Celebrity Eclipse Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Celebrity Eclipse April 1 – April 14, 2018 Miami, St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Bonaire, Curaçao, Aruba Cabin 8247 Introduction This was our 23rd cruise and 3rd time sailing Celebrity. This was the ship’s last Caribbean cruise for the foreseeable future. Next stop is Dublin for European cruising this summer and then the ship will be sailing out of South America and Alaska. A new ship (The Edge?) will take over the current routes. Rather than focus on ports of call, I’d like to comment on some of the unique experiences we had or new cruise friends aboard had. Miami - (Terrorist Practice Run?) After the muster drill we headed to the port rail on deck 5 to watch the sail-away. The Norwegian Breakaway left first and while we were waiting our turn to enter the channel, a pontoon boat raced up from our stern only 20 feet from our side. From the opposite direction a Miami-Dade police launch sped toward it with lights and sirens blaring. The pontoon pilot did a one-eighty at full speed and Five-O ordered over it’s megaphone to “Stop the boat, you’re under arrest for being in a restricted area.” The pontoon boat stopped and the female occupants were wearing hijabs or head scarfs. There were a couple of adult males and at least a half-dozen small children. I am sure words were exchanged with the police and I’m sure the police were wondering what to do with a literal boatload of women and children if they arrested these guys on the spot. The pontoon boat proceeded at high speed back where it came from, and I don’t know if the cops were having it met at its moorage. My thought was, “is this some sort of practice run for an assault on the cruise industry?” The destroyer USS Cole was badly damaged in an attack in the Yemen port of Aden in 2000. The profile of this incident was very similar and the Muslim dress of the passengers didn’t help matters any. Hopefully it was just some over enthusiastic tourists. St. Maarten – (The SOS is still out there.) Two days sailing brought us to St. Maarten. We didn’t go ashore as Joanne got her face sunburned sitting on our shaded balcony reading. The sun reflecting back from the water had her red enough to want to stay indoors and recover. While Philipsburg looked intact from getting blasted by last fall’s hurricane Irma. Apparently the independent nature of St. Maarten/St. Martin translated to a lack of sympathy and financial support from The Netherlands and France. Friends reported that immediately after the storm, the banks tripled interest rates from 3% to 9% stifling the island’s recovery. Merchants cringed if you brought out a credit card to pay as the banks clipped them for a 10% service fee on your charge. If you’ve ever traveled to Marigot on the French side, the buildings in town are just skeletons and the town is now just an open air flea market. Again we did not see this ourselves but it’s what fellow travelers reported. Antigua – (Biker Boyz and Biker Chicks) Hurricane Irma made a direct hit on neighboring Barbuda. Officially, the winds were 180 mph. We heard that the winds were actually 240 mph and Irma was a Cat 5+++++ hurricane. Apparently in the Caribbean, the plusses are added to reflect super insane winds. The island’s buildings were 100% destroyed and the island has, essentially, been abandoned by its 1,800 residents. Antigua fared very well. While tied up in St. John, a tug ushering a very large fuel barge was tied up with us for most of the day. Captain Leo Palaiokrassas reported the Eclipse took on 1,100 TONS of fuel. Put that charge on your VISA card and you are going to have points to redeem on that new toaster or business jet you need. Late in the day, 20 motorcycles pulled up to the pier, Harleys, Gold Wings and Trikes and other makes. They were met with crew members handing out water, moist