Celebrity Solstice Sydney Disembarkation

Hi,

Was wanting to not rush off the ship on disembarkation day and so was contemplating packing up room and then heading off for a leisurely last breakfast. Am traveling in Aqua class so have access to Blu restaurant -Any ideas how late it stays open on disembarkation day? Figure that as long as we free up our room we won't get kicked off immediately? Has anyone had any experience with doing this upon return into Sydney? Need to organize shuttle pick up too and of course will need to give them a pick up time so can't really just play it by ear! Thanks in advance for any feedback:)

Not sure about Blu, but the Celebrity eateries usually close around 9. I understand Blu closes normally then too, if so that would also be consistent.

Thanks for the reply. Any idea what time they will want us out of the cabin?

It's varied different cruises. Generally ASAP :-) But practically they usually ask by 8:30-9.

On disembarkation day one has to be clear of ones cabin by 8.00 am. Hanging around in one's cabin instead of in one of the lounges is being disrespectful to the cabin staff who have to get cabins ready for those following. You may have had your holiday but there are 2800 others following and want access as soon as they can

Thanks and totally agree. Would not want to put more pressure on the cabin staff and that is exactly why we were thinking of not going to breakfast until after we vacate the room.

We normally aim for a "zero count" (ie no passengers left on board )by about 9 - 9:15am remembering that embark cannot start until at least then and the departing crew members cannot be processed by customs until a zero count is achieved, so while it may be nice to linger longer onboard the later the last passenger leaves the later everything for the next embark can begin. Wheelchair check in is now done in the Customs/baggage area on level one and that cannot even start to be set up by the ship until Customs have completed processing even if they are waiting for just one guest.

Thankyou very much for that very informative reply - it certainly makes it all very clear what is necessary: One needs to disembark as early as possible and that is now what I shall arrange. Just curious : Was that from the Celebrity website or did the cruise line supply you that information?

Thankyou very much for that very informative reply - it certainly makes it all very clear what is necessary: One needs to disembark as early as possible and that is now what I shall arrange. Just curious : Was that from the Celebrity website or did the cruise line supply you that information?

The info is not from "Celebrity" directly, I work for the Portside agency that handles the debark/embark process for Celebrity and Royal Caribbean here in Australia (in fact all over the world :) )

From memory Blu is open on debark days and, if it is, they will obviously 'throw you out" early enough to get you off the ship in time to not cause delays. Don't know if you have sailed Aqua before but the Blu restaurant is the one thing that really makes Aqua worthwhile.

Thanks and totally agree. Would not want to put more pressure on the cabin staff and that is exactly why we were thinking of not going to breakfast until after we vacate the room.

If you are packed up ready to go the previous night with only your immediate needs for the morning to go into your bags then that should also reduce the pressure of departure. Arrival at Circular Quay in the early morning is a pleasure. As I have said many times Sydney harbour is one of the world's greatest harbours leaving and arriving. If one gets up early to witness the entry and then goes to breakfast a leisurely departure around 8.00 am is easily achievable. I have based my comments on experiencing 3 previous disembarkations in Sydney. You will arrive earlier than planned normally before 6.00 am and the crew will immediately start taking off baggage and reprovisioning the ship. We always self disembark in order to catch the early flight back to NZ and we are normally at the Circular quay railway station before 7.00am getting us to the airport by 7.30 am.

During your cruise you will be given a form to fill in selecting your approximate disembarkation time from the options given. A day or so before arrival you will receive colour-coded luggage tags and your designated disembarkation time. If you have chosen a late disembarkation they do request you vacate your cabin by 8am.

On our Solstice cruise last Christmas we ended up going down to breakfast early so left our carry-ons in our cabin. We got back to our cabin at 7:50am to find the door open and the stewards already stripping the bed. :eek: Next time we'll stay in our cabin until close to 8am then take our carry-ons with us to breakfast.

Thank you all for your replies. Very grateful for all the info, it has really helped :) Much appreciated!

Hi OzKiwiJJ,

Having not sailed on the Solstice or on Celebrity from/to Sydney before, I would love to hear your thoughts on the ship and cruise in general that time of year (Dec/Jan). Have not sailed to the Pacific Islands either and were thinking of just doing our own thing at the Ports rather than shore excursions, thinking it will probably be too hot for anything but swimming.

Any Thoughts?

Solstice is a very nice ship, lovely cabins, very good service, good food and a variety of speciality restaurants for a change.

The weather could be a bit variable Dec/Jan. We did a South Pacific cruise Christmas 2014 and had a couple of showery days, but Solstice has a covered pool as well as the main pool, and the Sky Lounge is great.

Are you doing the 23rd December cruise? If so, you'll enjoy Christmas on the ship. They do it very nicely.

