Review of Eclipse Broadway & Beaches TA

[Project_gal]

I have just submitted the following review but, as it may take some time to appear in the review section, I thought that I would post it here as well.

 

Reading the first reviews posted for this cruise has provided the impetus for me to get our review written. Ok, I accept that all cruise experiences are subjective and that ours may not be typical, but I find it difficult to understand that we were on the same ship. I have read complaints of overcrowding whilst, in contrast, we had commented part way through the cruise that it was amazing how well Eclipse had absorbed everyone when weather had made the outside unusable.

We also find it hard to understand the complaint that there was lack of notification and information about the change of itinerary. The final decision to make the change was not made until 11pm the night before embarkation yet all the information was available, both in printed format and on the TV [on which the captain explained the reasons in great detail], as soon as passengers boarded. That is all the printed information – right down to the printed shore excursion mini-booklet. Nothing we received had the original itinerary on it. Personally, I was amazed what was achieved in just 12 hours.

It was disappointing that we had to miss Bermuda [where we have not been before] and visit Madeira [been there, done that] instead but the weather and sea conditions would have been much worse if we have kept to the original itinerary and there was the huge positive of only having to go through US Immigration once.

New York Immigration highlighted how passengers do not read or listen to information when they are given it. We received an email prior to the cruise explaining that everyone would have to pass through US Immigration in the Terminal in New York, and then stay off the ship until everyone had been processed. This could take up to 5 hours. This was repeated in a personally addressed letter on board as well as in an extremely clear TV message by the CD, Sue Denning. Yet we still spoke to at least one couple the evening before we arrived in New York who said that they were not getting off the ship.

 

Unlike these negative reviewers, we had a wonderful cruise and found it difficult to find anything to criticise:

 

Pre-cruise

We used our usual “airport taxi” service to travel down to Southampton on the day before our cruise and stayed at the Grand Harbour hotel for the night. We choose an executive room for the extra space for our luggage and the harbour view – and were rewarded with a bonus of the perfect location for watching the fireworks on Saturday evening and an early view of Eclipse on Sunday morning. We would definitely choose the same hotels if we ever sail from Southampton again.

Whilst waiting for our room to be ready, I nipped off across the car park to M&S for flowers. The alstroemeria, in particular, lasted the whole cruise and I can highly recommend M&S for anyone wanting to buy flowers for their stateroom.

 

Embarkation

In the morning, we were taken by the hotel car to the dock. The transport was included in our hotel package but we were pleasantly surprised to be able to select our preferred timeslot and not have to make the journey with everyone else staying at the hotel. At the dock, everyone from the porters to the check-in staff were welcoming, even those doing the security screening. Although there were no crowds or long queues, it was a relief to be able to use the priority route so that, when we both managed to set off all the alarms multiple times, we were not holding up anyone else. It is reassuring to note that cruise ship boarding security is now as tough as that at airports and we will be prepared in future!

Both our Michael’s Club concierge and butler were coming on board in Southampton so we made our own way to Michael’s Club. About 12:30, we were escorted to our suite by a butler. There, another butler and Megan, the assistant chief housekeeper, greeted us explaining that Rikki, our butler, would be along shortly. Good news - I had read so many good things about Rikki on Cruise Critic. Having been in the same suite two years ago, we knew our way around so Megan took our flowers to the on board florist to be arranged whilst we unpacked our carry-on luggage. [The florist did a wonderful job.]

 

Dining

On embarkation, we had lunch in Bistro on Five but this is no longer a well-kept secret and it was very busy. We both had the beef Panini and were pleasantly surprised. The quality was clearly better than in recent years. The first evening we ate in Tuscan Grille. The calamari, which had been disappointing on our recent cruises, was back to standard of earlier years. This improvement in food quality continued throughout the cruise. In the past, I have always found the fish on board to be disappointing but the sole in Murano was outstanding.

We had breakfast each morning in the buffet. It is the one place where we can easily get our very different breakfast choices. We were able to find a free table in our preferred area each morning without difficulty.