towels and cloths to wipe down their bikes. That night I saw a guy in one of the ship’s shops wearing a very fancy “Harley” evening shirt and asked him was he part of the biker gang aboard. He told me, yes, and explained the deal. There is a company called ETA Motorcycle Cruises that arranges specialized motorcycle cruises. The guy I spoke with was one of the company’s guides who led the tours ashore at every port. The company usually arranges escorts with local police motorcycle units. Bring your own bike and tour each of the islands you visit from your own ride. When we were deboarding in Miami, all the motorcycles were staged on the pier ready to be driven home. St. Lucia While we took a guided tour on a bus carrying 20 passengers, be advised that St. Lucia does not believe in filling potholes or padded bus seats, springs and shock absorbers. But we enjoyed the tour that included a stop at Caribelle Batik. The captain announced that prior to departing Castries he had to get clearance from both the port authority as well as the local municipal airport as the runway ends at the harbor edge and the ship blocks takeoffs and landings while passing in or out of the harbor. Barbados – (Windy +++++) After breakfast we sat at the stern at the Oceanview Bar on deck 14. The wind blew from the east at a steady 35 mph. The Maltese flag at the stern looked like it was heavily starched and set to its mast. Near by was a five mast sailing cruise ship, the Royal Clipper. If this ship left port today under today’s windy conditions, it could achieve 10 knots under bare poles. Curaçao - (Floating Market gone, but may be back.) If you’ve been to Willemstad, Curaçao before, you may have enjoyed walking past the colorful floating market where small boats from Venezuela tie up to sell fruits, vegetables and fresh fish. Well, this ended about a month ago, stemming from some breakdown between the two governments. As of this writing an agreement seems to have been reached and the boats are arriving but may be moored elsewhere in town. Aruba – (Sunset Cruise Problems) Friends of ours booked a sunset cruise through Celebrity with Pelican Tours. Two catamaran sailboats tied up opposite the Eclipse. They were on the larger Pelican II. The cruise was overbooked and not everyone could find a seat. What was worse was there was an overpowering smell of gasoline from below where the boat had internal engines, not outboards. Gasoline doesn’t ignite, gasoline vapor ignites. One passenger leaned on a railing and it collapsed on him. The food served was suspect and there were other problems like the boat being filthy. Our friends let the excursions desk know and they were given refunds. The cruise lines need to periodically inspect the products they are promoting. Cruise Superlatives Captain Leo, Cruise Director Eddy and Cruise Activity Manager Giuseppi , are just the best. They also were at the gangway in Miami to wish all passengers farewell. Best Captain’s ship-wide announcement. “An important announcement for the gentleman who lost a solid gold Rolex watch this morning. The time is precisely 4:47.” Food selection, quality and service in the Moonlight Sonata main dining room and Oceanview Café can’t be beat. We had no temptation to try a premium restaurant aboard. The musical entertainment aboard was wonderful and the evening shows by the Jersey Boys and John Joseph were superb. Don’t miss them. The ship’s TV had ESPN that carried the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball finals (Go Irish) as well as gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Masters golf tournament. (SWEET) Everyone in the ship’s crew you meet could not be friendlier. Cruise Downers In the Oceanview Café, they don’t open the ice cream bar for breakfast. (Easy fix.) Link for Motorcycle Cruising http://www.cruise-eta.com/ Austin Kearney Atlanta, GA pepperdog@mindspring.com

