Photo Review: Celebrity Eclipse - 12N British Isles & French Open Cruise - 7 June 201

[nekzaadvakil]

DW and I really enjoyed the shopping here! The Liverpool One square and malls are good, the waterfront and dock area is also very scenic.

 

We enjoyed the day out and returned to some awesome views of the setting sun.

 

 

 

 

And of course we managed to get some good clicks of the awesome Celebrity Eclipse! As beautiful on the outside as on the inside!

 

 

 

This picture sums it up perfectly. Oh how beautiful you are!

 

 

 

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

Back on the ship, we tried some martinis at the Famous Martini Bar. Since it was an overnight in Liverpool, many people were out, or so we assumed since the ship was less crowded. Not empty, but definitely less crowded.

 

 

The chocolate martini was just out of this world! We wasted 5 days not having this drink! The blasphemy! These martinis were priced over the $9 limit, so we had to pay the balance $5-6 per drink. Well worth the money.

 

 

The next day we woke up without an alarm since we had another easy day around the city.

 

 

While walking in the streets, we came across this Cat cafe, which allows people people into their cafe at a time, which is spread across 3 levels and one can play and pet their cats. DW is a total animal lover (she’s rescued multiple dogs & cats, & became a vegetarian due to her love for animals) and I’m more of a dog person, but we had to go in. There was a long line but we were lucky to get in without a prior reservation.

 

 

 

Warning: for those who have pets back home like us, this place will definitely make you miss your fur babies.

 

After a really enjoyable time in Liverpool, we headed back to the ship. Liverpool really exceeded our expectations. The people were friendly and the weather was amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

Once back on the ship, we headed for some more of those amazing drinks at the Martini Bar!

 

 

 

 

Every night at around 8 PM the bartenders here executed some amazing tricks like pouring multiple drinks at once, definitely the highlight of the place. I think I have a video as well which I’ll add below!

 

 

After dinner with our friends, we headed up to the sky lounge to end our fabulous day in Liverpool.

 

 

Next up: Belfast (or so we thought)

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

MANY thanks for your review! I'm loving reading it!! Just in case you didn't know about it, there is a separate Vegetarian menu in the MDR. Just like the main menu, it changes daily. Wait staff does not always seem to know it exists--took me 2 trips always ordering limited veggie dishes from reg menu before a waiter mentioned it-- I really enjoy it. But also agree that the buffet is amazing in both breadth and quality!!

 

Apologies if the Vegetarian menu is redundant info!

thanks again for your posts!

 

Thanks! Our server on this cruise "Cruz" was very good and always went out of his way to ensure my wife had enough options for vegetarian food.

 

Enjoyed your review.

 

Thank you :-)

[nekzaadvakil]

Great review! We will spend 1 day in Paris before our Nov TA. Taking the Eurostar from London. Do you recommend taking a hop on hop off bus in Paris?

Thanks

 

There is ALOT to see in Paris, and DW and I both were ok walking. A Hop on Hop Off bus is something we've never done in any city. We usually plan the places we want to see on google maps and then make our way there on foot or via the metro. You're definitely going to need more time in Paris if you'd like to cover most of the attractions.

 

A TA cruise is something I'm waiting to try. So many sea days!

[nekzaadvakil]

Day 8: Belfast

 

This is honestly the port we were looking forward to the most. DW is a huge fan of game of thrones so we were booked on the Antrim Coast/ Winterfell / Giants Causeway excursion.

 

The previous night, the captain had announced that there was a storm (Storm Hector) around Northern Ireland and hence the seas would be slightly choppy. The seas were rough, I couldn’t feel it till 1 AM in the casino, but I could definitely feel it more in our cabin. But not enough to make us feel sick.

 

In the morning, there was an announcement that we would be skipping the port of Belfast due to the storm and that it would not be safe to dock there. Instead this would be converted into another sea day.

 

While we were disappointed, we don’t let things that are not in our control disappoint us. The captain is in charge of our (passengers & crew) safety and the ship’s safety so we need to support his decision. And hey, a sea day is always great fun.

 

I must say that the CD and activities team did an outstanding job changing the daily planners and added activities to ensure that no one got bored. We had another really awesome day at sea. No complaints whatsoever.

