Solstice from Sydney - French Polynesia - Hawaii pictures report (Apr 8-25, 2013)

[thamanrp]

 

 

On the way to Haleakala

 

Driving through thick cloud on the way up

 

 

 

When we got the car at Hertz they ran out of the full size car that I reserved. So, they gave me this minivan instead. Not a pleasant ride in a minivan up the mountain with a lot of turns.

 

 

Entering Haleakala Park

 

[thamanrp]

View along the way

 

At the cloud level now

 

 

View from Leleiwi lookout

 

 

Zoomed in - you can see Lahaina and the ocean from here

 

 

The view is more impressive in person

 

[thamanrp]

Reached the summit

 

 

View from the summit - no plants or trees since the weather is very extreme up here. It's like you are on the moon.

 

 

 

A few people came up for a sunset watch from the summit

 

 

Ready for the sunset

 

 

With the back against the sun, you can see a full moon

 

[thamanrp]

Sunset view from Haleakala (for the people who doesn't want to come up here for the sunrise at 5am)

 

 

 

 

View after sunset

 

[thamanrp]

Summit after sunset with full moon

 

 

 

Full moon

 

 

Maui night view from the lookout

 

[thamanrp]

Wow....I echo the comments of others....these are soooo sharp and vivid. What camera and lens do you use...I only dream of getting pix like these and I thought I had a good outfit. We boarded that cruise in Hawaii and sailed to Ensenada.

Charles

 

Thanks! I used Nikon D600 and 14-24mm lens. I guess I didn't clean my lens from Bora Bora. I can see a few water spots in some of the Maui pics. I hope you had a smooth boarding process in Honolulu since we were delayed getting off. And hopefully you didn't catch any of the norovirus :-)

[Kana boy]

outstanding photographs. Thanks for sharing. I know several professional photographers here on Maui and seeing their work and yours you are right up there in the batting order.

 

Aloha

Cheryl:D

[MicCanberra]

Wonderful pictures, thanks also for the info with the late tendering due to immigration. I have deliberately not planned anything privately for that reason.:D

[thamanrp]

After three weeks on vacation we were kind of sad to get off the Solstice. But we have been away from work for way too long already. So, it’s time to get back to reality. Once we docked in Honolulu there was a problem with the gangway not fitting correctly. So there was at least a good 1-2hrs delay in getting off. Also, once you are off the ship everyone’s getting a taxi. The line was super long to get a taxi. If you wait for a normal taxi line it’s probably at least a good 45-60 mins wait. There were not many taxis available for 1000+ passengers.

 

Also, once in or outside the port terminal, if you use the “porter” service apparently they have a separate line for the taxi. They get the taxi right before they reached the normal line. The “porter” taxi line was not that long. It was probably10-20mins wait instead. I’m sure $5-$10 tip is better than waiting longer in a hot sun. But we didn’t feel like “paying” for this organized rip-off. So we didn’t pay any porters to carry our luggages. But if you want to cut the waiting time for the taxi you can use this service and just tip the porters. Also, since everyone is going to Waikiki you can share the ride with your fellow passengers. We shared our taxi ride to Waikiki with this nice couple from Australia.

 

We have the flight home the next morning so we only spent one night in Waikiki. Since we have been to Oahu before we just took it easy in Waikiki and just stroll around the beach and relaxing in the hotel. Here are a few pics from Waikiki. Enjoy!

 

 

Arriving Honolulu

 

 

 

Honolulu and Waikiki view from the ship

 

 

 

View from our "Oceanview" room, LOL

 

[thamanrp]

Walking to Waikiki Beach

 

 

A lot of people were gathering and looking at something...

 

 

Sea Turtle!!! There were two of them in the beach.

 

 

Waikiki Beach

 

 

 

[thamanrp]

Sunset view from Waikiki Beach

 

 

 

 

A lot of people were watching the sunset

 

[thamanrp]

City view from our hotel balcony

 

 

Waikiki beach at night

 

 

 

[thamanrp]

outstanding photographs. Thanks for sharing. I know several professional photographers here on Maui and seeing their work and yours you are right up there in the batting order.

 

Aloha

Cheryl:D

Wow, Mahalo Cheryl!

 

Wonderful pictures, thanks also for the info with the late tendering due to immigration. I have deliberately not planned anything privately for that reason.:D

Thanks MicCanberra. It's good to know that someone at least read my report :-)

[texkan]

Beautiful photos !!!!

