buchhalm

Port Chalmers today on Celebrity Eclipse. Ships return shuttle charged at USD 10 p.p. Quite rwasonable. But dont expect a coach. They use school busses and regular public transport buses. NCL in port as well, seemed to use same busses. There were good free maps available in the terminal.

Day 5, January 6th 2023 Sea day #2. That over-the-counter Travel Calm my DW took last night knocked her out like a party drug. Slept until noon. I managed to drag her out of bed for a light lunch and some activity by the pool. Nope. After lunch she went back to bed. What IS in those tablets???? I entertained myself by the pool, finishing Patterson book #2. The ship is rocking slightly, and No body seems to be too badly affected. Quite a few miffed passengers because somebody declared the Adults Only quiet pool open to families (=screaming little kids) from 4 to 6 pm. Stupid move. It is strange that on a ship with a few thousand people, one constantly runs into the same 15 folks. 🙂 Pre-dinner cocktails at the martini bar. Little chance for them to stuff up a straight forward extra dry Tanqueray Martini. Good cocktail. As the wine selection in the MDR seems to be mostly bottom shelf American moonshine, we explore what Cellarmasters has to offer. No wine list for a start. The lonely empliyee dealing with the entire venue is bit frazzled, but manages to find us some lovely Grant Burge shiraz. And he is a VERY generous pourer... Very good dinner in the MDR. Can't complain. By now our waiter brings a round of French onion soups for the table. It is excellent. The 'headline act' this evening is a commedian from the U.K., with jokes older than Noah, but well delivered. And the man also sings and plays the guitar (not comedy songs). His music is actually better than his jokes. Lovely full moon, but alas not easily photographed with the phone camera. I delete all photos. "Fjordland National Park" tomorrow, with a full day of cruising in and out of various fjords.

She still has faith in me

05.50, somewhere at sea...

Day 4, January5 2023 At Sea A sunny day, but cool and windy with slight swell. Wake up at 07.30 and roll around for 15 minutes. Not particularly hungry, we had only a cup (well mug) of tea in the buffet restaurant. Then, of course DW decides that she DOES want something to eat and requests me to make her a few mini panini. Oh well, as her Personal Butler, it’s my job... She wanders off to secure a hammock by the pool and I make some sandwiches out of the mini rolls they have on the buffet with cream cheese, smoked salmon, extra baby capers, one onion ring, a slice of cucumber and a bit of super crispy American bacon. It works! And, as fresh and – for a change- crispy croissants come out , I grab one of thise. Then I make two takeaway cups of strong EBT, (Thank God that they have some half-decent Tetley tea bags, not just that Bigelow rubbish) with two tea bags (They are BIG cups) and a splash of milk). I balance the plate and two cups and set off to locate DW. The moment I step outside, the napkin gets blown away and I nearly lose the top half of my panini. (Use toothpick next time) Hammock containing DW located. Brownie points earned. We spend a few hours reading. James Patterson x 2. That guy seems to churn out at least one new book a month. It’s always James Patterson WITH Somebody Else. Well, Georgio Armani doesn’t make every suit himself... Tried to read Proust, but life is too short. A quick dip in the hot (= moderately warm) tub. But the air is too cold and windy to make soaking enjoyable. No crotch goblins (that’s a new term for little children that I picked up yesterday) in the adults pool area today. Thumbs up. We skipped the “mingle with the Senior Officers" half hour event we were invited to... The captain seems to be a lovely man. And he makes funny-ish PAs every morning at 09.45. His thing is “this is the voice from above. Captain Leo from the bridge speaking" and random information, such as “We are exactly 8965 Nautical miles from the Hollywood sign in Los “Anzzilizz", and 11321 miles from Machu Piccu in Peru" (Don’t hold me to the numbers). Afternoon Abba trivia quiz in the PACKED observation lounge on 14, hosted by a slight OTT guy. Very funny. “Name the exact title of Abba songs". He plays snippets and we write down the name. As in 5 I Do in the song name. Just I Do, I Do ain’t correct. We manage 28/30. Abba sing along at 22.00. We’’ll be there..... This is followed by a general knowledge quiz, hosted by a lively Philippina lady, who's accent only ads to the fun. We, and the people around us SWEAR that the question is “where on the body is the PENIS skin?” *****??!! Turns out she said THINNEST skin.... Time for a small bite in the buffet restaurant. Just a scone and a blob of cream. We bump into our gay mates and organise a catch-up for the Abba sing along tonight. Stroll to the cabin for a beautification session. I find out it’s not easy to put in a contact lens on a swaying boat. We decide to give tonight’s show “The Cover Girls “ a go. Brilliant. 3 divas (from Australia?). Think sort of Andrew Sisters/ Supremes mash-up on steroids. A brilliantly funny set with well-rehearsed banter. Glad we went!!! Time for a cocktail in the World Class bar. That’s the place that had the EXPENSIVE drinks, it seems. No concoction under $18. The drinks sound fascinating. We try two. One gets the thumbs, the other one is a “meh". Time for dinner in the MDR. Mildly interesting menu tonight. We have (between us. Not each. Just to clarify) Escargot. (Yummy. And actually 6 whole snails today! Are They reading these comments?) French onion soup. Excellent. Cream of celery soup. Not bad. Something I can’t remember, but I see an empty plate.. Grilled salmon, lemon butter, little trees, carrots. Rump steak. Medium rare. Herb and garlic butter. Chips instead of mashed potatoes. Very good !!! Better than in Tuscan Grill yesterday. We ordered just about everything off the “always available “ section of the menu tonight Compliments to the kitchen today the waiters seemed happy to hear it. Oh, we grabbed two nice glasses of Grenache for Cellar Masters for dinner. Lovely Australian wine. No idea how much they cost, but I didn’t have to sign anything.... Off to an hour of Abba mania . Packed venue with people from 8 to 88 singing and dancing g. Excellent fun. Another sea day tomorrow with a bit of rocking expected. DW is putting her sea bands on and pops a Travel Calm. She’ll sleep like Nana's corpse...

