Back on Eclipse after 13 years!

Item: Celebrity Eclipse
Rating: 4.1
Author: Luv2cruzuk

Celebrity Eclipse Cruise Review

Luv2cruzuk

Contributor Level: Second Mate

52 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 118

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5

14 Night South America Repositioning (Rio De Janeiro To Cape Liberty)

Sail date: April 27, 2024

Ship: Celebrity Eclipse

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 1548

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 month ago

Review summary

We really enjoyed this cruise from Rio de Janeiro to New York (New Jersey). It was great to sail on the Eclipse again and on the whole, the ship is in good condition. We enjoyed the ports of call and were able to tick off Rio and Bermuda from our bucket list. I would take this cruise again.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Embarkation on Rio de Janeiro was absolutely terrible. We queued for nearly 3hrs. No apology or explanation given.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Food quality has declined since my last time on the Eclipse. We ate mostly in Blu as we were in AquaClass. The meals were healthy and delicious. On several occasions, I ordered from the main restaurant menu. We ate in Tuscan Grille twice and I could tell the quality had declined. Also the presentation was less fancy. It used to be a luxurious, extra special experience. It’s now a shadow of its former self. We ate there for lunch and also tried a dinner. The lunch was slightly better and I did enjoy the Land & Sea set menu. The Oceanview Cafe was very busy most of the time, especially at peak times. The food was pretty good with lots of choice.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

I enjoyed using the gym. It’s a good size with lots of equipment, although feels a bit dated compared to gyms of newer ships. The pools on Eclipse are a good size. I like that they have an indoor pool. The solarium is a beautiful space with a good size pool, hot tubs and nice loungers. The lawn club is a nice area, although I think it’s an underused space. They still have the Hot Glass show, which I didn’t bother going to. I wish they would replace it with the Lawn club grill as found on Silhouette.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

The main theatre shows were pretty good and I enjoyed the Beyond the Podium lectures I like that they have a cinema onboard in Celebrity Central, however the movies shown were absolutely dire. The Silent Disco was great fun. On the whole, I found the ‘general’ entertainment a bit stale.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The whole crew were amazing. So friendly and helpful. They were always keen to go the extra mile.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

I love the ‘Solstice Class’ ships. The design of Eclipse was just as I remembered. It felt very familiar to me. This was my 3rd time on Eclipse. I was disappointed with the general maintenance of the ship. When we arrived at the terminal, looking up at the ship I thought it looked a little dull. The reason for that is the lack of cleaning of all the glass. On all my past cruises, they always clean the glass on turnaround days (start/end of cruise). The glass all over the ship, balconies etc was dirty the whole time. I also thought the balcony furniture was looking very worn out. The paintwork on the balconies was also in a poor state. I would sail on Eclipse again though. It’s a sound ship and if you are booked on Eclipse, you’ll have a good cruise.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

The cabin is in good order, apart from the balcony. The glass was never cleaned and the balcony furniture was old and in a poor condition. Other than that, the cabin location was pretty good. We had the start of the Salon/Spa above us. We never really heard noise from above. The cabin location was good for the Sky Lounge and Solarium/Pool deck.