Live on Edge Down Under - Mar 24 & Apr 5 - NZ and S Australia 🛳️🇦🇺🦘🇳🇿🥝🛳️

[emdmistycc]

Curious….at the B2b meeting did they offer any shore excursions?

boarding today and with the rain we were limited with sightseeing.

Hoping for better weather when we return on 4/14.

 

Thanks

Elaine

[Mauidiver]

We did LPC once on Edge and thought it was charming and loads of fun to do once.  We also booked it “on sale” so felt it was worth it for the price and novelty entertainment value.  I recommend it to people who are curious and if they can get it at a discount.  We won’t be doing it again though. 

[TinyG]

19 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

Great question!  My thought is perhaps proximity?  I cannot say with certainty.  We were told that over 99% of exported lumber goes to China.

We were told on our NZ cruise that they had pine trees come to NZ  from the US to help with populating more trees, as the native trees were not enough. The pine trees took over crowding out most native trees. Now they have way too many and are happy to get rid of them.

 

Enjoying your review, wonderful job! Cheers 🙂

Edited April 4 by TinyG

[81Zoomie]

We elected to have a cocktail in Eden.  DH really like the violin duo and wanted to hear them again.  Combined with the view it was an excellent choice!

 

 

We went up to Lumina to be victims of the dreaded pager.  Maybe third time would be a charm 🧿🧿🧿?  We walked up to Luminae and waited.  Our expected 10 minutes turned into 15, so we walked back downstairs.  We finally got a table.  IMHO, Luminae is not staffed to handle a full restaurant.  And, absolutely not staffed to provide the exemplary dining experience Celebrity brags about when the restaurant is full. 😟😟😟 Gone are the days of each waiter/waitress having an assistant waiter.  There are a handful of assistants for the entire room.  There is ONE wine steward 🍾🍾🍾 for all of Luminae. The staff ends up running around like chickens 🐓🐓🐓🐥🐥🐤🐓.  Silverware is dropped on the table.  Entrees are slid in front of you.  There is no time for polite, “Bon Appetite”, or “Do you need anything else”, or “Did you enjoy your meal?”  Forget getting more bread or water. The service is inconsistent, and I have tied it to how full the restaurant is.  Service improves when Luminae is not full.  Others may have a different experience, but on the NZ cruise this was ours.

 

The food was good.  DH had the poke, linguine with clams and I had the pear kale salad and veal tenderloin.  We both had the chocolate ball for dessert with the flaming liquid.  The dessert was the highlight of the meal.  It was fabulous both to the senses and taste buds!

 

 

After dinner we spent our last little bit of NR OBC and then went to the production show.  It was very energetic!

 

 

The Captain addressed us and thanked everyone for sailing with Celebrity.  it was a nice gesture.  The Captains are all very classy and genuine.

 

 

The night was d tawing to a close as is this first leg of our B2B.  In a dramatic turn of events 😲😲😲 CD Giuseppe was wearing socks 😳😳🧦🧦😳😳.  Guess he is keeping us on our toes!!🦶🦶!!

 

 

 

Edited April 4 by 81Zoomie

[81Zoomie]

Day1 - Turnaround - Sydney

 

Good morning!  We are exceptionally happy to be doing our first B2B!  We are not getting kicked off the ship 😀❤️😀❤️😀❤️.

 

The weather in Sydney is quite different than we left.  It is rainy and quite soggy outside!  We have to disembark, so we are hopeful the lull in the rain shown below between 10-12:30ish holds.  The plan is to run 🏃‍♀️ 😂 🏃through the raindrops 💦☔️💦 to a few souvenir shops to find some gifts for our grandchildren 💙💙💙🩵❤️🩷.  We have our Opal cards, rain jackets, waterproof shoes, and umbrellas.  However, we will gladly brave the elements today because we had such great weather in NZ ☀️🌤️☀️🌤️.  We hope today purges all the wetness and we are just as fortunate with the weather in southern Australia.

 

Safe and dry travels to all those joining Edge in Sydney today!  We look forward to meeting you👋 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️👋.

 

 

Edited April 4 by 81Zoomie

[oceanbear]

Today was the end of the 14-day cruise and I wanted to add my comments to this excellent review. I concur with the OP’s comments on the ports and excursions; however, IMO, the onboard “food” experience for us that are not in suites is significantly different that those described by the OP. We found the  Oceanview buffet to be disappointing. While the Indian dishes were consistently good, and there were a “few othe”r really good items, it was usually a case of searching for items that were better than just mediocre. The one notable exception was the last Lunch buffet. It was like the buffets of old! It had great variety beautiful presentations and all very good! The four main dining rooms offered decent food and there were a few dishes that were dependably tasty e.g. slow roasted lamb, oxtail and short ribs. The tiny lobster tail served one night was tasty as well. The only specialty restaurants we tried were Raw on 5 and the Fine Cut Steakhouse. Raw on 5 was very good, especially the oysters, but they were unavailable during a 2^nd visit on day 7! The real standout was the steakhouse where our party of 4 found everything to be delicious. We never had breakfast, so I can’t comment on that. Overall, there was plenty to eat, but the dining experience was not the “Celebrity” experience it once was.