For Noumea I suggest catching the HoHo bus around to Lemon Bay and Anse Vatu Bay. There is a good cafe at Anse Vatu, and some excellent restaurants fro lunch at Lemon Bay. The aquarium, at the northern end of Anse Vatu, is very good and you can cut through a back street to the restaurant area of Lemon Bay. The main town of Noumea is a bit downmarket but still interesting.

The Isles of Pines is gorgeous. The beach nearest the wharf has beautiful fine white sand and is lovely for swimming, and I believe the beach on the other side of the isthmus is great for snorkelling.

I haven't been to Mystery Island but I believe it's another lovely beach location.

I also haven't had a port stop at Lautoka. That could be one place where you might want to do a tour.

We find Suva interesting and are happy to wander around by ourselves. If you like old buildings then the Grand Pacific Hotel, a longish walk from the wharf, has been beautifully restored and is worth a visit. The Government Buildings are also spectacular.

Sounds great, thank you!! Unfortunately, need to be home for Christmas this year so will miss out on that but going in January instead. Am looking forward to it. If it is anywhere near as nice as Celebrity Reflection I am sure we will have a great time - would thoroughly recommend the Reflection for the med - was a great cruise. Actually, going with a couple of Kiwis we met on that cruise, co-incidentally enough! "The Anzacs" got together and this will be our third cruise together! We all found Celebrity great in general, staff were absolutely wonderful and absolutely nothing to fault hence why we thought we would try the Solstice from Sydney. Thanks so much for all the info on the ports, will make sure I take a printed copy of your post with us to make sure I remember your tips! Thanks again

Lifou is great too. You do need reef shoes there though, the beach is very corally. Jinek Bay, a superb snorkelling area, is about 10-15 walk away. Go up the road and turn left. Continue until you come to a Y intersection, and go right down the hill. It costs a little to snorkel there but well worth it. There is also a small market and food stalls at the main beach.

Forgot to say that Isle of Pines has a nice market too.

Great - thanks heaps! Just googled Jinek Bay and it looks beautiful : will definitely put that one on the list. This is why I love CC so much : people are so helpful :) Really do appreciate all of your help. Thanks :)

By the way - did you find the Aussie dollar acceptable in the islands or do we need local currency?

If you stop at Noumea first it's worth going over to the ATM at the Casino Supermarket diagonally across the road from the terminal building where the shuttle buses drop you. Some places in Noumea will only take francs. We usually try to get francs as the locals don't usually get a good exchange rate converting the Aussie dollars that they have earned. Sometimes it's not possible though.

You might need local currency in Fiji if you go there, I can't remember now.

Good to know. You've been really helpful - thanks again!

Solstice is a very nice ship, lovely cabins, very good service, good food and a variety of speciality restaurants for a change.

 

The weather could be a bit variable Dec/Jan. We did a South Pacific cruise Christmas 2014 and had a couple of showery days, but Solstice has a covered pool as well as the main pool, and the Sky Lounge is great.

 

Are you doing the 23rd December cruise? If so, you'll enjoy Christmas on the ship. They do it very nicely.

 

For Noumea I suggest catching the HoHo bus around to Lemon Bay and Anse Vatu Bay. There is a good cafe at Anse Vatu, and some excellent restaurants fro lunch at Lemon Bay. The aquarium, at the northern end of Anse Vatu, is very good and you can cut through a back street to the restaurant area of Lemon Bay. The main town of Noumea is a bit downmarket but still interesting.

 

The Isles of Pines is gorgeous. The beach nearest the wharf has beautiful fine white sand and is lovely for swimming, and I believe the beach on the other side of the isthmus is great for snorkelling.

 

I haven't been to Mystery Island but I believe it's another lovely beach location.

 

I also haven't had a port stop at Lautoka. That could be one place where you might want to do a tour.

 

We find Suva interesting and are happy to wander around by ourselves. If you like old buildings then the Grand Pacific Hotel, a longish walk from the wharf, has been beautifully restored and is worth a visit. The Government Buildings are also spectacular.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread.

We will be on solstice 23rd dec for Xmas / NYE cruise. We have been on many NYE cruises but never a Xmas cruise and also this will be our first time on Solstice. Would love to hear about your Xmas cruise on Solstice, like what to expect Xmas eve/Xmas day etc.... (We are on deck 10 , CC cabin)

I have also heard that passengers on solstice are generally in the older age group? With entertainment to suit . But am guessing, if there is one cruise with younger demographic it would be a Xmas/NYE cruise. Our daughters will be with us (21,23) and hoping there will be similar age onboard, read reviews where the night club either didn't open or shut very early on some sailings :eek:

So any advice on what the entertainment etc was like. We are used to ships like RCCL - voyager of the seas, PO and carnival. I must admit that out of all our cruises PO have the best entertainment hands down. If only we could get the best features of all ships and roll into 1. :p

Many thanks.

