My Suite Experience on The Celebrity Eclipse
I was lucky enough to stay in The Royal Suite on board Celebrity Eclipse for a 2 night mini cruise and WOW - it was just amazing!
Whilst I appreciate that a Royal Suite is very expensive, you may not be aware of all the little extras that you get and honestly when you off set all of this against a normal priced cabin then it’s not so bad, here’s a few things that you get:
- Private Restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner - Full in Suite breakfast, lunch, dinner service - Personal Butler - Priority Check in - Luxury Bath Amenities - Premium Drinks Package - Unlimited complimentary speciality dining - Complimentary mini bar (soft drinks, water, beer) - Complimentary bottles of Alcohol - Private VIP club lounge with concierge service - Unlimited Wifi - Daily delivery of afternoon savouries - Reserved theatre seating - Priority disembarkation
So let me tell you all about my Suite Experience
Check in at Southampton was easy and fast, we had a separate check in area and were then met by a concierge member of staff who escorted us onto the ship. As we boarded we were handed a glass of champagne and taken to The Michaels Club (private lounge for suite guests) where we were invited to stay until our cabin was ready. It’s worth noting that Suite Guests can board anytime so we were on pretty early (11am) and the lounge was perfect for waiting in with free drinks and canapes.
We decided to take a look round the ship and then wandered down to our cabin (if you check out my facebook page you can see the video of us actually entering the cabin) we were only there for about 5 minutes when Oscar (our private butler) rang the doorbell and introduced himself and told us all about the suite.
To say I was blown away is an understatement - the space in the cabin is outstanding, as you enter there is a separate toilet to your left and a kitchen area with dining table to your right, our 2 bottles of spirts that we had pre-ordered (free with suites) were waiting for us and the mini bar was stocked.
The lounge area is in front with the biggest TV I have seen and 2 huge sofas that can be used as sofa beds. Out on the balcony there is a jacuzzi bath, a sun lounger and table and chairs, the balcony is just huge.
The bedroom is massive with a separate dressing area and then an en suite bathroom, with 2 double sinks, a walk in shower and a separate bath all done out in marble – it was just beautiful. The amenities are by Bvlgari and smell divine.
You may of noticed that there are not any pictures of the actual suite, this is because I took quite a lot of video footage which I think gives you a much better feel for the cabin, so please head over to my Facebook Page - just search Kerry Cansdale Travel Counsellor on Facebook if you haven't already liked my page and scroll down and you can see all the videos I did whilst on Celebrity Eclipse.
So the cabin was amazing but what about the ship?
I have cruised on Celebrity Eclipse a couple of times and have always enjoyed her, she is small enough to not get lost on and big enough to have lots to do. I love the spa area (although you do have to pay to go into the steam room or sauna – (free for most suite guests). She has a stunning Solarium and 2 more pools in the pool area.
The big attraction is the Lawn Club – this is an area on deck that has a fully growing grass lawn area, it's lovely to sit on and maybe have a picnic or just to chill with a drink, they have lawn games and also a Glass Blowing Show – which has to be seen to be believed.
There is a main dining room on board and a buffet restaurant – the food is delicious but for me I love the speciality restaurants, (these are chargeable but free for some Suite guests). Last time I was on board I went to Qsine, which serves quirky food – think sushi lollipops, popcorn fish and chips and where you order food from an iPad – don’t make the mistake that I did and order everything … there is so much that you cannot possibly eat it all!
This time we decided to try Murano’s and Tuscan Grille, sadly I was a little bit disappointed by Tuscan Grille, whilst the food was ok, there was no wow about it and it just felt a little rushed and bland.
Murano’s however was quite honestly the best meal I have ever had in my life, the ambience was fantastic, we had a brilliant waiter who explained everything and when he flambeed my lobster at the side of our table it was amazing (again there is a video of this on my Facebook page).
Entertainment wise, I missed the show as I was eating but reports were that it was very good, there are lots of bars and even a nightclub on board and they had game shows in the evening.
The Martini Bar tends to be the late-night hangout and the bar staff here are great, performing all kinds of tricks to keep you entertained.
Lots of shops on board from designer handbags to prestige Art, but all a bit out of my price range sadly.
There is also a gym, running track and basketball court for those of you that feel the need to exercise.
Overall, I absolutely loved my Suite Experience and I would love to cruise like this every time, it will be hard to go back to an ordinary “Balcony” cabin on my next cruise lol.
Celebrity Eclipse is a UK favourite but will be leaving us at the end of 2017, in 2018 we welcome the Celebrity Silhouette and at the moment Celebrity have some fantastic deals including free drinks packages and on board spend, so if you are interested in a Celebrity cruise then please do get in touch.