Live from the Eclipse, Apr 19 - May 21, Sydney to Honolulu to Vancouver B3B in an Aqua Cabin

[mahdnc]

Nice job with the photos. They are enjoyable to look at.

 

Maybe you already know the answer to this, but I will be curious to see what, if anything, is done when the ship crosses the equator.  Is it a non-event and you might as well be asleep?  Or is the crossing done during waking hours with some type of announcement or ceremony or a human sacrifice, etc.

[Ken the cruiser]

28 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

Nice job with the photos. They are enjoyable to look at.

 

Maybe you already know the answer to this, but I will be curious to see what, if anything, is done when the ship crosses the equator.  Is it a non-event and you might as well be asleep?  Or is the crossing done during waking hours with some type of announcement or ceremony or a human sacrifice, etc.

We’ve cruised across the equator twice, once with Princess on an Easter Island cruise in the Pacific and once with NCL on our recent Africa cruise in the Indian Ocean. Both times they’ve had very fun loving celebrations, usually in the early afternoon. 
 

I think we figured we might be crossing it on the 3rd day of our upcoming 5 day stretch of sea days on our way to Honolulu, and I’m pretty sure Eddy won’t miss the chance to plan a super fun event for that crossing as well. But as soon as I hear something, I’ll let you know.

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after first watching the sun start to set standing in line at Blu

 

 
and then once we were seated, there was the rest of it as we set sail for Honolulu. 

 

 
Then after another wonderful dinner, we headed off to the theater to watch a fantastic illusionist, James Cielen. I mean it, he was definitely a step above the norm! 😁

 

 

Then we were off to watch the game show Whisper Challenge followed by the nightly Pub Quiz. 

[DaKahuna]

Ken,  Thank you for all the beautiful pictures and wonderful narrative.  Loving your review and taking lots of notes how to do a proper review 🙂

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

50 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Ken,  Thank you for all the beautiful pictures and wonderful narrative.  Loving your review and taking lots of notes how to do a proper review 🙂

 

Thanks! I have to say I do have a lot of fun taking pictures while on our cruises. It not only gives me a way to give back, but also a way to remember all of the wonderful places we went once were back at home. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 16 - May 3 - 1st of 5 days at sea

 

 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Good morning from somewhere in the Pacific on the way to Honolulu! Today is going to be a relaxing day. We only have 3 lectures to go to this morning and afternoon. Then after dinner there are 2 shows and 2 game shows. I tell ya if one’s not careful, these transoceanic cruises can become addicting! 😂

  

 

 
And once again the internet speeds are quite acceptable for what we use it for.

 

 

[Lazonia]

Thank you so much for doing these posts.   I've enjoyed your pictures and narrative.   It's allowing me to cruise along with you. 

[megfla]

I am also enjoying following along.  We will be joining you in Honolulu and then continuing on the Alaska sailing.  I look forward to possibly meeting you onboard!  

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, megfla said:

I am also enjoying following along.  We will be joining you in Honolulu and then continuing on the Alaska sailing.  I look forward to possibly meeting you onboard!  

Hopefully we’ll see some whales migrating to Alaska from Hawaii on that leg! 🤞😁

[megfla]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hopefully we’ll see some whales migrating to Alaska from Hawaii on that leg! 🤞😁

This will be our first time we'll have had more than 2 consecutive sea days....I'm sure we'll be spending many hours looking for them!

 

We did Alaska on the Eclipse back in 2019 and saw quite a few whales while sitting out on deck.

 

You'll be able to spot me around the ship, probably wearing a Tampa Bay Rays or Lighting hat.

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hopefully we’ll see some whales migrating to Alaska from Hawaii on that leg! 🤞😁

 

It may be a little late in the season but one can be hopeful.  Provided the sun cooperates, I am hoping to see some from our balcony the next couple of days as we sail from Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles.