[FeebeeH]

23 hours ago, cruzzzinma said:

We used to take magnets with hooks and I’d hang my light weight clothes in the main cabin to dry. I always asked for extra towels.

I'd previously heard the suggestion on CC about magnets & hooks, so I brought a small travel washing line as well as the magnetic hooks & strung the line across just in front of the window.  It was perfect for smalls & lightweight clothing - most of these items dried overnight.

[FeebeeH]

On 4/2/2024 at 7:49 AM, southerngoose said:

@rsato   Hi...I want to go to the glow worm caves.   Was it worth going?     I get the feeling I signed up for a different cave because I'm going in Bay of Islands.

 

The Bay of Islands caves is probably the Kawiti Caves (also known as Waiomio Caves an approx 59 min drive from Bay of Islands).  The caves visited from Tauranga would be the Waitomo Caves (which is an approx 2 hour drive from Tauranga). 

 

From Bay of Islands to Tauranga is an approx 6 hour 20 min drive.  I did a land tour with my husband after our February cruise & we drove South from Auckland (I think it's approx 2-1/2 hours from Auckland?), I enjoyed the 45 min Waitomo Glow worm cave with gentle canoe right at the bottom of the stairs, I'd never seen glow worms before & loved seeing them, meanwhile my husband did the more adventurous 3 hour Blackwater Rafting.

[81Zoomie]

23 minutes ago, oceanbear said:

Today was the end of the 14-day cruise and I wanted to add my comments to this excellent review. I concur with the OP’s comments on the ports and excursions; however, IMO, the onboard “food” experience for us that are not in suites is significantly different that those described by the OP. We found the  Oceanview buffet to be disappointing. While the Indian dishes were consistently good, and there were a “few othe”r really good items, it was usually a case of searching for items that were better than just mediocre. The one notable exception was the last Lunch buffet. It was like the buffets of old! It had great variety beautiful presentations and all very good! The four main dining rooms offered decent food and there were a few dishes that were dependably tasty e.g. slow roasted lamb, oxtail and short ribs. The tiny lobster tail served one night was tasty as well. The only specialty restaurants we tried were Raw on 5 and the Fine Cut Steakhouse. Raw on 5 was very good, especially the oysters, but they were unavailable during a 2^nd visit on day 7! The real standout was the steakhouse where our party of 4 found everything to be delicious. We never had breakfast, so I can’t comment on that. Overall, there was plenty to eat, but the dining experience was not the “Celebrity” experience it once was.

@oceanbear, thank you for chiming in.  I appreciate your thoughts on main dining. We will be eating in Raw on 5 this evening!  I hope we have a good experience like you did 🦀🦀.

[81Zoomie]

We were about to step off the ship and venture out into the rain when we spotted Giuseppe near the security point.  In an unusual move, DH casually said, “Go get a pic with him.”  If you have followed along, I like to focus on the ship, food, scenery, shows, etc.  🛳️🍱⛰️💃. DH and I stay in the background.  But, Giuseppe is the best 🥇CD we have ever had on our Celebrity cruises 🛳️🛳️🛳️.  And so, a break from tradition! 

 

 

Off we went on our trek about the town.  Yes, it was wet 🌧️💦🌧️, but not chilly.  We managed to stayed dry.  Gotta love Marmot!  We collected our Aussie soccer shirts for the little boys ⚽️⚽️⚽️, a stuffed Kangeroo 🦘for the little girl, and 2 bibs 👶👶 for the babies. Pressure is now off for grand kid gifts!

 

We wandered about and enjoyed the sights, even in the rain!

 

 

 

We felt a bit like this little guy!

 

 

We spotted these giant cookies and DH couldn’t help but pick one up for after lunch 😋.

 

 

We decided it was time to head back closer to the dock.  The sights look a little different in these conditions.  Still grand, but not quite optimal for for lingering.

 

 

As we approached the passenger terminal, I spied someone whose cruise commentary we have followed for years!  We were quite surprised to find @Jim_Iain who will be joining the Solstice TP in a few days.  He has a  very large following on cruise critic and has such an enjoyable writing style!  We had a lovely chat and I can’t wait to follow his transpacific adventures 🛳️🌊🐬.  DH thought we should take a pic 📸.  So today is rare indeed… 2 pics with 2 superb cruise gentlemen 📸📸!

