Live from the Eclipse, Apr 19 - May 21, Sydney to Honolulu to Vancouver B3B in an Aqua Cabin

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

i am pretty sure you are not missing much by not visiting Newcastle.  From what I remember from my port visit 1988, it’s an industrial city.  We were there having work done n the shipyard.  Nothing really sticks out to me about the city, unlike Sydney.

 

 

That might explain the couple of oil tankers we’ve seen today floating around out here with us. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Day 3 - April 21 - Sea day

  

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Good morning from somewhere off the coast of Sydney! The sunrise was so awesome I couldn’t decide which of these was prettier, so I posted both. 😁

  

 

 

The swells have calmed a little over night, so at least we’re poking along now in a straight line. 😂

 

 
Checked my premium internet connection this morning. The download speed was pretty good, but not so much for the upload speed. However, I didn’t experience any noticeable delay when I texted these pictures to family back home as well as posting them to this thread. So we’re happy! 😁

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[PurpleTraveller]

10 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

i am pretty sure you are not missing much by not visiting Newcastle.  From what I remember from my port visit 1988, it’s an industrial city.  We were there having work done n the shipyard.  Nothing really sticks out to me about the city, unlike Sydney.

 

 

 

Since your visit in 1988 Newcastle has been completely revitalised with the steel works closed and industrialisation moved to the north side of the harbour. It is still a busy industrial port but the city is completely different now. There are now great coastal walks, beautiful beaches for swimming and surfing, restaurants, markets, parks and basically totally changed to what it was like 30 years ago. My son lives just outside Newcastle and we love visiting. The fort is fun to visit and the ANZAC Memorial Walk is a favourite.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by PurpleTraveller

[Ken the cruiser]

We returned from breakfast in Blu to find an envelope outside our cabin with our Transit cards and information regarding about our first turnaround day. I also called Guest Services and found out there will be 86 guests continuing on to Hawaii. 
 

This first letter contains the general rules regarding transition day.

 

 
Bolded in yellow on the second letter are the “honor system” antigen testing rules for B2B passengers to follow once they reboard the ship.

 

 

[trinitygirl]

2 hours ago, PurpleTraveller said:

 

Since your visit in 1988 Newcastle has been completely revitalised with the steel works closed and industrialisation moved to the north side of the harbour. It is still a busy industrial port but the city is completely different now. There are now great coastal walks, beautiful beaches for swimming and surfing, restaurants, markets, parks and basically totally changed to what it was like 30 years ago. My son lives just outside Newcastle and we love visiting. The fort is fun to visit and the ANZAC Memorial Walk is a favourite.

 

 

 

 

I have very good friends in Newcastle and I LOVE to visit them there - the only thing that sucks is the weather (its usually very humid when I visit over the summer). Walking around the lake, waking to the sound of Kookaburras every morning, the interesting architecture, all of the amazing cafes and restaurants... it's a beautiful city to visit.

 

[IanandJude]

If you are thinking of doing a ferry trip on Sydney harbour, I would suggest the ferry to Manly. You get to see the harbour and when you get to Manly you can walk over to the surf beach. Grab some fish and chips and enjoy them on the sand.

[Ken the cruiser]

This morning after breakfast in Blu, we headed over to the theater to watch a couple of talks! I guess folks are finding Eddy is quite funny as the theater was packed for his 10 am talk.

 

 

However, once he was finished most folks headed to other places on the ship rather than listen to a lecture about The Secret Lives of Humpback Whales. I know, who could have guessed! 😂 

 

 

But we stayed along with a few others and it was quite informative, and we did find something very interesting. There is a very large Humpback Whale migratory path between Hawaii and the Alaskan waters. So hopefully we may see a few pods of Humpbacks along the way on our Hawaii to Vancouver leg of our cruise. 🤞

 

[Ken the cruiser]

I have to say part of the joy of cruising on sea days is sitting on the balcony during one of those downtimes and just experiencing what there is to see. 😁

 

[Norwaylady]

Fingers crossed all goes well❤️🕺🏻

 

Looks like your having a good time😎

Really happy for your sailing and the possibility to follow you⚓️

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

On 4/14/2023 at 9:44 PM, cruisestitch said:

Your activities staff probably include FLori and Dom.  They are two of the best.

 

You may not normally go to trivia and name that tune but if Dom is on board, try to get to his name that tune on the last day. It will probably be in the program as movie themes. Even if you don’t know anything about movie themes or you don’t want to play, go that day just to see him do that game. I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but he is definitely worth seeing that day😀😃

This afternoon, the last full day of the 3-night cruise to nowhere, we went to the Sky Lounge to watch This or That, General Knowledge Trivia and Movie Theme Trivia!

Thank you @cruisestitch for letting us know about the Movie Theme Trivia! It was outstanding and super funny!! 😂

  

[Tee & Chilli]

So glad I didn’t fall too far behind in my reading. Thanks for doing another review.

