81Zoomie

We elected to have a cocktail in Eden. DH really like the violin duo and wanted to hear them again. Combined with the view it was an excellent choice! We went up to Lumina to be victims of the dreaded pager. Maybe third time would be a charm 🧿🧿🧿? We walked up to Luminae and waited. Our expected 10 minutes turned into 15, so we walked back downstairs. We finally got a table. IMHO, Luminae is not staffed to handle a full restaurant. And, absolutely not staffed to provide the exemplary dining experience Celebrity brags about when the restaurant is full. 😟😟😟 Gone are the days of each waiter/waitress having an assistant waiter. There are a handful of assistants for the entire room. There is ONE wine steward 🍾🍾🍾 for all of Luminae. The staff ends up running around like chickens 🐓🐓🐓🐥🐥🐤🐓. Silverware is dropped on the table. Entrees are slid in front of you. There is no time for polite, “Bon Appetite”, or “Do you need anything else”, or “Did you enjoy your meal?” Forget getting more bread or water. The service is inconsistent, and I have tied it to how full the restaurant is. Service improves when Luminae is not full. Others may have a different experience, but on the NZ cruise this was ours. The food was good. DH had the poke, linguine with clams and I had the pear kale salad and veal tenderloin. We both had the chocolate ball for dessert with the flaming liquid. The dessert was the highlight of the meal. It was fabulous both to the senses and taste buds! After dinner we spent our last little bit of NR OBC and then went to the production show. It was very energetic! The Captain addressed us and thanked everyone for sailing with Celebrity. it was a nice gesture. The Captains are all very classy and genuine. The night was d tawing to a close as is this first leg of our B2B. In a dramatic turn of events 😲😲😲 CD Giuseppe was wearing socks 😳😳🧦🧦😳😳. Guess he is keeping us on our toes!!🦶🦶!!

Time for the passengers versus ships officers pool volleyball 🏐🏊‍♂️💦🏐! The officer side was a little under represented. The weather cooperated, although there were some waves 🌊🌊🌊 running lengthwise in the pool. The passengers won! More t-shirts 👚👚👚🥇🥇🥇 Per your request @suech1970, Giuseppe was very gracious, even in defeat! He handed out medals and hugs!

Another example of what a difference a day makes 😁. This is our favorite location at sea no matter the cruise line, name of the sea/ocean, or ship ❤️😍❤️. Yep, no toe polish 💅👣 😬. Since we were going to be in cooler weather, I didn’t bring sandals, only flip flops 🩴🩴, for the days. Speaking of shoes, etc., some have asked about the evening dress code. This sign is posted outside the sit down restaurants. Is it enforced you ask? It appears to be up to the discretion of the person at the podium/maitre’d. In Luminae, one particular passenger wears a Celebrity ship picture t-shirt nearly every night. This is an observation, not a judgement. Our dining experience is not affected by what others wear 👗👚👖👕👔. Moving on from clothes is laundry. This will be our first cruise over 14 days. We preceded it with 8 days on shore. Laundry takes a bit of creativity. DH is comfortable sending his laundry out. It’s amazing how much he can cram into those small bags. 🧺🧺. It is wash and fold ship laundry, no hang or press. However, I packed mostly lighter jersey polyester/spandex blends. Dryers are not kind to them. So, handwashing and hang dry a little at a time is my gig. A little shower gel and soak. Swish it around a bit with your hand. Rinse, squeeze the water out, lay on a pool towel (or 2), then roll it up. My mom taught me this years ago ❤️. Then the fun part, like Lucile Ball stomping grapes 🍇🍇🍇🥾🥾🥾🤣🤣🤣. Step on the towel roll to extract a little more water. Then hang to dry over the shower door, towel rack, a chair. I wish Celebrity had clothes lines in the shower 🚿🛀💦 like HAL does. It takes a little planning, but so far this has worked for my more delicate fabrics. If you have a better technique I’d love to hear it. We were able to pack much lighter (carryon only) on Azamara because they had washers and dryers for passenger use. Still had to hang the delicates though.

@Georgia_Peaches, I didn’t get it quite correct. On one side, deck 4 is Le Petite Chef with the casino bar adjacent. Fine Cut is on deck 5. One the other side, cafe Al Bacho is on deck 4, Raw on 5 is on deck 5.