I believe there is SMALL charge from something like midnight to 6 am. I'll confirm....

Im not slacking off. Celebrity blocks access to cruise critic from their free on board Wi-Fi. 😏 Will do a bulk send-out in a few days when I have good access in one of the port stops

Day 3, 04 January 2023 Melbourne A cold, windy and miserable weather day. Arrival pretty much on schedule and people on tours were whisked away. As we are in MEL quite often and I had worked there for 18 months at some stage, we were not in a hurry. Leisurely grazing breakfast at the buffet. It must be said that the port and public transport information provided for Melbourne is exceptionally good. Even Rainman could find his way to and from the city. We strolled off the ship and walked through the terminal building to the tram station. That's a good 800 meters distance, so be mindful if you are a slow walker.... Just before the tram stop there was also a city bus which may or may not have put on especially for cruise ships by the public transport authority. It was all very efficient. We took the tram (line 109) into the city centre and went shopping for warm clothes. 17 degrees! In summer! Nasty! The good thing was that the Sales were on and we got $600 worth of jumpers for $150. Happy days. We also bought some precautionary travel/motion sickness tablets and changed a few hundred AUD into NZD. Four hours in Melbourne city was enough and we found us a tram stop back to the ship. Bought a fabulous hot chocolate from Koko Black on the way. That stuff is like taking chocolate intravenously! Arrived back at Port Melbourne and were greeted by very strong winds and our floating home. Azamara Quest was docked on the other side of the pier. We took a quick, defrosting shower and set off in search of snack. We didn't want to eat too much, in anticipation of the "specialty dining experience" in the evening. We took a travel calm tablet each. "Just in case". Mistake. Half an hour later we dozed off, as if kicked by a donkey. We nearly fell asleep in our salad and stumbled back to our cabin for a two hour comatose nap. While I think of it. The ship is in a generally good condition and the cleaning team is always around wiping, spraying, disinfecting. We make a point of acknowledging their efforts whenever we see one of these wonderful people. Judging by the smiling eyes we get in return, this is not normal. Most staff members wear masks *But pull them down when talking to guests, as it is not easy to communicate. Of the passengers, I would estimate 15% are wearing masks. Mostly the Asian guests. Dress code is relaxed but (mostly) elegant. There are of course some (Australians, sadly to say) must have thought that they are going camping and packed in the dark. Attire for the first 'chic' night ranged from civilized to outrageous glam. It was fun to sit by the bar and people watch with a running bitchy and hilarious cumentary by our new gay friends. 🍹😉😂 Ok. Now for dinner at Tuscan Grille. (Their spelling) In short: Safe your money. Unless you miss Sizzlers. In no way better than the food in the MDR (apart from the wine list, which we have yet to see in the MDR), and not worth the extra $50 (let alone the full price $65). To begin with, we were left standing at the door like jilted brides for several minutes whilst waiters - who clearly noticed us standing there- were ignoring us. We could see no fewer than four waiters plus the restaurant manager fussing over one table of four for some time. Eventually we were escorted to our table by the window. We did have a good wiew of the Melbourne skyline and the departure from port. The service was frazzled and there seemed to be a real lack of coordination between them. 3 separate people asked us if/what wine we wanted. Things like that. The food sounds a lot better on the menu than what it is. And it comes out way too quickly to be really freshly made. We had the first two courses flung at us within 20 minutes. We were literally still chewing the first course when they plunked down the next. Pork belly dish. More like boneless pork ribs, bizarrely covered in a sweet-ish tomato sauce. (That sauce features in several dishes on that menu). Crab cake. Pleasant but bland and lukewarm. "Heirloom beets salad " Straight from the fridge and too cold to taste much of anything. 85% beans, a few bits of cooked beetroot and a scattering of unchopped curly parsley and a few random salad greens. Minestrone soup was pretty good. My steak was ordered medium RARE and came out medium well. The waiters DID offer to replace it and bring something else. But I hate to waste food and the steak WAS passable. Furthermore, my wife would have HER main course and we would be out of sync. Her main course, lobster rigatoni (pasta) was very short on lobster bits, but had plenty of pasta. The pasta seemed to be home made, but very thick. Gluggy cheese sauce. Very heavy all together. Desserts: of all the ingredients in the world, they manage to have PISTACHIO featured twice in 5 or 6 options. That is cooking school 101. Don't repeat ingredients in a menu, unless it is an ingredient-specific menu. Ok: pistachio and chocolate creme bruleé. The highlight of the evening. Smooth, well flavoured and not too sweet. Lovely, light burnt sugar crackling crust. Pistachio "donuts" had little in way of pistachio and was nothing like anything would imagine a donut to be. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️👎 Underwhelming, and I seriously doubt to waste more money on "premium" restaurants. After dinner a quick stop at the Ensemble Lounge, but it was pretty dead, so we called it quits for the day. Clocks go forward an hour tonight. First of two sea days to come. Apparently we get to see Tasmania around 08.00 tomorrow morning. I'll try to wake DW...

Yes, compared to our previous experiences with this company, we found it really bizarre.

