments - a little too fake and over the top. Felt she didn't really want to chat to us UK passengers but was all over the US guests.

 

 

We liked Molecular bar too - Alejandro was great and there was a lady there too from Hungary who both made our evenings go by far quicker.

 

We're thinking of doing the Eastbound TA next Apr but on Reflection. Never done TA before but something different to try.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Hi Tony

 

Good review. We got off Eclipse as you guys got on (20th Apr) and so glad it wasn't just us who thought that about the CD Sue. We were thinking it was perhaps just us being picky but we totally agree with your comments - a little too fake and over the top. Felt she didn't really want to chat to us UK passengers but was all over the US guests.

.

 

We two Yanks did a two-week cruise on Eclipse this year. I thought that the situation was just the opposite! Maybe she wasn't really "all over" anyone.:D Great cruise though. We signed up for the same cruise next year.

[MR_T]

Thanks...too short what about the weather? Did you have many pool days?

 

How was the ports on the way over? Would you do it again?

 

Cheers

 

Hi gordylad,

 

In reference to your questions please see below!

 

Weather & Pool -

 

On arrival at the port the weather was great... Blue sky's & hot sun! But when it got to our departure time we had a bit of a thunder storm which I believe delayed our departure a little as we were over an hour late leaving...

 

As for the weather during the cruise I would say over all it was great, and with the exception of a couple of days it was sunny every day! I think from memory we had a couple of very brief light showers in the first week of the cruise but as I said they were brief, maybe about 30 mins each time!

 

It was hot for the first 6 days then got a little cooler each day but it was still warm enough to sit in the sun except the last 3 days when it started to get cooler with the wind chill kicking in, but there was still quite a few sun worshipers trying to squeeze every little bit of sun out of the cruise!

 

I would say over all there was 8/9 good pool days... Being the first 8/9 days of the cruise! Saying that the day we arrived in Southampton was loverly and warm and would have been a pool day for sure but we had to get off! :(

 

Ports -

 

Nassau - we did a day pass at the Sheraton so didn't really see much of the island & would prob do the same again if we are there again!

 

San Juan - we only did a quick walk around the port area as it was very hot and no beaches around so we decided to go back to the ship and enjoy the pools while the ship was quite,

 

St Marteen - we did a speed boat tour of the island which was a full day tour and would do that again if back on the island,

 

Would we do it again - Yes! If we could we would do it again tomorrow!

 

If you have any other questions I would be more then happy to give you my thoughts

 

Tony :)

[missminnie]

We two Yanks did a two-week cruise on Eclipse this year. I thought that the situation was just the opposite! Maybe she wasn't really "all over" anyone.:D Great cruise though. We signed up for the same cruise next year.

 

 

Ha ha. Perhaps she just wasn't our kind of person then as just didn't feel she was that interested in talking to some guests. Hey ho. We still had a great cruise and the CD doesn't make it or break it for us.

[MR_T]

We're thinking of doing the Eastbound TA next Apr but on Reflection. Never done TA before but something different to try.

 

Hi

 

We aren't really that experienced enough to give that much advise as this was only our second cruise which both were transatlantic cruises but we loved the see days so much we are looking at booking another one for the fall in 2014,

 

As for east v west I think we will do both again as both have there own benefits!

[missminnie]

We're thinking of doing the Eastbound TA next Apr but on Reflection. Never done TA before but something different to try.

 

Hi

 

We aren't really that experienced enough to give that much advise as this was only our second cruise which both were transatlantic cruises but we loved the see days so much we are looking at booking another one for the fall in 2014,

 

As for east v west I think we will do both again as both have there own benefits!

 

Thanks Tony

 

We want to do the eastbound as we much better at adapting to time difference on arriving in US than we are after a night flight home from the US to UK. Plus I don't fancy going across Atlantic in oct or nov.

 

The sea days are our only concern really. We like the ports and sea days but having 7 sea days in a row we're hoping we won't get too bored. We don't really get involved in activities etc and just like to chill by pool. Perhaps I'll take a book to read instead.

[gordylad]

Thanks Tony I've been on the eclipse twice now but was really interested in the weather and you confirmed what I was expecting good days at the start tailing off at the end. We are probably going to book next years and I notice its a bit different with an overnight in Bermuda and a stop in the Azores.

 

How did you get on with the one way flights they can be pretty expensive?

 

Cheers

[MR_T]

Thanks Tony I've been on the eclipse twice now but was really interested in the weather and you confirmed what I was expecting good days at the start tailing off at the end. We are probably going to book next years and I notice its a bit different with an overnight in Bermuda and a stop in the Azores.

 

How did you get on with the one way flights they can be pretty expensive?

 

Cheers

 

Hi

 

We booked our flights using virgin air miles so we got quite a good deal! Other then that yes oneway flights are expensive but I did talk to a few people on board the eclipse and they said they booked through choice air via celebrity and they worked out a good price, think I will look at that for the next transatlantic cruise we book if we don't have enough miles to book it!

[gordylad]

Hi Tony

 

What can you tell me about Atlantis? Is it worth doing?

 

Thanks

[Islandbuoy]

Just to add my 2 cents worth.

 

Overall cruise great.

 

Daytime activities for the sea days--lacking.

 

Guest speaker program needs help. It should have some current topics.

 

Sue Demming as CD was quite good--little personal interaction with her,but didn't expect it . She ran a good ship.

 

Voucher program for Elite worked well. Still prefer the other way, but w/ 700 Elites , they couldn't do it. We went to the sky lounge anyway.

 

Hats off to assistant waiter Joseph( now Deluma) found us the 2nd nite and said"why aren't you sitting @ my table?".(We had asked of him, but he changed his name)

He even remembered that Jan likes to have ice tea, and had it ready for her in our next 12 nites of select dining.

[MR_T]

Hi Tony

 

What can you tell me about Atlantis? Is it worth doing?

 

Thanks

 

We didn't go there so can't comment!