Long Baltic Review on the Eclipse With Lots of Photos

[elena7seas]

Hi Mike:

 

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. I enjoyed it thoroughly, as always. You have a great talent in this area. The review of your English tour was fascinating.

 

Four of my very good friends were on you sailing. They also took Alla's five tours, but I didn't see them in any of your photos...one of them has flaming orange hair, so I would have noticed her :p. It was fun to look for them though, kind of like a game of "Where's Waldo".

 

Thanks again for all of the time you take to put your review together, and thanks so much for sharing it with us!

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks for the memory! We were on the very same cruise & the very same cabin, great review:)

 

That really is a great cabin. Glad we could both enjoy it.:)

[MVPinBoynton]

Being British and coming from just outside York, I am glad you got to go to Betty's

 

Did you manage to see the mirror downstairs with all the engraving from the 2nd world war - all US and UK troops stationed in York that went to the tea room (which was a bar at the time) etched their names and regiments/troop.

 

I also cringed at your accidents - why Hertz did not explain the stop/start to you of the cars here, I have no idea - mostly BMW/Mercedes etc have them.

 

Hope your wife's head recovered quickly

 

Now onto reading the baltics part

 

Oh no! We didn't see the mirror. So I guess we will have to go back; which isn't a bad thing. :) My wife's head did recover quickly and she had no problems with it during the cruise, other than an embarrassing black eye for a few days.

[MVPinBoynton]

Hi Mike:

 

Thanks so much for your wonderful review. I enjoyed it thoroughly, as always. You have a great talent in this area. The review of your English tour was fascinating.

 

Four of my very good friends were on you sailing. They also took Alla's five tours, but I didn't see them in any of your photos...one of them has flaming orange hair, so I would have noticed her :p. It was fun to look for them though, kind of like a game of "Where's Waldo".

 

Thanks again for all of the time you take to put your review together, and thanks so much for sharing it with us!

 

If your friends weren't on the roll call, they probably weren't in the same Alla tour groups as us. We do remember seeing Waldo :D though, so if we see her in a pic, I will let you know. Since we took over 11,000 photos, I am not going to go through them all right now. :D

[Ma Bell]

Your remarkable reviews are always the best. We did this cruise in 2004 and your beautiful photos make me want to return. Thanks for the memories.

[Schmoe38]

Hi Mike and Carol

 

You cannot believe how invaluable you are by taking the time to provide education for all of us. We have booked the Scandanavia and Russia Cruise on Constellation in August 2014, and for people who were never strong in history, you have provided us with a wealth of information and experiences that will undoubtedly make this cruise a trip of a lifetime. As this will be our first time through the Baltic, there are a number of items that will be new to us, but that uneasiness has been reduced by the pictures and commentary you chose to share with everyone. Thank you hardly seems enough.

 

It looks like we will be sailing with you on Reflection in December. Hopefully we will get a chance to meet you both.

 

 

Randy and Connie

[luv2sail7]

Mike - great review! I'm really getting anxious for our trip - less than 18 days until we leave on the Eclilpse. We are doing Alla's Comfort Tour and have also booked a private (only DH and I) evening tour with them for 3 hours. Our thought was to also have dinner out in St Petersburg. How did you pick Old Tibilisi? And how long was your dinner service? Just trying to plan the evening and see possibly plan a stop at the Vodka musuem :).

[CAPinBoynton]

Hi Mike and Carol

 

It looks like we will be sailing with you on Reflection in December. Hopefully we will get a chance to meet you both.

 

 

Randy and Connie

 

 

Fantastic, can't wait to meet you!

[elena7seas]

If your friends weren't on the roll call, they probably weren't in the same Alla tour groups as us. We do remember seeing Waldo :D though, so if we see her in a pic, I will let you know. Since we took over 11,000 photos, I am not going to go through them all right now. :D

 

No, although they sail Celebrity a lot, they do not post on Cruise Critic.

 

I just thought it was fun to look for them in your photos...don't worry about looking for them in your pix...I have tons of pictures of Waldo and her DH.:D We cruise with them a lot, just couldn't make it on this Baltic trip.

