Celebrity Eclipse, a superior cruise ship

Celebrity Eclipse is a superior cruise ship. She is one of five Solstice class ships built by Meyer Werft for Celebrity Cruises. All of these ships are nicely designed with attention to detail. They also offer a very good array of dining options ranging from casual to healthy to classic fine dining. In addition, they offer a good program of reasonably sophisticated entertainment and activities even though the enrichment program is not as cutting edge as it was just a few years ago. They are also good ships from a nautical perspective.

Of the five ships, Eclipse seems to win the most awards and I am told receives the highest marks from guests. Why this is so is not glaringly obvious. While there are some differences in the décor and the features, the five ships are very similar. Yet, people seem to like Eclipse best. As Cruise Director Sue Denning observed: “It has a nice heart.”

Immediately after she was built in 2010, Celebrity sent Eclipse to Southampton. Her mission was to break into the British market. Sister company Royal Caribbean International had done so a few years before but Celebrity was still relatively unknown in the UK. Furthermore, there would be a lot of competition from other cruise lines.

The ship has been quite successful and now has a substantial following in Britain. I asked Hotel Director Tom Brady and Ms. Denning to explain just how Eclipse managed to establish Celebrity in the UK. Our conversation is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-hd-cd-interview.html

One of the things that has made Eclipse a popular ship both in the UK and when she sails of Miami in the winter months is the ship's dining. Accordingly, we have added a Celebrity Eclipse menu page with copies of menus from the various dining venues and a dining slideshow. It is at http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-menus.html

We also have a review of the Tuscan Grille specialty restaurant - - a mixture of Italian cuisine and an American steakhouse. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-tuscan-grille-review.html

As mentioned earlier, another Eclipse strong point is the entertainment. Therefore, we have a new slideshow showing some of the entertainment offerings on a recent cruise. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-entertainment-slideshow.html We also have a new page of daily programmes from Eclipse listing each day's activities and entertainment. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-daily-programs.html

Finally, we have a video showing Eclipse departing from Southampton. http://www.beyondships2.com/celebrity-eclipse-soton-video.html