Like a second honeymoon after 43 years. We were celebrated as guests like family. Crew could not have been better. Entertainment superb.

Good over all time the excursions we booked made the cruise.

We had a wonderful time on the Eclipse. Almost everything was top notch, and this trip now takes first place as our best cruise holiday to date. My criticism of some aspects of some excursions does not impact that assessment. Embarkation/Debarkation Although the scene curbside was a bit chaotic, embarkation in Miami was smooth and relatively quick. We were early, but there seemed to be enough parking spaces in the nearby structure to accommodate all the guests arriving by automobile. Debarkation was similarly pain-free; once the gangway was opened, we were through the terminal and driving away within 15 minutes (carrying our own luggage). Note: Miami just raised their port parking prices to $22 per day. It’s now to the point where choosing other locations is worth it. Or alternatively, sail from Lauderdale. Ship/Staff The ship made a very good impression. It was clean and in good repair, and we love the layout of the Solstice class ships. There are only small differences between the five, if you know one, you know them all. The staff were friendly and outgoing. We were consistently greeted with a smile from all the ship’s company, no matter what their function. Almost all facilities were excellent in design, function, and condition. One notable exception was the steam room, which needs improvement. Food The variety and quality of food for lunch in the Oceanside cafe was very good. I found the curries particularly appealing and consistently tasty. Only the Mexican section was in my opinion substandard. The lunch in the spa cafe was tasty, light, and artfully presented. A change up of some of the salad items occasionally would be welcome. The breakfast and evening meals in the Blu restaurant were consistently of a high standard in both taste and presentation. Entertainment The evening entertainment was varied and interesting. However, some acts were repeats from earlier Celebrity cruises. Excursions The tour around St John’s and Antigua (Panoramic Antigua) was somewhat disappointing. Not necessarily the fault of the tour operator, I have a feeling there are just not that many interesting things to see on the island. The beach and water activities are probably fine, we were first time visitors to the island so we took the highlights tour to first get an overview of what was there. The answer? Not much. Just another Caribbean “Socialist Workers’ Paradise.” We very much enjoyed the Wonders of St Lucia tour. Note: Bridge and tunnel engineers, your skills are sorely needed in St Lucia. Every road goes around little inlets instead of across them, and then up and down every hill with 17 hairpin switchbacks instead of under it. Not for those who easily get motion sickness. The Bonaire Highlights tour was excellent. As the island is small, the drive from one end of the island to the other does not take all that long, despite narrow and sometimes unpaved roads. From the flamingos in the North to the salt pans in the South, the tour was interesting and informative, and I felt we had a good overview of the island. By contrast, “Fascinating Curaçao” was not at all fascinating. There were two stops: The first was someone’s herb garden where we spent almost an hour including the opportunity to buy allegedly medicinal teas; the second was the Curaçao liquor factory which was infinitely more interesting, but other than that, it was a quick dash with the bus along some main roads with an occasional comment about this or that. After 3.5 hours all we had really seen of the island was the herb garden, the liquor factory, and the road there and back. Not recommended. Call me unusual, but I would have been much more interested in seeing the workings of the oil refinery as opposed to an herb garden.

All in all a brilliant experience. First cruise and first trip to America. Lots of super memories to take home with us.

The ship is gorgeous the food was okay but the staff should be trained better especially at the specialty restaurants where they don't care about you at all

The only real disappointment we had was, that the cruise line does not mantain its own dressing code. Why have rules if you do not follow them? It is not okay having dinner in a suitable dress when you sit next to guests in shorts! But we have bought our next cruse from Celebrity

We love Celebrity. The staff are friendly and very receptive. They do an excellent job.

Fantastic! I would do this cruise again, the staff, entertainment was awesome, food was great!

Would definitely cruise with Celebrity again. Did a second cruise with another cruise line and won't be back with them

A wonderful cruise on a beautiful ship with great entertainment, dining and ship ambiance.

14 day cruise. After the 1st 7 days we were happy we had 7 more days to go. Relaying and fun cruise. Love Celebrity Cruises.

My wife and I, as well as our cruising friends, are firmly sold on Celebrity cruises. We had completed about a dozen cruises on Royal Caribbean, but had noted a fairly steady decline in quality (especially the food) on Royal. Our fear was that the trend might be generic to the cruise industry. But...after a couple of cruises with Celebrity, we have found a new home on the seas. We have cruises booked with them for 2019 and 2020, and are already counting down the days.

I would definitely recommend the Celebrity Eclipse for any who is handicapped and needs help due to mobility issues but does not normally use a wheelchair. Celebrity did and outstanding job and were exceptionally accomodating.

Estoy escribiendo este Review desde el mismo barco donde me encuentro frustrada, defraudada y aterrada de haber malgastado mi dinero en un crucero donde su personal a hecho todo lo posible para ocasionarnos a cada instante solo disgustos y reclamos que nadie puede solucionar

Lots of fun, beautiful islands and lots of great memories.

Overall, this was our 1st cruise together, and the experience was good, rooms were small in the inside, so we will book an outside room next time. Cruise was organized well, We were to go to St. Thomas island but was diverted to Nassau because of the Hurricanes earlier in the year. The cruise would of been better if we could of gone to St. Thomas and St. Johns islands.

This was a nice cruise, but far from my favorite. The rooms and the service was great, but the food left a lot to be desired!!

Over all this was a wonderful cruise, but I think I liked the Silhouette much better. I would rather have the lawn club grill than the Corning Glass show. Also the ship and crew was a notch better on the Silhouette.

Loved everything about this cruise!! The ship was amazing.