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43 days on the Eclipse

Edward51

By Edward51,
in Celebrity Cruises

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Edward51

Edward51

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One of the dictionary definitions of “eclipse” is to do or be better than someone or something.  I could not say it any better.

 

Four of us spent over six weeks on the Eclipse from November 10 to December 23 (Europe, TA and South America) and it was our best trip ever!  We have taken many cruises, with multiple cruise lines, over many years and this ship eclipsed them all.  

 

After the holidays I will do a more detailed review but for now,  I will cover what we believe made this the trip of a lifetime.

 

Cruise Director - Alejandro:  We will miss this incredible CD.  I am not sure he ever sleeps.  There must be two of them.  He is very comical but does not steal the show.  We so looked forward to his evening show introductions.  In the past, when the show ended we would sprint to the exits.  Not with Alejandro and we were not alone.

 

Eclipse Orchestra -  Led by Roman this tightly knit group was the best.  As you can imagine with a trip this long, sometimes the guest entertainer can be ordinary.  This talented group would make the ordinary good and the excellent even better.  with other ships dropping live Orchestras, please Celebrity keep yours.  Shows we not even be close with piped in background.

 

Celebrity Singers, Dancers and Acrobats:  Ok, maybe not the best ever over the years but, without question, right up there.  We had seen some of the production shows on previous cruises but, as it had been awhile, thought we would give them a go.  It is amazing how much better they were when the talent level is increased.  Euphoria was especially top notch.

 

Guest Entertainers - yes there were a few misses but to each his own.  What we may not have liked, others did.  Overall, we were very pleased with the talent.  There were only a few nights we were not pleased.  On those nights we stuck it out just to hear Alejandro at the end.

I will only name a few that we thought were very, very good.

 

Gilley and the Girl

Five O’Clock

Salvatore Hassard

Solomon Jaye

Richie Minervina (the only standup comic on the trip and we wish there were more)

Pamela and Edgar - Tango Dancers on the last night in South America - please more of this. OMG were they the best!

String Duo - wish I could remember their names

Rita Ann Austin

Ben Mills

Victor and Denisa

Mark O’Malley

 

Staff:  From Captain Michael on down, some of the best we have experienced.  Officers who get involved, staff with energy and smiles.  If the staff who are cleaning rails, washrooms, hallways etc do not think that a pleasant hello is appreciated, they are wrong.

 

We pretty well had the same main dining staff the whole trip.  Let’s start with Cevrinne our dining room hostess/greeter.  Never without a smile.  After a couple of days she somehow remembers everyones room number.  With lineups of hungry tourists she always remained professional, curtious and kept here sense of humour.  You will be very lucky if you have Gally - our wine stewart, Antonio - waiter and John - asst waiter.  Also our room attendant, Amelia was a 10!

 

Food - main dining room food was very good.  There was a fair bit of repetition in 43 days but there was always something new to try.  We tried all the specialty restaurants and were very pleased.  

 

Ship - Ok, maybe getting a bit tired in places but a major refit is in the schedule.  Overall the ship is spotless and well maintained but some updates to furniture will be needed in the next year.  No complains on the six different balcony rooms we had and the ship.  

 

Itinerary:

 

I will detail it more later but Croatia, Malta, Rio, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Montevideo, Punto Tombo (penguins) and off course, rounding the Horn and Beagle Sound (Glaciers) were of note.  The weather did not hurt (2 medium rough days and 3 rain days out of 43)

 

  The entire staff of the Eclipse should be proud.  Thanks so much for really making this the trip of a lifetime!  Oh, I almost forgot.  Thanks to the large group from Canada’s Capital.  So nice to hook up from time to time.  We made some great friends and see you at the next wine and cheese or coffee get together.  If you are reading this be sure to add in things I may have missed.

 

I hope this helps.  If you are travelling on the Eclipse in the near future, lucky you.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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chemmo Holiday Sharing Rare

chemmo

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Thanks for the review!

 

In the last two years we have spent 31 days in total (over three cruises) on Eclipse and have another 16 nights booked for 2020. The staff on board are amazing from Captains Michael and Leo down.....We described our feelings about cruising on Eclipse to the Hotel Manager, Jamie Petts, as ‘feeling like we are coming home each time we step on board’...We were thrilled how many staff remembered our preferences and even remembered our names, very touching.

 

I must say we didn’t notice much ‘wear and tear’, perhaps as well as the scheduled refit isn’t until towards the end of 2020...

 

We are not show goers but Gilley  and the girl and the string duet are two of the few acts over the years we have looked out for around the ship...If you are on board soon, watch out for them.

 

Thanks again for the review.

 

 

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Edward51

Edward51

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5 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Thanks for the reviews. We will be sailing on Eclipse later this year after not having been aboard her in a very long time. Glad to know things haven’t changed much (except maybe the condition of the furniture 😊).

