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

[zestyzorra]

Thanks for sharing all of your adventures and answering all of my questions, Ken! Hope you had the best cruise ever!

[Ken the cruiser]

5 hours ago, zestyzorra said:

Thanks for sharing all of your adventures and answering all of my questions, Ken! Hope you had the best cruise ever!

Thanks! We did have a great time. But we also reconfirmed 30 days is pretty much our cruise limit, and after our upcoming flights to and from Japan in July, no more long flights over 10 hours! 😂

[zestyzorra]

9 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! We did have a great time. But we also reconfirmed 30 days is pretty much our cruise limit, and after our upcoming flights to and from Japan in July, no more long flights over 10 hours! 😂

I decided to do a B3B on the Edge instead of Princess, same 3rd route as your last leg.  Your experiences helped me decide! And I agree, anything to avoid a long flight! 😅 

[dlh015]

On 5/29/2023 at 6:47 AM, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks! We did have a great time. But we also reconfirmed 30 days is pretty much our cruise limit, and after our upcoming flights to and from Japan in July, no more long flights over 10 hours! 😂

Ken, did you have to get an NZeTA for entry to New Zealand? Or did the cruise ship take care of that sort of thing for excursions??

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

Ken, did you have to get an NZeTA for entry to New Zealand? Or did the cruise ship take care of that sort of thing for excursions??

Yes, when we checked into our B3B cruise in Sydney, they did verify that we had the NZeTA before we were allowed to board the ship.

[vickykay]

Hi Ken,

 

Please post a link on this board your next adventure off another cruise line.  So much enjoy following along with you. Thanks.

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, vickykay said:

Hi Ken,

 

Please post a link on this board your next adventure off another cruise line.  So much enjoy following along with you. Thanks.

Will do, as I plan to post the link to the end of this thread, and thanks for the kind words! 

 

FWIW our upcoming cruise schedule includes a Princess Japan B2B and a NE/Canadian/Caribbean B2B this summer and fall. Then the wildlife cruises begin with a Celebrity Galapagos cruise followed by a Princess Antarctica B2B in the winter and an Alaska B3B next spring. We definitely have the cruising bug! 😂

 

Edited June 2, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[vickykay]

Wow!  Amazing cruises coming up for you.  Can’t wait to read about them!

[Ken the cruiser]

Hi all! I just started my Live From thread associated with our upcoming 17-day Japan/South Korea B2B cruise on the Diamond Princess starting July 10. Please feel free to follow along as I will try my best to post pictures from around the ship as well as of the wildlife and scenery we may see along the way!! 😀

 

 

[Silkroad]

Thanks for posting the link here, Ken! I’m looking forward to following along. 
 

- Michelle 

 

 

[tigervixxxen]

Sorry for the bump but I found your review and have a couple questions as I’m doing the sailing in reverse soon. 
 

I have read very little about the passport collecting in Tahiti. How is this done? How do they ensure safety of these important documents? How do they get returned to you? 
 

We are booked for the same Raiatea excursion. It’s marked strenuous, I can’t imagine there was anything strenuous about this excursion, no? Is there shopping at the pearl farm? What are the prices if so? Can you buy just one pearl?

 

is there anything at the Moorea pier? Any shopping at all? I’d prefer not to have to “walk into town” for just a basic souvineer. 
 

Did the menus repeat over the 18 nights for dinner?

Edited September 1, 2023 by tigervixxxen

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

Sorry for the bump but I found your review and have a couple questions as I’m doing the sailing in reverse soon. 
 

I have read very little about the passport collecting in Tahiti. How is this done? How do they ensure safety of these important documents? How do they get returned to you? 
 

We are booked for the same Raiatea excursion. It’s marked strenuous, I can’t imagine there was anything strenuous about this excursion, no? Is there shopping at the pearl farm? What are the prices if so? Can you buy just one pearl?

 

is there anything at the Moorea pier? Any shopping at all? I’d prefer not to have to “walk into town” for just a basic souvineer. 
 

Did the menus repeat over the 18 nights for dinner?

