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magpies66

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Posts posted by magpies66

    LIVE: Dec 23 2019, Solstice, 12 Night Holiday New Zealand Cruise

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    5 hours ago, mahdnc said:

     

    Thank you so much for your suggestion! I found the town of Newcastle itself is very underwhelming (from a tourism standpoint) as we were there on Jan 2018 during our Great Barrier Reef cruise. 
     

    I agree with your suggestion and we are going to Port Stephens to ride quad bikes in the nearby sand dunes. 

     

     

    We are going on the GBR cruise leaving 14 Jan. I  am really enjoying your review and was wondering if you wrote one during your GBR Cruise  in 2018. If you did, would It be possible to post a link that I could follow to read it please?

    Solstice LIVE: Alaska Honeymoon Cruise Aug 9th-16th 2019

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted · Edited by magpies66

    What a great review so far😀.  I look forward to following along and hearing your opinion of our favourite ship, on the cruising itinerary that is number one on my bucket list!!  We have cruised on her twice so far and cant wait until our next one in January. We were looking forward to having Captain Tasos this time, as he was on vacation both other times, but I have heard he is now on the Equinox. I will be very interested to hear who the new captain is and who will be in charge in January. Belated congratulations on your wedding and I’m sure you will have a fantastic cruising honeymoon. 

    Edit:  I just realised there were another two pages to this review and I had only read the first one 🤪. So after reading the rest, I have now seen your post about Captain Alex. I am guessing he will be on vacation by January, so if you hear anything about who will be replacing him, I would be grateful 😀

    Kangaroo Island

    in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers

    Posted

    Yes, there is a winery close to Pennashaw, which you could drive to in a hire car. It is on the way to the closest lighthouse and there is a fabulous cafe, with 180o views next to the lighthouse. En route you could visit one of the most beautiful beaches on KI. Would be a lovely day out indeed. You could google the winery. You would need to book the hire car in advance.

     

    I haven't seen any winery tours advertised on KI.

     

     

     

    there's already a thread on Kangaroo Island

     

    https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2559425

     

    As for winery tours - I would 'guess' that there is no single tour that would take you to several of them - best to contact the winery directly.

     

     

     

    Thank you both for your help. We have decided to do one of the ship tours. It goes to both the lighthouse and the winery. Looking forward to it.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Kangaroo Island

    in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers

    Posted

    We have a four day break booked on Pacific Jewel to Kangaroo Island in a couple of weeks.

    I know it is always more expensive to book shore excursions via the ship, but safer to do so to not get left behind.

    We were looking for some sort of lunch and winery tour but can’t see any offered by P&O.

    Does anyone know of any local operators that we can trust to get us back on time? Or if there are any vineyards close enough to the port that we could make our own way to?

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Solstice review - xmas/nye cruise

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    We were asked (in the daily letter thingy) if we could be out of cabins at 8am. We left our bags in there, saw room steward and told him we were all packed and going for brekky so if he wanted to come in, we were good, and went up for brekky at about 8-15, got back to cabin at about 9.00 , did a double check that we hadn't forgotten anything and left. Room steward still wasn't anywhere near our cabin.

    So, no, 7am was never mentioned at all.

     

     

    Good to hear.

    Thanks again for a great review [emoji2]

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Solstice review - xmas/nye cruise

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Glad to see you enjoyed the rest of your cruise [emoji2]

    I have one question if you don't mind...

    There has been a lot of talk on these forums about Celebrity changing the time to leave staterooms on the last day from 8am to 7am. Can you please tell me what the checkout time was on your cruise?

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Currently onboard Solstice

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    The weather hasn't been the best but today and yesterday were great. The seas have been great as well, no rocking at all , but we like the movement so we're actually hoping for a bit. :D

     

    Our last port tomorrow (New Years Eve) then 3 sea days, then back to the real world :(

     

     

    Thank you once again. Your posts have been so helpful. Enjoy the rest of your cruise [emoji2]

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Currently onboard Solstice

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Yay, had a feeling you were. My screen name could be magpies67 lol.

     

    You will love the ship, if you aren't cruising in holiday season, from what I can gather it is so much quieter. Guessing NYE and Xmas cruise would have less of the older passengers. Jurassic park is very quiet on this one. :p

     

    Re the footy, don't like your chances there. There isn't a sports bar or anything like RCCL. I will check it out but guessing the best you could do is get the unlimited wifi and stream the games. Will get back to you if I have any news.

     

    Today we saw the sun for the first time. Lol.

     

     

    I hadn't thought of streaming. Great idea! We have unlimited wifi as one of our perks so thank you for the suggestion.

