Nice, easy journey down finds us at Southampton Pier at around 12.30pm - Celebrity's Eclipse is looming over the port building ready for its journey. This is our first Trans Atlantic cruise, it seems a little odd thinking the next time we get off the ship we will have crossed "the pond"; our first stop is Boston where we have organised a private mini bus tour with some CC (Cruise Critic) folks then sailing on to New York for 2 days, Bermuda 2 days and another CC private tour, The Bahamas and Miami.
We board and climb the stairs to our cabin which is ready for us and is spotless, well laid out and has a very decent sized balcony with more classy looking chairs and teak tables. I will say that NCL wins hands down when it comes to the shower - this one lacks pressure and neither moves up or down nor is removable. Small niggle and lots more to explore yet.
The first thing that strikes us on the Eclipse (and here I'm comparing with the ncl EPIC) is the sheer amount of space, public spaces are wider, there's a lot more variety to those spaces with lots of quiet areas, bars with individuality, huge outdoor areas and a proper panoramic crows nest lounge/bar top front. especially the lawn on the top deck, it's real grass!
Had lunch in theOceanview cafe (buffet) outside at the back of the ship, taking in a cloudy, grey Southampton. I feel like I should apologise for the lack of sunshine to the folk who have flown in, probably from better climes than this. Cottage pie for J and roast beef w/yorks pud for D with a cheeky Malbec each. The puds are always a disappointment on any ship. The title of each bearing no resemblance to its ingredients! A quick peruse of the ship and see the famous lawn. The great glass elevators are very scary for J in the internal atrium area, woah!
Returning to the cabin after this we find our bags have finally arrived. A quick unpacking then off to the MDR for dinner. We have a nice little table for two in the window. Very swish affair: J has the wild mushroom soup, Salmon with sauce vierge and Dan has beef spring roll, pork chop. Both excellent. Villa Maria for J and malbec for D followed by apple pie for J and cheese for D. We pass the Isle of Wight during dinner and from our window table watch the pilot's boat match our speed alongside, awaiting his departure. This always seems a very scary business to me. Entertainment wile we eat is provided by a lovely American lady who describes in great detail in a strong Southern drawl the highlights of her stay in London "Oh yeah we loved the Bloody Tower, though the towers sure were small"
We see the house band, The Trends, in the central atrium, then a quick walk outside for some fresh air bed. Straight to sleep, as we have been up since 4am, setting our alarm for 7.30am.
Click here for day 2
Click here for day 2
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