We had previously travelled on
Celebrity
Constellation (newly renamed from
Constellation)
on a 14-night cruise to the Baltic from Dover, which was easily the best
'big ship' that we had sailed on. Celebrity think of lots of delightful
touches to make a cruise more attractive. These included the best espressos
found on a ship, the best Martinis found on a ship, an excellent sushi bar
and a pasta bar which kept our 15 year old son fed and happy throughout the
cruise. Items such as dressing gowns, welcome champagne and canap
és
which had disappeared from many ships were still provided on Celebrity. This
combined with good (but not exceptional) food in the main dining saloon and
a very good extra-cost restaurant, plus highly efficient low-key ship
operations, put well
Constellation ahead of the P&O, Cunard, Royal Caribbean and
Princess trips we had done previously. The new Solstice Class ships have
built up an excellent reputation since the first was delivered in 2008 and
we had high expectations of
Celebrity Eclipse.
We stayed the previous night in Southampton and drove down to the Mayflower
park before midday to photograph the ship (along with many other
passengers). We then joined the queued lanes of cars to unload our baggage.
Unlike other Southampton cruise terminals, we could park (for free) a couple
of minutes from the terminal, still quite a way if you have a rucksack full
of laptop, three cameras, assorted lenses and around a dozen different
battery chargers. Check-in at the terminal was fast, with no queues, our
'priority' boarding offering no advantage. We could pre-book our two
complimentary speciality restaurant meals in the terminal (speciality
bookings can be made online before sailing but not currently for
complimentary meals). We then boarded the ship and made our way to the
Oceanview Caf
é since the cabins were not quite
ready.
I am not a fan of self-service restaurants, but the variety and quality of
food available in the Oceanview was spectacular, in very stylish
surroundings. Separate serving stations included carvery, Indian, stir-fry,
Mexican, grill, pasta, pizza, sandwich-making, salads, sweets, ice cream,
bread, cheese, etc, etc. After 17:30 there is also a sushi bar. Within
minutes of our arrival, the announcement that all cabins were ready was
made. We had Sky Suite 2128 on Deck 12, just below the Oceanview cafeteria
and only a few metres from open deck. Unlike some ships, many of the deck
rails are normal height rather than the 3-metre-high windbreaks found on
other recently delivered ships.
Our cabin was excellent, extremely spacious with huge amounts of cupboard
and draw space. the bathroom was very stylish with an enormous 25cm wide
shower head fixed to the ceiling over the full-sixed bath, plus a separate
hand held shower attachment. This had a solid metal shower head which
somebody had already managed to drop and chip the bath enamel (not a
'plastic' bath). the room had a 40inch flat screen TV on the wall, which
also acted as a computer terminal to order wine, photos, make restaurant
reservations etc. Of course these could also be done by phone or in person.
Luggage arrived soon after we reached cabin and we met our steward and
'European Style' butler. The wide balcony was directly below the wider Deck
14, which is supported by angled struts. I was worried that these might
impede photography, but early experiments leaving Southampton showed that
this would not be too much of a problem, and open rails were only seconds
away from the cabin. the reduced exposure to the sun caused by the overhang
deck above was considered a definite advantage by us. The only minor gripe
about the cabin was the lack of any UK power socket, which seemed a little
remiss on a ship based in the UK for much of the year. The shop was doing a
roaring trade in adaptors for the US and European sockets available, which I
had intended to bring but which appeared to be the only items forgotten so
far. The cabin had a huge variety of lights available, small spots, softer
large lights on a dimmer, bedside lights, mirror lights, etc, which all had
their own widely separated switches. A central on/off switch as provided in
most hotels would have been very useful. You can see by the insignificance
of these complaints that there was not a lot wrong.
We then explored the ship, which despite its size (122,000grt) seemed laid
out in a very logical fashion. Everywhere was extremely well signposted so
that it was never necessary to refer to the printed deckplan. The ship has
only two main sets of lifts and stairs, unlike most ships of this size which
have three. Each set consisted of eight lifts, so the total probably
equalled that of ships with three sets. There was a third set of atrium
stairs between the lifts. The ship has 16 passengers decks with No.16 being
the forwards sun deck. Deck 15 has areas fore and aft of the pools, reached
by stairs. The forward area has the outdoor games court plus a view over the
bridge with rail height glass - unusual on modern ships, particularly Vista
Class vessels which make it very hard to take photos. Also forwards on Deck
15 are the child and teen areas. In the aft block Deck 15 has the real grass
lawn areas where croquet, putting etc are available. There is also the
partly open-air Hot Glass Show where three young women create glass fish and
the like. Bizarre but quite popular. Sheltered arm chairs are placed along
the side of lawn and the attractive Sunset Bar overlooks the stern.
Deck 14 has the Sky Observation Lounge forwards, a large bar/lounge with
different semi-separated areas looking over the bridge. A small part of this
lounge is the only inside smoking area. Inevitably the air conditioning
spreads the smell around the whole room, although it is not too powerful.
There is a conference centre next to this lounge. The midships section of
deck is open, looking down on the pools, and has a jogging track and both
sheltered and open sun lounger areas. Aft on Deck 14 is the Oceanview Caf
é,
as mentioned earlier, plus the Oceanview Bar above the stern.
The Fitness/Spa facilities are located at the forward end of Deck 12
(superstitious Americans avoiding a thirteenth deck), including an
adults-only indoor spa pool and the AquaSpa Caf
é
for 'healthy' eating. Midships are the two outdoor pools with cabins further
aft.
Decks 11 down to 6 are primarily cabin accommodation. Deck 11 also has a
relaxation lounge accessible from the spa above, presumably where people
recover from their various life-improving injections and hot rocks
treatments they have suffered. The library is on Deck 10 and the
Apple-centric iLounge computer centre is on Deck 6, both facing into the aft
atrium.
Decks 5 and 4 are the main entertainment decks, both with the Eclipse
Theater at the forward end. Deck 5 contains the main optional dining areas
(more details later) plus shops, photo gallery, and the inevitable art
gallery. Deck 4 has more shops and most of the diverse selection of bars,
the casino and the upper entrance to the single main restaurant Moonlight
Sonata. the upper level is for passengers choosing Freedom Dining. Deck 3
has the main area of the Moonlight Sonata restaurant which has two sittings,
plus the Purser's office (Guest Relations in American) plus a further bar.
The medical facilities and tender boarding are on Deck 3.
