tjunmin

Hello Bryan and Roger!

Thom and Brian here. You might want to join the other roll call at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=47848327. There are few more folks over there.

Cheers,

Thom

Hello all

We are Thom and Brian from Toronto. We are cruising with friends from NC.

In the past few cruises we sailed, we have unofficially moved the LGBT meet & greet to Cellar Masters. It is a much nicer space to comfortably sit and chat; it is also easier to find each other compared to the crowded Martini Bar. We've asked Celebrity to move the meet & greet from the Martini Bar to Cellar Masters, but the requests have always been ignored. However, through word of mouth, usually by the third day everybody knows of the new location.

Looking forward to meeting everybody on board!

Thom

See you all in two weeks!

Thom

Sent from my iPad

Gentlemen,

 

For what it's worth here are my friend's restaurant recommendations for Sydney.

Rob,

That is quite a list. Thanks!

We'll need more days in Sydney to visit them all. :D

Thom

I have a friend from Toronto who has lived in Sydney for the past 16 years. I will ask him about restaurants and get back to you. He lives in Surrey Hills which is the gay area, I believe.

 

The VISA requirement was a little surprising. Probably a money maker.

 

I notice the departure is at 8:00 pm. How early will we be allowed to board? Any idea?

Hi Rob

Usually boarding starts around 11:00 AM. Celebrity recently started using a system of staggered check-in times. Below is an excerpt of the email I received from Celebrity in our previous cruise describing the check-in time schedule. Celebrity might use this approach in this cruise.

"we also ask you to please verify your designated check-in appointment on the embarkation letter in your Guest Ticket Booklet. Since we have very limited seating available in the terminal, any guests arriving before their assigned time will be asked to return at their assigned check-in time as shown below:

Deck 11 & 12: 11:30AM

Deck 10: 12:00PM

Deck 9: 12:45PM

Deck 8: 1:30PM

Deck 7: 2:15PM

Deck 3 & 6: 3:00PM

Suite Guests, as well as Captain’s Club Zenith, Elite Plus, Elite and Select members can check-in anytime at their convenience between the hours of 11:30am and 3:30pm. We appreciate your assistance and thank you for your understanding."

Hope this helps. Cheers,

Thom

Hey!

Glad to hear you like Blu as well. Tiffany swears by it. We are foodies so we are looking forward to it. We got the basic drink package from the company we booked through. Still not sure if we will use our on board credit to upgrade. Figure we will wait and see what alcohol we can get and then decide. I hear the martini bar and molecular bar are great but that they don't really offer much on the classic package.

 

Your itinerary looks great. So far we have only booked independent tours. Trying to save money where we can as this vacation is going to cost us. Right now here is what we have:

 

Auckland: not sure yet but will probably go out to one of the islands for volcano hike or wine tour

Bay Of Islands: 6 hour catamaran sail with dolphin swim

Tauranga: renting car, tour Rotorua, then white water rafting

Wellington: cable car to top of mountain then walk back through botanical garden, lunch on Cuba Street, then chill at Flight Coffee Hangar, maybe the museum as it's free

Akaroa: we have chartered a private tour to take us into the alps and then a one hour jet boat ride (cheaper than than the Celebrity train option)

Dunedin: doing the gorge train tour on our own, booked directly with train company

Hobart: doing a bike tour down Mount Wellington, then explore Hobart on our own

Sydney: we are planning the same things as you are, Bondi and Manly beaches, Blue Mountains. My partner wants to do the bridge climb but it seems awfully expensive to me. Maybe we'll do it Christmas day.

 

Still more planning to do which I love to do.

Rob

Hi Rob

Your tour options sound exciting as well. We are not as brave as you to rent a car in New Zealand; I thought about it but decided against it. :)

We also enjoy good food. You might want to take a look at Clooney in Auckland; it gets positive reviews. I still need to look into places to eat in Sydney. If you find good places to eat in Sydney, feel free to share!

I'm looking into our Australian visas now. I can't believe we need tourist visas for Australia. I thought being part of the British Commonwealth would account for something! :p

Cheers,

Thom

Hey Thom,

Very small world that you were in San Diego. I've been here 16 years and became a U.S. citizen last year. Still hold Canadian citizenship, otherwise I would not have done it. I'm sure we know people in common, either here or there.

Yes, we are in Aqua class. Tiffany was adamant that we would like it so we are hoping it is worth the extra money. I understand Blu is quite good.

What shore excursions have you planned thus far? Interested to see what others are doing.

Hello Rob

I hope you will enjoy your Aqua class cabin. In my opinion, Blu alone is worth the extra money. Service at Blu is much more attentive compared to the main dining room. We also enjoy the healthier menus and balanced serving sizes. In addition to Blu, we also have access to the Persian Gardens included in our fare price; it is a very relaxing experience to lounge on the heated beds and watch the world pass by outside.

I have not finalized our travel plans yet, but below is what I have so far. I'm surprised at how many ship tours we are taking on this cruise. I usually book more private tours.

