Jo and Rob

Live from Celebrity Eclipse!

We are sailing on Celebrity for the first time and would like to share our experiences with you as we travel from Southampton to Gibraltar, France, Italy, Sardinia, Spain and Portugal on our 14 day cruise. We have previously sailed with Princess, Royal Caribbean, Costa and P&O so I will endeavour to highlight what sets Celebrity apart and what if anything we miss from other cruise lines.

I will include information about the ship, our cabin, the restaurant and public areas and hope to answer any questions you may have if at all possible. Our “live from the Eclipse” will not only include pictures but also video (internet connection depending of course) so hopefully you can join us and get an insight into the Celebrity experience on an S class ship. Please click the link below to see our first video entry.

First impressions – boarding was extremely swift and we were on board by 11.30am despite the fact our cruise information stated boarding would commence at 1.30pm.

Jo’s tip 1 – Arrive at the port earlier than indicated on your cruise information to gain maximum time on board and not feel rushed on the first day.

We headed straight for the shore excursion desk as one of our excursions “Gibraltar for families” was not available on line when we tried to book it and stated enquire when on board. Unfortunately the trip was sold out and unlike I have read on cruise critic, Celebrity do not keep a percentage of seats back to be sold on board.

Jo’s tip 2 – If there is an excursion that you really want to go on don’t wait until boarding as it may well be sold out!

My next stop was the restaurant to inform them of Emily’s egg allergy and find out the location of our table. We were allocated a table for four right at the back of the restaurant but I was able to move the location so we are near the entrance of the restaurant and one table away from a window.

Jo’s tip 3 – Check out the location of your table in the restaurant as soon as you board as the maitre D will try and accommodate your requests.

Cafe al Bacio provided a relaxing seat with some live music and a rather tasty Cafe Mocha before we braved the buffet on deck 14. We were pleasantly surprised by the Oceanview cafe as it didn’t have the chaos and mayhem we associate with embarkation. Having said that there were no seats available for a family of four (so it is bizarre we didn’t feel harassed!) and we went outside and sat at the sunset bar on deck 15 on a lovely big table enjoying the sunshine. I had thought that as we weren’t in the official buffet area no one would clear the plates but as soon as we had finished our lunch a bar steward (who had already been very friendly and chatty) came and cleared them away.

Jo’s tip 4 – don’t panic if you can’t find a table in the buffet, there is plenty of seating outside if needed with bar staff on hand to take drinks orders.

After lunch we checked out the kids’ clubs. Oliver is an Ensign and Emily is a cadet. They were both issued with muster station wrist bands and given the guided tour. They are both at club now so I’ll give more information about the kids’ clubs later.

Muster was in the Eclipse Theatre (comfy seats I thought!) and we didn’t have to wear or bring our lifejackets. By this time I had virtually finished unpacking thanks to a bundle of extra hangers that I requested from our steward and the huge overhead lockers above the bed.

Jo’s tip 5 – If you are travelling with small children bring your own little hangers, I did and it has really helped with the limited drawer space available.

Jo’s tip 6 – Ask for loads more hangers. I was really worried looking at photographs of the cabin that with only a two door wardrobe there wouldn’t be enough space for everything but with extra hangers there is not a problem.

Jo’s tip 7 – remove the bulky dressing gowns from the wardrobe and hang them in the bathroom. (I think that extra space really helped us!

I need to post this so I will post more information tomorrow!

There is a mocktail section in all of the bar menus onboard. My cousin ordered a lot of virgin strawberry daquiris and mudslides. Also something like a funky monkey (?) Chocolate and banana. You can order mocktails with dinner and I had no problem ordering Pellegrino as well as wine with dinner in the MDR

I love mudslides. I didn't realise you could get a non-alcoholic version. That sounds fantastic! Do all the bars do mocktails?

I've bought the premium non-alcoholic package for the Eclipse in July. I would like to know what you would recommend in terms of mocktails and frozen drinks and which bars sell them. Would I be able to order a mocktail with dinner? Did you order water and another drink at the same time?

The kids club is open on port days, in fact they will open earlier if necessary if you are doing an excursion and plan to leave your child onboard. This is usually only with ship tours.

 

On port days it is free except for lunch (12-2PM) and there is a $6 per hour fee. So on port days if you leave your kids for lunch there is a fee of $12.00 as I recall. If you pick your kids up between 12 and 2 then there is no fee.

 

On Sea days they don't take the kids to lunch. Instead they ask parents to pick their kids up between 12-2PM to take them to lunch. That doesn't mean the FF is closed during these hours. They stay open during lunch. So for example,if you pick your child up at 12:30 and they want to go right back at 1PM (after they have eaten something) they can. The point is that the youth counselors don't take them to lunch on sea days- so they want to make sure the kids eat with the parents.

 

The hours are 9AM-6PM (then there is a $6 fee from 6PM-7PM when the counselors take the kids to dinner. You are supposed to sign up for this ahead of time). Then 7PM-10PM its free. After10PM there is a $6 per hour charge.

 

Celebrity brings on more help during the busy weeks onboard. So there is never really too many kids in the youth program. The children don't stay in the Fun Factory the entire time. Each age group has activities outside and in the disco and other places around the ship. Its important to have the daily schedule so that you know where the kids are at any given time.

 

The Fun Factory closes at 1AM

Thanks

The sea day set up sounds exactly like P&O where it is always open but you need to collect them and feed them.

I have read conflicting information as to when the Fun Factory is open and when it isn't.

The website states that it is open daily from 9am to 10pm. However, do some of these hours come with a charge?

Smoothy says the charges when in port and Wilson4 says it is free when in port but closes for some sessions on sea days. :confused:

Our sons ate supper with the kids most nights, while the ship was in port there was a charge of $6 per child per hour during the meal time (5pm-7pm) but at sea the meal was free.

