The Solstice is such a beautiful ship, we've taken two trips on her! We have also been on the Celebrity Reflection and are planning a trip on the Silhouette this summer. I guess you could say we are fans. The good news is that the overall experience on the Solstice, including the food and the cabin maintenance, is every bit as good now as it was two years ago. In fact, I think that both the food and the service have improved a smidgen.

Flights: We flew from NY to Auckland via Hong Kong, which isn't one of the most obvious routes but my husband and I both thought it would be fun to see Hong Kong, and it was. We arrived in Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific flight at 2 in the afternoon and left on an Air New Zealand flight at 7 the next evening, giving us plenty of time to tour Hong Kong (the peak train, the ferries) and eat dumplings. Both Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand were excellent: on time, comfortable seats, nice amenities, etc.

Auckland: We took the city bus directly to the port. Cheap and easy. Interestingly, we saw a driver with a Celebrity sign and went to him first to arrange transportation. But he seemed disorganized and didn't know exactly when he would be leaving or how much the shuttle would cost. So we happily settled for the city bus. We didn't see much of Auckland, but it might be worth noting that there is a nice wine store right in the port area, with good local selections. Read more