I should add that there is really nothing that  wrong with the furniture etc.  It is kind of like in my own home.  It still comfy but starting to look like we could maybe update a few items here and there.  Normal wear but it could wait until the next year or two😀

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Edward51

Edward51

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20 hours ago, LKN-NC said:

We agree fully! We had 30 of the best cruise days ever from Barcelona B2B with rounding the Horn. Alejandro was wonderful as always and it was great to have MickeyLIve on board.

I knew I forgot someone.  Thanks for reminding me.

 

 MickeyLive is very talented individual who delivers what is best described in Edutainment.  I particularily loved his presentations with Captain Michael on the history and life as a Captain (and no, he is not Alejandro’s cousin), and his live presentation as we arrived in Glacier Alley in Beagle Sound.  It is like having your own personal naturalist.

 

 He has a great sense of humour and always arrives early and stays late for those that are too shy to ask questions live.

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Edward51

Edward51

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23 hours ago, Edward51 said:

I knew I forgot someone.  Thanks for reminding me.

 

 MickeyLive is very talented individual who delivers what is best described in Edutainment.  I particularily loved his presentations with Captain Michael on the history and life as a Captain (and no, he is not Alejandro’s cousin), and his live presentation as we arrived in Glacier Alley in Beagle Sound.  It is like having your own personal naturalist.

 

 He has a great sense of humour and always arrives early and stays late for those that are too shy to ask questions live.

Here is an interesting article on MickeyLive.

 

https://www.sandrabornstein.com/getting-know-mickeylive-south-american-celebrity-cruise/

 

 

 

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Edward51

Edward51

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We did not experience vibration problems with Eclipse in the 43 days.  Between the four of us we were in six different balcony rooms, three decks (6,7,8), forward, midship, aft, port and starboard.  We even had one room close to an elevator and never heard it.

 

The only complaint was an occasional faint smell of smoke, on port side, deck 7.  Those with sensitivity to smoke should avoid the port (left) side.  

 

This is not to say there is not a problem with some of the rooms.  It is just to say that, other than leaving and coming into port, we never experienced shaking or vibration in the rooms or any other part of the ship.

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Edward51

Edward51

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On 1/3/2019 at 11:28 AM, scrapcreator said:

We were with you on the first leg of your journey and thoroughly enjoyed the Eclipse!

I don’t know if you had a chance to watch any of the four lectures by National Geographic's husband and wife team of Jake Willers and Dr.Alyson Andreason.  

 

I am not sure why I forgot to mention this fascinating couple.  They presented a behind the scenes look at the work that goes into a 1 or 2 hour documentary for National Geographic.  The long hours to get that perfect shot or video and things that go wrong and in some cases horribly wrong.  Would love to have had them aboard for all three trips but we must learn to share.

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gfkcruiser

gfkcruiser

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We spent 6 weeks on the Eclipse in 2018.  Two weeks each in February, April (TA) and October out of Barcelona.  

Had a great time but have to say that the interaction of Alejandro and Capt Leo was great.  

 

In February, Capt Leo and CD Eddy were great on Liars Club

 

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JennAngel9

JennAngel9

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Cruising Sister-- we just got off Eclipse--we had two rooms on deck 11 port side (1619 and 1631) as well as a room on deck 10 starboard (1108) and we really noticed the vibrations on the 11th floor port side rooms sometimes when we were in port (or docking/leaving) but not too much vibrating while underway (i.e. 80-90% of the trip) -- I've spent probably 300 days at sea on various ships and I've never noticed anything like it-- but I also have a issue with my lower back so I'm more sensitive to it lately.  It wasn't so bad I was sick or got a headache and I probably wouldn't have cared except when I would sit, stand or walk around while the vibrations were happening it also caused horrible back pain where my nerves are currently messed up.  When I was laying down it just felt like being on one of those massaging beds you used to find in motels that I thought were so fun as a kid... 😮

 

So we just tried to avoid the room while in port when the shaking was happening.  Don't know if it was being further forward, down a deck, or on the other side that made 1108 less vibratey.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Rod&Deb

Rod&Deb

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Hi All

As you were on Eclipse over the Christmas and we have book for Dec 10 2020 from Sydney to NZ.  Can you or anyone recall if they would have Chritmas decorations up by the 10th  Our cruise finishes in Melbourne on the 23rd.  Many Thanks

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Edward51

Edward51

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Shortly after the American Thanksgiving in late November, Christmas decorations began to appear.  By December 10,  I  believe they had almost everything in place.  The enormous ginger bread house was up by mid December.  You will be there at the right time.

6ADF79FD-31D7-4BF5-BFCA-194BE47D2528.jpeg

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