Art works on Eclipse

We are sailing on Eclipse for the first time in a few weeks and will have four sea days. I plan to spend one of those days walking around the ship viewing the art collection on the ship.

I've done this before on other ships and although I have heard tell of an iPad type tour on some of the other ships have never seen one on a ship we have been on. We did find a beautiful book on one ship, Reflection I believe, which was a lovely insight into the collection.

Is there any such resource anyone is aware for Eclipse, either on the ship or available to download? Or has a member of this community written one?

The first time we ever cruised Equinox (many years ago) I remember picking up a handout from the guest relations desk that gave the location and basic facts about the art works on board (couple of sheets of A4). I seem to remember it took you on a specific route....When we had researched X we had read somewhere about a self guided art tour of the ship. I picked up the handout with every intention of finding time on one of our sea days.

I must confess I never actually got around to doing the tour and the sheet ended up in the bin at the end of the cruise with all the sales junk! Cruised many times since then and have not asked for a handout ...they may well have changed the paper sheet we had to an iPad.

We are back on Eclipse soon, if I wasn't on crutches I might have tried an art tour too.....So sad that even on vacation we are all rushing from place to place without having time to 'stand and stare' and appreciate our surroundings fully. Please let us know how you get on....

We are on Reflection in March, can you tell me a little more about the book you found....

.............We are on Reflection in March, can you tell me a little more about the book you found....

Hi Chemmo

As far as I can remember it was a coffee table type book. We were in a CS and it was with some other magazines under the big table. I may be remembering wrong but I think it also included a bit about how the ship was designed and built in addition to the reasoning for commissioning some of the art on board. It was perhaps a vanity publication for the launch?

I feel that we travel to far flung countries to visit their museums and galleries but miss the gallery on which we are travelling. Now please don't get me wrong but I don't mean the prints and art marketed by the retail chain "Park West" which to mind are no different to the shops you will find in any tourist heavy location selling souvenirs. (do I hear the roar of flames ;) )

Hi Chemmo

As far as I can remember it was a coffee table type book. We were in a CS and it was with some other magazines under the big table. I may be remembering wrong but I think it also included a bit about how the ship was designed and built in addition to the reasoning for commissioning some of the art on board. It was perhaps a vanity publication for the launch?

 

I feel that we travel to far flung countries to visit their museums and galleries but miss the gallery on which we are travelling. Now please don't get me wrong but I don't mean the prints and art marketed by the retail chain "Park West" which to mind are no different to the shops you will find in any tourist heavy location selling souvenirs. (do I hear the roar of flames ;) )

Thanks for that, if I can't see one in the suite I will ask the butler. You post has reminded me more to spend a little more time enjoying the decor and ambiance next cruise. Hope someone can come back to you with more information than I could offer.

I remember that book on the Solstice when we cruised her 3 months after launch. Though I Have not seen them recently. So pretty, I asked if they were for sale and was told no. A missed revenue stream for X. Maybe they will do it again for Edge.

I have done the IPad art tour which listed every piece of art on board. I went to Guest Relations to get the Pad and then chose which pieces I needed info about. Nice to do if the pool is too crowded! I just don't remember which ship I did it on.

Ask at Guest Services and they'll tell you if it's available. Don't forget the wonderful art going down to the Specialty restaurants. Enjoy the ambience of art on all the X ships.

We have sailed many times on X and many on the same ship. The art work on every ship has a theme that corresponds to that ship.

It is amusing to read the discription that is printed along side the art. It tells what the artist intention was and what you are supposed to get out of it. Most is way beyond my perception. I guess I am not of the highly educated to see it. I do appreciate the creativity of a lot of it. Always talked about getting the IPads but never found the time to do it.

There is also the "art gallery" that is just a showcase for the auction. Sometimes nice to look at but after sailing many times I always see the same pieces of that are being auctioned. It is another activity that is a good time waster and fun to watch pasengers bidding and thinking they are getting a bargain.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

We did find a beautiful book on one ship, Reflection I believe, which was a lovely insight into the collection.

 

Is there any such resource anyone is aware for Eclipse, either on the ship or available to download? Or has a member of this community written one?

When we sailed the Eclipse in 2013 there was a book like this in our room. So know that there has been such a book printed. I haven't seen one since; I'm not sure if they get placed in the rooms any more. I hope you can track down a copy.

With a PhD in art history, I am very interested in the ships' collections.

On our first X cruise (the Millennium) there was an iPod tour which, unfortunately, only found out about as we were debarking. That ship has a truly amazing collection.

I was on the Eclipse last year for a holiday cruise and nothing like this existed- I asked. However, it is still worth wandering around and checking it out. I did it as part of my exercise- instead of doing laps up on deck, I did them up and down the stairwells and along each deck. :D

I had a really funny experience on a RCI transatlantic. On one of our many sea days, the advertised a guided tour of the ship's collection. About a dozen of us showed up and from the chatter I overhead, it was obvious that this was an engaged and well-informed group of art appreciators. The guide they sent was this young guy from the auction group, a freshly minted BA in art history on his first contract on the ship, He took us around for an hour, saying things like "this one is kinda cool" and "I think this is pretty neat" while I watched the group's expressions range from bemused to annoyed to pitying. Fun but not what I expected! :D

I found this article from 2010 about Celebrity's iPad DIY Art tours.

http://cruiseweb.com/blog/2010/08/celebrity-cruises-becomes-first-cruise-line-to-present-art-tours-on-ipads

I just checked the Celebrity website and under Celebrity Life Activities, Things to do, they list "Self Guided Art Tour on an iPad". There is no further info on how to access this activity.