Sun Dec 07: explore Auckland on our own; dinner at Clooney

Mon Dec 08: Maori Full Day Tour; CC dinner at Brew on Quay

Wed Dec 10: Historic Hokianga (ship tour)

Thu Dec 11: Hobbiton and Rotorua (private tour organized by Jean and Bill)

Sat Dec 13: explore Wellington on our own

Sun Dec 14: Journey to Middle Earth (ship tour)

Mon Dec 15: Royal Otago Tour (ship tour)

Fri Dec 19: Historic Hobart, Port Arthur & Wildlife (ship tour)

Sun Dec 21: explore Sydney on our own (Hyde Park, Royal Botanic Gardens, Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, Opera House to Botanic Gardens Walk, Sydney Opera House Tour, Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout, The Rocks)

Mon Dec 22: explore Bondi on our own; Bondi to Coogee Coastal Walk (aerial photo)

Tue Dec 23: Blue Mountains Tour

Wed Dec 24: explore Manly on our own; Manly Scenic Walkway (map)

Hope this helps your planning. Feel free to join us in any of the tours!

Cheers,

Thom

Hi Thom, Brian, Rob and Don. Really nice to hear from you guys. This is my first time sailing with Celebrity too. Really looking forward to it! I'm South African but have lived in Sydney for 10 years now so it's kind of home now. New Zealand is a really stunning country so I expect we are in for a fantastic cruise. I'm sailing with 2 friends who will be doing their own thing (happy gay couple on their first cruise) so it will be great to know a couple of other blokes onboard.

Hi Warwick, Rob and Don

I believe this will be an amazing itinerary, and it will be even better with a great group of friends!

Warwick, you should invite your friends to join the roll calls as well, so we can all get to know each other. We don't bite... too hard, I promise. ;)

We have a few Celebrity cruises under our belt, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Based on the Google spreadsheet, there is another couple on the cruise - Steve & Jeff - but they've been absent from the roll call so far.

Looking forward to December to meeting you all. Cheers,

Thom

Hey guys! My name is Rob. My partner Don and I will be on the cruise as well. We live in San Diego, California. I'm actually Canadian and lived in Toronto from 1986 until 1999. Have read the main roll call and have started the planning. We will be arriving in Auckland on the Sunday and then spending a week in Sydney. First time to Australia and New Zealand. Also our first time on Celebrity. Looking forward to it!

Hi Rob

Welcome to you and Don!

I worked for 7-8 months in San Diego in 2011/2012. My client at the time has its North American headquarters in SAN, and I had to fly on a weekly basis over there. I love the city! Last year our Hawaii cruise started in SAN and I had the opportunity to show Brian my favourite places.

We'll arrive in Auckland on Saturday and will spend four days in Sydney. It will be our first time in Australia and New Zealand as well. I already booked our tour excursions in most of the ports; I still need to finalize what to do in Auckland, Wellington and Sydney.

I noticed that Tiffany and Mike are in Aqua class. Are you as well?

Looking forward to meeting you either in Auckland or on board. Cheers,

Thom

Hey, I can't find a roll call for this cruise. Any other gay / lesbian / bi people on it?

Hi Warwick

We are a couple from Toronto, Canada. If you wish, feel free to get in touch through tjunmin at gmail dot com.

Alternatively, you can join us in the roll call. It is very active and the people are friendly.

Cheers,

Thom and Brian

Hey there!

Less than a week away. Who else will be on board? :)

Thom

Hey there!

Anyone else joining us on this cruise? Less than three months away. :)

Thom

We are boarding when you get off - our hotel quoted around $16US for the cab ride to the cruise terminal from the area near The Bund, so that jives with 100CNY.

Hello Joe!

It is very unfortunate that we'll not be on the same cruise this year. Wish you a fantastic voyage. Cheers,

Thom

Google "Shanghai Taxi Fare Calculator" and see what you get.

Thanks for the tip! :)

Thom

Thanks for the info, MaryAnn!

I wonder if anyone would have recent info on how much the cab ride costs.

Thom

Our cruise will end in Shanghai and we'll dock at the Baoshan Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal. Please notice this is NOT the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal, close to downtown Shanghai.

1. Do you know what is the taxi availability at the cruise terminal? Is it usually easy to get a taxi, or are there usually long lines waiting for taxi cars?

2. Based on my research, the cost of the taxi from Wusongkou Cruise Terminal to downtown Shanghai is approximately CNY100. Based on your experience, is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any information!

Thom

In my late teens The Front Runner by Patricia Nell Warren, published in 1974, was the first gay themed novel I had ever read. Along with its 2 sequels,Harlem's Race and Billy's Boy, they still pull my heart strings 37 years later.

I second The Front Runner. It was also my first gay themed novel.

I also recommend the Joe Keenan novels, especially Blue Heaven. Hilarious reading.

Sometimes the cabins in the aft can be covered in soot every morning from the stack according to pictures someone posted on here. Plus one of the aft cabins has no sitting area, just a bed. I can't remember which category it is.

JS #9684 is the aft cabin with no sitting area. I also heard from previous passengers about the soot in the aft balconies.