    Glad you got to see some sun today. Have you had any rocky seas? I must admit that is one thing that worries me.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Currently onboard Solstice

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Hi there, random question. Are you a Collingwood supporter? Just asking because of your name. As I am certainly a very one eyed Collingwood supporter. Lol. Have seen a few Dane Swan books around the ship. Hahahaha..... if you aren't a Collingwood supporter then I apologise. Lol.

     

     

     

    When is your cruise? Where you cruising to?

     

    Was talking with another couple from Melbourne last night and they are loving it, they said that this was their 4th Solstice cruise but this one is the best as there is younger people onboard and entertainment suited.. they doing back to back, so they got on in New Zealand and said even that cruise was different, older people, much quieter and entertainment to suit. Last night was the first night that the entertainment didn't suit the younger/younger minded passengers... eg.....in the theatre was a concert pianist.. so I can imagine a mid year cruise would be much different to this one.

     

     

     

    There are soooooo many movies,(new ones inc) documentaries etc free on tv, so many channels to choose and last night I heard these people complaining as there was nothing to watch on tv. Sheesh. :eek: Then another couple complained that there was not any food in the buffet that they liked, how that could be possible is beyond me and they said the plates weren't hot enough........the plates should be that hot that you need to carry with a napkin and they are not.:eek: I kid you not, these are a few examples of what we have heard. Lol

     

    I figure we work hard all year for a nice holiday so as long as I don't have to cook, clean etc I am happy. Lol

     

     

    Haha. Well observed!

    Yes, I am definitely a Collingwood supporter (albeit not as tragic as hubby lol). We make most games during the season and it is the one thing about our cruise that he is worried about, as we leave during the opening round of next season and in all my checking of reviews etc, I haven't found anything stating that AFL games are televised on the Solstice.

    If you are able to find anything out about this, I would be forever grateful [emoji2]

    We are on the nine night South Pacific cruise departing 25 March. It is our first cruise ever, after finally talking my husband into giving it a try in lieu of giving me a 50th birthday party. It has been the best birthday present ever as I have had all year to look forward and plan. After reading your review I am even happier with my choice. Looking forward to following the rest of your trip [emoji2][emoji924]

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Currently onboard Solstice

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Thank you so much for your review. I have been following Solstice reviews for twelve months and we are now only 87 days away from our first cruise in March. Your review will probably be the closest to how we can expect things to be when we board. Thanks especially for your views on the classic beverage package. I have been in two minds as to whether to upgrade, due to worrying about wine choices. I will now give it a go before I decide [emoji2]

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    Beyond the Podium - Solstice Cruises from Sydney

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    Yes...We did the 12 night SP cruise and there were talks. We did go to one one of them (I think it was about How the islands were formed but I may be mixing up two cruises).

     

     

     

    We also enjoyed a couple of culinary demonstrations as well including how to cook the perfect steak. There were also some more commercial presentations.

     

     

     

    The difference I think you will find is there will be no live talks. For example, in Alaska when in a Ffiord area we have experienced the expert talking us through what we can see...in the South Pacific the talks were on the sea days.

     

     

     

    Have a great cruise!

     

     

    Thank you. I suppose you can't compare the wildlife and scenery of Alaska to anywhere else. There would be so much more to talk about. That cruise is on my bucket list[emoji2]

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    AFL Football on South Pacific Solstice Cruises

    in Celebrity Cruises

    Posted

    I honestly suggest you ask the bar staff on boarding. They will know a crew member on board who follows AFL (or any other sport imaginable) and the best way (if there is one!) to access.

     

     

     

    As UK football (soccer) fans we have frequently holidayed with key matches while cruising. We used to ask guest relations if anything would be screened without success. Once we started asking the bar staff we got results! On one occasion when we were in a port we were even advised which bar to go to and what food to order!

     

     

     

    If you have no success just distract your better half by telling him how lucky he is to be cruising! We did the South Pacific cruise in March this year and loved it. In terms of service it was our best cruise ever! Have a great time!

     

    Thank you chemmo. Sounds like good advice and I will definitely be seeking out the bar staff. Believe me, I have been using the 'lucky to be cruising' line a fair bit. As I said it shouldn't matter, and it won't, but it would be a bonus [emoji2]

     

    Hi magpie66

     

    We we're on South Pacific cruise last April.

     

    We were able to watch afl at the casino bar.

     

    Cheers

     

    Slugguts

     

     

    Good stuff. Thank you, thank you [emoji106]

     

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

    8th visit to Noumea - want to visit something new!

    in Australia & New Zealand Cruisers

    Posted

    Haha I've actually created a port summary post with all my recommendations for Noumea. Had posted here as I was looking for something new and different to try.

     

     

     

    I think I've covered most of the main sightseeing that interests me so my next visit will most likely just be a lunch visit to Noumea.

     

     

    Don't know if you have done this one, but we are doing our first cruise next March and our TA recommended a kayaking tour on the river when we get to Noumea.

     

     

    Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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