 

This was our 9th cruise and it was the first time we had ever missed a port. More time to explore the amazing ship!

 

 

 

 

Next up: Waterford, Ireland

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

Day 9: Waterford, Ireland

 

Waterford was the first of two ports where we were not docked, but had to use tenders instead. There are pros and cons to tender ports. The con is that it takes much longer to get off the ship. The pro is you get to see some small ports which may not have been possible to dock in, and you get to see some amazing views of the ship!

 

We got off the tender and walked towards the bus stand which took us to the town square. It was a 20 odd minute drive. The town square was pretty and we had ample time to stroll around and enjoy our day in Waterford.

 

 

The weather was overcast and cold. It was the coldest day of the cruise and I really enjoyed it. We don’t have a winter season back home in Mumbai, India so this is something I really look forward to!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

 

We grabbed some lunch at a local restaurant called TJ Thai. DW and I love spicy Thai food and these guys had some really good dishes.

 

We followed that up with the most amazing pistachio gelato. This was certainly one of the best ones and I wish I had some more!

 

 

We then headed back towards the ship. The area around the dock was also very picturesque and we wanted to spend some time here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

We headed back to our ship via the tender boats. This is when the winds really picked up and most people were freezing in line for the boats.

 

We were amongst the few people who sat on the open top deck to get some good views of our ship!

 

 

Once back on the ship, we got ready to grab some drinks and dinner. We tried the Black Forest martini. While it looks good, it didn’t taste as good at the chocolate martini. That’s easily our favourite!

 

 

We had dinner with our friends in the MDR. The chicken Kiev was just outstanding. This is one of my favourite dishes back him in Mumbai and while the presentation wasn’t as fancy as we get back home, it was really tasty.

 

 

Here’s how it’s served back home in Mumbai.

 

 

Coming up next: Corb/ Cork, Ireland

 

 

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[mrsgoggins]

Wow, love that chicken Kiev from Mumbai!

 

Liverpool is my closest big city and you were so lucky with the weather - it makes all the difference - but your photos of Waterford do make it look very appealing; even though overcast. Good job.

[nekzaadvakil]

Loving this review! We will be on the Eclipse for the first time next month out of Barcelona.

 

I could never have coped with cutting it so fine time-wise getting back to the ship after Paris, but you certainly made the most of your day. Good for you :D.

 

Alejandro remains my favourite CD of all time and I also like Maarten too. Normally I’m not too bothered about who fills what position but we’ve done three cruises with Alejandro as CD and he definitely added to the overall experience.

 

Barcelona! Another one of my favorite cities in Europe. Been there twice and loved it both times.

 

 

Wow, love that chicken Kiev from Mumbai!

 

Liverpool is my closest big city and you were so lucky with the weather - it makes all the difference - but your photos of Waterford do make it look very appealing; even though overcast. Good job.

 

I could not agree more. After the cruise we spent 4 days in London and the weather was just gorgeous. Will post some pictures at the end of the cruise report. Those pictures also look much better!

[nekzaadvakil]

Day 10: Cobh/ Cork

 

After booking this cruise, DW and I hardly got enough time during work to seriously research and plan each port.

 

We did some research for this port too and didn’t find anything that appealed to us. However, we did read about this place called the Fota Wildlife Park.

 

DW and I love animals and hence we decided to explore this park. I cannot stress enough how lucky we were to have stumbled across this place and seriously don’t know why Celebrity doesn’t have an excursion here.

 

The train station is right outside where the ship docks and it’s just 3 stops away. We missed the train at 9:30 and we didn’t want to wait another hour, so we took a cab to Fota which took us around 20 mins. We reached at around 10:00 am, which was just around opening time.

 

 

 

 

We also had a gorgeous clear day which made it very comfortable to walk. And there’s a lot of walking here! I’ve never been to South Africa for a safari, but this experience really made me want to. It’s got tons of wild animals in vast open spaces. I’ll just let some of these pictures do the talking....

 

 

 

 

To be continued...

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

More pictures from FOTA Wildlife Park in Cobh

 

 

 

 

I’m not posting pictures of all animals, but I’m hoping these give you a glimpse into what Fota was like and if you’d be interested in spending the day here. We were also lucky to catch some feeding times (the lions were amazing) so it makes sense to plan ahead.