Day 2, January 03, 2023 Sea day Sydney to Melbourne. A bit of a sleep in. At least for DW. I went in search for breakfast to the buffet restaurant. Ok, but not mind blowing. I seemed a definate step down from our last Celebrity cruise a few years ago. Still, adequate. I made a selection of panini sandwiches for DW and a strong take away tea. Thank God they also have some half decent Australian blend Tetley tea, not only weird and wishy washy American brand tea bags. Meals on wheels breakfast delivered. Brownie points earned. Whilst DW is getting herself ready, I went to the concierge class desk to find out how and where to request a table change, following last night's upset. I waited behind one guy who vented his displeasure about a multitude of things for half an hour. Poor concierge lady. Well, she could not help me with changing my table. It seems their primary function is to sell you stuff. Asked for a lanyard to hang cruise card on. No luck either. 🤷🏻‍♂️ We went to the pool and found a gorgeously comfy hammock where we slummed it for a few hours until a rowdy group of 10 parked themselves next door and kept on playing some game that involved a lot of boisterous shouting. We relocated to the quiet adults only pool. Until a family with 3 shouting little kids figured that the "adults only" didn't apply to them. Lots of stinky eye dirty looks from the other guests. Pool attendants are well versed in the fine art of not noticing. One gentleman pointed out the "quiet area" and adults policy. To be shouted at by the kid's father. Again, staff didn't do anything. Ok, the weather was windy and miserable and the other pools ARE exposed, but the entire family was kitted out in wetsuits... Managed to speak to a lovely lady at the main dining room reception about changing tables and service failures of the previous night. Changed tables without drama. She was quite horrified by our dining experience. Took copious notes. Said that we were not supposed to be banished to service Siberia in the first place, given our cabin grade and premium package. Delicious hot chocolate and coffee at Caffé al Baccio. Staff member roped us into buying a dinner at Tuscan Grill with discount from $65 to $50 p.p. for tomorrow night. Wait and see... Dinner in the MDR at a much better table and with 2 new couples. Very funny people. Service improved to a great extend. Not sure if the staff had been briefed... Food also improved. I had escargot for the second night. Lovely and garlic loaded. (But they seem to cut every escargot in half. Tiny morsels. Still delicious. A few Martinis at the bar and made friends with a group of lovely gay guys. Well attend the LGBTQ++ gathering one of these days. These events seem to be very funny.... After dinner, DW called it quits and went to bed. I listened to an excellent violin-acoustic guitar duo in the Ensemble lounge. Very good. Most guests were quiet and actually listened to the music. The duo deserved the applause. Before dinner we went to the first "production show". Pretty good. A bit Circ th solleil, a bit Wicked, a bit Wizzard of Oz. Apparently there was a story line, but we couldn't make sense of it all. Nevertheless, great vocals and one of the better shows we have seen on a ship. Melbourne tomorrow...

Day 1, January 02, 2023 Finally, the long awaited day of departure has arrived. Too many bags packed, we set off from our home in Sydney to the cruise terminal at Circular Quay. 5 minutes walk from our place to the train station and a 30-minute ride later we arrived at Circular Quay. A quick catch up at the "City Extra " diner at the Quay with friends who stayed down the road at the Four Seasons. We had spent New Year's Eve at their suite at the hotel to watch the fireworks. Spectacular. On New Year's day, a family lunch at Barangaroo to celebrate DW's step-brother's engagement. So it was a bit busy the days preceding our cruise. Anyway... Our "scheduled arrival time" at the OPT was 13.00-13.30, but we arrived there a bit early at 12.30, after a short stroll from the Quay. We thought we take our chances... Our suitcases were whisked