Eclipse from Southampton - Secrets!

[marinefish]

Recently back from the Eclipse (Baltic from Southampton). Obtained lots of useful info. from this site and would like to share more details about things we found out onboard.

Great ship with excellent staff, super food but it is somewhat “American” as I suppose you should expect.

In Zeebrugge there is a free shuttle bus from the ship to the port gate, but you have to look for it (twenty odd seater silver bus when we were there) and avoid being directed to the kiosk selling shuttle bus tickets to Blankenberge at Euro12 each return.

The cheapest bottled water on board is “non premium” at $3.50/litre bottle from the bars. Evian is $4.75/litre bottle (service charge within the price, the same arrangement as all the charges out of Southampton). We drank iced water at the restaurants and from the cold tap in the cabin with no ill effects.

The free juices etc. from the machines in Oceanview are available in the MDR, Bistro on 5 etc. but choice seemed to be more limited.

Bistro on 5 ($5 cover charge) will do any crepes you want, even if not on the menu, providing they have the ingredients.

Cafe al Bacio isn’t in a separate room and has a main walkway down one side. It seemed busy most of the time and we were glad that we had not taken the non-alcohol package as it wasn’t the most relaxing place to drink lots of premium coffee and tea. However they do have paper bags so you can get a selection of the free cakes/biscuits etc to take back to your cabin.

The free ice-cream bar in Oceanview (open 11am ish to 11pm ish) has a free curly-whirly machine at the back. There is also another one next to the Mast Grill which is excellent for burgers/hot dogs and chips etc for lunch on deck.

Oceanview has large card cups, lids and straws, so it is easy to take water, juice, tea etc out on deck or to your cabin.

Discounts on Speciality dining seem to be getting harder to find. Formal nights and nights when the ship is in port until late are the best times to try. Also in Qsine if you can make up a table of eight you may negotiate a better deal, as they have two round tables of eight which seemed harder to fill. However beware, as you order as a table, and they bring eight small portions of each dish to share, so if you order six things you get 48 portions! Great fun though!

We thought the Taste of the Vineyards premium wine bottle package was good value and saved us around £5/bottle, particularly if you book online and pay in Sterling before you go and then chose the more expensive wines within the package. No problem sharing the bottles. Also we had one of our bottles sent up from MDR to Qsine the night before, and that worked fine.

Celebrity Central is where they show films and give lectures etc. Go early for lectures as it gets quite full.

TV reception in the cabins is excellent, with Sky News the best for UK news. Free and pay for on demand films are also available, but not the very latest releases.

16 GB new model ipads were $399 when the ship first came over from the US. They are now $539 (~£345) so we didn’t buy!

There was an 18-25 meet and mingle, but only after a week, so the CC meeting, the bars and Quasar are the best options.

We found the standard cheese in the MDR rather cold and American “plastic cheddar”, so asked for Gouda, Brie, blue cheese etc. to be brought out with our main course so that it could warm up. Waiters were most happy to do that and it became our standard order along with de-caff coffee.

Our teenagers asked for chips with their main courses and that also soon became a standard order.

We noticed mushrooms and English back bacon in Oceanview, but you have to search for it. (standard issue is “plastic American ham”, US streaky or smoked Canadian). We later asked for mushrooms and English bacon in MDR, and they were happy to bring it even though it was not on the menu.

We were on select dining, as early dining was full when we booked, so we booked online for 6.30pm each night before we sailed. This worked really well as we were quite early, so we were able to have the same table each night and get to know the waiters, sommelier and bar waiter very well.

Brunch in MDR was excellent and not to be missed, if only for the photos! Best time to go is about 10.15am, too early and there are some queues, too late and you have to take your food up the stairs to the higher level.

We were disappointed with Cellarmasters. Most of the wine was on the cheaper side (still very expensive to UK people) or a very limited choice of very expensive wine. We thought the white was not cold enough and the red not warm enough, but that is of course a matter of choice.

Finally, great to see that they were really hot on the use of Purell (anti-viral gel) every time you came back to the ship or went into a restaurant, although they encouraged you pleasantly. This was just precautionary and seemed to be working well.

Any further queries just ask.

[rafbeaboy]

Thanks very much for that info. We are off on sat 18th so are trying to find any quick tips and you certainly helped there

[rafbeaboy]

We are also on speciality dining but are aqua so get to eat in Blue. We do want to eat in mdr too though and on formal nights. Is that easy?

