Live from eclipse 8/18 Baltic

Breakfast menu in mdr has changed...better. They now offer herring and eggs Benedict (I think this is new, but maybe it was always on the menu). There is an lpc “presentation” this morning...I’m going so I’ll report back.

For bourbon drinkers, woodford is an extra $2 plus tip if you have the classic drink package...it’s the best bourbon they offer on the ship these days. Amaretto is on the classic package for an after dinner drink, just not on the dessert menu in the mdr. Tito’s vodka is on classic package.

50% off on all cocktails at he world class bar from 9pm to midnight.....first time I’ve ever seen this offer!

50% off signature cocktails at sunset bar from 1-6pm....another first!

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I think the area that had the vibration issues was around cabin 1635 which is two decks below the Oceanview.

We were in 9261 this past March. No vibration that we noticed. Make sure you see Capt Leo in the Liar’s Club. He was a hoot!

I am really impressed by the oceanview cafe lunch buffet. Today was taste of Scotland with at least 10 choices. The ones I tried were well seasoned and very tasty. The dessert island continues to be incredible..,cakes, pies, pastries, flan, etc. it’s really impressive and quite an improvement from last fall’s cruise on the reflection....I hope this very positive change is fleet wide.

Update on vibrations...I did hear someone complaining about vibrations..sorry did not find out where. I think some are more sensitive to vibrations than others. Generally, the further aft you are, you feel more vibration. To me, it’s not bad enough to even comment...to others, perhaps it’s terrible. I am not a great sleeper, but I can sleep on trains which have far more noise, vibration than on this ship. I haven’t heard any rattles as I walk around the ship...glasses aren’t hitting each other or moving on tables, etc. Ships have noises....fans, toilet flushing and so on. It is a moving hotel...not a stationary one. If I do find a badly vibrating area, I’ll post about it...but nothing to report now.

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ghstudio - I saw the thread yesterday for the first time and read everything start to finish. I'm hooked and following along. Always great to see and hear your thoughts. Can't wait for more!

See my comments / questions in red:

Best embarkation we’ve ever had...arrived at 11:15 and I think we were on the ship by 11:30. Acces to To cabins at 1 luggage arrived around 3pm. Reasonably priced wine available after you check in, before the ship so you can buy a couple of bottles if you want. Amsterdam is a great cruise embarkation point. My only European cruises are Transatlantics from Italy where I learned that the 2 bottle limit at embarkation doesn't really apply as I took on more wine at Livorno and Tenerife. Is that true on other European itineraries?

 

Muster drill...CHANGE...the folks in hq are trying to make muster drill more interesting. They announce the muster drill 30 minutes before over the PA system... and then in that same announcement they read the entire text of the old muster drill...talk about children’s wrist bands etc...all the old stuff they used to say in the old muster drill....all of this while folks are walking around, talking, not listening. Then you go to the muster drill where they play a new movie, explaining the emergency procedures in a, I guess hq thinks, humorous film. Honestly, most around us, all of us standing found it pointless....and not really anything that will help in case of emergency. Nothing wrong with the old muster drill....but someone obviously had some money to waste. You may like the new style....I guess it’s cuter. If you really wanted to know what to do, I hope you listened to that “pre muster drill” announcement. This is being done on airplanes as well. It can be catchy and cute and maybe it sticks with you (or not), but you still need to pay attention.

 

Our last cruise on the reflection, they offered some “off the menu” specials at dinner (mdr). They aren’t doing that on this cruise...however, they have official buffet specials tied to our ports...for example sausage selections in Germany or special waffles in Belgium...one features ceviche. Nice improvement. Not sure if this is a "new" change or something going on all along that I never knew about. I think I will need to pay more attention to the menu rotation in MDR and decide if one of these nights in Oceanview may be more to our liking.

 

Select dining at 7:15- no line..in fact there weren’t even enough to have a dine with others table...so we had a 2 top right by the window. Excellent service...the usual mushroom soup, prime rib and apple pie a la mode....all very good. This will be my first time in "Select" dining. I went ahead and made a standing reservation for 8:30 PM as we enjoy eating later in the evening.

 

Entertainment....singer/impersonator in the theater. In the interest of remaining positive here, I won’t say more.

