This ship is awesome....make no mistake. The Cruise Director works incredibly hard and is highly visible and interactive with passengers.

The food, the entertainment, the cabin and dining staff were all wonderful. It was the first cruise for me and I am boring everyone to death with it....best time ever - and I am 68!

Please don't let downbeat reviews put you off the Eclipse - some folk just love to complain...they should jolly well stay home.

This was a back to back cruise for 28/01 and 04/02. I have only been on a couple of Princess cruises in the past but found the Celebrity experience just as enjoyable. We arrived in Miami on 27/01 and stayed in the Miami airport hotel for the night after the long flight from Manchester via Philadelphia. The hotel was just okay, I expected the lobby and bar area to be nice relaxing place but it was a bit run down, reminded me slightly of a bar in a shabby railway station. The room was comfortable though but overall I think if I cruised from Miami again I would stay pre-cruise outside the airport.

It was a nice warm day on the Saturday when we boarded and were very impressed with the ship when we had a look around. In fact throughout the two weeks the weather was very good. On the first sea day on the Sunday morning it was cloudy with a brief shower and a very brief shower in St Maarten but apart from that it was warm and sunny throughout. It was a bit breezy at time but it was no problem.

The ship was very impressive and all the fixtures and fittings were top class. There was artwork all over the ship which made very interesting viewing. I also liked the divers video that was shown on the video screens in the oceanview café, it was strangely captivating! Anybody who has been on the Eclipse will know the video I mean.

Our room was a Concierge room and again everything was top quality, loved the little extras that came with Concierge especially the footrests on the balcony which made the loungers virtually a full sun lounger. The bathrobes were also very nice – nearly bought one but resisted ! Our room was just 2 rooms from the back of the ship which made it a very quiet room as little traffic passed although it was some way to the lifts.

The ship was very clean and modern. It still has that new feel to it and is very well designed throughout. There are examples of interesting artwork all over the ship which also added to the ambience on board. The lawn club on the top deck was an unusual feature. Initially I thought it would be a waste of space but it was quite a relaxing area to sit in the comfy chairs and have a drink looking over the lawn area night or day, so it got my approval.

Most things about the ship were very positive but I will just summarise a few points including the negative ones.

Positive :

Enjoyed all the stops even though we did some twice, particular the evening stops in Puerto Rico. It was very enjoyable going for an evening out, particularly the bar that invented the pina colada – of course we had to sample one or two !

Well done to Celebrity for utilising their outdoor areas on an evening. Most of their outdoor bars were open until late and often some entertainment was put on. Having only been on Princess before it was a welcome change as they tended to shut everything down outdoors by 8pm apart from the party night.

Getting on and off the ship both at stops and at the start and end of cruise. All very smooth and quick.

The Oceanview café with the different food stations, very well set out and lots of choice at peak times.

Excellent theatre and shows, obviously a lot of money has gone into putting it all together.

The ship in general, a great place to experience.



Negative :

Probably my biggest moan was that the Oceanview café had such poor choice of food outside peak hours. Especially in the afternoon and after 9.30pm. Virtually all the food stations were closed off. We went down for a meal at 9.40pm which I do not consider late and there was virtually nothing open. For late night snacks it was chef’s choice, always without fail it was meatballs – he must really like them ! I think there was some pizza on as well. Not good. This was one area where Celebrity performed very poorly and where Princess are far superior.

Too many pay restaurants and not a great variety.

Bistro on 5 – what a waste of space ! Hardly ever saw anybody in there, how can you devote a whole restaurant to just one dish.

Having one comedian on in the whole 2 weeks with the same show. Celebrity publicise this by stating if you miss his show it is repeated throughout the cruise. Come on lets have a bit more choice ! He was good though.

The glass blowing show. Just cannot see it having appeal. Lasts 2 hours – too long. Once you’ve seen it that’s it, its part of the ship you will not go back to. The time and space could be better utilised.

Molecular bar – barman far too serious about his job. Overpriced cocktails that are not that good.



