The check-in went very smoothly and we headed up to the Sky Lounge until the Staterooms were ready. Despite being advised boarding was not until 1.45 p.m we were able to board at 11.30, the staterooms being available from 1.15 p.m 

Stateroom : Aida Nueva      Assist: William    Stateroom 1211 Sky Deck
Both Aida & William work excellently as a team and kept our stateroom ímmaculate.

Breakfast delivery around 8 a.m. every day we had Xiatoing and she was very effecient and never a wrong order, this is a service we are offered as we were in a concierge stateroom.

                              
                     Stateroom 1211                                          Aida on the right and my namesake 
                                                                                        William on the left
                                                      
                             
                    Kettle and Electrical sockets                   The safe 4 digit operation and underneath 
                In the Stateroom two 115v and 1 230v   your fridge stocked with the items list below
                sockets on the unit safe/mini bar unit    Price examples for a miniature:
                                                                                        $6 dollar range Vodka; Tanqueray Gin;
                                                                                        Dewars Bacardi Light rum; 
                                                                                        $6.50 Jack Daniels
                                                                                        $8.50 Bailey’s; Remy Martin VSOP;              
                                                                                        Beers:
                                                                                        Coors Light; $5 Red Bull Energy & Heinekin; 
                                                                                        Diet Coke tin ; Sprite; Club Soda; Tonic Water 
                                                                                        all $2 
                                                                                        Water 1ltr Evian $4 330mls $2.50 plus 15% on 
                                                                                        all prices

If you are staying in a balcony room there is a lock to secure your sliding door located top left
or right depending on how your door opens
                                                                                 



                                                                             
                                 The welcome bottle of champagne upon arrival in the stateroom

On both Solstice and Equinox the built in wardrobe did have a 4/5 drawer unit and it is not
there on Eclipse, but we did manage to accommodate all we had brought with some odd
items only used every now again kept in the suitcases we stored under the bed.

In the single drawer is a 1200w Aliseo Pro Vario hair dryer.

                                                                 

                                           

There is a low light on 24/7 should you get up during the night to go to the toilet, so you open the door not to a darkened room and a lot liked this idea. The bathroom was the same as on Solstice and Equinox, but still with a fixed pivotable shower head and no washing line.

The shower unit here shows the bar bottom right for ladies to rest their legs on whilst they shave them.  Just in case you were not aware but all stateroom doors open outwards

                        
               Some of the flowers we had in the room/bathroom

The numbering on the Sky deck as the one above is still confusing, walk a few feet and the other rooms started with a 10 prefix number compared to our 12. We were on the Sky Deck Level 10 Rm 1211 and out on the balcony there was a support for the canopy that protrudes more so on Deck 11 than we did find on the Millennium class ships.

We had a support strut, so if we did have friends next door to us they would to have needed
to be in Rm 1215 rather than 1209 so that the glass partition could be opened up giving us
both  a roomier balcony. However the balcony we did have was fine and suited all our needs.

                                                  

A new technique to allow you to view onboard photographs taken by the cruise photographers
and which has been fully pioneered on some Royal Caribbean ships has been introduced on
Eclipse. When you switch on the TV and press M for menu a number of icons can be seen
including the tv; binoculars; today magazine and another is a 35mm camera bring that into the
bottom middle and the word Photo’s can be seen beneath the camera icon.. Now if you have had pictures taken by the ship’s photographers they can be seen here plus you can also order which you want without the need to go hunting the boards on Deck 5. 

                    

There was an option to but a Cd with all the photographs on it taken on the cruise by the
Photo team but at almost $350 it might not be an offer many will take up.

                    

                                                   

Diningroom : Worly [right]    Assist :Kumar [left]    Table 272 by the wine stack containing approx 1200 bottles of red wine, pity as we are white wine drinkers and the red ones are
almost in reach !!  As with Aida & William Worly and Kumar were a superb partnership and complimented the service we were given to one of the best we have had, well done. If anyone on Eclipse reads this page please convey our apologies yo Worly and Kumar as Christine whilst I was eating my sweet on the last night felt unwell and we darparted rather quickly upstairs without having to thank them both for looking after us so well, can't even do justice with the photograph.

Sommelier:   Philip had just qualified and looked very smart in the full sommelier' s attire and whilst still on a learning curve he has the makings of being an excellent sommelier.