 

Captain Leo....very funny, great communicator. The entire executive team came to the CC connection party...a great opportunity to meet them, ask questions, etc. Many apparently follow cruise critic [emoji4] Maybe Captain Leo is following your thread and ensuring you comments are addressed (i.e., spicy peppers on salad bar).

 

As always all the celebrity folks, the staff,are very friendly and smile...they make you feel at home.

 

Vibration: Apparently there is some combination of engines, speeds, wave direction that can cause more vibrations around the ship. Last night at 10pm our cabin floor had very noticeable vibration but nothing was rattling...you just felt the vibration. This morning, no extra vibration at all. We are on the same Baltic cruise as the folks who had such bad problems on the cruise just before ours. All I can report is that if there is a terrible vibration problem, it’s limited to a small area. We are midship on deck 10.

 

There is a TajX Indian dinner held one night in the sushi restaurant (I think)...$45pp. We may try it. This was offered one night only on my Silhouette sailing (Dec 2017) in Qsine. That pricing sounds about right as I asked if I could use one the nights of my Specialty Dining Package for this and was told "no". Suffice to say, we did not pay separately for it, but may do so if offered on Infinity this October.

 

We have unlimited internet so I’ll check back and try to answer any questions.

 

 

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Yes, the mdr menus for the entire cruise can be viewed on your cabin tv. They also tell you which menu they are using each day. I believe they have 14 standard menus so there is no duplication on a 14 night cruise.

 

The order of the menus on our cruise is:

 

1 2 3 7 5 10 4 8 11 6 12 9

 

I am sure someone must have posted copies of the menus somewhere....most likely without the numbers....so here is the first entree on each

 

1-seared salmon

2-shrimp scampi

3-roasted trout

7-sautéed tilapia filet

5-Cajun spiced drum fish

10-almond crusted hake

4-seared branzino

8-broiled Australian sea bass

11-crab crusted flounder

6-herb crusted haddock filet

12-grilled snapper filet

9-Atlantic pollock

 

2,7 and 6 are sea days....6 is the lobster tails menu.

 

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Thank you! Your ability to pack a lot of information into a small amount of typing in an easy to read format is amazing. I have learned so much from your posts in this thread alone. This is going to be such a treat to read and follow along.

Time to eat some of my words....on vibration. I just spent an hour walking the decks from 10-12 plus the ovc on 14.

Yes, if you stand on the starboard side near the salad area, there is stronger vibration....but not on deck 12 under it. The following is subjective...me just standing in the hallway..listening, stopping to see floor vibration, feeling the handrail.....it’s one mans view. Note: none of these were obvious...no rattling...but there seemed to be a little more vibration. Do not panic if you have one of these cabins, but if you are ultra sensitive...well maybe..

1249/1253

1625-1647

I had my hypercritical senses on...buffet..the pizza and pasta makers/servers were not wearing gloves! No, I did not say anything....maybe I should have..oh well!!

Someone tell me how to imbed pictures and I’ll post some dessert island...and salad bar pictures.

I have yet to pass any staff member who didn’t smile and say good morning or hello. Everyone seems to enjoy working on this ship....

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I just stood outside the door of 2155 and felt no unusual vibration. All cabins on ships have a little vibration and 2155 seems “normal”. I am currently sitting in the Tuscan Grill, deck 5 back of ship and there is far more vibration here. I wouldn’t worry about 2155.....

 

 

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Thanks,I was much worry if the ship need to go to dry dock for repair.

I still remember few years back on the new ship they had to cancel one or two ports and sailed at 15 knots to reach Fort Lauderdale from Civitavecchia,Italy because of vibration issue.

If I were clinically dead, I would be on holland American :)

 

There is no excess vibration on our cruise in that area,

 

 

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I was also on the 8/6 British Isles cruise and did not notice the aforementioned vibration in Oceanview and we ate there 3 meals a day... and tea time as well. Goes to show you that everyone’s tolerance of vibration is very different!

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Thanks again for starting this thread. My comments in red:

Best embarkation we’ve ever had...arrived at 11:15 and I think we were on the ship by 11:30. Access to To cabins at 1 luggage arrived around 3pm. Reasonably priced wine available after you check in, before the ship so you can buy a couple of bottles if you want. Amsterdam is a great cruise embarkation point.