away by the porters at the OPT, and we entered the terminal at 12.32. No problem at all. There were a LOT of (mostly elderly) staff on hand to direct us. Cruise documents were checked and ticked off. Vaccination certificates were checked and ticked off. RAT were sighted (We took our actual tests with us) and ticked off. This is really a complete honor system. We could have just as easily taken a random person's negative test from any given day and passed them as our own.. We passed our small carry-on bags and ourselves through the security scanners and our passports were checked. Then we were free to board the ship. Crew welcomed us on board after a last scan of our boarding pass. We were informed that our cabin was ready and that our sea pass cards were in an envelope at the door. We made our way to the arse-end on deck 9, where our "Concierge Class" cabin is located. A LOOONG walk to/from pretty much anything on board. We entered our cabin within 20 minutes of arrival at the OPT. Smooth and seamless as can be. The cabin is comfortable but not spectacular. Very comfortable bed, and decent size balcony that is NOT any bigger than others, despite it looking bigger on the deck-plans online. Oh well. A quick opening and closing every cupboard and hidie-hole to figure out where we would put stuff. Plenty of storage for all our things and lots of hangers in the wardrobe. 10 minutes after entering the cabin, the first suitcase was delivers. We changed into or cozzies and went to the pool deck to bag a comfy pod in a shady location. Lovely waiter arrived in an instant and the first 2 margaritas were ordered. Yummy. We couldn't be bothered too much to do anything other than a few quick dips in the pool and enjoying a few more beverages until it was time to freshen up for dinner. We opted for the late seating at 20.30, as the early sitting is, well, toooo early for us and the "any-time" dining (or whatever they call it on Celebrity, was not available for selection when I booked the cruise. Upon arrival at the "Moonlight Sonata" dining room we were met with a lengthy queue. It quickly became obvious that the lines were for people seeking a table for any-time dining. We were escorted to the WORST bloody table in the dining room, in what must be the naughy corner. And we were met by the most confused and incompetent waiters we had ever encountered on a cruise. These people didn't even know the table numbers and were deliberating amongst themselves where we should actually sit. Then they moved another couple from the table next to ours to our table and moved their half-filled water glasses and half eaten bread basket and butter a long with the other couple. Eventually couple #3 arrived and we were given menus. But no bread (there already WAS a basket on the table). And no butter. And no water, without us asking. Food orders were taken. From two couples. Couple #3 was vegetarian/vegan, and the staff had to track down special menus. We tried to order wine, and they sent some bloke who was supposed to be the "sommelier ". Our question what wine we could have was answered by "I have a nice red wine and a white wine". No wine list was presented. They just wanted to sell the horrible American supermarket wine that was the wine of the day, I think. They had a few bottles in a bucket at the work station, said red and white, a rosè and some nasty sparkling plonk, "Zonin", or some such. Food arrived. Slowly. Per couple. Not per table. Wine was poured. Mostly in the glasses, but whilst the sommelier was chatting with his colleagues. The food was OK, but arrived luke warm. And partly overcooked. A man at an adjacent table, and even FURTHER in the corner, was getting ready to stab the staff with a sharp object, as his table was pretty much forgotten altogether. Appalling performance by the staff. Our table mates were equally upset. We did not pay for premium cabins and premium beverage packages to put up with such a lack of service. The waiter was apologetic for the food coming our so slow and his excuse was "it is the first day". We will demand to be moved from tomoorow

