Redking

Embarkation day -1 starting to feel real.

The day started with some final cleaning and the arrival of our wonderful pet sitters. Our little sausage's stress levels were on the rise following the appearance of the big black boxes.

Briefing completed with pet sitter, we headed off to Tauranga Airport for our 40 minute flight to Auckland. Guess who we saw on her final port of the current cruise.

This will be our fifth trip to the airport since Christmas and I still notice something new. Dinky little terminal and probably the quietest airport I've ever been to. Little wonder, not too many options on destinations!

Some headless hats, one owner later found.

Transport for today. A bit smaller than tomorrow's.

On the Skydrive bus heading into Auckland City.

25 minutes ago, GenerationX said:

I’m not sure which perk of my suite I’m more excited about: the guest half bathroom (which I’m already dreaming of relegating Jeremy and his less than attractive morning bathroom routine to) or the multiple well lit full body mirrors (the one in the bedroom is a thinner look mirror than the one in the bath BTW ladies).

 

On my way to the elevator this evening my butler Clayton magically apparated out of nowhere with a big smile to wish me a good dinner and good night and ask if there was anything he could do for me before I go to bed tonight.

 

Currently in Ensemble Lounge for my favorite pre-dinner pass time of cosmopolitans served in an ice cold glass and good live music. The string duo are two ladies I enjoyed on Equinox last year and they still sound just as beautiful and the bartenders are friendly, quick and attentive.

 

So far, I’m seeing a lot of the Celebrity Cruises that I’ve come to love over the years and it is making my heart very happy.
 

Good evening from the Silhouette!

 

 

 

I reckon that half bathroom rule applies to a lot of us. On peril of his life is Findlay allowed to use the main bathroom for his daily constitional. He clearly doesn't value his life much!

RS 1614, snap!

Well different, unrevolutionesd ship and opposite side of the world. Either way, let the good times roll! 

We're all packed for our cruise on Saturday so finally getting time to post.

Didn't know you were cruising again until I saw your insta!

Looking forward to your comparison. As for a solo in a Royal, I hope you totally max out and turn that place into your personal spa 🍸🥂👑🙏 Enjoy!

3 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

Q: Did you book this excursion online, or onboard? We're on the 23 March sailing, and there's zero Peninsula Valdes excursions... but lots of dino museum and Welsh teatime. Maybe it's a shoulder season thing since we're essentially the last cruise of the season for Patagonia sailings? 

Did you want to see penguins? If so, Magdalena Island from Punta Arenas is a great trip. Looks like tours run until April.

We're all packed for our cruise on Saturday so finally getting time to post.

Didn't know you were cruising again until I saw your insta!

Looking forward to your comparison. As for a solo in a Royal, I hope you totally max out and turn that place into your personal spa 🍸🥂👑🙏 Enjoy!

10 minutes ago, nz1 said:

Cheers! A well-deserved break! Like you, I think I’ve packed too much too 😂

 

Safe travels up to Auckland tomorrow!

And to both of you 🥂

Embarkation day -2!

Phew, having myself a wee break from the packing.

We had a very busy Christmas and New Year with family visiting from Australia and Scotland. Whilst it was a joy to all be together for the first time in over three years, I counted four “turnaround days” which has given me renewed respect and gratitude for the wonderful job that the Celebrity crews do for us both before and during the cruise.

We’ve spent the last three days getting the house spick and span for our pet/house sitter’s arrival tomorrow.

The first suitcase is packed with one to go and two carry-ons. The ease with which everything went in and the number on scales made me think we must have forgotten a load of stuff. I then remembered that we’re doing a local 12-night cruise and not our usual land/cruise combo which is typically four or five weeks. With that in mind maybe we have packed too much!

We fly up to Auckland tomorrow.

5 hours ago, Swordfish1949 said:

So sorry for your loss.

Very sad to read this @chemmo. Thoughts are with you.

A few of us, well more like a couple of thousand of us, have decided to take a wee jaunt up to the South Pacific from Auckland and give the Eclipse a change of scene from the majestic scenery of New Zealand.

I thought I’d use the occasion to have a go at doing my first LIVE. Given that we all choose to cruise in different ways and look for different experiences in the ports that we visit, I have put out a call to the members of our Cruise Critic Roll Call to join in (and anyone else who cares to drop by).

About Us

I’ll kick things off by introducing ourselves. We are Kim and Findlay and moved back to New Zealand 3 years ago after spending 18 years in Brisbane, Australia.

I would describe us as reluctant first-time cruisers, choosing a Baltic Cruise 12 years ago (coincidentally on the Eclipse) as our first cruise for the convenience of getting from the UK to St Petersburg whilst taking in the other Baltic capitals. Findlay was not convinced he would enjoy the cruise right up to embarkation day. The rest as they say is now history. We didn’t stop smiling from the moment we boarded. The only thing that wasn’t quite to our taste was the MDR experience and for the next few years we cruised with our two sons in AquaClass which we loved. Fast forward to 2017 and, finding ourselves empty nesters, we gave the suite life a try. Again, as others have said, it’s hard to go back once you’ve dipped your toe in those waters.

Itinerary

I’ll add more on this as we go.

The cruise is a 12-night round trip from Auckland calling at 2 ports in Fiji (both on the main island of Viti Levu), Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. This will be our restart cruise (our last pre-Rona was the Tahitian Treasures on the Solstice) and doing a local cruise without the hassle of long-haul flights really appealed to us.

