Just off Eclipse

Eclipse Baltic cruise June July 2016

Have just returned from our first sailing on the Eclipse, Southampton round trip,

to the Baltics, highlight St Petersburg.

Context: We are mid 60s, have done several Azamara cruises, 2 Oceania cruises and one on Celebrity Millenium.

I love Azamara and have sailed on both ships so I was expecting a very different experience. I LOVED this ship. The public areas were beautiful, the staff in all areas exceptional, our cabin, due to our wonderful attendant, Ronaldo, was kept spotless.

My aim, in this review, is to give tips to those people who are doing a similar cruise.

My views are mine alone, with sometimes my husbands, and I will also pepper in some of the views of our friends.

We were in Aqua class cabin 1559, wonderful, and we were Elite, due to the points accrued from Azamara.

Embarkation, a breeze.. We were on board very quickly,had lunch in a deserted Ocean view cafe, never to be seen deserted ever again, and had our cabin ready by 1pm.

We ate most of our breakfasts in Blu and most of our evening meals. Wonderful. However, we also ate with friends in Moonlight Sonata and we loved this too. Would we rush back to an Aqua class cabin for Blu, probably not. An ordinary balcony and a dining package would suit us fine.

We did not have a drinks package and, not realising the benefits of our Elite status,i.e.

6 drinks vouchers for the 2 of us for most nights of the cruise, I didnt need to buy the bar set up, Gin and tonics for the cabin, nor,did I need to buy the expensive wine package. They offered 25$ wines most days which you could transfer to your dining room.

We loved the live music all over the ship. We didnt go to any shows, my husband really doesnt like them, so we very much enjoyed taking our time over dinner and enjoying the company of the very many interesting people we met.

I really enjoyed the variety of activities offered on the sea days. I went to most of the i lounge lectures. Richard is very quirky but a fountain of knowledge.

There is something offered for everyones tastes.

We enjoyed the Persian garden, an Aqua benefit but wouldnt pay for Aqua to get this,

many other areas around the ship to relax....the library, a case in point.

Ports:

Zeebrugge

Was wet the day we arrived. We spent the day with Belgian friends. The ship provided a shuttle to the gates but then you had to pay for an extra shuttle to Blankenburg where you could catch the train to Bruges. Not sure of the cost but friend caught the service bus outside the gates.

The ship left at 3 pm so, as it was raining many people stayed onboard.

Wanermunde

Loved this spot. We didnt entertain going to Berlin as it took 3 hrs there and back and such a long day.

We walked the very pretty town, wished Id taken my swimwear, as you could hire a wooden beach style hut, and we had a drink overlooking the harbour, lovely.

St Petersburg

Had a private 2 day tour with SPB tours, fantastic. 16 of us and our guide was amazing.

Half the price of the ships tour.

Tallin

Unless you are mobility challenged do not take the shuttle bus. It is an easy walk into town. 15 mins max and obvious.

Stockholm

In a container port and unless you go for the hop on hop off option the shuttle bus is 20$ each. We are walkers and will always look to do our own thing but here it was impossible. Lovely city.

Copenhagen

Another container port with a hop on hop off option, sorry dont know the prices as we didnt do them. Shuttle bue 20$ but there is a service bus right next to the hop on off buses. We paid £4.50 each return. The no. 25 took you into the city centre, the 27 to the Little Mermaid statue, where you could then take a 26 or 27 to the city centre.

We would have easily walked from the 27 stop to the city centre.

Was everything wonderful, of course not! We didnt like the fact that we were in container ports in Stockholm and Copenhagen and free shuttle buses were not provided.

We also didnt like the fact that often the Ocean view cafe was so full at lunch that it was impossible to get a seat. The food was lovely there but the dining experience was not.

As stated earlier, this is my perception of my cruise. Im happy to answer any questions regarding our cruise.

Jen

We are sailing the Eclipse on July 17 and are also Elite. What time did you embark? We prefer to be on early, but don't want to get there before they are prepared.

Eclipse Baltic cruise June July 2016

 

 

 

Im happy to answer any questions regarding our cruise.

 

Jen

Hi Jen, thanks for that, lots of good tips re the ports. Can you tell me how dressed up some people got on the chic elegant nights? I don't mind how anyone is dressed but just wondering if I will feel out of place if I dress in a long dress and husband in a dinner jacket?

thanks

Jackie

Thank you for your review...