Fiona

There were all age groups on our Xmas cruise last year, and a wide range of nationalities. It was an Auckland to Sydney cruise. With a South Pacific itinerary you may get more Aussies, and certainly more families, possibly more twenties as the islands are wonderful for snorkelling.

Christmas Eve there are carols in the Grand Foyer atrium, and it was a formal night. Christmas Day they had festive food at both lunch and dinner in the MDR - their Christmas pudding is very nice. The public areas on the ship were decorated. Oddly they had Christmas crackers on the lunch tables but not at dinner.

Personally I didn't like the entertainment on Celebrity as much as on Princess. The production shows didn't seem to have the same high energy, perhaps because they use recorded backing tracks not live musicians. Many of the solo entertainers also used recorded backing tracks, as you'd expect, but the balance always seemed wrong especially in the Grand Foyer. Too much backing and not enough vocals. They did have a Beatles night in the atrium though and that drew a big crowd. Note: The best dance band I've encountered so far was a Filipino band on Rhapsody of the Seas. I'm about to find out what Carnival is like later this week.

I haven't got a clue about the nightclub, but there always seemed to be interesting things going on in the Sky Lounge. However we had the late dinner sitting, with a really great bunch of people at our table, so never made it up there after dinner.

I definitely enjoyed Christmas on Celebrity and we liked the ship enough to book another cruise on her in February next year.

Hope this helps.

There were all age groups on our Xmas cruise last year, and a wide range of nationalities. It was an Auckland to Sydney cruise. With a South Pacific itinerary you may get more Aussies, and certainly more families, possibly more twenties as the islands are wonderful for snorkelling.

 

Christmas Eve there are carols in the Grand Foyer atrium, and it was a formal night. Christmas Day they had festive food at both lunch and dinner in the MDR - their Christmas pudding is very nice. The public areas on the ship were decorated. Oddly they had Christmas crackers on the lunch tables but not at dinner.

 

Personally I didn't like the entertainment on Celebrity as much as on Princess. The production shows didn't seem to have the same high energy, perhaps because they use recorded backing tracks not live musicians. Many of the solo entertainers also used recorded backing tracks, as you'd expect, but the balance always seemed wrong especially in the Grand Foyer. Too much backing and not enough vocals. They did have a Beatles night in the atrium though and that drew a big crowd. Note: The best dance band I've encountered so far was a Filipino band on Rhapsody of the Seas. I'm about to find out what Carnival is like later this week.

 

I haven't got a clue about the nightclub, but there always seemed to be interesting things going on in the Sky Lounge. However we had the late dinner sitting, with a really great bunch of people at our table, so never made it up there after dinner.

 

I definitely enjoyed Christmas on Celebrity and we liked the ship enough to book another cruise on her in February next year.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks heaps, Ozkiwi, much appreciated. I loved Carnival, even though the colour schemes and decor is a bit out there :D.

Any cruise is a great cruise.

Enjoy and hope you have an awesome cruise.

I read your helpful information with interest. We will be arriving on Solstice in October, and I was unsure as to what time I could book our homeward flight from Sydney. After reading your comments, I now have some idea of the timing for disembarkation and selecting a flight to suit the schedule.

If you are packed up ready to go the previous night with only your immediate needs for the morning to go into your bags then that should also reduce the pressure of departure. Arrival at Circular Quay in the early morning is a pleasure. As I have said many times Sydney harbour is one of the world's greatest harbours leaving and arriving. If one gets up early to witness the entry and then goes to breakfast a leisurely departure around 8.00 am is easily achievable. I have based my comments on experiencing 3 previous disembarkations in Sydney. You will arrive earlier than planned normally before 6.00 am and the crew will immediately start taking off baggage and reprovisioning the ship. We always self disembark in order to catch the early flight back to NZ and we are normally at the Circular quay railway station before 7.00am getting us to the airport by 7.30 am.

I read your helpful information with interest. We will be arriving on Solstice in October, and I was unsure as to what time I could book our homeward flight from Sydney. After reading your comments, I now have some idea of the timing for disembarkation and selecting a flight to suit the schedule.

If you are coming in from NZ there is likely to be no holdup due to Immigration and customs but the weather may cause a delay. have travel insurance and /or book a flexible fare.

I am assuming that the OP is arriving in Sydney and looking for a flight back to Adelaide. On all the previous trips into Sydney on the Solstice arriving in the morning we have arrived early. That said if in any doubt I would book a flight around 10.00 am and be prepared to self disembark. This should ensure that you are under no great pressure to get to the airport. Being a domestic flight security requirements are not as stringent as an International flight and flights to NZ for example are less stringent than flights to the USA for example