LIVE: Celebrity Eclipse March 10th - March 15th - Sydney (Australia)

[xxpinksaltxx]

Hey all,

 

Tomorrow we leave on our cruise from Sydney Australia, on the Eclipse. A short 5 night cruise down to Hobart and return. Hopefully we will be able to post regularly with a focus on food on board (I'm a chef working in a 5 star resort in Byron Bay - a popular beach side town).  It is currently autumn in Australia, though the days are still warm (26C), Hobart is at the Southern end of Australia and we expect lows of 9C.

 

A little about us, we are both in our early 30's and from Australia. This is my 5th Celebrity Cruise ( all on S class) and my partners 1st cruise. We have booked Concierge Class (my first time in concierge, after previously staying in standard verandahs and aqua class). 

 

Tomorrow we board at 12pm, with the plan to head straight to the concierge lunch in the MDR.

 

Today we fly out of our very small regional airport, with a short 55 minute flight to Sydney. We will be flying on Virgin Australia.

 

Follow along if you are interested, and feel free to ask any questions, I'll try my best to get back to you.

Edited March 8, 2023 by xxpinksaltxx

[xxpinksaltxx]

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[Silkroad]

I’m looking forward to your review. It will be interesting to have a chef’s assessment of the food - and perhaps the beverages - on board. I hope you and your partner have a lovely holiday.

[Northern Aurora]

We are also boarding tomorrow for the first leg of a B2B2B2B.  It will indeed be interesting to read a chef’s perspective regarding food.  

[mahdnc]

We took two Solstice cruises out of Sydney and enjoyed them very much.  Nice city, nice ship.  Enjoy your cruise.

[xxpinksaltxx]

 

This morning we left our small regional beachside town. Somehow we both managed to over pack, and were lugged with the excess baggage fee (my partner says this is because I didn't want to bid to upgrade to Business)

 

 

Our flight was set for 12:35pm departure, it's a very small airport with no aerobridges and only 3 gates (all 3 gates are in the photo lol). We landed in Sydney about 1:50pm and headed for the train. The train is by far the easiest option to get from Sydney Airport to the city. It only took about 15 minutes. 

 

 

We are staying at the Little National Hotel, the entrance is right at the exit for one of the city loop trains, tomorrow morning we plan to take the train back to Circular Quay (one stop) and take the very easy walk to the overseas passenger dock.

 

We've stayed at the Little National Hotel in Canberra before, and I've previously stayed with the brand 'Citizen M' while overseas which has a very similar room layout. This hotel isn't for everyone, but we love it for the modern touches, comfy bed, free coffee and tea in the rooftop lounge etc.

 

[xxpinksaltxx]

By the time we got to our hotel it was 3pm, we had missed lunch and we were starving. We decided to go to Five Guys. Five Guys in Australia is very new, with only 3 stores in Australia. It's definitely not cheap, but we really enjoyed it when we were in Los Angeles in 2019.

 

 

 

 

Our first mistake was forgetting that the cheeseburgers were double patties. Absolutely loved the burger, and probably some of the freshest and crunchyest fries we've had in a while. At AUD $64 for 2 burgers, 2 softdrink (soda) and a regular fries, it's definitely a treat.

[xxpinksaltxx]

Tonight we headed down to Circular Quay for some icecream, and to have a look around the overseas passenger terminal. My partner who has never cruised before, is beyond excited. We walked around the dock, and stood there imagining how large and beautiful the Eclipse will look tomorrow.

 

Just after we got off the train at Circular Quay, you can see the Overseas Passanger Terminal to the left (a very short walk).

 

Overseas Passenger Terminal where we will board tomorrow

 

The dock where the Eclipse will be tomorrow (presumably tomorrow this will all be blocked off for loading supplies etc).

We stopped for gelato at Messina Gelato, I'm a qualified Pastry Chef (I use to work for Adriano Zumbo), so good quality sweets are super important (unfortunately I've never been a fan of any of the desserts in the Oceanview Cafe or Cafe Al Bacio on Celebrity, however we have booked at Tuscan and hopefully Le Petit Chef once we board). Pictured is ' pastry cream gelato, besting cake, caramelised almonds' and ' caramel tiramisu' gelato.