We have two UK Eclipse cruises coming up after flying all over the world to pick up cruises so watching all comments with interest!

Thanks for taking the time to fill us in!

We are Elite, and have yet to sail on Azamara, it is on the radar.

It reads that they are closer to alike than totally different, yes?

Thanks again,

EW

the Eclipse got off. nice review

We are sailing the Eclipse on July 17 and are also Elite. What time did you embark? We prefer to be on early, but don't want to get there before they are prepared.

Hi

We got to the port just before 11.

Loads there before us.

We had our only relaxing meal that day in the buffet!!!

Enjoy your cruise.

Jen

Hi Jen, thanks for that, lots of good tips re the ports. Can you tell me how dressed up some people got on the chic elegant nights? I don't mind how anyone is dressed but just wondering if I will feel out of place if I dress in a long dress and husband in a dinner jacket?

 

thanks

Jackie

Hi

I would say most people were dressed in what you would wear to dinner at a nice restaurant.

However, you will not feel out of place in evening wear as there were enough people so dressed not to 'stand out'.

On our 14 night cruise there were only 2 such nights, one on night 2 and one on the penultimate night.

Enjoy your cruise.

Jen

Thanks for taking the time to fill us in!

 

We are Elite, and have yet to sail on Azamara, it is on the radar.

It reads that they are closer to alike than totally different, yes?

 

Thanks again,

EW

Azamara is a much smaller ship, almost a quarter the size and so the ship can get very close into ports. Shuttles, if needed have always been free. Not so on Celebrity.

There are no formal nights on Azamara but most people dress for dinner.

The entertainment both during the day and in the evening on Azamara is not as comprehensive.

We enjoyed all our meals in the buffet on Azamara, there was no shortage of tables and it had more of a restaurant feel than the Eclipse buffet. Fewer passengers though.

Hope this helps.

Jen

We were also on this cruise and would seem to agree with most of Freckles49's comments.

We were surprised at the reduced number of DJ's on Evening Chic (Formal) nights, and that there were now only 2 versus 3 formal nights previously.

We did have a (free) drinks package, as did a high proportion of the other passengers, but I doubt I would pay for one.

For us, my wife being a wheelchair user, we were less than happy with the pier locations, and the limited and sometimes non existent accessible shuttles, as well as their cost.

But overall Eclipse is still our favourite ship and the Celebrity experience takes some beating for the price.

We are on Eclipse now and it was the first evening chic night last night. We saw many ladies( including myself) in full length evening gowns, plus lots of ladies in cocktail dresses. Quite a few men wearing dinner suits (my husband included) or lounge suits. All in all people dressed up for the dining rooms. I cannot comment on the Oceanview cafe as we did not go up there. Maybe it's to do with demographics, but this cruise seems to have a higher proportion of more senior cruisers than I have noted on other cruises.

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We've always arrived at Southampton port at around 10.30 and found that boarding has already started.

Our Eclipse Baltic trip at the end of May was our first post-formal night Celebrity cruise. There was a mix of dress styles, some Tuxs, some suits, some jackets and open necked shirts. Generally the ladies still made the same effort. Didn't see anyone dressed down and the chic nights were definitely more dressy than the non chic nights.

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Love all this feedback. We are on Eclipse to the Baltics in August and are beyond excited. Really appreciate reading about all your experiences. Thanks.

We were in the same cruise in Aqua and agree with comments. Some of the ports were a little inconvenient and you could see smaller ships closer into the cities.

Blu was great and the speciality restaurants very good though would have been happy staying in Blu. None of the Aqua benefits were worthwhile.

We had the drinks package and do drink a fair amount (my wife has a mad thirst for sparkling water, or soda water cans with the classic package). Very good wines and good spirits.

The pool decks and sun loungers were very busy on the sunny days of which there were only a couple. This is an aspect of cruising we did not like as we usually have our sunny holidays in the maldives.

I did not take a diner suit and would never use a lounge suit to dinner (had to do that when eating in the Army). Dressed smartly. However fair number of Txs and you would not look out of place. Was a chap in shorts too on the smart nights!

Interesting to know how it compares to Oceania Cruises.

We have done 2 Oceania cruises, one on their small ship Insignia the other on Marina, about 1200 passengers.

When we sailed drinks were not included but now sometimes you can get onboard spend a drinks package or excursions included.

Oceania in my opinion is very similar to Azamara but it has the edge re the food.

Also none of the speciality restaurants have an additional fee.

