Category: cruise


Aboard Celebrity Edge

Filed under: cruise, cruising, Musings & Ramblings, New Zealand, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
November 18, 2024

With so many sea days aboard Celebrity Edge, we needed to line up activities to keep us off the buffet counters and fancy restaurants. Not so easy. The food beckons and we’re not exactly keen on pool activities with the wind blowing out at sea. The theatre offerings provided entertainment and there’s the games and shopping to distract us. The cabin’s verandah provided scenic distractions too but again, the wind and chill factors often kept us off it.

A Shrimp Tower

Panoramic Views off the verandah

What to do? The dining scene is overwhelming. There were 4 complimentary fancy restos — the Normandie, Cyprus, Tuscan and Cosmopolitan and the more casual Eden, Mast Grill, Spa Cafe and Oceanview Buffet Resto. We likewise tried the Le Grand Bistro for the special Le Petit Chef dinner but I skipped the Raw on 5 sushi place. There were more, but I was quite happy with the ones I’ve tried. As for entertainment, there were concerts every night and some educational /informative talks but I like best the talks by Captain Matt and that of the Cruise Director especially that part where they talked about their lockdown experience for 8 months! Oh yes, the pandemic truly wreaked havoc to the cruise industry. Imagine these good men and women as “prisoners” in their own boat. They used the Celebrity app to communicate with each other, locked in their cabins and seeing each other only on screens. Awful. But they endured, through games and costume/themed “parties” just to amuse each other. There were more talks — ranging from trivia on jellyfish or “jellies”, to global finance, artificial intelligence and destination experiences. It is easy to fill up one’s personal calendar by signing up for all these events. And if one is coming aboard alone, there are solo travellers meet-ups!

Early this year, the Celebrity was made a subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Group. I’ve cruised with Royal Caribbean before and find the same brand of service in my first experience with the Celebrity Cruises. So if you’re curious if I’m cruising with this group again, the answer is yes. Perhaps with my family next time. Cruising is a fine bonding adventure for families and good friends. An opportunity to spend 24/7 for at least a week, without mundane duties like fixing meals and housekeeping. Not unlike doing staycations with your loved ones and attending concerts every night. Not unlikely to find it a chore to be “on dates” at short intervals and dining fancy every single night, so it’s best to craft a plan. There is variety in the entertainment department and if one needs solitude, you can always stay in your room or stay in one of the deck chairs reading a book. So there. ⛴️

Tags: , , , ,
Comment

The Sounds of Tranquility

Filed under: cruise, cruising, Musings & Ramblings, New Zealand, Travel, travels — Leave a comment

On a single sea day, our cruise ship passed the Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. The first was allegedly teeming with wildlife and I had my fingers and toes crossed we’d have the luck to spot an albatross or a pod of dolphins. Or even fur seals. Not so lucky in that department but the 3 fiords are all so beautiful especially the last. We cruised passing snow-capped and rocky mountains and verdant rainforests alongside smaller boats out with tourists waving from their decks. The whole “sound visits” started at 8am till 4pm but we were slightly delayed leaving Milford Sound as one of the passengers on our ship had a medical emergency. I appreciate that the Celebrity crew was most efficient in handling the emergency and that Captain Matt Karandreas even went on the P. A. system to update us that all’s well. 

Milford Sound

Of the 3, Milford Sound is the crown jewel. We felt welcomed by a panoramic view of majestic waterfalls and rocky peaks. Because the ship actually cruised in and turned around to exit out, we saw both sides of the sound from our cabin’s verandah. We decided against going up the viewing points from the poolside deck or the solarium to avoid the cold breeze and splashes from the sea waves and even from the swimming pools! Crossing the Tasman Sea into and out of New Zealand can be an ordeal but we were in luck cruising from Sydney towards New Zealand.  This time around, the return trip met higher, wilder swells and fiercer winds. Our Captain Matt Karandreas (from the beautiful country of Greece) gave a talk on how the ship navigates the waters and more interestingly, about himself. What a charming man especially as he articulated what really happens while cruising and the decisions only the Captain can make. His self-confidence, competence and seeming decisiveness reassured us that The Edge has “the edge” in this maritime industry. It is my first cruise with Celebrity Cruises so that is comforting.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Comment

Triking Around Tauranga, NZ

Filed under: cruise, cruising, Musings & Ramblings, New Zealand, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
November 13, 2024

We anchored at one of the largest and island-dotted natural harbours in New Zealand. Tauranga welcomed us with cloudy skies and what looked like a truly busy port. After all, it is close to the world’s Kiwi fruit capital, Te Puke. Am not a big fan of kiwi, but the ones I tried on the boat are very sweet and tasty such that it adorned my plate every single day. We are visiting Tauranga just a day before the Remembrance and Veterans Day and our boat will honor it with a moment of silence. Reminds me of those earlier visits to Gallipoli in Turkey and Omaha Bay in Normandy. Lest we forget! I have only deep respect for  these men and women and likewise to those, who to this day, compel us to remember. We should remember. 

We did the hiking trail and enjoyed sweating out all those accumulated calories we consumed by non-stop eating on the boat. I stayed away from meat as much as I could but the desserts are another story. Like ordering 2 starters, skipping the main entrees but failing to resist the ice cream or sorbet, eclairs, or panna cottas. Frankly, the hike hardly dented nor offset all that food intake but we certainly enjoyed the scenery and the workout. And then we got bolder with a trike ride around town, breezing through the coastal roads with our “daredevil pilot” Michael who called us ladies Dorothy 1,2 and 3. Now, there’s a private joke behind that and we’d rather keep it private. 🤫 For a 30 minute trike run, we paid NZ$195 including tax and boy, did we ladies have fun! Wanted to do this as early as our first offshore excursion to Pahia in the Bay of Islands but I guess, the adventure had to happen here in Tauranga instead. 

“Daredevil Michael” took us to the oldest tree in all of New Zealand, the kiwi factory offices, the campus, the posh waterfront houses (selling for NZ$13.5 Million!) and the streets lined with interesting cafes and restaurants. He also pointed out the many trees abundantly grown there which they they simply call Kiwi Christmas trees but he’s not sure why. His guess is that it’s called that because they grow bright red flowers around the end of the year, adding to the festive season. From time to time, he’d rev up the engine and let us girls feel the breeze like we’re racing, much to our screaming delight. At our age, it’s something we ticked off our list to do. Well, don’t judge us. We simply wanted to feel somehow reckless while having fun. All around town, we waved to people who looked like they came off the same cruise ship. Many waved back. The cruisers are in town but will soon sail out! 

Hey, I’m writing this in a rush just to chronicle our doings here. Forgive the typo and other errors. Will edit, polish when wifi connection is more stable. Likely after the cruise. See ya!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Comment