Another Eclipse 12/21-1/4 (Mini)Review

[yoshi]

I know there have been several thorough and thoughtful reviews on the Eclipse 12/21 Christmas New Years cruise (thank you to all, I enjoy reading different opinions), I thought I would share my 2 cents as well. I'll break it into a few parts.

 

Celebrity said they did away with the comment cards and would send out an email for the review comments but only my husband got one. I wish they had also sent me one, I would like to mention our excellent dining room team - Lazaro and Elena, they were very nice and very good to us. Also our room steward team - Bert and Antonio, always prompt and helpful. I have always thought that Celebrity service is the best, they really are a step ahead of the competition.

 

We, husband and 2 sons have done about a dozen cruises, mostly Celebrity and mostly around Christmas-time. We have noticed both declines and improvements in the past 12 years of cruising Celebrity.

 

The main dining room dinners have declined in areas such as beef and seafood quality but we always seemed to have a nice dinner. I will say that if I am comparing the oceanview breakfast buffet to either RCCL or Princess, I will take Celebrity any day over the others. We always got great eggs benedict (6 different ways-my favorite was the Italian with pepperoni & pesto) or omelets with a nice variety of choices (spinach-mushroom-feta, yum.) They also had many fresh fruit choices and so many meat choices, regular bacon, Canadian Bacon, English bacon, turkey sausage, regular sausage, English sausage. I could go on...

 

My older son also noticed that he could not find much white-meat chicken/turkey at the lunch buffet, he is on a lean-meat kick now. My younger son was always happy with pizza and the Asian buffet section. I really liked the salad bar.

 

We tried Tuscan grill and enjoyed it, although I'm not sure it is worth the extra $. Same for the Bistro on 5, nice atmosphere but probably would only do it once per cruise.

[yoshi]

There were some small things that we noticed Celebrity did away with;

The chocolates on the pillows- I know these are not a necessity but were a nice touch.

The different napkin folding's at the Main Dining Room dinners. I used to love seeing the Mexican fan or the Bishops Hat or the Bird of Paradise at each meal. Again, is it a deal-killer? No, but it was a special-Celebrity-touch that I miss. They also used to teach a class on napkin folding and my son & I always went, I don't think I saw that offered this cruise.

The sorbet between the main course on formal nights was missing this year, it was another small special treat.

 

With some special things gone, I also want to note some of the special-Celebrity-touches that thankfully remain;

The champagne or mimosa upon embarkation.

The water and clean cold towels offered after a long, hot shore excursion day.

The friendly greetings from all staff as you pass.

The minimal overhead annoucements.

The LIVE orchestra, string group, guitarist, jazz and pianist playing at different venues, also the dancers & singers.

The enrichment/educational speakers, we enjoyed both Jim Kennedy from NASA and Dr. Diane Buffalin PHD for their talks.

The ice cream bar, love the special flavors like Cinnamon, Pistachio, Orange Sorbet (But what happened to After Eight?)

[yoshi]

I forgot to mention the Cruise Director, Ben Powney, from Australia. He did a fantastic job. I enjoyed his talk on working with Steve Irwin, very interesting.

I also observed an unpleasant situation handled well by Ben. There was a group of unruly tweens disrupting a ballroom dance class at the Sky Observation Lounge one afternoon. Some passengers were quite upset with the kids, Ben tactfully redirected them and eventually was successful in removing them from the area.

 

I read other reviews not complementary of the live shows at the theater. I liked many of the shows and appreciate seeing a live show after dinner. There were a few singer shows, Jane Curry (sorry I forgot some of the other names) and comedians like Ralph Harris that were good. I didn't see all of the shows, but it is great that they are available with enough seating unlike some other cruise lines shows.

 

I also liked the Elite perks that Celebrity gave us. The 3 drink vouchers in the evening were great. Sometimes we went to Sky where the traditional party is with passed hors duerves. Sometimes we went to Ensemble Lounge to relax and sometimes we enjoyed our drinks at the Sunset Bar outside. Having the choice with the vouchers was wonderful.

 

The Elite wine class was very basic, but still a nice perk.

 

I also enjoyed a Bellini and caupaccino at the Tuscan Grill a couple of mornings at the Elite breakfast.

 

And the 1 day pass to the Persian Garden was a special treat also, very relaxing.

[louhun88]

The ice cream bar, love the special flavors like Cinnamon, Pistachio, Orange Sorbet (But what happened to After Eight?)

 

Sounds yummy! Where is thus located?!

 

Sent from my D6603 using Forums mobile app

[yoshi]

I liked the ports of call for this Caribbean cruise, a few different choices. We did more ship excursions than we usually do.

 

Aruba, we went on the ship tour-Snorkel & Beach w/ lunch. This was a great excursion, snorkeling, rum punch, good BBQ lunch at the beach.

 

Curacao, we went on a ship tour that went to a museum, Curacao factory, and Hato Caves. Interesting. This was Christmas day so much of Curacao was closed.

 

Grenada, we did the ship tour- Nutmeg plantation and rainforest. I liked this one, not sure the rest of my family did, but oh well I bought some spices to share back home so I was happy.

 

Barbados, again we went on a ship tour-Snorkel with Turtles and Shipwrecks. This was an overcrowded excursion. It ended up being ok but was limited with the amount of snorkelers to turtle ratio (poor turtles) and only did one of the three shipwrecks because of the large crowds.