The turning in of the passport was no big deal. We received instructions as to where to turn them in to Guest Services and got a receipt. A few days later we received instructions on where to pick them up.

 

As far as the Raiatea excursion, we're in our early 70s and we did just fine. See posts starting at #320. We did some walking in a few hilly areas, but it wasn't all that strenuous. I'm sure there was a brief moment for pearl shopping, especially if you do it when they're giving their 10-minute talk. As far as prices go, I have no idea since we don't shop.

 

There are a few gift shops at the pier and that's about it. See posts starting at #313.

 

We ate in Blu, and yes, the menu seemed to repeat every 7 days or so.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

[tigervixxxen]

2 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

The turning in of the passport was no big deal. We received instructions as to where to turn them in to Guest Services and got a receipt. A few days later we received instructions on where to pick them up.

 

As far as the Raiatea excursion, we're in our early 70s and we did just fine. See posts starting at #320. We did some walking in a few hilly areas, but it wasn't all that strenuous. I'm sure there was a brief moment for pearl shopping, especially if you do it when they're giving their 10-minute talk. As far as prices go, I have no idea since we don't shop.

 

There are a few gift shops at the pier and that's about it. See posts starting at #313.

 

We ate in Blu, and yes, the menu seemed to repeat every 7 days or so.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

Thank you and appreciate your detailed review!

[Ken the cruiser]

For those interested, I just started a new Live From thread on the Princess Forum which will cover our upcoming 22-day Land and Sea cruise on the Caribbean Princess from Toronto to Ft Lauderdale.

 

 

[CruseKrazy]

13 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

For those interested, I just started a new Live From thread on the Princess Forum which will cover our upcoming 22-day Land and Sea cruise on the Caribbean Princess from Toronto to Ft Lauderdale.

 

Will follow, our neighbours Mike and Marilyn are boarding this cruise right now.

Dave

 

[Ken the cruiser]

For those interested in seeing what Princess has to offer on one of their combined 21-day Norway/Baltic cruises, we're getting ready to see what they have to offer from the viewpoint of one of their Vista Suites on the Sky Princess.

 

Edited July 4 by Ken the cruiser

[HBDave]

On 4/16/2023 at 1:32 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I'm posting Starlink Speeds on the thread below for the Caribbean and at least the TA on Apex using Premium Wifi.    Download running about 5 Meg.    I am easily able to steam YouTubeTV

 

@Jim_Iain Quick questions.....

How did you overcome the IP location checking from YouTube TV? Did you use a VPN connection, etc.? Thanks!

[Jim_Iain]

37 minutes ago, HBDave said:

@Jim_Iain Quick questions.....

How did you overcome the IP location checking from YouTube TV? Did you use a VPN connection, etc.? Thanks!

 

Yes.  I use VPN.    It is easiest if you use Firestick as they have 5 naive VPN apps built into their software.  I use NordVPN and it works seamlessly .    I usually use San Francisco and it allows me to watch my local stations real time.   

 

You have to first log onto the Ship's Wifi before enabling VPN.   It usually pops up a logon screen but if not use the Firestick Browser and logon on.

[HBDave]

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Yes.  I use VPN.    It is easiest if you use Firestick as they have 5 naive VPN apps built into their software.  I use NordVPN and it works seamlessly .    I usually use San Francisco and it allows me to watch my local stations real time.   

 

You have to first log onto the Ship's Wifi before enabling VPN.   It usually pops up a logon screen but if not use the Firestick Browser and logon on.

@Jim_Iain Thanks for your quick and detailed response, as usual you're a wealth of knowledge.

[Ken the cruiser]

For those that might want to follow along if they haven't experienced cruising on one of Royal Caribbean's larger ships yet, I just started a Live From thread that will cover our upcoming 7-day cruise on the huge Wonder OTS! As one might image, this ship for us will definitely be our target for discovery, as we only have one excursion booked so far. 

 

Following this short 7-day cruise, we'll be cruising with NCL on a 23-day Europe/Transatlantic B2B on the Pearl around the end of November.