[Christine Frances]

Thank for the review! How was the embarkation at Southampton? What time did you get to the pier and how long did it take to board? Also, thanks for the tip on the free Shuttle bus - do you have any tips for the other ports? Sorry for all the questions:)

 

 

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[marinefish]

rafbeaboy

No problem eating in MDR if you are on select dining, but I would book in advance. From 7pm to 8pm ish it gets quite busy, so if you want to eat on that time frame I would certainly book. Also depends on the size of your party and whether you are prepared to share a table. Tables for two are more difficult to get, but there are quite a lot of them.

[Muushka]

Great bunch of tips, thank you very much!

[ghstudio]

Marinefish....if you'll stop calling american ham and cheddar "plastic", I'll refrain from commenting on my view of "bangers" or "bubble and squeak", etc. from the UK.

[gosport11]

As a brit i do like breakfast ham :)

[avalon1025]

What made the ship"American"?

[Debathome]

I was on the Eclipse out of Southampton last May and as a Canadian it's funny because I thought a lot of it was catered towards the British. :p

We had Brit night and British music, even the crossword puzzles were many British words and slang, lots of specialty British dishes in both the buffet and dining room. My hubby is British and we loved it all (although some of those dang words in the puzzles got me! :D)

It was a great cruise.

Thanks for sharing your tips and hints. I am on the Equinox next, I am sure a lot of them apply to that ship as well.

[rafbeaboy]

rafbeaboy

No problem eating in MDR if you are on select dining, but I would book in advance. From 7pm to 8pm ish it gets quite busy, so if you want to eat on that time frame I would certainly book. Also depends on the size of your party and whether you are prepared to share a table. Tables for two are more difficult to get, but there are quite a lot of them.

 

Many thanks

[marinefish]

Christine Frances

Hello, Boarding was fine. After dropping the luggage and parking the car, it took about 40mins. to get through and into Oceanview for lunch. Boarding starts about 11am, which was when we arrived, so there was already a bit of a queue. An 11.30am arrival would be better, as there wasn't much of a queue behind us, and you can still get to the buffet before the main rush.

There is lots of info on the other ports on the various rollcalls and baltic threads. We did one of the Celebrity tours to Berlin, which was great, but a long long day, also Celebrity tours in St Petersburg, which were well organised with excellent guides. All the other ports we either walked or took the shuttle buses, which where a bit expensive at $15 each.

[marinefish]

What made the ship"American"?

It was more the food rather than the ship which I thought was American. Excellent meat and generous portions, particularly the fantastic steaks and beef, great salads and fresh fruit. I thought some of the dishes were slightly spicier than in the UK, but still very nice. So sorry about my comments about the ham and cheese, but it does seem to have less taste than the European/UK equivalent. Desserts were also very good.

[Bobby Dee]

Sorry about my comments about the ham and cheese, but it does seem to have less taste than the European equivalent.

 

There is no doubt that there are different tastes between European and American flavors. Cheese is one of those things, but you should see what we have to put up with when it comes to beer.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Marinefish - thanks for the information. We are going to the Azores and Canaries next month. A few questions!

 

Are there teamaking facilities in the cabin?

 

Can you use the mini bar as a fridge?

 

What are the toiletries like? (I usually take my own!)

 

How much is a bottle of house wine? - The wine package looks quite expensive:eek:

 

Dare I mention tips?:eek: We like to tip staff ourselves as we don't agree with compulsory gratuities. What is the procedure for removing them?

[EithneMay]

Great tip that Bistro will make any crepe!!

 

 

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[shoreham01]

Marinefish - thanks for the information. We are going to the Azores and Canaries next month. A few questions!

 

Are there teamaking facilities in the cabin?Yes

 

Can you use the mini bar as a fridge?Its more of a cooler

 

What are the toiletries like? (I usually take my own!)Not as good as P&O, prefer to take my own. I believe they are better in Aqua or Concierge Class

 

How much is a bottle of house wine? - The wine package looks quite expensive:eek:Don't know, we don't drink wine

 

Dare I mention tips?:eek: We like to tip staff ourselves as we don't agree with compulsory gratuities. What is the procedure for removing them?