Day 12 - Tasman Sea. This is the last day of the 12 Night NZ cruise. We did rock a bit overnight, but the wind seems to have calmed somewhat and the temperature is closer to 70 deg. Yes, the sun has even returned ☀️🕶️☀️. Still rolling with 10-12 foot (2.5-3 m) swells. I had a craving for a coffee this morning. I popped up to the OV early, before 7. Avoiding the Lavazza 😝, I made a cafe mocha with instant coffee and hot chocolate. Then we opted to go to Tuscan for the CC/elite breakfast. It was sleepy quiet down there. The wait staff was delighted with the light crowd and also their extra hour of sleep 😴 . We had a fairly small bite with mostly fruit. We attended the lecture about the early day of sea exploration around Australia. We find the speaker very informative and knowledgeable. The lecture was about an hour and the ship was bobbing a bit. It was apparent that my extra light breakfast might have been a mistake. 😵‍💫🤢. We went up to the OV where I grabbed 2 rolls and a coke. Much better. For added insurance I had Bonine for dessert. Better safe than sorry 👍. It is turning into a lovely day. There are lots of activities including the officers vs passenger volleyball game, Bingo, and a production cast show. Due to Australian restrictions, sale of liquor and cigarettes in the shops has been stopped. Bars are still open and alcoholic beverages are available.

Great question! My thought is perhaps proximity? I cannot say with certainty. We were told that over 99% of exported lumber goes to China.

Finished eating early we had the opportunity to make the early show! The theatre was packed. It was Jessica Jane Peterson the magician and illusionist. A photography restriction was in place for the performance, hence no pictures. She was quite good. In addition to the Magic, there were what were described as high risk stunts. She walked on glass, ate razor blades, and wiggled out of a straight jacket while hanging upside down. 🪄🪄🪄 At least that is what we think we saw 🤓😀🤓 We attended the Yes-No game show in The Club. 🎤🎙️🎤 Giuseppe and his sidekick are always very entertaining. 🤣🤭😆 A few guests managed to avoid saying YES of NO for 3 minutes of questioning and won t-shirts. 👕👕. Maybe on the next voyage I will give it a go??? We were ready for a night cap and quiet. We headed up to the Retreat and it was an ideal setting for both! We unwound and enjoyed our beverages 🍸🥃. Another bonus hour as we are setting our clocks back one hour again!

We had booked Le Petite Chef pre cruise. Actually, DH booked it because we have never been. I was a little less keen on the idea, but life is about compromise ❤️. We did stop by the LPC Podium the day prior to ask whether they could accommodate my food allergy. If not, no harm, we would eat elsewhere. We were assured it would be no issue. I asked if I had to preorder and was told no. They accommodate all the time. I recommend you get specific with them before because it wasn’t that accommodating. It was an early eating dinner time for us at 5:30. Looking around, only about 60% of the seats were occupied. There are 2 menus and you can mix and max. Between 5:30 and 6 pm the music from the martini bar area was overpowering. Fortunately, the band stopped playing when dinner began. The cartoon animation was very cute. It would be very entertaining for children. DH had the Menu Extrodinaire. I had to eat The Other Menu because everything is sautéed in soybean oil. They did accommodate me with a fabulous filet and asparagus for my entree 😍😋😍. Some of the animation stills … For us, it was one and done. Cute novelty, but nothing that would make us desire to do it again. 🧑‍🍳👩‍🍳👨‍🍳🥳🧞‍♂️. However, if you want to experience something a bit different, give it a try.

I think it is Petite Chef and Raw on 5. They close off Petite Chef with folding door ala IV cabins. There are a few low tables and chairs there for additional leisure seating. Definitely no World Class bar. I will look today to confirm.

Elite HH is every night except the first night in most bars. We did see one Elite HH lounge gathering in The Club. There were very few people in there and there was no atmosphere, so we moved on. Just my perspective, but recreating the Elite Happy Hour Mingle/Get Together is a bit more challenging on E class because there are fewer bar locations inside. Martini bar, Eden, Al Bacho are all very busy. That is probably why The Club was selected.

We have brought CV home as a souvenir from 2 cruises over the past 2 years. Just got our newest boosters and are hoping for the best. Same with flu and RSV. You can only do so much. Wash your hands and don’t touch your face. We packed masks just in case we need them. Unfortunately we will never be as carefree as in 2019. We want to travel before the next crisis, whatever that might be. Everyone has to do what they are comfortable with and hopefully be considerate of others ❤️.

