Girl from Oz

When I first read this review a couple of years ago, I was instantly convinced that a British Isles cruise was for me!!! I loved EVERY post and EVERY photo in the review and actually created my own document with only the review posts.

Well now I need to re-read the whole review as I've just booked the Royal Princess out of Southampton on May 9th 2015 with my son who has moved from OZ to London this year and will turn 30 on May 15th - we should be in Greenock!!!

A million THANK YOUs to you Emily for painting the most vivid and exciting picture of your experience that I haven't been able to get out of my head for 2 years.

Living the dream, just as you are now with your precious son.

Slight adjustment to details on Solstice Cabin #1134

SHIP: Celebrity Solstice

CABIN #: 1134

DECK #: 10

CLASS: C2

AREA: MID

BED NEAR: Bath

QUIET?: YES

BALCONY VIEW: Behind On the bump out, so could only look aft

BALCONY SIZE: Normal (2 chairs, 2 stools, table)

WIND A PROBLEM?: NO

SOOT A PROBLEM?: N/A

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Location was terrific. Enjoyed balcony better on Deck 10 than Deck 12, even though it was just average size, as there was sunshine (on some days!!!), and the cabin was markedly brighter.

Bed near the bath and therefore next to the closet is a bit squeezy when the beds are singles, (which gave my son an excuse to leave his clothes on the lounge, as my bed was right up against the closet!!!) but having the lounge near the balcony made up for it!!

SHIP: Celebrity Solstice

CABIN #: 1134

DECK #: 12

CLASS: C3

AREA: MID

BED NEAR: Bath

QUIET?: YES

BALCONY VIEW: Behind On the bump out, so could only look aft

BALCONY SIZE: Normal (2 chairs, 2 stools, table)

WIND A PROBLEM?: NO

SOOT A PROBLEM?: N/A

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Location was terrific. Enjoyed balcony better on Deck 10 than Deck 12, even though it was just average size, as there was sunshine (on some days!!!), and the cabin was markedly brighter.

Bed near the bath and therefore next to the closet is a bit squeezy when the beds are singles, (which gave my son an excuse to leave his clothes on the lounge, as my bed was right up against the closet!!!) but having the lounge near the balcony made up for it!!

SHIP: Celebrity Solstice

CABIN #: 2110

DECK #: 12

CLASS: C2

AREA: MID

BED NEAR: BALCONY

QUIET?: You could hear chairs scraping upstairs in the Cafe at times, including in the early hours of the morning (when I went to the bathroom), but it didn't actually wake me or really bother me. No noise from adjoining cabins at all.

BALCONY VIEW: On the bump out, so could only look aft

BALCONY SIZE: Quite Large (2 chairs, 2 stools, table)

WIND A PROBLEM?: NO

SOOT A PROBLEM?: N/A

PROBLEMS/COMMENTS: Location was terrific. Just a quick dash to the pool!! Larger balcony was great too, except that the huge overhang of the Cafe meant there was NO sun on the balcony and that made the cabin seem quite dark.

Bed near the window was great for early morning cruising through New Zealand Fjordland - it was wet and cold outside, so I watched from under the doona!!!!!

That special wasn't offered on those cruises that I did.

I am sure that some people were having Gelato, just that I didn't see any and I was at the Cafe' a lot.:D

On the Solstice in November cruising back & forwards Sydney to NZ they had 'buy one get one free' at the gelato bar every afternoon - not that I indulged of course!!!!! It was a very popular spot in the late afternoon, before the Martini Bar got going :D !!!

Over the last few years I've cruised a few times on short coastals :

Princess : Sydney to Melbourne 2 nights - no duty free

Princess : Sydney to Brisbane 2 nights - no duty free

Princess : Melbourne to Sydney via Tassie 5 nights - no duty free

RCCL : Sydney round trip to nowhere twice - 2 nights each - no duty free

Celebrity : Sydney round trip to QLD including Willis Island 11 nights - YES duty free

So I'm just wondering about duty free on my next cruise in just over 2 weeks:

RCCL : Sydney round trip - 8 nights to Newcastle, Airlie Beach & Brisbane but NO mention anywhere in the itinerary of Willis Island - I'm not expecting it, but we'll see???!!!!

Need to get to Elite? Dawn Princess, Sydney to Melbourne, 12 December 2011, 2 nights $148 pp inside twin :eek: Available all over the www :D B A R G A I N!!!

So DEBSTA have you booked this BARGAIN???? I HAVE, although at 12.30am this morning the lowest category available in the sale was $168 per person - still a bargain IMHO. Have now proved it's always a good idea to check emails before going to sleep - instead of an 'early' night I ended up booking a cruise - what are the chances????

So tempting:) Now,how do I convince my boss to give me 2 days off before Xmas:confused: Cheers Tanya

A BIG thank you to you Tanya for alerting me to the sale - ELITE here I come.

Saw this show twice in the last few months onboard the beautiful Diamond Princess.

Adam Goder, the Cruise Director, put it on as the final number on both crew shows on my last 2 cruises. Two different CD teams provided 2 different experiences - both were hysterical. Special mention must go to Tyson as the tennis player with dozens of pairs of shorts, Kimmy as Lorena Bobbit and of course Adam as the ballerina.

Keep this show going - it's great fun!!!

I was on the Diamond Princess Jan 16th to 28th 2010 (Auckland to Sydney) and noticed one of our CC Roll Call members met with a group in Skywalkers one morning straight after our CC Meet & Greet. I presumed it was a service group, but when I mentioned it to him, he told me it was Masons. There were about 6 or 7 in the group from USA, OZ, NZ & Singapore. I then noticed that there was a meeting scheduled in the Patter on most (if not all) of the sea days.