 

Question — Do you take advantage of any of the Aqua Class benefits.  We sailed Aqua once on S-Class and only used the Persian Garden once.  Our next cruise is on Millie in an Aqua Class Sky Suite (Aqua + Suite Benefits).  Just curious what we can expect. 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Hopefully while we’re in the Hawaiian Islands for around 7 days in total, we’ll be able to see some humpback whales as well as some dolphins before we start to head towards Victoria BC. I realize the humpback whale season pretty much ends there in May, and many have probably already started their migration north to Alaska, but I am an eternal optimist. Hey, on that thought maybe we’ll have a good chance of seeing some on our way to Victoria as well!🤞😁

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

It may be a little late in the season but one can be hopeful.  Provided the sun cooperates, I am hoping to see some from our balcony the next couple of days as we sail from Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles.

 

Question — Do you take advantage of any of the Aqua Class benefits.  We sailed Aqua once on S-Class and only used the Persian Garden once.  Our next cruise is on Millie in an Aqua Class Sky Suite (Aqua + Suite Benefits).  Just curious what we can expect. 

 

Sorry, I won’t be of much help for you in that area. To be honest we mostly book Aqua cabins to be able to eat in Blu and on a lesser degree have access to walk-in shower. I can’t remember ever using the spa services on the other 3 cruises where we had booked AQ before.
 

However, I do remember booking a SS on the Constellation last December and having to climb over that 24” tub wall to take a shower with no wall handle to grab on to for stability. That was fun, especially in rough waters! 😂
 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Texed]

59 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hopefully while we’re in the Hawaiian Islands for around 7 days in total, we’ll be able to see some humpback whales as well as some dolphins before we start to head towards Victoria BC. I realize the humpback whale season pretty much ends there in May, and many have probably already started their migration north to Alaska, but I am an eternal optimist. Hey, on that thought maybe we’ll have a good chance of seeing some on our way to Victoria as well!🤞😁

 

We were in Hawaii one year on a cruise in May.  Because of a late birth, there was a mama and calf still there.  I guess mama was showing the newborn "the ropes".

 

We saw hundreds of Spinner Dolphins in the same area.  We hope you are fortunate in the sightings also.  😊

[Ken the cruiser]

In case anyone is interested, we went to the Excursion Desk (ED) today to confirm something we had done on other cruise lines in the past when our TA would give us nonrefundable OBC for booking a cruise with them.

 

Background: We like to book our excursions before the cruise so we get the excursions we want at hopefully a reduced price, which is usually 30% or more with Celebrity. So our questions were:

 

1. Could we once onboard cancel a pre-booked excursion at the ED, then immediately rebook it using the nonrefundable OBC placed in our account by our TA?

 

Answer: Yes, but the new excursion price would be at the current onboard price, which makes sense.

 

2. If the pre-booked cruise we wanted to cancel and immediately rebook was sold out with a waiting list, would we be placed at the end of the waitlist or would we be able to retain our existing excursion reservations?
 

Answer: Yes, we would retain our excursion reservation status, with one exception. If someone tried to book that same excursion using the X App during that 5 second period between when it was cancelled and subsequently rebooked by the ED rep, we would lose the reservation.

 

For us we just like to know the rules in advance, especially when we have a bunch of nonrefundable OBC given to us by our TA. It keeps the stress level low. 😁

 

With Princess, it’s a nonissue as we get our TA’s booking perk in the form of a discount taken off the base cruise fare. In the case of NCL since you can’t use nonrefundable OBC to pay for the daily service charge (gratuities), our TA gives their NCL discount to us in a rebate check. It’s only when we book a Celebrity cruise that we get it in nonrefundable OBC.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

6 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

We were in Hawaii one year on a cruise in May.  Because of a late birth, there was a mama and calf still there.  I guess mama was showing the newborn "the ropes".

 

We saw hundreds of Spinner Dolphins in the same area.  We hope you are fortunate in the sightings also.  😊

Cool!! Hopefully, we’ll be as fortunate. Since we’re going to be in Lahaina on two different days, on this leg and then again on the next leg, the tour company we’re going to book our whale watching adventure with has a guarantee that if we don’t see any whales on the first trip, we can come back another day and get the tour for free. Hopefully that won’t be necessary, but it’s nice to have that option. 😁

[Ken the cruiser]

It looks like testing requirements have changed for the Honolulu to Vancouver cruise based on the latest Celebrity FAQs.
 

