26 Jan-9 Feb Eclipse Review

[boyerd]

First off, let me state that I am the author of the "drink package best cruise deal ever" thread that has generated an extremely high number of viewing hits on cruise critic. To that end we had the premium package again and it is still the best deal ever! There was no differnce in the level of service that we received compared to other passengers who did not have the package. In fact I think our service was better because the staff knew we were more likely to want a drink or a refill so we were often "taken care of" without request.

 

Secondly, I am also the author of the "okay Andy the jig is up" thread hoping to kindly jest Andy about whether we would be able to read his review prior to our sailing. I never intended to "bother or bug" Andy and did previously read his posts about being busy at work and his recent family issues but again was just trying in a jestful manner to ask if the review would be posted soon. It sure generated a lot unnessary assumption based negative comments which of course was never my intention. Andy please know that I sincerely was not trying to cause all the commotion that I did, and I hope thinks are going better for you. Bottom line is we respect your opinion and was just cajoling in an attempt to get any feedback we could prior to leaving. Sincere apology.

 

Because so often things change or differ form cruise to cruise I will identify the Good and Not So Good from our cruise and you can assess it's value and credibilty accordingly.

 

GOOD

1) Premium Drink Package- if you want to know why... look up my thread from 2 years ago..."drink package best cruise deal ever" nothing changed...would never consider a different cruise line just because of this option.

 

2) Murano- Had the lobster...was the best meal I have ever had in my life including the 14 cruises I have been on...my wife doesn't like lobster and she tatsed it and wished she had ordered it. Tusacan was okay but not outstanding. Qsine was first time experiment and although it was novel don't think I would return unless with big group for a fun time which was also a problem for us because there was a big group there having fun and enjoying themselves which made it very noisy and uncomfortable for others.

 

3) Weather- all 16 days were exceptional...the two days prior in Fort Lauderdale was the best Florida weather we have ever experienced as was sailing day BUT never got to enjoy it as part of sail away because the ship left later in the evening (dark out) because couldn't get supplies loaded in time.

 

4) Ship Cleanlinees and staff coutesy-kudos to Celebrity

 

5) Ship Excursion in Grenada- See and Sea Sail Away 6 hours...catamaran to a very private beach where they cooked large locally caught lobster on a rock fire on the beach and served on tables built from trees and served on china plates with silverware. The home made local pumkin soup prior to the main course was undescribably good as was the local home cooked veggies that were served with the lobster. ( Local fish was also avail along with chicken)

 

5) Poolside Hamburgers- homemade and would score 10 out of 10

 

6) Pizza - although thin crust it was fresh hot and tasty

 

7) Guest Relations- even had Crazy Glue for guest use so that we could fix broken sunglasses on day one and broken fingernail on day 12.

 

NOT SO GOOD

1) Music/Dancing- the carribean band was removed from the ship prior to the completion of their contract the last day of the previous cruise. It was replaced by a party band of 4 male musicians and a female lead singer. This was problematic for a number of reasons. The band was from Europe and the singer was from USA and they met on day one. They did not know any carribean music so subsequently there was no real carribean flavour to this cruise. Also they only knew recent tunes so the dancing was quite different. If you like dancing to Unchained Melody, New York New York, Strangers in the Night and those types of older generation not quite ballroom type songs forget it. Expect Adele type dancing music. Then of course ,because the female singer wasn't used to singing much she got larngitis on day three and one of the male musicians had to sing for three days and he was brutal. Their repatoire was very limted and for 14 days quite boring.

 

2) Passenger Demographics- average age was said to be 74 although I think that was a bit high, it was at least 70 for sure. Very quiet and laid back which is okay if that's what you are looking for. We have booked two 7 day back to back for next year to experience something a little more livelier but still not partyish.

 

3) Main Dining Room-this is always so subjective and normally I would not comment on this category, however because my wife and I did say something to each other after every meal, I though I should share it with you ( we have been on 14 cruises-last 5 on Celebrity all 10 days or longer) the service was excellent BUT we found the dining room to be noisy with all the hussle etc to get it over with ( we were at late dining at a table of 10)...the food was okay but not great as in past years and it felt rushed.

 

4) Cruise Director Patti- obvious why she has been on 20 plus ships-very phoney and self serving...Sue Denning was boarding to take over.