Jen

Love all this feedback. We are on Eclipse to the Baltics in August and are beyond excited. Really appreciate reading about all your experiences. Thanks.

You will love your cruise to the Baltics; it was one of our favorites. The very best part(they were all great) was doing a private(two of us) tour with SPB for two days. We had a driver and a guide. We saw so much in those two days and did not have to wait in line. SPB treated us like royalty! Lunch on one of the days was in a restaurant where we had it all to ourselves. Yes, it was expensive, but so worth the money...the car was a new black Mercedes 300. Our female driver was one of the very few who were licensed to do this; she was excellent. Both our guide, who was over six feet four inches, and our driver were absolutely the best! The memories from our photos were priceless. Even though you most likely are not doing this type of tour, it will still be wonderful beyond your expectations!:):):) Enjoy...

We are booked with SPB tours for a 2 day tour, not a private one for 2 as you did but good to hear you liked the company so much.

We are booked with SPB tours for a 2 day tour, not a private one for 2 as you did but good to hear you liked the company so much.

We have just completed day one of a three day group tour with SPB. Thirteen in the group. Yesterday was the palaces. The driver Vladimir and the guide Luba are wonderful. We are looking forward to another great day today.

The process to go through immigration took about three minutes, but the queues were quite long. In total thirty five minutes to get off the ship and through to the other side. Make certain you give yourself enough time.

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We are booked with SPB tours for a 2 day tour, not a private one for 2 as you did but good to hear you liked the company so much.

We had a 2 day tour with SPB 16 of us in mini bus with free wifi.

Cant praise this company enough.

Our guide Daria and our driver Valera were wonderful.

Jen

By the way second day through immigration was instant, first day about 20 mins.

We are thinking of booking this cruise next for next June, very surprised by the charge for the bus ride in the container ports.

Our last cruise was to Norway and we were at a container port for one of the stops and the bus ride to town was free. Were you able to walk at all?

Not overly bothered about the fee, maybe just the principle!

We are thinking of booking this cruise next for next June, very surprised by the charge for the bus ride in the container ports.

 

Our last cruise was to Norway and we were at a container port for one of the stops and the bus ride to town was free. Were you able to walk at all?

 

Not overly bothered about the fee, maybe just the principle!

You could easily walk in Tallin.

The problem is you cant be sure where the ship is to be docked.

For instance last August Eclipse docked walking distance from the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen. This June nowhere near.

We didnt take the ships shuttle...see my review re service buses dockside.

Stockholm the only choices were Celebrity shuttle or hop on hop off bus.

It was about a 30 min ride.

Jen

You will love your cruise to the Baltics; it was one of our favorites. The very best part(they were all great) was doing a private(two of us) tour with SPB for two days. We had a driver and a guide. We saw so much in those two days and did not have to wait in line. SPB treated us like royalty! Lunch on one of the days was in a restaurant where we had it all to ourselves. Yes, it was expensive, but so worth the money...the car was a new black Mercedes 300. Our female driver was one of the very few who were licensed to do this; she was excellent. Both our guide, who was over six feet four inches, and our driver were absolutely the best! The memories from our photos were priceless. Even though you most likely are not doing this type of tour, it will still be wonderful beyond your expectations!:):):) Enjoy...

We agree with your comments about SPB. We also did a 2-day private tour in St. Petersburg but I imagine the SPB group tours are also very well done. They are very accommodating and definitely have all the logistical details totally under control. The owner Vika (Viktoria) is very involved and on top of everything.

We agree with your comments about SPB. We also did a 2-day private tour in St. Petersburg but I imagine the SPB group tours are also very well done. They are very accommodating and definitely have all the logistical details totally under control. The owner Vika (Viktoria) is very involved and on top of everything.

I loved Vika and communicated with her several times, meeting her the first day at the port. She made our tour sound like our happiness was her major concern. Nothing was too difficult. My husband and I were both in education, and money is something we always saved, especially for occasions like this. It was worth every penny, even though at the beginning, my DH wasn't so sure. His mind changed after the first hour! Yes, logistics is definitely their speciality, along with being able to adapt to circumstances. Of course the larger groups are great too, but you just miss the intimate details and don't have as much time. We all pick and choose what is most important in our own lives.

Thanks Jen x

Eclipse Baltic cruise June July 2016

 

Have just returned from our first sailing on the Eclipse, Southampton round trip,

to the Baltics, highlight St Petersburg.