No mention yet if B2B guests have to test when I went down to ask Guest Services. But from what they said HQ is reevaluating their testing requirements for cruises that have 4 or more sea days in a row. But like with everything now a days, it’s all subject to change. 

 

For Cruises From Hawaii to Vancouver

All guests age 2 and older must bring a negative test result for a PCR COVID-19 test taken no more than 3 days prior to sailing or an antigen test taken no more than 2 days prior to sailing.

Required testing can be completed using any type of PCR or antigen COVID-19 test. It can be professionally proctored at your doctor or drugstore, or it can be a test you administer to yourself at home without supervision.

Guests under age 2 do not have any testing requirements.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/healthy-at-sea

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight as we had just been seated at our table in Blu, I took this sunset picture.

 

 

I know, what can I say I love taking pictures of sunsets, especially after taking this one while cruising along the coast of Vietnam back in 2019 whose cascade of colors only lasted about 5 minutes before turning back to mostly gray! 😂

 

 
Anyway, after dinner we went to watch the production show Amade!

 

  

 
Afterwards we watched the Yes/No Game Show followed by the Pub Quiz in the Entertainment Court.

 
Later on we’re going to go watch a comedy show in the theater presented by a new comedian, Fred Bevill, who just boarded the ship.

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 17 - May 4 - 2nd of 5 sea days before reaching Honolulu

   

 

 

 

[prmssk]

8 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

It looks like testing requirements have changed for the Honolulu to Vancouver cruise based on the latest Celebrity FAQs.
 

No mention yet if B2B guests have to test when I went down to ask Guest Services. But from what they said HQ is reevaluating their testing requirements for cruises that have 4 or more sea days in a row. But like with everything now a days, it’s all subject to change. 

 

For Cruises From Hawaii to Vancouver

All guests age 2 and older must bring a negative test result for a PCR COVID-19 test taken no more than 3 days prior to sailing or an antigen test taken no more than 2 days prior to sailing.

Required testing can be completed using any type of PCR or antigen COVID-19 test. It can be professionally proctored at your doctor or drugstore, or it can be a test you administer to yourself at home without supervision.

Guests under age 2 do not have any testing requirements.

https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/healthy-at-sea

 

 

Thanks for checking with Guest Services!  If they are going to require testing, I really wish they would stop sending us e-mails that say we don't have to test.  We got another one this morning.

 

I have been really enjoying this thread as we countdown to our embarkation on the Eclipse next week.  Our travels begin tomorrow after work so it is getting real.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, prmssk said:

 

Thanks for checking with Guest Services!  If they are going to require testing, I really wish they would stop sending us e-mails that say we don't have to test.  We got another one this morning.

 

I have been really enjoying this thread as we countdown to our embarkation on the Eclipse next week.  Our travels begin tomorrow after work so it is getting real.

I know. We got the same one last night as well. And from the way we read it, those on a B2B  won’t have to test either, as we are no longer “in Australia/New Zealand”. But as with all things COVID, time will tell, especially after reading the recent FAQ update.
 

[swigso]

Hi can you please ask if you can stay on the ship and do an Alaska cruise if you boarded in Honolulu even though it arrives in Vancouver but ends in Seattle 

thanks

[Ken the cruiser]

47 minutes ago, swigso said:

Hi can you please ask if you can stay on the ship and do an Alaska cruise if you boarded in Honolulu even though it arrives in Vancouver but ends in Seattle 

thanks

I will check with future cruises. I believe based on my knowledge of the PVSA rules, the answer if no because you’re initially embarking the ship in a US port and disembarking at a different US port without stopping at a distant foreign country, such as one in South America. If you would have initially embarked the ship in Sydney, there would be no issue. But I’ll check just to make sure. 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[asnaleah]

Really enjoying your posts Ken. Thanks for all your efforts and your stunning photos!