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The 4 MDRs are open for reservations online but when I try to reserve I get a message that says I am not a flex dining guest and won't let me reserve. I can only reserve specialty restaurants at this point.

Thanks that is reassuring. We are Elite Captains Club. When we booked on board we weren't asked what our dining preference was they assigned us late dining. When I noticed it I went back to the future cruise desk and asked to have it changed but it was the only option available.

As someone who hates connecting flights, what we do is take VIA rail to Dorval and then get a direct flight from Montreal. We have done this a few times and has worked well. There is a free shuttle from VIA Dorval to the airport, its about a 5 minute drive.

Hi All, we have sailed several times with Celebrity and always had anytime dining. We just booked a cruise on the Edge for Feb 2023 (will be our first cruise on the E class) and the only dining available was late dining. We are waitlisted for anytime. I know the Edge MDR are different in that their are 4 of them so not sure if there are less anytime dining spots available. Does anyone have experience with this? Wondering what our chances are of getting anytime dining. Late dining is waaay too late for us.... TIA

We were on the Eclipse June 5th sailing and embarked/disembarked from Vancouver. We did not have priority for boarding. We showed up at the terminal around 11:05 (or scheduled boarding time was 11 - 11:30). The lines were long but moved continuously. The process was very smooth, with good signage, and lots of staff to steer you in the right direction. We were on the ship around 11:30. To disembark we had booked an X excursion that takes you to the airport. We met in Celebrity Central at 8:15 as instructed for a 9am tour. We were escorted to the gangway and were on our own from there until we met up with the tour bus outside the terminal. I found signage not as good and a bit more confusing not knowing what line we should be in for our tour. Even so we were on the bus by 8:50. Happy to help if you have any other questions.

Happy to help...I was the same way before my cruise!! Life has changed a lot in the last few years. Thankfully cruising is still as much fun as it ever was 🙂 Re: covid prevention - masks were mandatory in casino and theatre. Masks were available at the theatre and staff made sure you were wearing upon entering. Cloth masks were also waiting for us in our room when we embarked. We did see some people take them off once in their seats...it is difficult to enforce. Crew and staff always wore masks. No shortage of hand sanitization stations and the ship was being kept spotless. The only thing I saw that surprised me was the buffet has moved back to self serve which IMO is riskier so we only went once. There is an effort towards touchless service. Staff no longer take your card when you order a drink...they ask for your room # and write it down. They would look at your card but never touch it. Although we wore masks DH tested positive 2 days after we got home. He is fully vaxxed and symptoms are like a bad cold. No regrets we knew the risks and fully enjoyed our cruise. Our only concern re covid was testing positive and having to cancel our cruise or quarantine which didn't happen. Incidentally I read a few days after we got home that case counts are up in Alaska and a couple of the cruise lines (not Celebrity as far as I know) have made masks mandatory in all common areas.

We sailed June 5-12 and loved our cruise on the Eclipse 🙂 We have cruised several times with Celebrity and this was not our first time on the Eclipse. TBH I didn't find it much different than cruising pre-covid, other than having to wear a mask in the theatre. I found the ship to be in great shape and service was excellent all around. We had a veranda cabin on deck 8 which was in excellent shape and our cabin steward Sergio took good care of us and our cabin. He introduced himself on the first day and gave us his phone # to reach him should we need anything. He readily answered any questions we had and was friendly and helpful. Sounds like the ship was about two-thirds full. The staff are working really hard with very little time off and I do wonder what it would be like on a sold out cruise. As everywhere else, there is a shortage of staff. On a full ship it may mean longer waits but my guess is the service would still be excellent just slower. Food was hit and miss...we ate most of our meals in the MDR, with the exception of 2 Elite breakfasts in Tuscan and 1 dinner in Tuscan, and 1 dinner in the buffet. Service was excellent. We found a couple of the dinners in MDR a bit bland while others were very tasty. We went to Al Bacio everyday (sometimes twice a day!) for coffee and a snack and was just as good as I remembered. Internet was intermittent...we had basic package and were able to email, facebook and whatsapp,. Couldn't send pictures which is what we expected based on description of this package. It met our needs. We went to a few of the shows and really enjoyed them, as well as the other entertainment around the ship. Our go to in the evening was the Ensemble Bar...great service there as well as entertainment. We didn't try the martini or world class bars so can't comment on those. Shops are same old...I don't think much has changed in that department in the 10 years we have been cruising on Celebrity lol. Happy to answer any other specific questions 🙂

We got back June 12th. Anything specific I can answer for you?

