Redking

1 hour ago, goofysmom99 said:

That's one beautiful ship!

I hope so, it will be our first experience. Have you been on it?

59 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Darn --- we are flying back to Sydney end of March and taking Solstice to Hawaii then on to Vancouver.     We have previously taken the Tahiti Route but wanted to try the one hitting Vanuatu,  Numea, Guam and the  Somoa Islands. 

 

Did they give you an overnight in lieu of Lahina?

Had to read this a couple of times Jim to work out what you were saying. Having two ships with Eclipse in the name is confusing.

We're sailing on the SCENIC Eclipse II ( https://www.scenicnz.com/tours/journey-across-the-pacific-easter-island--french-polynesia/13777)  not the Celebrity Eclipse in March, hence being unfaithful to X  🤣. Still a darn that we won't get to meet up though! Loved the Samoas. 

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

The Edge got her bottom cleaned before she left the Med for this cruise to the lands down under. NZ has also been on our bucket list along with Australia. We board in 40 days for our 6 week adventure, as long as you and Iain haven't used up all the fun from the Edge, LOL

❤Sounds fabulous, enjoy. We would have been joining you at one time. To quote @Jim_Iain, we're being unfaithful and trying out Scenic Eclipse on an Easter Island 🗿 and French Polynesia itinerary next March.

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

We do want to look respectable to you when we arrive in your beautiful Country.    New Zealand it the Jewel in the Crown for me.   Been on my bucket list for a long time.   

🤣With the VP on board I'm sure X will be pulling out all the stops.

Saying a 🙏 to the sun gods for you as summer has been slow to arrive here. On the plus side, hopefully the waterfalls will be flowing for you in Milford Sound 👌

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Geeze ======The toilet just started gurgling and sputtering and water shooting in the air.   Thank goodness no one was sitting on it would bring new meaning to a Bidet. 

 

Just called room attendant to disinfect the wash room.  At least in the CS it is a different room than the rest of the bathroom.   

 

Iain was in the shower at the time and I yelled in What the Hell are you doing...  LOL

Edge must be cleaning its bottom 🤣

12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I think they may still have that one.    I love the display but not too fond of the flavor -  but for me is better than the Baked Alaska.

 

Anu sent his warmest of wishes to you.   When I mentioned your name he had a big grin 

Best enjoy the display while you can.

Unless things have changed,  apparently health and safety regs mean they're not allowed the pyrotechnics in NZ waters. At least that's what we were told a few years back, could of course have been one of this X excuses🤔

Hope the Edge has kept her bottom clean on the way from Rome 🤣 You don't want a Pacific Explorer experience 😉 

2 hours ago, colourbird said:

 

This must have been a nightmare for the Pacific Adventure which was supposed to sail to New Zealand but ended up heading to Tasmania with all the extra sea days and not being in the expected ports where additional supplies would have been arranged. Not sure what happens if all the fresh fruit, eggs, meat and drinks are waiting in Wellington but the ship is in Hobart.

Indeed.

Oops, just read the other posts. Supply chain issues seem to be fleet wide. Really no excuse with inventory management systems that are available these days.

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Shortages of all kinds of things on Edge.

 

Really surprised at the number of shortages there are on the ship.    From reading the Roll Call from the first two legs I knew there were supply chain issues.   Dubai didn't allow multiple container loads to be loaded -  included many wines, beers etc.  

 

Some of the remarkable ones that I see as a Celebrity issue are things like Brown Raw Sugar in al Bacio and the rest of the ship.    Continued outages of many of the wines on the Premium Package is apparent every evening.   One would have thought Celebrity could have locally sourced most anything in Singapore.

This is really interesting Jim. We had major supply issues on the Eclipse back in January. At the time, I thought Celebrity had completely mismanaged their supply chain over in this part of the world- too reliant on central purchasing out of the US without fully considering how to effectively transport to the other side of the world. Sounds like they struggle to get it right outside of their main markets  around the US and Europe.

Hard to have a Negroni without any Campari 😱. First 🌏 problems.

Belated happy birthday and hope the supply issues don't impact you too much.

@GenerationX loved your comment about European pace of dining. We love to linger over our meal and felt really rushed on our first few cruises. Discovered on speaking to a M'd that some folks complian about not being served fast enough and missing the show! We explained that we don't do shows. Sorted, leisurely paced meals. We may even have got the hint a couple of times in Murano that it really was time for bed 🤣😉

6 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

Thank you🥰

NZ is 🤩🤩🤩 it’s everything I like. It’s like a Kinder egg 🥚 Outdoors activities, warm baths, mountains and fjords. 
But the best are the people! It’s a perfect❤️

So of all places to be stranded, this was definitely the best place! 