 

Now here’s a word of advice if you do. The train station is exactly halfway around the circular path one needs to take. We ended up having to go round, and then halfway around again since we had to catch the train to Cork.

 

 

The station was really small and there was no place to buy tickets. The train arrived and we spoke to the driver and he said jump on, and buy a ticket once you get off the station! How cool was that!

 

We got off at Cork and bought our tickets, including our tickets back to the dock in Cobh. We walked around the main town square including the English Market. Again, excellent weather!

 

 

This was an excellent walking street. Tons of places to eat and shop and enjoy the festival atmosphere.

 

 

To be continued...

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

After all that walking around, I think i earned my meal that day!

 

 

I also came across the same chain of gelato selling that awesome pistachio ice cream, so I was thrilled to bits! Had to have one more!

 

 

 

After spending some time here, we headed back to the train station towards our ship.

 

 

We had an hour to go before we needed to be back on the ship, so we strolled around the area next to the doc which was also quite nice.

 

 

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

 

We really enjoyed this port and this is another place we would have probably never visited if it wasn’t for cruising!

 

We went to deck 5 for the sail away and it was spectacular!

 

 

 

 

We then met up with our friends for dinner! The creme brûlée in the MDR is just outstanding!

 

 

 

Next up: St Peter Port, Channel Islands

 

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

Day 11: St Peter Port, Channel Islands

 

We really didn’t know what to expect or plan at this port, so we decided to just go out and see for ourselves. This was the second of the 2 ports where we were tendering, and this one was an absolute disaster!

 

By the time we finished breakfast and went to collect the tender tickets (they are numbered), we received the 2nd last tender boat numbered in the high forties! I think it was 48 !! They had just announced numbers 6 & 7 when I collected these tickets. The sea was choppy and the ride to the shore was taking over 20 minutes each way!

 

There were ALOT of people complaining that this delay would not give them enough time at the port. Our friends at dinner, Amy & Elliot had been here earlier and had told us that they were just going to treat this as another day at sea and enjoy the ship. We contemplated the same, but then someone came and offered us their tickets in the twenties as they didn’t want to go out.

 

We went ashore and honestly there was hardly anything to do or see. It was a Sunday so most shops were also shut. I’m not entirely sure why Celebrity has this port as part of the itinerary, maybe it’s for some visa/ legal reasons. We got back on the ship and decided to use it as a sea day as well.

 

 

 

We grabbed some drinks at the pool bar and got into the hot tubs! We couldn’t believe that we literally waited for 10 days before getting into the pool/ jacuzzis. On our past cruises we usually spend quite some time here, so it felt good to get to spend some time in the empty hot tubs.

 

 

 

We then met up with our friends for a marathon session of table tennis which was a great workout. After a quick shower, we got ready for dinner. Another awesome dinner in the MDR.

 

 

 

After dinner, we went to the silent disco in the atrium. It was the battle of the DJs silent disco with our CD Chris, a DJ and activities manager Giuseppe. It was great fun and people were dancing on all floors, in the elevators, everywhere. Absolute party atmosphere!

 

 

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[gfkcruiser]

We did a transatlantic this year on the Eclipse to Dublin. We docked at Dunmore East for our Waterford stop. It was about a 30 min drive. Was the Eclipse actually in Waterford?

We are repeating this cruise again in April

Great review.

Gail

 

 

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[nekzaadvakil]

We did a transatlantic this year on the Eclipse to Dublin. We docked at Dunmore East for our Waterford stop. It was about a 30 min drive. Was the Eclipse actually in Waterford?

We are repeating this cruise again in April

Great review.

Gail

 

 

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Hi Gail, I think we also docked in Dunmore East.

[nekzaadvakil]

Day 12: Sea Day

 

Well well, after an amazing 11 days, our cruise was nearly coming to an end. Here’s when the depression starts to creep in. Time really flies when you’re having fun.

 

This picture at the Martini bar summed up my feelings perfectly. The feeling of giving up on all this fun, time with my wife, and getting back to the real world and work had me like....

 

 

But we yet had a full sea day, and 4 days in London, so I wasn’t going to let my depression creep in just yet!