Me neither 😞

We would love the change also...we have a HAL cruise booked for Sept with the HIA. Just returned from a Celebrity cruise where we could just pay the difference for a more expensive drink. Think we spent an extra $14 the entire cruise which is far cheaper than the price to upgrade the beverage package, or paying the full cost of a more expensive drink. The only drinks we typically have that are higher priced are DH's nightly scotch other than that standard package works for us.

Both the main pool (outdoors) and solarium (adults only indoors) were open during our cruise. There was a sign that the solarium would be open for families from 4-5 pm each day. I understand this is typical for a cooler weather cruise so that kids can swim if the main pool is too cold.

We also just returned from June 5th sailing. Masks were mandatory in Casino and Theatre. Staff did make sure you were wearing a mask when you entered the theatre but we did see people who took them off once they were seated. I have just read that covid cases have gone up in Alaska and both Princess and HAL have implemented mandatory masks in all common areas on Alaskan cruises. DH woke up with a cough on Sunday last day of the cruise. He tested negative on Monday when we got home but is now positive. Main symptoms are fatigue, headache, and a cough which has now mostly cleared up. We both had our 2nd booster (4th shot) less than a month before the cruise and wore masks more than most. Feels like bad luck that he got it however we knew the risks and no regrets. Our concerns are more about having to quarantine or not being able to get home vs actually catching covid. This was our first post covid cruise and we had a great time. We have cruised a fair bit but was our first cruise to Alaska...we loved it and will definitely do it again. We found service to be excellent all around and thought the ship was in great shape. We had a veranda stateroom and anytime dining and ate most of our meals in the MDR. Food was hit and miss. We did have the waiter warn us about one dish which he brought so I could try along with another main dish. Everything was served nice and hot (with the exception of a slightly warm hamburger at lunch in the MDR) but some dishes were a bit bland or dry...while others were very tasty. We had 2 breakfasts in Tuscan (our first cruise as Elite and we enjoyed this) as well as one dinner. While we enjoyed our dinner in Tuscan (great views, service, not very busy, tasty food) we both felt it wasn't worth the extra money unless you are trying to use up OBC. The buffet is back to letting you serve yourself which was disappointing, so we only used it once after a late excursion. We are glad to be back to cruising and booked another cruise while onboard.

We are just back from June 5th Eclipse sailing. It was our first cruise since Jan 2020. We had an amazing time and thought the service was excellent all around. We did hear that the June 12 cruise is sold out so be interesting to hear how service is on that cruise in comparison. The food for the most part was good...some hits and some misses. Would be nice to see the menus changed up a bit more. Its been over 2 years since we sailed and didn't see a lot of new dishes. We ate mostly in the MDR, had one dinner in Tuscan and also did the Elite breakfast twice in Tuscan (we are newly Elite so was a nice perk for us 🙂). We only ate at the buffet twice. I was surprised to see that you can serve yourself. I was hoping they kept it to having staff serve you. We were regulars at Al Bacio and the Ensemble Bar (Loved the entertainment by Jay) ...our favourite venues and just as good as we remembered. We saw a few shows at the theatre and they were great. My favourite was the Boy Band Project. We also enjoyed Milos (the naturalist) at the theatre. There was also an amazing show featuring various acts from throughout the week in the Sky Lounge on the last night. We avoided a couple of the shows as we had seen them before which was surprising given we hadn't cruised in over 2 years (ie Topper and a Broadway show). This was our first cruise to Alaska and we really enjoyed it 🙂 It felt great to be back to cruising!!

DH wants to know if the free wife is available in classic and premium ? 😉