Doug we were on the same Celebrity Eclipse Canada New England cruise and you Nailed it. That boat needs dry dock bad. Wish we had a chance to meet on the cruise. LOL 4 in our party got Covid the last couple days cruise. We were in a sunrise cabin at the back of the boat . The Black out curtains were awful . The first night in the main dining room was a disaster. Are waiter Fabin was the only highlight.
Thanks for the confirmations on the review. I never enjoy giving a substandard review. Hopefully the dry dock will improve some of the needed renovations. I did see that Tips for Travelers group cruise on our same itinerary two weeks later did not seem to have the food and dining issue. Interesting that you mention Covid. We started feeling bad on the last day and we both tested positive upon returning home to FL two days later. I would have loved to have met you and your group. I love those aft facing cabins. Maybe next time! Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 LOL We were in the coffee bar waiting for our number to be called to get of the ship (#30) and i thought i was in a TB ward. everyone was hacking including the 2 people we were with. I tested positive the next day on Cape Cod. ugh
@@harvard6969 LOL - yep. I sat behind this man in the main theater on the next to last night and I thought he was doing to hack up a lung. I moved but apparently not soon enough. Glad everyone is ok.
@@harvard6969 I have my own independent travel agency, See More Seas Travel, LLC. I would be happy to assist you. I can normally find a rate that is slightly lower than what you are seeing direct and I always provide an additional $50 of OBC. Sometimes I can uncover special unpublished group rates too. You can email me at Contact@seemoresea.com when interested in researching options!
We're on the Eclipse for the 3rd time next June. We've been booking Aqua Class on Celebrity as we prefer the Blu dining room for the smaller venue, ease of access, and better food IMHO. We look forward to the refurbishment after the drydock!
For sure! It is a much better experience and they do take extra time if you have any type of food sensitivities and requests. Blu is a great place, especially for breakfast! Thanks for watching!
Doug - we were on the same cruise as you and we wholeheartedly agree with you, especially about the food! We went to the MDR twice and then stopped going. The service was poor and slow and the food itself was below average. The food in the Oceanview Cafe was uninteresting. The toilet in our cabin stopped flushing at around day three and although they promptly “fixed it,” it became a recurring problem. They did finally resolve the issue after about 4 days! Regarding the Immigration issue in Portland… that was a wasted day. We hadn’t planned an excursion but, by the time we disembarked, we were exhausted and just went back to the ship. We have sailed with Celebrity in the past and especially like the Solstice class ships, but this was a major disappointment!
Thank you for sharing your experience. It is really tough doing a disappointing review especially on Celebrity. I am seeing some new posts for this itinerary from a current group cruise and the food issue has not been raised. I think that the combination of the crew change and possible new sourcing providers in Boston for this inaugural itinerary may have contributed to our poor food quality and slow service. We discussed and will never do an inaugural itinerary or cruise again. Again, thanks for sharing and for watching!
That is great! You'll love Quebec City! The evening time was really fantastic. You have to look out for all of the pink ballon men around the city. There is an interesting story behind it. I hope your weather is as beautiful as ours was. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
I hope that you and other passengers filled out the surveys, and were brutally honest about the failures. As a long time Celebrity cruiser, those things should not be happening. I have wanted to do cruises on the Eclipse, Solstice and Silhouette because I've been on the other two Solstice class twice. But now it sounds like there's no point.
I have been on the Equinox and Reflection recently and I did not experience the same low food and service quality. I go on Reflection again next month for a weekend cruise. I do think that this is an isolated problem with the sourcing for the cruise and an inexperienced crew. I am NOT making excuses and I was brutally honest in the survey and in my discussion with the Asst. Maitre D. We did Solstice for Alaska a few years ago and have sailed Silhouette 4 times. I can't respond to the current quality of those products but this was one of the very few moments of disappointment from Celebrity (however Luminae on the Solstice did have some breakfast issues). I will be making sure that any Solstice class ship will have been recently refurbished before sailing again. We do a 10 Night on Beyond in mid Dec and upgraded to a Sky Suite so we bypass the MDR, The cost was enormous and required us to remove some travel for next year. Thanks for sharing and I'll post a review of my Reflection sailing next month to compare experiences. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 That's good to know. I've been on a number of other cruise lines, and the Celebrity officers and crew have always been A+. I wouldn't be opposed to sailing to sailing on Princess or HAL again as I thought they were good. I just love the Celebrity vibe. I go off season, so I can't speak to when there are a lot of kids on board. Usually, I only see a few. My last cruise on Royal Caribbean was not a good experience.
