Celebrity Solstice Review
SOLSTICE - NZ TO AUSTRALIA - GREAT TIME
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Last sailing of the season – 3 senior couples traveling together, 2 couples from Phoenix, 1 couple from WA state – our 4th cruise as a group of 6, 14 days, March/April 2019.
GREATEST FEAR: Dread of the flight to AKL and the transport home from SYD. Into AKL we arrived 2 nights early – all on Hawaiian. One couple did PDX to HNL to AKL in one shot – the others did PHX to HNL, overnight, then HNL to AKL on day two. This gave us 2 non stops PHX to HNL 7 hours, then HNL to AKL 9 hours by leaving a day early. Though an inconvenience to go from airport to hotel then back using free hotel shuttle and free breakfast the 4 of us felt this was a great way to go. JET LAG ISSUES: Indeed for all of us – about 18 hours ahead of our normal time, plus while onboard we had 3 instances of setting the clock back 1 hr each time. We found we did not bounce back from this quickly and seemed tired for a week trying to adjust to the time change issues. Pricing to do this by Hawaiian was very good.
TRANSPORT HOME: 1 couple left upon concluding the cruise, 3 flights, SYD to AKL, AKL to HNL, HNL to PDX. We all found air fares back to US from SYD very high with a saving by first going to AKL then home. Our 2nd couple in fear of 13 + hours non stop chose to cruise SYD to HNL on the Radiance, then fly home from HNL. Couple 3 braved the long non stop which was 12 hrs 35 mins SYD to SFO, then SW SFO to PHX (USED UAL FF MILES for the non stop and paid for the extra comfort seating, which we felt was a good idea). Couples 2&3 stayed 5 nights after disembarking to tour Sydney as 1st time visitors. We’ve come too far not to see Sydney !!
Cabin Review
Inside Stateroom 12
Interior, 3rd deck, one of 8 interiors on this deck. Central to ship, near dining on one end, theatre on the other, same floor as customer service, low for choppy waters, very quiet, comfy bed and pillows, good temp control for sleeping and THE LARGEST CRUISE SHIP SHOWER WE HAVE EVERY HAD, might be a result of the dry dock – thank you Celebrity. We would choose this cabin again. And plenty of storage. One couple stayed down the hall, 3rd couple on deck 8 in verandah. CONS: our TV did not work for a few days until we requested a service call. Our room safe and BOTH our friends had safe failure – all 3 of our safes failed and required unlocking?? They did not fail at a good time and you should be present as you wait for repair. Missent Mail: Upon 1st entry to our room we had an envelope with another guest’s name and room #. And our shore excursion tickets, with the correct room and name were in another guest room – that person brought us our excursion tickets – never has this happened before – it was brought to the attention of the hotel manager. So overall happy but some issues to deal with.