We purchased the Ultimate Dining Package, eating in either Murano or Tuscan Grille most evenings, but are really looking forward to the new suite dining room being available by our next cruise. The service, especially in Murano, was perfect. As already said, the food quality was high. Unfortunately, we have become bored with the menus, in Murano in particular.

We took part in a Chef’s Table, a Wine Connoisseurs’ Dinner in Tuscan Grille and three lunches – one in Tuscan Grille and two in Murano. We really enjoyed the lunches much preferring their menu over those for the evenings. The Chef’s Table was also enjoyable but more for the experience than the food. The Wine Dinner experience was disappointing and we are unlikely to repeat this.

 

Our Suite

This was our second cruise on Eclipse [all or other Celebrity cruises have been on M-class ships] and we had the same suite previously. In between, we had the equivalent suite on Constellation. It really is difficult to say which is the better. On Eclipse, the suite is really light with a great location and a much better flow – we make much better use of the space. The bathrooms are better on Eclipse. There is plenty of drawer space but hanging space is limited. On Constellation, the butler’s pantry with full sized fridge-freezer and microwave is wonderful as is the huge, aft-facing balcony. On Constellation, there is more than enough hanging space but drawer space is limited.

Rikki, our butler, more than lived up to his reputation. In his understated way, he provided service that exceeded expectations. He quietly noted the little treats we enjoyed and they miraculously appeared day after day as if from a bottomless pot. When peanut M&Ms ran out [as things often do on a TA] he scoured the ship hoping to find more! He quietly cared for the flower we brought on board giving them little treats [of sugar] of their own.

Smithy, our assistant stateroom attendant, was a joy – ever cheerful whist doing the worst jobs such as cleaning our balcony in sub-zero temperatures just because he noticed that my husband was still using it. [He must have been the only person on the ship who was!] Along with Rodioric, our stateroom attendant, kept the suite looking immaculate.

 

Michael’s Club

This was another aspect of our cruise that exceeded our expectations. Contrary to other reports on Cruise Critic, Michael’s Club was well used throughout the day and especially in the evenings. It was a place to meet up with new friends, grab a post-breakfast coffee while our suite was serviced, get a post-dinner drink from Rose Marie, the wonderful bar server, or clarify information with Fabian, the concierge.

 

Entertainment

We do not go to any of the shows on board and, this time, we did not seem to have time to see the Hot Glass Show or take part in any other activities but we very much enjoyed the music provided, both in Michael’s Club and elsewhere, by Julia & Alex [the “pop duo”] and the Beacon Street Duo [violin duo]. [i am sure that there must have been “incessant strident music” somewhere on board but we never heard it anywhere.]

 

Ports and Excursions

As we had been to Madeira before, without any advanced planning, we chose to do little more than stretch our legs on Madeira taking the free shuttle bus into tow.

When we had to alter our plans for New York because of the change of itinerary we decided to purchase a two-day HOHO bus ticket through Celebrity and were pleasantly surprised to discover that this was no more expensive than purchasing it on the bus even though they had laid on an extra shuttle bus between the ship and Times Square. Unfortunately, it was far too cold to use the top deck of the bus restricting our view and the guides on all three buses we tried were mediocre.

On our second day, we took the Circle Line All-Island boat tour from Pier 88, a short walk for the ship, and chose to upgrade to Premium [far more comfortable] seats with hostess service and complimentary small bottle of water. The guide on this tour was excellent and the whole experience much more enjoyable than the HOHO bus.

Port Canaveral seems, to us, to be a strange choice of port coming, as it did, on the last day of the cruise when most people are thinking of packing. We were advised that there was no shuttle bus and the only way you could get out of the port was by taxi or organised tour. We had a prime view of the dock from our balcony and we did not see a taxi all day. In view of this, we decided to stay on board, do our packing and relax.