It's heartbreaking when the food's a miss. Celebrity absolutely blew it. But I'm very happy frère, that Canada did not let you down. I would have been mortified. Another great video Doug. Happiness and health, always.
We mad the best of the food situation but the Canadian ports were just incredible! They did not disappoint one bit! I actually thought of you when the MDR went down hill on us. LOL. Thanks as always for sharing and for watching!
We have a similar itinerary next year (October 2026) from Boston. We are on the Majestic Princess however. Our itinerary is a one-way cruise from Boston to Quebec City with an overnight stay in Quebec City like yours - except our cruise disembarks in Quebec City. That immigration process in Portland looked awful! I hope our process in Canada is smoother. Thanks for sharing. After your review, I’m glad I’m not on Celebrity.
The cruise terminal in Quebec City was very nice. It seemed modern and well staffed. We actually could come and go all night if we wanted to. The area seemed very secure and safe. I am sure that they will have an efficient process for debarkation and immigration. I am getting reports from the current Celebrity Boston sailings that a few of the issues might be getting worked out. If you can, I would highly recommend a few days stay in Quebec City after your cruise. It is absolutely amazing!
I did the third (September 19) sailing. Many things did improve but food quality in the MDR and buffet was not great. Customer service was lacking. I’m glad I did it but I have no reason to go on Celebrity again. Back to Princess for me.
I was just on the Reflection and food and service was very good but completely different itinerary, ship and embarkation port. It seems that consistency is a big problem right now. I spoke to a lot of Princess customers on the Reflection cruise and they say the same as you. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
One reason I wanted to get this out to you some tips for the cruise. I hope that they have had a chance to address some of the issues we had. The ports are amazing! Have a great cruise and thanks for watching!
Just came back off this trip and agree on just about everything, especially the disappointing food. We did however find the embarkation a breeze from stepping out of the taxi to stepping on board the ship 15 minutes later. Our boarding time was allocated at 3pm but we went to the dock at midday with no issues. We did feel like caged animals at Portland but doing the customs in Boston would have been totally impractical. We still had plenty time there . All the stops were great!
We also enjoyed the ports just as we had hoped and it was a good experience even with some of the disappointing items. Really good to hear that later in the day the embarkation was better or that they improved the system after the first cruise. I am hearing the same things about Portland so not too sure that could be changed. I'm glad that we did have an excursion in Portland even though more time at each stop would have been nice. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
We were on the cruise prior to this one debarking in Boston. Agree with a lot of your review except the storage in our balcony cabin. The hanging closet space was fine but the drawer space for clothes was terrible even when using the over the bed storage space which was very inconvenient get to.
I was on the first one too. It just took me a week or two to get this recorded and edited. We also filled up the drawer space and used the over the bed where we stacked the extra stuff. It is a bit clumsy and inconvenient to get to that stuff for sure. 11 Nights in a colder region normally requires a bit more storage. We did ask for extra hangers for a lot of our things. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
We just completed the same cruise itinerary on 9/8-9/19. I notice you didn’t discuss Rockland at all. We do agree with your assessment of the food and we were in the Retreat so we dined almost all the time in Luminia. We also dined in Tuscan and Murano. We were disappointed with Tuscan but Murano was excellent. Ship definitely needs refurbishment. And yes, it’s an older crowd on this itinerary. Being in Retreat we had priority in Portland and my wife and I were the third and fourth individuals through the process. If you think Portland was bad I could only imagine if we didn’t have the stop in Portland and had to go through the process in Boston. Yes, disembarkation in Boston was a nightmare particularly sin the Norwegian Gem came back the same day. Never again will be leaving from Boston.
@@bobliddell6996 I was on the inaugural sailing 28 Aug - 08 Sep. That itinerary did not include Rockland. The graphic I used was the only one I could find showing they current itinerary which does stop in Rockland before Halifax. I am happy that you had Luminae and confirmed our disappointment in Tuscan. You were so lucky to be early in Portland. I was waiting out on the open decks, the rear of the Oceanview Cafe and everyone being held hostage felt the same way - we were stuck there with nothing to do but just look out at land without having the ability to get off the ship. We quickly upgraded our December sailing on the Beyond to The Retreat, grabbing the last Sky Suite. We paid a huge cost for The Retreat avoiding the MDR, and will have to eliminate a trip next year to pay for it. We won't be sailing out of Boston either. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
Interesting, we went on the ship in August and the food was great in the MDR (I am still daydreaming about their short ribs). Also, I think you had the misfortune to get a cabin with damage--nobody in our group had anything problematic in their cabins (slightly odd colors, but clean & well maintained). However, we were similarly "meh" about the Tuscan Grill, though we loved Murano. I think the extended time in the Arctic (the two preceding cruises went to Greenland & Iceland) probably is why the grass was a little lackluster, but that will grow back. Hopefully the MDR will step up its game again.
