Live from eclipse, Australia-NZ, 26 March - 6 April 2023. Have questions? Ask away

[cruisestitch]

Have questions? Ask away

[cruisestitch]

After two back to back cruises  on Royal Caribbean Ovation of the seas (two big a ship, too many people) I now have three days in Sydney at the Marriott and then will have the 11 night cruise on eclipse going to New Zealand. I don’t plan to create a daily log but I am happy to answer any questions you might have.

[ZumbaChick]

Where is your room? We’re booked on the aft of deck 11 next spring and I heard there’s issues w soot ??

[Northern Aurora]

We boarded on March 10th and will also be onboard for the next two cruises!  We will  look for you.

[cruisestitch]

3 hours ago, ZumbaChick said:

Where is your room? We’re booked on the aft of deck 11 next spring and I heard there’s issues w soot ??

I will ask around but it’s nothing I would be likely to see

[ZumbaChick]

I’ve seen a lot of ppl

complaining about it. Some posts were older though 

[Barwick Cruiser]

I love visiting NZ and Sydney is one of our favourite cities, hope you have a wonderful and smooth journey, getting late in the season down under so I hope the weather cooperates and the seas are smooth. Eclipse is a lovely ship, will you be trying the hot glass? I really enjoyed on our Alaska cruise in September. What is your itinerary? Any excursions planned?

[Silkroad]

We have a similar itinerary booked for 2024, and it will be our first visit to NZ & Australia. I’m looking forward to reading anything you’ve time to post about your experiences on your journey. I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

[Lastdance]

25 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

We have a similar itinerary booked for 2024, and it will be our first visit to NZ & Australia. I’m looking forward to reading anything you’ve time to post about your experiences on your journey. I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Ditto!  However, we have been to NZ, but hiking, not cruising...

Edited March 23, 2023 by Lastdance

[cruisestitch]

On 3/24/2023 at 1:34 AM, Barwick Cruiser said:

I love visiting NZ and Sydney is one of our favourite cities, hope you have a wonderful and smooth journey, getting late in the season down under so I hope the weather cooperates and the seas are smooth. Eclipse is a lovely ship, will you be trying the hot glass? I really enjoyed on our Alaska cruise in September. What is your itinerary? Any excursions planned?

I just did New Zealand a couple of days ago on Royal Caribbean ovation OTC and we had some pretty rough seas.  Not unexpected.

 

The eclipse itinerary includes Napier which suffered a lot of storm damage.  Some cruises have been unable to visit it so I will be interested to find out on boarding day, tomorrow, if it is still on our schedule or not.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Good luck with Napier, such a shame if you have to miss but lots of road closures in the area and around the port itself so wouldn’t be surprised if you have an extra sea day there. My son is a vineyard manager on the South Island and the weather is affecting the grape harvest, definitely can’t rely on stable weather this time of the season. 

[Northern Aurora]

21 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

I just did New Zealand a couple of days ago on Royal Caribbean ovation OTC and we had some pretty rough seas.  Not unexpected.

 

The eclipse itinerary includes Napier which suffered a lot of storm damage.  Some cruises have been unable to visit it so I will be interested to find out on boarding day, tomorrow, if it is still on our schedule or not.

The March 15th cruise did stop at Napier.  Even though they were badly hit the downtown area looked in great shape.  Since the March 26th cruise will essentially be a repeat with slightly altered port times we should stop again.

 

The March 15th cruise did experience some rough weather and we missed both Wellington and Chrisrchurch.

 

K: We will be looking out for you tomorrow.  There will be several Zeniths onboard you know.

[Alakegirl]

You missed two ports?  Did you have substitute ports or sea days?  Did you get any advance notice?  

[terrydtx]

I am following as we will be on the Edge next January on a B2B NZ/ Great Barrier Reef cruises. We are booked in Sky Suites for both cruises and since this will probably be our one and only trip down under, we are going to do 11 days post cruise driving from Melbourne to Adelaid and back. 

[Northern Aurora]

18 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

You missed two ports?  Did you have substitute ports or sea days?  Did you get any advance notice?  

Captain Leo provided advice information about the size and strength of the very large low pressure system, but it seemed to me that some passengers were very surprised.  We have been to both Australia and New Zealand several times on both land trips and cruises, and also are on a b2b2b2b so we’re not upset.  The ship did go into Gisbourne as a substitute.  That community was badly hit by the cyclone and the community clearly appreciated the business generated by the surprise ship stop.

[Ken the cruiser]

We’ll be boarding the Eclipse in Sydney on April 19th for the start of our B3B to Vancouver. If anyone would like to see where the Eclipse is at any point in time, here’s a Cruise Mapper link you can click on.

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9404314
 

[Potstech]

Currently at the Marriott and will be boarding tomorrow.

[Lastdance]

7 hours ago, Potstech said:

Currently at the Marriott and will be boarding tomorrow.

I am interested in the weather in early April for AUS. When we hiked NZ(South Island)during the end of February, the weather was cool, with rain snow in the mountains. The seas were a little rough in Milford Sound when we took a boat out for part of the day, after our 5 day hike.  Also, wondering about Tasmania in April on the ship...

[cruisestitch]

Suggest you start monitoring the weather channel or some other app for the big picture.  I can tell you that it was 77° with on and off showers in Sydney yesterday but that doesn’t tell you anything about what you’re liable to encounter in other parts of the country.

 

As the southern hemisphere enters winter, I expect very chilly weather in the sounds.

 

I just came back from a New Zealand cruise on ovation. We had very choppy seas going to and from New Zealand.  Could happen again for this cruise.

[Baynanno1]

21 hours ago, terrydtx said:

I am following as we will be on the Edge next January on a B2B NZ/ Great Barrier Reef cruises. We are booked in Sky Suites for both cruises and since this will probably be our one and only trip down under, we are going to do 11 days post cruise driving from Melbourne to Adelaid and back. 

Enjoy your cruises and the post cruise drive between Melbourne & Adelaide.

The Great Ocean Road has some spectacular scenery and quite a bit of history. Lots to see in both Melbourne & Adelaide.

Having seen many of your posts, I'm sure you will have researched your trip well.

[terrydtx]

35 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

Enjoy your cruises and the post cruise drive between Melbourne & Adelaide.

The Great Ocean Road has some spectacular scenery and quite a bit of history. Lots to see in both Melbourne & Adelaide.

Having seen many of your posts, I'm sure you will have researched your trip well.

Thank you, we are very excited to be doing this trip and visiting your beautiful country. This takes one major item off of our bucket list. We already bought our air and are using Air New Zealand to fly home from Melbourne. This will be the longest we have been away from home; we leave on Jan 8 and return home February 15th. Best part we will miss most of our winter here in Texas too. We got delivered today our Fodders Guide to Australia and will be planning our drive for the 11 days after the cruise. Hope to spend some time in your wine country as well on the drive.

[skysailor7]

Celebrity’s current mask policy in Australia is that they must be worn during embarkation and when indoors or crowded outside areas. Is this policy actually being enforced? 

[hcat]

cruisestich

wishing you good weather and smooth seas!

[cruisestitch]

3 hours ago, skysailor7 said:

Celebrity’s current mask policy in Australia is that they must be worn during embarkation and when indoors or crowded outside areas. Is this policy actually being enforced? 

No.  I have seen a total of four people in masks. And one crewmember.  

[cruisestitch]

Boarding seemed to go very smoothly. Friends on board were going to drop their luggage and then go out for a coffee while they waited for their assigned time, but the staff in the terminal said that since it was no line they could just come right on. And that seemed to be the pattern for others as well.