Inside new luxury cruiser, Celebrity Eclipse

WE take you inside Celebrity Cruises' newest ship, complete with iPad menus, specialty restaurants, real grass and a spa which you pre-book online.

escape cruise

WITH the incredible boom in worldwide cruising, cruise lines are constantly trying to top one another by making their ships stand out from the pack, hoping to lure passengers onboard with startling innovations.

If there is one ship that certainly startles, it's the sleek new Eclipse from the 5-star line, Celebrity Cruises.

It just gets better
How's this for one-upmanship. On the top deck there's real, growing grass 0.2ha of it, where you can play bocce, croquet, or practise your putting on a mini-golf range. In the evening, the ship turns on wine and cheese nights where you can sit on the grass and sip away under the stars, while listening to a cool jazz band.

In restaurants you are served not by waiters, but by CTGs, short for culinary tour guides, who hand out iPads as menus.

And, using an iPad as your guide, you can take a personalised tour of the incredible multimillion-dollar, cutting-edge art collection onboard.

There's even a nifty iLounge Cafe where experts will teach you how to use an Apple Mac and another first at sea, glass-blowing demonstrations by the famous Corning Museum of Glass.

Launched nearly a year ago, this hip, hi-tech 380m-long ship that carries 2800 passengers is the third in Celebrity's highly rated Solstice Class fleet. It's currently sailing the Caribbean.

I joined it there as part of an international media inspection, and conventional it is not. When you first walk on, it reminds you of a floating resort, something that you might find in Monaco or Las Vegas. It's hard to believe you're actually on a ship.

The food
Eating at the 10 venues onboard Eclipse is a dining experience that's, well, different. An absolute must is the specialty restaurant called Qsine (pronounced cuisine).

Uniquely and artfully presented with elements of surprise, is how Qsine is described by Jacques van Staden, vice-president of culinary operations. It's the first interactive dining venue-at-sea, with the entire dinner, wine and cocktail menu displayed, as I said, on an iPad.

"We don't even serve our food on proper plates," Van Staden says.

Spring rolls are nestled in vertical springs. Popcorn Fish & Chips come in popcorn packets like you get at movie theatres, and with Taco Royale, you get black angus sirloin steak, homemade taco shells, do-it-yourself fresh guacamole, with a stone mortar and pestle.

Everything is visual, from the overhead lighting, which consists of table lamps with ornate shades mounted upside down on the ceiling, to the animated pictures on the iPad wine list. You simply scroll through the list and, when you pick your wine, you can see the actual bottle and the label, tasting notes as well. When you make your selection, click on what you like, add it to your favourites, then give the iPad to your CTG. For cocktails, the iPad will show you the ingredients, just click shake it and presto, one cocktail coming up.

And, wait until you see the dessert menu. Its a Rubik's-style twistable cube presenting mouth-watering options ranging from candied apples, to popcorn, to individual cookie jars.

Qsine is one of five alternative restaurants onboard with a surcharge of $30 a person, but take it from me, this is a dining extravaganza. Mine lasted three hours and I couldn't eat another thing. Well not until dinner anyway.

The main restaurant is Moonlight Sonata where meals are included in the cost of the cruise. Spread over two levels, it features a dramatic two-storey wine tower loaded with 480 different wines from around the world.

A great spot to quench your thirst is the cool Martini Bar where you can see an amazing display by the mixologists who jump up on the bar and put on quite a show, pouring up to 14 martinis at once.

For coffee lovers, you'll find Cafe al Bacio, which also serves delicious pastries, then head across to the gelateria for top Italian ice cream at its best.

Other attractions
Kids are totally spoilt, with their very own Fun Factory, complete with video games and activities galore which will keep them occupied for hours. Eclipse caters for youngsters 3-17, split into three age groups.

What's a cruise without a bit of pampering? At AquaSpa, you can indulge in a range of massages, spa, salon and personal fitness programs.

Again, you can pre-book an appointment online so you no longer have to worry about finding available times when you board the ship.

Staterooms are large and luxurious 85 per cent of them offer sweeping veranda views. If you have the dosh, splash out on one of two penthouse suites with separate living and dining room, full bar, a baby grand piano and two huge flat-screen TVs, plus an LCD TV in the bathroom.

Even the more affordable cabins have flat-screen TVs, and if you feel the need to rest up on your comfy queen bed for a few hours, there's an incredible choice of new movies to watch free.

There's a total of 418 cabins that accommodate three to four people, and more than 120 cabins with connecting doors, ideal for families.

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