You make a very good point. However, time of day and weather conditions pay a roll. We had great weather, nearly perfect, but we didn’t enter the sound until 4:30 pm. This made shadows an issue as time went on. Additionally, due to the medical emergency on board, we stayed stationary at the end (most inland point) of the sound for nearly two hours. It was 7:30 pm and dark before we exited. Hopefully your SV ❤️ works out well for you on your cruise!

I almost forgot the Daily!

Day - 11. The Tasman Sea Good morning. We were so happy to sleep in. When we opened the curtains it was even dent what a difference a day makes! It’s windy, gray, damp, and we have some swells. 💨🌧️🌊. Our balcony and sliding glass door are wet. The Captain deviated around a storm to facilitate better conditions. And, we heard that today Milford sound had 70 kt winds. We were in deep fortunate yesterday ☀️❤️☀️. We decided to eat breakfast in Luminae. Good thing we weren’t in a hurry. It appeared the rush was over, but service was very slow. Breakfast took nearly an hour. We did have nice seats though! I ordered the peach cobbler French toast 🍞and DH had blueberry pancakes 🫐🥞. We each had bacon 🥓. Nothing extravagant. We waited what seemed like forever for our food. When it finally came, my French toast was not hot or warm. It was cold. The bacon was piping hot. Well we didn’t have to cook or clean up, so that is a plus 👍. After breakfast we went to see CD Giuseppe’s presentation of life on board. Today is his eight year anniversary with Celebrity. As usual, he was quite entertaining. @maggie.1008 he mentioned that his contract is up mid May, but he will be back in Australia next year. Giuseppe did not mention who will follow him. Given the weather the. Interior sections of the ship are quite crowded. The shops and Cafe Al Bacho are packed. There are probably plenty of outdoor pool loungers available though 🤣🤣🤣 We will be chilling and passing time until La Petite Chef tonight. It will be the first time we sample this dining experience.

In between sounds we decided it was time to pay to play so to speak. In our case it was burn some calories in the gym to allow for those desserts ands beverages! 💪 🏃‍♂️Best views in gyms are usually in cruise ships! I snapped a pic from the cardio machines in the sound. It doesn’t get much than this to pass the time while exercising. We are so lucky with the weather! Milford sound had phenomenal weather with little or no wind! These fjords have a different look than those in Alaska and Norway. Since it had been fairly dry, there were very few waterfalls. Sitting up top was a wonderful way to pass the afternoon. The vistas were stunning! If photography is important to you, here is a major hint. 📸🎥🤳📷 The only unobstructed forward view on the ship with no glass wind breaks is the Thermal Spa sun deck. We saw folks out there earlier in the day. The spa attendants guarded it like it was Ft Knox. 🔐🔒🔑🔐. Literally with lock and key. No thermal spa pass, no Aqua cabin/suite, no upper suite, NO ACCESS. I tried…. The fjords are quite narrow. The only options for forward looking pics are between the wind breaks or sliding your phone sideways out the glass. It made getting landscape photos difficult. One man had a tall telescoping monopole and her extended his camera above the glass. If photographs are really important to you, book your cabin class accordingly. We ended up in the end of the sound for an extended period of time, nearly 2 hours. Unfortunately, someone was quite ill and needed medical evacuation . They were taken by tender to shore and then to a hospital. It was now time for dinner! DH had the soup and the duck breast. I had the kale salad and the veal cannellini. We opted for the Opulance Cabernet (+$10 per glass) again this evening. Life is too short to drink bad wine 🍷🍷! The appetizers were good and DH enjoyed his duck. The veal in the cannoli was shredded and not nearly as tender as the veal cheeks the other night. I needed a knife to cut them, which is a bit for pasta. 🍝🍝 No meal on vacation is complete without dessert 🍨 🍰🥮🧁. DH ordered the chocolate Neapolitan and I had the hazelnut cake. We went to the game show in The Club to pass a bit of time. It was fun and we participated! DH was actually a semi finalist. Nope, we didn’t win a t-shirt 🤷‍♀️. We went to see the show this evening. It was the NZ singer Will Martin. He is a very talented vocalist! 🎶🎤🎵 This concludes another great day on Edge. Bonus, we get to set the clocks back one hour tonight!

I am glad you are enjoying the pics 🙂. A few clouds are starting to appear as we sail north. Not certain what the weather will be like in Milford.

This is our turn around day. My DH told me this forecast yesterday and I thought he was kidding! We have to get off the ship for a bit on our B2B. Glad we have our waterproof shoes and rain gear! Maybe we will just ride the tram around ☔️🌧️🌂💧. That said, the forecast said rain in Sydney the week we were there and it was just a brief shower. Hoping for the best 🤞.