 

5) Zumba by the Pool at 9 every morning-although the Zumba was good and the music also good...guests were not allowed to put chairs anywhere near the open section of the pool untill after zumba...caused a lot of grief and animosity.

 

Hope this doesn't all sound negative because overall it was great cruise especially given that the weather was perfect. Just meant we had to make some adjustments to our expectations, and proceed accordingly which is what I believe is the answer to experiencing an enjoyable cruise.

 

Hope this has been beneficial!

[EMS8]

Boyerd,

Thanks for your assessment of Eclipse. We will be on her for the March 9th sailing and we hope our sailing is as nice as yours. How did your experience with disembark go? I've read your post about the drink package, and thanks again for great information, as we have the premium package for our upcoming cruise.

[Dawg74]

Hi Boyerd, thanks for the review. We are sailing on the Eclipse but not until the New Years cruise at the end of this year. Your excursion while visiting Grenada sounds great!!

[Andy]

Hi Boyerd,

 

Thank you for your very kind comments. I always took your thread's comments as "tongue in cheek", and in a positive spirit. FWIW, the vast majority of our member comments were extremely kind, and I'm thankful for that. No need whatsoever for an apology, but I truly appreciate it.

 

Getting back to your cruise - I agree with you on Murano's Lobster (YUM !!!), and we also experienced a mediocre experience at Tuscan on Eclipse. Interestingly, Tuscan was outstanding on Constellation 2 weeks ago. Go figure !

 

We've never met Patti, but I'm happy to hear that Sue Denning is now onboard Eclipse. I knew she was due soon, but was unsure of the date. IMO, Ms. Denning is one of Celebrity's very best CD's. BTW, as Perry Grant & Sue Denning are currently onboard, we're decided to sail on Eclipse in April.

 

Thanks again for your review & kind comments. Welcome home !

[CathyCruises]

Now I feel REALLY ripped off! We had lobster on Solstice about a year and a half ago, and it was awful! Tough and tastless, a big disappointment. As a consequence we have avoided Murano ever since. Not sure what was up with that, but DH and I had the same reaction. . .this was the one prepared tableside, right?

[Texed]

Thanks for posting. :)

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[jomf]

Good review, thanks.

 

I like the reviews that give bad as well as the good points. You then know what to expect or avoid if needed.

 

Might try the lobster, I have never liked a lobster dish yet, but that might be me trying the dish in the wrong places!

[gelo7]

Very beneficial, thanks for sharing.

[Arubamoose]

Glad to hear about the hamburgers and pizza! I usually avoid burgers on cruise ships because they are cooked like hockey pucks and have about as much flavor and I avoid pizza because - you know - I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Nuf said!

 

Looking forward to doing Qsine for the fun factor. We too were not too pleased with Murano's when we were on the Solstice but may reconsider on the Eclipse. Hardly ever do Italian out because ... Brooklyn.

 

Not too happy about the demographics. I know I am pushing retirement age but having a ship too quiet is not what I am looking forward to.

 

And they better get a Caribbean band before I come on board!!! What's a Caribbean sailing without some steel pan music and Jimmy Buffet.

 

Still going to be a great cruise because it's better than a day in the office!

[B1G]

Thanks for the review!

 

Did you enjoy/go to the shows?

[barbels]

I was also on this cruise. Despite a few problems we enjoyed the cruise very much.

 

Thanks for the explanation of why the band was so awful. We avoided all their performances. Towards the end of the trip we heard the female singer and agreed they were much better with her. Luckily for us we didn't care much because we went to see Perry Grant each time he performed and had a wonderful time.

 

I thought the theater performers were good- especially Jordan Bennet who has an amazing voice and stage presence and the comedian whose name i have unfortunately forgotten but i thought he was very funny. I was happy to hear that he will be performing on our Summit cruise in June. The Celebrity Orchestra and the singers and dancers were also fine and so were the guitarist/singer and the accapella group. So there was lots of good entertainment on the ship- just not the party band.

 

I agree with you that the quality of the food in the MDR has declined- even since our Solstice trip in May. After 3 nights in a row of menus where there was nothing I wanted to eat, we complained to the the Asst MD, a lovely young woman named Anna, who did her best to accommodate us. She showed us the next night's menu at each dinner and had our requests prepared for us if there was nothing we liked. This worked fine for us, but we shouldn't have had to do it. I hope our complaints were relayed to Corporate headquarters, the bean counters who set the menus. For the first time we did not rate the food as excellent on our comment cards.