We did spend the most time on the South Island and loved it🥰

 

The only places we need to seek more into and visit it South Island :

Stewert Island 

(I gladly take a new trip in Fjordland national park. Kayak and overnights on the water also) 

Fox/Franz Josef glaciers (we did not go back due to winter ❄️) So we missed out the stretch from Haast to Graymouth. 
 

On the positive side, we went skiing in the mountains in July in Queenstown😁

not to bad😎 and we could do Queen Charlotte track almost all alone😊

 

on the north island we “missed” out on the corner New Plymouth-Whanganui and the corner Manutuke-Opotiki. 
 

Other then that, we were all over the place😅🚙

 

We even managed to attend a 100years flood in northern north island💦💦💦

Holy smoke it rained and washed away the roads! 
We were waken by the fire alarm, the lightning ⚡️ hit the building and the fire alarm went down and screamed. 
 

So when we are old and need something to look back to, we have something special to think about…..
 

Sounds like all you missed was an earthquake 😱

5 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

it would be fun to continue down under🇳🇿🦘🌏 And meet you in live🥰

 

I have a confession to make for NZ….

 

What I can say is that we ❤️ NZ❤️ Kiwis are great! 
 

Well you know we have cruised for a longer time then I have posted live from….

 

In 2020 we were supposed to sail 14-nights from Auckland to pacific islands. Fiji etc. Sailing 1.April 2020 on Solstice. 
 

Due to moving last year and a search in a box, these tags showed up during the weekend🥹

We had sailed on Solstice from Sydney to New Caledonia, Vanuatu etc and loved it a few years earlier. 

 

We had planned it as a land and sea adventure⚓️🚙✈️ So we were booked to be away for 7 weeks. And the cruise was the last post before departure home. 
 

We left from home, Norway 🇳🇴 before covid was a big concern… 

So we were in NZ when everything was locked down in the world… as far away from home as possible! 
 

We were outside in Fjordland national park when we received the push alarm notification from the NZ government that everyone was quarantined…. And all international flights was cancelled. 
 

Well, you have 2 choices in this situation. 
Have a panic attack and lay down to die….

 

OR

make the best of it and try to get a plan you can survive…

 

We decided to go for number 2….

 

So we decided rapidly that we couldn’t stay at current location and that we had to make a quick move to be able to travel to final destination for a longer stay at the South Island and to find a okey house to stay in until we were able to take the next step in the situation.

 

We did find a beautiful cottage close to Motueka (Tasman)  But that’s a decent car drive from Te Anau…. 
So it was a good drive in the car. 
 

We had a great time during lockdown at our location. Walking in the neighbourhood by the ocean, picking fruit from the farm and just enjoying life in the sun. 
 

We were “stuck” in NZ until mid August. 
The Norwegian government didn’t attend the digital meeting in Nz for agreement that said we were allowed to travel home. 
So when international air was open for return flights, we were not allowed to book our new return flight…. 
It was space and our ticket was valid on the SQ flights. But they were not allowed to book and confirm the seats for us. 
 

But we had over holiday of a lifetime! 

When Nz opened up inside, we could travel around, visit sites that usually was super crowded alone and we had extremely good time to travel around. 
So we have traveled and tested almost everything in NZ❤️

 

We were lucky 🍀 our job can be done from remote. Just need internet and a laptop. 
And due to the time difference NZ are 12 or 10h different than Norway winter/summer. So that means you have the daytime to explore and you go to work at 18.00 if you need to be real-time. 
 

Did we suffer in any way? NO

We had a great time and don’t regret anything🤩👍🏻❤️

We drove our rental car 20.000km during our stay😂😂😂🚙

 

We just notified the Norwegian embassy in Canberra, Australia (they cover Aus and NZ) of our location. Other than that, we were on our own. 
Since we had our incomes as usual we managed fine. 
 

It was a very happy family waiting in Norway when we arrived back home after a very long time away! 
They had a minor hear attack when we called in March and said all international flights are cancelled for a unknown time and we are “stuck” until further notice…

But we are all good, don’t worry about us😘
 

Mr was saying repetitive the cats won’t remember you😂😂

Well guess what! 
The second I arrived home and the cats saw me they were purring loudly and miau for mom🐈🐈‍⬛ I could not move for week, I had cat pants on🥰🥰🥰

 

Do we still dream about the 14-nights pacific island cruise? YES

 

We want to travel back to NZ and do a cruise to the islands⚓️

NZ is a fantastic place if you like to hike, be outdoor and drink wine 🍷 

 

 

My goodness Alexandra, I had no idea this happened to you. What a very unusual way to experience our country.

Hopefully one day our paths will cross either on sea or land.

Now then 🤣 Mr (and Mrs) Fudge thank you so much for sharing your adventures with us. Most informative and highly entertaining. I truly appreciate the time you've taken to share your experiences and will miss your daily updates.

