Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
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Topic author - Deputy Captain
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Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Further to Towny's excellent review of the Eclipse, I thought it might be of interest to give an account of our visit to the ship yesterday.
We booked this several weeks ago and first impressions were not too favourable. Having given the requisite personal information, I had to wait a couple of weeks, and query the delay, before I was contacted for payment. I am used to getting joining instructions a couple of weeks before the event and about 10 days before, I contacted their UK office to ask when we would hear. I was told that the visitors' details would be passed to the ship on the preceding Tuesday and they would then send the JIs out. Come Thursday morning, I contacted them again and pointed out that precious little time was left to resolve any problems that might arise. The girl I've been liaising with immediately sent the JIs out. Two hours later, the ship sent the JIs. Hmm.
We turned up at Dock 101 on Saturday morning and, after handing over our passports and receiving a Day Visitor pass, we headed through to the departure lounge. We were called forward by lanyard colour to board and were taken to the Sky Observation Lounge for a welcoming tea/coffee and pastry. This was near the top of the ship, on Deck 14, right at the front and afforded a great view.
While we were having our coffee, the tannoy burst into life with a crew announcement, which was obviously not for public consumption. It was welcoming new members on board and telling existing staff that many complimentary comments had been received from the disembarking passengers and giving a "well done". We were very impressed by this, as it was very genuine.
We were then taken down to see the various staterooms. We saw the three highest grades, which were impressive though ostentatious, and an outside cabin. A couple of us asked about inside cabins. Our guide said they were identical in size to the outside ones, the only difference being no window. At least 85% of the cabins are outside on Celebrity ships. Although she wasn't supposed to do so, she did take us down to see an inside cabin and it was quite big compared with the ones we're used to on Oceana. We were then set free to explore the ship on our own for two hours.
We were amazed to see people with hand baggage wandering around from 10.30 - these were the pax for the next cruise! We later found that Celebrity have a "board whenever" policy - access to the staterooms is blocked off until they are ready (although this didn't stop some from opening the fire doors to try and get to the rooms). By 11.30, the ship was heaving and part of me was annoyed because they were in the way of us exploring, but a bigger part of me felt I was intruding on their holiday. Obviously the bars and eateries were doing a roaring trade!
There are bars everywhere. We were given a $15 voucher to get a drink and were surprised at the limited choice of non alcoholic cocktails offered. We were only allowed one drink so my mint lemonade saved them $9!! An alcoholic cocktail averaged at $9, so I felt prices were a bit steep.
The public areas were, as John said, scrupulously clean, as were the toilets.
The buffet restaurant seemed massive, and they had "islands" doing different things - you could have pasta cooked to order, or stir fry, in additional to gourmet sandwiches and a carvery.
It seemed to us that there were many more shops than the other ships we've been on have.
The atrium was unusual in that, half way up is suspended a large metal sphere with a real tree growing out of it. The sides of the atrium are lined with a bank of three lifts. Going up the decks, alongside the atrium are the card room, a room with loads of Apple computers (looked like the Apple shops you see on the high street), a library, and an "Earth Room" which was just plain weird.
There's half an acre of real grass on the top deck!
Finally we reported to the Tuscan restaurant for lunch. This was a 4-course affair, with wine, and drew on the best dishes from all the restaurants on board. The food was superb. I found myself sitting next to the girl from head office that I had been dealing with, and she explained that there had been a system fault causing the late despatch of the JIs and she wasn't happy about the situation. She said she was horrified when the tannoy came on for that crew announcement and was praying that nothing embarrassing would be said, it most definitely was not meant for us to hear.
I took a lot of photos, which I had hoped to insert in this report, but for some reason I am unable to do so. The "status" says "failure to move uploaded file".
Looking at cruise prices in the brochure we later purloined from Thomas Cook, they are a bit more expensive than P&O but, overall, we think worth it. Eclipse was about to depart on a 14 night cruise to the Baltics and Russia. There are three formal nights on this, and there is a definite "class" system on board. It's probably best described as being between P&O and Cunard. We will be looking at this line for our next cruise in 2017.
We booked this several weeks ago and first impressions were not too favourable. Having given the requisite personal information, I had to wait a couple of weeks, and query the delay, before I was contacted for payment. I am used to getting joining instructions a couple of weeks before the event and about 10 days before, I contacted their UK office to ask when we would hear. I was told that the visitors' details would be passed to the ship on the preceding Tuesday and they would then send the JIs out. Come Thursday morning, I contacted them again and pointed out that precious little time was left to resolve any problems that might arise. The girl I've been liaising with immediately sent the JIs out. Two hours later, the ship sent the JIs. Hmm.