I'm so glad to hear that you had a great experience. I am thinking that because this was a brand new itinerary for Celebrity that the sourcing of the food could have been the issue. I am sure they vet suppliers, etc but without having a track record of quality they might have to adjust how they order and from who. That is a great point about the grass. I have seen worse on Solstice class but it was thick and looked healthy yet a bit brown. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 I'm not sure. We went on the behind the scenes tour and we were introduced the ship's procurement manager. Because I also work in the same functional area, he actually followed the tour to talk to me. Their biggest supply depot is in Florida, but as this ship does not stop there, they get supplies at every stop, with the vast majority of supply coming from the starting port, Boston (the rest is top-off or specialty items). Now, Celebrity has not started many cruises from Boston, so that might be the problem.
@@bymyhandsworked I love that tour! I have done it a few times too. They have the supply chain and suppliers completely in line for all Florida sailings. Since this inaugural cruise itinerary out of Boston caused so many disruptions to our cruise, my assumptions of suppliers our of Boston has to be the issue. They had never tested the quality of the meats, ingredients and items before. I hope that they jumped on the issue from our cruise and pounded those suppliers to get it right! A huge group cruise from Tips for Travelers is sailing that itinerary this week and can not wait to see if our strong opinions for disappointing food quality was addressed! Thanks for sharing and for watching!
Doug, we just got on the Eclipse today doing the exact same itinerary as what you did. So far so good. The lunch and dinner in the Moonlight Sonata had great food and great service. So perhaps many of the bugs you mentioned have been resolved. I’m glad, because my wife and I love Celebrity - this is our 12th cruise with them - and would be bummed if the food and service were sub-par. Here’s hoping the rest of the cruise is as good as day one!!!
I am so very happy to hear that! I had lunch in the MDR on three of the sea days and each was also disappointing to me and the entire table. I wish you a great cruise and hopefully they resolved their food supplier quality issue. I attended many of the Captain's Club Elite happy hours in the passport bar and the topic each evening was if the MDR was going to be as bad as the night before. These were also Celebrity loyalists like you and me so to hear that you had a great experience makes me hopeful. The ports are going to be amazing so enjoy yourself and have a wonderful cruise! Thank you very much for sharing and for watching the review.
Doug - I don’t know if you are still reading comments from this video, but I just wanted to let you know that my wife and I completed our 11 night Eclipse cruise last Monday. While the ship really needs to be updated and there were aspects of our cabin, the definitely were troublesome (new paint flecks almost every day on our balcony, the coffee table collapsing), we had a wonderful cruise. The food in the main dining room was in general very good, as was the service. However, on two nights, it was difficult to get our sommelier’s attention. The food in the Buffet was excellent as was the selection, and while it was busy at times, we did not experience the troubles you did. And the itinerary, as you indicated, was great. Having said all that, I’m looking forward to going back on the Ascent next February.
@@larryeinzig3316 So wonderful to hear! I am so relieved that the MDR issues are getting resolved and that you enjoyed the meals. I normally enjoy the buffet on Solstice Class so also good to hear. I am on Reflection at the end of next week so I'm going to be doing a comparison for sure! This is one of the best itineraries we have taken on Celebrity so, again, happy to hear a positive movement report in the food area! Thanks so much for sharing and for watching! I am thrilled that you enjoyed your sailing!
Thats too bad to hear the room and food were so terrible. I cruised the Eclipse (concierge) in Dec. '23 out of LA and had a tremendous experience. Here's hoping they get things back on track food wise at least...as I'm back on it again later this fall.
The stateroom was fine - exactly what to expect from a Solstice Class ship - the black out curtain was pretty nasty with lots of stuff in the velcro allowing each panel to connect to each other. The food was bad but I think that might be an combination of a new crew and a bad supplier from the new Boston area embarkation. Every venue onboard had bad, tough, over cooked meat which was just unacceptable. This was not a normal Celebrity sailing for food IMO. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
Take a look at Fraser's video on his .MSC cruise with a similar itinerary and the horrors of going through immigration in Portland! I am having a wonderful time this week on a Proncess 7 day roundtrip NE/Canada itinerary from and back to NYC.