[coldbird]

Wonderful pictures, thanks also for the info with the late tendering due to immigration. I have deliberately not planned anything privately for that reason.:D

 

Mic

 

We may not have those problems since we are going the other direction and will already be in the states:D

 

David

[MicCanberra]

Mic

 

We may not have those problems since we are going the other direction and will already be in the states:D

 

David

David, I assume you are correct but they may do something in Hilo as we do come from Ensenada, Mexico.

 

thamanrp, wonderful pictures again, just a lovely sunset and snapping that sea turtle was just great.:D

[Scrapnana]

Stunningly beautiful photographs. I would pick one that was my favorite and then a few shots later I would find another that was even more of a "wow". You could publish a "coffee table" book of your photos.

[coldbird]

David, I assume you are correct but they may do something in Hilo as we do come from Ensenada, Mexico.

 

thamanrp, wonderful pictures again, just a lovely sunset and snapping that sea turtle was just great.:D

 

I forgot that you will be on earlier than us:)

[TLCOhio]

Knowing what I know now, if I was to suggest someone an underwater camera I would tell them to get Canon D20 (specially if you are looking for an easy to operate camera under the water).

 

Appreciate your great pictures and postings. I think I had commented on these and borrowed a few to post on our Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Solstice roll call from Sydney to Auckland, 14-day adventure. Loved looking through these added pictures here, including for Hawaii where we will do stop-overs both coming down and going back.

 

On the waterproof camera, you did a nice shout-out for the Canon D20. How would you or any others compare that camera versus the Nikon COOLPIX AW100 16 MP CMOS Waterproof digital camera? There are around the same pricing.

 

We are doing some pre-cruise options for Cairns/Port Douglas, the Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, then Kangaroo Island near Adelaide before departing from Sidney’s scenic harbor. Having a waterproof camera could be a big plus for this trip. Any added thoughts on the Canon versus Nikon options/potentials?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at 6,086 views for this shorter version of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

[MicCanberra]

I forgot that you will be on earlier than us:)

And I forgot that you were not. :D nevermind. Back to the topic of the pictures, I just love the clarity pof those sunsets.:D

[thamanrp]

Thank you everyone for the kind comments! I enjoyed doing this review and reading all of your comments.

 

Terry - are you sure they are at the same price? D20 should be a newer camera between the two. Nikon actually have AW110 now (though it's not much of an upgrade from AW100) and I saw it at Costco. So, AW100 should be a lot cheaper now, probably around $200. I actually used AW100 and it was not too bad. But if I have to pick between AW100 and D20, I would pick D20 for sure (newer and easier to use for underwater).

 

I shot some pics and a video with AW100 on our Iguazu Falls trip. You can see some sample of the video here:

 

[cidymom]

Hi there. I just started reading your review - great photos!. My family was suppose to be on this cruise but due to a death in the family we had to cancel. We hope to rebook this same itinerary at a later date so I'm really enjoying your beautiful photo review of your trip. I'm not sure if anyone else asked this question already but I wanted to know if Celebrity offered any laundry service (wash & fold) during this long cruise. If so, how many times. As there is no laundry facility onboard the Solstice, I'm worried how to keep packing to a minimal but have enough clean clothes to wear on board especially when travelling with a young child. Thanks for your help.

[MicCanberra]

Hi there. I just started reading your review - great photos!. My family was suppose to be on this cruise but due to a death in the family we had to cancel. We hope to rebook this same itinerary at a later date so I'm really enjoying your beautiful photo review of your trip. I'm not sure if anyone else asked this question already but I wanted to know if Celebrity offered any laundry service (wash & fold) during this long cruise. If so, how many times. As there is no laundry facility onboard the Solstice, I'm worried how to keep packing to a minimal but have enough clean clothes to wear on board especially when travelling with a young child. Thanks for your help.

Hi cidymom, the laundry service is always available. perhaps it is information on the vouchers or the dicounts that you are interested in.:D

[cidymom]

I was wondering more along the lines of whether they have "wash by the bag" specials like on other cruise lines. It will be our first Celebrity cruise so I don't think we qualify for any vouchers/discounts. Thank you.

[MicCanberra]

I was wondering more along the lines of whether they have "wash by the bag" specials like on other cruise lines. It will be our first Celebrity cruise so I don't think we qualify for any vouchers/discounts. Thank you.

Sorry, I can't help you with that one, the last couple of cruises I have done the 'wash by the bag' special wasn't offered, perhaps Thamanrp may know.:D