 

We had one day pre-cruise. We ran across half a dozen Albert Heijn, 2 at the Airport and a few around town. If you need wine to bring on board or cheese to bring home it is a good place to get them for a good price vs. other shops e.g. Stroopwafel is 1/2 the price at Albert Heijn vs. tourist shops. We got to the port around 11 AM later than planned. The regular checkin line was about 6 rows deep. The overall wait was about 1/2 hour. It went pretty smooth. The buffet was very impressive, There wasn't a dish we didn't like. The paella was excellent!

 

Muster drill...CHANGE...the folks in hq are trying to make muster drill more interesting. They announce the muster drill 30 minutes before over the PA system... and then in that same announcement they read the entire text of the old muster drill...talk about children’s wrist bands etc...all the old stuff they used to say in the old muster drill....all of this while folks are walking around, talking, not listening. Then you go to the muster drill where they play a new movie, explaining the emergency procedures in a, I guess hq thinks, humorous film. Honestly, most around us, all of us standing found it pointless....and not really anything that will help in case of emergency. Nothing wrong with the old muster drill....but someone obviously had some money to waste. You may like the new style....I guess it’s cuter. If you really wanted to know what to do, I hope you listened to that “pre muster drill” announcement.

 

The drill took too long! It was very stuffy and hot where we are assembled (5th floor) B1.

 

Our last cruise on the reflection, they offered some “off the menu” specials at dinner (mdr). They aren’t doing that on this cruise...however, they have official buffet specials tied to our ports...for example sausage selections in Germany or special waffles in Belgium...one features ceviche. Nice improvement.

 

Select dining at 7:15- no line..in fact there weren’t even enough to have a dine with others table...so we had a 2 top right by the window. Excellent service...the usual mushroom soup, prime rib and apple pie a la mode....all very good.

 

Entertainment....singer/impersonator in the theater. In the interest of remaining positive here, I won’t say more.

Yep, the singer/impersonator was just ok. We find the production show last night Topper and this afternoon's Broadway show both to be top notch.

 

Captain Leo....very funny, great communicator. The entire executive team came to the CC connection party...a great opportunity to meet them, ask questions, etc. Many apparently follow cruise critic [emoji4]

 

Great captain. We saw him around the ship several times so far. He really show that he cares!

 

As always all the celebrity folks, the staff,are very friendly and smile...they make you feel at home.

 

Vibration: Apparently there is some combination of engines, speeds, wave direction that can cause more vibrations around the ship. Last night at 10pm our cabin floor had very noticeable vibration but nothing was rattling...you just felt the vibration. This morning, no extra vibration at all. We are on the same Baltic cruise as the folks who had such bad problems on the cruise just before ours. All I can report is that if there is a terrible vibration problem, it’s limited to a small area. We are midship on deck 10.

We are midship deck 3 3130. No vibration. Vibration is noticeable at the water station in the buffet area!

 

There is a TajX Indian dinner held one night in the sushi restaurant (I think)...$45pp. We may try it.

We booked the 3 for Specialty restaurant special offered only the first and 2nd day of sailing. $109.

There was a special auction in the evening 1st day of sailing. If you like auctions it's worth attending (if they continue to have them!) I won't spoil the surprise.

 

We have unlimited internet so I’ll check back and try to answer any questions.

 

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We were in 9261 this past March. No vibration that we noticed. Make sure you see Capt Leo in the Liar’s Club. He was a hoot!

Both him and the CD Eddie were a great team. The best we seen. Don’t know where or how they come up with the words and descriptions they give. Always Greek to me. 🤗

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

We were on the British Isles 12-night between the OP's sailing and the previous Baltic. I did not feel the vibrations in our aft cabin on Deck 11, nor did I feel it anywhere below 14. But in Oceanview, it is VERY pronounced. The floor shakes, cups rattle at the beverage stations, and there are points where the vibration caused an overpressure in my ears. It was not unbearable, but anyone who didn't feel it has to have been clinically dead. The "Vibration Zone" was between the pizza station and the serving tables opposite of it and all the way across the ship. It did not seem to matter if we were in motion or docked, as we ate there in both situations. Seas were almost flat all but the last couple of days, so that wasn't it. It was also present without regard to speed; they had the hammer down between some ports and the last sea day, we were crawling along about 10 kts. The vibrations were the same, no matter the variables.

