Redking

😯Mother nature! Maybe there's a new thread, arches of the world?

Sad to hear that. Next time😉

I had to do a double take on this one. For a moment I thought you'd gone slightly of course and ended up in the Bay of Islands NZ 🤣 Wonder how many similar formations there are in the world?

Looks like they've plushed up the cushions on the sofa since our last cruise on the Solstice. How are the cushions holding up on the outside loungers?

Woohoo. What number. Our last cruise just pre the Rona was on the Solstice in 1241. Enjoy!

Brilliant. Ah the memories of having to memorise Burns in my school days. I wasn't very good at it!

Brought this to mind. Iain might appreciate it. https://www.google.com/search?q=scots+in+a+lift&oq=scots+in+a+&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i60j69i57j0i512j0i22i30l6.7440j1j4&client=ms-android-samsung-gs-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:fd85cea7,vid:NMS2VnDveP8 I'm a Scot and have lived in NZ and Oz for over 20 years. Also grew up in Hong Kong. I often get asked if I'm Canadian or Irish!

Yes it was Le Petit Chef last time we were on. I was never a fan of Silk Harvest. I did love Qsine and sorry to see that is now used for the animated cook.

I've followed your tip Jim. Thank you. Makes it so much easier. I scored a significant price drop s few weeks back on our January cruise. The lovely X agent asked if I'd like him to price match for me. As if I wouldn't 🤣

Love Iain's attitude. In the space of about 25 minutes Findlay went from us only doing Sydney to Hawaii because of the price, then reluctantly paying the deposit for the Vancouver leg. By the time he came off the phone he'd decided what the heck let's do it! Really looking forward to our first E class. Reading the reviews, people seem very decided. I think we'll fall into the like camp. The modern decor and vibe of Celebrity has always appealed to us. Like you, we keep thinking about one of the luxury lines given the way X pricing is going. On the whole I don't get the "feels" from the decor and size of those ships. Please do a @groryjm and do a comparative review if you jump ship.

Wow that's efficient!

I'm thinking about dipping my toe into the Live from waters 🤣. Bit short on Lives from this side of the world. We also just swapped our existing Edge bookings for Aus/NZ 2024 to a B2B Sydney to Vancouver on the Edge in 2024. Currently planning a bank heist to pay for it!

Oops sorry I only just read news of your eye surgery. Great to hear and good luck with the stitches. Lots of deep breathing and haap thoughts!

Happy cruising! Great to see you back. I was only thinking yesterday that it must be time to see Jim & Iain on the high seas again. How are your eyes?

We board the Eclipse on 14 January. Can't wait. Wishing you a wonderful cruise. Today is the first day of summer so I'm hoping it brings an improvement in the weather. Oops this might be the first hijack of Jim's live.

We've just booked going the other way in April 2024. Sydney through to Vancouver. Shifted our Great Barrier Reef and NZ B2B. I'll probably need to work 2 jobs to pay for it 🤣

The wait is now over at least for the Transpacific.

Such sad news @GenerationX. My father died when we were on our last cruise. I also found comfort in sitting quietly at night taking in the vastness of the ocean. Be well. Eat the desert, drink the wine, buy the shoes and take the cruise. Life is indeed short. Xx.

Great info thank you. Celebrity need to update their map. Apia (Samoa) is now on the Asian side of the dateline. Only happened about 10 years ago so takes a while to update maps🤣

Yay you're back! 67 days until our "restart" cruise and 443 days until our first Edge Class experience. Thank you for filling the gaps with your wonderfull reviews.

So we've spoken to someone at X. Our experience was similar to yours. Policy did apply to us until we pointed out the wording in the PDf. At that point it was suggested that we could take out travel insurance to cover this. Further discussion about the lack of transparency and clarity on the website resulted in us being told that the policy did apply for us because we had booked before a certain date. They couldn't provide us with anything in writing to that effect. Will be following up further up the chain next week.

Thank you Jim. Good point. Tried calling earlier but in X world everyone is still slumbering 😉the NZ # on the website even goes through to an Azamara answering service🙄 Fortunately I keep a full range of alternative X numbers!

The website states that the 100% refund policy if you test positive for Covid pre departure has been extended to April 2023. On reading tge Covid policy and protocols document it only applies to US residents. Does any one know if the refund policy as described on the website applies to all bookings regardless of country of redidence: Covid-19 Assistance Book any Celebrity Cruise that’s sailing between now and April 30, 2023, and you’ll have the following reassurance at no extra charge: 100% cruise fare refund for you, and your Traveling Party, if any of you tests positive for COVID-19 within 10 days prior to the cruise or at the boarding terminal https://www.celebritycruises.com/nz/health-and-safety Thank you.

As far as I can see, mandatory testing is no longer a requirement to enter Australia and New Zealand yet Celebrity has retained the negative test requirement for these itineraries. Go figure! Accordingly to Celebrity under its exception for our Jan cruise, you need a NZ visa to enter Australia, must have missed the official NZ takeover of OZ 🤣we're also exempted from vaccination requirements and yet last time I looked, Fiji part of our itinerary requires travellers to be vaccinated. All very confusing. Final payment tomorrow, perhaps we'll receive clearer instuction from X after that 🤣

Saw on FB that it's now a 5 hour delay. Never experienced that before. Best of luck and keep thinking about that feeling of stepping on board!