We have dined in Murano several times in the past on multiple Solstice Class ships. It is always a great experience and those I spoke to on this sailing said it was very good and better than Tuscan Grille. Murano is just too formal for us at this point but an exceptional venue for a special occasion.
I live in Quebec City, I would love to see Boston and we have shitty public transit too! Maine sure wants to show tRump style strong borders BS! Prime prices for tough beef-it's already my least favourite meat.Never overcook beef! You are stuck on bord and if the food sucks...How was the booze?
The drinks were flowing and the bar service was one of the best components of the cruise. Many of the local shop owners confirmed that parking and public transit is very difficult in Quebec City. The city though was by far our favorite port. The food issue was disappointing and being the first cruise out of Boston for this itinerary, I am hoping it was a combination of the major crew rotation and inexperience with suppliers. Later cruises have not reported food issues. The NE Coast of the US is a fantastic place to visit and Boston is excellent however a bit pricey. You'll also find the public transportation system in Boston very good with the T train. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 We're supposed to get a tramway in 6 yrs. I wish they would listen to mayor Marchand, he wants the TGV from Quebec City to Windsor.
That's very disappointing to hear of the low quality food offered and the poor selections. I will be on Celebrity Eclipse in just 3 weeks for my first cruise and hope it's better than this one.
I truly think that our dining and food issue was a combination of a newer crew (major crew rotation for us in Boston) and our sailing being the first of the season from Boston. I believe that there was also a sourcing issue with our food which from recent reports has been resolved. Most that sailed after us are not reporting the food quality issue for their cruise. I did get several confirmations of poor food quality from guests on our sailing post cruise. I hope you have a wonderful experience !
Been cruising with Celebrity since 1991....The food has in general has gone way down hill...this is just one of the reasons I am changing cruise lines. Also eliminating Gratuities in a so called 'All inclusive package" which is not so all inclusive anymore...this adds hundreds to your cruise fare alone. There were 3...COUNT EM, 3 gratuity increases in 2023 and 1 in 2024....now tips for anything is now a min of 20%. Sorry to say, I am leaving Celebrity to go on a more inclusive cruise line.
Celebrity has been pricing themselves out of the premium market when it comes to the All Included fare. You can get a much better value with HAL or Princess. The gratuity situation is frustrating for sure. I'll be reviewing my next two Celebrity sailings with Reflection in October and the Beyond for 10 days in mid December. We upgraded to a Sly Suite for the Beyond so we would at least have a chance at upgraded cuisine at Luminae. Fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Not talking about HAL or Princess...I am done with main stream Cruise lines...I will be going with Crystal cruises and Oceania.
@@butalina I completely understand what you meant and would also love to move to the more all inclusive lines. I wish you the complete best with those lines! I am sure you will enjoy them. My budget doesn't allow that at this time so a better value in the premium segment might be HAL or Princess. Thanks for sharing!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 well, no matter what cruise line you pick if your going to the Caribbean there will be tons of kids. I been to every Caribbean Island some twice and to me it is beach and water..We have done Panama Canal, Alaska, I use to live in Hawaii and will never go back...New England and Canada Eastern and Western Mediterranean...now we will focus on Northern Europe then maybe land tours. My wife and I could not justify going to sand and beach any longer...And that is all the Caribbean Island are...1 excursion and you saw for the most part the entire Island. This is why we have been focusing on Europe...and we absolutely love it.
@@butalina Yep! The main Caribbean is saturated for sure and I feel the same way. We are doing a Southern Caribbean in Dec but going to 4 islands that we have never visited before - Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and our 100th time in St Maarten. My focus moving forward is now on Norwegian Fjords and Italy Greece Croatia Montenegro along with Barcelona. Happy and enjoyable travels!
Doug we were on the same Celebrity Eclipse Canada New England cruise and you Nailed it. That boat needs dry dock bad. Wish we had a chance to meet on the cruise. LOL 4 in our party got Covid the last couple days cruise. We were in a sunrise cabin at the back of the boat . The Black out curtains were awful . The first night in the main dining room was a disaster. Are waiter Fabin was the only highlight.
