Australia & New Zealand Bookings

[Keith1010]

If you contact Celebrity by telephone they have rates for each of these cruises and they are taking reservations. I already spoke directly with a Celebrity Certified Vacation Planner this morning.

 

Keith

[Loracpin2]

I've also gotten some info this morning. We looking at the Jan 6 or 20, 2008 sailings. I've read the Tasmanian Sea can be very rough waters. Does anyone know whether it's better to go in Jan, Feb or March for calmer waters.

 

Carol

[Roland4]

The Tasman Sea is one of the roughest bodies of water in the world! What the conditions are is really a crapshoot. We did it in February two years ago and had 18/20 seas for two days. We did it this year in March and had one day of 35 foot seas and two days of "mill pond" calm. Pick the month you want and go because, as friend who has sailed it many times put it, there is no way to predict the Mighty Tasman!

[Moeve]

We are booked already tooo. I guess we will be taking an extra dose of ginger capsules if those don't help I'll stick to the Martinis.......

[poetic license]

The rates are now on the Celebrity website. Several cabin categories are already sold out. Have fun looking! :)

 

Cheers~

[cruisintwinsmom]

They must have posted them recently, looked this am and nothing was there. Wonder if I can talk my DH into this cruise!:p

[eileen & jay]

Extremely disappointed in the Auckland to Honolulu itinerary. The only South Sea Islands are Rarotonga, Moorea, Bora Bora and (?) Fanning Island, Kiribati. Had already booked the Hawaii to Ensenada portion of our cruise but will cancel as Princess (never thought I would say this!!!!:( ) has a better Aus/NZ to North Am. itinerary. The South Sea Islands include Fiji, Pago Pago, Rarotonga, Bora Bora, and Papeete.

[Keith1010]

Moeve, which of the sailings did you book?

 

Keith

[Ma Bell]

We booked February 17th and March 2, 2008. Always wanted to do both these itineraries and we're really happy Celebrity is going there.:)

[emeyers]

eileen and jay:

 

I concur. We want to celebrate our 50th Anniversary in May 2008 and renew our vows aboard ship, and Princess certainly has the better itinerary. It would take three back to back cruises on the Mercury to see Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific Islands, Honoluu and Hilo, and cruise back to the states. The final cruise also repeats Honolulu and Hilo, and I believe the Mercury does not include Tahiti. With Princess we can do it all on one 29 day cruise, plus a pre cruise package in Australia. Also the Princess April and May dates conform to our anniversary. Also, Princess has the renewal of vows package.

I've been calling Princess every week but have not received any information as yet, except that the ship will probably be the Sapphire and the sailing date from Sydney will be April 17, 2008. Pricing is up in the air because of the the rising fuel and airline costs.

We are also loyal members of the Celebrity Captains Club and have their AMAX credit card. We are sailing on the July 1, 2006 Baltic/Russia cruise on the Constellation and have done 5 other international cruises with Celebrity. We were on call for the Asia cruise this fall on the Summit, but Celebrity got cold feet at the last minute last year so we booked this 16 day cruise plus 9 days pre tour of China with Princess.

 

Ellis

[turtlemichael]

We booked February 17th and March 2, 2008. Always wanted to do both these itineraries and we're really happy Celebrity is going there.:)

 

Great choice Joan! The combined itinerary I think is great. Hope you get to see more of Australia before you sail away.:)

 

What do you think of the prices in general? On a quick glance they are lower than I expected which may reflect that it's a new itinerary and there is competition. The route is only going to be attractive to those who can spare a good amount of time. I'm pleased with what Celebrity has come up with but may have liked to see one more South Seas port.

[Ma Bell]

I agree one more South Seas port would have been nice, but I'm not complaining. I thought the prices were good for the length of the cruises and the fact that we booked a Sky Suite. We'll have to see what airfare is and if I can use points to upgrade the flight. It's a long one. I'm sure we'll come to Australia a few days early and the back to back will provide a couple of extra days too. I can't wait to see your lovely country!:)

[Texed]

Joanie,

I'm jealous. :)

[Andy]

I agree one more South Seas port would have been nice, but I'm not complaining. I thought the prices were good for the length of the cruises and the fact that we booked a Sky Suite. We'll have to see what airfare is and if I can use points to upgrade the flight. It's a long one. I'm sure we'll come to Australia a few days early and the back to back will provide a couple of extra days too. I can't wait to see your lovely country!:)

 

Hi Ma Bell !

 

Wow, Lucky you !!!

 

What is that ? like 30 days on the ship ? Like Ed, I am jealous too. Someday, I hope I will get a chance to take a Cruise like that.

 

I know it is far away, but I hope you have a wonderful time.