[MVPinBoynton]

Hi Mike and Carol

 

You cannot believe how invaluable you are by taking the time to provide education for all of us. We have booked the Scandanavia and Russia Cruise on Constellation in August 2014, and for people who were never strong in history, you have provided us with a wealth of information and experiences that will undoubtedly make this cruise a trip of a lifetime. As this will be our first time through the Baltic, there are a number of items that will be new to us, but that uneasiness has been reduced by the pictures and commentary you chose to share with everyone. Thank you hardly seems enough.

 

It looks like we will be sailing with you on Reflection in December. Hopefully we will get a chance to meet you both.

 

 

Randy and Connie

 

Thanks so much for the very nice comments. I am so glad it has helped with your cruise planning. I always enjoy reading other reviews, especially with photos. That way when I see something, I recognize it and am so glad to see it person.

 

I look forward to meeting you on the Reflection. We will be going to Connections Party, so please introduce yourselves. You should be able to recognize me from the photos in the review plus I always have a camera around my neck. :D

[MVPinBoynton]

Mike - great review! I'm really getting anxious for our trip - less than 18 days until we leave on the Eclilpse. We are doing Alla's Comfort Tour and have also booked a private (only DH and I) evening tour with them for 3 hours. Our thought was to also have dinner out in St Petersburg. How did you pick Old Tibilisi? And how long was your dinner service? Just trying to plan the evening and see possibly plan a stop at the Vodka musuem :).

 

I'm anxious for you. It is a wonderful experience indeed. Alla arranged for us to go to Old Tibilisi. So just email her and she can fix you up. It was so good.

[CenTex50]

Mike and Carol,

 

Enjoyed your review. We have 9215 booked for our cruise in March on the Eclipse.

[MisterBill99]

Wow, amazing job posting the excellent quality menus and photos of the food! I haven't read the rest of the review yet but I'm sure it is just as great! Thank you SO MUCH for posting!

 

Now the only question is, which 2 menus will I not have on our 12 night Baltic cruise next month?

Edited July 29, 2013 by MisterBill99

[MVPinBoynton]

Alan and Mila,

You will love the cabin. But once you have it, you won't want any other location. :D

 

 

Misterbill,

Good question. But you will have to ask the chef. If you just focus on the bar menus, you should be OK, since they should be the same. :D

 

I will say I was surprised at how much the drink prices had gone up in the year since we were on the Silhouette. I compared them and it was like a 15% increase. :eek:

Edited July 29, 2013 by MVPinBoynton

[MisterBill99]

Good question. But you will have to ask the chef. If you just focus on the bar menus, you should be OK, since they should be the same. :D

 

I will say I was surprised at how much the drink prices had gone up in the year since we were on the Silhouette. I compared them and it was like a 15% increase.

If I focus on the bar menus then when I go to eat, I won't care what is on the food menu! Sadly, I don't really drink and am much more interested in the food. Plus, I'm sure that the price of MDR food has not gone up at all since last year!

 

I notice you didn't post any MDR lunch menus. Do you have them anywhere (I always have to find something to complain about!)?

 

BTW did you get copies of the MDR dinner menus and scan them when you got home, or did you actually take photos of them on the ship? I often collect copies of menus with the intention of scanning and posting them when I get home, but then never do.

 

They probably had to raise the drink prices to make up for all of the drink packages they gave away with the 1-2-3 promo!

Edited July 29, 2013 by MisterBill99

[Sparkle 123]

I believe the drinks prices on the Eclipse include the 15% service charge in the price which may explain the 15% increase!

They do this on sailings out of the UK as its not common practice here to add a service charge to drinks!!

[MVPinBoynton]

If I focus on the bar menus then when I go to eat, I won't care what is on the food menu! Sadly, I don't really drink and am much more interested in the food. Plus, I'm sure that the price of MDR food has not gone up at all since last year!

 

I notice you didn't post any MDR lunch menus. Do you have them anywhere (I always have to find something to complain about!)?

 

BTW did you get copies of the MDR dinner menus and scan them when you got home, or did you actually take photos of them on the ship? I often collect copies of menus with the intention of scanning and posting them when I get home, but then never do.