[emcee207]

Thanks for the review. You seem to be very open minded and to realize "things happen" Many on here should try that and their cruises would be much better.

[Project_gal]

I forgot to add something about our couple of post-cruise luggage incidents:

 

At Miami, we got off the ship to find only three of our four cases on the carousel. Our porter checked at the back, behind the screens and on the other carousels and found a case just like ours [black with white dots and cerise bows with a cerise luggage tag] but smaller, with no side handle and the disembarkation wrong number. It seems that someone had got off the ship long before their number was called and picked up our, larger suitcase from the wrong carousel. I got the woman's mobile number from her luggage tag and, long story short, the official at Miami responsible for lost luggage made it clear to the woman that she was responsible for getting our case to us and reclaiming her own. Eventually, her husband got a taxi back to the port and did the swap.

 

We have very distinctive luggage [as you can see from the above description] but I can still look at all the details when we collect our luggage after a cruise of a flight. I could see immediately from a distance that the case the porter had found was not ours. It was clearly a different size with one less handle and a different lock. {I use colour-coded locks for identification.]

 

When we got home, the same case had been opened by the TSA. I do not see that as a problem but they had cut off our TSA approved padlock. When I opened it, they had not disturbed anything and cannot have searched it at all. There was a leaflet inside advising us to check their website for how to secure our luggage in future. Guess what? It says that we should use TSA approved locks! The strangest thing is that it was the most "innocent" of our cases with nothing that should have look suspicious on the x-rays.

 

I have no objections of complaint about any necessary security measure. In fact, I am happy that there are agencies who take our safety so seriously but I do object to paying extra for TSA approved locks for them to then be cut off and then, because the lock had been destroyed, our case being unsecured for the remaining journey. However, I do accept that there is nothing that I can do about this but have posted this story so the people know not to leave any valuables in checked-in luggage and have sufficient insurance to cover any losses from luggage that may become unsecured in transit.

[cynbar]

Which suite were you in, and how did you like it?

[Essiesmom]

Which suite were you in, and how did you like it?

 

I suspect they were in a Penthouse Suite, as that is the only class on M class that has a butler's pantry, and they were in an equivalent suite on Eclipse. EM

[TeaBag]

Thank you Project_gal for your good review. We nearly booked this cruise so I was following it all along. It's great to hear that you had a wonderful time in spite of the difficulties. We saw the Celebrity busses at the Kennedy Space Ctr and I wandered around wondering if I would see anyone I know (there were several on the cruise we have previously sailed with).

 

Sorry about your "lost" luggage. That woman was lucky that she hadn't already checked the bag on a flight. It would have been a bit expensive for her to get your bag to you. I'm glad you got it back reasonably quickly. Your distinctive tags sound like a great idea.

 

Re the TSA. I have no problem with them looking in the bags as that's part of their job. We got searched coming and going. What I do have a problem with is the way they make a dog's dinner out of your careful packing (we even use packing cubes) and then they can't shut the case without unzipping the expansion feature. Then the case becomes floppy and is not as secure and the belt we put around it does not fit. When we received our case it was partly unzipped. Not good.

[h20cruzer]

Thanks for your review. There are some people out there who's class is half empty rather than half full. Everyone does have their own experiences though. Glad yours was a good one.

Norma

[FluffyFiFi]

Hi, thank you for taking the time to review your cruise. We are booked on this same cruise November 2015 and it is the first time we have crossed the atlantic. After reading all the problems encountered on this crossing we are quite concerned that we will be wasting our money and ruining our love of cruises. At least you have given a balanced view but I was wondering if you had such a good time as you were in a lot higher grade cabin than we can afford. We have not sailed with Celebrity before and are in a balcony cabin on deck 7. We don't mind rough seas and understand that the destinations can change due to the weather, however we do appreciate good food, good service and good entertainment - we also love spending days at sea. I am now worried that we will be overlooked by Celebirty as we are not high value customers, we are both still working so we can only take one major holiday a year and are still trying out various cruise lines so it will take a long time to build up any loyalty rewards. I suppose what I am asking is whether you think this is a suitable cruise for those who have not done a transatlantic crossing and who have not sailed with Celebrity before?