[Ma Bell]

Thanks Andy,

 

It really is something I've been waiting for. It will be a long one for George, but I know it's the only one I could get him to stay on for that long.:)

[Andy]

Thanks Andy,

 

It really is something I've been waiting for. It will be a long one for George, but I know it's the only one I could get him to stay on for that long.:)

 

Hi Ma Bell !

 

That is a huge dream of mine... to spend a month on a Cruise ship. Unfortunately, my line of work wont ever let me do that. My clients get all worked up, when I am away for a week :). I suppose that will have to wait until I retire. Unless I hit the lottery, I still have several years to go.

 

For now, I will always be happy with 7-10 day Cruising, even though I feel as if I can stay on forever.

[Ma Bell]

Hi Ma Bell !

 

That is a huge dream of mine... to spend a month on a Cruise ship. Unfortunately, my line of work wont ever let me do that. My clients get all worked up, when I am away for a week :). I suppose that will have to wait until I retire. Unless I hit the lottery, I still have several years to go.

 

For now, I will always be happy with 7-10 day Cruising, even though I feel as if I can stay on forever.

 

Luckily we have a good partner and two of our children came into the business this year so we will be able to leave more now.

[Moeve]

Hi ther Keith

We booked the 17 Feb 2008 Moms birthday on embarkation day sooo but I prefered having Hobart in the Itin.

[sailorgirl]

I'm also looking at that cruise with Princess or Celebrity. I was waiting on the Celebrity information but I guess it can be had with a phone call. I have one major reservation about going down under, however. That is the looooong trip back and forth. Could be close to 30 hours door to door (we live in Florida) and that's wicked. Any thoughts on that?

[Keith1010]

Sailorgirl, yes, you can either call Celebrity directly for information or you can go to their web site.

 

We live in Texas so we will have a fairly long flight as well.

 

One thought to at least break it up is to fly to Los Angeles Airport (LAX) and stay there overnight and then fly the next day to Australia or New Zealand since many of the direct flights begin in Los Angeles. You may be able to get a similar airfare as if you flew on the same day over there and the added cost would be an overnight at a hotel near the airport. It would at least break up the trip. I plan to look at that as an option.

 

Keith

[hmg]

One thought to at least break it up is to fly to Los Angeles Airport (LAX) and stay there overnight and then fly the next day to Australia or New Zealand since many of the direct flights begin in Los Angeles. You may be able to get a similar airfare as if you flew on the same day over there and the added cost would be an overnight at a hotel near the airport. It would at least break up the trip. I plan to look at that as an option. Keith

We did this trip several years ago with our kids when they were 7 & 4--and were we ever nervous about it. We flew out to LA from NJ the evening before, woke everyone up early the morning we were flying to NZ and walked, and walked and walked around LA. If I remember correctly our flight to Auckland left some time around 10--one of the boys was asleep before we boarded the plane and the other asleep before we took off. DH and I managed to catch a few hours of sleep ourselves. I think it took us one day to recover from the jet lag.

We had a glorious month in NZ. Coming home we wanted to break the trip up so we stopped in Hawaii for two days. That worked out perfectly for us.

We've never been to Australia--I can't wait!! I wish we could do a back to back like some of you. We booked December 23... :D

[BrendaJ]

I have been waiting a very long time for Celebrity to come up with something in that region. I would have liked to see more/longer stops in French Polynesia, but I understand that the distances involved have made that impossible. The New Zealand cruise looks amazing, and I hope Celebrity will continue to offer it (we've got too much already planned to be able to make it for 2007/2008).

 

Since there seems to be quite a lot of interest in the South Pacific, depending on where the Mercury needs to end up after the last Australia cruise, it would be nice if they had a cruise that started in Australia or New Zealand, visited all the popular South Pacific islands, and then ended in California. The Seven Seas Mariner does a similar 18 day cruise once a year that looks fabulous. I would sign up for that in a heartbeat, since I desperately want to see that part of the world, but desperately want to avoid two extremely long flights.

 

I'm very happy to see that Celebrity is branching out and expanding their horizons.

 

Brenda

[cruisintwinsmom]

I'm probably behind on news, but will Mercury be drydocked before that time, or has she had any "freshening up" recently. Thanks for your help.

 

Happy Sailing!

[quepaquete]

We've never been to Australia--I can't wait!! I wish we could do a back to back like some of you. We booked December 23... :D

 

I just booked the December 23 as well! I made the reservation yesterday and the price has gone up as of today and most suites are sold out.

 

The problem is the wait. But that will give some time to get more points on my AX card and possible upgrade the flight to bus class.;)

 

See you aboard!!

[Keith1010]

I just booked the December 23 as well! I made the reservation yesterday and the price has gone up as of today and most suites are sold out.

 

The problem is the wait. But that will give some time to get more points on my AX card and possible upgrade the flight to bus class.;)

 

See you aboard!!

 

Are you saying that from the time that you made the reservation yesterday that by today the price of the cabin that you booked has gone up. By how much?

 

Keith