Overall it was a great cruise and very enjoyable. The negative side of things certainly did not put me off wanting to cruise again with either Celebrity or the Eclipse. The weather, ship and destinations all combined to create a great holiday. I put a deposit down in the future cruise department whilst on board so it is now on to deciding where next !

We sailed out of Southampton to Miami and to be honest I can't find a bad word to say about the ship or the crew. She was clean and staff were stationed at the entrances to all the dining rooms with hand gel (there were machines as well). The food was great; I think there was only a couple of nights (out of 13) that we struggled to find anything we really fancied but there was always the buffet. The entertainment is very much an individual thing, but we were fortunate with 2 guest speakers (subjects were - Maritime Exploration and Intelligence Secrets) who filled the theatre virtually to standing room only when they spoke. The evening entertainment was also enjoyable.

Would we sail on her again - YES, YES and a definite YES!

Celebrity Eclipse: This ship is advertised as a 5 star cruise experience, well the ship itself was a 5 star ship but i'm afraid the staffing situation has a lot to be desired,they will probley say with it been a new ship it has new staff still learning, sorry I dont buy that, all staff should be fully trained.
Here is a few points of interest about staff and the ship that other potential cruisers should know.
1. Gratuaties: automaticly $11.50 per day added to your account unless you stop it. Not many people knew about the cancelling of payment of gratuities. In the cafe were you can get what food you want
(3 star choice only) there are no small bins for rubbish so there is tea bags and sugar bags all over the table.doors to cabins open outward and very stiff to open nearly impossible for any body with weak hands oe a female. Fridge door would not close. Wash basin in toilet was diabolical, tap came right across sink making it very difficult to wash in sink without catching yourself. Was charged 20% VAT on gifts but nothing else, I queried this and was told that this is normal although we was off southern Ireland, I asked to whom they paid the VAT to as the ship is not British the asstant could not give me an answer. They sold Cigerettes but you could only buy 20 per day, not 200 as normal. In the main dining room a charge of $3.50 was made if you wanted coffee with your meal. The organization in the dining room has a lot to be desired on how to look after passengers, just small things like pulling the chair out for you (I am disabled) Back to the cabin, TV had only one film channel if you wanted a greater choice you had to pay, most other channels aimed at the American cutomers not the British. On arrival into our balcony room we found under the bed the previous customers bill statment also ladies false finger nail on the floor. Cabin boy? on the second day of cruise we had 4 differerent cabin boys then 2 each day. on last day of cruise envelope left in cabin for gratuities with 2 names on envelope, they even came to cabin at 10pm to see if we was O.K. that to me was to see if we was going to leave them a tip because we was walking off the the ship the following morning and they knew we would not see them again. As an ardent cruiser for the past 7 years sailing with Cunard 6 times, Royal Carrabbien 4 times and P.& O I think I know a little about cruising holidays and I can honestley say this fits in to one of the worst cruises I have been on, lets hope thing will inprove with time. Brian61UK

We sailed on this ship last year and only thought to put this review when I was trying to write a review for Carnival Magic (absolutely amazing ship and holiday). We booked Celebrity Eclipse just 3 weeks before sailing on a last minute deal. We had a good price but was disappointed in overall holiday. Firstly, it was our firt time sailing out of Southampton - never again - too many days at sea in poor weather (even though we sailed in July). It was also our first experience of a "posh" ship where you have to dress for dinner and spend your time with strangers. Thankfully this was a pleasant experience as we met a lovely family but the attentiveness of the staff was overbearing, purely I think to ensure good tips at the end of the cruise. We chose, as in the previous post, to take our gratuities off our bill and tip accordingly. The food was very good. The entertainment however was dreadful. I know this is all down to personal taste but string quartets, achapelo (not sure if that's spelt right) and classical artists in the main theatre were just not our cup of tea - I have to say, in the evenings we were bored. Most people we spoke to were of the same opinion. This experience has more than confirmed that the casual ships are more to our taste but of course it may well suit some types.