 

Antigua, we did a private Segway tour that was very fun. They met us on the dock with a taxi ride to the segway shop. We toured Antigua beach and Fort James with a family from a RCCL ship.

 

St. Lucia - we took a taxi to Rodney Bay Beach and spent the day swimming.

 

St. Kitts, we did the ship ATV & Beach Break Tour. This was a fun day riding through the old government sugar plantation lands, got very dirty, but it was fun. They took us to the beach at Frigate Bay for swimming & beer. The beach was very rocky but still nice water for swimming.

 

St Maarten, we took a taxi to Maho Beach to get pictures of the airplanes over the beach, very very crowded. It was one of those things you have to do once, right? The swimming was actually very nice at the beach, much less crowded in the water than on the sand. We had the taxi drop us off in town and went to the Yoda Guy Shop. That was really very interesting. We met Nick Maley who worked many movies including Star Wars. He has a shop with a movie exhibit & explains special effects. Nick creates artwork, Star wars stuff as well as very nice St. Maarten seascape/sailboat artwork. He is very interested in inspiring young people, I'm glad my sons were there to hear him out.

 

You meet some very interesting people while cruising. My sons & I were also fortunate to talk to one of the electricians on the Eclipse. I am sorry I didn't catch his name. He was from Greece and has worked on cruise ships for like 40 years. He also had some inspiring advice for my sons.

 

I have gone on way longer than intended. I think I miss my ship. I know I miss my ship. I can't wait for my next cruise...on Celebrity.

[yoshi]

Sounds yummy! Where is thus located?!

 

Sent from my D6603 using Forums mobile app

 

The ice cream bar is on the starboard side of the Oceanview cafe and is open most of the day, I think until 10pm.

I visited more than I should have, but they did have so many flavors to try!:D

[yukongold]

Love the ice cream - one of my favorite parts of the ship.:)

[louhun88]

The ice cream bar is on the starboard side of the Oceanview cafe and is open most of the day, I think until 10pm.

I visited more than I should have, but they did have so many flavors to try!:D

 

Thanks will have to try!

 

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[chicagopaul]

Thanks for the positive review and thoughtful criticism. Great read!

 

 

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[miched]

We have always dined in Blu when sailing Celebrity add I noticed that they never did anything special with the napkins. They were always laying on the table and the Hostess or server would pick it up and place it on my lap.

 

As for learning or attending a napkin or towel folding class I always wondered how many actually benefited from it or used it at home? I have seen them selling books and I am sure on line there are videos of someone is really serious about it but then again it is another activity that has been eliminated and is entertaining as is the glass blowing, ice carving, martini demonstration and etc.

 

It is all of those little touches that make cruising special and different from normal day living. Eventually when they are all eliminated it will be no better than staying at a Motel 8 and dining at Golden Coral.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[helen haywood]

Celebrity always has After Eight as an ice cream flavor offered on the second night in the MDR. It has been my experience that if there is some of a flavor left over, then it will show up in the Oceanview Buffet the next day. But if it all was eaten the evening before then it will not make an appearance in the Buffet.

[Northern Aurora]

Very nice well written and helpful review. And I also miss the palate cleansing sorbet on formal nights.

[handy4u]

Nice review Yoshi! Thanks

[kelmac]

yoshi (Laurie),

 

Excellent and fair review!!:)

 

Not sure why we didn't run into you guys?? We must of been right down the hall, as Antonio and Bert were also our Cabin Stewards. Great guys and our cabin was always perfect.

Lauren and I headed up to the Elite Lounge (Sky Lounge) every evening and usually hung out with a group of eight to ten people we have cruised with before.

We loved everything about this cruise! I would rated as the best of 13 Holiday cruises we've been on. Right now we are booked for the 2015 Holiday cruise on the Equinox, but that cruise is too expensive and we will cancel if the price does not come down.

 

Thanks again, as it's about to start snowing here and all I can think about is snorkeling in Aruba, Curacao and Barbados.:D

 

Enjoy!

Kel

[yoshi]

Hi Kel,

We haven't booked our next cruise yet, always have to work on everyone's schedule before we can commit.

 

While at my desk my mind sometimes wanders off to just floating in that warm turquoise water. Then to one of my new favorite drinks from the Elite Sky Lounge-the Sidecar. I'm not sure exactly what was in it, but I loved it.

 

There were so many nice people on our cruise. I went to meet & mingle and to the slot pull but mostly hung out with the family. We have lots of good memories.

 

We will probably meet again,

Take Care,

Laurie

[yoshi]

Celebrity always has After Eight as an ice cream flavor offered on the second night in the MDR. It has been my experience that if there is some of a flavor left over, then it will show up in the Oceanview Buffet the next day. But if it all was eaten the evening before then it will not make an appearance in the Buffet.

 

If that is the case, the second night was the night we went to the Tuscan Grill. I think I had the Dark Chocolate Fondue which was really very yummy. Sorry I missed the After Eight, maybe next cruise...

[yoshi]

Thanks for the positive review and thoughtful criticism. Great read!

 

 

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I liked your B2B review as well, very in depth. Wow, after 21 days it must have been hard to get back to the real world (especially the below 0 real world).

Thanks again