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Photo Review of Solstice November 11, 2017 New Zealand & Australia Cruise


cruise kitty
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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Thanks for the wonderful review! I'll be rereading it several times over the next few months as I plan for our February 2018 NS/Australia cruise. You definitely paid it forward!

 

Hi thank you & you're welcome, hope you have a great cruise!

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  • 1 month later...
Thank you for a wonderful review!

 

I’ve 2 too of the exact same hat, a well worn & washed one and one I keep for cruising. Perfect whether rain or sun.

 

You're welcome, & yeah, the hat, if I'm not at work, I'm probably wearing that hat. ;) best sun protection ever :)

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You're welcome, & yeah, the hat, if I'm not at work, I'm probably wearing that hat. ;) best sun protection ever :)

Hi cruisekitty:

 

How did you find the bike riding on Waiheke Island? Our family is considering this, but I've read that the roads are narrow and have quite a bit of traffic. Did you find this to be the case?

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Thank you for a wonderful review. We are doing Solstice B2B for the GBR and New Zealand in Oct 2019 and this will help convince my DH that the long trip will be so worth it!

Loved your photos!

Marilyn

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Thanks, CruiseKitty, for the wonderfully helpful information and the great pictures! I think I have 'seen' you before on one of the fashion threads :)

 

We are going on a similar itinerary in late March 2019. Nine days pre-cruise on the South Island, Solstice cruise and then 9 days in Australia. Currently thinking to spend time in Sydney, Red Centre/Uluru and Blue Mountains. Considering a two night stay in Blue Mountains. Would you be able to comment on whether you think a couple of days in the area would be better than just 1? And are you glad you had so many days in Sydney itself. We are just a bit older than you and love to walk and hike.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Cruise Kitty! Wonderful report and photos. So helpful to so many! Tracy on the Solstice for our Dec 2/18 sailing from Sydney to Auckland found your report and shard with us. Thanks to both of you! Your sailing was late Nov/early Dec? But 14 days? Ours 11 but expect we may have similar weather and should be prepared for range of temperatures and some rain. Were you Hilton’s at both ends?

Think you mentioned you were in real estate? Us too!:)

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  • 4 weeks later...
Hi cruisekitty:

 

How did you find the bike riding on Waiheke Island? Our family is considering this, but I've read that the roads are narrow and have quite a bit of traffic. Did you find this to be the case?

 

So sorry I took so long to answer, I haven't checked this thread in a bit. :) There wasn't a lot of traffic actually, but I did have one "run in" with a vehicle who cut me off & caused me to fall in some gravel, a more skilled or younger bike rider might not have fallen lol :D Anyhow, it was a lot of fun & I'd totally recommend it. We actually enjoyed it so much we're considering trading in our beach cruisers for Ebikes. :)

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Thank you for a wonderful review. We are doing Solstice B2B for the GBR and New Zealand in Oct 2019 and this will help convince my DH that the long trip will be so worth it!

Loved your photos!

Marilyn

 

Thanks for your kind words, definitely worth the long trip, this was one of our best cruises ever :) Enjoy!

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Thanks, CruiseKitty, for the wonderfully helpful information and the great pictures! I think I have 'seen' you before on one of the fashion threads :)

 

We are going on a similar itinerary in late March 2019. Nine days pre-cruise on the South Island, Solstice cruise and then 9 days in Australia. Currently thinking to spend time in Sydney, Red Centre/Uluru and Blue Mountains. Considering a two night stay in Blue Mountains. Would you be able to comment on whether you think a couple of days in the area would be better than just 1? And are you glad you had so many days in Sydney itself. We are just a bit older than you and love to walk and hike.

 

Hi, I think I've seen you on the fashion boards too :) If I had to do it again I'd stay overnight in the Blue Mountains & have two days, there was so much to see there & we actually missed the big waterfall at the end as we were just plain tired. Enjoy your trip!

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Hi Cruise Kitty! Wonderful report and photos. So helpful to so many! Tracy on the Solstice for our Dec 2/18 sailing from Sydney to Auckland found your report and shard with us. Thanks to both of you! Your sailing was late Nov/early Dec? But 14 days? Ours 11 but expect we may have similar weather and should be prepared for range of temperatures and some rain. Were you Hilton’s at both ends?

Think you mentioned you were in real estate? Us too!:)

 

Hi, & thank you! Yes, we on the November 11th cruise, so you may have hotter weather than we did. Yes we stayed at Hiltons on both ends, they were both nice properties & the nice thing about the Auckland Hilton is that the ship literally docks outside the hotel. If I had a good arm, I could have lobbed our suitcases onto a balcony lol. & yes, i'm in real estate as well :) Enjoy your trip!

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  • 1 month later...
We are staying one day in Auckland, a Celebrity Solstice cruise stop. What do you recommend would be the best thing to do in Auckland for this one day.

 

Gosh, that's a tough one to answer without knowing what your interests or activity comfort level are. :)

 

That said, my personal favorite was taking ferries to the outlying Islands, especially Waiheke. Depending on your time in port it would be very easy to do this on your own, & reasonably priced. The Ferries leave very close to where you're docked. Less than an hour to get there, & the island is gorgeous. If you're not comfortable biking on the island, there's a 'wine bus' that you can catch that will take you to all the wineries, hop on hop off style.

 

Hope this helps :) Enjoy your cruise

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  • 5 months later...
On 1/8/2018 at 10:22 PM, cruise kitty said:

 

Hi, guide book wise, I like the DK eyewitness guides. I also spend a lot of time on lonely planet, & trip advisor, & the ports boards here on cruise critic reading member trip reports, I cut & paste a lot onto word docs & take a light weight binder with tabs for each port, these contain not only my note & maps for each port, but also any tickets I've pre purchased. There is also an iPhone app called 100% pure New Zealand that was very helpful, I believe it's New Zealands official app.

 

I know I already mentioned it, but the ports boards on this site are amazing, lots of local experts & fellow cruisers ready to answer my most banal questions 😉 I try & pay it forward by doing the same when I come back from a trip.

 

Have fun planning! New Zealand is truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.

This is me, almost to a T (whatever that experession means)!  Thanks for your review and wonderful pictures.  We're going to Aus and NZ later this year (2019).  (You just posted pics from Milford Sound on a thread I started.)

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1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

This is me, almost to a T (whatever that experession means)!  Thanks for your review and wonderful pictures.  We're going to Aus and NZ later this year (2019).  (You just posted pics from Milford Sound on a thread I started.)

 

You're welcome :)   Enjoy,  New Zealand & Australia just blew me away with their beauty!

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  • 7 months later...

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