 

Fiona

[Turtles06]

Sue, thanks for the review, and glad you had a good time. We are booked on that TA next year (slightly different itinerary as Boston is the first port after the crossing, before the overnight in NY), and so I had been following your TA with interest. We've been on the Eclipse before, but in better weather than you had; I was particularly happy to read that you did not think it felt crowded when the weather was poor and folks were indoors, as that is a concern.

 

I hope we don't experience as much of a hassle with immigration in Boston as you all did in NY...

[Turtles06]

... We don't mind rough seas and understand that the destinations can change due to the weather, however we do appreciate good food, good service and good entertainment - we also love spending days at sea. I am now worried that we will be overlooked by Celebirty as we are not high value customers, we are both still working so we can only take one major holiday a year and are still trying out various cruise lines so it will take a long time to build up any loyalty rewards. I suppose what I am asking is whether you think this is a suitable cruise for those who have not done a transatlantic crossing and who have not sailed with Celebrity before?

 

Fiona

 

Hi Fiona,

 

We are booked on this TA in Nov. 2015 as you know from the Roll Call. Re your concerns as a first-timer to Celebrity -- I don't think you should worry about this. We've only sailed three times with Celebrity (all transatlantics), and never in a suite, and we have always been treated wonderfully. We just got back from the Silhouette TA, and it was one of our best cruises ever; the staff on board (particularly our cabin stewards and our servers in the MDR) just could not do enough to make things special for us.

 

Whether a northern crossing in the late fall is a good one for a first TA is something else -- only you can answer that in terms of how you'll feel if it's cold and/or stormy. I think only you can decide whether you would prefer a more southern and likely warmer route. (My spouse has that concern about this TA, quite frankly.) OTOH, you are coming from the UK, and I can see why this itinerary would be of great interest, rather than the more common one of leaving from some port in Europe, hitting a few spots in Europe, and winding up in Florida. (If you want to go that route, the Silhouette TA, which is doing the same itinerary next fall, was really wonderful.)

 

I guess for me, the decision would be more about the route than being a first timer on Celebrity (and not in a suite).

[ECCruise]

For those who have an interest, especially those on next years sailing:

 

We were also on this cruise. We do not sail in suites or AQ, haven't even done CC in years. Normal balcony is us, MDR every night, so we can give that perspective.

 

This was our 20th Celebrity cruise, give or take and our 12 crossing. Frankly, it was one of our best in both categories in many respects. For those who have sailed Celebrity before, I am not going to say that the "cuts" are not evident: They absolutely are. No more chocolates at turn-down save for a weak chocolate covered oreo on the first formal night (only). Q-tips and cotton balls gone, flowers gone from the cabin, noticeable cuts in activity staff (from the usual 7 down to 2). Did that negatively affect our sailing? Probably not because the positives did outweigh the negatives.

 

Since we diverted and went to Madeira and then straight to NYC, we took a much more southern route which meant much warmer weather. Since we always book port side on WB TAs, we enjoyed comfortable days in the sun the entire crossing, save the afternoon of the day before NYC when it turned chilly. NYC was brutally cold, but the days were we scheduled to be there (Sunday and Monday) were warmer but it rained.

 

Food in the MDR was some of the best we've enjoyed in our many meals there. We sailed Eclipse over in April and then in Norway in May and the food was good there but possibly even improved on this sailing. We think the Exec chef, Robert, does a first-class job. Did Select but had the same table (2 top on the window) 12 of the 14 nights. Had a great relationship with DR hostess, waiter and assistant.

 

Service overall, from the guest relations staff to housekeeping to the bar staff was impeccable across the board. No complaints whatsoever.

 

I am anything but a Celebrity cheerleader (check my posts) and I frequently get beat up by the Celebrity rah-rahs, but there was little or nothing to be concerned about on this sailing. We sail many different cruise lines but have several more booked with Celebrity and are happily looking forward to them.