 

Context: We are mid 60s, have done several Azamara cruises, 2 Oceania cruises and one on Celebrity Millenium.

 

I love Azamara and have sailed on both ships so I was expecting a very different experience. I LOVED this ship. The public areas were beautiful, the staff in all areas exceptional, our cabin, due to our wonderful attendant, Ronaldo, was kept spotless.

 

My aim, in this review, is to give tips to those people who are doing a similar cruise.

My views are mine alone, with sometimes my husbands, and I will also pepper in some of the views of our friends.

 

We were in Aqua class cabin 1559, wonderful, and we were Elite, due to the points accrued from Azamara.

 

Embarkation, a breeze.. We were on board very quickly,had lunch in a deserted Ocean view cafe, never to be seen deserted ever again, and had our cabin ready by 1pm.

 

We ate most of our breakfasts in Blu and most of our evening meals. Wonderful. However, we also ate with friends in Moonlight Sonata and we loved this too. Would we rush back to an Aqua class cabin for Blu, probably not. An ordinary balcony and a dining package would suit us fine.

 

We did not have a drinks package and, not realising the benefits of our Elite status,i.e.

6 drinks vouchers for the 2 of us for most nights of the cruise, I didnt need to buy the bar set up, Gin and tonics for the cabin, nor,did I need to buy the expensive wine package. They offered 25$ wines most days which you could transfer to your dining room.

 

We loved the live music all over the ship. We didnt go to any shows, my husband really doesnt like them, so we very much enjoyed taking our time over dinner and enjoying the company of the very many interesting people we met.

 

I really enjoyed the variety of activities offered on the sea days. I went to most of the i lounge lectures. Richard is very quirky but a fountain of knowledge.

There is something offered for everyones tastes.

 

We enjoyed the Persian garden, an Aqua benefit but wouldnt pay for Aqua to get this,

many other areas around the ship to relax....the library, a case in point.

 

Ports:

Zeebrugge

Was wet the day we arrived. We spent the day with Belgian friends. The ship provided a shuttle to the gates but then you had to pay for an extra shuttle to Blankenburg where you could catch the train to Bruges. Not sure of the cost but friend caught the service bus outside the gates.

The ship left at 3 pm so, as it was raining many people stayed onboard.

 

Wanermunde

Loved this spot. We didnt entertain going to Berlin as it took 3 hrs there and back and such a long day.

We walked the very pretty town, wished Id taken my swimwear, as you could hire a wooden beach style hut, and we had a drink overlooking the harbour, lovely.

 

St Petersburg

Had a private 2 day tour with SPB tours, fantastic. 16 of us and our guide was amazing.

Half the price of the ships tour.

 

Tallin

Unless you are mobility challenged do not take the shuttle bus. It is an easy walk into town. 15 mins max and obvious.

 

Stockholm

In a container port and unless you go for the hop on hop off option the shuttle bus is 20$ each. We are walkers and will always look to do our own thing but here it was impossible. Lovely city.

 

Copenhagen

Another container port with a hop on hop off option, sorry dont know the prices as we didnt do them. Shuttle bue 20$ but there is a service bus right next to the hop on off buses. We paid £4.50 each return. The no. 25 took you into the city centre, the 27 to the Little Mermaid statue, where you could then take a 26 or 27 to the city centre.

We would have easily walked from the 27 stop to the city centre.

 

Was everything wonderful, of course not! We didnt like the fact that we were in container ports in Stockholm and Copenhagen and free shuttle buses were not provided.

 

We also didnt like the fact that often the Ocean view cafe was so full at lunch that it was impossible to get a seat. The food was lovely there but the dining experience was not.

 

As stated earlier, this is my perception of my cruise. Im happy to answer any questions regarding our cruise.