[Norwaylady]

Lovely 🤩 Really miss Sydney

The sail out and arrival in port is magic. 

 

You will have a great cruise!

[marinating]

We are sailing tomorrow as well, doing a B2B! Catching the train up from Canberra in the morning!

 

[vickykay]

Following along as we will be on the ship in May.  We cruised Australia/New Zealand a few years ago on the Solstice.  Loved Australia, friendliest people!  Have a wonderful cruise.

[xxpinksaltxx]

We arrived at the port this morning at 11am (with a 12pm booking time - the first time available for boarding). They were already boarding as we arrived. As expected they were checking everyone for vaccination status and negative covid tests.

 

We were onboard by 11:10am, the new boarding system is alot faster than the older system. We went straight to the room and dropped our bags, we met our room attendant who was friendly as always.

 

We wandered upstairs to the oceanview just for a light snack and to look around. I haven't cruised since 2018 (Silhouette 10 nights). Many people are commenting on cutbacks in the buffet, but to me, the selection looked better than before. I liked the addition of the make your own ceaser salad, and an entire dip station with pita breads.

 

Dip Selection

 

 

 

Make your own pasta and further down, pizza and calzone

 

 

nachos with a huge fixings station

 

 

Make your own ceaser salad

Edited March 10, 2023 by xxpinksaltxx

[xxpinksaltxx]

 

 

 

 

 

[xxpinksaltxx]

After a snack we started to look around. One thing I have noticed from previous cruises is the push for people to purchase speciality dining is everywhere. At one stage, every floor we went to, someone tried to sell us on the speciality dining.

 

We also noticed this happening at the spa, they really wanted to give us a spa tour (about 6 people asked us, one after another), previously you could look around at your own pace.

 

We are staying in a concierge room, it was nice to see the added addition of foot rests, as I've previously only seen them in the aqua class staterooms.

 

 

[DaKahuna]

 I miss Kings Cross.  Spent two weeks in Sydney harbor during the Bicentennial and enjoyed the view from the top of the stairs headed down toward the Naval Base.  I wonder if the shawarma carts still sell those delicious sandwiches?  

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

[xxpinksaltxx]

 

 

 

We are staying in a concierge cabin on deck 10 - the first cabin just off the angle. The balcony is larger than standard, but not the largest balcony on the angle I've had before. 

 

Noticeable changes onboard include the daily delectable delights and the sparkling wine are now on request. We also received the concierage card holder, along with the upgraded amenities. There is also a small mini bar of snacks in the room (at charge) which I don't recall seeing on previous sailings. 

 

 

 

[MelbTone]

Just come off the Eclipse, my first Celebrity cruise. Generally I thought the staff were outstanding. What got delivered in response to my menu choices wasn't always what I expected but ok. Theatre shows were mixed: Will Martin A++, the bigger up 'Topper' left me underwhelmed. Full marks to Celebrity for the super clear signage round the ship, so much better than Cunard and Princess.

[vickykay]

We loved Will Martin when we saw him and hoping he will be on our Hawaiian cruise in May.

[xxpinksaltxx]

Eclipse has the starlink internet, though the basic package is not fast enough to upload photos, so I'll upload more in a day or two.

 

We headed to the concierge lunch in the MDR. As others have suggested, the lunch isn't anything special, but it does certainly get you away for the crowds in the oceanview. The food was good, but not a stand out, we noticed the whipped butters were no more and now replaced with lurpak (maybe this was only at lunch, we will have dinner at the MDR tomorrow).

 

Our sailing is 100% capacity, and it certainly feels that way. All of the staff have been fantastic, and it doesn't feel like there are any staff shortages. There is certainly a very large drinking culture on this cruise, and a much younger demographic (I'd say average age is between 40 and 60). The bartenders are extremely generous with their pours, and a few pinacoladas was enough for me. The bars have been busy along with Cafe Al Bacio.