 

 

Our B2B transit passes worked well and we were back on board after queuing through security.  We swung by the room to get our new keys, and popped up for lunch.  At the risk of being repetitive, DH had the lobster roll and I had kale salad.  The lobster roll was much fuller than on the last embarkation lunch!

 

 

We were delighted to have a seat by the window!

 

 

We accomplished our mandatory safety briefing, and decided it’s an ideal day to hunker down inside.  There is a severe weather warning for heavy rain and gale force winds this evening. 🌊🌫️⛈️☔️💨🌬️.  Hopefully we will sail clear of the weather as Edge moves south 🤞🤞.

 

[TheHawk1]

Now that you've completed the first part of your trip, wondering what your thoughts are about the demographic and "vibe" of an Australia/NZ cruise?  We find European cruises to be very different from your typical North American Caribbean cruise, e.g. people eat dinner later, they stay up later, they don't believe in the concept of waiting your turn in a queue, etc.  Just wondering what your fellow passengers have been like in this part of the world?

Edited April 5 by TheHawk1

[tcmagnum]

11 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

 

As we approached the passenger terminal, I spied someone whose cruise commentary we have followed for years!  We were quite surprised to find @Jim_Iain who will be joining the Solstice TP in a few days.  He has a  very large following on cruise critic and has such an enjoyable writing style!  We had a lovely chat and I can’t wait to follow his transpacific adventures 🛳️🌊🐬.

 

 

At the risk of being repetitive, DH had the lobster roll and I had kale salad.  The lobster roll was much fuller than on the last embarkation lunch!

 

 

 

 

Wonderful getting to meet @Jim_Iain!!  Love following his reports!!

 

Now that is a lobster roll!!  Looks so much better than the first one.

 

Congratulations on your first B2B!!

Doing a B2B is one of my goals!!

 

Have a great trip!!

[hcat]

Still following this great live from report..How cool to see you and Jim!

Hope weather improves!

[81Zoomie]

 

On 4/5/2024 at 10:09 AM, TheHawk1 said:

Now that you've completed the first part of your trip, wondering what your thoughts are about the demographic and "vibe" of an Australia/NZ cruise?  We find European cruises to be very different from your typical North American Caribbean cruise, e.g. people eat dinner later, they stay up later, they don't believe in the concept of waiting your turn in a queue, etc.  Just wondering what your fellow passengers have been like in this part of the world?

 

@TheHawk1, happy to give your our thoughts!  We have experienced what you describe in different pats of the world on different cruises 🚢🚢🚢.  Sometimes, the locals, or nationals of the particular cruise line do change the vibe of the cruise.  This can be true when it comes to language, and crew interaction.  From our perspective, this is not the case in Australia/NZ 🇦🇺🌏🇳🇿.  We have found the locals to be quite engaging and welcoming.  We haven’t noticed any issues with dining times.  The ship is full, and staffing may be an issue, but the passengers all appear to blend harmoniously.  Everyone is eager to learn where you are from and will engage you in conversation.  The passengers in elevators and in lines are quite polite.  If it wasn’t such a LONG trip, we would definitely cruise down under more often!

[81Zoomie]

It’s a bit of a change up for dinner this evening.  We are hoping to avoid the first night crush at dinner in the usual venues.  DH really wanted to try Raw on 5 🎣🍤🐠🐟.  I am not a big fish person.  I eat shell fish, but anything that tastes like fish is a no go for me.  So, keeping with the spirit of compromise, I will give it a go.

 

Sanjay, the Host was a delight.  He is very friendly.  We were seated by the window.  This was perfect because we were just leaving the dock.  We had a unique night perspective of the Sydney Skyline and the Opera house 🥰.

 

 

Dinner is all ala carte.  We selected the “The Chateau” and then DH followed with Green Roof Tuna rolls.

 

 

 

 

DH was quite happy.  I used a lot of lemon and applied the sauces liberally 🤣.  Harmony 😘😁😘.

 

We were already beginning to rock and roll as we cleared the channel out to the Tasman sea.  We could see the pilot boat pounding in the swells and taking a lot of water over the bow.  We have no idea if/when the pilot was able to jump off the ship.

 

Since we expect very heavy seas, we popped up to the OV so I could get some rolls in my stomach.  I usually go light on bread on land, but at sea, I find bread 🥖🥯🥖🥐 keeps my stomach calm.  We also selected a little sweet treat 😋.

 

 

We were bouncing a lot and we decided to turn in early.

[81Zoomie]

Well, it was quite the night.  We were rocking and rolling as expected.  Unfortunately, the noises we experienced on several nights around NZ in our cabin returned.  The “rat-a-tat-tat, click, click, and bowling ball from above” continued most of the night.  It was not a good night’s sleep again.