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, Norwaylady said:

Fingers crossed all goes well❤️🕺🏻

 

Looks like your having a good time😎

Really happy for your sailing and the possibility to follow you⚓️

 

We’re having a great time and the weather is fine. A little chilly, but we were able to do our walk outside on the promenade today. Well, at least it was nice on the leeward side of the ship where we did our walk. 😁

[DaKahuna]

Ken,  Sounds like you guys are having a wonderful time and I hope ours will be as entertaining.  I also hope the Millie’s WiFi is up to par.  Seems one current CC poster has not been able to access CC for the last couple of days. 

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

14 minutes ago, Tee & Chilli said:

So glad I didn’t fall too far behind in my reading. Thanks for doing another review.

Thanks! It’s been fun cruising around for 3 days at sea! It’s amazing how much entertainment, especially production shows, they’ve include in this 3-day Sampler cruise! 

[Ken the cruiser]

Tonight after another tasty dinner in Blu with this great view from our table

  

 
we headed to the theater to watch the production show, Topper, which was awesome! 

 

 

 
Afterwards we headed to the Grand Foyer where they had a 20-minute Queen sing along, which we of course actively participated in 2 decks up! 😂

 

 
Then it was back to the cabin to rest up before we went back to the theater to watch the late night adult comedy show!

 

 
This has definitely been the most entertainment packed 3-day cruise we have ever been on!! 😂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Ken,  Sounds like you guys are having a wonderful time and I hope ours will be as entertaining.  I also hope the Millie’s WiFi is up to par.  Seems one current CC poster has not been able to access CC for the last couple of days. 

 

We are! Did the poster on the Millie mention if they had upgraded to the Premium package? From past experience that made a huge difference, especially when trying to access CC, as X does seem to limit the bandwidth offered to their Basic users.

[DaKahuna]

 I read in one post that she said she did but our thoughts are that if she did she was never shifted over to it.  She was able to post on Instagram and is back on CC this morning using her cellular. 

 

[lovecruzin]

Excited to follow your travels across the Pacific, it will be my countdown to the May 6 cruise.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

G’Day from our early morning arrival back into Sydney Harbor! Thank goodness for jet lag causing us to wake up around 5:45 am! 😁

 

 

 
Then from the port side! 
 

 

 
And then once again from our cabin balcony after we docked! 😁

 

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[CGinMTL]

6 hours ago, lovecruzin said:

Excited to follow your travels across the Pacific, it will be my countdown to the May 6 cruise.

 

Same here.

This is my countdown to may 27 cruise

 

@Ken the cruiser love your style . I followed your cruise to Greenland and Iceland last year. Really love your pics.

 

Thank you for taking us with you 

[Pantheral]

Sydney Harbor is easily some of the most iconic and memorable scenery of our travels!

[sgtjjmayle]

See you in Honolulu for the leg up to Vancouver!

 

Josh and Christina 

[Mark.Jules]

On 4/20/2023 at 9:34 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

This morning after breakfast in Blu, we headed over to the theater to watch a couple of talks! I guess folks are finding Eddy is quite funny as the theater was packed for his 10 am talk.

 

 

However, once he was finished most folks headed to other places on the ship rather than listen to a lecture about The Secret Lives of Humpback Whales. I know, who could have guessed! 😂 

 

 

But we stayed along with a few others and it was quite informative, and we did find something very interesting. There is a very large Humpback Whale migratory path between Hawaii and the Alaskan waters. So hopefully we may see a few pods of Humpbacks along the way on our Hawaii to Vancouver leg of our cruise. 🤞

 

I have enjoyed the lectures and find many to be very informative.

[Ken the cruiser]

Today after eating breakfast in Blu, we headed over to the Opera House around 9:30 for our 10:30 am tour we booked online over 5 months ago. But since we had a little extra time, we took the long way around through town and a park on the hill next to the Opera House, and of course I had to take some pictures of the local wildlife. 😁

  

 
Yes, I was even able to take a picture of the elusive Australian pigeon! 😂

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 
Here were the tour prices if you purchased them at the box office.

 

 
Initially this space was created for two massive elevator shafts. But during one of the early redesign changes, it was converted to a small area for event gatherings and shows that didn’t require a stage.

 
Some various structural designs viewed from inside the Opera House.

 

 

 

 
The Music Hall. There was a separate building for opera and theatrical shows. However, we were not allowed to take pictures while we were visiting it because there was a rehearsal going on. 
 

 

 

As we were leaving the tour, there was a pretty view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge with Luna Park below it! 

 
As a side note, the Opera House was finished in 1973 and cost $103 million to build over a 16 year time span. If you ever have the opportunity, we highly recommend taking the one hour tour! 

 

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Ken the cruiser