What has changed?

[Lois R]

I will be sailing Eclipse at the end of May to Bermuda. This is my first cruise back on Celebrity in 7 years. I am booked in a Sunset Sky Suite.

 

Would ya'll fill me on some of the changes over the years please and what I might expect?

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Starlink Internet, E-Muster, and decreased food quality

[Northern Aurora]

After boarding passengers go directly to their stateroom where the Seapass card will be in the mail slot.  If the stateroom attendant hasn't finished preparing your stateroom there will be a sign on the door.  But you are free to drop off your carryon bags and put your valuables in the safe.  

[lv2cruisgrl]

Room stewards are overwhelmed.   Might take longer for your room to be cleaned each day.  Bar service is not as fast either, again not enough staff in my opinion. 

[RichYak]

55 minutes ago, Lois R said:

I am booked in a Sunset Sky Suite.

You may or may not have a butler. It depends on how quickly they rehire/retrain new ones.

[NMTraveller]

We noticed a reduction in service and staffing ...

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

I will be sailing Eclipse at the end of May to Bermuda. This is my first cruise back on Celebrity in 7 years. I am booked in a Sunset Sky Suite.

 

Would ya'll fill me on some of the changes over the years please and what I might expect?

 

 

 

Hi, Lois.  It is great to hear from an old Celebrity regular from years gone by.  What brings you back?

 

David

Edited March 9 by mahdnc

[dcbiker97]

14 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Hi, Lois.  It is great to hear from an old Celebrity regular from years gone by.  What brings you back?

 

David

I was thinking the same thing. Looking forward to hearing about your upcoming travels. 

[Lois R]

12 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Hi, Lois.  It is great to hear from an old Celebrity regular from years gone by.  What brings you back?

 

David

I just wanted to take something closer to home...what I consider "easier"....I have been doing a lot of European sailings.  This is a quick 2 hour flight😀.....easy peasy.....Jax to Newark.....non stop😀

My first time in a suite on X.....looking forward to trying Luminae.

[Lois R]

39 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Hi, Lois.  It is great to hear from an old Celebrity regular from years gone by.  What brings you back?

 

David

Hi David,😀 sorry, I didn't even greet you back on the previous reply. My bad. I was actually looking at the Summit cruise you are on next month but everything I wanted was sold out.

[NMTraveller]

Charges for room service and upcharges for a decent glass of wine.

[Lois R]

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Charges for room service and upcharges for a decent glass of wine.

I have the premium package that came with the suite. I am not a wine connoisseur but I know what I like so hopefully I won't have to pay extra for it. 

[NMTraveller]

3 minutes ago, Lois R said:

I have the premium package that came with the suite. I am not a wine connoisseur but I know what I like so hopefully I won't have to pay extra for it. 

We had the premium package and had a bunch of slips for extra charges.  But I don't think that they charge extra in the Retreat.

[Northern Aurora]

20 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Charges for room service and upcharges for a decent glass of wine.

 

Both passengers in Suites and Zenith members of the Captain's Club are not charged for room service.

 

We spent 40 nights on the Edge last fall, had some wines which exceeded the premium level and were not charged for the differential when in the Retreat or Luminae.

[Gracie115]

You should enjoy Luminae, since you are on an "S" class ship you will be able to select from both the Luminae and the MDR menu, something you can't do on the Edge class.

 

Try Le Petit Chef... it's fun, the food is usually good and the "show" is definitely worthy of one visit.

 

 

[mahdnc]

Lois,

 

Eclipse itself is largely unmodified from 2016.  However some things have changed

 

Bistro on Five has been replaced by Sushi on Five

Qsine has been replaced by Le Petit Chef

A portion of the MDR (Moonlight Sonata) on Deck 3 starboard side has been walled off as a separate dining room, Luminae, dedicated to suite passengers only.

 

Photo Gallery with the walls of photos have been replaced with kiosks.  It formerly occupied an area on Deck 5.  It is now in a much smaller area on Deck 4 by Fortunes Casino.  Photography staff has been cut way back and so has a lot of photography.  I believe the old Photo Gallery area on Deck 5 has been taken over by an expanded Art Gallery for Park West.

 

Molecular Bar on Deck 5 in the center of the ship has been rebranded as the World Class Bar.

 

Cabins have been recategorized with some new cabin categories created such as the suite that you are in as you probably already know.

 

Eclipse's livery has changed with the hull's white color with blue lettering having been replaced with an all blue design and white lettering.

 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  

 

Oh, one more thing although it is not ship layout related, Perry Grant doesn't perform on Eclipse anymore.  I cannot remember if you were a fan.

.

Too bad Summit's canal cruise is full.......

Edited March 10 by mahdnc

[Lois R]

Hi David, thanks for the updates. As for Perry, I may have seen him once or twice way back.....like when I first started sailing with Celebrity, which was 2003. I can't say I was ever part of his fan club.

[Arizona Wildcat]

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

I will be sailing Eclipse at the end of May to Bermuda. This is my first cruise back on Celebrity in 7 years. I am booked in a Sunset Sky Suite.

 

Would ya'll fill me on some of the changes over the years please and what I might expect?

 

 

Easier to say what is the same.  Almost nothing.

Cruiselines are fighting labor, food, fuel costs and huge debt.  Trying to cut where they can.  The experience is very different .

[Cruising89143]

Lois, we personally do not see a lot of changes that are negative. We look at being healthy and having the resources to cruise as a good thing and don’t worry about the little things. With having a suite, your room service will be included. Welcome back to X.

[kaysha2004]

IMO, Celebrity has taken a nosedive in all aspects of cruising...pricing, low quality level of service, understaffed, lousy food, poor entertainment.  The Solstice class of ships are aging and it shows.  Basically, you pay more and get less.

[villauk]

8 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Bistro on Five has been replaced by Sushi on Five

We used to enjoy going there, especially on embarkation day. The kids loved it too - fond memories.

[Lois R]

Thanks for the replies.....I plan on having a good time but it seems I need to keep my expectations to a minimum (that is how the posts are coming across to me).

 

I do have a question.....have any of you done the "Chef's Table" they are offering? Do you think it is worth 150.00?

 

And do you know if in Luminae, anyone share's tables? I don't mind eating on my own but it is nice to dine with others as well. Just curious if this happens in here.

[TeeRick]

9 hours ago, Cruising89143 said:

Lois, we personally do not see a lot of changes that are negative. We look at being healthy and having the resources to cruise as a good thing and don’t worry about the little things. With having a suite, your room service will be included. Welcome back to X.

Agree.  The question "what has changed" is usually answered on this board mostly with negative comments and negative perceptions.  There are always positive changes too.  IMO the biggest change has been on increased prices.  No surprise unless living under a rock the past several years!

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

Thanks for the replies.....I plan on having a good time but it seems I need to keep my expectations to a minimum (that is how the posts are coming across to me).

 

I do have a question.....have any of you done the "Chef's Table" they are offering? Do you think it is worth 150.00?

 

And do you know if in Luminae, anyone share's tables? I don't mind eating on my own but it is nice to dine with others as well. Just curious if this happens in here.

Yes. Talk to the MaitreD in Luminae.

Nice to see you back!

Edited March 10 by C-Dragons

[Lois R]

16 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Yes. Talk to the MaitreD in Luminae.

Nice to see you back!

Thank you🙂