We turned up at Dock 101 on Saturday morning and, after handing over our passports and receiving a Day Visitor pass, we headed through to the departure lounge. We were called forward by lanyard colour to board and were taken to the Sky Observation Lounge for a welcoming tea/coffee and pastry. This was near the top of the ship, on Deck 14, right at the front and afforded a great view.
While we were having our coffee, the tannoy burst into life with a crew announcement, which was obviously not for public consumption. It was welcoming new members on board and telling existing staff that many complimentary comments had been received from the disembarking passengers and giving a "well done". We were very impressed by this, as it was very genuine.
We were then taken down to see the various staterooms. We saw the three highest grades, which were impressive though ostentatious, and an outside cabin. A couple of us asked about inside cabins. Our guide said they were identical in size to the outside ones, the only difference being no window. At least 85% of the cabins are outside on Celebrity ships. Although she wasn't supposed to do so, she did take us down to see an inside cabin and it was quite big compared with the ones we're used to on Oceana. We were then set free to explore the ship on our own for two hours.
We were amazed to see people with hand baggage wandering around from 10.30 - these were the pax for the next cruise! We later found that Celebrity have a "board whenever" policy - access to the staterooms is blocked off until they are ready (although this didn't stop some from opening the fire doors to try and get to the rooms). By 11.30, the ship was heaving and part of me was annoyed because they were in the way of us exploring, but a bigger part of me felt I was intruding on their holiday. Obviously the bars and eateries were doing a roaring trade!
There are bars everywhere. We were given a $15 voucher to get a drink and were surprised at the limited choice of non alcoholic cocktails offered. We were only allowed one drink so my mint lemonade saved them $9!! An alcoholic cocktail averaged at $9, so I felt prices were a bit steep.
The public areas were, as John said, scrupulously clean, as were the toilets.
The buffet restaurant seemed massive, and they had "islands" doing different things - you could have pasta cooked to order, or stir fry, in additional to gourmet sandwiches and a carvery.
It seemed to us that there were many more shops than the other ships we've been on have.
The atrium was unusual in that, half way up is suspended a large metal sphere with a real tree growing out of it. The sides of the atrium are lined with a bank of three lifts. Going up the decks, alongside the atrium are the card room, a room with loads of Apple computers (looked like the Apple shops you see on the high street), a library, and an "Earth Room" which was just plain weird.
There's half an acre of real grass on the top deck!
Finally we reported to the Tuscan restaurant for lunch. This was a 4-course affair, with wine, and drew on the best dishes from all the restaurants on board. The food was superb. I found myself sitting next to the girl from head office that I had been dealing with, and she explained that there had been a system fault causing the late despatch of the JIs and she wasn't happy about the situation. She said she was horrified when the tannoy came on for that crew announcement and was praying that nothing embarrassing would be said, it most definitely was not meant for us to hear.
I took a lot of photos, which I had hoped to insert in this report, but for some reason I am unable to do so. The "status" says "failure to move uploaded file".
Looking at cruise prices in the brochure we later purloined from Thomas Cook, they are a bit more expensive than P&O but, overall, we think worth it. Eclipse was about to depart on a 14 night cruise to the Baltics and Russia. There are three formal nights on this, and there is a definite "class" system on board. It's probably best described as being between P&O and Cunard. We will be looking at this line for our next cruise in 2017.
Alan
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Thanks for that report Alan. Nice to hear something about lines other than P&O, even for a die-hard like me.
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Thanks for a very balanced and interesting report, - but what's a JI?
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Very interesting Alan, I am delighted you will be considering an Eclipse cruise sometime in the future. Just a couple of minor corrections to your report, Celebrity only offer their "board whenever" policy to those passengers with Select Captain's Club membership and above which can be a high percentage of passengers, and the main lift banks off the atrium are in fours, giving a total of 8 lifts here and a further 4 by the forward stairs.
As regards pricing we always book during the brochure launch period and our experience has been that the Eclipse prices are cheaper than the equivalent type and time cruises from P&O, in fact Aurora's prices for similar cruises tend to be about 30% higher than Eclipse. BUT they have a limited range of itineraries, in 2016 they have; 6 X Baltic cruises, 5 x 14 days and 1 x12; 3 X Canaries of 13 days, 2 X 8 day Fjords, 1 x 14 day Med and 1 x 12 day, Iceland and Ireland. As a result we are fast running out of possible Eclipse cruises, but of course they do have other Solstice class ships doing fly cruises in Europe.
Glad you enjoyed the food, the speciality restaurants do offer slighly better food than the MDR, but its mainly the personal service that's different. As for 2017 cruises, if they follow the same policy as last year these could be launched in October this year.
