Having been in Southampton for a few days at the annual Cruise Convention I was very privileged to visit both the Queen Mary 2 and Celebrity Eclipse for a tour of the ship and lunch.
I have to say they both have their positives and I am at a loss to find any negatives with either of them.
QM2 was very traditional as you would expect from a stalwart such as Cunard. The public areas and corridors were full of traditional wood bulk heads. However it is truly difficult to get a true feel for a ship without actually sailing on board.
What I did think was stunning was the library which apparently is the largest at sea although the notice that the author of, ” How to survive coronary disease” was on board left me wondering if he knew something I didn’t.
The main atrium of the ship is stunning and we were lucky enough to be on the same ship as Princess Anne on the day we visited due to her holding a charity luncheon onboard. So I believe I am within my rights to say that I have dined with royalty albeit they were in a different restaurant!!!!
We were able to visit the Princess Grill and the Queens Grill however without dining in them I am unable to comment although what I can say is that I was not overly impressed with the Grills decor although this is probably an unfair comment without the privelege of experiencing the service.
The Planetarium was very interesting and I would have liked to have been able to view the lecture in here. Also I enjoyed the Red Lion Pub and the Chart Room which I thought were lovely venues for an evening drink or two. I loved the traditional red pillar post box outside the Red Lion.
Dining was served in the Britannia Restaurant on the upper level and the dining room was stunning and again very traditional. The waiters were very good although we seemed to encounter a huge delay between starter and main course.
As we were disembarking the ship we were greeted with a trolley full of hissing cats and barking dogs ready to be treated as 5 start guests in the ships kennels. The QM2 is the only ship to offer this to passengers sailing Southampton to New York and vice versa.
All in all would I recommend Cunard – this would really depend on the type of passenger as I felt that this is ship would not suit a family.
Celebrity Eclipse was stunning and surpassed any other ships that I have seen at sea. We were welcomed on board by an entourage of officers and after ascending the gangway were greeted with either a Mimosa, Champagne or Orange Juice. What an experience and it just kept getting better.
I would love to say that this had only been done for us as travel agents to impress us but this is a Celebrity standard!
I thought the Bar with the ice top was excellent and the vodka bar with 100 different varieties was amazing. I did not know there were that many flavours. The living tree in the middle of the Atrium was spectacular although I would love to know how it was watered.
The dining venues were unbelievable with the likes of Qsine being a cross between the science of Heston Blumenthals cookery skills and the IT expertise of Bill Gates. I will be uploading images to the website next week.
What impressed me the most all the way was the attention to detail and the number of staff members around every corner with a welcome smile upon their faces.
Each dining venue was beautifully decorated with mouth watering menus and thee seemed to be a sense of pride with the staff who worked in these areas.
Lunch was served in the Moonlight Sonata and we were welcomed by a sea of smiling faces showing us to our tables. The venue was stunning with a mixture of chrome, crystal and white linen. The service was outstanding and the food was better than any Michelin Star restaurant I have eaten in. Speaking of which good luck to Celebrity in their attempts to gain the first Michelin star at sea.
The Celebrity Eclipse by far is the most beautiful ship I have seen both from its sleek exterior and innovative interior and I cannot wait to have a proper chance to really experience the real soul of the ship.