Thanks for the confirmations on the review. I never enjoy giving a substandard review. Hopefully the dry dock will improve some of the needed renovations. I did see that Tips for Travelers group cruise on our same itinerary two weeks later did not seem to have the food and dining issue. Interesting that you mention Covid. We started feeling bad on the last day and we both tested positive upon returning home to FL two days later. I would have loved to have met you and your group. I love those aft facing cabins. Maybe next time! Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 LOL We were in the coffee bar waiting for our number to be called to get of the ship (#30) and i thought i was in a TB ward. everyone was hacking including the 2 people we were with. I tested positive the next day on Cape Cod. ugh
Quick question what travel agent do you recommend for cruises? We book directly through Celebrity this time and got no perks or extras.
@@harvard6969 LOL - yep. I sat behind this man in the main theater on the next to last night and I thought he was doing to hack up a lung. I moved but apparently not soon enough. Glad everyone is ok.
@@harvard6969 I have my own independent travel agency, See More Seas Travel, LLC. I would be happy to assist you. I can normally find a rate that is slightly lower than what you are seeing direct and I always provide an additional $50 of OBC. Sometimes I can uncover special unpublished group rates too. You can email me at Contact@seemoresea.com when interested in researching options!
We're on the Eclipse for the 3rd time next June. We've been booking Aqua Class on Celebrity as we prefer the Blu dining room for the smaller venue, ease of access, and better food IMHO. We look forward to the refurbishment after the drydock!
For sure! It is a much better experience and they do take extra time if you have any type of food sensitivities and requests. Blu is a great place, especially for breakfast! Thanks for watching!
Doug - we were on the same cruise as you and we wholeheartedly agree with you, especially about the food! We went to the MDR twice and then stopped going. The service was poor and slow and the food itself was below average. The food in the Oceanview Cafe was uninteresting. The toilet in our cabin stopped flushing at around day three and although they promptly “fixed it,” it became a recurring problem. They did finally resolve the issue after about 4 days! Regarding the Immigration issue in Portland… that was a wasted day. We hadn’t planned an excursion but, by the time we disembarked, we were exhausted and just went back to the ship. We have sailed with Celebrity in the past and especially like the Solstice class ships, but this was a major disappointment!
Thank you for sharing your experience. It is really tough doing a disappointing review especially on Celebrity. I am seeing some new posts for this itinerary from a current group cruise and the food issue has not been raised. I think that the combination of the crew change and possible new sourcing providers in Boston for this inaugural itinerary may have contributed to our poor food quality and slow service. We discussed and will never do an inaugural itinerary or cruise again. Again, thanks for sharing and for watching!
We are on another line tomorrow for 7 days to quebec city. Love your insights. We have 3 days in quebec city.
That is great! You'll love Quebec City! The evening time was really fantastic. You have to look out for all of the pink ballon men around the city. There is an interesting story behind it. I hope your weather is as beautiful as ours was. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
I hope that you and other passengers filled out the surveys, and were brutally honest about the failures. As a long time Celebrity cruiser, those things should not be happening. I have wanted to do cruises on the Eclipse, Solstice and Silhouette because I've been on the other two Solstice class twice. But now it sounds like there's no point.
I have been on the Equinox and Reflection recently and I did not experience the same low food and service quality. I go on Reflection again next month for a weekend cruise. I do think that this is an isolated problem with the sourcing for the cruise and an inexperienced crew. I am NOT making excuses and I was brutally honest in the survey and in my discussion with the Asst. Maitre D. We did Solstice for Alaska a few years ago and have sailed Silhouette 4 times. I can't respond to the current quality of those products but this was one of the very few moments of disappointment from Celebrity (however Luminae on the Solstice did have some breakfast issues). I will be making sure that any Solstice class ship will have been recently refurbished before sailing again. We do a 10 Night on Beyond in mid Dec and upgraded to a Sky Suite so we bypass the MDR, The cost was enormous and required us to remove some travel for next year. Thanks for sharing and I'll post a review of my Reflection sailing next month to compare experiences. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 That's good to know. I've been on a number of other cruise lines, and the Celebrity officers and crew have always been A+. I wouldn't be opposed to sailing to sailing on Princess or HAL again as I thought they were good. I just love the Celebrity vibe. I go off season, so I can't speak to when there are a lot of kids on board. Usually, I only see a few. My last cruise on Royal Caribbean was not a good experience.
