live from the eclipse 5/10/16

[ghstudio]

Easy boarding in Southampton after a wonderful sunny warm weekend in London. We were quite early on board so we went to the buffet instead of bistro on 5 and easily found a table waiting for the rooms to be ready and having something to eat. As has become usual, they kept announcing that they would announce when rooms were ready….and they never did. We just decided to wander down to our aqua cabin at 1 and the room was, of course, ready. Bottle of sparkling wine and two small bottles of water and the jokingly named iced tea as well. Lovely cabin attendant arrived and we asked for ice every day, empty out the cooler and one foam pillow. She got 2 out of 3 right….but we now had an extra regular pillow. Room was very clean….towels are clearly not plush….in fact my wife thinks they are almost luffas. No flower…I guess that will come when they realize we are elite plus although when we boarded, only my DW’s card said elite plus….mine said nothing…..easily fixed at guest relations….then also had to fix to get my “free” internet minutes since the option didn’t appear for me when creating an internet account (my DW was given the option). Normal hassles….very efficiently handled.

 

We ignored the aqua welcome letter assigning us to a time in blu and just showed up at 7:15. No wait and an important bulletin to those who have sailed aqua before and are tired of the same three little bowls of vegetables, humus and dressing on the table….there’s been an important change….instead of just carrot and celery sticks, there is now a ½ cherry tomato, a small piece of cauliflower and a small piece of broccoli as well as the carrot/celery sticks. I wouldn’t call it a major improvement, but at least it’s a change. Speaking of sticks, the bread sticks are different and I suspect they are out of a box, not baked on board. They are still excellent, just different than I remember. The new orange juice is different….better than the non squeezed on board we had on our last ship, but still not the same as ibefore.

 

Usually, the first night’s entertainment is a revue of the shows to come…but on this cruise it was a comedian. Second night was one of celebrity’s new revue style shows. We went to both, but we aren’t show people. They were ok….comedian appealed more to our mostly british passengers but that’s to be expected.

Wait the second night at blu…about 10 minutes around 6:45. Not a problem. We haven’t seen any hard sell of premium upgrades or specialty restaurants, but we haven’t been near the buffet since boarding.

 

More later…..we are aboard, so feel free to ask questions

[FlorenceItaly]

Thank you so much for posting LIVE. I will be in my first AQ room in July. Did you check to see if Blu was open for lunch upon embarkation? Just wondering. I am also very interested in your itinerary. How wonderful to have great weather in London! Have a wonderful cruise.

 

 

 

 

Marie

[Jerzy Traveler]

GH thanks for the report. I know you said you are not show people but can you tell us which nights are the bigger shows and what they are. We try to plan our dinners around the shows. Have a great cruise.

[ChucktownSteve]

Thankx ghstudio for your live report. I'm so looking forward to it since our first time on Eclipse (or any S class) will be this January. We opted for a SV instead of AQ for our 14 nighter.

 

It looks like your review will have some good insight. :)

[Clarea]

Looking forward to more.:)

[ghstudio]

Thank you so much for posting LIVE. I will be in my first AQ room in July. Did you check to see if Blu was open for lunch upon embarkation? Just wondering. I am also very interested in your itinerary. How wonderful to have great weather in London! Have a wonderful cruise.

 

 

 

 

Marie

 

No...blu was not open for lunch

[ghstudio]

GH thanks for the report. I know you said you are not show people but can you tell us which nights are the bigger shows and what they are. We try to plan our dinners around the shows. Have a great cruise.

 

I think it changes by cruise. Our first night was a comedian...the second was one of the big shows. No way to predict the times either....they are scheduled so those in early or late seating can see them.

 

Btw..they don't seem to be reserving seats for suite guests. Also no tacky red carpet for suite boarding, at least so far.

[chamima]

Hi

Thanks for posting.

Are Ben (the WONDERFUL Maitre D'!!!!!) and Vinod (equally wonderful waiter) still in Blu?

[jzad]

Easy boarding in Southampton after a wonderful sunny warm weekend in London. We were quite early on board so we went to the buffet instead of bistro on 5 and easily found a table waiting for the rooms to be ready and having something to eat. As has become usual, they kept announcing that they would announce when rooms were ready….and they never did. We just decided to wander down to our aqua cabin at 1 and the room was, of course, ready. Bottle of sparkling wine and two small bottles of water and the jokingly named iced tea as well. Lovely cabin attendant arrived and we asked for ice every day, empty out the cooler and one foam pillow. She got 2 out of 3 right….but we now had an extra regular pillow. Room was very clean….towels are clearly not plush….in fact my wife thinks they are almost luffas. No flower…I guess that will come when they realize we are elite plus although when we boarded, only my DW’s card said elite plus….mine said nothing…..easily fixed at guest relations….then also had to fix to get my “free” internet minutes since the option didn’t appear for me when creating an internet account (my DW was given the option). Normal hassles….very efficiently handled.