As regards pricing we always book during the brochure launch period and our experience has been that the Eclipse prices are cheaper than the equivalent type and time cruises from P&O, in fact Aurora's prices for similar cruises tend to be about 30% higher than Eclipse. BUT they have a limited range of itineraries, in 2016 they have; 6 X Baltic cruises, 5 x 14 days and 1 x12; 3 X Canaries of 13 days, 2 X 8 day Fjords, 1 x 14 day Med and 1 x 12 day, Iceland and Ireland. As a result we are fast running out of possible Eclipse cruises, but of course they do have other Solstice class ships doing fly cruises in Europe.
Glad you enjoyed the food, the speciality restaurants do offer slighly better food than the MDR, but its mainly the personal service that's different. As for 2017 cruises, if they follow the same policy as last year these could be launched in October this year.
John
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
We chose Eclipse last year even though the price was a great deal more than the same itinerary on a P&O ship because we wanted to try a different cruise line and we were not disappointed. On the contrary, we wish that Celebrity did more varied cruises ex Sotton than the Baltic and Med. If they did , we would be back in a flash.
The speciality restaurants alone, and the adults only pool area were enough to make us want to travel on Eclipse again but not to the same old ports that we have done to death, even before we started cruising.
Come on Celebrity,give us cruiser more choices ex Sotton!
Aurora has fewer passengers than Eclipse and also fewer balcony cabins so that is not a fair comparison on price. Completely different style ships which appeal to different style cruisers, BUT we liked them both.
The speciality restaurants alone, and the adults only pool area were enough to make us want to travel on Eclipse again but not to the same old ports that we have done to death, even before we started cruising.
Come on Celebrity,give us cruiser more choices ex Sotton!
Aurora has fewer passengers than Eclipse and also fewer balcony cabins so that is not a fair comparison on price. Completely different style ships which appeal to different style cruisers, BUT we liked them both.
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Notso - JI = joining instructions
John - thanks for the corrections. We weren't told that it was only a certain class that could board whenever, and there were certainly a grrat many pax on board by the time we went for lunch
John - thanks for the corrections. We weren't told that it was only a certain class that could board whenever, and there were certainly a grrat many pax on board by the time we went for lunch
Alan
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Alan, if you are going to book with Celebrity, they often do deals, which include the drinks package and tips, so it saves quite a bit of money, We found the prices to be comparable to a an equivalent cruise with other major lines
Also the Eclipse is more like Azura and Ventura in terms of size, 2850 passengers
Glad you enjoyed it
Also the Eclipse is more like Azura and Ventura in terms of size, 2850 passengers
Glad you enjoyed it
Nihil Obstat
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Glad you enjoyed your ships visit, Eclipse is a lovely ship.
We've only done one cruise on her but I'm intrigued to know what has led you to think there is a definite 'class system' on board as this is something I didn't see, I believe they have recently sectioned part of the MDR off for suite passengers are there other areas not accessible to all ?
One thing we did find with Celebrity was the ease of embarking/disembarking, we arrived around 1.00pm and literally walked straight on and disembarking we had breakfast collected our hand luggage and walked straight off unlike both P&O and Cunard where the queues are always horrendous for both, makes you wonder why if one cruise line can do it why others can't.
We've only done one cruise on her but I'm intrigued to know what has led you to think there is a definite 'class system' on board as this is something I didn't see, I believe they have recently sectioned part of the MDR off for suite passengers are there other areas not accessible to all ?
One thing we did find with Celebrity was the ease of embarking/disembarking, we arrived around 1.00pm and literally walked straight on and disembarking we had breakfast collected our hand luggage and walked straight off unlike both P&O and Cunard where the queues are always horrendous for both, makes you wonder why if one cruise line can do it why others can't.
Jo
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
It seems to take ages to disembark P&O as you have to wait until all the luggage is off. Are Celebrity able to do this more quickly?
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
DQ, Celebrity have also restricted Michaels Club for suite passengers only, and of course they have Blu for Aqua class cabin passengers, but although in my latest cruise review, not posted yet, I do make a similar comment, the reality is that there is no class system just a few extra perks for those willing to pay suite prices which I cannot begrudge.Dancing Queen wrote:Glad you enjoyed your ships visit, Eclipse is a lovely ship.
We've only done one cruise on her but I'm intrigued to know what has led you to think there is a definite 'class system' on board as this is something I didn't see, I believe they have recently sectioned part of the MDR off for suite passengers are there other areas not accessible to all ?
One thing we did find with Celebrity was the ease of embarking/disembarking, we arrived around 1.00pm and literally walked straight on and disembarking we had breakfast collected our hand luggage and walked straight off unlike both P&O and Cunard where the queues are always horrendous for both, makes you wonder why if one cruise line can do it why others can't.
OBF, from our balcony I could watch them unloading the luggage and this was completed before we went for breakfast at about 7:30, after docking at about 5:30, never had a cabin overlooking the unloading area on P&O so cannot comment on their performance, but I doubt it is much slower.
