BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
Celebrity Eclipse Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 53
7 Night Alaska Hubbard Glacier (Vancouver Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 09, 2019
Ship: Celebrity Eclipse
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9292
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 4 years ago
Review summary
This cruise was beyond disappointing and Celebrity should be ashamed. I couldn't recommend this cruise to ANYONE unless maybe you are part of a large group, in which case Celebrity will do any and everything to please you to the detriment of everyone else. All you hear about now from Celebrity is its new ship, the Edge. It seems they have forgotten that it is great service that keeps cruisers coming back, not the bells and whistles on a new ship. I won't ever cruise with Celebrity again.Embarkation
Went smoothly.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
First let me say that food quality has declined on Celebrity. Many things were bland, overcooked or simply tasteless. We had the misfortune to be on the cruise with a large group which Celebrity apparently wanted to pull out all the stops to please to the detriment of other cruisers. They unceremoniously cancelled the reservations I had made last February for specialty restaurants Murano and Tuscan Grill because they decided to accomodate the large group instead. We were shuffled to other nights and times with no compensation for Celebrity's abrupt cancellation. We had to miss the show on the first night because we had to change our dinner plans and find another place to eat. In addition, on at least 2-3 days we were unable to find lunch seating in the Oceanview buffet restaurant even though we went back several times during the lunch hours to try to find a seat. The main dining room Moonlight Sonata restaurant is only open from noon to 1:30 for lunch so it isn't possible to make it during that time if you are doing some of the other activities. Also, lunch service there is very slow. Overall, all of the food service is very slow. We had a great server a couple of times at Moonlight for dinner that seemed to move things along wonderfully but that was the exception. Tuscan Grill was very slow. Murano was fair.
Onboard Activities
We attended a lecture by a couple who were naturalists and it did not appear that they had put much into the preparation. Counting how many attendees were falling asleep was more entertaining than the presentation. We also attended a matinee where a magician was teaching simple magic tricks (rope tricks, card tricks). I think perhaps it was geared more to children and not particularly of interest to adults. Also, the magician went into an overly long story and rather depressing story of his life. While I'm not minimizing the importance of the unfortunate events in the lives of the magician and his family, the narrative did not belong in the show/activity.
Entertainment
I enjoyed the two full production (dancers, singers, acrobats) shows, "Topper" and "Rock City." I think there are 3 full production shows on other Celebrity cruises so that was disappointing. The dancers and singer did perform in a couple of other smaller productions themed on the 60's and 40's but these were staged in the main foyer or sky lounge where it was more difficult to get a good viewing point. I enjoyed Ivan Pecel, the comedy juggler but felt there was too much emphasis on comedians because 4 of the nightly shows in the theater were comedians. I suppose they are cheaper shows to produce as compared to cast production shows.
Service and Staff
Although, there are exceptions (our room steward was wonderful, the concierge was fabulous, and one waiter and his assistant were top notch), our overall service ranged from fair to very poor. Our experiences with the Shore Excursion Desk, Guest Relations and the Specialty Restaurant Personnel who cancelled our dinner reservations to accommodate the large group on board were monumentally bad. Celebrity used to be committed to good service. Now they apparently only wish to serve and please large groups.
Ship Quality
Nothing special, but okay.
Cabin / Stateroom
While I really liked the location (convenient, oversized balcony, quiet) that our planner picked for us, the cabin itself needed a facelift. There was a sizeable stain on the couch and the mattress needed to be replaced. The cabin steward was great, though, and kept everything spotless.
Ship tip
My advice would be to NOT sail on the Celebrity Eclipse. You'll be wasting your vacation time and dollars on a stressful, and VERY disappointing cruise.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia
I enjoyed Vancouver. We stayed overnight at Hotel Blu, which is wonderful and took a fun city tour.
The Alaskan scenery is awe inspiring and I highly recommend it. Just don't go with Celebrity. There are plenty of other options out there.
Sitka is a very interesting place. We went on a excursion booked privately which gave us a lot of history about the area and we also visited the Fortress of the Bear.
Juneau is my favorite port of call. Weather was gorgeous that day and we went on a tour taking us on a hike to see Mendenhall Glacier and then a boat ride to see orcas, humpback whales, porpoise and seals. The guide was outstanding!
We didn't get to really see Ketchikan because, again, Celebrity screwed up. We had arranged an excursion through them and arrived at the Celebrity Theatre at 3pm as instructed for further instructions. Our tour was to leave at 3:15pm. A Celebrity employee looked at our tickets gave us a number and told us to take a seat and wait until our number (32) was called. So we sat a few minutes until an employee called all groups up to number 35 and then followed the employee upstairs. Once upstairs on the dock, we couldn't find anyone with a group number 32 paddle so we asked another employee where to find our group. He informed us that they had already LEFT without us and it was NOT after 3:15pm. We asked him why we were told to sit and wait if our group was leaving and he had NO explanation. He said our only alternative was to go on a tour which combined a city tour and a visit to Potlatch ( a reproduction native village) and there were only 2 seats available on that tour. While this was quite different than the tour we had booked and not something we would have chosen on our own, we agreed to go so the day wouldn't be totally wasted. The two seats left on the bus were at the very back under a heater that was so loud that we could not hear ANY of the driver/guide's narration on the city tour. When we arrived at Potlatch, we told the guide we couldn't hear her and she said she would fix it for the ride back. However, on the ride back, she was unable to get the speaker to work at all so there was no narration for anyone. Potlatch itself is something that would appeal more to children rather than adults, I think. There is a studio where the artist who carves the totem poles works but we were told by the guide that she prefers to work in the winter when the tourist crowds aren't around. So, you just get to see the totem pole in progress but not the artist. We complained to the Shore Excursion Desk the next day as we couldn't hear any of the city tour and were refunded but still given no explanation as to why we were told to wait and left behind for the tour we originally scheduled. Perhaps someone from the large group onboard decided they wanted to go and we were bumped from that, too. Our day in Ketchikan was totally wasted. Thanks, Celebrity. As far as the port shopping in Ketchikan, it's mostly jewelry and nothing you won't see in Juneau.
Disembarkation
Went smoothly. Was overjoyed to be off of the Eclipse.