My First brush with a Celebrity

Last week I had the chance to sample my first cruise with Celebrity Cruise Line sailing on the Eclipse. Sadly it was only for 2 nights, but it gave me a taste of what to expect. Here is my honest opinion.

It didn’t start off too well as the sailing was sold to everyone including a drinks package and it seemed Celebrity had neglected to have loaded these on to anyone’s cards which resulted in huge queues at reception to sort out the problem. Then when it was sorted out it was a very basic drinks package (one which is not advertised on their website), so most of us upgraded to the Classic package  which was an extra $11.5 per day.

First impressions of the ship were very very good with polite crew saying hello around every corner & a glass of fizz to greet us. The decor was great and the ship had a very modern feel to it. The only bit that felt a little old fashioned was the concierge room. I always check out the public loos to gauge an idea on cleanliness etc as it usually represents what the rest of the ship will be like and I have to say they got 10 out of 10.

We were blessed with the weather, so were lucky enough to be able to spend some time round the pool deck which was clean with plenty of sunbeds. The bar service on the pool deck left a lot to be desired, with the staff seeming not to care who came first and just serving whoever happened to be in front of them.

The solarium area was very peaceful and  a nice 5 star touch was the comfy padded mattresses on the sun loungers.

Our Aqua Class balcony cabin was nicely decorated and there was plenty of space for 2 of us and lots of hangers and wardrobe space. The balcony was a decent size too.

These cabins are spa themed and the bathroom was a good size with upgraded toiletries, a spa shower and nice plush robes. Other Aqua Class perks were priority embarkation and disembarkation, canapes served to your cabin & access to the Persian Garden thermal suite and relaxation room. For me the best thing about the Aqua Class cabins was the fact that you were able to dine in the Blu restaurant which is exclusively for Aqua, Concierge and suite guests.

We ate dinner on the first night in Blu which has no set dining time and found the service and food to be excellent. My steak was melt in the mouth and presentation of all the dishes was excellent.

We had dinner in the main dining room on the 2nd night and whilst the decor was nice and the food good it didn’t compare with the food or service in Blu & had little atmosphere. It could just be that we were put at the far end of the restaurant in a corner. Breakfast in Blu was also excellent. I ate lunch and breakfast in the buffet restaurant and found it to be of a better standard than my last few cruises with Princess, Royal Caribbean and MSC. We never found any problems getting a clean table & there was so much choice no matter what time you went in. There was also a lovely outside area that you could dine in at the back of the restaurant.

Other than the bars on the pool deck I tried the Cellar Masters wine bar next to the main dining restaurant, the Martini bar where the bar itself was actually surrounded by real ice and the Sky Observation lounge which was at the back of deck 14 with stunning views out to the sea. All had a real contemporary feel to them.

Although I didn’t manage to catch any of the entertainment due to the fact that we dined late I heard good reviews about the glitzy West End style show and the silent disco went down a treat. You could choose the era of music you wanted to listen to through your headphones and watch everyone dancing to something completely different!

More than a few  guests I spoke to felt that Celebrity were continually pushing you to spend money by buying things or upgrading things. I guess it’s a business and revenue needs to be made wherever they can.

A 2 night cruise doesn’t show you the real deal of what a 7 or 14 night Celebrity cruise would be like. The service is never as good, but I certainly came away very impressed and thinking that I would love to sail with Celebrity again.

To find out more about Celebrity click here