justhappytobehere

We were on the Celebrity Eclipse last October/November (B2B NZ and Aus).  It was our first Celebrity cruise and we'd looked forward to it for a couple of years for many reasons, not least we were under the impression that it would be an upmarket experience.  Normally when I get home I write a fair review of our whole cruise, but this was the first time it could all be summed up with, "it was OK, but nothing special", so as a result we won't be choosing Celebrity again anytime soon and I didn't bother with writing a long review as a lot of it would be negative/disappointing.

We've done two.  The first one (I think that was Azamara Quest) was much better than we expected it to be.  There were about fourteen of us and each couple had their own table.  We were served seven courses paired with seven different wines and the Chef explained every course and why it was paired with it's particular wine as we went along.

The second one was with Royal Caribbean (Navigator of the Seas?)and we were all at one large Chef's Table.  There were three or four courses and the food and wine were excellent with the Chef once more explaining everything to us.  However, some of the other diners  were very loud and thought they were superior to everyone else so they spoiled the whole experience for the rest of us.

I'm pretty sure you'll thoroughly enjoy the experience, as long as you get like minded table companions.

12 hours ago, Ronin23 said:

The pre cruise COVID test is without doubt the biggest stress ball. Totally out of your control and yet can blow your holiday up completely.

Your right!!!!  The number of times we've almost cancelled our cruise as we have visions of flying all the way from the UK to Sydney to join the ship, testing positive and having to fly  straight home again.

3 hours ago, Peteymil said:

I feel really dense but since I am not familiar with New Zealand protocols I am having trouble understanding what  this mean.

Is this referring to coming to New Zealand or before you leave New Zealand, just not sure what the pre-departure

1 hour ago, SFCAcruiser said:

 

For what it is worth, I wanted to let you know that you are not alone in your confusion. My guess is that you and I would most likely refer to this test as "pre-arrival" rather than pre-departure. Somehow, this announcement is good news, so I will just accept that for whatever it is. 

Sounds like good news however I'm still a bit confused.  Does this mean we don't need a test before we get off the ship to go ashore in NZ, but we will still need a test before we are allowed on the ship in Sydney so may still be turned away and not get to go our cruise?

Wonderful news, thank you for letting us know 😄

Thank you for posting the  Holiday Experiences info mahdnc.  Very interesting ... we hope to be on the Eclipse at the end of October and I'd forgotten it would coincide with Halloween which looks as if it will be a big deal on board. We were on a pre-Christmas cruise once  (with a different shipping line) and it was a lovely atmosphere on board especially during the Carol Service but we realised it must be quite a challenge to get the celebrations just right for everyone as, apart from all the different religions of staff and passengers, there are a lot of folk on board that will have spent a lot of money  purposely to sail away and escape Christmas.

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

We have done two Christmas/NYE cruises (2016 Infinity South America and 2019 Solstice New Zealand) and one NYE only cruise (2013 Eclipse Caribbean).  We are scheduled to do a Christmas/NYE cruise this year on Solstice if Asia opens up.

 

Each time we have taken our family (including our 2 adult kids) and we have a great time.  The ship is nicely and tastefully decorated and everyone is in a festive mood.  Last year Celebrity published a Holiday Experience brochure which you may find informative: link 

 

The pricing is higher for a holiday cruise and you will see more family and kids on board.  Also you will want to check to see when the holidays fall on your itinerary because many shops, or tours could be closed.  Ideally Christmas and New Years Day fall on a sea day. 

 

Our October 2022 B2B cruises on Eclipse (New Zealand and Australia) have not been cancelled.  I was just checking with my travel agent the other day and was told that Celebrity are still hoping to get the all clear to go there.