Sky Lounge:

Music : Bel Canto Singers;  Pablo De Lucas Guitarist;  Peter James Jazz Pianist;  Lloyd
Baskin Piano/Vocals; A Cappella Quartet; Frontliners Party Band; Les DeMerle Jazz Quartet

This lounge hosted a number of events I have opted for the 'Chocolate' evening which
commenced around 11.30 p.m. 

          
The music                                                 and not to miss the fantastic ice scluptures

                      
                 the food                                                      and the chocolate fountains

                                                    
                                                   and even more food

Quizzes : Name that Tune; Beatles; Trivia [daily at 09.30]
Karaoke; 70’music; Rock and Roll; Line Dancing; Dancing throught the Decades

Others events about the ship Bingo; Hot Glass show [loved it] Wellness Experience; Small
Batch Bourbon Tasting; Table Tennis; Seminars various topics; Cooking demo; Brazilian
Blowout to you how to improve the health of your hair; Camera demonstrations; Golf Putting practice; Giant Jenga; Poolside parties in the evening; 
Most days Battle of the Brains Men vs Women.  [P.S the men won by just 5 points !!]

            Some of the sights in the Sky lounge:

                            
            This was the Blyth's corner as in                   The seats Chistine loved easy to
            Poet's Corner in Hyde Park                             to get up from

                            
            The ones she hated having difficulties         The bar area of the Sky Lounge
             to get out off

                                
            One of the semi-circular seating                      Looking towards the main entrance
            curtained off sections, of which there            to the Sky lounge masked by the fire place
            were two                         

                                                        

              The toilets were kept immaculate and no more paper towels. 
              This toilet is located on the same level as the same level as the Sky Louge 
              on Deck 14

                                                     
                                                   Celebrity Theatre

Which hosted the following:
Ovations Music/Magic West End & Broadway
Variety Show with Adrian Walsh
Gary Arbuthnot, with the music from stage and screen
Neil Austin, Magician
Edge an evocative production spectacular Karen Grainger - Impressionist Extraordinaire
Hypnotist Chris Caress plus a few more I can't remember

In the Cinema:
Avatar; Disney Pixar’s Up; Slumdog Millionaire; Benjamin Button are a few of those
shown on our cruise.

Competitions in the Casino included Texas Hold'Em; Blackjack and the Bandit challenge.

Captain’s Club:

Elite members Club Social Hour 4 to 6 p.m. being held in the Sky Lounge and not in Michael’s
Club as there were well over 100 on the ship.

Dress code was 3 formal and 11 smart casual. On this cruise more guests did adhere to the
formal attire than we found on Millennium in April month.

Restaurants:           

          
          Gives you a perspective of all the speciality restaurants including the Murano

              
      Access to the speciality restaurants is via the Ensemble Lounge with the Blu
      logo facing you as you exit at the far end of the room; Also off to the right
      off the Ensemble lounge is Michael's club and next to it the Murano restaurant

              
      Michael's Club Deck 5 Starboard           Bistro on Five portside beside the lifts
      Elite member's breakfast 7.30 to 
      9.30 a.m. slightly later start on days at sea

                            
      Qsine: 6 to 10 p.m Cost $30 Int Ext 7000 plus TV image, the latest new dining
      experience only as yet available on Eclipse
      
             
      The main central reception desk covering Tuscan Grille; Blu and the Qsine

              
 
          Bistro on Five 6 a.m to 2 a.m. Cost $5 Ext 4657
          Cafe al Bacio Geleteria 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
          Tuscan Grille: 6 to 10 p.m Cost $30 Ext 7000
          Murano: Grille all 6 to 10 p.m Cost $35 Ext 7000
          Qsine: 6 to 10 p.m Cost $30 Ext 7000 
          Blu:
          Aqua Class breakfast 7.30 to 9 a.m.
          Open Seating Dinner 6 to 9.30 p.m.
          Moonlight Sonato Restaurant – Main Diningroom
          1^st 6.15 p.m. / 2^nd 8.45 p.m. Select Dining 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
          Early /Tours / Express Breakfast 7.30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Deck 3
          its fast, tasty and convenient
                   
          On certain days the Sonato was available for lunches and cod/chips/mushie
          peas were a firm favourite

         