 

I finally rolled over and decided to record 🎙️🎤🎙️ the sound.  I’m not fond of fumbling with my phone in the dark, but I did record the symphony of sounds for the staff.  It was acknowledged that we are mid ship 🚢 and it creaks more here.  Then we met Joana the new Retreat manager who just boarded in Sydney.  What a breath of fresh air!  She seemed very proactive and energetic!  She apologized and said she would move us, but no other suites are available.  At present we are waiting for “a joiner” to come investigate the suspect areas in our cabin.  We will post our cabin # on the E Class cabin spreadsheet and the noise thread after our cruise.

[81Zoomie]

Day - 1 Tasman Sea

 

 

The view from our room this morning 💨💦🌊.

 

 

It is looking as if today may be another inside activity day.  However, it does appear to be getting a little brighter out.  We are hopeful that conditions will improve 🤓😎😊.

 

 

[81Zoomie]

Rain to the left 💦, rain to the right💦, it appears that much like aircrews do, the bridge crew is threading the needle between weather in hopes of providing a better ride.  It’s still rather damp and gray with no sun 🌞 in sight.  We are making progress as we sail toward Melbourne.

 

 

We opted to go up to the gym and burn a few calories before lunch and another dinner in Eden.  I decided the Elliptical 👟🏋️‍♀️💪 would be prudent today.  At least you can hold on to something while you are swaying up top! Now it’s time for lunch 😉. It’s a bit like my DH’s old Navy ⚓️ days, eat till you are tired and sleep till you are hungry!  However in the leisure cruise version you can quench your thirst with a large selection of tempting concoctions 🍺🍷🍸🍹🥂🍾🥃☕️🍵!

 

A quick note about ship’s laundry.  DH has been quite creative with how much you can stuff into a bag.  We had a free bag 👍, but it would have cost $140 for all the items he stuffed in 😳.  We have used laundry on lots of cruise lines.  I was a bit surprised everything you send out on X comes back in a bag.  It’s wash and fold. I’m not sure what would happen with a jersey dress or thin dress slacks.  On other lines we have received items back on hangers or neatly folded in a basket.
 

 

So, my self service laundry continues for more fragile materials.  An overnight soak with gentle ship provided agitation 🚢🌊🧺!

 

 

[cruzzzinma]

3 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

 Then we met Joana the new Retreat manager who just boarded in Sydney.

Joana is amazing if she is the same Joana on the Solstice in Sep/Oct 2022. 

[jwlane]

On 4/4/2024 at 4:33 PM, 81Zoomie said:

 

 

 

 

I. Am. Shocked.

[jelayne]

11 minutes ago, jwlane said:

 

I. Am. Shocked.

No worries, back to sickness this morning😂

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

No worries, back to sickness this morning😂

Dang auto correct, back to sockless this morning

[81Zoomie]

We are slowly making our way through the available lunch location options on Edge.  We just wanted a little nosh for lunch.  DH suggested Eden.  Great idea!  I braved the creepy hallway.

 

 

We sauntered back and found the reading chairs had been replaced by some small dining tables during the meal time.

 

There were several light lunch options to include sandwiches, soup, salad, and cookies.  This was perfect for us!  
 

 

Given the weather conditions, Eden was well populated.  We had to hunt a bit to find seats.  DH selected the walnut cookie for dessert.  I passed on the baked goods and went to the OV for ice cream. I ate it in the Solarium.  It was surprising to find many available seats 🪑🪑🪑.
 

We went down to the Club to watch Deal or No Deal.  There were no seats to be had and we didn’t want to stand 🧍‍♀️.  It would have been nice to have this game in the theatre to allow for more participation.  Many of the outdoor activities have been washed out and everyone is inside.  Plan B, we went back to the room to play cribbage ♠️♥️♣️♦️.  I found a very lightweight travel cribbage set and this was a great opportunity to test it out!

 

 

It is still gray and wet outside, but the sea state is much improved 😊. 
 

 

 

Edited April 6 by 81Zoomie

[81Zoomie]

On 4/4/2024 at 2:09 PM, emdmistycc said:

Curious….at the B2b meeting did they offer any shore excursions?

boarding today and with the rain we were limited with sightseeing.

Hoping for better weather when we return on 4/14.

 

Thanks

Elaine

I don’t recall them mentioning any excursions at the meeting.  

[southerngoose]

I happen to love Bingo on a cruise ship, but I think I need to limit myself.   Luckily, it's not been a problem for me on other ships (I got into a "bad" habit of buying cards at every session).   But I'm wondering if people enjoy going to Bingo and Deal/NoDeal without buying and just watching?   I'm thinking I might try that (unless there's a better offering at that time...).   I just don't want to be sucked into buying (which is controllable, by me, but you know...).   I almost need a support group to enjoy watching, but not spending.   Otherwise, I'll have to do what I have done before and just be a hermit in my room and watch a movie or work on my crafts.