 

Do not be concerned.

[hulamoon]

Very happy to hear the perspective from balcony class. I also hope to report a great cruise in a few weeks.

 

I remember our posts from the cut back threads, and I am hopeful the food quality is excellent again.

 

To the OP very happy to hear about the view from the PH and love the tip about bringing our own flowers.

[cruisestitch]

I was also on that cruise, and in a balcony cabin, not a suite. I've done several transatlantics and will do another next fall, but not on Eclipse. Why not? The itinerary will require two immigration clearances, and the northern route. One clearance was quite enough, and the thought of two on one cruise puts me off.

[Project_gal]

Thanks to everyone for their positive responses. It is always a concern when one's opinion differs from others on the same cruise. I am not a person who always champions Celebrity. We have experienced cruises we have been [rightly] critical of, where Celebrity have made huge errors and have written a more negative review.

 

Yes, we were in one of the Penthouses but made friends with others on the same cruise who were not in suites and who also enjoyed themselves despite the challenges.

 

We always understood that the weather could be a challenge on this cruise but absolutely loved sailing into New York. The only advantage our choice of accommodation for this cruise gave us for this aspect of the cruise was that we were on the "correct" side to see the Statue of Liberty on the sail-in. However, been-there-done-that and was would probably not choose this itinerary again - especially as we have always found flying into Boston the most difficult from an Immigration perspective so I would hold out little hope for sailing into that city! Incidentally, although we were spared having to go through Immigration in Port Canaveral, for some inexplicable reason, there were huge delays just passing through Customs in Miami.

 

I would agree with the poster that suggested that the northerly TA is not a good choice for anyone's first TA and definitely not for someone's first cruise. I know that there were people on their first cruise sailing with us. On the positive side, we found this cruise much less like a westbound TA than any other we have been on! There was much less sign of the frantic crew activity usually seen on the final nights of the cruise [perhaps because the various inspections were likely to be spread out?] and the ship was definitely much, much livelier on the final night. We have finished westbound TA on a ghost-ship in the past!

 

Although we ate mainly in the specialty restaurants, we found the food quality significantly improved in ever area, including the buffet. Yes, this was probably at the expense of cuts in other areas. I, too, would have been annoyed about the lack of cottonwool balls and qtips if I had not been pre-warned by Cruise Critic and packed my own. I also noticed the lack of flowers [yes, even in the PH where we got just one cube of sixteen roses rather than two vases of mixed flowers] but it cost just £31 to purchase an armful of flowers at M&S and the onboard florist made a wonderful job of arranging them. Other cut backs were positive, IMHO. I never liked the chocolates left on the pillow and my husband loved the biscuits that replaced them. Although we did get them most nights which may have been an unpublished PH perk? It is too early in the morning there to remember the other "positive" cut-backs I noticed but |I know that I said on a number of occasions, "I see they have cut ..., that makes sense because I hate waste".

[black forest]

Thank you for this review - enjoyed reading this very much. Always prefer to read about positive experiences or at least fair descriptions.

[cruisestitch]

Not sure how it is handled in suites, but in the regular verandah staterooms there is a small box containing a couple of Q-tips, some cotton balls, and a tiny nail file next to the shampoo, conditioner, etc. It was replenished as often as needed during the cruise. Some people never opened the box to see what it contained, assuming it was a shower cap or something else.

[Project_gal]

Not sure how it is handled in suites, but in the regular verandah staterooms there is a small box containing a couple of Q-tips, some cotton balls, and a tiny nail file next to the shampoo, conditioner, etc. It was replenished as often as needed during the cruise. Some people never opened the box to see what it contained, assuming it was a shower cap or something else.

 

Yes, that is exactly what we got in our suite. All that wasteful package really annoys me. No nail file in our suite though!

