The perfect trip on Celebrity Eclipse

When you return off holiday people always say “Good Holiday?” and normally we reply politely “yes good thankyou”. Well, as regards our latest Scandinavia and Russia Cruise it was the perfect trip! We have done many cruises in many parts of the World but never gone from Southampton. This was a totally refreshing and surprising change; no worries about luggage, airports, flying etc just a simple drive to an organised port with excellent close parking and boarding service….it was really like catching a bus! The ship facilities and cabin (balcony) as you would expect from Celebrity were excellent and of course how no one could complain on the variety of food on offer.
Staff and service is great and one thing I like about Celebrity is they have an approach that is focused on making your trip the best it can possibly be so if you are dissatisfied about something of have a complaint they do their best to turn this into a compliment. The on the cruise was perfect for us with interesting countries and a good balance and mixture of see days and stops. Bruge, Stockholm, Etsonia, St Petersburg, Germany and Copenhagan were all beautiful and of course the excellent weather was a real added bonus. If I had any advice as with most cruises is research and plan your excursions well in advance to get the most of your cruise. We did a combination of our own thing and planned trips which was perfect for us. Of course St Petersburg there is no option of taking the planned trips because of the complexities of obtaining visas and the potential safety/security issues. We booked 3 afternoon excursions which were great for us; many of the passengers we spoke to said all day trips were tiring…..we preferred a lay in, a late breakfast and a leisurely afternoon before a few G & Ts then getting ready for dinner. We had the Classic Drinks package which is more than enough but saves worrying about bills and is great value. Entertainment was variable but there is no way of appealing to all 2500 passengers but after saying that there is always something to do on the ship. The good weather meant more space was available on the ship on “at sea” days so outside and indoor pool area coped well…bad weather would make it a little tight I should imagine. We have done all the med, Caribbean and Alaska and this has been the best cruise for us so far. So if you want easy travel, see some different places and experience different things on a excellent ship with great food and activities at a reasonable price then this is the one for you.! We are 50 year old and the younger end of the passenger age group but this didn’t effect the cruise at all.