We were looking for an Australian Cruise when we stumbled on the Antarctica cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse, with a 4 perk deal that we couldn’t refuse. This was our second South American cruise, with our first being two years prior on the Emerald Princess with an Around the Horn. As vacation days are still limited for me, we booked a direct flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires and skipped overnighting. We opted for the Celebrity Airport meet and greet transportation with our luggage collection at the airport. It was waiting in our cabin when we got there. Celebrity had advised us there would be staggered check-in times and for our deck it would be 2:00 and limited waiting room. We arrived about 11:30 and were assigned a boarding group number. By noon our number was called, and we were quickly on board. After a quick lunch at the Ocean View, we were able to go to our cabins for a quick nap. Everything ran smooth with no surprises.

We chose 9278 as a cabin as it was near the center of the ship, and the elevators. There is a glass door from the game room to the hallway that shuts out nearly all the noise from the central atrium and the game room. It also has little traffic to or from the elevators. The cabin is not much different than the other verandas with the exception this has a drop down bunk above the sofa. I find the Celebrity cabins to be a bit more functional and spacious feeling than those on Princess, due to the bump out in the wall for the beds.

The ship was clean as was the rooms. With the layout much like the Silhouette in that same class. One of the major differences is the lawn club grill on the Eclipse was replaced with the Hollywood Hot Glass studio. For our first Sea Day we went and made some paperweights with some of our On Board Credits. This was a lot of fun where they individually help you create your own glass work of art. The instruction lasts about 20 minutes, but makes for a great sea day activity. My wife later in the cruise created a penguin as a souvenir of our cruise. They also have many demonstrations and raffle off a few free classes. The instructors are great, and it was something I never thought you’d find on a cruise ship. I believe they are on two other ships also, the Solstice and the Equinox. Our first glass blowing experience was in Skagway, and the prices are quite reasonable in comparison. Read more