 

They probably had to raise the drink prices to make up for all of the drink packages they gave away with the 1-2-3 promo!

 

 

I am happy to report that the MDR food prices have remained the same. :D

 

We don't eat lunch in the MDR very often, so I don't bother taking photos of the menus. I normally take photos of dinner menus when they are handed out to us. This time, I was able to get real copies of the menus, which I took photos of when I got home. It makes a much better copy, because I can use a tripod and set up the shots properly. Unfortunately, I didn't have a hard copy of the everyday dinner menu, so I had to use the photo I took in the MDR. You can see that the quality is much lower than the others.

 

I am confident you are right about the drink prices going up due to the packages. At least it encourages people to buy the packages if they didn't get the 1-2-3 freebie.

Edited July 29, 2013 by MVPinBoynton

[MVPinBoynton]

I believe the drinks prices on the Eclipse include the 15% service charge in the price which may explain the 15% increase!

They do this on sailings out of the UK as its not common practice here to add a service charge to drinks!!

 

Now that is interesting to know. I hope that is the case. Since we never saw a bill for each drink, I didn't realize that it was included on the menu pricing. If that is the case, I do need to mention that in the menu section of the review.

[MisterBill99]

We don't eat lunch in the MDR very often, so I don't bother taking photos of the menus.

I found that the MDR lunch on Celebrity can be pretty good. In particular, I was reminded of the pomegranate quail dish (which I really enjoyed) when I saw the lunch menu posted on another site (not a very good photo, but readable).

[MVPinBoynton]

I found that the MDR lunch on Celebrity can be pretty good. In particular, I was reminded of the pomegranate quail dish (which I really enjoyed) when I saw the lunch menu posted on another site (not a very good photo, but readable).

 

I absolutely agree that they can be very good. We do enjoy them; but this 14 day cruise only had 5 sea days. We went there once for a regular lunch and once for the brunch. Since we were busy on the other sea days, we went to the buffet twice and Cafe al Bacio once.

[MVPinBoynton]

I believe the drinks prices on the Eclipse include the 15% service charge in the price which may explain the 15% increase!

They do this on sailings out of the UK as its not common practice here to add a service charge to drinks!!

 

 

Thank you abbafan. I have corrected the comments in the review about the drink prices and noted on the menus that the prices included the 15% tip. Now I will have to take photos of all the drink menus again when on our October cruise so the base price is shown.

[Sparkle 123]

You are most welcome Mike.

Your website is very helpful. Loved looking at your photos and reading all the info. Thanks for taking the time to share it:)

[Lastdance]

Mike,

Thank you for another absolutely wonderful review. You are definitely the reason why CC is such a detailed resource. My DH and I will be on this same journey in June 2014, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of your wonderful photos and information. You have such a fantastic talent for putting things together.

I also know what it is like to have guides that go on and on, along with those who aren't the least bit organized. IMO, you were as kind as possible. I was told that when guides keep on talking it is because they feel the importance of telling you everything, and then some in order for tourists to be happy, almost like being paid by thee number of words. Gofigure!

We actually change from this cruise to the Baltic this year because of your wonderful review. Thank you so much for sharing, and don't ever stop.:)

[midwestsunshine]

Mike and Carol- thank you for a wonderful review and the all pictures!!

So glad I was able to meet you both at the High Tea.

 

We did the tours with SPB (5 countries) and also had a wonderful time with them.

 

Thanks,

Judy

[MVPinBoynton]

Mike,

Thank you for another absolutely wonderful review. You are definitely the reason why CC is such a detailed resource. My DH and I will be on this same journey in June 2014, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of your wonderful photos and information. You have such a fantastic talent for putting things together.

I also know what it is like to have guides that go on and on, along with those who aren't the least bit organized. IMO, you were as kind as possible. I was told that when guides keep on talking it is because they feel the importance of telling you everything, and then some in order for tourists to be happy, almost like being paid by thee number of words. Gofigure!

We actually change from this cruise to the Baltic this year because of your wonderful review. Thank you so much for sharing, and don't ever stop.:)

 

Thank you so much for such nice comments. They are really appreciated.