You can have the automatic tip (hotel charge) removed either before the cruise if you have paid up front for it, or you can remove either all or some of it on the ship. Don't want to start a tipping discussion, but remember there are a lot of unseen faces looking after you as well as the room steward and waiters. You can also take off some of the automatic tip so that you can give directily to who you wish to give to. The choice is all yours.

[CRUISIN LINDA]

You can have the automatic tip (hotel charge) removed either before the cruise if you have paid up front for it, or you can remove either all or some of it on the ship. Don't want to start a tipping discussion, but remember there are a lot of unseen faces looking after you as well as the room steward and waiters. You can also take off some of the automatic tip so that you can give directily to who you wish to give to. The choice is all yours.

 

Thanks a lot. We never pay tips up front on principle, so shall go to Purser's desk on arrival. I don't trust cruise companies to pay to staff ;)

 

One more question? Is there a self service laundy on board?

[waggie]

Recently back from the Eclipse (Baltic from Southampton). Obtained lots of useful info. from this site and would like to share more details about things we found out onboard.

.

 

16 GB new model ipads were $399 when the ship first came over from the US. They are now $539 (~£345) so we didn’t buy!

 

Are you quite sure that they were not selling the last iPad 2 models early on and then selling the new iPad later. While these look pretty much the same, they do have different specifications.(new processor and better screen resolution etc). The US Apple website does show that type of difference in price.

[little britain]

Marinefish - thanks for the information. We are going to the Azores and Canaries next month. A few questions!

 

Are there teamaking facilities in the cabin?

 

Can you use the mini bar as a fridge?

 

What are the toiletries like? (I usually take my own!)

 

How much is a bottle of house wine? - The wine package looks quite expensive:eek:

 

Dare I mention tips?:eek: We like to tip staff ourselves as we don't agree with compulsory gratuities. What is the procedure for removing them?

1. Yes there is a kettle on sailings from Southampton
   
2. Yes you can chill a bottle of wine in the minibar
   
3. Toiletries are excellent
   
4. Wine starts at $27 per bottle (same as in any good UK restaurant) but the deal on board is the 355ml carafes of wine you get in Ocean View cafe for $11.50. All prices from Southampton include the 15% tip so what you see is what you pay. The drinks packages are very good value if you drink 6-7 drinks a day.
   
5. You either pay the gratuities up front with the cost of the cruise, or they are added daily automatically to your onboard account. Much easier to pay upfront. There is no way you can feasibly expect to remember the names and faces of all those who have served you during a 2 week cruise on the last day.
   

 

Waggie - they were selling the new iPad retina display on board 2 weeks ago. The 32gb was $639 which is a bargain compared to £479 here:rolleyes:

[BMT]

Waggie - they were selling the new iPad retina display on board 2 weeks ago. The 32gb was $639 which is a bargain compared to £479 here:rolleyes:

 

Ah, but you are forgetting the 20% VAT - unless you are smuggling of course:D:D

 

We travel a lot and it was approx. the same price in Comet when VAT was added. I don't want trouble with customs!!

[marinefish]

Some quick answers that haven't been covered.

They do not proivide shower gel in the normal cabins, just bars of soap, but all the other usual toiletries are there. Take your own shower gel!

There is no self service laundry. No line either in the shower. String can be tied between the wall hooks in the shower and the sliding door frame to give a few short lines, if you take some with you.

The cabin steward will empty the fridge if you ask him/her, so that you can put in bottles of water or the two bottles of wine per cabin that you are allowed to bring onboard in Southampton.

[welshrich]

Great advice, what did you do in Zeebrugge? was there much outside the port or do you then pay further to travel into Brugge?

[David Owl]

Sorry, have to disagree about Cafe al Bacio. Unless we actually sat alongside the walkway we found it fairly quiet, often dozing in the comfy chairs. We had the Premium non-alchoholic package and it was well worth it. Although we didn't save a great deal of money it enabled us to try many drinks that we wouldn't normally have bothered with (Ginger tea aweful but I'm now a convert to Earl Grey.)

[marinefish]

RE ipads I may be mistaken. "lenbest" quoted 16GB ipads at $399 and 32Gb ipads at $499 on the May sailing. I assumed they were the new model, but may be they were not. ipad 2 16GB was $429 lastweek, but the 32GB was not listed, presumably sold out.

I think 16GB models would within the UK non-EU customs allowance, but the 32GB models would not.