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This cruise was part of a 30 day extravaganza to celebrate a good friends 60th birthday as well as my 65th birthday and 40th anniversary. The core part of the trip was the cruise which was picked due to its itinerary and "Solstice" style ship which meant we could travel "Aquaclass".
First we had to get to Auckland from Boston. We decided to break the air flight into pieces and spent one night in LA and then 6 nights in Tahiti (Bora Bora was fantastic). This really made the flying reasonable and we would recommend this approach for all South Pacific cruises.
Once we got to Auckland, everything went smoothly in getting on the ship. Our stateroom was 1610 which is on the "Hump". Again I think most readers would like the hump staterooms on this class of ship as they offer a larger balcony and give you some great view forward as the ship sails. We never had a wind problem.
Now we have travel on Equinox and Eclipse and found them both lovely so the Solstice felt like being at home. It was immaculate with a familiar very workable layout. We particularly like Aquaclass and eating in "Bleu". It is like your own specialty restaurant without the cover charge (Although I guess you do pay slightly more for the overall cruise). The smaller dining room keeps the noie level down and the friendly service is always appreciated. No request is too small. The "Bleu" staff on the Solstice was outstanding.
We did eat in Murano's two nights and the Asian Garden one night. Both offered good service and great food. It was a good variation to Bleu on such a long cruise.
Entertainment was exceptional which I am beginning to believe is a Celebrity specialty. Again on almost a 3 week cruise never to have a duplicate entertainer or a bad experience is a credit to whoever puts the entertainment package together. The naturalist "Milos" was great. The cruise highlight were the two "Liars Club" shows. They were just hilarious.
The itinerary was awesome. The two countries are very user friendly and the ports we visited we varied and beautiful.
So we can highly recommend the itinerary, the cruise line and the "Solstice" class ships. Bora Bora was pretty special too but that's a different review.
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