Redking

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

🤣 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.🤞

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.

Wowza that's pretty rugged!

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

Sad to hear that. Next time😉

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?

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?

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

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

Brought this to mind. Iain might appreciate it. https://www.google.com/search?q=scots+in+a+lift&oq=scots+in+a+&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i60j69i57j0i512j0i22i30l6.7440j1j4&client=ms-android-samsung-gs-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:fd85cea7,vid:NMS2VnDveP8 I'm a Scot and have lived in NZ and Oz for over 20 years. Also grew up in Hong Kong. I often get asked if I'm Canadian or Irish!

Yes it was Le Petit Chef last time we were on. I was never a fan of Silk Harvest. I did love Qsine and sorry to see that is now used for the animated cook.