Eclipse Cruise 7th May Mediterranean

[Lyn Mc]

This was our 4th cruise on the Eclipse since she came to her UK home port in April last year and we had a fantastic time. This time we went with 2 friends and they thought it was amazing. Just a heads-up if you are thinking of doing this cruise later choose Starboard we got not sun at all on Port side.

 

Didn’t start off great. No priority boarding at Southampton for Elite/Founder Members, can’t believe a home port can’t arrange this!! As soon as we stepped onto the ship though, it felt like coming home with so many crew we know and love still onboard. Of course all this will change at the end of June when a lot of them will be going to the Silhouette. Captain Manetas and his senior officers were very visible around the ship and at all the Captains Club events. Remarkably different to one of the Celebrity ships we went on (naming no names) where we only saw the Captain once in 14 days and that was when he must have been forced to get on the stage to introduce the crew to the passengers! Captain Manetas attitude is very different and it seems to make for a very happy ship.

 

Had a bad crossing of the Bay of Biscay on the first sea day but by the evening lots of us felt better and were able to go down to dinner. We had early seating and the food in the main dining room was very good and on some occasions even hit the excellent mark. Waiter and assistance waiter were excellent and the Maitre D, Ace, was brilliant, he came over to all tables every night. We might try easy-time dining one if these times but we do enjoy the comfort of your waiter/asst waiter knowing your likes dislikes etc.

 

No real sign of wear and tear in the cabin or lounges that we could detect. Usual space problems in the cabin but we always take far too much. The bathrooms more than make up for this space issue though, the space and walk-in shower are both fabulous. We had the bed by the window on this trip and thought that it was slightly easier to get to the wardrobe. We had a Q&A hour with the senior officers and one of them said that this issue was being addressed on the new ship (Reflection). Am afraid that this turned into a bit of a ‘whinge time’ but it was to be expected with a ship mainly full of Brits!!

 

The guys at the Martini bar were just as attentive as ever, great apple martinis!! Didn’t go to some of the shows with the guest artists, but the production shows were all excellent especially the Eclipse show, brilliant even after the 4th time. Casino was not that well utilised, Brits don’t seem to gamble too much, it didn’t help that the Roulette Table stated $5 minimum bet. It was actually a $1 minimum bet on the numbers but the 2-1 bets were of course $5 as usual. I think they might have lost some revenue there with the misinformation above the table, it certainly stopped us from playing until we found out, they lost a week of getting more money from us!!!

 

Went to Murano’s which was excellent but no ‘thank you’ note (that’s a first from a speciality restaurant and we have been in them all). We thought they may have stopped sending these out but we did get one from Qsine which, by the way, was great fun!!

 

We didn’t take any ships tours but I have put a report on our ports on the Med boards for those who enjoy the DIY sort of outings.

 

Still difficult to sit in the Oceanview at times, we got to calling 'the Bunfight' after a couple of days but we managed.

 

The main reason we cruise with Celebrity is the level of service and it also helps that we can now sail from Southampton. The level of service has not changed at all, it is still amazing and all the crew were outstanding. Another excellent Celebrity cruise!!

 

Lyn