Day 10 - Sailing the sounds. Wow…what a difference a day makes! We woke up to this! Not a cloud in sight ☀️🌞☀️ We decided to go down to the Captains Club breakfast. The officer attempted to seat us in the middle. We asked for a table by the window. 🪟 She was very protective of the tables for 6. One table for 2 was clearing and we said we would wait. We filled our plates and went to the window table. Surprisingly, when the next couple entered she sat them at the big table 🙄 without a sermon. Well, we must have been in the penalty box, because we were ignored for the rest of our meal. No juice, coffee, tea, or water ☕️🧉🧃💧. Deja vu! When we sailed to Antarctica on Ponant, early one morning the French “cap-e-taan” came on the intercom and whispered about the beautiful scenery we should go out and see. Fast forward to this cruise and an Italian voice, Giuseppe, whispered something very similar. So, if you have always dreamed of a European man whispering to you in the morning 😉😉😉, go on a cruise 🥰. DH and I went up to the retreat sundeck to view Dusky sound. We were layered up, shirts, fleece, Omni heat jackets. I covered my legs with a blanket. I finally got my hot tea 🫖🍵. The bar staff had coffee, tea,bloody Mary’s, and pastry waiting. After Dusky sound was completed we went to the back to back briefing for the next cruise. Happy retirement… our first B2B!!!!! In Sydney you actually have to get off the ship for over an hour. To our surprise, the staff pulled names of B2B cruisers out of a bowl and gave away prizes. I don’t know if this is a normal occurrence? They were actually nice prizes! Several bottles of Vive Cliquot, nice Syrah and a Pinot Noir, 2 sets of behind the scenes ships tours, some free laundry, and free specialty dining. As usual, Giuseppe was very funny. He certainly lives up to his reputation as a great CD!!! Now it’s time for Doubtful Sound. It’s warming up. We shed a layer of fleece. Since it was getting balmy 😄, DH had a Bloody Mary. I decided on a Bloody Maria. 🍹🍹. A vacation splurge 🙃 The weather was so beautiful that we shed our jackets 🧥 🧥. We worked up an appetite and ordered lunch. It was so sunny and warm we ate outside ☀️☀️☀️ The chicken sandwich was good. We went to the OV to collect some cake and sorbet for a sweet treat. Our only disappointment for the day is we are not able to see the women’s Iowa - LSU NCAA basketball game. We hoped it would be on at the casino bar, but nope. Only men and rugby. Being on this side of the world we haven’t been able to stream the game either 😞. We are waiting for the grand NZ finale with Milford Sound later this afternoon. We hear they saved the best for last!

It was misting a bit, windy, and chilly at sail away from Dunedin. Everyone is different. There were people on the walking track all dressed differently. Some were in shorts and t-shirts, some in winter coats and hats. We had another idea! We opted to view sail away from the retreat hot tub 🔥🛀. We grabbed 2 towels and headed up top. It wasn’t a novel idea and the retreat hot tub had apparently been occupied for a couple of hours by the same group of people. Plan B, we went to one of the martini glass tubs and it was empty 😍 The plan was to watch for albatrosses from the tub. Sail out was a bit longer than expected. We soaked for 30 minutes and then returned to our cabin. We did spot some penguins and what we think were albatrosses on the hillside. With our bird watching complete it was time for a drink and then dinner. We opted to go up to the Retreat because of the views. DH enjoyed a Cuba Libre and I had a skinny Margarita 🥃🍹. It’s nice to have a little finger food to nosh so we are not drinking on an empty stomach. Live and learn 🤪. We have been seated with the same waiter all cruise. This works for us because of my allergy. Tonight however, we were seated along the banquet wall and had the opportunity to have a panoramic view of the dining room. DH selected the carrot salad and chicken. I had the potato soup and beet ricotta ravioli. Amuse bouche lead the meal. This was the first entree that totally missed the mark for me. The beets totally over powered 💥💥💥 the nuts and ricotta. Any kind of sweetness or spice to soften the beets, beets, beets, would have been welcome! The desserts were really good! I placed my coffee ice cream 🍦🍨 into the chocolate soufflé for a yummy combination 😋😜😀. After dinner we attended the game shows and the watched the Cover Girls. Full transparency, I fell asleep listening to the singers. 💤💤💤 However, I did tell DH before we went I would probably fall asleep 😴.

