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Our holiday was for 24 days in total, with the majority of our time cruising on the Celebrity Century. The rest of the time we were either travelling or staying at the Aqua Bamboo & Spa Hotel in Honolulu. (See my review on Tripadvisor.com)
Getting to Honolulu involved a 20 1/2 hour flight, but as we regard any travelling as part of the holiday, it is seldom a problem. We flew with New Zealand Airways as we wanted to be well looked after. The staff is friendly and professional and the meals are good too. We flew with Qantas after disembarking from our cruise. We have used them many times and are always happy with their service.
All other transport was with local bus or train where possible, otherwise we used taxis. Catching the local busses and trains means you get to enjoy the company of the locals which is always worthwhile.
The Cruise itself was wonderful. We had 19 amazing days with 5 island stopovers. We embarked at Honolulu, then on to Maui, Tahiti, Moorea, Raiatea, Bora Bora and finally Sydney.
The things we liked best about the cruise, were the amazing staff, about whom we can't speak highly enough, the bountiful and tasty food, and the interesting lecturers/speakers. In particular Milos R and Dianna Booher who were both exceptional. We recommend you go to their sessions even if you are not really interested in their topic because they will surely have something to say of interest to you.The Hawaiian Heritage sessions were also excellent although don't bother trying to take the Kukui bead necklaces back to Australia as they will be confiscated by Customs.
There was nothing we didn't like about the cruise although some things were not as good as we have experienced on other cruises. For example, the movie theatre never shows latest release movies and the screen is the size you would show your home movies on. You can have more recent movies on your stateroom TV but you have to pay for them.
Amazingly,room service is 24/7 and FREE. It's wonderful to be able to order a lovely cup of tea early in the morning without having to get out of bed or a hamburger for a midnight feast.
The whole tone of the ship is very 5 star although sometimes the passengers forget where they are and appear in the cafes in their budgie smugglers (speedos). It's often easier for a passenger with more taste to declare in a loud voice, "Oh my goodness have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?" then to leave it to the cruise staff to turn the passengers away from the buffet.
All in all we enjoyed a blissfully restful and stress free holiday. We would certainly cruise with Celebrity again.
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