 

We ignored the aqua welcome letter assigning us to a time in blu and just showed up at 7:15. No wait and an important bulletin to those who have sailed aqua before and are tired of the same three little bowls of vegetables, humus and dressing on the table….there’s been an important change….instead of just carrot and celery sticks, there is now a ½ cherry tomato, a small piece of cauliflower and a small piece of broccoli as well as the carrot/celery sticks. I wouldn’t call it a major improvement, but at least it’s a change. Speaking of sticks, the bread sticks are different and I suspect they are out of a box, not baked on board. They are still excellent, just different than I remember. The new orange juice is different….better than the non squeezed on board we had on our last ship, but still not the same as ibefore.

 

Usually, the first night’s entertainment is a revue of the shows to come…but on this cruise it was a comedian. Second night was one of celebrity’s new revue style shows. We went to both, but we aren’t show people. They were ok….comedian appealed more to our mostly british passengers but that’s to be expected.

Wait the second night at blu…about 10 minutes around 6:45. Not a problem. We haven’t seen any hard sell of premium upgrades or specialty restaurants, but we haven’t been near the buffet since boarding.

 

More later…..we are aboard, so feel free to ask questions

 

We just got off Solstice and the bread sticks were different kinds every night.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Janine

[bengaltiger1]

Thank you for this. We are on the Eclipse in July and Aqua. It's interesting that you got the sparkling wine, because that no longer appears on the website. People have been posting about the fact that Aqua is no longer CC amenities plus extra for Aqua. I look forward to more of your updates.

 

 

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[chemmo]

Have a great cruise, ghstudio, may the sun shine, the food be great and the service excellent!

 

If you visit any of the speciality restaurants we would welcome your feedback, we have cruised S class before but not the Eclipse.

[ImpulsivePuppy]

.there’s been an important change….instead of just carrot and celery sticks, there is now a ½ cherry tomato, a small piece of cauliflower and a small piece of broccoli as well as the carrot/celery sticks.

 

Ha, that made me laugh!:p

 

Curious the length and itinerary of your cruise? Have a wonderful time!

[ghstudio]

So we're docked in cobh for the day. Folks are walking to town and of course back to the ship. As usual celebrity has a table set up with some welcome back juice but it's set back from the walkway blocked by stanchions so no one can get to the drinks. One wonders about this things like this.... Yesterday it was cool and it as actually nice to get a small cup of chicken bullion as we arrived back at the ship.

 

To my pleasant surprise, the buffet lunch included spicy egg drop soup and a spicy calamari salad...and they were both wonderfully spicy. The cakes looked much better than they tasted...the apricot almond pie had no almond flavor, the raspberry cake was equally tasteless. The fruit tarts have returned, albeit as slices of an open fruit loaf but they are flakey and good. The buffet hamburgers were sitting in pans being heated from below...looked greasy and awful. If you want a hamburger go to the mast grill and get it right off the grill.

 

Ah yes, let us not forget the special people who don't need to wait for serving utensils. They just reach in and take a cookie or eclair with their hands or use a spoon to serve themselves a piece of cake holding the adjacent piece with their finger. One can really dislike buffets just watching others and their oblivion to the health of others.

 

As usual but always noteworthy, the crew are all friendly, they smile, they say good morning or afternoons as you pass them in the halls. Bartenders range between experienced/great to "what goes in a vodka on the rocks"....many are actually measuring the alcohol in drinks which is just silly for those on a drink package. I had vodka on the rocks served in a highball glass. My DW ordered Kailua on the rocks at two different bars and one was twice the size of the other (we have classic drink pkg).

 

We asked the sommelier if we could get a credit on the sparkling wine we received as an aqua perk..he said no problem, bring it tomorrow. We did, he asked if we preferred red or white...white...he suggested a couple of wines, we picked the Chardonnay, he just swapped bottles...no charge and it was a very drinkable wine.

 

So how is celebrity doing on changing the passenger demographics you ask. The average age on this cruise (yes, I asked) is 71. You could count the number of passengers less than 50 on your fingers and toes and you might have some left over. Blessedly, we don't have blaring loud music anywhere, not even where it might be ok like the martini bar which is, as always a busy place. The world bar...essentially empty. As has become more and more usual, the casino tables are empty...one person at the craps table last night...two at the $5 blackjack table and so is n...this was at 10:30 with no show or dining conflict. The dealers were nodding off.

 

Another surprising plus..we are not receiving any navigations to the grand yellow painting unveiling and other equally ridiculous park west events...maybe they decided to save a few trees. I wish park west would quietly disappear perhaps taking chocolate diamonds and fabrege eggs with them. Who buys that stuff? If you want nice jewelry, buy it at home and if you want a watch, it's often cheaper on Amazon or your local big box store on sale. All my opinion, of course...obviously some folks must not agree with me.