Look forward to reading about your next adventure on Sevensea.

2 hours ago, rojaan19 said:

Well a ship docked right next to our hotel this morning  -  but not the right ship 🤭😁🤭

🤣funny for those of us following reviews on both ships.

4 hours ago, lprp said:

Only if you come from “sarfeast” London 😉

Left the UK nearly 30 years ago and really miss all the accents.

1 minute ago, fudge said:

That was a poor choice of words on my part, thanks for reminding me, no one in their right mind wants to remember that guy.!

I think it's a great expression!

49 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Let's play guess what X's next fee will be!  SpaCafe sandwiches?  Cafe al Bacio desserts?  Heck, even Cookiegate 2.0 seems inevitable...

BYO bed linen 🤣

4 minutes ago, fudge said:

We were on the treadmill the other day and spotted people in the infinity pool at the back of the fitness centre, this afternoon we tried it, lovely and warm. Great sauna, everything you could want. Back in time for the afternoon canapes. 

"Now then", I'm trying to place which part of the UK the expression comes from? I know the now disgraced Jimmy Saville used to say it.

Thank you, can there ever be too many Live threads!

We've just booked our first Regent cruise and the Lives have been very helpful. We don't sail until 2026 on the Grandeur, Transatlantic. Eager to live vicariously in the meantime.

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

It's definitely different.   By the end of the cruise we agreed we might sail them again but would have to be itinerary based and something that can be put together as a B2B of at least 14-21 days.   

 

We have discussed with many we have met on Ponant and Silverseas really comes highly recommended.

Hi Jim,

Thank you so much for taking the time to do both threads.

We're several steps behind you in our "change" process so your reviews have been all the more helpful. Like you we are leaning towards something like Ponant (in our case Scenic Eclipse) for expedition/exploration type cruises and Silversea or Regent for "regular" itineraries.  We've yet to experience any of them.

Still have 2 Edge bookings that we need to make a decision on by January (B2B TP). I'm tempted to shift one deposit to a local cruise if we can find a good price for a suite 🤣. Fin is more of an all or nothing kind of guy in the sense that he takes longer to make a decision but once he has its full steam ahead - apparently our relationship with X is over to the extent that he's prepared to loose our deposits 😱 than sink more money only to be disappointed. I'd rather try one more date🤭 especially as we haven't been in the Retreat on the Edge Class.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday, safe travels home and look forward to your Edge reviews.

On 9/16/2023 at 3:23 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

We booked our first Regent cruise last month after becoming a little fed up with the Celebrity product. Our cruise will be on the Grandeur in 2025. I looked at the general reviews and agree that many of them aren’t pretty. But the complaints don’t hold a candle to what is happening over on Celebrity so like most things, I took the reviews with a grain of salt. Stumbled upon @vitacura’s wonderful live review, of which I’ve clung to every word and photo, and was hooked. Bottom line, I would never let a stack of reviews substitute for forming my own opinion. 

The Celebrity Forum is certainly not a happy place to visit at the moment. Quite refreshing to jump onto some of the other forums.

We're seriously considering our first Regent cruise.

I've thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed all the Live reviews. To be honest, I didn't even think of looking at the reviews. I think I've just become accustomed to Live reviews and they have become my go-to for the cruise lines I'm interested in.

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

LOL --- No... but I use to have about 5 different colors.    After my eye surgery I just have one pair now.   The reason for so many was that as I got closer to surgery I had to get 5 new prescriptions in less than a year. 

 

Yesterday someone in the elevator said I should have put on my Purple shirt... We looked down and both Iain and I were in Purple.    Definitely not planned but we often ask "What Color are you wearing today"  so we don't look like the Bobsy' Twins.

Sorry, couldn't resist - again!

Can't believe how many Wiggles there are now. Sure they have spots for you and Iain 😅

Hi Jim,

I am so excited for this.

Like you, we've made the decision to "stray" from Celebrity 🤣 and Ponant is on our list.

Wishing you and Iain a fabulous cruise and  really looking forward to following along.

Cheers, Kim.

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I have almost always booked on-board for cruises as much as 2 1/2 year in the future.   Especially after Celebrity just cancelled our November 2024 TransAtlantic leaving us with the first 1/2 of a B2B not cancelled -  will not be booking any future cruises while aboard.    I may purchase some of the Future Booking Certificates. 

 

I have to agree with @Redking and started looking at other cruise lines after 23 years of only sailing Celebrity.

Thought of you this morning Jim when I saw they had cancelled their season in South America. So disappointing. We have two cruises booked with Scenic Eclipse II one from Chile to Tahaiti and the other to Antarctica. So much for not being sure about small ships🤣. Likely we'll take the hit and loose our deposits on two Edge sailings when we cancel.

Looking forward to your Ponant review. Is it September?