 

We watched sail away from our balcony which was beautiful, fantastic weather (I can't wait to upload some photos).

 

We headed to dinner at Tuscan Grill at 8pm, our waiter Augus from Indonesia was fabulous. Friendly, prompt, funny, it was a great dinner. There was no shortage of food, infact Augus wanted us to order, starters, salad, soup, pasta, main and dessert.

 

We settled on the pork belly, calamari, burrata salad, filet mignon and a half serve of lobster rigatoni, oh and tiramisu. 

 

My partner loved the pork belly, but I felt the filet mignon was the stand out, ordered medium rare, it was excellently cooked, very tender, we both commented it was the best steak we had had in a long time. I've had the lobster rigatoni many times before, and I'm not sure why i keep ordering it - it's not bad, but it doesn't stand out, very rich with very little lobster.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day, we hope to relax and enjoy some of the activities onboard. Today we already booked our next cruise, Honolulu to Vancouver in May 2024.

 

For those wondering about the buffet at night, there is definitely a reduced selection. Several stations not opened but I did notice the grill station and stirfry station had made an appearance (there was also pizza, pasta, salad, basic American fare, dessert and a mixed selection of hot items). There was also no afternoon tea or sushi - though I think these things may have been cut a few years back now. One thing I did miss was the cheese and antipasto selection, we went to the buffet to get some cheese for sailaway, but unfortunately only Swiss cheese and beef Bologna.

[Ken the cruiser]

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and thank you for taking the time to do a Live From thread!!

 

We will be on the Eclipse starting April 19th for a B3B transpacific cruise, with the first leg being a 3-day RT cruise to nowhere from Sydney. If I might ask from where the Eclipse was docked in Sydney, would walking to the Opera House in your opinion be doable say in less than an hour? Basically, the Eclipse will be our floating hotel the first leg and we wanted to visit the Opera House on transition day between the 1st and 2nd legs. We can book an Uber but thought it would be more fun to walk there if it was within walking distance. 

 

Edited March 10, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hope you have a wonderful cruise and thank you for taking the time to do a Live From thread!!

 

We will be on the Eclipse starting April 19th for a B3B transpacific cruise, with the first leg being a 3-day RT cruise to nowhere from Sydney. If I might ask from where the Eclipse was docked in Sydney, would walking to the Opera House in your opinion be doable say in less than an hour? Basically, the Eclipse will be our floating hotel the first leg and we wanted to visit the Opera House on transition day between the 1st and 2nd legs. We can book an Uber but thought it would be more fun to walk there if it was within walking distance. 

 

Just did a little more research and it looks like it is definitely within walking range if the Eclipse continues to dock at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, West Circular Quay, The Rocks, Sydney. Enjoy your cruise!! 😀

 

[Norwaylady]

@Ken the cruiser If they dock at Overseas passenger terminal, you can walk easy.

And if you have your stateroom on the "good" side of the ship. You will have a beautiful view to the Opera House!

We did a tour of the house. Really recommend if you have time. The house is quite special. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Just now, Norwaylady said:

@Ken the cruiser If they dock at Overseas passenger terminal, you can walk easy.

And if you have your stateroom on the "good" side of the ship. You will have a beautiful view to the Opera House!

We did a tour of the house. Really recommend if you have time. The house is quite special. 

Thanks! We have booked an Opera House tour for 10:30 am, so it looks like we should have plenty of time to walk over and pick up our tickets at the Will Call window. Unfortunately, it looks like we might be on the "other" side and will be looking at the Sydney Harbour Bridge from our balcony. But I'm sure we'll still be able to take some awesome pictures of the whole area from up top! 😀

[Boatharbour]

It’s a really easy walk to the Opera House from Circular Quay. 10 minutes (if that) and flat all the way around the harbour foreshore. If you have time you can continue on the path around to the Botanic Gardens which are adjacent. From here you can take spectacular photos of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge together. 
 

 

[vickykay]

Ken, 

 

Did you book your opera tour that included breakfast?  Somewhat pricy but 

much more backstage etc.  Really special.