 

We caught up with our friends Adam & Weiyi and spent the full day with them. We played a triathlon session of table tennis, air hockey (in the arcade) and spades (the card game).

 

We interspersed it with fun celebrity life activities on the ship like the final bingo session, the crazy & fun scavenger hunt with activities manager Nick (when we won), and lots of drinks and food whenever we could.

 

The last sea day had a huge brunch in the Oceanview cafe which was AMAZING!

 

 

 

 

Of course i had to spend some time in the casino as well. I play a lot of Roulette(usually late in the night) and DW likes trying her luck on the slot machines.

 

 

We also spent some time looking at this gorgeous view! We really enjoyed the sunset veranda cabin and we were really going to miss it.

 

 

We caught up for dinner with our friends for one last dinner together on this cruise. We said goodbye and thanked our dining staff who were just phenomenally good to us during our meals.

 

We went and saw the final celebrity life activity - the adults only battle of the sexes in which our friends took part. It was hilarious.

 

We said our tearful goodbyes to our friends and retired to bed just past midnight. We had an early morning flight to London from Amsterdam so we needed to be off the ship with our bags by 7:30 am.

 

The cruise definitely ranked right up there with our favourite holidays. It definitely wasn’t the best itinerary we had been on (by far) but it turned out to me one of the best cruises thanks to the awesome ship, crew and the 2 couples we met.

 

Can’t wait for our next cruise!

 

Cheers!

 

Nick

 

Coming up: our London Diaries

 

 

 

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[plumduff68]

Thank you soo much for your photo review.

 

We are on the Eclipse in November - our first time with Celebrity and it looks like we have made a good choice :-)

 

We only live 2 hrs on the train from Paris and you're been more than us!!

 

Thanks again

 

PD

[nekzaadvakil]

Thank you soo much for your photo review.

 

We are on the Eclipse in November - our first time with Celebrity and it looks like we have made a good choice :-)

 

We only live 2 hrs on the train from Paris and you're been more than us!!

 

Thanks again

 

PD

 

Celebrity's S class ships are just beautiful. I'm sure you will have an awesome time on the Eclipse. I absolutely love traveling and cruising is my favorite kind of holiday. Waiting to try out the Solstice and Equinox to tick off all Celebrity's S class ships.

 

Cheers!

 

Nick

[zestyzorra]

Hi Nick, 

 

Just wanted to say thank you for your awesome review!  I know it is years later but I only just came across it.  Your positive attitude is infectious, and your pictures are great!  I appreciate your information on the Sunset Cabin, I am thinking of booking this same one (which is how I came across your review).

 

Have a great day!

 

Sara

[Lindagop]

Okay, so happy that Sara (previous post) found this review. This has to be my absolute favorite. The informative, refreshing and to the point way in which it was written together with beautiful pictures. Thank you so much

[nekzaadvakil]

On 2/19/2020 at 1:28 PM, zestyzorra said:

Hi Nick, 

 

Just wanted to say thank you for your awesome review!  I know it is years later but I only just came across it.  Your positive attitude is infectious, and your pictures are great!  I appreciate your information on the Sunset Cabin, I am thinking of booking this same one (which is how I came across your review).

 

Have a great day!

 

Sara

 

On 2/19/2020 at 8:27 PM, Lindagop said:

Okay, so happy that Sara (previous post) found this review. This has to be my absolute favorite. The informative, refreshing and to the point way in which it was written together with beautiful pictures. Thank you so much

 

Thank you Sara & Linda. So glad to see you enjoyed the review. Was quite surprised to see a post on this review after nearly a year and a half. 

 

Sara - you're going to love the ship and the sunset cabin. 

 

Cheers!

 

Nick

[ldubs]

Wow, this is a terrific itinerary.  We did a British Isles cruise some years ago.  We enjoyed it a lot but it was not near as extensive as your trip.  Anyway, thanks for sharing.  It sure brought back some good memories and makes us want to experience this itinerary again! 

 

PS: Additionally, thanks for the frequent paragraph breaks.  Makes reading your review even more of a  pleasure (for my tired old eyes).   Haha

 

Edit: Yikes!  I just noticed the original date of the review.  Doesn't make it any less enjoyable.  Lol

Edited February 22, 2020 by ldubs