Celebrity Solstice Review

Great Ship - Great Cruise

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Celebrity Solstice
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Sydneyite
10+ Cruises • Age 20s

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Sail Date: Dec 2017
Cabin: Deluxe Veranda 2A

The Celebrity Solstice has to be our favourite of favourites. Not only is it a beautiful ship both inside and out but the layout and convenient access to public areas is excellent. And, in spite of the number of passengers (over 3000), there is never a feeling of overcrowding (oh, with one exception: the Pool Deck on New Years Eve - but it was a great party). I should also mention in this regard that with 12 constantly operating elevators we rarely experienced the elevator wait time frustration that we've felt on other ships even when re-boarding. Also, boarding was a breeze and Celebrity should be highly commended for their attention to this critical aspect of the cruise. We were onboard within 15 minutes of our arrival at the International Cruise Terminal in Sydney. This compares to 2 hours on a Princess cruise out of Sydney a couple of years back and 2-1/2 hours getting on the Ovation in Freemantle last year.

We chose this cruise for three main reasons: (1) it was the Solstice; (2) it was a Christmas/New Year cruise with all the fun and glitter that entails; and (3) although this was our third cruise to New Zealand this one focussed on the South Island which is spectacular and there were things we hadn't seen that were still on our bucket list.

The other thing that made this particular cruise special was the Captain. Captain Tasos has to be the most congenial ship's master we have ever sailed with. He, and by example his senior officers, were constantly about the ship mingling with guests and showing a presence that is rarely matched on other cruise ships. His sense of humour is also amazing. We would look forward to his daily navigational update simply for the humour he brought into it. He was funnier than the cruise director by a long shot. Finally, he was sincerely interested in making the cruise as enjoyable as possible for his guests and did some impressive navigational exercises such as carrying out a "doughnut" turnaround in Milford Sound to make sure that passengers on either side of the ship could enjoy the spectacular views. Captain Tasos is definitely a credit to Celebrity and we will look forward to sailing with him again.

Cabin Review

Deluxe Veranda 2A

Cabin 2A

Clean and well maintained. Reasonable size balcony. Adequate cupboard and drawer space. Nice shower with a glass door. Bathroom about average size.

Port Reviews

Wellington

Been here before. Did a bit of shopping and went back to the ship but if you haven't been to Wellington before it's a nice city for touring.

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