 

Jen

Hi Jen, looks like we were on the same cruise as you as your experiences mirrored ours. We toom met up with friends in Zeebrugge who live there and they took us to Brugge by 9.10 am! They couldn't believe the cost of getting there by shuttle as it isn't that far away. I believe this was the only free shuttle to the terminal as we weren't allowed to walk through the dock area. I was shocked and annoyed at how much the ship charged for shuttle buses. Due to ignorance and not being able to walk too far (and not knowing how far it was to town etc) we found it harrowing in Stockholm to make the right decision. We decided to follow the blue line to the bus stop outside the port but then some couples came back and said a) it was a lot further to walk and b) the machine to buy the bus tickets was broken. Apparently you had to buy the tickets in the cabin/building next to the ship. About £16 or maybe it was dollars for a ticket that allowed you to take the bus, tram or boat. A good option but there was still the walk to the bus stop outside the port. In the end because it was getting late by then with loads of people milling around unsure what to do we took the hop on and hop off bus for which we paid 80 euros! This included travel by boat. We didn't think much of the tour by bus - we might just as well have been in Kensington London where all the big shows are - and so we cut the tour short but we did enjoy getting the boat which took us to the old town quickly. We walked through there for a short while but aware of the minutes ticking by we had to find our way to a boat stop that also had a bus stop (hop on and hop off bus - and please note red buses won't allow people with tickets for green buses on. This was more stress as not so many green buses (choose red) and we had to wait half an hour for a green one to come along, unsure whether we were at the right bus stop or not. We made it back though and the whole visit to Stockholm was marred really by this shuttle service business and worrying about getting back. Really enjoyed the entry in and out of the port however via the Archipelao - an amazing sight indeed! I got up at 4 am and noticed it and so sat on the balcony for hours until we docked at 9.00 am. Warnemunde you can walk to but disabled people please note that reception had no idea how disabled people could access it (we had to go down steps and through an underpass to get there)but we were told there is a way for wheelchair users just past the underpass I think. We paid 8 euros at one port to get into town - might have been Tallinn - which wasn't so bad but how do they justify 20 dollars each for other ports? We also did the St Petersbourg two day tour with SPB Tours - superb! Highlight of our holiday. Payment was on the morning and so easy, our guide spoke impeccable English and knew everything there was to know about any painting, building in St Petersbourg or any egg in the Faberge museum. Really good value and recommended by Maisie Cat on here and it was a shame we never got to meet her as she was on another minibus someone told us. We paid 20 dollars each to go to the Nyven Canal in Copenhagen and that was a good move despite the cost. The canal was only a few minutes away and was a total delight. We walked around it then up the main road towards the free botanical gardens. Went through a park on the way which was lovely and had a castle in it. Found the botanical gardens just behind it but by then I was worried about the walking involved and so we decided to walk back to the canal where we took a covered boat (it rained all day) for an hour around the canals. This was lovely and the cost was exactly the same as for a cup of coffee! We took rubles for Russia as we bought Russian dolls, lunches out and gave tips to the guide and driver but other ports we used euros. They all take them in most parts. But beware we were given Danish Kroner in change which we just had enough for coffee and cake after our boat trip. All in all we had a wonderful two weeks. Impressed with our wonderful cabin with balcony, large shower, enormous bed (took me a few days to get used to our King sized one here again) top class food (yes it was busy at lunchtimes but you can go and eat in any of the restaurants with waiter service for either breakfast or lunch so no problem), the free drinks package was great as it included everything free which meant we had proper brand spirits etc and cocktails and even the coffee loung which isn't included on some other ships. The shows were good and we had lovely people on our dining table so it was great meeting up with them every night to discuss our day's activities. Oh I loved the free art classes and also Kathie and Tim from USA who arranged a wine tasting for 28 people. We had such fun at that event! Thanks to Kathie and Tim for arranging it all! I'm not really a complainer (and some people were complaining about anything!) but on the comments form for the company we did say about the shuttle costs were extortionate and also the gratuities expected are extremely high. We were told that the lower staff weren't paid and they relied upon gratuities for their salary. This is not on. Everyone working on a ship should be paid a decent wage. We opted out of paying the tips and were sent through envelopes with messages typed on them as to what we should give to certain staff members i.e. cabin person, waiter and assistant, etc. They suggested we paid our main waiter 8.75 dollars per person per day. Well over 14 days that's quite a lot for one person. Times that by the same from other people on our table and other tables - wow! What a bonus on top of their wage if they had one! This is my only moan. British people are not so comfortable with tipping like the Americans are and I would much rather the cost of the holiday be increased accordingly so that we don't have to tip (although we always tip our waiter, cabin person etc personally and I did suggest a box in reception for tips for other people behind the scenes such as cooks, cleaners etc - they all deserve something) and if by doing so we can't afford the cruise then we just don't go on it. I was grateful that we got free drinks package and free port parking and also free upgrade to balcony cabin otherwise we couldn't have afforded the full cost of this wonderful cruise and we got to experience such lovely countries we have only dreamed about before! Diana