[Turtles06]

We always understood that the weather could be a challenge on this cruise but absolutely loved sailing into New York. The only advantage our choice of accommodation for this cruise gave us for this aspect of the cruise was that we were on the "correct" side to see the Statue of Liberty on the sail-in.

 

For those who may be reading this and who have never sailed into or out of New York Harbor, please don't limit yourself to one side of the ship during sailin or sailaway. Yes, sailing past the Statue of Liberty is wonderful, but so is watching Manhattan go by, and also being up on top when the ship sails under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (will it make it? :) ). My strong suggestion is to be on a top, open deck where you can take in all the views. (I realize that weather may sometimes be a limiting factor.)

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

[swigso]

Hi Project Girl,

Always good to read your honest reviews, I did a TA last year

on the Navigator of the seas, wanted to do this one to see Bermuda

but work schedules wouldn't allow.

Have read all the reviews and would say that the main complaint seems

to stem from missing out on Bermuda and the short stay in NYC,

The Eclipse is a wonderful ship and I'm glad you had an OK time,

as you say I bet you cannot believe you were on the same cruise.

Take care

[Project_gal]

For those who may be reading this and who have never sailed into or out of New York Harbor, please don't limit yourself to one side of the ship during sailin or sailaway. Yes, sailing past the Statue of Liberty is wonderful, but so is watching Manhattan go by, and also being up on top when the ship sails under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (will it make it? :) ). My strong suggestion is to be on a top, open deck where you can take in all the views. (I realize that weather may sometimes be a limiting factor.)

 

You would have needed to be a very brave person to be up on deck for our sail-in. There was an open invitation to everyone on board to see the sail-in on the helipad but not one person took up the offer. It was -7C [19F] at the time. We did go out on the balcony but the photographs suffered from frozen fingers.

[ECCruise]

[quote name=swigso;44882139

Have read all the reviews and would say that the main complaint seems

to stem from missing out on Bermuda and the short stay in NYC' date='

The Eclipse is a wonderful ship and I'm glad you had an OK time,

as you say I bet you cannot believe you were on the same cruise.

Take care[/quote]

 

Just to clarify, our stay in NYC was not shortened, it was lengthened by 3 hours: 1 hour earlier arrival and 2 hour later departure.

[FluffyFiFi]

Thank you Judith for your balanced opinion and for everyone else for their equally useful comments. I feel a lot better about it now as we do not have any qualms about the northerly route crossing and are hoping to see Boston and are are planning on doing the Salem trip as this would be amazing. The main highlight will be New York as it will be our first visit and it is because of this we are doing this cruise. We have been to Florida many times and won't be bothered if any of the warmer ports are missed out as we are spending four or five days in Orlando at the end of the cruise.

[candhu18]

For what it is worth the talk on the Eclipse was that the captain requested missing out NY and sailing to Bermuda to stay longer there. Apparently Miami refused this request. NY was a changeover port for some of the entertainers. that could have been a deciding factor. - Only rumour and should be treated as such, but some passengers knew crew members well enough to obtain this type of information.

 

I know that if I do another winter crossing it will be on the QM2. The Eclipse is far too weather dependent.

 

PS The QM2 sailed a couple of days after us and did its usual crossing without any significant detour.

[WestLakeGirl]

There were quite a few passengers on board who planned to disembark in Bermuda. They had to scramble to make arrangements to get there. About 65 passengers disembarked in New York. They would have had to get from either Bermuda or Fla if NYC had been skipped. No matter what, it was a disturbance

[wrk2cruise]

We were on this cruise and had the pleasure of meeting Richard and Sue.

 

I was able to be up top when we went under the bridge which we cleared by 3 meters! But that was all I was able to take of the cold and viewed the rest of the sail in from the Sky lounge.

 

Overall we had a great cruise. We ate in Blu almost every night and thought the food had slipped a bit.

 

This was our first time in a suite with access to MC. We spent lots of time there due to our fellow passengers and new friends, and the delightful Rose Marie who attended to us.

 

Royce