Celebrity Solstice Review

Celebrity Solstice, excellence in New Zealand and Australia

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Celebrity Solstice
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lexmiller
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2013
Cabin: AquaClass 1

My daughter and I took this cruise as a back to back cruise with the previous cruise - the 12 night Australia/New Zealand which began in Sydney and ended in Auckland. In our minds, this 18 night cruise which began in Auckland, is a continuation of the first, one big long amazing 30 night cruise on the beautiful Celebrity Solstice - but, there were some distinctions to this 2nd cruise, particularly since this was the first time EVER that the Solstice, or any Celebrity ship of the Solstice class, had come to the ports of Adelaide, Esperance or Albany in Australia. You might want to read my review of that cruise, for details about the perks of sailing Aqua Class, if you are interested - the 12 night Sydney to Auckland, which began on January 16, 2013. We are big fans of Aqua Class.

In Auckland we went on a full day Celebrity shore excursion, which brought us back to the ship a few hours before the Solstice set sail. The experience of doing a back to back cruise is intoxicating - to see your fellow passengers packing up and having to leave, knowing that you get to continue on - yes, intoxicating! Though, trust me, we got our comeuppance on day 19 when it was our turn to get off the ship. It was particularly hard to leave - first, because we had at that point, been on board for a full 31 days so we got very close to many of the crew, as they do become like your 2nd family, but it was additionally difficult to leave because nearly a full third of the ship was staying on to do the next cruise which was of the top half of the Australian continent - thus, that third of the passengers was doing a full circumnavigation of the continent, pretty exciting for them. We could have done that, but we chose to back to back with the 12 night New Zealand/Australian cruise as we wanted a double dose of New Zealand. There were so many things to see in the New Zealand cities - lots of "Lord of the Rings" excursions, which particularly interested my adult daughter, but also the Maori culture is so rich in New Zealand - there were many Maori cultural centers that we wanted to visit. No offense to Australia, but the excursions there were somewhat redundant - more kangaroos, more koalas, more crocodiles - and so we wanted to spend more time in New Zealand - so green, so hilly, so lush.

We very much enjoyed our day in Auckland, visiting the Takapu Refuge Gannet Colony, but especially loving the Rain Forest Express "Water Care" narrow gauge railway, which was built over 100 years ago to service a water supply pipe - gorgeous views, stunning vegetation, and lots of fun in this train that looks like a toy. We had a delicious lunch at the Soljans Estate Winery. Then, back to the Solstice and back to our cabin, the same cabin as in our first cruise - so we never had to pack up - our belongings were right there where we left them. It was a bit strange as there were no familiar faces on board, other than the friendly crew. But, after a day or so, we made new friends and never missed a beat!

Cabin Review

AquaClass 1

Cabin A1
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