Celebrity Solstice Review
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When you begin planning your cruise all f the brochures would have you almost believing that todays cruise ships are almost as Aussie as you are, but once onboard you quickly discover that they are the American equivalent of Macca's on the ocean. They are always trying to upsell you to something outrageously expensive given the fact that you have already paid in excess of AUD$400 per couple per night. Example to dine in one of the exclusive restaurants an additional $100 per couple that's US dollars and when you get home you find that their exchange rates seem to be far less than you can get at the local bank. As for the ship itself there is no complaints very smooth even though the swells we encountered were max 2mtrs. Cosy staterooms good bedding and linen, Plenty of hot water in the adequate sized bathroom and I am of a bigger than average build. Great service from everyone particularly the stateroom attendant (Antonio), Buffet staff, main dining room receptionist (Vera) and waiter (Joey), unfortunately all of this greatness was let down by poor quality food which was never hot and dried out meats. Out of 12 diners 5 were acceptable 2 of them delicious and the remainder several of which I sent back and others just abandoned and we went to the buffet afterwards. In the buffet they served some items cooked to order these were at least hot. They ran out of strawberries on the 2nd last day and I think tomatoes as well as these had disappeared from the breakfeast and lunch buffet's. For an Aussie it was disappointing that they only served sliced beetroot on the hamburgers available from another area of the ship far from the buffet, I was lucky enough to speak to the chef who arranged for some to be sent down for that meal but there were many more passengers who were disappointed. Warning if doing shore excursions in most places you can do better by purchasing on shore rather than on board one example of a tour on board cost $122 pp available for up to 4 persons for $65 total onshore. Local transport $2.40 take some small denominations of local currency with you from oz and avoid rip off exchange rates.
They hyped this cruise as a Premium Luxury Cruise but didn't deliver.
I rank my experience 5 out of 12 hope you have a better one if you choose this cruise line but I will be steering clear of it in the future.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Veranda 1B
Cabin was welcoming not over roomy we had a sofa bed which acted as our seating area, had to place a towel over it to make it comfortable to sit on without sticking to the fabric. Flat screen TV was set a bit high so got a sore next if you watched a movie and the screen was very close. Only American programs on the TV despite FOX no Aussie content. choice of free movies wasn't bad managed to fill in a few hours watching a selection, but I would have thought that a cruise ship supposedly tweaked for AUstralian season could have demonstrated more Australian content and feel about it rather than the over hyped American BS. As said before bathroom was good sized and surprised by fact Hot water was always plentiful and ready when required. Verandah adequate and being in the middle could see full length of ship .
Port Reviews
Noumea
WE took the local bus option for a fraction of the onboard tour price. The bus went to the attractions that suited us in fact I think it went to the same places as the tour as we kept seeing it at the various stops.
Isle of Pines (New Caledonia)
beautiful clear water walked along the foreshore and tracks this was by far the most popular Port of the 5 we visited great photography opportunities.
Lautoka
Most of the people we came across here were not very friendly, for a major tourist port they need to undertake some customer service training not for my sake cause I won't be going back but for the benefit of forthcoming cruisers. Stay on the ship and save yourself the inconvenience.
Suva
Dirty grubby hole best describes this port and plenty of scammers to be on your guard all of the time as they are very smooth, did a little shopping in one of the major precints and was surprised by the generosity of a local lady who paid for my stamps as the local post office agency staff wouldn't accept our ozzie money and weren't really interested in doing anything to help.
Sydney (Australia)
As a resident I have experienced first hand all of the amazing things Sydney has to offer and volunteered recommendations to fellow cruisers who were staying over.