My understanding is that this is only the second time that Celebrity has offered this itinerary and it is only offered once in the Australia/NZ season. It is therefore popular as a leg in a B2B with an Australia/ New Zealand cruise.

We are not ones for booking Celebrity Excursions and usually do a combination of independent tours and “winging it” at the port. We have an excursion booked with Celebrity for American Samoa and after much pondering and research, have chosen to wing it for the other ports. Our thinking is that because this is a local cruise for us, we will go with the flow and can always come back again on a land or cruise holiday.

Please join us. Embarkation day -3 and counting!

6 minutes ago, Buckeye94 said:

So far we have tendered at every port. We will dock tomorrow in Puerto Madryn.

 

They have improved the tendering process since Puerto Montt where we waited in long lines for over an hour. Last tender was supposed to be at 5:30, but I still saw tenders heading back to the port at about 7:00. Since then, lines have moved much better, but I don't know if that's due to passenger behavior, staggered excursion returns, or more tenders.

Sounds like Puerto Montt is a challenging tender port. We had the same issue 10 years ago. Three ships in Port all tendering and very long wait times. Thankfully a very memorable port of call to balance it out. Loving your review, thank you.

3 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

596 pax capacity, too small for my tastes.  Entry level suite for a 7 day Med is $6700pp, not too bad because it truly includes everything.  I’ll admire it from afar, much prefer a larger ship

If it's the suites I've looked at, they're big rooms, like a Sky Suite. I think the equivalent to Xs upper suites are a lot more expensive. As you say, moot point if you prefer a larger ship.

16 minutes ago, Buckeye94 said:

Oh dear, not a disappointing cruise at all! I'm sorry if my comments have leaned negative. These are all things to be expected on an older ship. The crew is fantastic! The entertainers have been wonderful, and that's all icing because I'm here for the itinerary. The scenery has been amazing! 

Hard to put a cost on a cruise that leaves so many wonderful memories. Enjoy!

On 11/25/2022 at 4:37 PM, jelayne said:

When you request some things from the Shoreside Concierge and get on the ship to find only some have been handled it could be the SSC messed up or it could be the folks on the ship dropped the ball.  

 

It would be unlikely that the Suite Manager or Retreat Concierge would say , “yes Mr Royal Suite we got your request for 6 dinner reservations, a yoga mat, extra hangers, 2 bottles of Tanqueray 10, and a cheese plate at 4 on embarkation day, but we only had time to make the dinner reservations”. Easier to say “ we didn’t get that info but we will take care of it right away.”  Nicer yo be the hero vs the goat. 

🤣

A new one for the get out of jail free list:

SSC have not contacted you and when you call them rather than apologise for the muck up they advise they emailed you on the xx. I asked them to forward the email as I hadn't received the original. Lo and behold the email is not a forward of an original.

Hopefully the stuff up doesn't impact our speciality dining reservations.

Breath, smell the roses and enjoy the cruise....

Thank you @jelayne and @WestLakeGirl. Calling US toll free #s is indeed not an option from NZ. I called X this morning about a shore excursion and they said I should be contacted in the next few days.🤞

24 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I didn't ask either.   I don't wear PJ's and have two pair in our closet at home.  Maybe for emergency use.

Emergency use? We had quite a shoogle on NZ's North Island this morning (Mag 5). I have images of you donning your pjs during an earthquake in California!

Can anyone who has recently sailed on the Eclipse provide the name and contact email for the shoreside Concierge. Ten days out from our sailing and haven't heard from them. TIA.

We did thus cruise ten years ago. Like you we also managed to do Iguazu. It's the trip of a lifetime. Enjoy and thank you for taking the time to do this.

3 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Big Island, Hawaii at the end of Chain of Craters Road, Volcanoes National Park. 

 

Wowza that's pretty rugged!

1 hour ago, amcco said:

 

We had one on Prince Edward Island until Hurricanes Fiona and Nicole battered it down.😔

😯Mother nature! Maybe there's a new thread, arches of the world?

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Bay of Islands was the only port we missed due to very heavy rain.... Thanks for the pic 👍

Sad to hear that. Next time😉

10 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Arriving in Cabo.   We finally got to see the arch.  Last week we missed it. 
 

 

I had to do a double take on this one. For a moment I thought you'd gone slightly of course and ended up in the Bay of Islands NZ 🤣

Wonder how many similar formations there are in the world?

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Tour of RS 1118.    
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like they've plushed up the cushions on the sofa since our last cruise on the Solstice. How are the cushions holding up on the outside loungers?

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Was notified yesterday that we were moved up to a Royal.    Yea. 
 

Woohoo. What number. Our last cruise just pre the Rona was on the Solstice in 1241. Enjoy!

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Love it.     Iain's Aunt had a very strong Ayrshire and when I first met her 34 years ago would usually just smile at her because I couldn't understand a thing she said.    Iain moved to America when about 21 and didn't want to be identified as a Scott and tried very hard to drop his accent.  Most people would never know he was Scottish unless they hear him talking to his Sister.      When someone doesn't believe he is a Scott I ask him to give them a bit of Robert Burns  -  which he had to memorize at school.

 

 

 

Brilliant. Ah the memories of having to memorise Burns in my school days. I wasn't very good at it!