 

Behind the scenes $150 includes a wine pairing lunch. Oh..laundry prices have gone up significantly, if i remember correctly. Some prices now: undergarments and socks $3; pants $7 laundry or $8 dry clean; long sleeve shirt $7 laundry $7.50 dry clean; suit $17.50 laundry or $19 dry clean. Seems to me that these are double from our last cruise. At those prices, I'm tempted to take my clothes up to a hot tub with some soap....btw...can one really buy a launderable suit?

 

More later....

 

 

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[Solon]

We were thrilled to see the Eclipse sail pass the Isle of Wight where we were having diner with friends. The Britannia also passed by that late afternoon as the fog was setting.

 

Do hope all will be ship shape and you have a wonderful cruise. We board her on the 22nd May when you arrive back in Southamton.

 

As we will also be in Aqua, glad to hear there is some change even though minor!

 

Look forward to more reports. This really whets our appetite. Thanks.

[bengaltiger1]

Behind the scenes $150 includes a wine pairing lunch. Oh..laundry prices have gone up significantly, if i remember correctly. Some prices now: undergarments and socks $3; pants $7 laundry or $8 dry clean; long sleeve shirt $7 laundry $7.50 dry clean; suit $17.50 laundry or $19 dry clean. Seems to me that these are double from our last cruise. At those prices, I'm tempted to take my clothes up to a hot tub with some soap....btw...can one really buy a launderable suit?

 

More later....

 

 

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This part really made me smile. Of course, now you have mooted using the hot tub for laundry, it may become the latest rage on the ship. [emoji1][emoji1]

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your observations. I'm looking forward to reading your future reports.....:):):)

 

Bob

[croeso]

Who is the Cruise Director on board?

[andyfriend80]

Thankx ghstudio for your live report. I'm so looking forward to it since our first time on Eclipse (or any S class) will be this January. We opted for a SV instead of AQ for our 14 nighter.

 

It looks like your review will have some good insight. :)

 

We were on Eclipse last week for our first time. We were AQ but have just booked our next cruise for 14 nights in SV. It made the cost slightly more bearable :)

Edited May 13, 2016 by andyfriend80

[Emmandjay]

Thanks for your informative reports. Love the fact that the latest Aqua class perk is half a cherry tomato and different breadsticks - they should publicise this more. Who needs daily water anyway?

Seriously, please look after the ship as we are on the next cruise (22 May Baltics). Eight days and counting!

[billydog]

"many are actually measuring the alcohol in drinks which is just silly for those on a drink package."

 

I think this is good practise. I for one like to know how much I am drinking!

[kevinyork]

Will be very interested in how people dress on a Chic night given the higher number of Brits onboard.

 

 

 

 

 

Take care of the Eclipse. We board the day you disembark.

[andyfriend80]

I thought the chic nights were a bit strange - kind of neither here nor there. When we were on Eclipse last week there definitely were people that dressed up but probably as many didn't.

[sandav]

Will be very interested in how people dress on a Chic night given the higher number of Brits onboard.

 

We're just back from the TA and Fjords B2B. We did notice there were less dinner suits and long dresses on the TA. There were more on the Fjords cruise and again there were more British people on it. There were also men with suits, blazers with trousers, shirts and ties, blazers with trousers, shirts and no ties, and men without any jackets. Ladies wear ranged from long dresses, cocktail dresses and many with dark trousers and dressy tops. My husband wore black trousers, shirt with no tie and a blazer. I varied between longish skirt and dressy top and wide trousers and dressy top. We both felt quite at ease wearing this.

[GordonJasmine]

We sailed on Eclipse in April in an Aqua class cabin and loved everything about it.No comparison to NCL which we have sailed on the most. We ate all our dinners in Blu and most of our breakfasts. That musli can't be beat! Did have several breakfasts at the Aqua Spa cafe, where we also ate most of our lunches. Their hot apple cider oatmeal was the best we ever tasted. Only went to the buffet twice and found out the food wasn't nearly as good. We loved the Lawn Club with it's Sunset Bar and their mint lemonaide. Also loved the wonderful violin and cello music in the lounge on our way to Blu. Used the Spa a lot and the heated tile lounge chairs. Too many other things we loved to even start to mention. We have booked the very same cabin for the very same cruise next April. So glad we discovered Celebrity!

[Curly locks]

ghstudio - hope you're having a great cruise. Thanks for your live reports - really enjoying them. We're on the Eclipse in AQ at the end of July c(an't wait) - is Bistro on Five still serving crepes or has it changed to Sushi? Also, am reading on CC about changes to AQ. Did you still get the fold up bag, string bag and card holder? Grateful for any input you can give. Many thanks and happy cruising!