We experienced exactly the same vibration around the Beverage Station in the Oceanview in May/June. It wasn't there everyday, but it was severe when it did occur. I would think twice about booking any cabin under the Oceanview in this area.

Here is our itinerary for this cruise:

18th Day 1 Amsterdam - 17:00

19th Day 2 At Sea - -

20th Day 3 Rostock 9:00 23:00

21st Day 4 At Sea -

22nd Day 5 Tallinn, Estonia 10:00 18:00

23rd Day 6 St. Petersburg 7:00 -

24th Day 7 St. Petersburg - 18:00

25th Day 8 Helsinki 8:00 17:00.

26th Day 9 Stockholm 9:00 16:00

27th Day 10 At Sea - -

28th Day 11 Copenhagen 10:00 18:00

29th Day 12 At Sea - -

30th Day 13 Amsterdam 6:00 -

Currently we are at the end of Day 4. It was a very enjoyable Sea day. Great entertainment continues on board throughout the day. The Irish themed lunch buffet was very yummy. My wife did the Hot Glass Class this afternoon. We were on the Equinox years ago when Celebrity launched the previous Hot Glass Show from Corning. With the Hollywood Hot Glass class program it's nice to be able to participate and bring home a nice souvenir. The class slots are 20 minutes each. Today's class slots were filled up after the first day at Sea. Today's afternoon classes was much less crowded than the first Sea Day. My wife felt much less pressure having less people watching! The staff at the class were very patient.

The class is available on the Eclipse, Equinox, Solstice. Here's a good link to watch some YouTube postings on the class:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=celebrity+cruise+hollywood+hot+glass+class+

and more info:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8416

https://www.hollywoodhotglass.com/celebrity-cruises.html

We are arriving in Tallinn in the morning.

Laurence

In March we were in 2121 and the vibration was terrible. It wasn't only when the ship was cutting thru the water but also when moored.

It was so bad that a glass would vibrate off of the table on the balcony. It was almost impossible to sit on the balcony and read a IPad.

Just sitting on the balcony became very nauseating.

Fortunately it didn’t affect us when in bed.

There definitely is a problem

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I think we’ve essentially confirmed that the vibration varies depending on sea direction, engines, wind and who knows what else. The common thread is that all reported cabins with shaking have been on the port side (odd number cabins), aft of the back elevators.....near the mechanicals in the smokestack area. I confirmed this morning that the cabins in this area on decks 6 through 8 also vibrate a bit more than in other areas. My wife’s reaction standing in that area on deck 8 was that we’re on a ship and the vibration really wasn’t noticeable unless you focused on it.

I found no area where the vibration would even shake a glass...but maybe it’s just this cruise in very calm seas...who knows.

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I think the area that had the vibration issues was around cabin 1635 which is two decks below the Oceanview.

We were in 6224 in March and the vibration was bad all the time. It was not related to the ship moving and appeared to be something like a generator / ac chiller issue. I can make a direct comparison with the past as I have been staying in 6224 for the last 5 years, with no issues at all in the previously

Ian

Can I ask a quick question please? Who is the current captains club hosts and cruise director? I am wondering if they will still be onboard on my October cruise. Many thanks

We were in 6224 in March and the vibration was bad all the time. It was not related to the ship moving and appeared to be something like a generator / ac chiller issue. I can make a direct comparison with the past as I have been staying in 6224 for the last 5 years, with no issues at all in the previously

 

Ian

We're in 6224 on the Reflection in a couple of months. Worried we'll have this problem...... thought I had the perfect cabin (mid ship on the hump). No good ones left to change to.

We're in 6224 on the Reflection in a couple of months. Worried we'll have this problem...... thought I had the perfect cabin (mid ship on the hump). No good ones left to change to.

I would never assume all ships are the same. Reflection is a newer ship than eclipse with a slightly different design so would be most surprised if the same engine room / equipment fault was on that ship as well as Eclipse. Enjoy :)

We were on Eclipse twice this year. While we did not notice vibrations, the rattles in the cabin would wake us up. Mentioned to a few crew people but nothing ever done. We were on port side both times. Once on 7 and once on 10. We board again at end of October and will have to take notice of the vibrations spoken of.

Also curious

If captain Leo will be on board. He was there in February but not in April. Eddie had said he would not be on the Eclipse when it goes to South America.

