Special occasions
Helipad
Celebrity loyal cruisers (Elite, Elite Plus, Zenith) were invited to watch the departure of the ship from the helipad, a platform at the front of the boat which provides a privileged viewpoint. Quite a few people attended this departure, a glass of champagne in hand, just below the command deck.
But as soon as the ship moves away from the port, the temperature drops quite quickly and the wind becomes quite strong. But it remains an unforgettable moment, to which I was invited a second time before the end of the cruise. It cannot be refused.
Rescue
Modern ships are equipped with a real medical center, sometimes even a mini hospital. Unfortunately, when a passenger finds himself in critical conditions, and must be taken care of by a real hospital on land, the boat must head as quickly as possible to the nearest port. When it would take too long, a helicopter might come and pick up the passenger… that’s what we witnessed… quite an operation, very impressive.
Internet access: Starlink
Elon Musk’s internet network is not yet complete in terms of satellites (a little over 4,000 at the time of the cruise, out of 12,000 planned for 2025), but we are witnessing the migration of many cruise companies to his offer , at the expense of the classic satellite. Rather than having a geostationary satellite towards which an antenna must point to exchange data, Starlink is based on a myriad of satellites at lower altitudes, making higher speeds and much lower latency possible. It is necessary to install several antennas which, however, do not take up much space. And communication passes from satellite to satellite transparently… provided that the area is covered by enough satellites.
On a route such as this Pacific crossing from Sydney to Vancouver, I expected the ship to end up in areas that are white or less well served by these satellites (or not served at all). But it was a good surprise: with the stream version of Celebrity wifi, the connection was fast and stable. It happened that for a minute or 2, a complete outage occurred, but with a little patience, as soon as a satellite passes by again, it starts again. Even in streaming, with Netflix for example, it’s surprising.
No wonder we see more and more companies switching to Starlink!
Vancouver-Paris sur Air France
After a Paris-Singapore-Sydney flight on Singapore Airlines, return Vancouver-Paris on Air France. Flight of around ten hours, at night, on business class. No complaints !
Conclusion
The cruise was in fact 2 successive “back 2 back” cruises. The overall price in Aqua Class is around $8,500 per person, or a little more than $280 per night (€255). The rather unique journey with this crossing of the Pacific Ocean from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere. The passage of the time line, from West to East, has the particularity of going back one day when it is crossed. French Polynesia and its islands, on the other side of the world, will remain a lasting memory.
The only regret, if there were to be one, is Celebrity’s choice to load its ship, the Celebrity Eclipse, beyond reason, generating many small inconveniences all the time. Nothing too serious, but something to take into account as Celebrity’s prices are not those of MSC. And when I choose Celebrity, it’s not to feel as compressed as with low-cost cruiseline, which are 3 to 5 times cheaper…
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