We love following along on your adventures! Wishing you safe travels and calm seas 😀

This is something we would love to experience, from a secure location!

Well, we have not seen the sun since we arrived on the South Island. This port looks like most of the others with logs everywhere! 99% go to China. Dunedin is predominately a college town. There are quite a few Universities here. We drove around a bit before stopping at Olveston House. It is a stately home/estate built 1904-1906. There are not many pics because non were allowed inside the home. It was donated to the city by the last surviving member of the family in 1966. We were in tightly metered small groups. Next we drove by the steepest street in the world. They have a race up and down it every year! our next opportunity to get off the bus was at the Otago Museum. We were not very excited about being on another inside viewing activity. DH called an audible and we took the 45 minutes to walk the Main Street and shopping district. This gave us a better flavor of the community. It is Easter Monday, so lots of the stores were still closed. We really enjoyed the refreshing walk and fresh air. At one point we popped into a mini mall. There was a store with Chinese electric cars 🚘🚘. While walking back to the museum to meet the bus we passed several decorated buildings. Then we came upon the old Capt Cook Hotel. Funny, it’s a NY Pizza place now 😂🍕🗽. Keeping on with what seems like a NZ city must have… we went to the first botanical garden in NZ. It’s a little cooler here, low 50s today, so some of the plants were past prime. Im am amazed we are still seeing palm trees 🌴🌴🌴. And, if you look close at the purple flowers you can see a bee pollinating 🐝! Our last stop on the tour was the train station. It was an impressive classically styled building inside and out. We arrived back to the ship in light drizzle at 2:45 pm. Not meant food options at that point, so we grabbed a quick hot dog 🌭🌭. We have been told that Albatrosses live on the point to the right of the ship during sail away. We have a plan to get a Birds Eye 🦤🪶🪽🐦‍⬛ view if they are out and about!

Day 9 - Dunedin Good morning from Dunedin, our last opportunity to set foot in NZ this trip. We scheduled our only ship tour on this cruise. In anticipation of an early-ish meeting time we ordered room service. We have never ordered room service on Celebrity before. There is only one room service card for breakfast in our cabin. Our breakfast was timely, hot, and delivered by our butler. I’ve heard about table cloths and table set ups. That didn’t happen, and I didn’t really expect it. I had grabbed my own tea earlier. Take away paper cups are an elusive commodity in the OV. We were instructed to be in the theatre to meet our group at 8:45. We didn’t get in our bus and go until 9:15. Celebrity was in full sell mode in the theatre. A destination video was playing. (I noted everyone in it looked 40 ish. No gray hair in sight.). And, the spa ladies were offering chair messages.

Happy Easter to all those on the other side of the date line 🐣🐇✝️. The OV had some very nice displays to help celebrate the holiday.

We opted for cocktails in the Retreat as we had a few questions for the concierge. We are changing CC levels after this cruise and would like to have our new status reflected so we can get our additional perks. After all, it’s all about the laundry, right? 🧺🧺🧺🧺 😀😀😀😀. He balked telling us it takes 3 weeks. 🙄 I pointed out that others have been accommodated when they asked. Then he said, “I could send an email to the CC concierge.” It was a bit frustrating to have to insist. The second question was our remaining nonrefundable OBC. As we booked this just after the CV pause, we had over $1000 we needed to spend. Those days are now gone. Our server in the retreat is a lively breath of fresh air, Shevil. After chatting with her we created a tequilatini 🍸. We were now ready for dinner. The Luminae was busier than normal. I ordered the pea salad and veal cheeks. DH had the steak salad and tuna. Happiness was a glass of Emmolo Merlot 🍷🍷. I have to click really fast before DH devours his meal 🍽️🍴🥢😛. I had no idea what veal cheeks were, but I was adventurous. They were AWESOME! So tender I could cut them with a fork! DH loved his vanilla crème brûlée! Notice he has already started 😂. My mango sorbet was really good, but the chocolate was like a thick bar of fudge 🍫. It was so thick you could barely get a fork into it. I love chocolate, but this was a miss. No, we didn’t eat dessert first, but that’s how the pics loaded. The show schedule was is a state of change because of the cancellations due to weather yesterday. Due to the late notice, we missed the Aussie comedian. The Wisper game show was entertaining. The passengers won!🥇. The casino 🎰🎰🎰 was closed, AGAIN, we we turned in for the night.