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Leo’s last cruise before leave is 17 October [emoji16]

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Keeping the "live" part going.

Here is our itinerary for this cruise:

 

18th Day 1 Amsterdam - 17:00

19th Day 2 At Sea - -

20th Day 3 Rostock 9:00 23:00

21st Day 4 At Sea -

22nd Day 5 Tallinn, Estonia 10:00 18:00

23rd Day 6 St. Petersburg 7:00 -

24th Day 7 St. Petersburg - 18:00

25th Day 8 Helsinki 8:00 17:00.

26th Day 9 Stockholm 9:00 16:00

27th Day 10 At Sea - -

28th Day 11 Copenhagen 10:00 18:00

29th Day 12 At Sea - -

30th Day 13 Amsterdam 6:00 -

Day 5 Highlights:

• As expected we docked near Tallinn Old Town vs. Muuga as shown in Celebrity's itinerary.
  
• There were 4 ships in port = 10,000 cruisers in town. The streets in Old Town were way too crowded! Afternoon is definitely better time to visit the viewing platforms (there are 3 of them!).
  
• We enjoyed the Tallinn Sightseeing Tour by Coach and Foot tour purchased via TripAdvisor. It was nice to be in a small group and see more than just Old Town!
  
• Returning to the ship we had dinner at the Qsine Le Petite Chef It was a good one time experience. Quality of food is on par with other specialty restaurants we've been to.. This is the 4th cruise since launch on the Eclipse for Le Petite Chef. It is gimmicky. As part of a specialty restaurant package it was ok value wise. I would be disappointed if we had paid full price.
  

Day 6 Highlights:

• The Eclipse was docked at 6 AM Celebrity had 'quick breakfast' (forgot what they actually called it) available at the main dining room so that people can get off the ship early for their St. Petersburg tours. It didn't really matter for us to eat early: we heard over the PA that the ship is not yet cleared from Russia immigration multiple times every 10/15 minutes. Also, if we are not traveling with Celebrity's tours we need to get a disembarkation number from 4th floor Cellar Master. I think the ship was finally cleared around 7:35 AM. We got off as part of the number 3 group and didn't get outside until 8:30 AM!
  
• We went with TJ Tours St. Petersburg 2 days package. The tour guide Maya is excellent!!! We had 12 people in our van. The tour so far has been perfectly paced. She was attentive and provided a lot of good information as we toured with her.. It was also great to be able to skip the lines e.g. we walked right in to Catherine's Palace from a separate entrance. As we left the Palace we saw the line outside was still lined up to the > 3 hours spot! We covered a lot of ground to around 6 PM.
  
• However we were very disappointed with the Faberge evening add on from TJ. We were moved to a new van after the day tour. We then waited 40 minutes for others to join. There were 8 people total for the Faberge Museum Add on. We were not dropped off to a Russian restaurant for dinner (self funded) per itinerary. The van driver drove us directly to the museum without saying a word. There we were met with someone from TJ who purchased our tickets with audio. We was rushed through the museum with only 1 hour to see and shop at the museum. The good part is we got back to the ship in time to catch most of the evening special entertainment: Celebrity has a local St. Petersburg song and dance troupe in for an on stage show. It was a large cast of musicians, singers and dancers. The show was excellent! When we docked at Rostock a few days ago, Celebrity brought in local musicians who played in the foyer and buffet areas for a few hours. It was great fun!
  

Does anyone have questions for those of us on board on this last Baltic cruise for the Eclipse?

Keeping the "live" part going.

 

 

 

 

 

• Returning to the ship we had dinner at the Qsine Le Petite Chef It was a good one time experience. Quality of food is on par with other specialty restaurants we've been to.. This is the 4th cruise since launch on the Eclipse for Le Petite Chef. It is gimmicky. As part of a specialty restaurant package it was ok value wise. I would be disappointed if we had paid full price.
  

Does anyone have questions for those of us on board on this last Baltic cruise for the Eclipse?

I assume it's now Le Petite Chef every night? Was it full?

I'm asking because I'm hoping that by the time we board in January Le Petite Chef will have run it's course, and they'll be back to the original plan to have it be a couple of times, and Q'sine again the rest of the time. (I'm not optimistic, though)

Thanks for sharing and enjoy.