It's heartbreaking when the food's a miss. Celebrity absolutely blew it. But I'm very happy frère, that Canada did not let you down. I would have been mortified. Another great video Doug. Happiness and health, always.
We mad the best of the food situation but the Canadian ports were just incredible! They did not disappoint one bit! I actually thought of you when the MDR went down hill on us. LOL. Thanks as always for sharing and for watching!
We have a similar itinerary next year (October 2026) from Boston. We are on the Majestic Princess however. Our itinerary is a one-way cruise from Boston to Quebec City with an overnight stay in Quebec City like yours - except our cruise disembarks in Quebec City. That immigration process in Portland looked awful! I hope our process in Canada is smoother. Thanks for sharing. After your review, I’m glad I’m not on Celebrity.
The cruise terminal in Quebec City was very nice. It seemed modern and well staffed. We actually could come and go all night if we wanted to. The area seemed very secure and safe. I am sure that they will have an efficient process for debarkation and immigration. I am getting reports from the current Celebrity Boston sailings that a few of the issues might be getting worked out. If you can, I would highly recommend a few days stay in Quebec City after your cruise. It is absolutely amazing!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thank you. I will check into it.
I did the third (September 19) sailing. Many things did improve but food quality in the MDR and buffet was not great. Customer service was lacking. I’m glad I did it but I have no reason to go on Celebrity again. Back to Princess for me.
I was just on the Reflection and food and service was very good but completely different itinerary, ship and embarkation port. It seems that consistency is a big problem right now. I spoke to a lot of Princess customers on the Reflection cruise and they say the same as you. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
We’re going on this cruise tomorrow. We usually cruise with Viking or Oceania.
One reason I wanted to get this out to you some tips for the cruise. I hope that they have had a chance to address some of the issues we had. The ports are amazing! Have a great cruise and thanks for watching!
Just came back off this trip and agree on just about everything, especially the disappointing food. We did however find the embarkation a breeze from stepping out of the taxi to stepping on board the ship 15 minutes later. Our boarding time was allocated at 3pm but we went to the dock at midday with no issues. We did feel like caged animals at Portland but doing the customs in Boston would have been totally impractical. We still had plenty time there . All the stops were great!
We also enjoyed the ports just as we had hoped and it was a good experience even with some of the disappointing items. Really good to hear that later in the day the embarkation was better or that they improved the system after the first cruise. I am hearing the same things about Portland so not too sure that could be changed. I'm glad that we did have an excursion in Portland even though more time at each stop would have been nice. Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
We were on the cruise prior to this one debarking in Boston. Agree with a lot of your review except the storage in our balcony cabin. The hanging closet space was fine but the drawer space for clothes was terrible even when using the over the bed storage space which was very inconvenient get to.
I was on the first one too. It just took me a week or two to get this recorded and edited. We also filled up the drawer space and used the over the bed where we stacked the extra stuff. It is a bit clumsy and inconvenient to get to that stuff for sure. 11 Nights in a colder region normally requires a bit more storage. We did ask for extra hangers for a lot of our things. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
We just completed the same cruise itinerary on 9/8-9/19. I notice you didn’t discuss Rockland at all. We do agree with your assessment of the food and we were in the Retreat so we dined almost all the time in Luminia. We also dined in Tuscan and Murano. We were disappointed with Tuscan but Murano was excellent. Ship definitely needs refurbishment. And yes, it’s an older crowd on this itinerary. Being in Retreat we had priority in Portland and my wife and I were the third and fourth individuals through the process. If you think Portland was bad I could only imagine if we didn’t have the stop in Portland and had to go through the process in Boston. Yes, disembarkation in Boston was a nightmare particularly sin the Norwegian Gem came back the same day. Never again will be leaving from Boston.
@@bobliddell6996 I was on the inaugural sailing 28 Aug - 08 Sep. That itinerary did not include Rockland. The graphic I used was the only one I could find showing they current itinerary which does stop in Rockland before Halifax. I am happy that you had Luminae and confirmed our disappointment in Tuscan. You were so lucky to be early in Portland. I was waiting out on the open decks, the rear of the Oceanview Cafe and everyone being held hostage felt the same way - we were stuck there with nothing to do but just look out at land without having the ability to get off the ship. We quickly upgraded our December sailing on the Beyond to The Retreat, grabbing the last Sky Suite. We paid a huge cost for The Retreat avoiding the MDR, and will have to eliminate a trip next year to pay for it. We won't be sailing out of Boston either. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
Interesting, we went on the ship in August and the food was great in the MDR (I am still daydreaming about their short ribs). Also, I think you had the misfortune to get a cabin with damage--nobody in our group had anything problematic in their cabins (slightly odd colors, but clean & well maintained). However, we were similarly "meh" about the Tuscan Grill, though we loved Murano. I think the extended time in the Arctic (the two preceding cruises went to Greenland & Iceland) probably is why the grass was a little lackluster, but that will grow back. Hopefully the MDR will step up its game again.