On sea days the clubs run from 9am to 12noon, 2pm to 5pm and 7pm to 10pm.

When in port the club runs from 7pm to 10pm. There were other sessions you could pay for but we did not try those.

I am trying to find out the following:

1. Opening hours that are free? (port and sea days)
   
2. Any meals organised through club that are free?
   
3. Any restrictions about how many hours children are in club before a break?
   

many thanks :)

Thank you so much for posting the menu Infi. :)

Are all items complementary on Celebrity or do some items have a fee (I read someone had lobster on the balcony on formal night!)

Do you have any recommendations for the room service?

Does anyone have a daytime menu? How late can you order from it?

What complementary drinks can you get when it is not breakfast?

Does Celebrity deliver a complementary cooked breakfast?

Many thanks :)

We went to the ballroom dancing lessons on Oceana which were held at Starlights. I did see some dancing in the evening in the Atrium but it didn't seem very well attended.

We had a free shuttle provided into Bilbao, which stopped in the shopping streets not far from The Guggenheim. The town itself was any European town....

Does one of your tours go through the N. Spain countryside, because that's what we like doing? The prices sound pretty steep, though.

We'd probably stick with the HOHO bus, if there were only long tours offered.

Jo.

Was the free shuttle with P&O? We will be in Bilbao in April on the Oceana and would like to visit the Guggenheim.

Just to let you know, I phoned Costa and we can drop off bags early in the morning and then explore Venice. Seems like a plan!

During high winds, Costa will dock at the Gruz harbor which is located about 15 minute taxi ride into town. This ride will bring you to the Pile (western) entrance into the old town. If at tender you will arrive at the Ploce (eastern) part of the old town, no taxi needed. You will have a choice of taxi or ship shuttle to reach Pile area.

The legal currency of Croatia is the Kuna, it is to your benefit to use it. And no prices do not double if you choose to use your Euros. The cost to walk the wall is 70 Kuna per adult, 30 Kuna per child. They will accept Euros, cost is 10 Euros adult, 5 Euros children 7-18 years. If you expect to do a few more sights, buy some lunch, purchase a tee shirt, book or any rememberance, it is to your advantage to obtain some Croatian Kuna. We have many ATM machines located all over, you can use your debit card and get as little as 200 to 2,000 Kuna. Exchange rate is charged by your American bank which is always better than the local banks or our private exchange houses. I still use my ATM card from my California bank to obtain Kuna every month.

The cable car has just reopened this past July, it had been destroyed during the homeland war in 1991. The cable car will take you up to the top of Mt Srd for a view of the town, which is fantastic.

FYI, I am an American (Croatian) expat who has choosen to live here.

Thank you so much for all your information. You are better than the internet! Would we have time to do the cable car and wall (bearing in mind we are only there for the afternoon)? How much is that in Kuna and Euros for adults and children please? If we only do one which would you recommend?

I thought that if we tendered we wouldn't have to bother with a taxi as we would already be in the old town. Is it complicated to walk through the old town to the Pile entrance and then do the wall? I take it they accept euros at the Pile entrance as well? Do you walk clockwise then? I imagine the taxi would be cheaper as there are four of us?

Please could you tell me the price of the wall for children?

Also is it true that the price of the wall is double if you pay in euros? 70 kuna or 20 euros, is that right?

Is the Pile entrance the one we would come to first having caught our tender? Someone who was on the Serena last week said they docked and didn't tender, do you think that was due to rough weather?

I thought I read that there is a tram in Dubrovnik, have I imagined it?

Could you tell me where the Costa Serena will dock? Our time is limited to the afternoon.

We will be on the Serena and calling at Dubrovnik for our last port of call. It will be 30th October. Will it be hot enough for shorts?

We are travelling with our children aged 6 and 8 and would appreciate any recommendations of what to do (or not to do) with children. This will be our last stop and we don't want to miss out on a must see, but are aware that we could have tired little legs so we won't be able to do everything.

How tall is the wall? How long will it take to do it all? Will the children be able to see over the top? Has anyone taken their children on the wall?

There is a luggage drop off just outside the terminal building so you won't have to queue up. You can drop off your luggage straight away - as soon as you arrive at the cruise terminal.

 

The luggage will be delivered directly to your cabin later. The staff at the luggage drop off will give you a card with your boarding number on, so just take this card and head off for your sight-seeing without going through the boarding procedure. The boarding can be done later after the sight-seeing.

 

If you can spare your 5 mins, then you can choose to quickly pop upstairs (where the boarding takes place) and check which numbers are being called in....

 

By the time you get back to the cruise terminal for the actual boarding, your boarding number would have been probably already called in. In this case, you can get on the ship straight away without waiting.

OR even if you have to wait, it should not be too long....

 

Also when the ship finally leaves the port of Venice, be sure to go up to the higher deck (around deck 10, 11) and park yourselves up on the 'portside' of the ship (= left hand side) outside. This is the best side as you can see the San Marco Square to your left as Serena leaves this beautiful city... Have your camara ready.

 

Hope this helps.

Great advice thank you. The ship is not due to arrive in Venice until about 10am however and we could be at the port by about 10.30am is this too early to drop off bags? I hope not as we want to make the most of our day in Venice.

We would like to drop off our bags and then explore Venice before we board as our hotel is outside of Venice so we can't leave them there and we don't want to leave them at left luggage at the Piazza Roma unless we have to. I have read that you can collect a boarding number and then go back later, how soon can we do this?

You will spend it!!!:D

I think you are right. I have been looking at the drinks packages and getting one for a fortnight will wipe out the OBC so we don't need to worry! ;)

Just wondering what happens if you don't spend your OBC? We have never had it before so we are not sure how it works. Is there anything you can't use the OBC for?