Celebrating with Celebrity Our 50th Anniversary

Our review of the Jan 23, 2017 cruise of the southern Caribbean and the various but similar islands cover several areas. Regrets none but comments many. Having cruised with Celebrity several times before, once we started thinking about it while cruising the southern Caribbean on the Eclipse, we noticed many on-board changes compared with past Celebrity cruises. Gone are the Sunday brunches, ice and fruit sculptures, dining room farewells on the last night, lunches at no cost in specialty cafes, nighttime stateroom towel displays, actual class on martini making changed to an individual demonstration only, celebrations (anniversary or birthday) are really minimalized, uncomfortable chairs in dining room that are impossible to slide, and the veranda stateroom couch being horribly uncomfortable. Now for the additions noted are: custom photography persuasion is now minimized, cleanliness in all areas of the ship, crew friendliness and best of all smoking prohibited and enforced on verandas. Entertainment remains very good, especially the individual performances. The ship’s house band, Drew etc. gave monumental performances. They could have played all night and never repeated a tune. One of the best we’ve seen on any ship.

The cruise was a success and the weather prevailed for all days out of and in port. But when you go to so many island nations in one trip, in the end there wasn’t much difference or uniqueness between them. Most memorable it seems were the ship docking and departure from each port.  Food at the standard venues was mostly great except that there seemed to be more fish than meat entrées in the main dining room and the vegetables were too al dente for our liking, except in the buffet area. We really liked the set-up there and the main courses in the pans were a great idea. Wait staff was always and has always been fantastic, along with the sommeliers, meals were something for us to look forward to at lunch and dinner.  Though we can’t conclude whether having the beverage package is economical or more for our convenience. The prepaid gratuity makes the decision process less cumbersome when the cruise is over.

And finally, the really worst parts of the cruise were the rude patrons at the buffet café. So many mannerless people we just don’t understand the lack of civility some people display. What’s the hurry? Stepping in front of others that are waiting in line or leading the way with their head or plate to get to the food before anyone else is so annoying. We soon learned to eat later or in the lunch dining room if it was available.

Using the same travel advisor (Pamela Gemini Bishop) with is always a treat because she keeps good notes for herself about her clients. She is knowledgeable and responsive and makes us feel like we always are getting the best deals. As long as we can cruise, she’ll have us as a customer. Celebrity will continue to be our first choice for cruising with Royal Caribbean a close second choice.