John
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Jo, we were told that certain grades of stateroom had various amenities reserved for them. Also, one of the restaurants was complementary to those grades while the serfs and peasants like moi could use them at a charge.
Foxy, we checked in at 0915 and boarded at 1000. As we were parking the car, hordes of pax were leaving the terminal, so it would seem to me that they do aim for an earlier "clearout". Mind you, she did dock at 0530 that day.
Foxy, we checked in at 0915 and boarded at 1000. As we were parking the car, hordes of pax were leaving the terminal, so it would seem to me that they do aim for an earlier "clearout". Mind you, she did dock at 0530 that day.
Alan
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
and here she is sailing away without you - we were on Hayling Island and watched 4 ships sail out!
well, here she would be if it'd let me load the piccie.... I'm getting a 'Failed to move uploaded file.' error message - over and over again
well, here she would be if it'd let me load the piccie.... I'm getting a 'Failed to move uploaded file.' error message - over and over again
Meg
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
John, I think that may be the difference inasmuch as Celebrity was docking much earlier. On Aurora earlier in the year we were docking around 7-ish but it was after 9.00 before the last cases were off.
Maybe P&O passengers take more luggage than Celebrity?!!! I blame the women (in particular MicheleW with all her shoes )!!! Eeeek! Eeeek!
Maybe P&O passengers take more luggage than Celebrity?!!! I blame the women (in particular MicheleW with all her shoes )!!! Eeeek! Eeeek!
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Me too - I wonder if there's a fault with the website?Meg 50 wrote:and here she is sailing away without you - we were on Hayling Island and watched 4 ships sail out!
well, here she would be if it'd let me load the piccie.... I'm getting a 'Failed to move uploaded file.' error message - over and over again
Alan
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
I do like the look of Celebrity but for me they don't do long enough cruises and I also think they do limited itineries from Southampton. If they were to do longer roundtrips from Southampton I'd be happy to give them a try I think.
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Thanks for the report Alan. Very informative.
A couple of friends of ours who 'were' long standing P&O cruisers recently done a short-ish cruise on Eclipse just to see what she was like. From the moment they boarded they were very impressed and couldn't praise her enough, to the point that they said P&O are basically history.
A couple of friends of ours who 'were' long standing P&O cruisers recently done a short-ish cruise on Eclipse just to see what she was like. From the moment they boarded they were very impressed and couldn't praise her enough, to the point that they said P&O are basically history.
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Hi Mr Shiney......so it would appear everything DK has been telling us about Celebrity is true, which l have to say isn't the impression l've been getting when reading some of the comments posted on this forum about Celebrity.
Relaxed, casual in dress code and cheerful when propping up the bar was the impression that came across to me...
Regards
Keith
Btw....without doubt the best review l have ever read...honest!....but please don't tell the others l've said that
Relaxed, casual in dress code and cheerful when propping up the bar was the impression that came across to me...
Regards
Keith
Btw....without doubt the best review l have ever read...honest!....but please don't tell the others l've said that
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
No one likes a crawler.
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Certainly our experience was they begin disembarkation earlier than P&O which is why they are able to make cabins available sooner. First disembarkation on our cruise was 7am! Not a favourite time of day for me, I think I'd rather wait a little longer for the cabin when boarding.
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
[quote="Stephen"]No one likes a crawler. [/quote
Who me!
Under most circumstances l would agree with you but then l do enjoy a challenge
Who me!
Under most circumstances l would agree with you but then l do enjoy a challenge
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Silver_Shiney wrote:Me too - I wonder if there's a fault with the website?Meg 50 wrote:and here she is sailing away without you - we were on Hayling Island and watched 4 ships sail out!
well, here she would be if it'd let me load the piccie.... I'm getting a 'Failed to move uploaded file.' error message - over and over again
You have a PM.Meg 50 wrote:and here she is sailing away without you - we were on Hayling Island and watched 4 ships sail out!
well, here she would be if it'd let me load the piccie.... I'm getting a 'Failed to move uploaded file.' error message - over and over again
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
The cabins still weren't available when we left at 1450, the fire doors were still in place with signs saying that an announcement would be made to advise when pax could go to their rooms, and these were backed up with tannoy announcements to that effect. But, of course, there were those who felt this did not apply to them...Mervyn and Trish wrote:Certainly our experience was they begin disembarkation earlier than P&O which is why they are able to make cabins available sooner. First disembarkation on our cruise was 7am! Not a favourite time of day for me, I think I'd rather wait a little longer for the cabin when boarding.
Alan
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
Thanks for your report, very interesting reading.
I hope to give Celebrity a try at some point
I hope to give Celebrity a try at some point
Gill
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Re: Ship's Visit to the Eclipse
From end of June (I think) Celebrity have changed their pricing and added the "free" extras into the pricing dependant on the cabin grades
http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Trav ... e-pricing/
http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Trav ... e-pricing/