We boarded Celebrity Eclipse yesterday. Our "nominated time" for check-in was 13.00 to 13.30 We arrived at 12.30 and were in our cabin at 12.50. Bags were delivered by 14.00 A well-oiled machine in this case. Nobody seemed to batter an eye l7d that we were a BIT early. Perhaps it was before the rush.

A mud mask definately makes my mother in law more beautiful. But then she has to wash it off again.

Last time we were there years ago, Rotorua was full of screaming, drunk Korean men.. Including in the "relaxing" mud spa.

Play pig in the mud. 🙂 Did you see "Suits "? Louis Litt often went "mudding"... Apparently it's good for the skin.

I am just imagining a few divers with scrubbing brushes from Bunnings attached to the ship by a rope..... That must cost a fortune. And it's not that these guys can stay under water for hours on time...

I'll lock that pearl of wisdom away for the next geek pub quiz. 😉

I agree. It's a bit much if you want to see anything else. I'd stick to the Rocks and around the Opera House. Perhaps the botanical gardens, if that's your thing. If you are moderately energetic and don't mind a long flight of stairs: Take the 5-minute ferry ride to Milsons Point (from Wharf 5 at Circular Quay). From there follow the signs to Milsons Point TRAIN station. (5 minutes) From there you can access the steps up to the pedestrian walkway across the Harbour Bridge for spectacular views. Cross the bridge, and on the city end stick to your left and you end up in the Rocks and eventually back at Circular Quay. I find that by doing the walk in that order it's nicer, because you have the city/opera house in front of you and it's easier to find the bridge access (well, EXIT in that case) on the city side.

Britomart? Is that where they sell British people?

This may help.... https://www.poal.co.nz/ops-information/Pages/cruise-faqs.aspx

Yes, I kinda hate that print-your-own stuff. It was always nice to receive a lovely package with tags, booklet, vouchers and whatnot in the mail. 🤷🏻‍♂️😏

Are those beverage prices in USD or AUD?