I'm so glad to hear that you had a great experience. I am thinking that because this was a brand new itinerary for Celebrity that the sourcing of the food could have been the issue. I am sure they vet suppliers, etc but without having a track record of quality they might have to adjust how they order and from who. That is a great point about the grass. I have seen worse on Solstice class but it was thick and looked healthy yet a bit brown. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 I'm not sure. We went on the behind the scenes tour and we were introduced the ship's procurement manager. Because I also work in the same functional area, he actually followed the tour to talk to me. Their biggest supply depot is in Florida, but as this ship does not stop there, they get supplies at every stop, with the vast majority of supply coming from the starting port, Boston (the rest is top-off or specialty items). Now, Celebrity has not started many cruises from Boston, so that might be the problem.
@@bymyhandsworked I love that tour! I have done it a few times too. They have the supply chain and suppliers completely in line for all Florida sailings. Since this inaugural cruise itinerary out of Boston caused so many disruptions to our cruise, my assumptions of suppliers our of Boston has to be the issue. They had never tested the quality of the meats, ingredients and items before. I hope that they jumped on the issue from our cruise and pounded those suppliers to get it right! A huge group cruise from Tips for Travelers is sailing that itinerary this week and can not wait to see if our strong opinions for disappointing food quality was addressed! Thanks for sharing and for watching!
Doug, we just got on the Eclipse today doing the exact same itinerary as what you did. So far so good. The lunch and dinner in the Moonlight Sonata had great food and great service. So perhaps many of the bugs you mentioned have been resolved. I’m glad, because my wife and I love Celebrity - this is our 12th cruise with them - and would be bummed if the food and service were sub-par. Here’s hoping the rest of the cruise is as good as day one!!!
I am so very happy to hear that! I had lunch in the MDR on three of the sea days and each was also disappointing to me and the entire table. I wish you a great cruise and hopefully they resolved their food supplier quality issue. I attended many of the Captain's Club Elite happy hours in the passport bar and the topic each evening was if the MDR was going to be as bad as the night before. These were also Celebrity loyalists like you and me so to hear that you had a great experience makes me hopeful. The ports are going to be amazing so enjoy yourself and have a wonderful cruise! Thank you very much for sharing and for watching the review.
We’re looking forward to the ports. We live right outside of Boston but have never done this itinerary.
Doug - I don’t know if you are still reading comments from this video, but I just wanted to let you know that my wife and I completed our 11 night Eclipse cruise last Monday. While the ship really needs to be updated and there were aspects of our cabin, the definitely were troublesome (new paint flecks almost every day on our balcony, the coffee table collapsing), we had a wonderful cruise. The food in the main dining room was in general very good, as was the service. However, on two nights, it was difficult to get our sommelier’s attention. The food in the Buffet was excellent as was the selection, and while it was busy at times, we did not experience the troubles you did. And the itinerary, as you indicated, was great. Having said all that, I’m looking forward to going back on the Ascent next February.
@@larryeinzig3316 So wonderful to hear! I am so relieved that the MDR issues are getting resolved and that you enjoyed the meals. I normally enjoy the buffet on Solstice Class so also good to hear. I am on Reflection at the end of next week so I'm going to be doing a comparison for sure! This is one of the best itineraries we have taken on Celebrity so, again, happy to hear a positive movement report in the food area! Thanks so much for sharing and for watching! I am thrilled that you enjoyed your sailing!
Thats too bad to hear the room and food were so terrible. I cruised the Eclipse (concierge) in Dec. '23 out of LA and had a tremendous experience.
Here's hoping they get things back on track food wise at least...as I'm back on it again later this fall.
The stateroom was fine - exactly what to expect from a Solstice Class ship - the black out curtain was pretty nasty with lots of stuff in the velcro allowing each panel to connect to each other. The food was bad but I think that might be an combination of a new crew and a bad supplier from the new Boston area embarkation. Every venue onboard had bad, tough, over cooked meat which was just unacceptable. This was not a normal Celebrity sailing for food IMO. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
Take a look at Fraser's video on his .MSC cruise with a similar itinerary and the horrors of going through immigration in Portland! I am having a wonderful time this week on a Proncess 7 day roundtrip NE/Canada itinerary from and back to NYC.