[boyerd]

Answers to questions;

 

1) Yes the lobster in Murano was prepared at table side and it was a very large piece of fresh lobster meat ...no shell etc

 

2) Didn't go to production shows...been there done that...went to the three different brought on board entertainers...can"t remenber their names...2 ot of 3 good...third okay

 

3) DISEMBARKATION...BRUTAL!!!!!!!...worst ever...we just told ourselves the rest have all been good so it"s our turn to have a bad one...waited to be last off ship so we could avoid all the trouble that every one else mentioned (had 4pm flight)...waoted in Cafe Al bocio till about 0945 when thay made announcement for everyone to get off...long long walk to the line up....45 minute wait in line till reached bags...no porters...carried all bags (heavy) thru another 45 minute line to customs...get outside...WHAT A GONG SHOW!!!....about 100 people lined up for taxi and no taxis there...tons of people with baggage in middle of parking lot looking for a shutlle or bus to get the hell out of there...

[Dunmore2]

Thanks for sharing your insights and opinions. I hope you will know the answers to these questions.

 

Was your second formal night the Barbados night?

 

Was there a fancy brunch in the MDR on one of the sea days?

 

Was there a Caribbean themed meal next to the pool on a sea day?

 

Thanks.

[Ruthk]

Was your second formal night the Barbados night?

 

Was there a fancy brunch in the MDR on one of the sea days?

 

Was there a Caribbean themed meal next to the pool on a sea day?

 

Sorry, I don't remember when the second formal night was. The fancy brunch was on the second last day, which was a sea day, and that evening was the last formal night (and lobster night).

The Caribbean themed lunch was not next to the pool but it was in the buffet area instead. It was held on the last sea day and last day of cruising. Hope this helps.

 

Ruthk,

St. Catharines, Ontario,

Canada.

[Dunmore2]

Yes, and thank you for answering.:)

[PinotBlanc]

Answers to questions;

 

 

DISEMBARKATION...BRUTAL!!!!!!!...worst ever...we just told ourselves the rest have all been good so it"s our turn to have a bad one...waited to be last off ship so we could avoid all the trouble that every one else mentioned (had 4pm flight)...waoted in Cafe Al bocio till about 0945 when thay made announcement for everyone to get off...long long walk to the line up....45 minute wait in line till reached bags...no porters...carried all bags (heavy) thru another 45 minute line to customs...get outside...WHAT A GONG SHOW!!!....about 100 people lined up for taxi and no taxis there...tons of people with baggage in middle of parking lot looking for a shutlle or bus to get the hell out of there...

 

Thanks for hitting the warning bell. Yes, GONG SHOW indeed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Penny

[Lolotte]

We were also on that cruise and disembarcation was very smooth at 7h30 AM. We kept our luggage the night before.

Another negative is that some people do not dress up at all, jeans and t-shirts in the dining room, it should be discouraged, it shows a lack of respect for the fellow guests.

[PreciousPetal]

Could you please tell which nights are the formal nights?

[boyerd]

day 2 8 and 13

[Muushka]

Thank you for your review. Love those fair and balanced ones! (no tongue in cheek).

 

About the CD, Patti, I agree with your assessment. But I have to say, we attended a late night movie trivia and she was the best trivia hostess ever. Very animated and seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Of course she was performing, but it was quite enjoyable.

[ping1]

Hi Boyerd

 

Regarding the 9:00 zumba class by the pool. Were there any areas in the shade? Don't want to have to wear a sun hat during zumba!

 

Were there any later Zumba classes indoors?

 

Thanks for the great review!

[texmex.ferr]

was there any drinks package discounts available once on board the ship?

Thanx

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[kacurl]

I was also on that cruise and really enjoyed the zumba classes. They were held at 9am on sea days and 4 or 430pm on all days. They lasted 45 minutes. This was our 10 th cruise and I thought the food and service were outstanding. We had anytime dining and sat at atable for 2 next to a nice couple that we really enjoyed talking with. The hostess saved that table for us every night. Our servers Renal do and Edgar were a lot of fun and gave us great recommendations. Our room steward Cheryl was great and we had breakfast on our balcony almost every morning. We did a couple of excursions booked with our new cruise critic friends and that was a lot of fun. All in all I thought it was best cruise ever but my dh says I say that after every cruise!!