‘Are Mini cruises representative of regular cruising’ My two nights on board Celebrity Eclipse

I have just come back from a 2 night mini cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse. I had the most amazing time. It was a work trip and met some great people that I hope to keep in touch with. There were however some big issues onboard that will need addressing from the 5 star ship. I will like to go into detail the good and the bad parts of the cruise then you can make up your own mind.

Embarkation: I got down to the port about 11am and the embarkation was seamless. I had priority boarding and I was on board the ship approximately 15 minutes after arriving at the port. Celebrity will Allow guests on anytime from 11-3. You may have a bit of a longer wait if you get there later. I would always recommend getting there early.

Cabins: You couldn’t get into your cabin until around 1.30pm which wasn’t a problem. I had already handed over my case so I had time to explore the ship. When I was allowed into the cabin it was spacious. We had an aqua class suite. This is the same size as a balcony or Concierge however you get some extra benefits going with aqua which I will go into later. There were a few nibbles and a couple of bottles of water in the cabin that I thought was a nice touch as well as tea and coffee making facilities. One of the down sides was that there was no iron in the room and no self service ironing facility. This was unless you paid for the Laundry. Not ideal when taking shirts and suits.

Aqua Class Facilities: So being in aqua class it meant You get access to the Persian garden spa and a speciality restaurant called Blu. This is complimentary. If you are not Aqua then you can still use the spa for $30. for me personally I would just pay the $30. I think once in the persian spa was enough. They had heated beds a sauna and steam room. Not sure how many times I would do this on a longer trip. The cost of Aqua compared with a standard Balcony is normally quite a difference in cost.

The drinks. Now comes the slightly negative reviews. The wait at each bar on the first night was crazy. You could wait up to half an hour to get a drink. Most guests on board had an all inclusive drinks package and the staff just could not cope with it. They were working as hard as they could but seemed short staff. The second night seemed better. I’m not sure if its because it was a 2 night cruise or because everyone had all inclusive but they need to sort it out as it could have put people off from cruising with celebrity again.

The Food. The food in the Buffet at the top of the ship was always plentiful and tasted great too. Again on the first night the wait for the main dining room was slow. I had anytime dining. This should mean dine as you please. When you go to a restaurant at 8pm you don’t expect to be seated 1 hour and a half later. lucky I had good company. I would advise going for your meal early or booking a set dining time. When we were seated the service was quick and the food was great. I went to the Blu Restaurant for breakfast in the morning which is waiter service and this is really chilled and they have a lot more healthy choices on the menu.

The general look and feel of the ship: The eclipse is a lovely ship the people are friendly and entertainment is good everything points to it being a 5 star however the queues just left a slight sour taste in my mouth and may put me off from doing a taster cruise with them in the future.

Has anyone else experienced this with celebrity? I would like to hear your thoughts