I will take a look at that for sure! So glad to hear that you are enjoying your cruise! Are you doing some of the same ports?
Did you try Murano?
We have dined in Murano several times in the past on multiple Solstice Class ships. It is always a great experience and those I spoke to on this sailing said it was very good and better than Tuscan Grille. Murano is just too formal for us at this point but an exceptional venue for a special occasion.
I live in Quebec City, I would love to see Boston and we have shitty public transit too! Maine sure wants to show tRump style strong borders BS! Prime prices for tough beef-it's already my least favourite meat.Never overcook beef! You are stuck on bord and if the food sucks...How was the booze?
The drinks were flowing and the bar service was one of the best components of the cruise. Many of the local shop owners confirmed that parking and public transit is very difficult in Quebec City. The city though was by far our favorite port. The food issue was disappointing and being the first cruise out of Boston for this itinerary, I am hoping it was a combination of the major crew rotation and inexperience with suppliers. Later cruises have not reported food issues. The NE Coast of the US is a fantastic place to visit and Boston is excellent however a bit pricey. You'll also find the public transportation system in Boston very good with the T train. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 We're supposed to get a tramway in 6 yrs. I wish they would listen to mayor Marchand, he wants the TGV from Quebec City to Windsor.
That's very disappointing to hear of the low quality food offered and the poor selections. I will be on Celebrity Eclipse in just 3 weeks for my first cruise and hope it's better than this one.
I truly think that our dining and food issue was a combination of a newer crew (major crew rotation for us in Boston) and our sailing being the first of the season from Boston. I believe that there was also a sourcing issue with our food which from recent reports has been resolved. Most that sailed after us are not reporting the food quality issue for their cruise. I did get several confirmations of poor food quality from guests on our sailing post cruise. I hope you have a wonderful experience !
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Thank you!
Problem I see its a new crew. That always has growing pains.
Yes, I absolutely agree. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
Been cruising with Celebrity since 1991....The food has in general has gone way down hill...this is just one of the reasons I am changing cruise lines.
Also eliminating Gratuities in a so called 'All inclusive package" which is not so all inclusive anymore...this adds hundreds to your cruise fare alone. There were 3...COUNT EM, 3 gratuity increases in 2023 and 1 in 2024....now tips for anything is now a min of 20%.
Sorry to say, I am leaving Celebrity to go on a more inclusive cruise line.
Celebrity has been pricing themselves out of the premium market when it comes to the All Included fare. You can get a much better value with HAL or Princess. The gratuity situation is frustrating for sure. I'll be reviewing my next two Celebrity sailings with Reflection in October and the Beyond for 10 days in mid December. We upgraded to a Sly Suite for the Beyond so we would at least have a chance at upgraded cuisine at Luminae. Fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing and for watching!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 Not talking about HAL or Princess...I am done with main stream Cruise lines...I will be going with Crystal cruises and Oceania.
@@butalina I completely understand what you meant and would also love to move to the more all inclusive lines. I wish you the complete best with those lines! I am sure you will enjoy them. My budget doesn't allow that at this time so a better value in the premium segment might be HAL or Princess. Thanks for sharing!
@@seemoreseascruises3791 well, no matter what cruise line you pick if your going to the Caribbean there will be tons of kids. I been to every Caribbean Island some twice and to me it is beach and water..We have done Panama Canal, Alaska, I use to live in Hawaii and will never go back...New England and Canada Eastern and Western Mediterranean...now we will focus on Northern Europe then maybe land tours.
My wife and I could not justify going to sand and beach any longer...And that is all the Caribbean Island are...1 excursion and you saw for the most part the entire Island.
This is why we have been focusing on Europe...and we absolutely love it.
@@butalina Yep! The main Caribbean is saturated for sure and I feel the same way. We are doing a Southern Caribbean in Dec but going to 4 islands that we have never visited before - Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and our 100th time in St Maarten. My focus moving forward is now on Norwegian Fjords and Italy Greece Croatia Montenegro along with Barcelona. Happy and enjoyable travels!
Great information, but FF to the 3:00 Actual Content Start and set the playback speed to x1.5. Thank me later. 😁
Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!