         IT Unit Deck 6 & Apple Mac computers plus prcies to buy ---------- 8GB iPod Touch $199 or
32GB $299

Internet Costs:
Occasional $29.95 for 49 mins at $$0.61 per minute; Standard $49.95 for 90 mins at $0.55 per minute; Social $79.95 for 150 mins at $0.53 per minute and finally Power $99.95 for 237 mins
at $0.42 per minute. My cheapest rate was the $0.42 rate or around 27p per minute, but the
speed was much slower than we had found on Solstice and Equinox. There wasa a free
90 mins for Elite members and a small discount for Select members

A few images taken around the ship:

                        
               Aqua Spa                                                         Special lift to allow disabled users 
                                                                                          access to the pool
               
               Aqua Spa facility

                                          
                            Views of the tree in the central Atrium

                         
                View of the Library taken from the lift      One of the hundreds of paintings seen
                                                                                         throughout the ship in corridors & rooms

                
      The effect of opening up the balcony area        Martini Bar
       if you have friends in next door to you

                         

                         

Smoking

$50 you could buy 400 of most of the popular brands matching the price Morrison’s sold
them for in Gibralter.  Not so competitive was $30 for 200. The brands avaulable were
Lambert & Butler; Benson & Hedges gold; Embassy Regal/Super KIngs and only in 200
size was Marlboro

Smoking was only permitted in the following areas:

Portside of Sky Lounge Deck 14
Portside Pool Deck 12
Starboard side Sun Deck 14
Deck 5 Portside, promenade, midship –where chairs, tables and astrays are provided
Sunset Bar Starboard side Deck 15 aft. The is the recommended area for cigar and
Pipe smoking. I have to say this is information for smokers, but I do not smoke but it is
part of the infromation for the review of the Eclipse

Shuttle bus costs prices, quoted per person:

Vigo; Cadiz none required

Lisbon One Way $3 or $6 round trip

Gibraltar No shuttle bus taxi associations organize their own transportation £3 GBP return
trip

Barcelona One Way $2 and here Day Pass $4

Toulon One Way $6 and again the Day Pass $12

Palma De Mallorca (Overnight stay) One way $5 Day Pass $10 and Two Day Pass $15

Shuttle bus there were many complaints that the never paid this fee on their last cruise company why do Celebrity charge, maybe an issue for 2011!!

There is an arrangement  that if you go on an excursion then if you keep your bus number ticket safe and show it to the driver you will get a free return to the ship if you were dropped
off to do some shopping  and did not opt to return direct to the ship at the end of your excursion

Laundry Prices:

Jacket  $5     Dress$7 Shorts  $3  Pyjamas $3.50  Swimsuit $2  Pair socks $1

Dry Cleaning:

Suit $10   Jacket  $6    Dress  $9   Shorts $4   Skirt $5   Long sleeved shirt $5 and short  $4

Pressing only:

Suit  $5  Jacket  $4   Long Sleeved shirt $3 short $2  Dress $5

Hours opening for various bars:

Cellar Masters Deck 4 12 noon to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Destinations bar Deck 14 7 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Ensemble Lounge Deck 5 5 p.m. until late
Martini & Crush Deck 4 4 p.m. to 12.30 a.m.
Mast bar Deck 14 weather permitting 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Michael’s Club Deck 5 5 p.m. to 1.00 a.m.
Molecular  Bar & Tastings Deck 5  5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Oceanview Bar weather permitting Deck 14  10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Passport Bar Deck 3  11 a.m. to midnight
Pool Bar Deck 12  weather permitting 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Quasar Deck 4  10 p.m. until late
Sky Lounge Deck 14  4 p.m. until late
Sunset Bar Deck 15 weather permitting 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
 

The spirit prices on this cruise were the same as they were on Solstice in April, 2009 and
bear in mind no optics are used just poured straight from the bottle into the glass, so at least
a double would be the best way to describe. Our two drinks were $14.38 except when in Spanish ports when another 8% VAT is added. As this was a British 'themed' cruise the
normal price lists were not on show in any bar, as some drinks were very different from the normal ones we are used to seeing listed, like some special beers and lagers being the most obvious ones.  The price list not seen on this trip click here to see.

We did thoroughly enjoy our cruise and of course meeting some new friends; the food was
as usual as great as ever.

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